《福尔摩斯探案集·歪唇男人》第36节
“Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my room above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw, to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the street, with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my confidant, the Lascar, entreated him to prevent anyone from coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife’s eyes could not pierce so complete a disguise. But then it occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. “I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to fear.”
注释摘要
圣克莱尔开始交代周一那天下午究竟发生了什么。他的叙述从鸦片馆二楼房间开始：他结束了一天的乞讨，正在换上体面衣服，无意间望出窗外，看见妻子就站在下面街上，双眼正对着他。他惊叫、抬手遮脸，随即冲向他的同谋——那个拉斯卡人——恳求他拦住任何想上楼的人。他听见妻子的声音从楼下传来，知道她上不来，立刻脱下身上的衣服，换上乞丐装束，涂上颜料、戴上假发。他说，即便是妻子…