“Did you go into Mr. Ratchett’s compartment at any time?”
“您有没有进过雷切特的房间？”
“Yes.”
“见过。”
“Can you tell us, Colonel Arbuthnot, how it is likely to have got there?”
“您能否告诉我们，阿巴思诺特上校，东西怎么会在那里出现？”
“In that case it probably is one of mine.”
“这么说，可能是我的。”
“Do you know where it was found?”
“您知道是在哪里发现它的吗？”
“To begin with, you see this pipe cleaner?”
“首先，您见过这根烟斗通条吗？”
“Well?”
“怎么了？”
Colonel Arbuthnot was clearly annoyed at being summoned to the dining car for a second interview. His face wore a most forbidding expression as he sat down and said:
显然，再次被叫进餐车问话令阿巴思诺特上校十分恼怒。他面色冷峻地坐了下来，说道：
“Is it one of yours?”
“是您的吗？”
“Are you aware, Colonel Arbuthnot, that you are the only man amongst the passengers in the Stamboul-Calais carriage who smokes a pipe?”
“您知道吗，阿巴思诺特上校，在斯坦布尔－加来车厢的旅客中，您是唯一抽烟斗的人。”
“Don’t know. I don’t put a private mark on them, you know.”
“不知道。你知道，我又没在上面做私人标记。”
“If you mean did I drop it there myself, no, I didn’t.”
“如果你是问是不是我扔在那里的，那么，不是我。”
“It was found by the body of the murdered man.”
“在被害人的尸体旁边发现的。”
“Not the least idea.”
“不知道。”
Colonel Arbuthnot raised his eyebrows.
阿巴思诺特上校扬了扬眉毛。
“Indeed? I hardly think so.”
“真的吗？我不这么认为。”
“All my apologies for troubling you a second time,” said Poirot. “But there is still some information that I think you might be able to give us.”
“很抱歉还要麻烦您一次，”波洛说，“但是我想您还能给我们提供一些信息。”
“I never even spoke to the man.”
“我甚至都没跟这人说过话。”
“You never spoke to him and you did not murder him?”
“您从未跟他说过话，也没有谋杀他？”
Arbuthnot stared at him.
阿巴思诺特瞪着他。
“Pourquoi?”
“为什么？”
“If I had, I should hardly be likely to acquaint you with the fact. As a matter of fact I didn’t murder the fellow.”
“如果是我杀了他，我不可能对你说真话。事实上，我确实没有谋杀这家伙。”
“Ah, well,” murmured Poirot. “It is of no consequence.”
“啊，好吧，”波洛咕哝着，“这不重要。”
“What I really wished to see you about was quite another matter,” went on Poirot. “Miss Debenham may have told you, perhaps, that I overheard some words spoken to you at the station of Konya?”
“我想见您，其实是为了另外一件事。”波洛接着说，“也许，德贝纳姆小姐已经告诉您了，我在科尼亚车站上无意中听到了她对你说的几句话？”
“Oh!” Arbuthnot looked taken aback. He eyed Poirot uneasily.
“哦！”阿巴思诺特一脸惊讶，不安地盯着波洛。
The Colonel said stiffly: “I suggest that you should ask Miss Debenham herself for the meaning of those words.”
上校生硬地说：“我建议你还是问德贝纳姆小姐本人这些话是什么意思吧。”
Arbuthnot did not reply.
阿巴思诺特没有回答。
The Colonel’s eyebrows went up again sardonically.
上校又讥讽地扬了扬眉毛。
“I said that it was of no consequence.”
“我说这不重要。”
“She said, ‘Not now. When it’s all over. When it’s behind us.’ Do you know to what those words referred?”
“她说：‘不是现在。等一切都结束了，等事情过去了。’您知道这几句话是什么意思吗？”
“Because, you see,” continued the little man, “the pipe cleaner, it is of no importance. I can myself think of eleven other excellent explanations of its presence.”
“因为，你瞧，”这小个子男人继续说道，“烟斗通条，无关紧要。我自己还能想出十一种完美的理由来解释它的出现。”
“I am sorry, M. Poirot, but I must refuse to answer that question.”
“很抱歉，波洛先生，但是我必须拒绝回答这个问题。”
“I beg your pardon?”
“你说什么？”
“I am making no mistake. Why did Miss Debenham lie to me?”
“我没弄错。德贝纳姆小姐为什么要对我撒谎？”
“Then I should think it would have been perfectly plain — even to you — that my lips are sealed.”
“那么我想这再明显不过了——即便对你——我会守口如瓶的。”
“You will not give away a lady’s secret?”
“你不会泄露那个女孩的秘密？”
There was a minute’s dead silence.
死一般的沉默。
“Then why not accept her word for it?”
“那你为什么不接受这个解释呢？”
“Not the fact that Miss Debenham was companion governess in the Armstrong household at the time of the kidnapping of little Daisy Armstrong?”
“在小黛西·阿姆斯特朗被绑架的那段时间，德贝纳姆小姐是他们家的家庭教师，难道这个理由也不算吗？”
“Miss Debenham told me that they referred to a private matter of her own.”
“德贝纳姆小姐告诉我，这些话说的是她的私事。”
“It is not nonsense.”
“这并非胡说。”
“I have done so.”
“我问过了。”
“And she refused to tell you?”
“结果呢，她拒绝告诉你？”
“Because, Colonel Arbuthnot, Miss Debenham is what one might call a highly suspicious character.”
“因为，阿巴思诺特上校，德贝纳姆小姐在这起案件中可以说是非常可疑。”
“Yes.”
“是的。”
“You have nothing whatever against her.”
“你没有任何理由怀疑她。”
“You can put it that way, if you like.”
“可以这么理解，如果你愿意。”
“You see,” he said, “we know more than you think. If Miss Debenham is innocent, why did she conceal that fact? Why did she tell me that she had never been in America?”
“您瞧，”他说，“我们知道的比您想的更多。如果德贝纳姆小姐是清白的，她为什么要隐瞒这个事实？她为什么告诉我她从未去过美国？”
The Colonel cleared his throat. “Aren’t you possibly making a mistake?”
上校清了清嗓子。“也许你弄错了？”
Poirot nodded his head gently.
波洛温和地点点头。
“Nonsense,” said the Colonel with warmth.
“胡说！”上校激动地说。
Colonel Arbuthnot shrugged his shoulders.
阿巴思诺特上校耸耸肩。
“Bien, Monsieur.”
“好的，先生。”
“You had better ask her. I still think that you are wrong.”
“你最好去问她。我还是认为你弄错了。”
The man departed. The four men sat in silence. Colonel Arbuthnot’s face looked as though it were carved out of wood, it was rigid and impassive.
服务员走了。四个人沉默地坐着。阿巴思诺特上校的脸像是木刻的一般，僵硬且没有表情。
Poirot raised his voice and called. One of the restaurant attendants came from the far end of the car.
波洛抬高了声音叫人。一个服务员从餐车另一端走进来。
The man returned.
服务员回来了。
“Thank you.”
“谢谢你。”
“Go and ask the English lady in No. 11 if she will be good enough to come here.”
“问问十一号房间的英国小姐，可否愿意来一下。”
“The lady is coming, sir.”
“那位小姐就来了，先生。”
A minute or two later Mary Debenham entered the dining car.
一两分钟后，玛丽·德贝纳姆走进餐车。
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