“Some years ago – to be definite, in May, 1884 – there came to Lee a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far as we have been able to ascertain, amount to £88 10s. , while he has £220 standing to his credit in the Capital and Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money troubles have been weighing upon his mind.

「数年前 / / 正確には / 1884年の5月だ / / 一人の紳士がリーにやって来た / ネビル・セント・クレアという名前の / 彼は金回りが良さそうに見えた◆彼は大きな邸宅を買い / 周りの敷地もきちんと区画して整えた / 大体においていい生活をしていた◆少しずつ近所に友人が出来て / 1887年に / 彼は地元の醸造業者の娘と結婚した / この妻との間に子供が二人いる◆彼は仕事を持っていなかった / しかしいくつかの会社に興味があり / 朝、町に出かけるのを日課としていた / 毎日 5:14 までにキャノン街から帰って来た◆セント・クレア氏は今37歳で / 穏やかな生活スタイルで / 良き夫 / 愛情に溢れた父親 / 彼を知る全ての人間に人気があった◆現時点の彼の全負債を付け加えると / はっきり確認できた範囲では / 合計88ポンド10シリングになる◆ / 一方彼は220ポンドの預金残高が / キャピタル＆カウンティーズ銀行にある◆理由はない / したがって / 金銭トラブルが彼の心にのしかかっていたと考える」

“Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier than usual, remarking before he started that he had two important commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up in your London, you will know that the office of the company is in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company’s office, got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me so far?”

「この前の月曜日 / ネビル・セント・クレア氏は普段より早めに町に出た / 彼が出発する前にこう言って / 彼はやらなければならない大事な仕事が二つある / そして彼は子供に積み木を一箱買って帰ると◆ここで / 本当に偶然に / 彼の妻は同じ月曜日に電報を受け取った / 彼が出発してすぐ後に / 以下の趣旨の / 彼女がずっと待っていた非常な価値のある小包が / アバディーン船会社の事務所で彼女が取りに来るのを待っていると◆さて / 君が住んでいるロンドンに通じていれば / その会社の事務所はフレズノ街にあると知っているかもしれない / そこはアッパー・スワンダン・レインにつながっている / 君が今夜僕を見つけた◆セント・クレア夫人は昼食を済ませ / シティに出発した / ちょっと買物をし / 会社の事務所に向かった / 荷物を受け取り / ちょうど 4:35 に彼女は / 駅に戻る道すがら、スワンダム・レインを通っていた◆ここまではいいかな？」

“It is very clear.”

「非常に良く分かる」

“If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town in, he had on neither collar nor necktie.

「覚えているかもしれないが / 月曜は非常に暑い日だった / そしてセント・クレア夫人はゆっくりと歩いていた / 辻馬車を見つけたいと思ってあたりを見回しながら / 彼女は今自分がいる、そのあたりが嫌いだったので◆彼女がこうしてスワンダム・レインを歩いていると / 彼女は突然絶叫か驚いた大声のような声を聞いた / 彼女は自分の夫が彼女を見下ろしているのを見て血の気が引いた / それは彼女には見えた / 三階の窓から彼女を手招きしているように◆窓は開いていて / 彼女ははっきりと夫の顔を見た / 彼女の説明では恐ろしいほど動揺していたという◆彼は両手を狂ったように彼女に向かって振り / そして窓から消えた / あまりにも突然だったのでそれは彼女には見えた / 彼は後ろにグイッと引っ張られたと / 後ろからの何か抵抗し難いような力で◆目ざとい女性の目に一つの奇妙な点が映った / それは、夫は暗い色の上着を着ていたにもかかわらず / 街に出かける時のような / その時の夫はカラーもネクタイもしていなかった」

“Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the steps – for the house was none other than the opium den in which you found me to-night – and running through the front room she attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At the foot of the stairs, however, she met this lascar scoundrel of whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, it seems, made his home there. Both he and the lascar stoutly swore that no one else had been in the front room during the afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell a cascade of children’s bricks. It was the toy which he had promised to bring home.

「何かまずいことが夫に起きたと確信して / 彼女は階段に向かって走った / / その家というのが / 他でもない君が今夜僕を見つけたアヘン窟だ / / 正面の部屋を突っきって / 二階に向かう階段を昇ろうとした◆階段の下で / しかし / 彼女は僕が話したインド人水夫の悪党と出くわした / こいつが彼女を乱暴に押しやり / デンマーク人の助けを借りて / ここで助手をしていた / 彼女を通りに追い出した◆気も狂わんばかりの疑念と恐れでいっぱいになり / 彼女は通りを走った、そして / 本当に幸運にも / フレズノ街で警部が大勢の巡査といるのに出会い / 全員、担当地域に向かう途中の◆警部と巡査二人が彼女と一緒に戻り / 家主のしつこい抵抗にも拘らず / 彼らは部屋に入った / セント・クレア氏が目撃された◆しかし彼のいた痕跡は全く無く◆実際 / その階には / 誰もいなかった / 一人の物凄く汚らしい足の悪い目も当てられない男を除き / この男はどうやらここを根城にしているようだった◆しかしこの男と家主は頑強に断言した / 他に誰もその午後の部屋にはいなかったと◆彼らの否定が極めて断定的だったので警部はたじろいだ / そしてほとんど信じ始めていた / セント・クレア夫人は見間違ったと / そのとき、叫び声と共に / 彼女は小さなモミの箱に飛びついた / テーブルの上に置かれていた / そして蓋を剥がした◆そこから、子供の積み木が列をなしてこぼれ落ちた◆それは彼が家に買って帰ると約束していた玩具だった」

“This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple showed, made the inspector realize that the matter was serious. The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the window-sill, and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch – all were there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone, for no other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of the tragedy.

「この発見と / 体の不自由な男が明らかに困惑した様子を見せたことが / 警部に事態が深刻だということを気付かせた◆部屋が入念に調査された / そしてその結果はすべて恐るべき犯罪を示していた◆正面の部屋は簡単な家具があるだけだった / そこは居間として使われていて小さな寝室につながっていた / そこから外に波止場の一つの裏を見ることが出来る◆波止場と寝室の窓の間に細長い土地があり / それは引き潮のときは水面に出るが / 満ち潮のときは水面下となる / 少なくとも4.5フィートの深さまで◆寝室の窓は広く下から開ける形式のものだった◆調べると / 窓枠の上に血の跡が見つかった / そしていくらかの飛び散った血の跡が確認できた / 寝室の木の床の上に◆正面の部屋のカーテンの後ろに突っ込んであったのは / ネビル・セント・クレア氏の服が一式だった / 上着を除いて◆彼の靴 / 靴下 / 帽子 / 懐中時計 / / 全てがそこにあった◆この服には暴力の跡は無かった / そしてネビル・セント・クレア氏の手がかりは他にはなかった◆見るところ、彼は窓から消えたに違いない / 他に出口が見つけられないので / 窓枠の不吉な血の跡は / 彼が泳いで逃げた見込みをほとんど無くしていた / 悲劇が起きたときに潮はちょうど最満潮だったから」

“And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately implicated in the matter. The lascar was known to be a man of the vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair’s story, he was known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few seconds of her husband’s appearance at the window, he could hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defense was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he could not account in any way for the presence of the missing gentleman’s clothes.

「次に悪党に関してだが / 彼らはすぐにこの事件に関与していると思われた◆このインド人水夫は最も悪い前歴者として知られている / しかしセント・クレア夫人の話によると / 彼は階段の下にいたと分かっている / 彼女の夫が窓に現れてからほんの数秒の間に / 彼は犯罪の共犯以上にはほぼ何も出来なかった◆彼の弁明は完全に何も知らないというものだ / そして彼は何も知らないと言い張った / ヒュー・ブーンの行動に関して / 彼の下宿人 / そして彼は何も説明できなかった / 失踪した紳士の服が見つかったことに関して」