| Dr Meynell read it with great interest and showed it to Charles Ridgeway. | Доктор Мейнелл прочел ее с большим интересом и показал Чарлзу. |
| "A very curious coincidence," he said. "It seems clear that your aunt had been having hallucinations about her dead husband's voice. | - Совершенно очевидно, что ваша тетушка страдала галлюцинациями. Ей мерещился голос ее покойного мужа. |
| She must have strung herself up to such a point that the excitement was fatal, and when the time actually came she died of the shock." "Auto-suggestion?" asked Charles. "Something of the sort. I will let you know the result of the autopsy as soon as possible, though I have no doubt of it myself. In the circumstances an autopsy is desirable, though purely as a matter of form." | Она довела себя до такой степени возбуждения, что умерла от шока. |
| Charles nodded comprehendingly. | Чарлз понимающе кивнул. |
| On the preceding night, when the household was in bed, he had removed a certain wire which ran from the back of the radio cabinet to his bedroom on the floor above. | Накануне ночью, когда все спали, он уничтожил провод, тянувшийся от задней стенки приемника к его спальне, расположенной этажом выше. |
| Also, since the evening had been a chilly one, he had asked Elizabeth to light a fire in his room, and in that fire he had burned a chestnut beard and whiskers. | Кроме того, так как вечер был довольно прохладный, он попросил Элизабет затопить камин в его комнате и сжег в нем каштановую бороду и усы. |
| Some Victorian clothing belonging to his late uncle he replaced in the camphor-scented chest in the attic. | А одежду времен королевы Виктории, принадлежавшую его покойному дяде, положил обратно в пропахший нафталином сундук на чердаке. |
| As far as he could see, he was perfectly safe. His plan, the shadowy outline of which had first formed in his brain when Doctor Meynell had told him that his aunt might with due care live for many years, had succeeded admirably. A sudden shock, Dr Meynell had said. | Он считал себя вне подозрений. |
| Charles, that affectionate young man, beloved of old ladies, smiled to himself. | Чарлз - нежный и внимательный молодой человек, любимец старых дам - улыбнулся про себя. |
| When the doctor had departed, Charles went about his duties mechanically. | После ухода доктора Чарлз приступил к исполнению своих обязанностей. |
| Certain funeral arrangements had to be finally settled. | Следовало урегулировать некоторые обстоятельства, связанные с похоронами. |
| Relatives coming from a distance had to have trains looked out for them. | Для родственников, приезжающих издалека, надо было выбрать подходящие поезда. |
| In one or two cases they would have to stay the night. | Кое-кто из них останется ночевать. |
| Charles went about it all efficiently and methodically, to the accompaniment of an undercurrent of his own thoughts. A very good stroke of business! That was the burden of them. | Чарлз занимался всем этим под аккомпанемент своих мыслей. |
| Nobody, least of all his dead aunt, had known in what perilous straits Charles stood. | Никто не знал, в каком бедственном положении он находился. |
