- •I waited for four hours, getting to know intimately the pattern of the curtains and the cracks in the brown linoleum. Mostly, I thought about wire.
- •Chapter two
- •It was Sunday. I drove to the racecourse, but the gates were locked. Back in the town the Clerk of the Course's office was shut and empty. I telephoned his home, but there was no answer.
- •I told him about my search at the fence, and what I had found there.
- •I put my head quietly round Scilla's door. Her room was dark, but I could hear her even breathing. She was still sound asleep.
- •I sat up straight, surprised.
- •Chapter three
- •I told her as gradually, as gently as I could, that Bill's fall had not been an ordinary accident. I told her about the wire and about Lodge's investigations.
- •I had just decided to ask him to explain his attitude, and to tell him what had really happened, when he began to speak.
- •I was lost before she spoke a word. The first thing I said was, 'I'll be glad to ride your horse.'
- •Chapter four
- •I unsaddled, went back to the weighing-room, changed into Kate's brand new colours, and went out to see what had become of Miss Ellery-Penn.
- •Chapter five
- •I was just giving Joe up when he came out of the gate and hailed me with no apology for his lateness. But I was not the only person to notice his arrival.
- •I was puzzled. 'Is Sandy the only person who has harmed you?' 'It wasn't Sandy, surely, who was paying you not to win?'
- •Chapter six
- •I had driven the better part of three hundred miles besides riding in two races, and I was tired. We went to our beds early, Scilla promising to take her sleeping pills.
- •I drove up to London to spend some long overdue hours in the office, arranging the details of insurance and customs duty on a series of shipments of copper.
- •I already knew I wanted to marry Kate. The thought that she might not have me was a bitter one.
- •I parked the car in the lay-by behind the horse-box. The door at the back of the horse-box opened and a hand, the stable lad's, I supposed, reached out to help me up. He took me by the wrist.
- •I sat on the ground and looked after the speeding horse-box. The number plate was mostly obscured by thick dust, but I had time to see the registration letters. They were apx.
- •I said, 'Have you got any further with the Major Davidson business since the day before yesterday?'
- •I grinned.
- •I played poker with the children and lost to Henry because half my mind was occupied with his father's affairs.
- •Chapter seven
- •I felt a warm glow inside. The Cheltenham Festival meeting suddenly seemed not a bad place to be, after all.
- •I felt a great impulse to assure him it was none of mine either. But he turned back to me and said, 'What shall I do?' in a voice full of whining self-pity.
- •I pointed out the reasons for supposing that murder had not been intended. Sandy 's brown eyes stared at me unwinkingly until I had finished.
- •I drank a sip of champagne and said, 'Well done yourself, you old son-of-a-gun. And here's to the Gold Cup.'
- •I walked purposefully up to Pete, and he made me his excuse for breaking away. We went towards the gates.
- •Chapter eight
- •Inside, the house was charming, with just a saving touch of shabbiness about the furnishings, as if, though rich, the inhabitants saw no need to be either ostentatious or extravagant.
- •I laughed. 'Then why did you give a racehorse to your niece?'
- •I couldn't help a look of distaste, and she laughed and said, 'That's what I think too, but I'd never let him suspect it. He's so devoted to them all.'
- •It was ten miles to Washington. We went into the village and stopped, and I asked some children on their way home from Sunday school where farmer Lawson lived.
- •I thanked him all the same for his trouble, and he asked me to let him know, if I found out, who had taken his box.
- •I laughed. 'If I'd thought he could have possibly been the leader of the gang I wouldn't have taken you there.'
- •Chapter nine
- •I said, 'I suppose if they can't get money from their old victims, the gang try protecting people who don't know about your systems and your dogs -'
- •I looked at Uncle George to see how he liked being deprived of the end of the story, and saw him push his half-filled plate away with a gesture of revulsion, as if he were suddenly about to vomit.
- •Chapter ten
- •Chapter eleven
- •It was still raining an hour later when I went out to ride Palindrome. Pete was waiting for me in the parade ring, the water dripping off the brim of his hat in a steady stream.
- •I knew him.
- •Chapter twelve
- •Chapter thirteen
- •I scowled at him.
- •I leaned my head back against the window and waited for these details to mean something significant, but all that happened was that my inability to think increased.
- •Chapter fourteen
- •I went outside. I stood near the weighing-room door, waiting for Joe and catching up with the latest gossip.
- •Chapter fifteen
- •I pulled Admiral up. Looking carefully I could see the posts and the high wire fence which formed the boundary between the little trees and the road beyond.
- •I began to get the glimmerings of an idea of how to use the manhunt I had caused.
- •I came back to the present with a jerk. I picked up the microphone, clicked over the switch, and said 'No' in as bored and nasal a tone as I could muster.
- •Chapter sixteen
- •Chapter seventeen
- •I stared at the page until the words faded into a blur.
- •Chapter eighteen
- •I swallowed and said, 'Do you remember the children who had to be driven to school by a judo expert to keep them safe?'
- •It drove off. I stared after it, numbly.
- •Chapter nineteen
- •I was watching Sandy instead of concentrating wholly on Forlorn Hope, so that what happened was entirely my own fault.
- •I mentally reviewed the rest of the gang.
- •Illogically, this made me very angry.
- •Chapter nine
- •Chapter fourteen
- •Chapter fifteen
Chapter nine
-
a retired sergeant-major – старшина в отставке
-
a bull-terrier – бультерьер
-
an Alsatian dog – Восточноевропейская овчарка
-
the underlying edginess of the innkeeper – скрытая настороженность хозяина гостиницы
-
Suddenly out of nowhere there floated into my mind a peach of an idea. – Неожиданно в голове мелькнула великолепная мысль
-
I struck oil with a vengeance. – Я попал точно в цель
-
regimental – полковой
-
There’d be a catch. – Что-то здесь не так.
-
wet behind the ears. – совершенно неопытный в таких делах
-
IOU (I owe you) – (сокр.) долговая расписка
-
We all club together. – Все скидываемся.
-
It isn’t all plain sailing yet. – Еще не все благополучною
CHAPTER TEN
-
pigeon-holes – ящички бюро
-
betting tickets – талон о ставке на скачках
-
schooling hurdles – учебные барьеры
-
a Regency terrace house – дом в стиле XVIII- XIX века, периода правления короля Георга IV
CHAPTER ELEVEN
-
I didn’t get suspended by the Stewards – Распорядители не отстранили меня
-
dead cert – фаворит
-
Turkish bath – турецкая баня
-
What a blabbermouth – Вот трепло!
-
private eye – частный детектив
-
Palindrome was an odds-on favourite – Палиндром был безусловным фаворитом, на которого уже были сделаны ставки
-
to come out unscathed – закончит скачку целым и невредимым, не пострадает
-
I went out like a light – я отключился, потерял сознание
CHAPTER TWELVE
-
You have a broken collar-bone, four cracked ribs and multiple contusions. – У вас сломана ключица, трещины в четырех ребрах, множественные ушибы.
-
The smile was a lopsided affair – Улыбка получилась кривой
-
I’ll place a standing order with Interflora, for lilies. – Я оставлю постоянный заказ на лилии в Интерфлоре.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
-
The three aspirins I had swallowed in place of breakfast had not come up to scratch. – Три таблетки аспирина, которые я проглотил вместо завтрака, вовсе не помогли.
-
Why on earth did he do that? – С чего это вдруг он сделал это?
-
nominee – покупатель по доверенности, подставное лицо
-
It sounds very fishy to me. – Это кажется мне очень подозрительным.
-
the electoral register – списки избирателей
-
Spill the beans, there’s a good chap. – Давай парень, выкладывай все, что знаешь.
-
Mr Alan has an unerring instinct for smelling out crooks. – У господина Алана просто нюх на жуликов и пройдох.
-
to take heed of the warning – чтобы я внял предупреждению
-
You tip Joe the wink to lose. – Вы намекаете Джо, что он должен проиграть.
-
He can offer better odds on it. – Он может предложить принять на нее ставки на самых соблазнительных условиях.
-
nee – (born) рожденный
-
camouflage – Только для прикрытия
-
Whoever put them on me – Тот, кто натравил их на меня
Chapter fourteen
-
it was double Dutch to him – была для него китайской грамотой (тарабарщина, галиматья)
-
They’ve made a good job of sewing you up. – Тебя неплохо подлатали.
-
Tattersall’s – место заключения споров на скачках; место, где встречаются торговцы лошадьми
-
the Tote – totalizator – тотализатор
-
He was alive, but only just. – он был едва жив
-
The idea … was as safe as a stick of dynamiter in a bonfire – Эта мысль была также опасна, как и шашка динамита, брошенная в костер.
-
to entice Mr Thiveridge out of his lair. – выманить господина Фивериджа из его логова.
-
cosh – (сленг) дубинка
-
as bait to a predator – как подсадная утка, наживка
-
the Wolseley – английский автомобиль, названный по имени производителя (назывался так до 1960-х годов, хотя в 1927 году был продан компании Morris и затем вошел в состав British Leyland
-
a junior CID officer – (сокр.) Criminal Investigation Department; младший офицер уголовного розыска (полицейские этого подразделения не носят форму)
-
a scythe – (с.-х.) коса
-
I nearly found out the hard way. – Я чуть было не проверил это на собственной шкуре.