《福尔摩斯探案集·蓝宝石案》第31节
“I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the best detective that ever lived. “My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds—a fine big one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and fluttered off among the others.
注释摘要
这一节是詹姆斯·赖德在福尔摩斯面前进行的全盘供述，此前他已被识破身份，精神防线也已崩溃。他正在交代自己如何在酒店行窃之后想到利用姐姐的家禽来转移宝石的经过。 赖德首先交代了自己在盗窃之后的精神状态和行动逻辑。他提到一个旧相识，名叫马兹利，此人“已经堕落”，刚刚在彭顿维尔监狱服完刑期。赖德选择向此人求助，并非出于友谊，而是一种犯罪者之间的互相牵制——“我知道…