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“哦，当然。你想知道什么？”

“Oh sure,” Mulcahey said. “What'dya want to know?”

“我只是想知道那天晚上在去警察局的路上你有没有搜过我的身。”

“I just want to know if you frisked me on the way to the station that night.”

警察盯着他看了一会儿，然后脸色变得苍白。“听着，马龙，我这辈子从没从任何人那里拿过一分钱。如果你不相信我，去问马克斯?胡克。他会告诉你我像白天一样诚实。”

The policeman stared at him for a minute, then turned pale. “Look here, Malone, I never took a dime off anybody in my life. If you don’t believe me, ask Max Hook. He’ll tell you I’m as honest as the day is long.”

“我不是在说钱。” 马龙告诉他。“如果你搜了我的身，那你是在执行命令，而且你在找别的东西。”

“I’m not talking about money,” Malone told him. “If you frisked me you were acting under orders, and you were looking for something else.”

马尔卡希慢慢地摇了摇头。“我没有。这是实话。”

Mulcahey shook his head slowly. “I didn’t. And that’s straight.”

“我相信你的话。” 马龙说。“我有个小想法，那场架是被人挑起的，作为叫警察的借口，这样在去警察局的路上我就可以被搜身了。”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Malone said. “I had a little notion that fight was started as an excuse for calling the cops, so I could be searched on the way to the station.”

“你搞错了。那是一次合法的逮捕。该死，直到把你带到警察局的桌子前我都不知道你是谁。”

“You got it wrong. It was a legitimate pinch. Hell, I didn’t even know who you were till I got you to the desk.”

“好吧。” 马龙说。“我欠冯?弗拉纳根一个他永远也得不到的道歉。”

“O. K.,” Malone said. “I owe von Flanagan an apology he’ll never get.”

“你丢了什么东西吗？” 马尔卡希漫不经心地问道，站起来给杯子里倒酒。

“Did you lose something?” Mulcahey asked casually, rising to refill the glasses.

“一把钥匙。” 马龙告诉他。“没什么重要的东西。”

“A key,” Malone told him. “Nothing important.”

“在哪里？”

“Where was it?”

“在我外套的右边口袋里。”

“In my right-hand coat pocket.”

警察摇了摇头。“那你在我们抓你之前就把它丢了。你的外套口袋里什么都没有。”

The policeman shook his head. “Then you lost it before we picked you up. There wasn’t anything in your coat pockets.”

马龙慢慢地、小心翼翼地放下杯子。“你怎么知道？”

Malone set his glass down slowly and carefully. “How do you know?”

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马尔卡希宽阔的脸上微微泛起一丝红晕。“是这样，马龙。我们抓你的时候，我没烟了。那个荷兰人 —— 基克 —— 也没有，他不抽烟。我知道你不会介意我从你那里拿一根烟，所以我看了看你的外套口袋。你没有烟。只有一块手帕。”

A faint blush appeared on Mulcahey’s broad face. “It’s like this, Malone. When we picked you up, I was out of cigarettes. The Dutchman—Kieck—didn’t have any, he doesn’t smoke. I knew you wouldn’t mind if I borrowed one from you, so I looked in your coat pockets. You didn’t have any. There was just a handkerchief.”

马龙沉默不语。

Malone was silent.

“我真的很抱歉 ——” 警察开口说道。

“I’m sorry as hell—” the policeman began.

“没关系。” 马龙说。“我很高兴你看了。这让我知道了我来这里要找的答案。” 他喝光了剩下的苏格兰威士忌，站起来戴上帽子。“那个挑起争斗的人怎么样了？”

“That’s all right,” Malone said. “I’m glad you looked. It tells me what I came here to find out.” He drained the rest of his Scotch, rose, and put on his hat. “What happened to the guy who started the fight?”

“他？” 马尔卡希说。“我们到那儿之前他就跑了。”

“Him?” Mulcahey said. “He beat it before we got there.”

“知道他是谁吗？”

“Know who he was?”

马尔卡希摇了摇头。“从没见过他。乔天使可能知道。” 他跟着他们走到门口。“任何时候我能为你做点什么 ——”

Mulcahey shook his head. “Never saw him. Joe the Angel might know.” He followed them to the door. “Anytime I can do anything for you—”

“谢谢。” 马龙说。“下次我见到胡克的时候会向他提起你。”

“Thanks,” Malone said. “I’ll remember you to the Hook next time I see him.”

在乘电梯下楼的过程中，他非常沉默。在大厅里，他走进电话亭给乔天使打电话。

He was very silent on their way down the elevator. In the lobby he stopped in the phone booth and called Joe the Angel.

乔很抱歉，但他不认识那个挑起争斗的陌生人。那个人在那天晚上之前从没去过酒吧，从那以后也没再去过。可能是从外地来的。以防马龙不太记得他了，他是个高大强壮的人，头发灰白。穿着一套棕色西装，系着一条花哨的领带。他那天凌晨两点左右来到酒吧，之后一直在那里。

Joe was very sorry, but he didn’t know the stranger who had started the fight. He’d never been in the bar before that night, and hadn’t been in since. Probably from out of town. In case Malone didn’t remember him very well, he’d been a big, beefy guy with gray hair. Wore a brown suit and a loud tie. He’d dropped in at the bar about two that morning and been there the rest of the night.

小主，

马龙皱起眉头，说：“谢谢，乔，回头见。”

Malone scowled, said, “Thanks, Joe, be seeing you.”

“等一下。” 乔天使开口说道。但马龙已经挂断了电话。

“Wait a minute,” Joe the Angel began. But Malone had hung up.

在出租车里，小律师向杰克借了一根火柴，点燃了一支新雪茄。“该死，我原以为这个人挑起争斗是为了拿到钥匙。现在我想他不是。”

Out in the taxi, the little lawyer borrowed a match from Jake and lit a new cigar. “Damn it, I had it all figured out this bird started the fight in order to get hold of the key. Now I guess he didn’t.”

“你怎么知道？”

“How do you know?”

“他从凌晨两点就一直在乔天使的酒吧。他不可能知道我会回到那里。见鬼，我自己都不知道。如果他真的是为了钥匙，他应该跟踪我而不是坐在乔的酒吧里。”

“He’d been at Joe the Angel’s since two in the morning. He couldn’t have known I was ing back there. Hell, I didn’t know it myself. If he’d really been after the key, he’d have been trailing me instead of sitting in Joe’s.”

杰克说：“嗯，这是非常有趣的一天，但这对我没有任何好处。我要在剩下的时间里查清楚自从莫娜和我打那个赌以来城里所有的谋杀案。”

Jake said, “Well, it’s been a very entertaining day, but this isn’t doing me any good. I’m going to spend the rest of it checking up on all the murders in town since Mona made that bet with me.”

“你真的认为你能赢得那个赌注吗？” 律师问。

“You really think you can win that bet?” the lawyer asked.

“我必须赢。”

“I’ve damn well got to.”

“嗯，” 律师说，“只要我能从中得到一个客户，我就该关心。你住在哪里？”

“Well,” the lawyer said, “as long as I get a client out of it, I should worry. Where are you staying?”

“在我们租的公寓里。既然我付了这个月的房租，我不妨在那里住到月底。不过那是个非常大又非常冷清的地方。”

“At the apartment we took. As long as I paid the rent for it, I might as well live there till the month is up. It’s a heluva big lonely place, though.”

“你需要的是一个妻子。” 马龙告诉他。

“What you need is a wife,” Malone told him.

杰克什么也没说。

Jake said nothing.

律师看了看表。现在是两点四十五分。“我三点有个约会。”

The lawyer looked at his watch. It was quarter of three. “I have an appointment at three o’clock.”

“和一个女人，我想。” 杰克沮丧地说。“好吧，你忙完后给我公寓打电话。”

“With a dame, I suppose,” Jake said gloomily. “Well, phone me at the apartment when you’re through.”

“你说得太对了，确实是个女人。”马龙说。“你真该见见她。”他深吸了一口气。“但我得非常小心，确保你见不到她。”

“You’re damned right it’s a dame,” Malone said. “You should only see her.” He drew a long breath. “But I’m going to be very careful that you don’t.”