《福尔摩斯探案集·铜山毛榉案》第28节
“I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on his face which made him a very different person to the round, jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me without a word or a look. “This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever.
注释摘要
维奥莱特·亨特小姐在叙述中做了一件相当老练的事：她不满足于仅仅讲述事件的表面经过，而是主动将自己的观察方法交代出来。这一句“我天生善于观察，福尔摩斯先生，您也许已经注意到了”，既是对福尔摩斯此前审视目光的一种回应，也是她为自己接下来要讲的探索所做的铺垫。她在短时间内就在脑海中绘出了整栋房子的平面图，这一点本身就值得留意——一个处于陌生环境中、本应处于被动地…