2 Murder at Pondicherry Lodge

Chapter 2 Murder at Pondicherry Lodge Pondicherry Lodge was a vast, gloomy house surrounded by a high stone wall. The porter, Mr. McMurdo, let us in. We found the housekeeper, Mrs. Bernstone, in a state of distress and very relieved to see us. "Master has locked himself in his room all day, Mr. Thaddeus, sir. You must go up and see what's wrong." Leaving Miss Morstan to comfort Mrs. Bernstone, we went upstairs. Holmes knocked on Bartholomew's door but received no response. The door was bolted on the inside, so Holmes and I flung ourselves against it. On our second attempt, it gave way with a loud crack, and we fell into the room.

第二章本地治里小屋的谋杀案本地治里小屋是一幢阴暗的大房子，四周有一道高高的石墙。 看门人麦克默多先生让我们进去的。 我们发现女管家伯恩斯通太太很苦恼，见到我们很放心。 “老爷整天把自己锁在屋里，塞笛厄斯先生，先生。 你得上去看看出了什么事。” 摩斯坦小姐去安慰伯恩斯通太太，我们上楼去了。 福尔摩斯敲了敲巴塞洛缪的门，但没有回应。 门是从里面闩上的，所以福尔摩斯和我就扑了上去。 当我们第二次尝试的时候，它裂开了，发出一声巨响，我们掉进了房间里。

Bartholomew was seated in an armchair, a grin frozen on his face. He was stiff and cold and had clearly been dead for many hours. On the table next to him was a torn sheet of paper. Scrawled on it were the words, "The sign of four." "What does it mean?" I asked. Peering more closely at the dead man, Holmes pulled out a long, dark thorn stuck in his skin just above the ear. "It means murder," he said, examining the thorn. "This is poison-tipped." Thaddeus stared at his brother in horror. Then he noticed something else. "The treasure is gone!" he said.

巴塞洛缪坐在扶手椅上，脸上挂着笑容。 他浑身僵硬、冰冷，显然已经死了好几个小时了。 他旁边的桌子上有一张撕破的纸。 上面潦草地写着：“四的标志。” “这是什么意思？”我问。 福尔摩斯更仔细地打量着死者，拔出了扎在他耳朵上方皮肤上的一根又长又黑的刺。 “这意味着谋杀，”他检查着那根刺说。 “这是有毒的。”塞笛厄斯惊恐地盯着他哥哥。 然后，他注意到另一件事。 “宝藏不见了！”他说。

He pointed to a set of steps positioned beneath a hole smashed through the ceiling. "There's the hole through which we lowered it yesterday. It was here when I left him last night. I heard him bolt the door as I departed." "What time was that?" "Ten o'clock. And now he's dead, and the police will think I was responsible." "You need not fear, Mr. Sholto," said Holmes. "Drive down to the police station and report what's happened. We shall wait here until you return." Thaddeus, half in a daze, nodded and left. "Now, Watson," said Holmes, "how do you suppose these intruders got in? The door hasn't been opened since last night." Holmes went to

他指着天花板上一个破洞下面的一组台阶。 “这就是我们昨天放它的那个洞。 昨晚我离开他的时候还在这里。 我走的时候听见他把门栓上了。” “那是什么时候？”“十点。 现在他死了，警察会认为是我干的。” 福尔摩斯说道："舒尔托先生，您不必害怕。 “开车到警察局去，报告发生的事情。 我们在这里等你回来。” 塞笛厄斯迷迷糊糊地点了点头，离开了。 “那么，华生，”福尔摩斯说道，“你认为这些闯入者是怎么进来的呢？ 这扇门从昨晚起就没开过。” 福尔摩斯去了

examine the window, which was locked on the inside. He opened it. "No waterpipe or any footholds for a climber, yet someone got in this way. Luckily, it rained a little last night, for they've left a muddy trail." He pointed out a footprint on the sill, and next to it a circular mark. Similar impressions continued into the room. I studied the round marks. "This isn't a footprint," I said. "No, it's the impression made by a wooden stump," said Holmes. "The wooden-legged man!"

检查一下窗户，它是从里面锁上的。 他打开了它。“没有水管，也没有登山者的立足点，但有人从这里进来了。 幸运的是，昨晚下了一点雨，因为他们留下了一条泥泞的小路。” 他指着窗台上的一个脚印，旁边是一个圆形的记号。 同样的印象一直延续到房间里。 我研究了那些圆形的痕迹。 “这不是脚印，”我说。 “不，这是一个木桩留下的印痕，”福尔摩斯说道。 “那个木腿人！”

"Quite so. And someone else must have been with him because he couldn't have scaled that wall alone." Holmes pointed out a coil of rope on the floor. "That rope was lowered to him, and that's how he climbed up." "But how did his companion get up here?" Holmes pointed to the hole in the ceiling. "He came from the roof. Let's go and investigate." Using the steps, we hoisted ourselves into the tiny room above. A trapdoor led from here out onto the roof. In the dust on the rafters, we found several small footprints leading from the trapdoor. They were sticky and black as if made from some kind of tar. "Creosote," said Holmes, bending to sniff it. "It's used to preserve wood. The intruder must have trodden in some at some point."

“那么。肯定还有别人跟他在一起，因为他不可能一个人翻过那堵墙。” 福尔摩斯指着地板上的一卷绳子。 “绳子是给他放下来的，他就是这样爬上去的。” “可是他的同伴是怎么上来的呢？”福尔摩斯指着天花板上的洞。 他从屋顶上下来。我们去调查一下吧。” 我们爬上台阶，爬进了楼上的小房间。 一扇活板门从这里通向屋顶。 在椽子上的灰尘里，我们发现了几个从活板门通向的小脚印。 它们又粘又黑，好像是由某种焦油制成的。 “木馏油，”福尔摩斯说着，弯下腰去嗅了嗅。 “它是用来保存木材的。 入侵者一定是在某个时候踩进来的。”

Back in the room below, Holmes found more of these small footprints, also black and sticky. He looked at the position of the body and the hole in the ceiling. "The thorn," he said, "was in a vertical position, as if it had dropped from that hole."

回到楼下的房间，福尔摩斯发现了更多这样的小脚印，同样又黑又粘。 他看了看尸体的位置和天花板上的洞。 “那根刺，”他说，“是垂直的，好像是从那个洞里掉出来的。”