'At the time the murder was committed, I was travelling on the 8 o'clock train to London,' said the man.
'Do you always catch such an early train?' asked the inspector.
'Of course I do,' answered the man. 'I must be at work at 10 o'clock. My employer will confirm that I was there on time.'
'Would a later train get you to work on time?' asked the inspector.
'I suppose it would, but I never catch a later train.'
'At what time did you arrive at the station?'
'At ten to eight. I bought a paper and waited for the train.'
'And you didn't notice anything unusual?'
'Of course not.'
'I suggest,' said the inspector, 'that you are not telling the truth. I suggest that you did not catch the 8 o'clock train, but that you caught the 8.25 which would still get you to work on time. You see, on the morning of the murder, the 8 o'clock train did not run at all. It broke down at Ferngreen station and was taken off the line.'
New words and expressions 生詞和短語(yǔ)
alibi n. 不在犯罪現(xiàn)場(chǎng)
commit v. 犯(罪、錯(cuò))
inspector n. 探長(zhǎng)
employer n. 雇主
confirm v. 確認(rèn),證實(shí)
suggest v. 提醒
truth n. 真相
“在兇殺發(fā)生的時(shí)候,我正坐在8點(diǎn)鐘開(kāi)往倫敦的火車(chē)上。”那人說(shuō)。 “您總是趕這樣早的火車(chē)?”探長(zhǎng)問(wèn)。 “當(dāng)然是的,”那人回答。“我必須在10點(diǎn)鐘上班,我的雇主會(huì)證明我是按時(shí)到了那兒的。” “晚一點(diǎn)兒的車(chē)也能送您按時(shí)上班嗎?” “我認(rèn)為可以,但我從來(lái)不乘晚一點(diǎn)兒的車(chē)。” “您幾點(diǎn)鐘到的火車(chē)站?” “7點(diǎn)50分。我買(mǎi)了張報(bào)紙,等著車(chē)來(lái)。” “您沒(méi)有注意到有什么異常情況發(fā)生嗎?” “當(dāng)然沒(méi)有。” “我提醒您,”探長(zhǎng)說(shuō),“您講的不是實(shí)話。您乘的不是8點(diǎn)鐘的火車(chē),而是8點(diǎn)25分的,這次車(chē)同樣能使您按時(shí)上班。您看,在兇殺發(fā)生的那天早晨,8點(diǎn)鐘的那次車(chē)根本沒(méi)有發(fā)。它在芬格林車(chē)站出了故障而被取消了。”