解説　場面 24「街角の男」

"So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest."

「店主の話はここまでだ。次はアヘン窟の二階に住み、間違いなく最後にネヴィル・セントクレアを目にした、不気味な足の不自由な男について話そう。名前はヒュー・ブーンといい、シティへよく行く者なら誰でも、その恐ろしい顔を知っている。職業的な物乞いだが、警察の取り締まりを避けるため、ろうマッチを少し売っているふりをしている。スレッドニードル街を少し行った左手に、見覚えがあるかもしれないが、壁の小さなくぼみがある。そこで毎日あぐらをかき、わずかなマッチを膝に載せて座っている。哀れな姿なので、舗道の脇に置いた脂じみた革帽子へ、施しの小銭がぱらぱら降ってくる。仕事上の関わりを持とうなどと思うより前から何度か見ていたが、短時間で稼ぐ額には驚いたものだ。見た目が実に目立つので、気づかずに通り過ぎられる者はいない。ぼさぼさのオレンジ色の髪、大きな傷でゆがんだ青白い顔、その傷に引かれて上唇の片端がめくれている。ブルドッグのようなあご、髪の色と妙に対照的な鋭い黒い両目。これらがほかの物乞いと区別する目印だ。機知にも富んでいて、通行人から何をからかわれても、すぐに切り返すんだ。この男があの店の下宿人であり、捜している紳士を最後に見た男だったと、今になって分かったわけだ」