"`You had best tell me all about it now,' I said.
"`Half-confidences are worse than none. Besides, you do not know how much we know of it.' {1}
"`On your head be it, Alice!' cried her mother; and then, turning to me,
"`I will tell you all, sir. Do not imagine that my agitation on behalf of my son arises from any fear lest he should have had a hand in this terrible affair. {2}
"He is utterly innocent of it. My dread (担忧) is, however, that in your eyes and in the eyes of others he may appear to be compromised.
"That however is surely impossible. His high character, his profession, his antecedents would all forbid it.'
"`Your best way is to make a clean breast of the facts,' I answered. `Depend upon it, if your son is innocent he will be none the worse.'
"`Perhaps, Alice, you had better leave us together,' she said, and her daughter withdrew (退出).
"`Now, sir,' she continued, `I had no intention of telling you all this, but since my poor daughter has disclosed (公开) it I have no alternative.
"`Having once decided to speak, I will tell you all without omitting (遗漏) any particular.'
"`It is your wisest course,' said I.
"`Mr. Drebber has been with us nearly three weeks.
"`He and his secretary (秘书), Mr. Stangerson, had been travelling on the Continent.
"`I noticed a Copenhagen label upon each of their trunks (大箱子), showing that that had been their last stopping place.
"`Stangerson was a quiet reserved man, but his employer, I am sorry to say, was far otherwise. {3}
"`He was coarse (粗鄙的) in his habits and brutish in his ways.
"`The very night of his arrival he became very much the worse for drink, and, indeed, after twelve o'clock in the day he could hardly ever be said to be sober (未醉的).
"`His manners towards the maid-servants (女佣人) were disgustingly free and familiar.
"`Worst of all, he speedily assumed the same attitude towards my daughter, Alice,
"`and spoke to her more than once in a way which, fortunately, she is too innocent to understand.
"`On one occasion he actually seized her in his arms and embraced her -- an outrage (愤怒) which caused his own secretary to reproach (责备) him for his unmanly conduct.'
"`But why did you stand all this,' I asked. `I suppose that you can get rid of your boarders when you wish.'
"Mrs. Charpentier blushed at my pertinent (切题的) question.
"`Would to God that I had given him notice on the very day that he came,' she said. {4}
"`But it was a sore temptation (诱惑). They were paying a pound a day each -- fourteen pounds a week, and this is the slack season.
"`I am a widow, and my boy in the Navy has cost me much. I grudged to lose the money. I acted for the best.
"`This last was too much, however, and I gave him notice to leave on account of it. That was the reason of his going.'
"`Well?'
"`My heart grew light when I saw him drive away.
"`My son is on leave just now, but I did not tell him anything of all this, for his temper is violent, and he is passionately fond of his sister.
"`When I closed the door behind them a load seemed to be lifted from my mind.
"`Alas, in less than an hour there was a ring at the bell, and I learned that Mr. Drebber had returned.
"`He was much excited, and evidently the worse for drink.
"`He forced his way into the room, where I was sitting with my daughter, and made some incoherent (语无伦次的) remark about having missed his train.
"He then turned to Alice, and before my very face, proposed to her that she should fly with him.
"You are of age," he said, "and there is no law to stop you. I have money enough and to spare.
"Never mind the old girl here, but come along with me now straight away. You shall live like a princess."
"Poor Alice was so frightened that she shrunk away from him, but he caught her by the wrist and endeavoured to draw her towards the door.
"I screamed, and at that moment my son Arthur came into the room. What happened then I do not know.
"I heard oaths (咒骂) and the confused sounds of a scuffle (扭打). I was too terrified to raise my head.
"When I did look up I saw Arthur standing in the doorway laughing, with a stick in his hand.
"I don't think that fine fellow will trouble us again," he said. "I will just go after him and see what he does with himself."
"With those words he took his hat and started off down the street. The next morning we heard of Mr. Drebber's mysterious death.'
"This statement came from Mrs. Charpentier's lips with many gasps (喘息) and pauses.
"At times she spoke so low that I could hardly catch the words.
"I made shorthand (速记) notes of all that she said, however, so that there should be no possibility of a mistake."
"It's quite exciting," said Sherlock Holmes, with a yawn. "What happened next?"
"When Mrs. Charpentier paused," the detective continued, "I saw that the whole case hung upon one point.
"Fixing her with my eye in a way which I always found effective with women, I asked her at what hour her son returned.
"`I do not know,' she answered.
"`Not know?'
"`No; he has a latch-key, and he let himself in.'
"`After you went to bed?'
"`Yes.'
"`When did you go to bed?'
"`About eleven.'
"`So your son was gone at least two hours?'
"`Yes.'
"`Possibly four or five?'
"`Yes.'
"`What was he doing during that time?'
"`I do not know,' she answered, turning white to her very lips."
