波洛圣诞探案记17

VI,It was a constable ¹ who opened the front door to them and saluted ². Behind him, SuperintendentSugden advanced down the hall and said:,“Glad you’ve got here, sir. Shall we come into this room here on the left—Mr. Lee’s study?,I’d like to run over the main outlines. The whole thing’s a rum business. ”,He ushered ⁴ them into a small room on the left of the hall. There was a telephone there and abig desk covered with papers. The walls were lined with bookcases.,The chief constable said: “Sugden, this is M. Hercule Poirot. You may have heard of him.,Poirot made a little bow and looked the other man over. He saw a tall man with squareshoulders and a military bearing who had an aquiline ⁵ nose, a pugnacious ⁶ jaw ⁷ and a largeflourishing chestnut- coloured moustache. Sugden stared hard at Hercule Poirot afteracknowledging the introduction. Hercule Poirot stared hard at Superintendent Sugden’smoustache. Its luxuriance seemed to fascinate him.,The superintendent said:,“Of course I have heard of you, Mr. Poirot. You were in this part of the world some yearsago, if I remember rightly. Death of Sir Bartholomew Strange. Poisoning case. Nicotine ⁸. Not mydistrict, but of course I heard all about it.”,Colonel Johnson said impatiently:,“Now, then, Sugden, let’s have the facts. A clear case, you said.
”,The constable kept his temper,and would not be provoked.那警察压制着自己的怒气，不肯冒起火来。,The sergeant stood to attention and saluted. 中士立正敬礼 。