化身博士-第5节
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r so！”and he threw the note back at me．’
‘Are you sure this is your master's handwriting？’ asked MrUtterson．
‘Of course，sir，’said Poole．‘But what does handwritingmatter？ I've seen my master's murderer！’
‘Seen him？’repeated Mr Utterson．
‘Yes！It was like this．I came suddenly into the laboratoryfrom the garden．I think he had left the study to look forsomething．The study door was open and there he was at thefar end of the laboratory．He was searching among some oldboxes．He looked up when I came in， gave a kind of cry andran upstairs and into the study．I only saw him for a moment，but my blood seemed to freeze．Sir，if that was my master，why was he wearing a mask over his face？ If it was my master， why did he cry out like a trapped animal and run awayfrom me？ I've been his servant for twenty years．And then …’Poole paused，and covered his face with his hands，tooupset to speak．
‘This is all very mysterious，’said Mr Utterson，‘ but I thinkI begin to understand．Your master， Poole，is ill．And the illness has changed his appearance．Perhaps that also explainsthe change in his voice．It certainly explains the mask and theway he has been avoiding his friends．And of course，he's searching for these chemicals he cause he believes they willmake him well again．Dear God，I hope he's right！PoorJekyll…thst is my explanation．It's sad enough，Poole，butit's normal and natural，and there's nothing to be alarmedabout．’
‘Sir，’said the servant，‘that…thing was not my master．My master is a tall，fine，well－built man．The stranger wasmuch shorter… Sir，I have been with my master for twentyyears and I know his appearance as well as I know my own．No，sir，that thing in the mask was never Doctor Jekyll， and Ibelieve that he…it…murdered my master！’
‘Poole，’said the lawyer，if you say that， I must makesure． We must break down the study door．’
‘You're right， Mr Utterson！’cried the old servant．
‘Very well． Will you help me？ If we are wrong， I'll makesure that you're not blamed for it．’
‘There's an axe in the laboratory， suggested Poole．
‘You realize， Poole，’said Mr Utterson，‘that this may bedangerous for us both？ Let us now be honest with each other．This masked figure that you saw…you're certain that it wasnot your master·’
‘That's right， sir．’
‘Did you in fact recognize it？’
‘Well，sir，it was all so quick that I'm not really sure．But－well，I think it was Mr Hyde．It was short，like MrHyde， and it moved in the same light， quick， active way． Andwho else could come in by the laboratory door from the street？You must remember，sir，that at the time of the Carew murder Mr Hyde still had the laboratory key with him． But that's not all．Mr Utterson， did you ever meet Mr Hyde？’
‘Yes，’replied the lawyer．‘I once spoke with him．’
‘Then you will know， sir，that there is something strangeabout Mr Hyde，something evil．’
‘I agree with you，’said Mr Utterson．‘I felt something likethst， too．’
‘Yes，sir．Well，when that thing in the mask jumped outfrom behind the boxes and ran up the stairs，I had exactly thesame feeling．That thing behind the mask was Mr Hydee！’
‘I understand，Poole，and I believe you，’said the lawyerslowly．‘And I believe poor Henry Jekyll has been murdered．I believe too that his murderer is still hiding in the study．Now， Poole， let's go and make an end of it．’
Together they went out into the back garden．The cloudshad covered the moon and it was now quite dark． As theypassed silently by the wall of the laboratory， they stopped andlistened．Further away they could hear the everyday noises of aLondon evening． From the study above them， however，camethe sound of footsteps moving backwards and forwards acrossthe floor．
‘It walks like that all day，sir，’whisperedPoole，‘yes，andmost of the night too．It only stops when some more chemicalsarrive from the chemist．Ah， sir，listen to that…do you thinkthose are my master's footsteps？’
The short，light steps were indeed very different from Henry Jekyll's long，heavy ones．
‘Have you anything else to tell me，Poole？’asked thelawyer heavily．
‘Once，’said Poole，‘I heard it weeping．’
‘Weeping？’repeated Mr Utterson in horror．
‘Weeping like a lost child，’said the old servant．‘It tore myheart． I felt like weeping too．’
‘well，’said the lawyer，‘we have a job to do．’
They went into the laboratory and climbed the stairs to thestudy．‘Jekyll，’called the lawyer in a loud voice，‘I must seeyou．’He paused for a moment，but there was no reply．‘Ifyou refuse to let me in， then I'll break dowu the door！’
‘Utterson，’said a voice from inside the study，‘I beg you toleave me alone！’
‘That's not Jekyll's voice！’ shied Mr Utterson． ‘It's Hyde's！Break the door down， Poole ！’
The axe rose and fell．The door shook and a scream of purefear，like a trapped animal，rang from the study． Again theaxe crashed against the door．But the wood was strong and thelock was well made．At last， however， the door fell inwardsupon the carpet．
The two men stared into the study．They saw a warm，comfortable room with a good fire burning in the fireplace anda few papers on the big table． A friendly， homely room． Butface down in the middle of the floor there lay the body of aman．The lawyer turned it over on its back and saw the face ofEdward Hyde． He was dressed in clothes that were much toolarge for him， and in his hand he held a small bottle．
The lawyer shook his head．‘He's taken poison， Poole， hesaid．‘I fear we've come too late to save Doctor Jekyll， andtoo late to punish his murderer too． Now we must find yourmaster's body．’
They searched everywhere，but there was no sign of HenryJekyll， dead or alive．
‘Perhaps your master has escaped，’said Mr Utterson hopefully． He went to check the door from the laboratory into thenarrow side－street．It was locked，and covered with dust．Onthe floor nearby he found a broken key．
‘It's a long time since anyone opened this door！’ said MrUtterson．
‘Yes，’said Poole，picking up the broken key．‘So how didHyde get in？’
‘This is too difficult for me，Pooh，’said the lawyer．‘Let'sgo back to the study．’
They searched the study again．‘Look，sir，’said Poole，Pointing to a small bable in the corner．There were bottles ofliquid and some white powders lying in saucers．‘He was testing his chemicals here．’
One of the doctor's books was lying on the floor． Its coverwas torn off．The lawyer picked it up．Doctor Jekyll loved hisbooks and always took great care of them． But he had writtenall over this one…the handwriting was unmistakable…beforetearing it and throwing it on the floor．
Then the lawyer noticed the tall mirror on the wall betweenthe glass…fronted bookshelves．
‘How strange，’said Mr Utterson．‘Why did Jekyll want amirror in his study？’
Next they turned to the desk and found a large packet addressed to Mr Utterson． The handwriting was DoctorJekyll's．The lawyer opened the packet and three envelopesfell out on to the floor．The first contained a will． It was likeDoctor Jekyll's first win in every way… except one．The doctor had left all his money，not to Edward Hyde，but to GabrielJohn Utterson．
The lawyer looked at the will，then at Poole，and finally atthe dead man on the floor．
‘I just don't understand，’he whispered．‘Hyde has beenhere all this time…why didn't he destroy this will？’
He picked up the next envelope．It contained a short note inthe doctor's handwriting．Mr Utterson saw the date．‘Poole！’he cried，‘this is today's date on the letter． Jekyllwas alive here today． He can't be dead…he has run away or ishiding somewhere．And if so， why？If he's alive，can we besure that Hyde killed himself？ We must be careful， Poole，orwe may involve your master in some terrible danger．
‘Why don't you read the note， sir？asked the servant．
‘Because I'm afraid，said the lawyer，in a worried voice．Slowly，he lifted the letter，and read：
My dear Utterson，
If you are reading this，it means that I have disappeared．Please go home and read Lanyon's letter．Afterwards，pleaseread the confessicn of
Your unfortunate and unhappy friend，
Henry Jekyll
‘This must be the confession， said Mr Utterson to himself，picking up the third and largest envelope．He put it in hispocket．‘say nothing about these papers， Poole，’he said．‘ Ifyour master has died or disappeared，this paper may save hisreputation．It's now ten o’clock．I must go home and studythese papers in peace and quiet But I shall come back here before midnight，and then we shall send fof the police．
They went out，locking the laboratory door behind them．With a heavy heart Mr Utterson walked home to read his letters．
8 Doctor Lanyon's letter
Dear Utterson，
Four days ago，on the 9th of January，I received a letterby the evening post it was in the handwriting of my oldfriend Henry Jekyll．I was rather surprised，as we were not inthe habit of writing to each other， and I had had dinner withhim the night before． W
