Sherlock Holmes and the Duke's Son by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
原文
Chapter 6: Sherlock Holmes talks to the Duke
At 11 o'clock the next morning, Holmes and I were in the duke's office at Holderness Hall.
Mr. Wilder came to speak to us.
"The duke can see no one today,"he said to Holmes.
Holmes looked at him coldly.
"The duke can see me," he said, "please tell him that I am here."
After half an hour, the duke of Holderness came into the room.
He looked older, tired, and ill.
"Well, Mr.Holmes," he said.
Holmes looked at James Wilder.
"I can speak more freely without your secretary here, sir."
"Very well," said the duke tiredly, "please, James."
James Wilder gave Holmes an angry look, but he went out of the room and shut the door.
Holmes looked at the duke.
"You are offering——I hear——5000 pounds for news of your son."
"True."
"And another thousand pounds for the name of the kidnapper."
"True."
My friend smiled.
"I see your checkbook on the table, sir, I would like to have your check for 6000 pounds."
"Mr.Sherlock Holmes," the duke said angrily, "what is this about? Do you have news of my son or not?"
"Oh, yes."said Holmes.
The duke's eyes never left Holmes's face.
"Where is my son," he said quietly.
"He is,or was last night at the Green Man in 3 km along the road to Chesterfield."The duke fell back in his chair, "And the name of the kidnapper?"
Sherlock Holmes's answer was a very surprising one.
"You,"he said, "and now, sir, your check, please?"
The duke stood up, his face white and angry, then he sat down again and put his face in his hands.
It was some minutes before he spoke.
"How much do you know?" he asked.
"I saw you with him last night." said Holmes.
"And how many people know about this?"
"Only I and my friend here, Dr Watson."
The duke, took out a pen, opened his checkbook, and began to write.
"When I made this offer, I didn't know…" he stopped, then began again, "Are you and your friend going to talk about this, Mr. Holmes?"
"I don't understand you, sir," said Holmes.
"I mean, nobody needs to know about this, this little family mystery, just you and your friend Watson. Look, here is my check for 12000 pounds."
Holmes gave him a cold little smile.
"I'm sorry, sir. There is a dead man in this case, you remember?"
"But that wasn't James," cried the duke, "he knew nothing about it."
"He was very, very unhappy when he heard about the killing murder," said Holmes, "But James wasn't there, and when he heard about it, he came to me at once and told me everything."
"Oh, Mr.Holmes, you must help him, you must. He is not the murderer, the murderer ran away last night."
Holmes smiled again, "I have a little more news for you, sir. The police met Mr. Reuben Hayes last night at Chesterfield station. Mr. Hayes is not running anywhere fora very long time."
The duke looked at Holmes with an open mouth.
"You know everything." he said.
"But I am pleased to hear about Hayes. He was always a bad man and that news can only help James. James, your secretary." said Holmes.
"No, sir,my son. James Wilder, is my son."
翻译
第六章：夏洛克·福尔摩斯与公爵谈话
第二天上午11点，福尔摩斯和我在霍尔德内斯府邸的公爵办公室里。
怀尔德先生过来跟我们说话。
“公爵今天谁也不见，”他对福尔摩斯说。
福尔摩斯冷冷地看着他。
“公爵会见我，”他说，“请告诉他我在这里。”
半小时后，霍尔德内斯公爵走进了房间。
他看起来更老了，疲惫不堪，而且病容满面。
“好吧，福尔摩斯先生，”他说。
福尔摩斯看着詹姆斯·怀尔德。
“如果没有您的秘书在这里，我可以说话更随意些，先生。”
“好吧，”公爵疲惫地说，“请便，詹姆斯。”
詹姆斯·怀尔德愤怒地瞪了福尔摩斯一眼，然后走出了房间并关上了门。
福尔摩斯看着公爵。
“我听说——您正在悬赏5000英镑征求关于您儿子的消息。”
“没错。”
“另外还有一千英镑用于提供绑架者的名字。”
“没错。”
我的朋友笑了。
“我看到您的支票簿在桌子上，先生，我想要一张6000英镑的支票。”
“夏洛克·福尔摩斯先生，”公爵生气地说，“这是怎么回事？你到底有没有我儿子的消息？”
“噢，有的，”福尔摩斯说。
公爵的眼睛一刻也没有离开福尔摩斯的脸。
“我的儿子在哪里，”他轻声说。
“他在，或者说昨晚他在切斯特菲尔德公路3公里外的绿人旅馆。”公爵向后倒在椅子上，“那么绑架者的名字呢？”
夏洛克·福尔摩斯的回答非常令人惊讶。
“是你，”他说，“现在，先生，请把您的支票给我好吗？”
公爵站了起来，脸色苍白且充满怒气，然后他又坐了下来，双手捂住了脸。
过了几分钟他才开口。
“你知道多少？”他问。
“我昨晚看见你和他在一起了，”福尔摩斯说。
“有多少人知道这件事？”
“只有我和我的这位朋友华生医生。”
公爵拿出一支笔，打开他的支票簿，开始写字。
“当我做出这个承诺时，我不知道……”他停了一下，然后又接着写，“你和你的朋友会谈论这件事吗，福尔摩斯先生？”
“我不明白您的意思，先生，”福尔摩斯说。
“我的意思是，不需要让任何人知道这件事，这个小小的家庭谜团，只需要你和你的朋友华生知道。看，这是我的一万两千英镑的支票。”
福尔摩斯给了他一个冷淡的微笑。
“很抱歉，先生。在这个案子里有一个死人，你还记得吗？”
“但那不是詹姆斯干的，”公爵喊道，“他对这事一无所知。”
“当他听到杀人案的消息时，他非常、非常难过，”福尔摩斯说，“但詹姆斯当时不在那里，当他听说这件事后，他立刻来找我并告诉了我一切。”
“噢，福尔摩斯先生，你必须帮助他，你必须。他不是凶手，凶手昨晚逃跑了。”
福尔摩斯又笑了，“我还有一点消息要告诉您，先生。警察昨晚在切斯特菲尔德车站遇到了鲁本·海耶斯先生。海耶斯先生在很长一段时间里哪儿也去不了了。”
公爵张着嘴看着福尔摩斯。
“你什么都知道了，”他说。
“但我很高兴听到关于海耶斯的消息。他一直是个坏人，那个消息只能对詹姆斯有帮助。詹姆斯，你的秘书。”福尔摩斯说。
“不，先生，是我的儿子。詹姆斯·怀尔德，是我的儿子。”