ABC谋杀案 6

Five,MARY DROWER,I think that I can date my interest in the case from that first mention of the A B C railway guide.,Up till then I had not been able to raise much enthusiasm. This sordid ¹ murder of an old woman ina back-street shop was so like the usual type of crime reported in the newspapers that it failed tostrike a significant note. In my own mind I had put down the anonymous ² letter with its mention ofthe 21st as a mere ³ coincidence. Mrs. Ascher, I felt reasonably sure, had been the victim of herdrunken brute ⁴ of a husband. But now the mention of the railway guide (so familiarly known by itsabbreviation of A B C, listing as it did all railway stations in their alphabetical ⁵ order) sent a quiverof excitement through me. Surely—surely this could not be a second coincidence?,The sordid crime took on a new aspect.,Who was the mysterious individual who had killed Mrs. Ascher and left an A B C railway guidebehind him?,“Never knew who or what struck her,” observed the sergeant ⁷. “That’s what Dr. Kerr says. I’mglad it was that way, poor old soul. A decent woman she was. ”,“She must have been beautiful once,
” said Poirot.,“Really?” I murmured incredulously.,“But yes, look at the line of the jaw ⁸, the bones, the moulding of the head. ”,He sighed as he replaced the sheet and we left the mortuary.,They lived in a sordid apartment.他们住在肮脏的公寓房子里。,Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为 。