“I thought it best to have lunch served immediately in the restaurant car,” he said. “Afterwards it will be cleared and M. Poirot can conduct his examination of the passengers there. In the meantime I have ordered them to bring us three some food here.”
“我想最好立刻在餐车里供应午饭，”他说，“之后把餐车清理好，波洛先生就能在那里询问旅客了。同时，我得让人给我们三个送点儿吃的来。”
They found M. Bouc finishing an omelet.
他们发现布克先生刚吃完一客煎蛋卷。
Neither of the other two men was hungry, and the meal was soon eaten, but not till they were sipping their coffee did M. Bouc mention the subject that was occupying all their minds.
三个人都不饿，所以很快就吃完了。喝咖啡的时候，布克先生才提到了那个他们满脑子都在琢磨的话题。
“An excellent idea,” said Poirot.
“好主意。”波洛说。
“Eh bien?” he asked.
“怎么样了？”他问道。
“Eh bien, I have discovered the identity of the victim. I know why it was imperative he should leave America.”
“很不错。我已经发现被害人的身份了。我知道他为什么非得离开美国。”
“Who was he?”
“他是谁？”
“Do you remember reading of the Armstrong baby? This is the man who murdered little Daisy Armstrong — Cassetti.”
“你记得读过关于阿姆斯特朗家的小女孩的报道吗？他就是杀害小黛西·阿姆斯特朗的那个人。卡塞蒂。”
“I recall it now. A shocking affair — though I cannot remember the details.”
“我想起来了。令人震惊的事件——虽然我记不清细节了。”
“Colonel Armstrong was an Englishman — a V. C. He was half American, as his mother was a daughter of W. K. Van der Halt, the Wall Street millionaire. He married the daughter of Linda Arden, the most famous tragic American actress of her day. They lived in America and had one child — a girl — whom they idolized. When she was three years old she was kidnapped, and an impossibly high sum demanded as the price of her return. I will not weary you with all the intricacies that followed. I will come to the moment, when, after having paid over the enormous sum of two hundred thousand dollars, the child’s dead body was discovered, it having been dead at least a fortnight. Public indignation rose to fever point. And there was worse to follow. Mrs. Armstrong was expecting another child. Following the shock of the discovery, she gave birth to a dead child born prematurely, and herself died. Her broken-hearted husband shot himself.”
“阿姆斯特朗上校是英国人——获得过十字勋章。他是半个美国人，他母亲是华尔街百万富翁W.K。范德霍特的女儿。他娶了当时最著名的美国悲剧演员琳达·阿登的女儿。之后一家定居美国，有了一个孩子——他们视为掌上明珠的女孩。她三岁时被绑架了，绑匪索要的赎金数额巨大。我现在不想啰唆地讲述后来复杂烦琐的细节，让你觉得烦。我要说的是，这对夫妇交付了多达二十万美元的赎金之后，发现了孩子的尸体，至少已经死了两个星期。这事在社会上激起了公众极大的愤慨。更糟的还在后面。阿姆斯特朗太太当时正怀着孕，由于受到这个巨大的刺激，她早产生下一个死胎，之后自己也撒手人寰。她伤心欲绝的丈夫也开枪自杀了。”
“Yes — an unfortunate French or Swiss nursemaid. The police were convinced that she had some knowledge of the crime. They refused to believe her hysterical denials. Finally, in a fit of despair, the poor girl threw herself from a window and was killed. It was proved afterwards that she was absolutely innocent of any complicity in the crime.”
“是的，还有个不幸的法国或者瑞士保姆。警方认定她知道绑架的情况，完全无视她歇斯底里的否认。最后，那位陷于绝望之中的姑娘开窗跳下去，死了。事后证实，她绝对清白，跟这起案子没有任何关系。”
“It is not good to think of,” said M. Bouc.
“想起来就不舒服。”布克先生说。
“Mon Dieu, what a tragedy. I remember now,” said M. Bouc. “There was also another death, if I remember rightly?”
“天哪，太悲惨了！我想起来了，”布克先生说，“如果我没记错的话，还有个人死了是吗？”
“About six months later, this man Cassetti was arrested as the head of the gang who had kidnapped the child. They had used the same methods in the past. If the police seemed likely to get on their trail, they had killed their prisoner, hidden the body, and continued to extract as much money as possible before the crime was discovered.
“大约六个月以后，这个卡塞蒂作为绑架团伙的头子被逮捕了。他们过去也犯过几次这样的案子。如果发觉被警察盯上了，他们就撕票，把尸体藏起来，在案发之前尽可能勒索更多钱财。
“Now, I will make clear to you this, my friend. Cassetti was the man! But by means of the enormous wealth he had piled up and by the secret hold he had over various persons, he was acquitted on some technical inaccuracy. Notwithstanding that, he would have been lynched by the populace had he not been clever enough to give them the slip. It is now clear to me what happened. He changed his name and left America. Since then he has been a gentleman of leisure, travelling abroad and living on his rentes.”
“现在，我跟你讲清楚这件事，我的朋友。卡塞蒂就是这个人！依靠他积累起来的巨大钱财，以及手头掌握了很多人的秘密，钻了法律的漏洞，竟然逃脱了。如果不是他狡猾，溜之大吉，早就被民众处以私刑了。我现在明白发生什么事了。他改名换姓离开了美国，从此成了一个悠闲的绅士，靠着利息在国外旅行。”
“Tout de même, it is not necessary that he should be killed on the Orient Express. There are other places.”
“但是，他不应该在东方快车上被杀，还有别的地方啊。”
“Ah! quel animal!” M. Bouc’s tone was redolent of heartfelt disgust. “I cannot regret that he is dead — not at all!”
“啊！真是个畜生！”布克先生的语气里透出发自内心的厌恶，“他死了一点也不可惜，一点也不！”
“The question we have now to ask ourselves is this,” he said. “Is this murder the work of some rival gang whom Cassetti had double-crossed in the past, or is it an act of private vengeance?”
“我们现在要问自己的问题是，”他说，“这起谋杀，是卡塞蒂以前出卖过的对头干的，还是私人的报复行为。”
“I agree with you.”
“我同意。”
“If I am right in my assumption, then the letter was burnt by the murderer. Why? Because it mentioned the word ‘Armstrong,’ which is the clue to the mystery.”
“如果我的推测是正确的，那么，信是凶手烧的。为什么？因为它提到了‘阿姆斯特朗’这个姓氏，这是这个谜团的线索。”
“Are there any members of the Armstrong family living?”
“阿姆斯特朗家还有什么人活着吗？”
He explained his discovery of the few words on the charred fragment of paper.
他解释了在烧焦的纸片上发现的几个字。
Poirot smiled a little. He realized that M. Bouc was biased in the matter.
波洛微微一笑。他理解布克先生对这件事颇有微词。
“That, unfortunately, I do not know. I think I remember reading of a younger sister of Mrs. Armstrong’s.”
“遗憾的是，我不知道。我记得我当时读过报道，阿姆斯特朗太太还有个妹妹。”
Poirot went on to relate the joint conclusions of himself and Dr. Constantine. M. Bouc brightened at the mention of the broken watch.
波洛继续讲述跟康斯坦汀大夫共同调查的结果。提到那只坏了的金表时，布克先生面露喜色。
“That seems to give us the time of the crime very exactly.”
“看起来这精确地告诉了我们作案时间。”
“Not at all. Not at all,” said Poirot.
“当然不，当然不。”
There was a tap on the door, and the restaurant attendant entered.
此时敲门声响起，餐车服务员走了进来。
“Yes,” said Poirot. “It is very convenient.”
“是的，”波洛说，“得来全不费功夫。”
“Mais non, après vous,” they left the compartment.
“不，你先请”之后，他们离开了房间。
Poirot did not reply. He sat looking thoughtfully in front of him.
波洛没有回答，只是坐在那儿沉思地看着前方。
Poirot related just what had occurred.
波洛复述了一遍发生过的事。
“I may accompany you?” asked Constantine.
“我能一起去吗？”康斯坦汀问道。
After a little politeness in the matter of procedure, “Après vous, Monsieur.”
一番客气的“你先请”
“Twenty-three minutes to one, to be precise.”
“准确地说，是差二十三分一点。”
“The restaurant car is free now, Monsieur,” he said.
“现在餐车已经空了，先生。”他说。
“We will go there,” said M. Bouc, rising.
“我们去那儿吧。”布克先生说着站起身。
“Certainly, my dear doctor. Unless M. Poirot has any objection?”
“当然了，我亲爱的大夫。除非波洛先生反对？”
“You say that you yourself heard Ratchett speak to the conductor at twenty minutes to one?”
“你说在差二十分一点的时候，你亲耳听见雷切特和列车员说过话？”
“Well,” said M. Bouc, “that proves at least that Cassetti — or Ratchett, as I shall continue to call him — was certainly alive at twenty minutes to one.”
“那，”布克先生说，“这至少证明卡塞蒂——我还是继续叫他雷切特吧——在差二十分钟一点的时候的确还活着。”
“Then at twelve thirty-seven, to put it formally, M. Ratchett was alive. That is one fact, at least.”
“那么正式的说法，是十二点三十七分，雷切特先生还活着。至少这是一个事实。”
There was an indescribable something in his tone that made both the other two look at him curiously.
他的语调中有种难以形容的东西，这使得其他两个人都惊奇地看着他。
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