Race上校照例坐船前往非洲度假，不过这次他遇到的侦探不是好朋友Poirot。而是女侦探Anne Beddingfeld。Anne刚巧出现在一次谋杀的案发现场并且得到了相关线索，为了查案她登上了开往开普敦的船，在查案过程中，有人却想要除掉Anne......
本书中，阿加莎·克里斯蒂首次以生活中的人物为原型创造了书中的角色，你想知道具体是哪一位吗？一起来看看吧。
Chapter 16
The next morning, using some of my money, I persuaded the night steward to talk. On the previous voyage from Cape Town to England, one of the passengers had paid him to drop a roll of film into a lady’s cabin when the ship made its return journey to Cape Town. It was just a harmless joke. The film was to be dropped through the ventilator into Cabin 71 – at 1 a.m. on January 22nd. He had not been told the lady’s name, so he had no reason to think Mrs Blair was not the right lady. The name of the passenger who paid him was Carton – the man killed on the Tube. So one mystery was now answered.
As we came nearer to Cape Town, I considered my plans. There were so many people I wanted to watch. Mr Chichester, Sir Eustace and his secretary, and Colonel Race! How could I do it?On our last evening, we were sitting on deck when Sir Eustace asked his secretary some simple question about railway delays in Italy. Mr Pagett gave the same sort of nervous answer I had noticed before. When Sir Eustace asked Mrs Blair to dance, I quickly moved to the chair next to the secretary.‘I have always wanted to go to Florence. Did you enjoy your visit?’‘Indeed I did, Miss Beddingfeld. I’m sorry, I must go and deal with some work...’I put my hand on his arm. ‘Oh, but you never seem to want to talk about Florence, Mr Pagett, I believe you have a guilty secret!’I felt him jump. ‘Not at all, Miss Beddingfeld. I would be delighted to talk, but there really are some letters...’‘Oh, Mr Pagett. Florence, on the banks of the Arno. A beautiful river. And you remember the Duomo?’‘Another beautiful river,’ I said, when in fact the Duomo was the cathedral church of Florence.Mr Pagett had never been in Florence in his life.But if not in Florence, where had he been? In England? At the time of the Mill House murder? I decided to test that possibility.‘The strange thing is,’ I said, ‘that I thought I had seen you before. But I must be mistaken – since you were in Florence at the time.’There was a hunted look in his eyes.‘Yet I thought I saw you at Marlow.’Hardly able to speak, Mr Pagett got up and ran.That night I went to Suzanne’s cabin, full of excitement. ‘You see,’ I said, as I finished my story, ‘Pagett was in Marlow at the time of the murder. Are you so sure now that “the Man in the Brown Suit” is guilty?’‘I’m sure of one thing,’ Suzanne said, ‘You have made an important discovery. Now we know Pagett does not have an alibi.’‘Exactly! So we must watch him.’‘As well as everybody else,’ she said. ‘Well, I wanted to talk to you about that – and about finance. No, don’t be proud, please be practical. We are partners – I would not give you money just because I liked you – what I want is excitement prepared to pay for it. We are in this together. To begin with you will come with me to the Mount Nelson Hotel. I shall pay and we will make our plans.’It was late, after midnight, but I felt too excited to go to bed. It was my last night on board. I went up on deck. The air was fresh and cool. The decks were dark and empty. I leaned over the rail, watching the white water that the passage of the ship left behind. Ahead was Africa, a wonderful world. I stood, lost in a dream.
Suddenly I had a strong feeling of danger. As I turned, a hand went round my throat. I couldn’t make a sound. I fought with all my strength. Hardly able to breathe, I hit out at the shadowy form of the man who was trying to throw me into the sea.
Then another man came running and knocked my enemy down onto the deck with one punch. I fell back against the rail, sick and shaking. My protector turned quickly to me.It was Rayburn, the man I loved. There was something savage in his voice, a terrible threat against the person who had hurt me.Quickly as a flash, our fallen enemy was up and running. Rayburn went after him – and I followed. Round we went to the other side. There the man lay, with Rayburn bending over him.‘Did you hit him again?’ I asked.‘There was no need. I found him like this.’Rayburn lit a match. I am not sure which one of us was more surprised. It was Guy Pagett.‘Pagget,’ Rayburn was clearly shocked. ‘I never suspected –’ He turned to me. ‘And you? Where do you fit in this? How much do you know?’I smiled. ‘A lot, Mr Lucas!’
He caught my arm painfully. ‘Where did you get that the name?’‘Isn’t it yours?’ I asked. ‘Or do you prefer to be called “The Man in the Brown Suit”?’That shook him. He let me go and fell back a step. ‘Are you a girl, or a witch?’ he said quictly.‘I am a friend,’ I stepped towards him. ‘I offered you my help once – I offer it again. Will you have it?’
His anger shocked me. ‘No. I’ll have nothing to do with you or any woman.’‘Perhaps,’ I said, ‘you don’t understand how much you are in my power...’He came forward quickly. ‘And do you understand that I could take you by the throat like this.’ I felt his hands close around my throat and press – ever so gently. ‘And crush the life out of you! And then throw your body into the sea. What do you say to that?’I laughed. I loved the feeling of his hands on my throat. I would not have exchanged that moment for any moment in my life. With a short laugh he let me go. ‘What’s your name?’‘Does nothing frighten you, Anne?’‘Oh, yes,’ I said, with a calmness I didn’t feel. ‘Wasps.’He gave the same short laugh as before. Then he pushed Pagget with his foot. ‘What shall we do with this rubbish? Throw it overboard?’‘If you like,’ I answered.‘I admire your strong feelings. But we will leave him. Goodbye, Miss Beddingfeld.’‘Until we meet again, Mr Lucas.’Again he was shocked. He came nearer. ‘Why do you say that?’‘Because,’ I said with certainty, ‘we will meet again.’I stepped back. I heard him start after me, then pause, and a word came through the darkness. I think it was ‘witch’!文化注释
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second city of South Africa (Johannesburg is the largest city). It is situated on the south-west tip of the continent of Africa, and was founded in the 17th century as a supply station for ships travelling to India and the East. Its most famous landmark is Table Mountain – so called because it has a flat top, like a table. The Mount Nelson Hotel in the story is still one of the best hotels in the city today. It was built in 1899 and became the favourite hotel for travellers in the early part of the 20th century.
开普敦
开普敦是南非第二大城市（最大的城市是约翰内斯堡），位于非洲大陆西南端之角上，17世纪建城时是通往印度和东方的过往船只的补给站。这里最著名的地标是桌山——之所以这么称呼，是因为山顶很平坦，像一张桌子一样。本故事里提到的纳尔逊山庄宾馆今天仍然是开普敦最好的宾馆之一。它建于1899年，是20世纪初期旅行者们最爱入住的宾馆。
The British class systemAt the time when The Man in the Brown Suit was written in 1924, Britain had a distinct class system with rules that everybody knew and followed. The upper classes consisted of two groups. The first, the nobility, had titles: they were Dukes, Marquesses, Earls, Viscounts and Barons. Lord Nasby, for example, was probably a baron. They were addressed as my Lord and my Lady, your lordship, your ladyship. They owned land, had a lot of power and did not usually work for a living unless they were involved in politics, diplomacy or the military as very senior officers.
The second part of the upper classes, the landed gentry, had titles such as Baronet and Knight – Sir Eustace Pedler is a Knight.
The middle classes were educated people who had to work for a living – they had professions in the law, medicine, education, business, the Church or, like Profssor Beddingfeld, archacology, or something similar.
英国的社会阶级制度在1924年写作《穿棕色套装的人》的时代，英国有一套明确的社会阶级制度，人人都须了解并遵从这套制度。上层阶级由两个群体构成。第一类群体是贵族，他们有贵族头衔，分别是：公爵、侯爵、伯爵、子爵和男爵。例如，纳斯比勋爵可能是一名男爵。人们一般称呼他们为“老爷”或“夫人”。他们拥有土地，具有很大的权力，通常不靠工作来谋生，除非他们以高官身份从事政治、外交、军事等事务。
上层阶级的第二类群体是拥有地产的乡绅，他们也有准男爵和骑士等头衔——Eustace Pedler 爵士便是一名骑士。
中产阶级是受过教育的人士，他们必须工作才能谋生，他们通常都有自己的专业，比如法律、医学、教育、商务、教会，或者像本故事里的 Beddingfeld 教授所从事的考古学专业，或者其他类似的专业。
Marlow
A town on the river Thames to the west of London.
马洛泰晤士河畔的一座小镇，位于伦敦西边。 ( 以上内容节选自《穿棕色套装的人》，图片来自网络)