The other smiled appreciatively.
医生颇有同感地笑了。
“Brrr,” observed Poirot.
“呵。”波洛打了个冷战。
Poirot nodded. He looked round him.
波洛点点头，环视四周。
Poirot examined the window carefully.
波洛仔细地检查了窗户。
Followed by Dr. Constantine, Poirot made his way to the next coach and the compartment occupied by the murdered man. The conductor came and unlocked the door for them with his key.
波洛跟着康斯坦汀医生来到隔壁车厢被害人的房间里。列车员用自己的钥匙给他们打开门。
The two men passed inside. Poirot turned inquiringly to his companion.
两个人走了进去。波洛转向同伴问道：
“How much has been disarranged in this compartment?”
“这间房被弄乱过吗？”
He examined the frame of the window carefully. Taking a small case from his pocket he blew a little powder over it.
他仔细检查了窗框，然后从口袋里掏出一只小盒子，朝窗框上吹了一点儿粉末。
“I did not like to close it,” he said.
“我不想关窗。”他说。
“Nothing has been touched. I was careful not to move the body in making my examination.”
“什么也没动过。我验尸时十分小心，没有挪动过尸体。”
“You are right,” he announced. “Nobody left the carriage this way. Possibly the open window was intended to suggest the fact, but, if so, the snow has defeated the murderer’s object.”
“你说得对，”他宣称，“没人从这里离开车厢。也许打开窗户是故意制造的假象，如果是这样，大雪破坏了凶手的计划。”
The first thing that struck the senses was the intense cold. The window was pushed down as far as it would go and the blind was drawn up.
他第一感觉是很冷。窗户被推开，窗帘也拉上去了。
“No fingerprints at all,” he said. “That means it has been wiped. Well, if there had been fingerprints it would have told us very little. They would have been those of M. Ratchett or his valet or the conductor. Criminals do not make mistakes of that kind nowadays.
“完全没有指纹，”他说，“这说明窗框被擦过了。就算有指纹也没什么用，可能是雷切特先生或者他的仆人，或者列车员留下的。现在的罪犯不会犯这种错误了。
He suited the action to the word and then turned his attention for the first time to the motionless figure lying in the bunk.
说完他就关上了窗，然后开始把注意力转向卧铺上一动不动的尸体。
“And that being so,” he added cheerfully, “we might as well shut the window. Positively it is the cold storage in here!”
“既然如此，”他兴致勃勃地说，“我们还是关上窗户吧。这里已经变成冷库了！”
“I had to see the nature of the wounds, you see,” explained the doctor.
“你知道的，我得检查伤口的性质。”医生解释道。
Poirot nodded. He bent over the body. Finally he straightened himself with a slight grimace.
波洛点点头，俯身在尸体上方观察。终于，他愁眉苦脸地直起腰。
Ratchett lay on his back. His pyjama jacket, stained with rusty patches, had been unbuttoned and thrown back.
雷切特仰面躺着，睡衣上血迹斑斑，纽扣被解开了，敞开的衣襟被翻到了背后。
“It is not pretty,” he said. “Someone must have stood there and stabbed him again and again. How many wounds are there exactly?”
“真是难看死了，”他说，“一定是有人站在这儿，刺了一刀又一刀。究竟有几处伤口？”
“I make it twelve. One or two are so slight as to be practically scratches. On the other hand, at least three would be capable of causing death.”
“我算的是十二处。有一两处很轻，只是划破了点皮。但是，至少有三刀足以致命。”
“Something strikes you as odd, does it not?” he asked gently. “Speak, my friend. There is something here that puzzles you?”
“你觉得什么地方有些古怪，对吗？”他礼貌地问道，“说吧，我的朋友。是不是有什么事让你想不通？”
Something in the doctor’s tone caught Poirot’s attention. He looked at him sharply. The little Greek was standing staring down at the body with a puzzled frown.
医生的语气引起了波洛的注意，他眼神犀利地盯着他。小个子希腊人站在那里，瞪着尸体，困惑地皱着眉头。
“And that?”
“什么？”
“Well, just one thing.”
“嗯，还有一件事。”
Poirot raised his hand.
波洛举起一只手。
“You are right,” acknowledged the other.
“你说得对。”对方承认道。
“It would seem so,” said Poirot thoughtfully. “Unless our murderer figured to himself that he had not accomplished his job properly and came back to make quite sure; but that is manifestly absurd! Anything else?”
“看来是这样，”波洛若有所思地说，“除非我们的凶手以为自己没有圆满完成任务，于是又回来确定一下，但这显然很荒谬！还有吗？”
“Which suggests?”
“这说明什么？”
“That the man was already dead — some little time dead — when they were delivered. But that is surely absurd.”
“人已经死了——死了没多久——在刺这几刀的时候。可这确实太荒谬了。”
“You see this wound here — under the right arm — near the right shoulder. Take this pencil of mine. Could you deliver such a blow?”
“你看这儿的这个伤口，在右臂下面，靠近右肩膀。用我的钢笔试一下。你能这么刺一刀吗？”
“You see, these two wounds — here and here,”– he pointed. “They are deep, each cut must have severed blood vessels — and yet — the edges do not gape. They have not bled as one would have expected.”
“你看这两处刀伤，这儿，还有这儿，”他指着，“很深。每一刀都把血管切断了，但是刀口的边缘没有裂开。血流得比正常情况下要少。”
“Précisément,” he said. “I see. With the right hand it is exceedingly difficult — almost impossible. One would have to strike backhanded, as it were. But if the blow were struck with the left hand –“
“没错，”他说，“我明白了。用右手非常困难，几乎不可能。那人得反着刺，但如果这一刀是左手刺的呢——”
“What is it?”
“是什么？”
“Exactly, M. Poirot. That blow was almost certainly struck with the left hand.”
“完全正确，波洛先生。这一刀基本上可以确定是左手刺的。”
“So that our murderer is left-handed? No, it is more difficult than that, is it not?”
“所以我们的凶手是个左撇子？不，情况还要更为复杂，是吗？”
“As you say, M. Poirot. Some of these other blows are just as obviously right-handed.”
“你说对了，波洛先生。另外一些刀口恰恰表明是右手刺的。”
“Two people. We are back at two people again,” murmured the detective. He asked abruptly: “Was the electric light on?”
“两个人。我们又说回两个人了。”侦探嘟囔着，忽然又问道，“那时候灯是亮着的吗？”
He examined the switch of the top light and also the roll back bed-head light. The former was turned off. The latter was closed.
他检查了顶灯和床头灯的开关，都是关着的。
“The switches will tell us,” said Poirot.
“开关会告诉我们的。”波洛说。
“It is difficult to say. You see it is turned off by the conductor every morning about ten o’clock.”
“这很难说。你知道，每天早上十点钟左右，列车员就会把灯关掉。”
“Eh bien,” he said thoughtfully. “We have here a hypothesis of the First and Second Murderer, as the great Shakespeare would put it. The First Murderer stabbed his victim and left the compartment, turning off the light. The Second Murderer came in in the dark, did not see that his or her work had been done and stabbed at least twice at a dead body. Que pensez vous de ça?”
“好吧，”他沉思着说，“我们假设有了第一个和第二个凶手，就像伟大的莎士比亚说的那样。第一个凶手刺了被害人，然后关掉灯，离开房间。第二个凶手摸黑进来，没有看见他或者她的任务已然完成，就朝死者又刺了至少两刀。你怎么想？”
The other’s eyes twinkled.
对方的眼睛里闪着光。
“Magnificent,” said the little doctor with enthusiasm.
“真了不起。”小个子医生热诚地说。
“You think so? I am glad. It sounded to me a little like the nonsense.”
“你是这么认为的？我很高兴。可我听着像胡说。”
“I think I can say yes. Some of these blows, as I have already said, point to a weakness — a lack of strength or a lack of determination. They are feeble glancing blows. But this one here — and this one –” Again he pointed. “Great strength was needed for those blows. They have penetrated the muscle.”
“我想也许有。就像我说过的，有些刀伤说明了凶手的一个弱点——缺乏力量或者信心不足。没有力量，只是划了几下。但是这儿的一刀，还有这儿的一刀，”他又指着说道，“这些刀伤需要很大的力气，把肌肉都刺穿了。”
“That is just what I am asking myself. Have we here a coincidence or what? Are there any other inconsistencies, such as would point to two people being concerned?”
“这正是我问自己的。是否是巧合或者其他什么？如果有两个凶手，会不会有自相矛盾的地方？”
Poirot was silent a moment or two.
波洛沉默了一会儿。
“Most certainly.”
“几乎可以确定。”
“A young, vigorous, athletic woman might have struck them, especially if she were in the grip of a strong emotion, but it is in my opinion highly unlikely.”
“一个年轻有力的女运动员可能会刺这几刀，尤其是在情绪极其激动的时候，但是我觉得这不太可能。”
“What other explanation can there be?”
“还能有什么别的解释呢？”
“They were, in your opinion, delivered by a man?”
“在你看来，是不是个男人刺的？”
“They could not have been delivered by a woman?”
“不可能是个女人？”
The other said anxiously. “You understand my point?”
对方急切地问：“你明白我的想法了吗？”
“Perfectly,” said Poirot. “The matter begins to clear itself up wonderfully! The murderer was a man of great strength, he was feeble, it was a woman, it was a right-handed person, it was a left-handed person — Ah! c’est rigolo, tout ça!”
“完全明白，”波洛说，“事情变得清晰了！凶手是个力气很大的男人——他很软弱无力；是个女人；是个习惯用右手的人——是个左撇子。啊哈，真是有意思！”
They looked round them. Ratchett’s day clothing was hanging from the hooks on the wall. On the small table formed by the lid of the washing basin were various objects — false teeth in a glass of water; another glass, empty; a bottle of mineral water, a large flask and an ashtray containing the butt of a cigar and some charred fragments of paper; also two burnt matches.
他们四处看了看。雷切特白天的衣服挂在墙壁的衣钩上。盥洗台上放着各种东西：一只玻璃杯里浸泡着假牙；还有一个空杯子；一瓶矿泉水；一只大的长颈瓶；一个烟灰缸，里面有个雪茄烟烟蒂以及一些烧焦的碎片；还有两根燃过的火柴梗。
Poirot nodded. He picked up the two matches and scrutinized them carefully.
波洛点点头。他捡起两根火柴梗，仔细检查了一番。
The doctor picked up the empty glass and sniffed it.
医生拿起空玻璃杯，闻了闻。
He spoke with sudden anger. “And the victim — what does he do in all this? Does he cry out? Does he struggle? Does he defend himself?”
他突然生气地说：“那被害人，在这个过程中，他在干吗？他大叫了吗？挣扎了吗？自卫了没有？”
“Yes.”
“是的。”
“Those two matches are of a different shape,” said Poirot. “One is flatter than the other. You see?”
“这两根火柴的形状不一样，”波洛说，“这根比那根扁，你看到了吗？”
He slipped his hand under the pillow and drew out the automatic pistol which Ratchett had shown him the day before.
他把手伸进枕头下面，抽出一把自动手枪，前一天雷切特给他看过。
“Drugged?”
“被下药了？”
“Here is the explanation of the victim’s inertia,” he said quietly.
“可以解释受害人被害时为何没有反应了。”他平静地说道。
“You have a clue then?” demanded the little doctor eagerly.
“你有线索了？”小个子医生急切地问道。
“Fully loaded, you see,” he said.
“你看，子弹还是满膛的。”他说。
“The rounder one is a match struck by Mr. Ratchett,” he said. “Let us see if he had also the flatter kind.”
“圆一点的是雷切特擦过的，”他说，“我们看看他有没有扁一点的。”
“Is it not?” said Poirot.
“可不是吗？”波洛说。
“It is the kind you get on a train,” said the doctor, “in paper covers.”
“这是火车上的那种，”医生说，“纸盒装的。”
With a little exclamation he bent and picked up something from the floor.
他轻呼一声，弯下腰，在地板上捡起了一个东西。
Poirot was feeling in the pockets of Ratchett’s clothing. Presently he pulled out a box of matches. He compared them carefully.
波洛在雷切特的衣服口袋里逐个摸索着，不一会儿，他掏出了一盒火柴，跟那两根燃烧过的作了仔细的对比。
It was a small square of cambric, very dainty.
是块小小的方形薄棉布，很精致，边角处绣着一个首字母——H。
“What a stroke of luck for us!” exclaimed the doctor.
“我们的运气真好！”医生大叫。
Poirot’s eyes were darting about the compartment. They were bright and sharp like a bird’s. One felt that nothing could escape their scrutiny.
波洛的眼睛在房间里四处打量，就像鸟儿的眼睛一样闪着锐利的精光，好像什么也逃不出它们的搜寻。
“Our friend the chef de train was right. There is a woman concerned in this.”
“一块女人的手帕，”医生说，“我们的朋友列车长说得对，有个女人牵涉其中。”
“And most conveniently she leaves her handkerchief behind!” said Poirot. “Exactly as it happens in the books and on the films — and to make things even easier for us it is marked with an initial.”
“而且落下一块手帕也最为轻而易举。”波洛说，“真像书里写的、电影里演的——而且对我们而言，事情更简单了，上面还标着一个首字母呢。”
But a further search showed no other matches.
但是进一步搜索之后，没有看到其他火柴。
Something in his tone surprised the doctor. But before he could ask for elucidation, Poirot had made another dive on to the floor.
他的语气让医生有些意外，可还没来得及问，波洛又朝地板上弯下腰去了。
From the breast pocket he brought out a gold watch. The case was dented savagely, and the hands pointed to a quarter past one.
他从睡衣的胸袋里掏出一只金表，表壳瘪得厉害，时针指向一点一刻。
This time he held out on the palm of his hand — a pipe cleaner.
这一次，他手上捧的是一根烟斗通条。
“I overlooked this,” he said. “I unbuttoned the jacket and threw it straight back.”
“我忽略了这个，”他说，“我解开上衣之后就把它翻到后面去了。”
“Ah!” The doctor had been delicately exploring the pyjama pockets of the dead man.
“啊！”医生正在小心地翻看着死者的睡衣口袋。
“It is perhaps the property of M. Ratchett?” suggested the doctor.
“这大概是雷切特先生的东西吧？”医生试探性地问。
“There was no sign of any weapon. The murderer must have taken it away with him.”
“没找到凶器，肯定是凶手带走了。”
“I wonder why,” mused Poirot.
“我想知道为什么。”波洛沉思着。
“Oh! decidedly. And again dropped most conveniently. A masculine clue this time, you note! One cannot complain of having no clues in this case. There are clues here in abundance. By the way, what have you done with the weapon?”
“哦，肯定是。而且又是很恰当地留了下来。你注意看，这次，是条男性线索。不能抱怨这案子没有线索了，线索已经很丰富了。顺便问一下，你是怎么处理凶器的？”
“Then it is a clue.”
“那么，这是条线索。”
“You see?” cried Constantine eagerly. “This gives us the hour of the crime. It agrees with my calculations. Between midnight and two in the morning is what I said, and probably about one o’clock, though it is difficult to be exact in these matters. Eh bien, here is confirmation. A quarter past one. That was the hour of the crime.”
“你看到没？”康斯坦汀热切地大叫，“这告诉了我们作案时间！跟我的推断一样。我说的是半夜十二点到两点之间，有可能是一点钟，虽然这种事情很难精确判断。好啦，这就是证据。一点一刻。这就是作案时间。”
“There was no pipe in any of his pockets, and no tobacco or tobacco pouch.”
“他的衣服口袋里没有通条，也没有烟丝或烟丝袋。”
“I do not understand myself,” said Poirot. “I understand nothing at all, and, as you perceive, it worries me.”
“我也不明白，”波洛说，“完全不清楚。而且，就像你感到的那样，我很苦恼。”
“It is possible, yes. It is certainly possible.”
“有可能，是的，当然有可能。”
Dr. Constantine was at a loss to know what to make of this singular remark. In any case, Poirot gave him no time for questions. Opening the door into the corridor, he called for the conductor.
这句奇怪的话让康斯坦汀医生一头雾水。总之，波洛没有给他提问的机会，他打开门，来到过道上叫列车员。
He sighed and bent over the little table, examining the charred fragment of paper. He murmured to himself. “What I need at this moment is an old-fashioned woman’s hatbox.”
他叹口气，弯腰仔细检查小桌子上烧焦的纸片，自言自语地嘀咕着：“我现在需要一个老式的女士帽盒。”
The doctor looked at him curiously. “You will pardon me, M. Poirot, but I do not quite understand you.”
医生好奇地看着他。“请原谅，波洛先生，但我不太明白你的意思。”
The man arrived at a run.
那人跑了过来。
“Yes, Monsieur.”
“是的，先生。”
Poirot considered.
波洛想了想。
“Then bring me — let me see — yes, the Swedish lady’s and that of the lady’s maid. Those two are the only hope. You will tell them it is a customs regulation — something — anything that occurs to you.”
“那给我拿来吧——让我看看…瑞典太太和那位女仆的。我就要这两个。你跟她们说，这是海关例行检查什么的，随便你怎么说。”
“They all have hatboxes, yes?”
“她们都有帽盒，是吗？”
The conductor counted on his fingers.
列车员掰着手指头数了数。
“One, two, three — six, Monsieur. The old American lady, a Swedish lady, the young English lady, the Countess Andrenyi and Madame la Princess Dragomiroff and her maid.”
“一、二、三…六个，先生。一位美国老太太，一位瑞典太太，年轻的英国小姐，安德雷尼伯爵夫人，还有德拉戈米罗夫公主和她的女仆。”
“How many women are there in this coach?”
“这节车厢有多少个女人？”
The conductor departed. He returned with the two hatboxes. Poirot opened that of the lady’s maid and tossed it aside. Then he opened the Swedish lady’s and uttered an exclamation of satisfaction. Removing the hats carefully, he disclosed round humps of wire netting.
列车员离开了，回来时拿着两个帽盒。波洛打开女仆的那个，看了看就扔在一旁。然后他打开瑞典太太的那个，满意地叫了一声，小心翼翼地取出帽子，揭开下面垫帽子用的圆形铁丝网。
“Then be quick.”
“那就快点。”
“Ah, here is what we need. About fifteen years ago hatboxes were made like this. You skewered through the hat with a hatpin on to this hump of wire netting.”
“哈，这正是我们需要的。大约十五年前，帽盒就是这么做的。女人们用帽针把帽子串在凸起来的铁丝网上。”
“See you, my dear doctor, me, I am not one to rely upon the expert procedure. It is the psychology I seek, not the fingerprint or the cigarette ash. But in this case I would welcome a little scientific assistance. This compartment is full of clues, but can I be sure that those clues are really what they seem to be?”
“我亲爱的医生，你看，我不是一个遵循专业程序的人，我要探索的是心理学，而不是指纹或烟灰。但在这个案子中我需要一点科学的帮助。这房间里充满了线索，但是我能确定这些线索真就是表面看起来的那样吗？”
As he spoke he was skilfully removing two of the attachments. Then he repacked the hatbox and told the conductor to return them both where they belonged.
他边说边熟练地取下两圈铁丝，然后重新装好了帽盒，告诉列车员物归原主。
“That will be all right Monsieur. Neither lady is in her compartment at the moment.”
“好的，先生。这会儿她们都不在自己的房间。”
When the door was shut once more he turned to his companion.
当门再次关上的时候，他转向同伴。
“I do not quite understand you, M. Poirot.”
“我不是很明白你的意思，波洛先生。”
“Well, to give you an example — we find a woman’s handkerchief. Did a woman drop it? Or did a man, committing the crime, say to himself ‘I will make this look like a woman’s crime. I will stab my enemy an unnecessary number of times, making some of the blows feeble and ineffective, and I will drop this handkerchief where no one can miss it.’ That is one possibility. Then there is another. Did a woman kill him and did she deliberately drop a pipe cleaner to make it look like a man’s work? Or are we seriously to suppose that two people — a man and a woman — were separately concerned, and that each was so careless as to drop a clue to their identity? It is a little too much of a coincidence, that!”
“那好，举个例子——我们发现了一块女人的手帕。那就一定是个女人掉的吗？会不会是个男人，在作案的时候，对自己说‘我得弄得像个女人做的。我要给我的敌人多刺上不必要的几刀，有几刀要软弱无力，无关痛痒。我要把手帕扔在人人都能看见的地方’？这是一种可能。还有一种可能。如果是一个女人杀了他，会不会故意扔下一根烟斗通条，好让人看着像个男人干的？我们是否真的认为是两个人，一个男人、一个女人，分别作案，而且每个人都粗心大意地丢下了能识别他们身份的线索？巧合太多了！”
“Ah! I’m coming to that. As I say, these clues, the watch stopped at a quarter past one, the handkerchief, the pipe cleaner, they may be genuine, or they may be fake. As to that I cannot yet tell. But there is one clue here which I believe — though again I may be wrong — has not been faked. I mean this flat match, M. le docteur. I believe that that match was used by the murderer, not by M. Ratchett. It was used to burn an incriminating paper of some kind. Possibly a note. If so, there was something in that note, some mistake, some error, that left a possible clue to the assailant. I am going to endeavour to resurrect what that something was.”
“啊，我正要解释。正如我所说，这些线索——金表指针停在一点一刻，这手帕、烟斗通条——它们可能是真的，也可能是故意伪造的。我还无法告诉你。但这儿有个线索——虽然我可能错了——我认为不是伪造的。我指的是这根扁的火柴，医生。我认为这根火柴是凶手用过的，而不是雷切特先生的。用来烧掉某种会暴露罪行的文件。也许是本笔记。若真如此，那本子里一定有什么东西，某个错误，某个疏忽，可能留下了关于凶手的线索。我正在设法找到这个东西是什么。”
“But where does the hatbox come in?” asked the doctor, still puzzled.
“可是帽盒有什么用呢？”医生仍然困惑地问道。
He went out of the compartment and returned a few moments later with a small spirit stove and a pair of curling tongs.
他走出房间，几分钟之后，带回一个小酒精炉和一把烫发钳。
“I use them for the moustaches,” he said, referring to the latter.
“我平时用来烫胡子的。”他指着后者说。
The doctor watched him with great interest. He flattened out the two humps of wire, and with great care wriggled the charred scrap of paper on to one of them. He clapped the other on top of it and then, holding both pieces together with the tongs, held the whole thing over the flame of the spirit lamp.
医生带着极大的兴趣观察着他。波洛把两圈凸起的铁丝网捋平，然后非常小心地把烧焦的纸片放在其中一个上，再把另外一个盖在上面，用钳子把两圈铁丝网钳在一块儿，放在酒精灯的火焰上。
It was a very tiny scrap. Only three words and a part of another showed.
这是一个很小的纸片，只显示出了几个和另一个字的一部分。
Poirot’s eyes were shining. He laid down the tongs carefully.
波洛两眼发光，小心翼翼地放下钳子。
“It is a very makeshift affair, this,” he said over his shoulder. “Let us hope that it will answer its purpose.”
“这只是个临时替代品，”他扭过头说，“但愿能达到目的。”
“– member little Daisy Armstrong.”
“记（得）小黛西·阿姆斯特朗。”
The doctor watched the proceedings attentively. The metal began to glow. Suddenly he saw faint indications of letters. Words formed themselves slowly — words of fire.
医生很专心地看着整个过程。铁丝开始发红，忽然，他看到几个隐约的字，火让这些字母慢慢变成了单词。
“It tells you something?” asked the doctor.
“它告诉你什么了吗？”医生问道。
“Ah!” Poirot gave a sharp exclamation.
“啊！”波洛尖叫一声。
“What was his name?”
“他叫什么名字？”
“Yes,” he said. “I know the dead man’s real name. I know why he had to leave America.”
“是的，”他说，“我知道死者的真名了，也知道他为什么被迫离开美国了。”
“Cassetti.”
“卡塞蒂。”
“Cassetti.” Constantine knitted his brows. “It brings back to me something. Some years ago. I cannot remember… It was a case in America, was it not?”
“卡塞蒂？”医生拧着眉头，“这让我想起了一些事。好几年前，我记不得…这是个美国的案子，对吗？”
Further than that Poirot was not disposed to be communicative. He looked round him as he went on:
除了这些，他不愿意再多说什么了。他环视四周，接着说：
“We will go into all that presently. Let us first make sure that we have seen all there is to be seen here.”
“我们以后再说吧。现在让我们确认一下这里该看的是否都看过了。”
“There is one thing that I do not understand,” said Dr. Constantine. “If the murderer did not escape through the window, and if this communicating door was bolted on the other side, and if the door into the corridor was not only locked on the inside but chained, how then did the murderer leave the compartment?”
“有件事我不明白，”康斯坦汀医生说，“如果凶手没有从窗户里逃跑，如果这扇连通门从另一面闩上了，如果通向过道的门不仅从里面锁上了，而且还扣上了链条，那么凶手是怎么离开房间的呢？”
“Yes,” said Poirot. “A case in America.”
“是的，”波洛说，“美国的一个案子。”
Quickly and deftly he went once more through the pockets of the dead man’s clothes but found nothing there of interest. He tried the communicating door which led through to the next compartment, but it was bolted on the other side.
他迅速而熟练地又检查了一遍死者的衣服口袋，但是没找到让他有兴趣的东西。他试着打开通往隔壁房间的连通门，但是门从另一边闩上了。
“That is what the audience says when a person bound hand and foot is shut into a cabinet — and disappears.”
“这也是观众说的，当一个人被捆住手脚关进箱子里——不见了之后。”
“You mean –“
“你是说？”
He locked the communicating door on their side. “In case,” he said, “the excellent Mrs. Hubbard should take it into her head to acquire first-hand details of the crime to write to her daughter.”
他把连通门在另外一边锁上了。“以防万一，”他说，“那位优秀的哈巴特太太头脑一热，打算收集第一手犯罪资料，写信给她女儿。”
He looked round once more.
他再次环顾四周。
“I mean,” explained Poirot, “that if the murderer intended us to believe that he had escaped by way of the window he would naturally make it appear that the other two exits were impossible. Like the ‘disappearing person’ in the cabinet — it is a trick. It is our business to find out how the trick is done.”
“我的意思是，”波洛解释道，“如果凶手有意让我们相信他是从窗口逃跑的，他自然会让另外两个出口看上去不可能出得去。就像箱子里‘消失的人’一样，这是个骗局。我们的工作就是揭穿骗局。”
“There is nothing more to do here, I think. Let us rejoin M. Bouc.”
“我想，这儿没事可做了。我们去找布克先生。”
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