波洛圣诞探案记16

V“Nothing like a wood fire,” said Colonel Johnson as he threw on an additional log and then drewhis chair nearer to the blaze. “Help yourself, ” he added, hospitably ¹ calling attention to the tantalusand siphon that stood near his guest’s elbow.,The guest raised a polite hand in negation ². Cautiously he edged his own chair nearer to theblazing logs, though he was of the opinion that the opportunity for roasting the soles of one’s feet(like some mediaeval torture) did not offset ³ the cold draught ⁴ that swirled ⁵ round the back of theshoulders.,Colonel Johnson, Chief Constable ⁶ of Middleshire, might be of the opinion that nothing couldbeat a wood fire, but Hercule Poirot was of the opinion that central heating could and did everytime!,“Amazing business that Cartwright case,
” remarked the host reminiscently. “Amazing man!,Enormous charm of manner. Why, when he came here with you, he had us all eating out of hishand.”,He shook his head.,“There was a time when you would have considered all poisoning unEnglish, ” suggestedHercule Poirot. “A device of foreigners! Unsportsmanlike!
”,“I hardly think we could say that,” said the chief constable. “Plenty of poisoning by arsenic—probably a good deal more than has ever been suspected. ”,“Possibly, yes.”,“Always an awkward business, a poisoning case,
” said Johnson. “Conflicting testimony ⁷ ofthe experts—then doctors are usually so extremely cautious in what they say. Always a difficultcase to take to a jury. No, if one must have murder (which heaven forbid!) give me astraightforward case. Something where there’s no ambiguity ⁸ about the cause of death.”,Poirot nodded.,She was received hospitably by her new family. 她的新家人热情地接待了她。,No reasonable negation can be offered.没有合理的反对意见可以提出 。