《控方证人》选段（英音朗读）

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Mayherne先生是伦敦著名刑案辩护律师，一天，律师Charles爵士和当事人Vole登门拜访，请他打官司。原来，Vole结识了富有年老的French小姐，她对他充满爱意，甚至修改遗嘱，把8万英镑留给了他。然而，French小姐却惨遭毒手，Vole成为警方的头号嫌疑犯。他的唯一证人是妻子Romaine Heilger，然而Mayherne先生怀疑这其中另有隐情。在扑朔迷离的案件背后，隐藏着一个个环环相扣、不可告人的秘密……

《控方证人》（1957）剧照

Mr Mayherne was a small man. He had clever grey eyes, wore good quality clothes and he always looked neat and tidy. Everybody knew that he was a very good lawyer.

Mayherne touched his glasses and coughed. He always did this when he was thinking. Then he looked again at the man sitting opposite him, the man charged① with murder.

He felt a little sorry for his client②.

‘This is very serious. You must be completely honest with me.’

Leonard Vole looked at him miserably③.

‘I know,’ he said in a hopeless voice. ‘You keep telling me that it’s serious. But I just can’t believe that I’m charged with murder — murder.’

‘Yes, yes, yes,’ he said.

Mayherne was not emotional④ — he was a sensible man. He coughed again, took off his glasses, cleaned them carefully, and put them back on his nose.

‘Now, my dear Mr Vole, I’m going to prove that you’re innocent⑤ — and I will succeed — we will succeed. But I must have all the facts.’

① charge v. 控告

② client n. 委托人

③ miserably adj. 可怜地

④ emotional adj. 感情冲动的

⑤ innocent adj. 无辜的；无罪的

The young man still looked at him in the same confused, hopeless way.

‘You think I’m guilty①,’ said Leonard Vole. But I promise, I’m not! I didn’t do it, Mr Mayherne, I didn’t!’

Even though Mr Mayherne knew that any man in his position would say the same, he thought maybe Leonard Vole might really be innocent.

‘You’re right, Mr Vole, he said in a serious voice.’ The case② against you looks very bad. But I believe you. Now, let’s talk about the facts. I want you to tell me exactly how you met Miss Emily French.’

① guilty adj. 有罪的

② case n.（在审判、讨论等中支持一方的）论据

‘It was in Central London. I saw an elderly lady crossing the road. She was carrying a lot of parcels and she dropped them in the middle of the street. She tried to pick them up but a bus came along and she had to rush to the pavement. Then I picked up the parcels for her.’

‘Did you save her life?’

‘Oh no! All I did was pick up the parcels, but she was very grateful. She thanked me and said something about me being more helpful than most young people — I can’t remember the exact words. I said goodbye and went on with my day. I never expected to see her again.

‘But life is full of surprises. That same evening, I met her again at a party. She recognized me. I then found out that she was Miss Emily French and that she lived at Cricklewood. I talked to her for a while. I think Emily French was a lady who decided quickly whether she liked someone. She decided that she liked me because I had helped her, but anyone would have done the same. She asked me to come and visit her some time — I said, of course, that I would. I didn’t particularly want to go, but it would have been rude to refuse. She asked me when, so I said I would go the following Saturday.

《控方证人》（1957）剧照

‘After she’d gone, my friends told me that she was rich and that she lived alone with just a maid①.’

‘I see,’ said Mayherne. ‘So you knew she was rich soon after you’d met her?’

Leonard Vole was angry. ‘If you mean did I ask if she was rich —, he began, but Mayherne interrupted him.

‘I have to look at the case the way the prosecution② will explain it in court③. Miss French didn’t look rich, she didn’t spend much money or have many things. Unless someone told you, you would probably have thought that she was poor. Who was it who told you that she had money?’

① maid n. 女仆

② prosecution n. 控方

③ court n. 法庭

‘My friend, George Harvey. It was his party.’

‘Will he remember telling you?’

‘I really don’t know. It was a while ago.’

‘Mr Vole, the prosecution will show that you needed money — that is true, isn’t it?’

Leonard Vole looked embarrassed.

‘Yes,’ he said quietly.

‘So, they’ll say you needed money and you met this rich old lady and tried hard to develop a friendship with her. Now, if we can say that you didn’t know that she was rich, and that you visited her to be kind —’

‘Which is true.’

‘I’m sure it is. But remember I’m looking at it like the prosecution will do. So, it’s important to know what Mr Harvey remembers. Is he likely to remember that conversation, or not? Could we make him think that the conversation took place later?’

Leonard Vole thought for a moment. Then he said:

‘No, I don’t think that that would be successful, Mr Mayherne. Several people heard him tell me at the party.’

The lawyer tried to hide his disappointment.

‘That’s unfortunate,’ he said. ‘But thank you for being honest, Mr Vole. You’re quite right — that won’t work.

‘So, you met Miss French, you visited her at her home, and a friendship developed. We need to give a good reason for all this. Why did you, a young man of thirty-three, good-looking, good at sports, popular with your friends, spend so much time with an elderly woman? You must have had hardly anything in common.’

Leonard Vole looked nervous. ‘I don’t know — I really don’t know. After the first visit, she asked me to come again. It was clear that she liked me. She said she was lonely and unhappy, so it was difficult to say no.

‘You see, Mr Mayherne, I’m one of those people who can’t say no. And believe it or not, after the third or fourth visit I really did start to like her. My mother died when I was young and I was brought up by an aunt who died before I was fifteen. If I told you that I enjoyed her acting like a mother to me, I think you’d laugh.’

Mayherne didn’t laugh. Instead he took off his glasses again and cleaned them. This was always a sign that he was thinking.

‘I believe you, Mr Vole,’ he said at last. ‘I just don’t know whether a jury① would.

...

① jury n. 陪审团

《控方证人及其他》是“阿加莎·克里斯蒂经典侦探作品集”丛书中的一本。

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