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| The head gardener, Poirot observed, did not appear to be enjoying the conversation. A sarcastic inflection made itself heard in Miss Helen Montressor's voice, and Poirot escaped nimbly down a side path. A gardener who had been, Poirot shrewdly suspected, resting on his spade, began digging with fervor. Poirot approached nearer. The man, a young fellow, dug with ardor, his back to Poirot, who paused to observe him. | Садовник явно тяготился беседой. В голосе Элен Монтрессор отчетливо звенели саркастические нотки, в связи с чем Пуаро решил проскользнуть на соседнюю аллею. По пути ему попался еще один садовник - молодой парень, который, заметив Пуаро, старательно заработал лопатой. |
| "Good morning," said Poirot amiably. | - Доброе утро, - приветливо обратился к нему Пуаро. |
| A muttered "Morning, sir" was the response, but the man did not stop working. | - Доброе утро, сэр, - пробормотал тот, не оставляя своего занятия. |
| Poirot was a little surprised. | Пуаро это несколько удивило. |
| In his experience a gardener, though anxious to appear zealously at work as you approached, was usually only too willing to pause and pass the time of day when directly addressed. | Насколько он знал садовников, те не упускали возможности хоть ненадолго прервать видимость напряженного труда и немного поболтать. |
| It seemed, he thought, a little unnatural. He stood there for some minutes, watching the toiling figure. | Этот же повел себя явно неестественно. |
| Was there, or was there not, something a little familiar about the turn of those shoulders? Or could it be, thought Hercule Poirot, that he was getting into a habit of thinking that both voices and shoulders were familiar when they were really nothing of the kind? Was he, as he had feared last night, growing old? He passed thoughtfully onward out of the walled garden and paused to regard a rising slope of shrubbery outside. Presently, like some fantastic moon, a round object rose gently over the top of the kitchen garden wail. | Кроме того, Пуаро показалось, что он где-то уже видел эти плечи, хотя, успокоил он себя, не исключено, что после того телефонного звонка ему всюду мерещатся похожие голоса и фигуры. |