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He took a small piece of torn paper from a notebook and spread it out upon his knee.
警官从笔记本里取出一角撕坏的纸，把它铺在膝盖上。
"This was found between the finger and thumb of the dead man. It appears to be a fragment torn from a larger sheet.
"我们发现死者的手里抓着这张纸条。看来它是从一张较大的纸上撕下来的。
You will observe that the hour mentioned upon it is the very time at which the poor fellow met his fate.
你可以看到，上面提到的时间正是这个可怜的家伙遭到不幸的时刻。
You see that his murderer might have torn the rest of the sheet from him or he might have taken this fragment from the murderer. It reads almost as though it were an appointment."
你看，要么是凶手从死者手中撕去一块，要么是死者从凶手那里夺回这一角。这张纸条读起来很象是一种同人约会的短柬。"
Holmes took up the scrap of paper, a facsimile of which is here reproduced.
福尔摩斯拿起这张小纸片。下面是它的复制片。
"Presuming that it is an appointment," continued the inspector, "it is of course a conceivable theory that this William Kirwan, though he had the reputation of being an honest man, may have been in league with the thief.
"我们姑且认为这是一种约会，"警官继续说道，"当然也就可以相信：虽然威廉·柯万素有忠厚之名，但也可能与盗贼有勾结。
He may have met him there, may even have helped him to break in the door, and then they may have fallen out between themselves."
他可能在那里迎接盗贼，甚至帮助盗贼闯进门内，后来他们两人可能又闹翻了。""
"This writing is of extraordinary interest," said Holmes, who had been examining it with intense concentration. "These are much deeper waters than I had thought."
这字体倒是非常有趣，"福尔摩斯把这张纸条聚精会神地察看了一番，说道，"这比我想象的要深奥得多。"
He sank his head upon his hands, while the inspector smiled at the effect which his case had had upon the famous London specialist.
他双手抱头沉思，警官看到这件案子居然使这位大名鼎鼎的伦敦侦探如此劳神，不禁喜形于色。
"Your last remark," said Holmes presently, "as to the possibility of there being an understanding between the burglar and the servant, and this being a note of appointment from one to the other, is an ingenious and notentirely impossible supposition. But this writing opens up..."
"你刚才说，"福尔摩斯过了一会儿说道，"可能盗贼和仆人之间有默契，这张纸也许是一个人给另一个人的密约信，这确实是一个独到的见解，并非完全不可能。可是这张纸条上明明写着..."
He sank his head into his hands again and remained for some minutes in the deepest thought.
他又双手抱头，沉思了片刻。
When he raised his face again I was surprised to see that his cheek was tinged with colour, and his eyes as bright as before his illness. He sprang to his feet with all his old energy.
当他再抬起头时，我很惊奇地看到他又像未病时那样满面红光，目光炯炯，精力充沛，一跃而起。
"I'll tell you what," said he, "I should like to have a quiet little glance into the details of this case. There is something in it which fascinates me extremely.
"我告诉你们，"他说道，"我很想悄悄地去看一看，了解一下这个案子的一些细节。它有些地方非常吸引我。
If you will permit me, Colonel, I will leave my friend Watson and you, and I will step round with the inspector to test the truth of one or two little fancies of mine. I will be with you again in half an hour."
如果你允许的话，上校，我想告别你和我的朋友华生，跟警官一起去跑一趟，验证一下我的一两点想法。半小时后，我再来见你。"
An hour and a half had elapsed before the inspector returned alone.
过了一个半小时，警官独自一人回来了。
"Mr. Holmes is walking up and down in the field outside," said he. "He wants us all four to go up to the house together."
"福尔摩斯先生正在田野里踱来踱去，"他说道，"他要我们四个人一起到那所屋子里去看看。"
"To Mr. Cunningham's?"
"到坎宁安先生家里去？"
"Yes, sir."
"是的，先生。"
"What for?"
"去做什么呢？"
The inspector shrugged his shoulders. "I don't quite know, sir. Between ourselves, I think Mr. Holmes has not quite got over his illness yet. He's been behaving very queerly, and he is very much excited."
警官耸了耸肩，说道："我不十分清楚，先生。我只跟你说，我认为福尔摩斯先生的病还没有全好。他表现得非常古怪，而且过于激动。"
"I don't think you need alarm yourself," said I. "I have usually found that there was method in his madness."
"我认为，你不必大惊小怪，"我说道，"我经常发现，当他好像疯疯癫癫的时候，他已经胸有成竹了。"
"Some folk might say there was madness in his method," muttered the inspector. "But he's all on fire to start, Colonel, so we had best go out if you are ready."
"有人会说，他的方法简直是发疯，"警官嘟嘟囔囔地说，"不过他急着要去调查，上校，所以如果你们准备好了，我们最好现在就去。"
