| But he went at last. Only, the instant before he stepped into the street he deliberately picked up his cup, which he had only half emptied, and threw the soup slap on the wall. | Потом он тоже пошел к дверям и вдруг схватил чашку и вылил суп на стену. |
| I was in the back room myself, and so was the waiter; so I could only rush out in time to find the wall splashed and the shop empty. | Я был в задней комнате. Выбегаю - смотрю: пятно, а священника нет. |
| It don't do any particular damage, but it was confounded cheek; and I tried to catch the men in the street. They were too far off though; I only noticed they went round the next corner into Carstairs Street." | Убыток небольшой, но ведь какая наглость! Я побежал за ним, да не догнал, они свернули на Карстейрс-стрит. |
| The detective was on his feet, hat settled and stick in hand. | Валантэн уже вскочил, надел шляпу и стиснул трость. |
| He had already decided that in the universal darkness of his mind he could only follow the first odd finger that pointed; and this finger was odd enough. | Он понял: во тьме неведения надо было идти туда, куда направляет вас первый указатель, каким бы странным он ни был. |
| Paying his bill and clashing the glass doors behind him, he was soon swinging round into the other street. | Еще не упали на стол монеты, еще не хлопнула стеклянная дверь, а сыщик уже свернул за угол и побежал по улице. |
| It was fortunate that even in such fevered moments his eye was cool and quick. | К счастью, даже в такие отчаянные минуты он не терял холодной зоркости. |
| Something in a shop-front went by him like a mere flash; yet he went back to look at it. | Пробегая мимо какой-то лавки, он заметил в ней что-то странное и вернулся. |
| The shop was a popular greengrocer and fruiterer's, an array of goods set out in the open air and plainly ticketed with their names and prices. | Лавка оказалась зеленной; на открытой витрине были разложены овощи и фрукты, а над ними торчали ярлычки с ценами. |
| In the two most prominent compartments were two heaps, of oranges and of nuts respectively. | В самых больших ячейках высились груда орехов и пирамида мандаринов. |
| On the heap of nuts lay a scrap of cardboard, on which was written in bold, blue chalk, | Надпись над орехами - синие крупные буквы на картонном поле - гласила: |
| "Best tangerine oranges, two a penny." On the oranges was the equally clear and exact description, | "Лучшие мандарины. Две штуки за пенни"; надпись над мандаринами: |
| "Finest Brazil nuts, 4d. a lb." | "Лучшие бразильские орехи. Четыре пенса фунт". |
| M. Valentin looked at these two placards and fancied he had met this highly subtle form of humour before, and that somewhat recently. | Валантэн прочитал и подумал, что совсем недавно встречался с подобным юмором. |
| He drew the attention of the red-faced fruiterer, who was looking rather sullenly up and down the street, to this inaccuracy in his advertisements. | Обратившись к краснолицему зеленщику, который довольно угрюмо смотрел вдаль, он привлек его внимание к прискорбной ошибке. |
| The fruiterer said nothing, but sharply put each card into its proper place. | Зеленщик не ответил, но тут же переставил ярлычки. |
| The detective, leaning elegantly on his walking-cane, continued to scrutinise the shop. | Сыщик, небрежно опираясь на трость, продолжал разглядывать витрину. |
| At last he said, | Наконец он спросил: |
