2 The Scene of the Crime

Chapter 2 TheScene oftheCrime Holmes put on his coat. "Come with me, Watson, if you've nothing better to do." Intrigued to see Holmes use his methods in action, I agreed, and a moment later we were in a hansom cab, driving toward Brixton. Number 3 Lauriston Gardens was a terraced house with empty windows and a melancholy air. At the door, we were met by the tall, pale, fair-haired Tobias Gregson. "It's good of you to come, Holmes," he said. "I've left everything untouched." "Except that!" Holmes pointed at the many muddy footsteps on the walkway. "A herd of buffaloes wouldn't have caused greater mess. I trust you checked the walkway for footprints before you allowed this?"

第二章犯罪现场福尔摩斯穿上外套。 “跟我来吧，华生，如果你没有别的事可做的话。” 我很想看看福尔摩斯如何运用他的方法，于是同意了。不一会儿，我们就坐上了一辆双座马车，向布里克斯顿驶去。 劳瑞斯顿花园3号是一幢排屋，窗户空无一人，气氛阴沉。 在门口，我们遇到了高个子、脸色苍白、金发的托拜厄斯·格雷森。 “福尔摩斯，你能来真是太好了，”他说。 “我什么都没动。” “除了!”福尔摩斯指着人行道上许多泥泞的脚印。 “一群水牛不会造成更大的混乱。 我相信你在允许这件事发生之前检查过走道上有没有脚印吧？”

"I was too busy inside," said Gregson. "I left that to Lestrade." "Lestrade's here, too?" Holmes glanced at me, smiling. "Did either of you come here in a cab?" "No, sir." "Good, then let us inspect the room." Gregson and I followed him into the house, both puzzled by his odd question about the cab. The dining room was large and entirely empty of furniture. A layer of dust lay over everything. Lying stretched upon the bare floorboards was the body of a man —he was quite dead. The man was in his mid-forties with black hair and a short beard, and wore an expensive coat. His rigid face wore a look of horror, his fists were clenched, and his arms

“我在屋里太忙了，”格雷森说。 “我把这件事留给雷斯垂德了。” “雷斯垂德也在这儿？”福尔摩斯瞥了我一眼，微笑着。 “你们俩谁是坐马车来的？”“不,先生。” “好，那我们来检查一下房间吧。” 葛莱森和我跟着他进了屋，我们都被他关于马车的奇怪问题弄糊涂了。 餐厅很大，没有家具。 一切都蒙上了一层灰尘。 光秃秃的地板上躺着一具男人的尸体——他已经死了。 这个男人四十多岁，黑头发，短胡子，穿着一件昂贵的外套。 他僵硬的脸上带着恐惧的神色，他的拳头攥得紧紧的，他的胳膊

thrown wide, as if his death struggle had been extremely unpleasant. Lestrade appeared at the door. "We've found no clues, Mr. Holmes," he said. "None whatsoever," confirmed Gregson. "Are you sure there's no wound?" "Positive!" cried both detectives. "Then this blood belongs to someone else—presumably the murderer." Holmes pointed to a splash of blood on the floor. He began examining the body. "You can take him to the mortuary now," he finally declared. Gregson ordered a stretcher and four men. As they raised the body, something rolled across the floor. Lestrade picked it up. "It's a woman's wedding ring!" "What did you find in his pockets?" asked Holmes.

扔得很宽，好像他临死前的挣扎非常不愉快。 雷斯垂德出现在门口。 “我们没有发现任何线索，福尔摩斯先生，”他说。 “一点也没有，"葛莱森证实说。 “你确定没有受伤吗？”“肯定！”两位侦探都叫了起来。 “那么这血是别人的——很可能是凶手。” 福尔摩斯指着地板上的血迹。 他开始检查尸体。 “你现在可以带他去停尸房了，”他终于宣布。 格雷森叫来一架担架和四个人。 当他们把尸体抬起来时，有什么东西在地板上滚来滚去。 雷斯垂德把它捡了起来。“这是一个女人的结婚戒指！”“你在他的口袋里发现了什么？”福尔摩斯问道。

Gregson showed him a box containing some odds and ends, including a letter to Enoch Drebber and Joseph Stangerson, confirming their places on a steamship voyage from Liverpool to New York. "Have you made queries about these men, Gregson?" asked Holmes. "Yes, but we've learned nothing yet." "Wait! I've found something!" cried Lestrade. We joined him in a gloomy corner of the room. Lestrade was holding a match up to the wall. There, on a bare piece of plaster, a single word had been scrawled in blood: RACHE. "This is an important discovery, which would have been overlooked but for my eagle eye," said Lestrade.

葛莱森给他看了一个盒子，里面装着一些零零碎碎的东西，其中有一封写给以诺·锥伯和约瑟夫·斯坦节逊的信，信上确定了他们乘坐从利物浦到纽约的汽船的位置。 “葛莱森，你有没有打听过这些人的情况？”福尔摩斯问道。 “是的，但是我们什么也没学到。” “等等!我发现了一些东西！"雷斯垂德叫道。 我们和他一起坐在房间阴暗的角落里。 雷斯垂德把一根火柴举到墙上。 在一块光秃秃的石膏上，用血潦草地写着一个字：瑞秋。 雷斯垂德说：“这是一个重要的发现，如果不是我的敏锐的眼睛，它可能会被忽视。”

"And what does it mean now you've found it?" asked Gregson disdainfully. "Mean? The writer was going to write the name Rachel, but was disturbed before they could finish. You mark my words, when this case is solved, you'll find there's a woman named Rachel involved."

“现在你找到了，这是什么意思呢？"葛莱森轻蔑地问。 ”是什么意思?作家正要写瑞秋这个名字，但还没写完就被打扰了。 你记住我的话，当这个案子解决后，你会发现有一个叫瑞秋的女人参与其中。”

Holmes took out a tape measure and magnifying glass and began examining the room. For the next twenty minutes he moved about, studying virtually invisible marks and taking measurements. At one point, he carefully gathered a pile of dust from the floor and stored it in an envelope. Gregson and Lestrade looked on in bemusement. "What do you think, sir?" asked Gregson finally. "I wouldn't presume to offer you my help since you're both doing so well," answered Holmes. "But I'd like to speak to the policeman who found the body." "It was Constable John Rance," said Lestrade. He gave him the address.

福尔摩斯拿出卷尺和放大镜，开始检查房间。 接下来的二十分钟里，他走来走去，研究着几乎看不见的记号，量着尺寸。 有一次，他小心翼翼地从地板上捡起一堆灰尘，并把它放在一个信封里。 葛莱森和雷斯垂德茫然地看着。 “你觉得怎么样，先生？”葛莱森最后问道。 福尔摩斯回答说：“既然你们俩都做得很好，我就不冒昧地给你们提供帮助了。” “但我想和发现尸体的警察谈谈。” “是约翰·兰斯警官，”雷斯垂德说。 他把地址给了他。