Lesson9 The Norwood Mystery (2)
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ( 著)
Jeremy Page ( 改写)
“This is very interesting,”Holmes said at last. “Can I ask, Mr.McFarlane, why the police have not already arrested you? I understand from the newspaper that they are sure you murdered Mr. Oldacre.”
“I live at Torrington Lodge,Blackheath, with my mother and father, Mr. Holmes, but last night,after my business with Mr. Oldacre,I stayed in a hotel at Norwood and went to work from there this morning. I knew nothing about this crime until I was on the train, when I read the story in the newspaper. I understood immediately that I was in terrible trouble, so when my train arrived at the station I ran to Baker Street to see you,Mr. Holmes, and to tell you that I am not a criminal. I did not murder Mr. Jonas Oldacre.The police, I’m sure, were waiting for me at work and also at my father’s house at Blackheath. A man followed me here from the station and…”
Suddenly there was another knock at the street door. Then they heard men on the stairs, and Inspector Lestrade entered the room with two other policemen.
“Are you Mr. John McFarlane?” he asked.
The young man stood up, his face white. “I am,” he said.
Lestrade gave him a long look. “John McFarlane, I am arresting you for the murder of Mr. Jonas Oldacre, the builder, of Norwood, South London.”
McFarlane put his head in his hands and sat down. “Mr. Holmes, help me, please.”Holmes turned to Lestrade. “Inspector,” he said, “perhaps you can give us half an hour? I’m interested to hear Mr. McFarlane’s story.”
“And I’m sure it will be a very good story,” replied Lestrade. “But it won’t be true.”
“Please, Inspector,” said Watson.
Lestrade thought for a long time. “All right,” he agreed at last. “You’ve often helped us, Mr. Holmes. But I must stay with Mr. McFarlane and I will listen very carefully to everything that he says. You have half an hour,” he went on, looking at his watch.
“Thank you, Inspector,” said McFarlane.
“You can thank Mr. Holmes,” replied Lestrade, sitting down opposite the young man.
“First,” McFarlane began his story, “I know nothing about Mr. Jonas Oldacre,only his name. My parents met him many years ago and they were friends for a long time. But Mr. Oldacre moved to Norwood, I understand, and after that they never saw him. So I was very surprised when he walked into my office at three o’clock yesterday afternoon. I work in the City of London as a lawyer. When he told me why he wanted to see me, I was astonished[1].” Here he stopped and looked first at Holmes, then at Lestrade.
“Go on,” said Lestrade at last.
“He had some papers in his hand, these papers.” McFarlane took them out of his pocket and put them on the table. “‘This is my will,’ he said. ‘I’ve written it myself.But you are a lawyer. Please copy it for me. I will wait.’ I agreed to do this. I started to copy the will but was very surprised when I read that he wanted to leave everything to me! Mr. Oldacre was a strange little man with very white hair and grey eyes. When I looked at him, I saw that he found my surprise very funny. He laughed and told me that he was unmarried and had no children. He knew my mother and father when he was a young man and wanted to help me to make my way in the world because I was their son. I didn’t know what to say, but I thanked him warmly and finished the will.Here it is.” McFarlane showed Holmes a blue piece of paper. “Mr. Oldacre then asked me to go to his house at Norwood yesterday evening because he had more papers there that I needed to see. I didn’t want to go, but I had to. ‘You must promise[2] not to tell your mother or father about this,’ he said. ‘It must be a wonderful surprise for them.’ I promised him that I would say nothing, but I didn’t understand why it was so important to him.”
“I took the train to Norwood and arrived there at about nine o’clock. It was difficult to find Mr. Oldacre’s house on the Sydenham Road and it was nine-thirty when I at last knocked on the door of Deep Dene House.”
“Stop,” said Holmes. “Who opened the door to you?”
“It was Mr. Oldacre’s housekeeper,” McFarlane replied. “A woman of about fiftyfive years.”
“And she told Mr. Oldacre that you were there?” Holmes went on.
“That’s right,” McFarlane agreed. “She then took me into the dining room, where Mr. Oldacre was waiting for me. We ate a light meal of sandwiches and fruit, then Mr. Oldacre took me to his bedroom. There was a safe in the corner of the room, and Mr. Oldacre opened it and took out a lot of papers. We looked at them together and didn’t finish until about half past eleven. Mr. Oldacre said that we mustn’t wake up the housekeeper, so I left the house by the French windows in the bedroom, which were open. I couldn’t find my walking stick, but Mr. Oldacre said that he would give it back to me next time. ‘I hope you will come back often,’ he said. When I left, Mr. Oldacre was in his bedroom and the safe was open. His papers were on the table. It was too late for me to go back to my father’s house at Blackheath, so I went to a hotel called the Anerley Arms in Norwood and spent the night there. I knew nothing more about Mr.Oldacre until I read the story in the newspaper this morning. And everything that I’ve told you is true.”
Lestrade looked at Holmes. “Any more questions?”
“Possibly,” said Holmes. “But first I must go to Blackheath.”
“You mean Norwood,” said Lestrade.
“Perhaps,” replied Holmes with a strange smile. The Inspector didn’t understand,but said nothing.
“Mr. McFarlane?” said one of the other policemen,who was waiting at the door. “Come with us, please.”
McFarlane stood up and the two policemen took him down the stairs and out into Baker Street. Lestrade stayed in the room with Holmes and Watson. Holmes looked at McFarlane’s papers, which were still on the table.
“Interesting,” he said. “Mr. Oldacre’s writing is very easy to read in some places, but very difficult to read in others. And here it’s impossible. Can you read this, Watson?”
Watson agreed that it was impossible to read.
“And why is that?” asked Holmes.
“Is this important, Mr. Holmes?” asked Lestrade.
“Possibly,” said Holmes. “Mr. Oldacre wrote his will on a train. We can read everything that he wrote when the train was at a station, but it’s impossible to read what he wrote when the train was moving. Mr. Oldacre spent the journey writing his will,so his train was an express, which stopped only once between Norwood and London Bridge.”
“Very interesting, Mr. Holmes,” said Lestrade, “but I have a murderer to see. I must go. Goodbye, Mr. Holmes, Dr. Watson.”
“Goodbye, Inspector,” said Holmes with a smile.
(1,220 words)
Ⅰ. How well did you read?
1. [Give the reason] Why did Oldacre leave everything to McFarlane?
A. Because he knew McFarlane’s parents and wanted to help him.
B. Because he was unmarried and had no children.
C. Both A and B.
2. [Check the details] What was McFarlane?
A. A banker. B. A builder. C. A lawyer.
3. [Draw a conclusion] What did Holmes think of Mr. Oldacre’s writing?
A. It was easy to read.
B. It was impossible to read.
C. He might have written the will on an express.
Ⅱ. Read for words 1. Choose one best paraphrase or Chinese meaning for the underlined words.
(1) The police, I’m sure, were waiting for me at work and also at my father’s house at Blackheath. (Para. 2)
A. career B. office C. home
(2) “This is my will,” he said. (Para. 16)
A. 愿望 B. 遗嘱 C. 意愿
(3) Mr. Oldacre spent the journey writing his will, so his train was an express,which stopped only once between Norwood and London Bridge. (Para. 32)
A. 特快 B. 慢车 C. 直达车
2. Choose one best paraphrase for the underlined expressions.
(1) I understood immediately that I was in terrible trouble, so when my train arrived at the station I ran to Baker Street to see you, Mr. Holmes, and to tell you that I am not a criminal. (Para. 2)
A. was watched B. fell down C. must be arrested
(2) He knew my mother and father when he was a young man and wanted to help me to make my way in the world because I was their son. (Para. 16)
A. run my own company
B. be successful
C. have my own house
Ⅲ. Writing practice
1. What kind of person do you think Oldacre was?
2. Would Inspector Lestrade help McFarlane? Why do you think so?
3. Who could be the murderer in your opinion? Why?
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