福爾摩斯探案經典:《恐怖谷》第2章Part6
Sherlock Holmes's eyes glistened, his pale cheeks took a warmer hue, and his whole eager face shone with an inward light when the call for work reached him. Leaning forward in the cab, he listened intently to MacDonald's short sketch of the problem which awaited us in Sussex. The inspector was himself dependent, as he explained to us, upon a scribbled account forwarded to him by the milk train in the early hours of the morning. White Mason, the local officer, was a personal friend, and hence MacDonald had been notified much more promptly than is usual at Scotland Yard when provincials need their assistance. It is a very cold scent upon which the Metropolitan expert is generally asked to run. "DEAR INSPECTOR MACDONALD (said the letter which he read to us): "Official requisition for your services is in separate envelope. This is for your private eye. Wire me what train in the morning you can get for Birlstone, and I will meet it--or have it met if I am too occupied. This case is a snorter. Don't waste a moment in getting started. If you can bring Mr. Holmes, please do so; for he will find something after his own heart. We would think the whole had been fixed up for theatrical effect if there wasn't a dead man in the middle of it. My word! it IS a snorter."
"Your friend seems to be no fool," remarked Holmes.
"No, sir, White Mason is a very live man, if I am any judge."
"Well, have you anything more?"
"Only that he will give us every detail when we meet."
"Then how did you get at Mr. Douglas and the fact that he had been horribly murdered?"
"That was in the inclosed official report. It didn't say 'horrible': that's not a recognized official term. It gave the name John Douglas. It mentioned that his injuries had been in the head, from the discharge of a shotgun. It also mentioned the hour of the alarm, which was close on to midnight last night. It added that the case was undoubtedly one of murder, but that no arrest had been made, and that the case was one which presented some very perplexing and extraordinary features. That's absolutely all we have at present, Mr. Holmes."
"Then, with your permission, we will leave it at that, Mr. Mac. The temptation to form premature theories upon insufficient data is the bane of our profession. I can see only two things for certain at present--a great brain in London, and a dead man in Sussex. It's the chain between that we are going to trace."
歇洛克·福爾摩斯遇到了要求他解決的案子，他的兩眼炯炯傳神，蒼白的雙頰微現紅暈，急於求成的面龐神采奕奕。他坐在車上，上身前傾，聚精會神地傾聽麥克唐納講述這個案子的簡要情況。這個案子正等待着我們到蘇塞克斯去解決呢。警官向我們解釋說，他是根據送給他的一份草草寫成的報告講的，這份報告是清晨通過送牛奶的火車帶給他的。地方官懷特·梅森是他的好朋友，在別處的人需要他們幫忙的時候，麥克唐納總是比蘇格蘭場收到通知要快得多。這是一樁無從下手的案子，這樣的案子一般需要由大城市的專家去解決的。“親愛的麥克唐納警官（他念給我們的信上這樣說）：這信是寫給你個人的，另有公文送到警署。請打電報通知我，你坐早晨哪一班車到伯爾斯通來，以便我去迎候。如果我不能脫身，也將派人去接。這個案件不比尋常。請你火速前來，不要耽誤一點時間。如果你能和福爾摩斯先生一起來，務請同行。他會發現一些完全合他心意的事。如果不是其中有一個死人，我們就會以爲全部案子是戲劇性地解決了呢。哎呀，這真是個不尋常的案子啊！”
“你的朋友似乎並不愚蠢，"福爾摩斯說道。
“對，先生，如果讓我評價的話，懷特·梅森是一個精力非常充沛的人。”
“好，你還有什麼別的話要說嗎？”
“咱們遇到他時，他會把一切詳情告訴咱們的。”
“那麼，你是怎麼知道道格拉斯先生和他慘遭殺害的事實的？”
“那是隨信附來的正式報告上說的。報告上沒有用那'慘遭'二字，這不是一個公認的正式術語，只是說死者叫約翰·道格拉斯，提到他傷在頭部，是被火槍射中的；還提到案發的時間是昨晚接近午夜時分；還說這案件無疑是一樁謀殺案，不過還沒有對任何人實行拘捕。此案案件具有非常複雜和分外離奇的持點。福爾摩斯先生，這就是當前我們所知道的全部情況。”
“那麼，麥克先生，你如果贊成，我們就談到這裏。根據不足過早做出判斷，這對咱們的工作是極爲有害的。當前我只能肯定兩件事——倫敦的一個大智囊和蘇塞克斯的死者。我們所要查清的正是這兩者之間的聯繫。”
