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From under the door there curled a little red ribbon of blood, which had meandered across the passage and formed a little pool along the skirting at the other side.
一條曲曲彎彎的血跡由房門下邊流了出來，一直流過走道，匯積在對面墻腳下。
I gave a cry, which brought the boots back.
我不由得大叫一聲，這個茶房聽到這一聲后，就轉身走了回來。
He nearly fainted when he saw it. The door was locked on the inside, but we put our shoulders to it, and knocked it in.
他看見這個情景，嚇得幾乎昏了過去。房門是倒鎖著的，我們用肩把它撞開，進入室內。
The window of the room was open, and beside the window, all huddled up, lay the body of a man in his nightdress.
屋內窗戶洞開，窗子旁邊躺著一個男人的尸體，身上穿著睡衣，蜷曲成一團。
He was quite dead, and had been for some time, for his limbs were rigid and cold.
他早就斷了氣，四肢已經僵硬冰涼了。
When we turned him over, the boots recognized him at once as being the same gentleman who had engaged the room under the name of Joseph Stangerson.
我們把尸體翻過來一瞧，擦鞋人立刻認出，這就是這間房子的住客，名叫斯坦節遜。
The cause of death was a deep stab in the left side, which must have penetrated the heart.
致死的原因是，身體左側被人用刀刺入很深，一定是傷了心臟。
And now comes the strangest part of the affair.
還有一個最奇怪的情況，
What do you suppose was above the murdered man?"
你們猜猜看，死者臉上有什么？"
I felt a creeping of the flesh, and a presentiment of coming horror, even before Sherlock Holmes answered.
我聽到這里，不覺毛骨悚然，感到十分可怕。
"The word RACHE, written in letters of blood," he said.
福爾摩斯卻立刻答道："是'拉契'這個字，用血寫的。"
"That was it," said Lestrade, in an awestruck voice; and we were all silent for a while.
"正是這個字。"雷斯垂德說，話音中還帶著恐懼。一時之間，我們都沉默了下來。
There was something so methodical and so incomprehensible about the deeds of this unknown assassin, that it imparted a fresh ghastliness to his crimes.
這個暗藏兇手的暗殺行為似乎很有步驟，同時又是難以理解的，因此也就使得他的罪行更加可怖。
My nerves, which were steady enough on the field of battle, tingled as I thought of it.
我的神經，雖在死傷遍野的戰場上也很堅強，但是一想到這個情景，卻難免不寒而栗。
"The man was seen," continued Lestrade.
雷斯垂德接著說："有人看見過這個兇手。
"A milk boy, passing on his way to the dairy, happened to walk down the lane which leads from the mews at the back of the hotel.
一個送牛奶的孩子在去牛奶房的時候，偶然經過旅館后面的那條小胡同，這條小胡同是通往旅館后邊馬車房的。
He noticed that a ladder, which usually lay there, was raised against one of the windows of the second floor, which was wide open.
他看到平日放在地上的那個梯子豎了起來，對著三樓的一個窗子，這個窗子大開著。
After passing, he looked back and saw a man descend the ladder.
這個孩子走過之后，曾經回過頭來瞧了瞧，他看到一個人從梯子上下來。
He came down so quietly and openly that the boy imagined him to be some carpenter or joiner at work in the hotel.
只見他不慌不忙、大大方方地走了下來。這個孩子還以為是旅館里的木匠在做活呢，
He took no particular notice of him, beyond thinking in his own mind that it was early for him to be at work.
所以他也沒有特別注意這個人，不過心里只是覺得，這時上工未免太早罷了。
He has an impression that the man was tall, had a reddish face, and was dressed in a long, brownish coat.
他仿佛記得這個人是一個大個子，紅紅的臉，身上穿著一件長長的棕色外衣。
He must have stayed in the room some little time after the murder,
他在行兇之后，一定是在房里還停留過一會兒。
for we found blood-stained water in the basin, where he had washed his hands, and marks on the sheets where he had deliberately wiped his knife."
因為我們發現臉盆水中有血，說明兇手是曾經洗過手；床單上也有血跡，可見他行兇以后還從容地擦過刀子。"
I glanced at Holmes on hearing the description of the murderer which tallied so exactly with his own.
一聽到兇手的身形、面貌和福爾摩斯的推斷十分吻合，我就瞧了他一眼，
There was, however, no trace of exultation or satisfaction upon his face.
可是他的臉上并沒有絲毫得意的樣子。
"Did you find nothing in the room which could furnish a clue to the murderer?" he asked.
福爾摩斯問道："你在屋里沒有發現任何可以提供緝捕兇手的線索嗎？"
"Nothing. Stangerson had Drebber's purse in his pocket, but it seems that this was usual, as he did all the paying.
"沒有。斯坦節遜身上帶著錐伯的錢袋，但是看來平常就是他帶著的，因為他是掌管開支的。
There was eighty-odd pounds in it, but nothing had been taken.
錢袋里有八十多鎊現款，分文不少。
Whatever the motives of these extraordinary crimes, robbery is certainly not one of them.
這些犯罪行為看來不平常，它的動機不管是什么，但絕不會是謀財害命。
There were no papers or memoranda in the murdered man's pocket,
被害人衣袋里也沒有文件或日記本，
except a single telegram, dated from Cleveland about a month ago, and containing the words, 'J. H.is in Europe.'
只有一份電報，這是一個月以前從克利夫蘭城打來的，電文是'J·H．現在歐洲'，
There was no name appended to this message."
這份電文沒有署名。"
