马龙探案卷四 之 正确的凶案 三十
“他会挺过来的，但可能会昏迷好几个小时。”马龙说，恶狠狠地咬着他的雪茄。“在他们决定也给我们准备床铺之前，我们最好离开这个地方。”
“he’ll pull through, but he may be unconscious for hours,” malone said, chewing savagely on his cigar. “we might as well get out of this place before they decide to roll out beds for us, too.”
现在是早上八点。在医院候诊室里睡了两个小时让马龙稍微恢复了一点，但他有一种模糊而不安的感觉，觉得自己开始慢慢陷入麻痹状态。
It was eight in the morning. the two-hour nap in the hospital waiting room had helped malone a little, but he had a vague and unfortable notion that creeping paralysis was beginning to get under way.
正如律师所猜测的那样，罗斯·麦克劳林的伤并不严重，但他因受冻而痛苦不堪。现在需要休息和安静。马龙希望有人也能给他开点休息和安静的药方。
Ross mcLaurin’s injury, as the lawyer had guessed, was not serious, but he was suffering badly from exposure. Rest and quiet were indicated right now. malone wished someone would prescribe rest and quiet for him.
三个人走到克拉克街，向南朝着市中心走去。天空又阴沉下来，呈现出一片寒冷、阴沉的灰色。有轨电车哐当哐当地驶过，挤满了第一批去上八点半班的工人。克拉克街本身沉闷而又几乎空无一人。那些打着“21 美分两杯”广告的酒馆和廉价舞厅正在被打扫。甚至当铺都关着门。几个流浪汉在那些简陋的小餐馆里吃着“五美分咖啡和两个甜甜圈”。在他们前面，市中心的高楼大厦和尖顶直插云霄，气势恢宏而又令人生畏。
the three walked over to clark Street and headed south toward the Loop. the sky had clouded over again and was a cold, dismal gray. Streetcars rattled by, crowded with the first influx of workers headed for eight-thirty jobs. clark Street itself was dreary and half deserted. taverns advertising “two Shots for 21c” and cheap dance halls were being swept out. Even the pawnshops were closed. A few bums were having “coffee and two doughnuts, 5c,” in the hole-in-the-wall lunchrooms. Ahead of them, the towers and spires of the Loop reached up, massive and forbidding against the sky.
“正如我所想的那样。”马龙说，“这家伙四处游荡，然后开始和错误的人说话。不管他开始和谁说话，显然那个人把他引诱到了一个偏僻的地方，试图从他那里套取信息，最后把他带到了枫树公园，然后刺伤了他。凶手显然认为如果他还没死，寒冷的天气也会要了他的命。”他把衣领竖了起来。“我们这是要去哪儿，为什么不坐出租车呢？”
“It’s just as I thought,” malone said. “this guy got to wandering around and he started talking to the wrong person. whoever he started talking to evidently lured him off to some secluded spot, tried to pump him for information, finally got him out to maple park, and stabbed him. the murderer evidently figured if he wasn’t done for already, the cold weather would finish the job.” he turned up his coat collar. “where the hell are we going, and why don’t we take a taxi?”
“空气感觉很好。”杰克生气地说。
“the air feels good,” Jake said crossly.
海伦说：“你觉得邮件已经送到你的办公室了吗？”
“helene said, “do you suppose the mail has arrived at your office?”
“没这么早。”马龙说，“不管怎样，我觉得第一封邮件里不会有对那个广告的回复。”他走了半条街，然后说：“我应该回家换身衣服。我的西装看起来就像我穿着它睡过觉一样。”
“Not this early,” malone said. “Anyway I don’t think there will be any answers to that want ad in the first mail.” he walked half a block and said, “I ought to go home and change my clothes. my suit looks as if I’d been sleeping in it.”
“你确实睡过。”海伦说，“还是你不记得了？冯·弗拉纳根听到这起未遂谋杀案会说什么？”
“You have been,” helene said, “or don’t you remember? what’s von Flanagan going to say when he hears about this attempted murder?”
“他会说每个人都合起伙来让他的生活变得艰难，他要退休去办一份周报。但他不会对我说这些，因为在这一团糟的事情解决之前，我要躲着他，就好像他刚染上黑死病一样。”
“he’s going to say that everyone conspires to make life hard for him, and that he’s going to retire and run a weekly newspaper. only he isn’t going to say it to me, because until this mess is straightened out, I’m going to avoid him as though he were just ing down with bubonic plague.”
他们沉默地走了几个街区。在周围，芝加哥开始迎来新的一天。杰克想，现在从加里到埃文斯顿，从橡树园到湖边，闹钟都在响着。有些人刚刚重新入睡。另一些人，他希望自己是其中之一，刚刚上床睡觉。不过，在某个地方，有一个男人或女人既没有醒来也没有睡着，因为莫娜·麦克莱恩杀了他。不是那两个图伊兹中的任何一个，也不是罗斯·麦克劳林。杰克开始怀疑，再要一具尸体是不是在考验上帝的安排。
they were silent for a few blocks. All around, chicago was beginning to wake up for the day. Alarm clocks were ringing right now, Jake reflected, from Gary to Evanston, from oak park to the lake. Some people were just settling down for a second sleep. others, and he wished he were one of them, were just getting into bed. Somewhere, though, was a man or a woman who wasn’t waking and wasn’t sleeping, because mona mcclane had murdered him. It wasn’t either of the tuesdays and it wasn’t Ross mcLaurin. Jake began to wonder if it wasn’t tempting providence to ask for another corpse.
在有人说话之前，他们已经走到了横跨芝加哥河的桥上。走到桥中间，看着漂浮在黏糊糊的绿色水面上的巨大脏冰块，马龙说：“我很高兴她在监狱里。”
they had reached the bridge across the chicago River before anyone spoke. halfway across, looking down on the great cakes of dirty ice that floated on the slimy green water, malone said, “I’m glad she’s in jail.”
“我也很高兴。”杰克说，“谁？”
“I’m glad, too,” Jake said. “who?”
“洛特斯。显然凶手不想冒任何有意外目击者的风险。第二起谋杀发生的时候，洛特斯和莫娜·麦克莱恩在同一层楼。”
“Lotus. Evidently the killer isn’t taking any chances with accidental witnesses. Lotus was on the same floor of mona mcclane’s house when the second murder was mitted.”
“我也在。”海伦想起来，“说到这个，卢埃拉·怀特——对不起，是路易·怀特——还有彭德利·泰德韦尔也在。”
“So was I,” helene reflected. “For that matter, so was Louella white—pardon me, Lou white—and pendley tidewell.”
“麦克劳林是个幸运的家伙。”杰克说，“他会挺过来的，而且可能在他住院的时候他们会让他清醒过来。他有很多钱，还有一个好女孩在等他，只要你能把她从监狱里弄出来。”
“mcLaurin is a lucky guy,” Jake said. “he’s going to pull through, and probably they’ll sober him up while he’s in the hospital. he has all kinds of money, and he has a swell girl waiting for him as soon as you can get her out of jail.”
“你有我。”海伦指出。
“You have me,” helene pointed out.
杰克哼了一声。“只是我和你在一起的时间不是在高架火车上就是在出租车里。”
“Jake snorted. “Except that the only time I spend with you is on elevated trains or in taxicabs.”
“没关系。等我们赢了那个赌注再说。”
“Never mind. wait till we win that bet.”
“如果我们能赢的话。”杰克闷闷不乐地说。走了半条街后，他说：“马龙，你觉得你的寻物启事会有回复吗？”
“If we win it,” Jake said gloomily. half a block later he said, “malone, do you suppose you’ll get any answers to your want ad?”
“至少会有十几个，”马龙说，“但都没什么用。”
“At least a dozen,” malone said, “and all of them worthless.”
“你十点和迈克尔·文宁的律师有个约会。你觉得你能从他那里了解到什么吗？”
“You have an appointment at ten with michael Venning’s lawyer. do you suppose you’ll learn anything from him?”
“我可能会了解到迈克尔·文宁的凶手的情况。”马龙说。
“I might learn about michael Venning’s murderer,” malone said.
“但是迈克尔·文宁还没有被谋杀。”海伦抱怨道。
“but michael Venning hasn’t been murdered,” helene plained.
“我在为未来做打算，”律师说，“今天是继承人，明天就可能被枪杀，我总是这么说。”
“I’m looking out for the future,” the lawyer said. “heir today and guns tomorrow, I always say.”
杰克又叹了口气，然后沉默了。
Jake sighed again and was silent.
他们在一家刚刚开门营业的雪茄店停下来，给马龙的酒店打了个电话。从六点半开始，冯·弗拉纳根队长已经给律师打了四次电话，现在一个高大、红脸的警察正坐在大厅里。
they paused in a cigar store that was just opening up for the day’s trade and phoned malone’s hotel. captain von Flanagan had telephoned the lawyer four times since half-past six, and a large, red-faced policeman was now sitting in the lobby.
“那可能是克卢切茨基，”马龙若有所思地说，“冯·弗拉纳根显然想知道我们昨晚怎么会在城北附近的一条小巷里偶然发现罗斯·麦克劳林昏迷的身体。”
“that would be Kluchetsky,” malone said thoughtfully. “Von Flanagan evidently wants to know how we happened to stumble over Ross mcLaurin’s unconscious form in a near-north-side alley last night.”
“或者，”杰克说，“冯·弗拉纳根想找到我，让我再给他挑一些新闻教材。”
“or,” Jake said, “von Flanagan wants to find me and have me pick out some more journalism text-books for him.”
“再这样下去，”海伦说，“他就要去剪纸而不是编辑报纸了。”
“much more of this,” helene said, “and he’ll be cutting up papers instead of editing one.”
他们走到了华盛顿街。突然马龙说：“我不知道你们感觉怎么样，但我需要喝一杯。”
they had reached washington Street. Suddenly malone said, “I don’t know how you feel, but I need a drink.”
杰克意识到自己又累又饿又冷。“我需要喝一杯，然后睡二十个小时。”
Jake realized that he was tired and hungry and cold. “I need a drink and twenty hours’ sleep.”
“折衷一下，喝两杯。”海伦说。
“promise on two drinks,” helene said.
天使乔的市政厅酒吧在早上五点离开的顾客和早餐前光顾的新顾客之间惯常的短暂停歇后刚刚开门。乔本人在后面，对着一小堆账目咒骂着。酒吧里除了一个来自州检察官办公室的整洁年轻人（他在去办公室之前快速喝几杯）和一个前一晚留下来的孤独而忧郁的醉汉外，没有其他人。
Joe the Angel’s city hall bar was just opening after the customary brief pause between the patrons who left at five in the morning and the new bunch who dropped in before breakfast. Joe himself was out in back, swearing over a small job of bookkeeping. there was no one in the place except a dapper young man from the state’s attorney’s office, who was getting a few quick ones before showing up at the office, and a solitary and morose drunk left over from the night before.
马龙要了三杯浓黑咖啡，每杯里倒了两小杯古巴朗姆酒，然后看了看表。正好九点。他向酒保要了一杯烈酒，走进电话亭，给莫娜·麦克莱恩打电话。
malone called for three cups of strong black coffee with two jiggers of cuban rum poured into each, and looked at his watch. It was just nine o’clock. he asked the bartender for a slug went into the phone booth, and called mona mcclane.
“我想你可能想知道罗斯·麦克劳林还活着，而且情况很好。”
“I thought you might like to know Ross mcLaurin is alive and doing nicely.”
“谢天谢地。”她说，“我一直在担心。他在哪里？”
“thank heaven,” she said. “I was worrying. where is he?”
“在亨罗廷医院，但别再担心了。他会好起来的。”
“In henrotin hospital, but don’t worry any more. he’ll pull through.”
在她说话之前有一个极短暂的停顿，然后她说：“你看报纸了吗？”
there was just the barest pause before she said, “have you seen the papers?”
“没有。”
“No.”
“你可以看看。我们昨晚遭了入室盗窃。”
“You might look at them. we had a burglary last night.”
在律师能问更多问题之前，她挂了电话。
She hung up before the lawyer could ask any more questions.
马龙生气地咒骂着，向酒保要了一份报纸，一边仔细阅读一边向杰克和海伦讲述刚才的通话。
malone swore angrily, asked the bartender for a paper, and pored over it while he reported the conversation to Jake and helene.
“在这儿。”杰克说，指着一小段报道，上面说麦克莱恩大厦发生了一起未遂盗窃案。什么也没被偷走，闯入者逃走了。然而，迈克尔·文宁夫人，即前伊迪莎·普特南，她是麦克莱恩夫人的客人，发现了窃贼，头部受了点轻伤。
“there it is,” Jake said, pointing to a small paragraph that told of the attempted burglary of the mcclane mansion. Nothing had been taken, and the intruders had got away. however, mrs. michael Venning, the former Editha putnam, who was a guest of mrs. mcclane, and who discovered the burglars, had been slightly injured by a blow on the head.
“嗯，”海伦看了报纸好一会儿后说，“那她昨晚就没打算去枫树公园探查了。”
“well,” helene said, after looking at the paper for a long time, “then she wasn’t planning to explore maple park last night.”
杰克喝完了最后一口朗姆酒和咖啡，然后去打电话。
Jake finished the last of the rum and coffee and went to the telephone.
“我给芝加哥大街警察局的一个朋友打了个电话，”他回来后说，“显然窃贼在迈克尔·文宁的房间里。文宁不在。不在房子里。警察不知道他在哪里。她——文宁夫人——走进他的房间，被打了头，还没等发出警报，窃贼就完全逃走了。”
“I called a pal at the chicago Avenue police station,” he said when he returned. “Apparently the burglar was in michael Venning’s room. Venning was out. out of the house. the cops don’t know where he was. She—mrs. Venning—went into his room, got conked on the bean, and before the alarm could be given, the burglars got clean away.”
马龙沉默了一会儿。“就像你前几天自己说的，这么多年了，他们还总是上那老一套盗窃把戏的当，真是不可思议。可惜彭德利不在现场。他可能以前从来没有机会给窃贼拍照。”
“malone was silent for a moment. “As you yourself said the other day, it’s wonderful how they go on falling for that old burglary gag after all these years. too bad pendley wasn’t on the scene. he probably never had a chance to photograph a burglar before.”
海伦皱起眉头。“不管怎么说，我也该回家了。也许我能了解到更多发生的事情。你们两个打算做什么？”
“helene frowned. “It’s about time I was going home anyway. maybe I can find out more of what happened. what are you two going to do?”
“我们去杰克的公寓，”律师宣布，“希望那里不会有警察等着。快速刮个胡子，冲个澡，吃点早餐，我们就准备好迎接新的一天了。”
“we’ll go up to Jake’s apartment,” the lawyer announced. “there won’t be any cops waiting there, I hope. A quick shave and a shower, a little breakfast, and we’ll be ready to tackle a new day.”
他还没来得及详细说明，天使乔就从后面的房间走了出来。
before he could go into any more details, Joe the Angel appeared from the back room.
“嘿，马龙，你最近去哪儿了？我一直想联系你。”
“Say, malone, where’ve you been keeping yourself? I been trying to get in touch with you.”
“你打过我办公室电话吗？”马龙问。
“did you try calling my office?” malone asked.
“当然打了。但你办公室的那个女孩，她总是说你出去了，不知道你什么时候回来。”
“Sure. but your girl there, she always says you’re out and she don’t know when you’ll be back.”
“她可能觉得你是我欠钱的人。”马龙说，“你找我什么事？”
“She probably thinks you’re someone I owe money to,” malone said. “what’s on your mind?”
“我想你还不知道，前几天晚上你在这儿丢了东西。就是那个人被杀的那晚。肯定是从你口袋里掉出来的。我觉得这东西不重要，不然你早就回来找了。我在这儿某个地方找到了它。”
“I guess you don’t know it, but you lost sumpin here the other night. the night that fella was killed, it was. It musta fallen outa your pocket. I figured it wasn’t important or you’da been in here looking for it. I got it around here someplace.”
他在收银机上面和后面、在自己的口袋里、在酒吧后面所有的抽屉里都找了一遍，最后得意洋洋地拿出一把钥匙，只是一把普通的钥匙，钥匙柄上印着数字 114。
he hunted on top of and behind the cash register, through his pockets, and in all the drawers back of the bar, before he triumphantly produced a key, just an ordinary key, with the number 114 printed on its handle.