畸形的虚与实：《怪屋》选读

Charles和Sophia在战争中相遇，两年后Charles准备求娶Sophia时，女方的祖父Aristide意外去世。 为了弄清Aristide的真正死因，Charles来到她家查案。这一大家子人住在一个结构畸形的屋子里，家庭成员中也有些人性格怪异。经过一系列调查后发现，Aristide是被一个最意想不到的人毒害的。最早得知真相的家人为了消灭潜在的恶魔，留下证据后与真凶同归于尽。

这就是阿加莎·克里斯蒂的侦探小说《怪屋》（Crooked House）。阿婆在《阿加莎·克里斯蒂自传》中写道，《怪屋》是她自认为的两篇得意作品之一（另一部为Ordeal by Innocence）。这部作品将带你切身感受，这一切的背后，究竟是良心的泯灭，是道德的沦丧，还是人性的扭曲。

There was a crooked man and he went a crooked mile.

He found a crooked sixpence beside a crooked stile.

He caught a crooked cat which caught a crooked mouse. 

And they all lived together in a little crooked house.

                               — British nursery rhyme

I first met Sophia Leonides in Egypt towards the end of World War Ⅱ. She had quite an important job working for the government, and when I worked with her I soon realized how good at her job she was, though she was only twenty-two. 

As well as being very good-looking, Sophia had a clear mind and a delightful sense of humour. We became friends. She was easy to talk to and we enjoyed our dinners and dances together very much.

But it wasn't until I was ordered to go to East Asia at the end of the war in Europe that I realized I loved Sophia and wanted to marry her.

We were having dinner together when I realized this. It wasn't a surprise – I think I'd known for a long time that I loved her. I looked at Sophia and liked everything I saw. She had dark hair and bright blue eyes, a small chin and a straight nose. She looked very English.

Then suddenly I wondered if she really was as English as she looked – after all, her surname didn't sound English. Although we'd talked about many things, Sophia had never mentioned her home or her family. I didn't know anything about her background.

Sophia asked me what I was thinking about.

'You,' I replied truthfully. 'I may not see you for a few years, Sophia, but when I get back to England, I'm going to ask you to marry me.'

She sat there calmly.

'I'm not going to ask you now,' I continued,' because you might say no and I'd be very unhappy. And if you say yes, I don't want to be engaged for years, or get married now and then leave you straightaway. I want you to go home free and independent and decide what you really want. But I wanted to let you know how I – well – how I feel.'

'But you don't want to be too romantic?' murmured Sophia.

'Darling – don't you understand? I've tried not to say I love you –'

She stopped me. 'I do understand, Charles. And I like your funny way of doing things. You can come and see me when you get back – if you still want to –'

'Of course I'll want to,' I interrupted.

'You don't know that,' said Sophia.'You don't know much about me, do you?'

'No,' I admitted. 'I don't even know where in England you live.'

'I live just outside London, at a place called Swinly Dean,' she said. 'In a little crooked house...'

I must have looked surprised, because she explained why she had used the last line of a nursery rhyme. 'My family,' she said. 'And they all lived together in a little crooked house. That's us. And though the house isn't really little, it's definitely crooked!'

'So do you have a large family?' I asked.

'One brother, one sister, a mother, a father, an uncle, an aunt by marriage, a grandfather, a great-aunt and a step-grandmother.' 

（电影《怪屋》剧照）

'My goodness!' I exclaimed in surprise.

'Of course we don't normally all live together,' Sophia laughed. 'It was because of the war – with the bombing it was too dangerous to stay in London. But my grandfather takes care of us. He's over eighty and very small, but he's so alive that compared to him, everybody else seems rather boring.'

'He sounds interesting,' I said.

'He is interesting. He's from Greece, and his name is Aristide Leonides.' She added with a smile, 'And he's extremely rich. I wonder if you'll like him.'

'Do you?' I asked.

'More than anyone in the world,' said Sophia.

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