6 The Scowrers

Chapter 6 The Scowrers The man blinked at us with the dazed look of someone who had spent a long time in darkness. "I'm flabbergasted!" declared MacDonald. "If you're Mr. John Douglas of Birlstone Manor, then whose death have we been investigating these past two days, and where in the world did you just spring from? You seemed to come right out of the wall." "Ah, Mr. Mac!" said Holmes. "I told you to read that book on the history of this house. It has some quite miraculous hiding places. If it could hide a king, then I was certain it could conceal Mr. Douglas, too, and so it did. As soon as I fished that bundle of clothes out of the moat, I knew the body we found couldn't have belonged to Douglas but to the cyclist from Tunbridge Wells." "I don't regret any of it and I'd do it all again," said Douglas. "This gang has been hunting me

第六章死酷党人那人对我们眨了眨眼睛，一副在黑暗中呆了很长时间的人的茫然表情。 “我大吃一惊！"麦克唐纳说。 “如果你是伯尔斯通庄园的约翰·道格拉斯先生，那么这两天我们调查的是谁的死呢？你究竟是从哪儿冒出来的？” 你好像刚从墙里出来似的。” “啊，麦克先生！”福尔摩斯说道。 “我叫你读那本关于这所房子历史的书。 它有一些神奇的藏身之处。 如果它能把国王藏起来，那么我肯定它也能把道格拉斯先生藏起来，事实也的确如此。 当我从护城河中捞出那捆衣服时，我就知道我们发现的尸体不可能是道格拉斯的，而是来自坦布里奇韦尔斯的那个骑自行车的人的。” 道格拉斯说：“我一点也不后悔，我还会再来一次。” “这帮人一直在追捕我

for years and I'm sick of it. And when I saw Baldwin in Tunbridge Wells, I... But don't blame my wife or Barker. They knew nothing about this. When you questioned them yesterday, they told you all they knew." "Tell us about Baldwin, Mr. Douglas," suggested MacDonald. "It was on January 5," said Douglas. "I was in Tunbridge Wells when I glimpsed him walking down the street. He's one of the gang who've been on my tail. I don't know how he found me. I was nervous all the next day, but I thought I was safe that night with the drawbridge up. I

这么多年了，我受够了。 当我在坦布里奇韦尔斯看到鲍德温时，我…… 但别怪我妻子和巴克。 他们对此一无所知。 你昨天问他们的时候，他们把知道的都告诉你了。” “道格拉斯先生，给我们讲讲鲍德温的情况吧，"麦克唐纳建议道。 道格拉斯说：“那天是1月5日。 “我在坦布里奇韦尔斯瞥见他在街上走的时候。 他是跟踪我的那伙人之一。 我不知道他是怎么找到我的。 第二天我一整天都很紧张，但我认为吊桥升起的那天晚上我是安全的。 我

never dreamed he'd already sneaked into the house. "When I entered the study, I immediately scented danger. If you've been on the run as long as I have, you develop an instinct for these things. So when Baldwin flung the curtain aside and aimed his shotgun at my chest, I was already charging at him. As he cocked the weapon to fire, I grabbed the barrel and tried to wrest it from him. His grip was as tight as iron, but I managed to push the barrel up under his chin. Maybe I pulled the trigger or maybe we both did. Anyhow, he got both barrels in the face.

没想到他已经溜进了房子。 “当我走进书房时，我立刻感觉到危险。 如果你像我一样逃亡了这么久，你就会对这些事情有一种本能。 所以，当鲍德温掀开窗帘，用猎枪对准我的胸膛时，我已经在向他冲锋了。 当他扳起枪托准备射击时，我抓住枪管，试图从他手里夺过来。 他的手握得像铁一样紧，但我还是把枪管顶到了他的下巴下。 也许是我开的枪，或者我们都是。 不管怎么说，他脸上都挨了两枪。

"I was still standing there in shock when Barker and my wife came down. I began explaining to them what had happened. That's when the idea came to me of swapping places with him. "The man was roughly my size and height. He had the same silver hair and branded mark of the gang on his forearm. I fetched some spare clothes and in ten minutes I'd put my dressing gown on him and laid him out as you found him. We put his things in the moat and I laid the card he'd meant to lay on my body beside his. I even placed the plaster from my shaving cut on his

“当巴克和我妻子下来的时候，我还站在那里震惊不已。 我开始向他们解释所发生的事情。 就在那时，我有了和他交换位置的想法。 “那个男人的身材和身高都和我差不多。 他有同样的银发，前臂上有帮派的烙印。 我拿了几件换洗的衣服，十分钟后给他穿上晨衣，就像你发现他时那样把他躺在地上。 我们把他的东西放在护城河里，我把他要放在我身上的卡片放在他的旁边。 我甚至把刮伤的膏药贴在他身上

jaw. You slipped up there, Mr. Holmes. If you'd removed it, you'd have found no cut beneath it. The only problem was my wedding ring." Douglas held up his finger. "As you can see, it's on too tight to remove. "My plan was to lie low and let these people think Baldwin had got his man. Then I'd go abroad somewhere, joined by my 'widow', and live out the rest of my life in peace. "I suppose you can work out the rest for yourselves. Barker made the blood mark on the sill to show how the murderer escaped, then I hid, and he rang the bell for all he was worth."

下巴。你说错了，福尔摩斯先生 如果你把它移开，你不会发现下面有伤口。 唯一的问题是我的结婚戒指。” 道格拉斯举起手指。 “正如你所看到的，它太紧了，取不下来。 “我的计划是低调行事，让这些人以为鲍德温抓住了他的人。 然后我会到国外某个地方，和我的“寡妇”一起，平静地度过余生。 “我想其余的事情你们可以自己解决。 巴克在窗台上做了血印，以表明凶手是如何逃跑的，然后我躲了起来，他拼命地按了门铃。”

"Who are these people who want to kill you, Mr. Douglas?" asked Mason. "They're part of a gang called the Scowrers," said Douglas. "They dominated Vermissa Valley, this coal-mining area in the western United States." "That would explain the V. V. on the card left by the body," said Holmes. Douglas nodded. "It came to be known as the Valley of Fear, because the Scowrers were so cruel to the people living there. "I was a detective back in those days, based in Chicago, and I was determined to bring the

“道格拉斯先生，这些想杀你的人是谁？”梅森问。 “他们是一个叫死酷党人的团伙的成员。”道格拉斯说。 “他们统治了维尔米萨山谷，这是美国西部的煤矿区。” “这就解释了V字。 V.在尸体旁边留下的卡片上，"福尔摩斯说道。 道格拉斯点点头。“这里后来被称为‘恐惧谷’，因为死酷党人对住在那里的人非常残忍。 “那时候我是一名侦探，在芝加哥工作，我决定把