福尔摩斯探案集·血字的研究 第4期:福尔摩斯先生(4)

"Dr. Watson, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said Stamford, introducing us.

斯坦弗给我们介绍说："这位是华生医生，这位是福尔摩斯先生。"

"How are you?" he said cordially, gripping my hand with a strength for which I should hardly have given him credit.

"您好。"福尔摩斯热诚地说，一边使劲握住我的手。我简直不能相信他会有这样大的力气。

"You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive."

"我看得出来，您到过阿富汗。"

"How on earth did you know that?" I asked in astonishment.

我吃惊地问道："您怎么知道的？"

"Never mind," said he, chuckling to himself. "The question now is about haemoglobin.

"这没有什么，"他格格地笑了笑，"现在要谈的是血色蛋白质的问题。

No doubt you see the significance of this discovery of mine?"

没有问题，您一定会看出我这发现的重要性了吧？"

"It is interesting, chemically, no doubt," I answered, "but practically..."

我回答说："从化学上来说，无疑地这是很有意思的，但是在实用方面..."

"Why, man, it is the most practical medico-legal discovery for years.

"怎么，先生，这是近年来实用法医学上最重大的发现了。

Don't you see that it gives us an infallible test for blood stains? Come over here now!"

难道您还看不出来这种试剂能使我们在鉴别血迹上百无一失吗？请到这边来！"

He seized me by the coat-sleeve in his eagerness, and drew me over to the table at which he had been working.

他急忙拉住我的袖口，把我拖到他原来工作的那张桌子的前面。

"Let us have some fresh blood," he said, digging a long bodkin into his finger,

"咱们弄点鲜血，"他说着，用一根长针刺破自己的手指，

and drawing off the resulting drop of blood in a chemical pipette.

再用一支吸管吸了那滴血。

"Now, I add this small quantity of blood to a litre of water.

"现在把这一点儿鲜血放到一公升水里去。

You perceive that the resulting mixture has the appearance of pure water.

您看，这种混合液与清水无异。

The proportion of blood cannot be more than one in a million.

血在这种溶液中所占的成分还不到百万分之一。

I have no doubt, however, that we shall be able to obtain the characteristic reaction."

虽然如此，我确信咱们还是能够得到一种特定的反应。"

As he spoke, he threw into the vessel a few white crystals, and then added some drops of a transparent fluid.

说着他就把几粒白色结晶放进这个容器里，然后又加上几滴透明的液体。

In an instant the contents assumed a dull mahogany colour, and a brownish dust was precipitated to the bottom of the glass jar.

不一会儿，这溶液就现出暗红色了，一些棕色颗粒渐渐沉淀到瓶底上。

"Ha! ha!" he cried, clapping his hands, and looking as delighted as a child with a new toy. "What do you think of that?"

"哈！哈！"他拍着手，象小孩子拿到新玩具似地那样兴高采烈地喊道，"您看怎么样？"

"It seems to be a very delicate test," I remarked.

我说："看来这倒是一种非常精密的实验。"

"Beautiful! beautiful! The old guaiacum test was very clumsy and uncertain.

"妙极了！简直妙极了！过去用愈创木液试验的方法，既难作又不准确。

So is the microscopic examination for blood corpuscles. The latter is valueless if the stains are a few hours old.

用显微镜检验血球的方法也同样不好。如果血迹已干了几个钟头以后，再用显微镜来检验就不起作用了。

Now, this appears to act as well whether the blood is old or new.

现在，不论血迹新旧，这种新试剂看来都一样会发生作用。

Had this test been invented, there are hundreds of men now walking the earth who would long ago have paid the penalty of their crimes."

假如这个试验方法能早些发现，那么，现在世界上数以百计的逍遥法外的罪人早就受到法律的制裁了。"

"Indeed!" I murmured. "Criminal cases are continually hinging upon that one point.

我喃喃地说道："确是这样！""许多刑事犯罪案件往往取决于这一点。

A man is suspected of a crime months perhaps after it has been committed.

也许罪行发生后几个月才能查出一个嫌疑犯。

His linen or clothes are examined and brownish stains discovered upon them.

检查了他的衬衣或者其他衣物后，发现上面有褐色斑点。

Are they blood stains, or mud stains, or rust stains, or fruit stains, or what are they?

这些斑点究竟是血迹呢，还是泥迹，是铁锈还是果汁的痕迹呢，还是其他什么东西？

That is a question which has puzzled many an expert, and why? Because there was no reliable test.

这是一个使许多专家都感到为难的问题，可是为什么呢？就是因为没有可靠的检验方法。

Now we have the Sherlock Holmes's test, and there will no longer be any difficulty."

现在，我们有了歇洛克·福尔摩斯检验法，以后就不会有任何困难了。"

His eyes fairly glittered as he spoke, and he put his hand over his heart and bowed as if to some applauding crowd conjured up by his imagination.

他说话的时候，两眼显得炯炯有神。他把一只手按在胸前，鞠了一躬，好象是在对许多想象之中正在鼓掌的观众致谢似的。

"You are to be congratulated," I remarked, considerably surprised at his enthusiasm.

我看到他那兴奋的样子很觉惊奇，我说："我向你祝贺。"

"There was the case of Von Bischoff at Frankfort last year. He would certainly have been hung had this test been in existence.

"去年在法兰克福地方发生过冯·彼少夫一案。如果当时就有这个检验方法的话，那么，他一定早就被绞死了。

Then there was Mason of Bradford, and the notorious Muller, and Lefevre of Montpellier, and Samson of New Orleans.

此外还有布莱德弗地方的梅森；臭名昭著的摩勒；茂姆培利耶的洛菲沃以及新奥尔良的赛姆森。

I could name a score of cases in which it would have been decisive."

我可以举出二十多个案件，在这些案件里，用这个方法都会起决定性的作用。"