福爾摩斯探案經典:《恐怖谷》第6章Part7
"Well, Mr. Holmes, if this is true, we only tumble out of one mystery into another," said the London inspector.
"And in some ways a worse one," added White Mason. "The lady has never been in America in all her life. What possible connection could she have with an American assassin which would cause her to shelter him?"
"I freely admit the difficulties," said Holmes. "I propose to make a little investigation of my own to-night, and it is just possible that it may contribute something to the common cause."
"Can we help you, Mr. Holmes?"
"No, no! Darkness and Dr. Watson's umbrella--my wants are simple. And Ames, the faithful Ames, no doubt he will stretch a point for me. All my lines of thought lead me back invariably to the one basic question--why should an athletic man develop his frame upon so unnatural an instrument as a single dumb-bell?"
It was late that night when Holmes returned from his solitary excursion. We slept in a double-bedded room, which was the best that the little country inn could do for us. I was already asleep when I was partly awakened by his entrance.
"Well, Holmes," I murmured, "have you found anything out?"
He stood beside me in silence, his candle in his hand. Then the tall, lean figure inclined towards me. "I say, Watson," he whispered, "would you be afraid to sleep in the same room with a lunatic, a man with softening of the brain, an idiot whose mind has lost its grip?"
"Not in the least," I answered in astonishment.
"Ah, that's lucky," he said, and not another word would he utter that night.
“好，福爾摩斯先生，假如這是真的，那我們愈發弄得莫名其妙了。"這個倫敦警官說道。
“而且是更加難於理解了，"懷特·梅森補充說道，“道格拉斯夫人一生中從未到過美洲。她怎麼可能和一個美洲來的兇手有瓜葛，並使她庇護這一罪犯呢？”
“我承認存在這些疑問，"福爾摩斯說道，“我打算今天晚上親自去調查一下，也可能會發現一些有助於破案的情況。”
“福爾摩斯先生，我們能幫你的忙嗎？”
“不，不用！我的需要很簡單。只要天色漆黑再加上華生醫生的雨傘就行了。還有艾姆斯，這個忠實的艾姆斯，毫無疑問，他會破例給我些方便的。我的一切思路始終縈繞着一個基本問題：爲什麼一個運動員鍛鍊身體要這麼不合情理地使用單個啞鈴？”
半夜時候，福爾摩斯才獨自調查回來。我們住的屋子有兩張牀，這已經是這家鄉村小旅館對我們最大的優待了。那時我已入睡，他進門時才把我驚醒。
“哦，福爾摩斯，"我喃喃地說道，“你可發現什麼新情況了嗎？”
他手裏拿着蠟燭，站在我身邊，默默不語，然後他那高大而瘦削的身影向我俯過來。“我說，華生，"他低聲說道，“你現在和一個神經失常的人，一個頭腦失去控制的白癡，睡在同一個屋子裏，不覺得害怕麼？”
“一點也不怕。"我吃驚地回答道。
“啊，運氣還不錯，"他說道，這一夜他就再也沒有說一句話。
