福爾摩斯探案經典:《恐怖谷》第7章Part5
"I'll dictate it, if you.like. Ready?
"Dear Sir:
"It has struck me that it is our duty to drain the moat, in the hope that we may find some--"
"It's impossible," said the inspector. "I've made inquiry."
"Tut, tut! My dear sir, please do what I ask you."
"Well, go on."
"--in the hope that we may find something which may bear upon our investigation. I have made arrangements, and the workmen will be at work early to-morrow morning diverting the stream--"
"Impossible!"
"--diverting the stream; so I thought it best to explain matters beforehand.
"Now sign that, and send it by hand about four o'clock. At that hour we shall meet again in this room. Until then we may each do what we like; for I can assure you that this inquiry has come to a definite pause."
Evening was drawing in when we reassembled. Holmes was very serious in his manner, myself curious, and the detectives obviously critical and annoyed.
"Well, gentlemen," said my friend gravely, "I am asking you now to put everything to the test with me, and you will judge for yourselves whether the observations I have made justify the conclusions to which I have come. It is a chill evening, and I do not know how long our expedition may last; so I beg that you will wear your warmest coats. It is of the first importance that we should be in our places before it grows dark; so with your permission we shall get started at once."
We passed along the outer bounds of the Manor House park until we came to a place where there was a gap in the rails which fenced it. Through this we slipped, and then in the gathering gloom we followed Holmes until we had reached a shrubbery which lies nearly opposite to the main door and the drawbridge. The latter had not been raised. Holmes crouched down behind the screen of laurels, and we all three followed his example.
"Well, what are we to do now?" asked MacDonald with some gruffness.
"Possess our souls in patience and make as little noise as possible," Holmes answered.
"What are we here for at all? I really think that you might treat us with more frankness."
“如果你願意的話，那我就口述了。準備好了嗎？
'親愛的先生，我覺得，我們有責任排淨護城河的水，
希望我們能找到一些……'”
“這是不可能的，"麥克唐納說道，“我已做過調查了。”
“嘖，嘖，我親愛的先生！寫吧，請照我所說的寫好了。”
“好，接着說吧。”
“'……希望我們能找到與我們的調查有關的什麼東西。我已經安排好了。明天清早工人們就來上工，把河水引走……'”
“不可能！”
“'把河水引走，所以我想最好還是預先說明一下。'
“現在籤個名吧，四點鐘左右，由專人送去。那時我們再在這間屋裏見面。在見面以前，我們可以一切自便。我可以向你們保證，調查肯定可以暫停了。”
將近黃昏時分，我們又重新聚集在一起。福爾摩斯態度非常嚴肅，我懷着好奇的心理，而兩個偵探顯然極爲不滿，異常氣惱。
“好吧，先生們，"我的朋友嚴肅地說道，“我請你們現在和我一同去把一切情況都考察一下，然後你們自己就會作出判斷，我所作的觀察究竟是否能說明我得出的結論有道理。夜間天氣很冷，我也不知道要去多長時間，所以請你們多穿一些衣服。最重要的是，我們要在天黑以前趕到現場。如果你們同意的話，我們現在立即出發。”
莊園花園四周有欄杆圍着，我們順着花園向前走，直到一個地方，那裏的欄杆有一個豁口，我們穿過豁口溜進花園。在越來越暗的暮色中，我們隨着福爾摩斯走到一片灌木叢附近，幾乎就在正門和吊橋的對過。吊橋還沒有拉起來。福爾摩斯蹲下來藏在月桂樹叢後面，我們三個人照他的樣子蹲下來。
“好，現在我們要幹什麼呢？"麥克唐納唐突地問道。
“我們要耐心等待，儘量不要出聲，"福爾摩斯答道。
“我們到底要在這兒幹什麼？我認爲你應該對我們開誠佈公一些！”
