"I'm going to call the doctor," Diane said.
"She's dead," Roger said slowly. His face, too, was white. "Mother is dead!"
Diane walked across the room to the door. "I'm going to phone the doctor," she said again.
"Wait a minute!" Roger called. "Let's tell the family first."
"Family! Nobody loved Mother!" Diane went out and ran downstairs.
Roger slowly went downstairs after her and stood by the telephone.
"Dr Pratt, this is Diane Clarkson. It's my mother—she's dead. Can you come quickly?"
Diane put the phone down. "It isn't true, Roger! Mother's dead! Daddy died last winter, and now Mother." Diane began to cry.
"Don't cry, Diane," Roger said. "Let's go upstairs and tell Uncle Albert and Jackie."
"No! You tell them! Nobody loved Mother. You aren't sorry. Look at you! You want her money. That's all."
Roger suddenly wanted to hit Diane. "Be quiet!" he said. "What about you? You didn't love Mother. You wanted her money, too. Don't forget that!"
"It's true," Diane said. "Oh, I can't stay in this house. I'm going out. I'm going to the river with the dogs."
"No," Roger said. "The doctor's coming and I want you here."
Diane said nothing. She went into the kitchen and at once the dogs got up and came to her. "Beautiful dogs! Daddy loved you and Mother loved you. Now I'm going to love you." She opened the back door and went out with the dogs.
Roger did not move. He stood by the telephone. "It's true," he thought. "I am happy about the money. I needed money, and now I'm rich. Things are going to be easier for me now. But Mother... why didn't I love her more? And now she's dead." Slowly, Roger went back upstairs. He wanted to dress before Dr Pratt arrived.
Dr Pratt was a little fat man without much hair. He was the family doctor and he knew all the Clarkson family very well. He went upstairs at once and looked at Molly's body. He looked carefully at the cup of coffee and the empty cup on the table next to her bed.
"I'm sorry, Roger," he said. "Where is Diane? She phoned me."
"She went out with the dogs," Roger said. "She was angry with me—angry with everyone."
Dr Pratt said nothing for a minute. "This is going to be very difficult. I'm going to phone the police, Roger."
"Police! Why? What's wrong?"
"I don't know. Your mother wasn't ill. I saw her on Thursday and she was very well. Why did she die? I don't understand. I want to find out."
Roger went across to the window and looked out at the garden. It was a beautiful summer morning. The sky was blue and the garden was green. It was all very quiet. His mother loved this garden. But Tom Briggs wanted the garden. And Roger wanted the garden, too. Roger felt worse and worse.
"Your mother took sleeping tablets," Dr Pratt said. "Did you know? On Thursday she had a new bottle of tablets, but I can't find it here in her room."
"I didn't know," Roger said. "Very well. Let's go downstairs and you can phone the police."
Roger went into the kitchen and made some coffee. Just then Diane came in with the dogs.
"Roger," she said. "Look, I'm sorry. I was angry and said some angry things."
"It doesn't matter," Roger said. "Here you are, have some coffee. Dr Pratt is phoning the police. Did you know Mother took sleeping tablets? Well, the bottle is not in her room."
"What? I don't understand." Diane took the coffee and began to drink. Her eyes looked big and dark.
Just then Dr Pratt came into the kitchen. "They're coming at once," he said. "Diane—I'm sorry about your mother."
"Dr Pratt, I want to tell you about last night. Everyone was very angry..."
"Be quiet!" Roger said quickly.
"Diane never thinks before she opens her mouth," he thought angrily.
Diane did not look at Roger. "Last night Mother went to bed early because everyone..."
"Don't tell me," Dr Pratt said. "You can tell the police."
Roger's face went red. Suddenly he felt afraid. "The police are going to talk to everyone, and ask questions," he thought. "And they're going to want answers. It's going to be very difficult." He finished his coffee and stood up.
"I'm going upstairs," he said. "I'm going to tell Uncle Albert and Jackie about Mother... and about the police."
* * *
nearly ad. closely; almost. 几乎；差不多。
empty a. containing nothing. 空的。
wait a minute 等一会儿。
downstairs ad. 至楼下；在楼下。
quickly ad. taking only a short time to do thing. 很快地；迅速地。
hit v.come against with force. 撞击；打。
forget v. 忘记。
rich a. 富有的。
arrive v. 到达。
fat a. 肥胖的。
very well 很好。
next to 靠近。
bottle n. 瓶子。
question n. 问题。
3
第二天清晨整幢房子静悄悄的。突然从罗杰房间旁边他母亲的屋子里传出一声尖叫。罗杰睁开眼看了看表，还不到7点。他下了床，悄悄打开门。正在这时母亲房间的门也打开了，黛安娜走出来，脸色惨白。
“罗杰！妈妈她，我端了杯咖啡给她，发现她死了。她死了……死在床上。”她哭道。
罗杰急忙走到母亲的门前往里看，窗户是开着的，可房间里很温暖。莫利躺在床上，一只手在她头下。罗杰走到床前把手放在她的手臂上，尸体已经冷了。床边的小桌上有杯热咖啡和一个空杯子。
“我打电话去叫医生。”黛安娜说。
“她死了，”罗杰慢慢地说。他的脸也变白了。“妈妈死了！”
黛安娜穿过房间走到门口。“我去打电话叫医生。”她又说。
“等会儿！”罗杰叫道，“咱们得先告诉家人。”
“家人！没有人爱妈妈！”黛安娜走出去跑下楼。
罗杰跟着她慢慢走下楼站在电话旁。
“普拉特先生，我是黛安娜·克拉克森。我的妈妈——她死了。你能尽快赶来吗？”
黛安娜放下电话。“这不是真的，罗杰！妈妈死了！爸爸去年冬天死了，现在妈妈也死了。”黛安娜开始哭泣。
“别哭了，黛安娜，”罗杰说，“咱们上楼去告诉艾伯特姨父和杰基。”
“不！你去告诉他们！没人爱妈妈，你们不必内疚。看看你们！你们想要她的钱。不过如此。”
罗杰突然想揍黛安娜。“住嘴！”他说，“你自己呢？你不爱妈妈，你也想要她的钱，别忘了这点！”
“不错，”黛安娜说,“哦，我不能再待在这儿了。我要出去。我要带着狗去河边走走。”
“不行，”罗杰说，“医生就要来了，我想你留在这儿。”
黛安娜没说话。她走进厨房。狗立即站起来走到她旁边。“多漂亮的狗！爸爸爱你们，妈妈也爱你们。现在我会爱你们的。”她打开后门，带着狗走了出去。
罗杰没动，他仍站在电话旁。“不错，”他想，“我的确为钱高兴。我需要钱，现在我是富有了。事情现在对我来说更容易。但是妈妈……我为什么不多爱她一些呢？现在她死了。”罗杰慢慢地上了楼，他想在普拉特医生来前穿好衣服。
普拉特医生是个矮胖、头发稀少的男人，他是家庭医生，对克拉克森一家人都很熟悉。他立即上楼查看莫利的尸体。他仔细看了床边桌子上的咖啡和空杯子。
“抱歉，罗杰，”他说，“黛安娜在哪儿？她给我打的电话。”
“她带着狗出去了，”罗杰说，“她冲我生气，生每个人的气。”
普拉特医生沉默了一会。“这事非常难办。罗杰，我要打电话给警察。”
“警察！为什么？出了什么事？”
“我不清楚，你的母亲没病，我周四见到她身体很好。她为什么会死？我不明白，我想找出原因。”
罗杰走到窗前向外看花园。这是个美丽的夏天的清晨，天空蓝蓝的，而花园是一片绿色，一切都非常安静。妈妈爱这个花园，然而汤姆·布里格斯却打着这个花园的主意，并且罗杰也想要这个花园。罗杰觉得事情越来越糟。
“你的妈妈服了安眼药，”普拉特医生说，“你知道吗？她周四买了瓶安眠药，可是我在她的房间却找不到。”
“我不知道，”罗杰说，“好吧。咱们下楼去，你可以给警察打电话。”
罗杰走进厨房弄了些咖啡，这时黛安娜带着狗走了进来。
“罗杰，”她说，“嗯，我很抱歉。我冲你发火并说了些气话。”
“没关系，”罗杰说，“给，喝点咖啡。普拉特医生正打电话给警察。你知道妈妈服安眠药吗？唷，药瓶不在她的屋里。”
“什么？我不知道。”黛安娜端起咖啡开始喝。她的眼睛看起来又大又黑。
这时普尔特医生走进厨房。“他们马上来，”他说，“黛安娜——我为你妈妈难过。”
“普拉特医生，我想告诉你有关昨晚的事，每个人都非常生气……”
“别说了！”罗杰急忙说。
“黛安娜开口前从不经过大脑。”他生气地想。
黛安娜没理会罗杰。“昨晚妈妈早早就上床了，因为每个人……”
“不用告诉我，”普拉特医生说，“你可以告诉警察。”
罗杰的脸红了，他突然觉得有些害怕。“警察会找每个人谈话，问问题的。”他想。“然后他们会寻找答案，这事非常棘手。”他喝完咖啡站起来。
“我上去了，”他说，“我去告诉艾伯特姨父和杰基有关妈妈的事……还有报警的事。”
4
Chapter
The police arrived very quickly. There were a lot of them. Some of them with cameras went upstairs to Molly's room. Two detectives talked to Dr Pratt in the kitchen. The family waited in the sitting room. It was a hot day again and the windows were open. The dogs sat quietly at Diane's feet. Nobody talked. Jackie smoked. They waited for a long time. Suddenly the door opened and the two detectives came in.
"Good morning. I am Detective Inspector Walsh and this is Sergeant Foster." The Inspector did not smile. He was a big man in an old black suit and a black hat and coat. He wore a coat because he always felt cold. "Last night someone put sleeping tablets in Mrs Clarkson's hot milk. We are going to question everybody, and we need a room, please."
Roger stood up. "I'm Roger Clarkson. You can have my father's old office. Come with me, it's along here,"
The office was not a very big room, but there was a table and three or four chairs. Roger opened the window.
"I would like to talk first to your uncle, Albert King," Inspector Walsh said. He took off his hat and coat and sat down behind the table.
"Of course," said Roger and left the room.
Sergeant Foster waited by the door. He was a very tall young man with black hair and a nice smile. He was not very happy this morning because he usually played tennis on Sunday mornings. He was one of the best players at the Cambridge Tennis Club.
Albert came in and sat down.
"I'm going to ask some questions, Mr King," the Inspector said, "and Sergeant Foster is going to write it all down."
Albert looked at his feet. "Yes, yes. It's your job. I know that."
"Tell me about last night," Inspector Walsh asked quietly. "You were angry with Mrs Clarkson."
Albert looked at Inspector Walsh for the first time. "Yes, I was. Everyone was angry. Roger was angry. Diane wanted money to go to America. Then there's a man called Tom Briggs... He wants half the garden for his farm. Molly is a rich woman. I need money because my wife Annie—Molly's sister—is very ill. I told Molly this."
"What happened next?"
"Well, Molly was angry with everyone and went upstairs. We went into the kitchen for coffee. Jackie wanted everyone to go up and say good night to Molly. She lives here with Molly so she wanted Molly to be happy. At first Roger said no. He was angry and didn't want to see his mother."
"And did you see Molly in her room?"
"Yes. I was tired and I went upstairs first. I went to Molly's room and asked her for money again. But no—there was no money for her sister." Albert stopped and put his hand over his eyes.
Inspector Walsh watched Albert for a minute. "Did you hear noises after you went to bed?"
"Everyone went into Molly's room to say good night, I think. Later, I heard someone... He—or she—went downstairs. That was about midnight."
"Very well, Mr King. Thank you, you can go now." Albert left the room.
Inspector Walsh put his hands behind his head. "What time is it? I'm hungry. We're learning a lot, but I need some coffee."
"Shall I go to the kitchen?" Sergeant Foster asked.
"Oh, no. Later. Let's see Jackie Clarkson next."
Jackie came in and sat down. She looked down at her hands and said nothing.
"We found the empty bottle of your mother's sleeping tablets in Diane's room," the Inspector said suddenly. Then he waited. Jackie's face did not change and she said nothing. "Tell me, did your mother get her tablets from the shop in the village?"
"Yes. My mother usually took a sleeping tablet every night so she needed a lot of tablets. Sometimes she got them from the shop, sometimes I did. On Thursday, I asked Peter Hobbs to get them. He lives in the house across the road, and he often goes to the village on his bicycle."
"I see. Your mother wanted to stay in this house. How about you? Did you want to move?"
Jackie looked up for a minute and then down at her hands again. "This is Mother's house. I loved my mother. She was good to me."
"Did you see your mother in her room last night?"
"Yes, everyone did. Diane made hot milk and took it to Mother. She usually drank a cup of hot milk before she slept."
Inspector Walsh put his hands behind his head. Jackie was very quiet. "What did your mother say?"
Jackie opened her bag and looked for a cigarette. "Can I smoke?"
"Of course. This is your house," Inspector Walsh said. He watched Jackie. "What did your mother say?" he asked again.
"She wanted to go downstairs again. She remembered the dogs—she wanted to get some dinner for them. I went to my room and she went downstairs."
"What time was this?"
"I don't remember. About midnight, I think."
"And the cup of hot milk?"
"It was on the table by her bed."
"Did you need your mother's money?"
"No, Inspector. Money is not important to me. There are more important things," Jackie said quietly.
"Well, your uncle Albert wanted money. Tom Briggs wanted the garden. You wanted nothing?"
Jackie finished her cigarette and looked up at the Inspector. Her eyes were suddenly angry. "Don't forget Peter Hobbs. He lost his job because of my mother. He wanted to kill her, you know. And what about Diane? You found the empty bottle in her bag."
Inspector Walsh listened carefully. "We're going to question everyone, Miss Clarkson."
Jackie said nothing for a minute. "Would you like some sandwiches and coffee, Inspector?"
"Ah! Yes, please!" Inspector Walsh said warmly. "I would like sandwiches and coffee very much."
Jackie left the room. Inspector Walsh thought about her. Why was she suddenly angry? The room was quiet.
* * *
camera n. 相机。
detective n. person, esp. member of police force. 侦探。
wait for 等候。
tennis n. 网球
club n. association of persons meeting periodically for shared activity. 俱乐部。
inspector n. person employed to inspect or supervise. 探长；探员。
ask... for... 向某人要某物。
midnight n. midde of the night. 半夜；深夜。
bicycle n. 自行车。
dinner n.（一日的）主餐。
milk n. 牛奶。
a cup of 一杯……。
important a. of great effect. 重要的。
because of 因为。
kill vt. 杀；杀死。
4
警察很快就到了，来了许多人，一些人带着相机上楼到了莫利的房间。两个侦探在厨房和普拉特医生谈话。家人在客厅等着。这又是个热天，窗户开着，狗安静地卧在黛安娜脚旁。没人说话。杰基抽着烟。他们等了很长时间。突然门开了，两名侦探走了进来。
“早上好。我是沃尔什探长，这是福斯特警官。”探长没有笑。他是个高大的男人，穿件黑色的旧衣服，披着件黑色外套，戴着顶黑色的帽子。
他总觉得冷所以穿了件外套。“昨晚有人把安眠药放在克拉克森太太的热牛奶里，我们会找每个人谈。劳驾，我们需要一个房间。”
罗杰站起来。“我是罗杰·克拉克森。你们可以用我父亲过去的办公室。跟我来，就在这儿。”
办公室不是很大，但有一张桌子和三四把椅子。罗杰打开了窗户。
“我想先和你的姨父艾伯特·金谈谈。”沃尔什探长说。他摘下帽子，脱掉外套，坐在桌旁。
“当然可以。”罗杰说着离开了房间。
福斯特警官等在门边。他是个高个子、黑头发，有着迷人微笑的年青人。他通常在周日早上打网球，因而今早他有些不高兴。他是剑桥网球俱乐部最好的队员之一。
艾伯特走进来坐下。
“金先生，我想问你几个问题，”探长说，“福斯特警官会把你说的话都记录下来。”
艾伯特看着自己的脚。“好，好的。这是你们的工作。我理解。”
“告诉我有关昨晚的事。”沃尔什探长平静地问，“你对克拉克森太太生气了。”
艾伯特这才直视着沃尔什探长。“是的，我生气了。每个人都生气了，罗杰生气了，黛安娜想要钱去美国。然后有个叫汤姆·布里格斯的男人……他想要一半花园当他的农场。莫利是个富有的女人。我需要钱，因为我的妻子安妮——莫利的姐姐——病得很重。我把这些告诉了莫利。”
“接着发生了什么？”
“嗯，莫利冲大家生气，然后她上了楼。我们进厨房去喝咖啡。杰基希望大家都上去对莫利道晚安。她和莫利住在一块，所以她想让莫利快乐些。开始罗杰不同意，他在生气，不想见他的妈妈。”
“接着你去莫利的房间见她了？”
“是的。我累了，就先上了楼。我去莫利的房间再次向她要钱。但是不行——她的钱没有她的姐姐的份。”艾伯特停下来，用手蒙住了眼睛。
沃尔什探长看了会艾伯特。“你上床后听到什么声音吗？”“我想，每人都到莫利的房间对她道了晚安。随后，我听到有人……他——或者她——下了楼。那时大概是午夜。”
“很好，金先生，谢谢。你现在可以走了。”艾伯特离开了房间。
沃尔什探长把手放在脑后。“几点了？我饿了。我们了解了不少东西，但我需要点咖啡。”
“要我去厨房吗？”福斯特警官问。
