《福尔摩斯探案集·歪唇男人》第18节
“No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the pockets to make sure of the coat’s sinking. He throws it out, and would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the window when the police appeared.” “It certainly sounds feasible.”
注释摘要
这一节里，福尔摩斯在马车中对华生提出了一个完整而具体的假设，试图解释斯旺丹巷鸦片馆里圣克莱尔先生的失踪。他坦承这个假设有“似是而非”（speciously）的成分，却依然将其当作一个“工作假说”来展开。在这个推想中，残废的布恩把圣克莱尔推出窗户之后，立刻意识到必须处理掉那些暴露身份的衣服；他抓起外套正要扔出，却发现外套会浮在水面，于是匆忙跑到藏匿乞丐所得的…