Английский язык с Агатой Кристи. Убийства по алфавиту

During the next few days Poirot was very busy. He made mysterious absences, talked very little, frowned to himself, and consistently refused to satisfy my natural curiosity as to the brilliance I had, according to him, displayed in the past.

I was not invited to accompany him on his mysterious comings and goings — a fact which I somewhat resented.

Towards the end of the week, however, he announced his intention of paying a visit to Bexhill and neighbourhood and suggested that I should come with him. Needless to say, I accepted with alacrity.

The invitation (приглашение), I discovered (/как/ я обнаружил), was not extended to me alone (не распространялось на меня одного). The members of our Special Legion were also invited

(члены «Специального легиона» были тоже приглашены).

They were as intrigued by Poirot as I was (они были также заинтригованы Пуаро, как и я). Nevertheless (тем не менее), by the end of the day (к концу дня), I had at any rate an idea as to the direction (у меня было, по меньшей мере, представление о направлении) in which Poirot's thoughts were tending (в котором склонялись мысли Пуаро).

He first visited Mr. and Mrs. Barnard (он сначала посетил мистера и миссис Барнард) and got an exact account from her (и получил точный отчет от нее)

as to the hour at which Mr. Cust had called on her (относительно часа, в котором мистер Каст зашел к ней) and exactly what he had said (и что он точно сказал). He then went to the hotel (затем он пошел в отель) at which Cust had put up (в котором Каст останавливался) and extracted a minute description of that gentleman's departure (и с добыл незначительное описание отъезда этого джентельмена; to extract — извлекать; с трудом добывать; minute — мелкий, незначительный). As far as I could judge (насколько я мог судить: «так далеко как я мог судить»), no new facts were elicited by his questions (никакие новые факты не были выявлены его вопросами) but he himself seemed quite satisfied

(но он сам казался вполне удовлетворенным).

extend [ɪksˈtend], departure [dɪˈpɑ:tʃǝ], minute [ˈmɪnɪt]

The invitation, I discovered, was not extended to me alone. The members of our Special Legion were also invited.

They were as intrigued by Poirot as I was. Nevertheless, by the end of the day, I had at any rate an idea as to the direction in which Poirot's thoughts were tending.

He first visited Mr. and Mrs. Barnard and got an exact account from her as to the hour at which Mr. Cust had called on her and exactly what he had said. He then went to the hotel at which Cust had put up and extracted a minute description of that gentleman's departure. As far as I could judge, no new facts were elicited by his questions but he himself seemed quite satisfied.

Next he went to the beach to the place (затем он пошел на пляж к тому месту) where Betty Barnard's body had been discovered (где было обнаружено тело Бетти Барнард). Here he walked round in circles for some minutes (здесь он походил кругами несколько минут) studying the shingle attentively (внимательно изучая гальку). I could see little point in this (я мог видеть мало смысла в этом), since the tide covered the spot twice a day (так как прилив накрывал это место дважды в день).

However I have learnt by this time (однако к этому времени я узнал) that Poirot's actions are dictated by an idea (что действия Пуаро продиктованы идеей) — however meaningless they may seem (какими бы бессмысленными они, вероятно, /не/ казались).