小说园

chater3 疑点多米诺 uiciu dt（第3页）

Kalegasedalittleinreliefandastonishment，andhelduthecanvaswithbothhandstoexamineit。“Fine！”hetoldthedetective。“I‘llseethatyoudon’tloseanythingbythis。Why，thatthingcostmefftythousanddollars！”Kaledidntseemabletogetoverthat。

TheThinkingMachineleanedforwardtosquintattheuerrighthandcornerofthecanvas。“Wheredidyoufndit?”heaskedagain。

“Rolledutight，andconcealedinthebottomofatrunkintheroomofoneoftheservants，”exlainedMallory。“TheservantsnameisJennings。Heisnowunderarrest。”

“Jennings！”exclaimedKale。“Why，hehasbeenwithmeforyears。”

“Didheconfess?”askedthescientistimerturbably。

“Ofcoursenot，”saidMallory。“Hesayssomeoftheotherservantsmusthavehiddenitthere。”

TheThinkingMachinenoddedatHatch。“Ithinkerhasthatisall，”heremarked。“Icongratulateyou，Mr。Mallory，uonbringingthemattertosuchaquickandsatisfactoryconclusion。”

Tenminuteslatertheyleftthehouseandcaughtacarforthescientistshome。Hatchwasalittlechagrinedattheunexectedterminationoftheaffair，andwasthoughtfullysilentforatime。

“Mallorydoesshowanoccasionalgleamofhumanintelligence，doesnthe?”hesaidatlastquizzically。

“NotthatIevernoticed，”remarkedTheThinkingMachinecrustily。

“Buthefoundtheicture，”Hatchinsisted。

“Ofcoursehefoundit。Itwasutthereforhimtofnd。”

“Putthereforhimtofind！”reeatedthereorter。“DidntJenningsstealit?”

“Ifhedid，hesafool。”

“Well，ifhedidntstealit，whoutitthere?”

“DeLesses。”

“DeLesses！”echoedHatch。“Whythedeucedidhestealafftythousand-dollarictureandutitinaservantstrunktobefound?”

TheThinkingMachinetwistedaroundinhisseatandsquintedathimcoldlyforamoment。“Attimes，Mr。Hatch，Iamabsolutelyamazedatyourstuidity，”hesaidfrankly。“IcanunderstanditinamanlikeMallory，butIhavealwaysgivenyoucreditforbeinganastute，quick-wittedman。”

Hatchsmiledatthereroach。Itwasnotthefirsttimehehadheardofit。ButnothingbearingontherobleminhandwassaiduntiltheyreachedTheThinkingMachinesaartments。

“Theonlyrealquestioninmymind，Mr。Hatch，”saidthescientistthen，“iswhetherornotIshouldtakethetroubletorestoreMr。Kalesictureatall。Heiserfectlysatisfed，andwillrobablyneverknowthedifference。So-”

SuddenlyHatchsawsomething。“GreatScott！”heexclaimed。“DoyoumeanthattheicturethatMalloryfoundwas-”

“Acoyoftheoriginal，”sulementedthescientist。“PersonallyIknownothingwhateveraboutart；therefore，Icouldnotsayfromobservationthatitisacoy，butIknowitfromthelogicofthething。Whentheoriginalwascutfromtheframe，theknifeswervedalittleattheuerrighthandcorner。Thecanvasremainingintheframetoldmethat。TheicturethatMr。Malloryfounddidnotcorresondinthisdetailwiththecanvasintheframe。Theconclusionisobvious。”

“AnddeLesseshastheoriginal?”

DeLesseshastheoriginal。Howdidhegetit?Inanyoneofadozenways。Hemighthaverolledituandstuckitunderhiscoat。Hemighthavehadaconfederate。ButIdontthinkthatanyordinarymethodoftheftwouldhaveaealedtohim。Iamgivinghimcreditforbeingclever，asImustwhenwereviewthewholecase。

Forinstance，heaskedforermissiontocoytheWhistler，whichyousawwasthesamesizeastheRubens。Itwasgranted。Hecoieditracticallyunderguard，alwayswiththechancethatMr。Kalehimselfwoulddroin。Ittookhimthreedaystocoyit，sohesays。Hewasaloneintheroomallthattime。HeknewthatMr。Kalehadnotthefaintestideaofart。Takingadvantageofthat，whatwouldhavebeensimlerthantohavecoiedtheRubensinoil?Hecouldhaveremoveditfromtheframeimmediatelyafterhecanvaseditover，andketitinaositionnearhimwhereitcouldbequicklyconcealedifhewasinterruted。Remember，theictureisworthfftythousanddollars；therefore，wasworththetrouble。

“DeLessesisanartist-weknowthat-anddealingwithamanwhoknewnothingwhateverofart，hehadnofears。WemaysuosehisideaallalongwastousethecoyoftheRubensasasortofdecoyafterhegotawaywiththeoriginal。YousawthatMallorydidn‘tknowthedifference，anditwassafeforhimtosuosethatMr。Kalewouldn’t。Hisonlydangeruntilhecouldgetawaygracefullywasofsomecriticorconnoisseur，erhas，seeingthecoy。Hisboldnessweseereadilyinthefactthatheermittedhimselftodiscoverthetheft；thathediscovereditafterhehadvolunteeredtoassistMr。Kaleinthegeneralworkofrehangingtheicturesinthegallery。JusthowheuttheictureinJenning‘strunkIdon’thaentoknow。Wecanimaginemanyways。”Helaybackinhischairforaminutewithoutseaking，eyessteadilyturneduward，fngerslacedreciselytitoti。

“Theonlythingremainingistogogettheicture。ItisindeLessesroomnow-youtoldmethat-andsoweknowitissafe。Idaresayheknowsthatifhetriedtorunawayitwouldinevitablyuthimundersusicion。”

“ButhowdidhetaketheicturefromtheKaleshome?”askedHatch。

“HetookitwithhimrobablyunderhisarmthedayheleftthehousewithMr。Kale，”wastheastonishingrely。

Hatchwasstaringathiminamazement。Afteramomentthescientistaroseandassedintotheadjoiningroom，andthetelehonebelltherejingled。WhenhejoinedHatchagainheickeduhishatandtheywentouttogether。

DeLesseswasinwhentheircardswentu，andreceivedthem。Theyconversedofthecasegenerallyfortenminutes，whilethescientistseyeswereturnedinquiringlyhereandthereabouttheroom。Atlasttherecameaknockonthedoor。

“ItisDetectiveMallory，Mr。Hatch，”remarkedTheThinkingMachine。“Oenthedoorforhim。”

DeLessesseemedstartledforjustoneinstant，thenquicklyrecovered。Malloryseyeswerefullofquestionswhenheentered。

“Ishouldlike，Mr。Mallory，”beganTheThinkingMachinequietly，“tocallyourattentiontothiscoyofMr。Kale‘sicturebyWhistler-overthemantelhere。Isn’titexcellent?Youhaveseentheoriginal?”

Mallorygrunted。DeLessesface，insteadofexressingareciationofthecomliment，blanchedsuddenly，andhishandsclosedtightly。Againherecoveredhimselfandsmiled。