马龙探案卷四 之 正确的凶案 十五

“我看你找到了。” 杰克不恰当地说道。伊迪莎?文宁没有回答。他看了她一会儿，她站在那里，脸色苍白，深陷的大眼睛又黑又暗。

“I see you’ve found it,” Jake said inadequately. Editha Venning didn’t answer. He watched her for a moment as she stood there, her face pale, her immense, deep-set eyes dark and shadowy.

这是真的。这肯定是真的。安迪?阿赫恩的杜松子酒没那么厉害。他坚定地对自己说：“我是杰克?贾斯特。” 这听起来相当有说服力，但也不是完全如此。他用手指捏起一小撮雪。感觉很冷。也让人安心。

It was real. It had to be real. Andy Ahearn’s gin wasn’t that potent. He said to himself firmly, “I am Jake Justus.” It sounded rather convincing, but not entirely. He picked up a pinch of snow in his fingers. It felt cold. And reassuring.

他更仔细地看了看坟墓。挖这个坟墓肯定很费劲。有人不得不在那冻硬的地上用镐头挖。坟墓周围有一堆堆被雨点溅污的雪，但坟墓里面只有薄薄的一层雪。

He took a closer look at the grave. It must have been a tough job to dig it. Someone had had to use a pickax on that frozen ground. There were piles of rain-spotted snow around it, but only a faint sprinkling of snow in the grave itself.

杰克努力回想最后一场雪是什么时候下的。自从他回到芝加哥后就没下过。马龙提到过新年夜下过雪。从那以后下过几场雨，但没再下雪。那么这个坟墓是新年以后的某个时候挖的。

Jake tried to remember when the last snow had fallen. Not since he had been back in Chicago. Malone had mentioned that it had snowed on New Year’s Eve. Since then there had been a few rains, but no snow. Then the grave had been dug sometime since New Year’s.

会是谁挖的呢？肯定不是伊迪莎?文宁自己。她是个高挑、健壮的女人，但还没强壮到能做那样的工作。而且，她之前都不知道坟墓在哪里；她得去找。或者她是为了那个意外的目击者而装出来的？

Who could have dug it? Certainly not Editha Venning herself. She was a tall, muscular woman, but not strong enough for that job. Besides, she hadn’t known where the grave was; she’d had to look for it. Or had she put on an act for the unexpected witness?

突然，她转身开始往回走，一句话也没说。杰克跟着她，想着自己敢问哪些问题。在路变宽的地方，他走到她旁边，挽起她的胳膊帮她走过崎岖的地方，偶尔偷看她的脸。

Suddenly she turned and began retracing her steps, without a word. Jake followed, wondering what questions he dared ask. Where the path widened, he stepped up beside her taking her arm to help her over the rough patches, and stealing occasional glances at her face.

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她脸色非常苍白，显然在沉思，但她的表情既不是悲伤，也不是懊悔。只有一种不快的无奈和困惑。

She was very pale, and apparently deep in thought, but her expression was not one of sorrow, nor of regret. There was only a kind of unhappy resignation and perplexity.

如果那个坟墓不在那儿，杰克告诉自己，他会回到自己原来的想法；就是伊迪莎?文宁精神失常了。但坟墓在那儿。他自己亲眼看到了。他有点后悔它在那儿。如果不是这样，事情会容易理解得多。

If the grave had not been there, Jake told himself, he would have gone back to his original theory; that Editha Venning had blown her top. But the grave was there. He’d seen it himself. He was rather sorry that it was. It would have been a lot easier to understand the other way.

他陪她一直走到通向街道的大门。在那儿她停了下来，带着一种打发人的神情。

He walked with her as far as the gate leading to the street. There she paused, with an air of dismissal.

“我给你叫辆出租车好吗？” 杰克问。

“Can I get you a taxi?” Jake asked.

她摇了摇头。“到北岸车站只有几步路。我宁愿走着去。”

She shook her head. “It’s only a few steps to the North Shore station. I’d rather walk.”

他觉得她不想让他陪她。

He had an idea she didn’t want him to acpany her.

她站了一会儿，犹豫着。“谢谢你陪我来。我不喜欢一个人穿过那些树林。但我确实想自己去看看。”

She stood for a moment, hesitating. “Thank you for ing with me. I didn’t like going through those woods alone. But I did want to see it, for myself.”

“听着，” 杰克说。他迅速吸了口气。“你不想喝一杯吗？也许来杯茶？这里非常冷，寒气逼人。我想找个机会谈谈……”

“Look here,” Jake said. He drew a quick breath. “Wouldn’t you like a drink? Maybe a cup of tea? It’s beastly cold and raw out here. I’d like a chance to talk—”

“不，谢谢。” 她对他微笑着，她那双深色的大眼睛像两扇空白的窗帘。“我很想喝，但……”—— 她看了看手表 ——“现在是三点差一刻，我四点要在卢普区和我丈夫碰面。” 她优雅地向他点点头，然后沿着街道走了。

“No, thank you.” She smiled at him, her great dark eyes two blank curtains. “I’d like it very much, but”—she consulted her wrist watch—“it’s quarter of three now, and I’m meeting my husband down in the Loop at four.” She nodded to him graciously and went down the street.

杰克点了一支烟，站在那里看着她离去。

Jake lit a cigarette and stood looking after her.

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“我是杰克?贾斯特。” 他又大声说了一遍。“你感觉怎么样？” 他深吸了一口气，回答道，“我感觉很好。” 这听起来并不让人信服。

“I’m Jake Justus,” he said again, out loud this time. “How do you feel?” He drew a long breath and answered, “I feel fine.” It didn’t sound convincing.

“我在找我丈夫的坟墓。”“我四点要在卢普区和我丈夫碰面。”

“I’m looking for my husband’s grave.” “I’m meeting my husband down in the Loop at four.”

坟墓就在那里，而伊迪莎?文宁看起来很理智，比杰克此刻感觉的还要理智。

The grave had been there, and Editha Venning appeared sane, more sane than Jake felt at the moment.

他想知道自己是否应该回去把这件事告诉安迪?阿赫恩。这在他的管辖范围内。但那也没什么用。在地上挖个洞并不违法，即使那个洞是个坟墓的形状。

He wondered if he ought to go back and tell Andy Ahearn about it. This was in his jurisdiction. But that wouldn’t do any good. There was no law against digging a hole in the ground, even if that hole was in the shape of a grave.

也许应该告诉的人是迈克尔?文宁本人。不过，这将是一个相当微妙的话题。“听着，老兄，你知道你的坟墓被挖了吗？” 不管怎样，那又有什么用呢？除非文宁可能想出去再把土铲回去。没错，这个人应该得到警告，但是要警告他什么，又该怎么警告呢？有那么一瞬间，杰克疯狂地考虑寄一封匿名信，署名 “你的朋友” 或者 “好心人”。内容可以是：“亲爱的文宁先生。你的坟墓正在等着你……” 文宁无疑会认为这是一封怪信。也难怪，杰克想。像文宁这么有钱的人总是会收到警告信。

Perhaps the person to tell would be Michael Venning himself. Still, it would be a rather delicate subject to broach. “Look here, old man, did you know your grave had been dug?” Anyway, what good would that do? Unless Venning might want to go out and shovel the dirt back again. True, the man ought to be warned, but of what, and how? For a mad moment Jake considered sending an anonymous note, signed “Your Friend,” or “Well-wisher.” Something like: “Dear Mr. Venning. Your grave is waiting for you—” Venning would undoubtedly think it was a crank letter. And no wonder, Jake decided. Men as wealthy as Venning were always getting warning notes.

杰克决定在和马龙商量之前什么也不做。

Jake decided to do nothing until he had talked it over with Malone.

然而，在离开枫树公园之前，有一件事他想做。他想再看一眼树林里的那些脚印。

Before he left Maple Park, however, there was one thing he wanted to do. He wanted to take one more look at those footprints in the woods.

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杰克把香烟扔在雪地上，再次绕着文宁家的老房子走，然后穿过草坪向树林走去。一阵冷风从湖面吹来，开始下起几滴雨来。有那么一会儿，他考虑放弃然后回去。哦，好吧，要弄清楚这些脚印通向哪里也花不了多长时间。

Jake dropped his cigarette in the snow, again walked around the old Venning house, and crossed the lawn leading to the woods. A cold wind had e up from the lake, and a few drops of rain were beginning to fall. For a moment he considered giving it up and turning back. Oh well, it wouldn’t take long to find out where those footprints led.

他沿着小路走到脚印第一次出现的地方。从这里开始，脚印通向隐藏在灌木丛中的那个敞开的坟墓。这些脚印是在雪后留下的，但至少已经有好几天了，而且经历了几场断断续续的雨。

He followed the path to the point where the footprints first appeared. From this point on, they led to the open grave that was hidden in the bushes. They had been made since the snowfall, but they had been there several days at least, and through several of the intermittent rains.

他弯下腰仔细查看那些脚印。是男人的脚印，很大，是某种厚重的鞋子留下的，可能是运动鞋。杰克想，一条猎犬能从这些脚印中看出更多东西，但他还是仔细地观察着。这些脚印很深，显然是个很重的人留下的。如果从脚的大小来判断，这个人也很高。