马龙探案卷四 之 正确的凶案 二十
迪基特先生走了进来，他是一个瘦弱、苍白、惊恐的年轻人，头发是老鼠灰色。他无助地站在门内，苍白的眼睛从这群人身上一个一个地扫过去。
Mr. Dickett came in, a thin, anemic, frightened young man with mouse-colored hair. He stood helplessly just inside the door, his pale eyes moving from one to another of the group.
冯?弗拉纳根的声音和脸色几乎恢复了正常。他摆出一个从一群检察官那里学来的姿势。
Von Flanagan’s voice and coloring had returned to almost normal. He assumed a stance copied from a representative collection of prosecuting attorneys.
“迪基特先生，你是做什么的？”
“Mr. Dickett, what do you do?”
这个不开心的年轻人咽了口唾沫。他嘟囔了些听起来像 “酒店职员” 的话。
The unhappy young man gulped. He mumbled something that sounded like “hotel clerk.”
“在哪里？”
“Where?”
“格兰德酒店。”
“The LeGrand Hotel.”
“那是一家小酒店，” 冯?弗拉纳根解释道，“在市中心外。” 他再次盯着迪基特先生。“你看过除夕夜被刺伤的那个身份不明的人的尸体吗？”
“That’s a small hotel,” von Flanagan explained, “outside the Loop.” Again he fixed his eye on Mr. Dickett. “Did you view the unidentified body of the man who was stabbed on New Year’s Eve?”
迪基特先生点了点头。“是同一个人。”
Mr. Dickett nodded. “It’s the same one.”
杰克再也忍不住了。“和什么是同一个人？”
Jake couldn’t stand it any longer. “The same as what?”
“和酒店里的那个人。” 迪基特先生深吸了一口气。“他在十二月的最后一天在那里登记入住，要了一个房间。然后他出去了就再也没回来。他就是 —— 在 —— 那里的那个人。当我在报纸上看到这个名字的时候，我就去报警了。”
“As the man at the hotel.” Mr. Dickett drew a long breath. “He registered there the last day of December and took a room. Then he went out and never came back. He’s the one in—in there. When I saw the name in the paper I went to the police.”
“你看到什么名字了？” 马龙问道。
“When you saw what name?” Malone demanded.
“杰拉尔德?图伊兹。”
“Gerald Tuesday.”
每个人都盯着这个年轻人。一种冷酷的满足感开始爬上冯?弗拉纳根宽阔的脸庞。
Everyone stared at the young man. A look of grim satisfaction began to creep over von Flanagan’s broad face.
“让我们把这件事弄清楚，” 马龙说。“这个人 —— 除夕夜被谋杀的人 —— 是在你的酒店登记入住的那个人吗？” 当迪基特先生点头时，他继续说道，“用的什么名字？”
“Let’s get this straight,” Malone said. “This man—who was murdered on New Year’s Eve—was the one who registered at your hotel?” When Mr. Dickett nodded, he went on, “Under what name?”
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“杰拉尔德?图伊兹。”
“Gerald Tuesday.”
“看到了吧？” 冯?弗拉纳根说。“这个人叫杰拉尔德?图伊兹，在麦克莱恩夫人家里被谋杀的那个人也叫杰拉尔德?图伊兹。”
“You see?” von Flanagan said. “This guy was named Gerald Tuesday, and the guy who was murdered up at Mrs. McClane’s place was named Gerald Tuesday.”
“这肯定是某种错误。” 马龙无力地说道。
“It’s a mistake of some sort,” Malone managed feebly.
“你说得太对了，这是个错误。任何人要是认为能在我面前耍这种花招，那就是大错特错。” 警察用力挠了挠鼻子，接着说，“麦克莱恩夫人家里的那起谋杀案是房子里的某个人干的。没有外人闯入。谋杀发生的时候，麦克莱恩夫人在楼下，马龙和她在一起。文宁夫妇出去散步了，不在房子里。” 他停顿了一下，生气地环顾了一下众人。“谋杀发生的时候，那房子楼上有五个人。布兰德小姐 —— 我是说贾斯特夫人 —— 和这个家伙没有任何关系。我对她的情况了如指掌。”
“You’re damned right it’s a mistake. It’s a mistake for anyone to think he can put over a thing like this on me.” The police officer scratched his nose vigorously and went on, “That murder in Mrs. McClane’s house was done by somebody who belonged there. Nobody broke in from outside. Mrs. McClane was downstairs when the murder was done, Malone was with her. Mr. and Mrs. Venning were out for a walk, out of the house.” He paused and looked angrily around the group. “There were five people upstairs in that house when that murder was mitted. Miss Brand—I mean Mrs. Justus—didn’t have nothing to do with this guy. I know all about her.”
“我们得找个时间交流一下笔记。” 杰克嘟囔道。
“We must pare notes some time,” Jake muttered.
冯?弗拉纳根瞪了他一眼。“这个麦克劳林家伙烂醉如泥，而你 ——” 他愤怒地看着彭德利?泰德韦尔 ——“被关在暗房里。我有个侄子，也是个摄影迷。所以我觉得你不会为了杀个人就从暗房里出来。” 他恶狠狠地盯着卢埃拉?怀特。“你在哪里？”
Von Flanagan glared at him. “This McLaurin guy was passed out cold, and you”—he looked indignantly at Pendley Tidewell—“were shut up in a darkroom. I got a nephew who’s one of these damn camera nuts. So I don’t think you’d e out of a darkroom even to murder some guy” He focused his baleful eye on Louella White. “Where were you?”
“楼上。” 她冷冷地看着他。
“Upstairs.” She looked at him coldly.
“你进过这个家伙的房间吗？”
“Did you go in this guy’s room?”
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“没有。”
“No.”
“在四点到四点半之间，你去过走廊吗？”
“Did you go out in the hall between four and four-thirty?”
“没有。”
“No.”
“那么那段时间你一直都在自己的房间里？”
“Then you were in your room all that time?”
“没有。”
“No.”
冯?弗拉纳根的脸开始变得通红。马龙觉得稍微高兴了一点。
Von Flanagan’s face was beginning to turn a deep crimson. Malone felt a little happier.
“你在楼上？”
“You were upstairs?”
“是。”
“Yes.”
“你没有去过走廊？”
“And you didn’t go out in the hall?”
“没有。”
“No.”
“但你也不在自己的房间里？”
“But you weren’t in your room?”
“没有。”
“No.”
“那么，” 冯?弗拉纳根吼道，“你到底在哪里？”
“Then,” von Flanagan roared, “where in the hell were you?”
她愤怒地看了他整整三十秒才回答。
She looked at him indignantly for a full thirty seconds before answering.
“在厕所。”
“In the toilet.”
嗯，马龙想，冯?弗拉纳根破纪录了。他让卢埃拉?怀特连续说了三个字。
Well, Malone reflected, von Flanagan had broken the record. He’d got Louella White to speak three consecutive words.
警察努力压下怒火。“在证人席上你会好好说话的。” 他深吸一口气。“只有一个人有可能杀了这个人，而她就是凶手。她用的是假名，和她护照上的名字不一样。我猜这个人是要揭发她。” 他转向脸色变得煞白的洛特斯?艾伦。“你因谋杀杰拉尔德?图伊兹被捕了，小姐。”
The police officer managed to swallow his rage. “You’ll talk all right on the witness stand.” He drew a long breath. “There is just one person who could have murdered this guy and she did. She’s here under a phony name, not the same one that’s on her passport. I guess this guy was going to give her away.” He turned to Lotus Allen, who had turned very white. “You’re under arrest, Miss, for the murder of Gerald Tuesday.”
现在莫娜?麦克莱恩的脸色变得煞白。她跳了起来。“你不能逮捕她！”
Now it was Mona McClane who turned white. She jumped to her feet. “You can’t arrest her!”
“你说我不能逮捕她是什么意思？” 冯?弗拉纳根吼道，“我是执法人员！”
“What the hell do you mean, I can’t arrest her,” von Flanagan roared. “I’m an officer of the law!”
莫娜?麦克莱恩疲倦地做了个小手势。“她甚至不认识他。她这辈子从没见过他，也没和他说过话。她不可能谋杀杰拉尔德?图伊兹或者其他人。”
Mona McClane made a weary little gesture. “She didn’t even know him. She’d never seen nor spoken to him in her life. She couldn’t possibly have murdered Gerald Tuesday, or anyone else.”
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“这不是你说了算的，女士。” 冯?弗拉纳根的语气缓和了一些，“这是陪审团该决定的事。”
“That ain’t for you to say, lady,” von Flanagan said in a milder tone. “That’s what they have juries for.”
“你不能把那样一个孩子送进监狱。” 伊迪莎?文宁说。她正不雅地用一块借来的手帕擦着眼泪。她那对大而忧伤的眼睛周围的睫毛膏开始花了。杰克不明白为什么她花钱雇来的同伴卢埃拉?怀特没有试图安慰她。
“You can’t take a child like that off to jail,” Editha Venning said. She was weeping unbeingly into a borrowed handkerchief. The mascara around her big tragic eyes was beginning to run. Jake wondered why her paid panion, Louella White, was making no attempt to console her.
迈克尔?文宁清了清嗓子。“说真的，警官，你不能这么做。” 他用一种居高临下、简短的语气说道，“你忽略了一个事实，艾伦小姐绝不是会杀人的那种人。”
Michael Venning cleared his throat. “Really, officer, you can’t do this sort of thing,” he said in a patronizing, clipped voice. “You’re overlooking the fact that Miss Allen is hardly the type of person who’d mit murder.”
冯?弗拉纳根似乎在抑制自己也去杀人的冲动。“如果你是指她是位女士这一事实，” 他用一种几乎压抑到要爆发的声音说道，“我只想说，我上次见到的真正有教养的女士用斧头杀了三个人。”
Von Flanagan appeared to be subduing an impulse to mit a murder of his own. “If you’re referring to the fact that she’s a lady,” he said in a voice that was restrained almost to the exploding point, “I just want to say that the last real refined lady I met had murdered three people with an ax.”
伊迪莎?文宁轻轻尖叫了一声，打了个哆嗦。
Editha Venning gave a little scream and shuddered.
在这整个过程中，讨论的焦点人物洛特斯本人一句话也没说。她一动不动地站在房间中央，脸色煞白，毫无表情，脊背像木板一样笔直僵硬。在她那双形状优美的棕色眼睛里，没有一丝恐惧、惊骇、悲伤或其他任何情感。
Through it all, the center of discussion, Lotus herself, had said nothing. She stood stock-still in the middle of the room, her face dead white and expressionless, her back as straight and stiff as a board. There was not a trace of fear or horror or sorrow or any other feeling in her well-shaped brown eyes.
莫娜?麦克莱恩心不在焉地用纤细的手指拂了拂遮住额头的黑色刘海。“这完全是个愚蠢的错误，亲爱的洛特斯，但很快就会弄清楚的。在此期间，你会得到最好的法律援助。” 她满怀期待地看着马龙。“你会接这个案子，对吗？”
小主，
Mona McClane brushed absent-mindedly with her slender fingers at the black bang that covered her forehead. “This is all a stupid mistake, Lotus my dear, but it will be straightened out very quickly. In the meantime, you’ll have the best of legal counsel available.” She looked appealingly at Malone. “You will take the case, won’t you?”
“接，” 马龙说，“我已经在处理这个案子了。” 他转向冯?弗拉纳根。“艾伦小姐是我的当事人。在我有机会和她私下交谈之前，她一个字也不能说，我现在就要这个机会。”
“Take it,” Malone said, “I’m already working on it.” He turned to von Flanagan. “Miss Allen is my client. She isn’t to say one word until I’ve had a chance to talk with her in private, and I want that chance right now.”
“哼，我不在乎。” 冯?弗拉纳根说，“我逮捕他们之后，我的任务就完成了。我希望你能让她脱罪，她是个好女孩。如果你愿意，可以带她到隔壁房间去谈，谈到你累垮为止。”
“Hell, I don’t care,” von Flanagan said. “After I arrest ’em, I’m through. I hope you get her off, she’s a nice girl. You can take her in the next room and talk to her till you bust, if you want to.”
“谢谢。” 马龙说着，把雪茄换到嘴的另一边。“也许你们其他人可以等我一下。来吧，亲爱的。” 他伸手去拉她的胳膊。
“Thanks,” Malone said, shifting the cigar to the other corner of his mouth. “Maybe the rest of you will be good enough to wait for me. Come, my dear.” He reached for her arm.
洛特斯?艾伦突然像是活过来了。“不。你真是太好了，但是不。”
Lotus Allen seemed to e to life suddenly. “No. It’s very good of you, but no.”
“别和你的律师顶嘴。” 马龙愉快地说。
“Don’t argue with your lawyer,” Malone said pleasantly.
“但问题就在这儿。你不是我的律师。我…… 请不起律师。你看……” 她的脸色，如果可能的话，变得更白了一点。“我没有钱请律师。一点钱也没有。一分钱也没有。你明白吗？”
“But that’s it. You aren’t my lawyer. I—can’t have a lawyer. You see—” Her face turned, if anything, a shade whiter. “I haven’t any money to pay for a lawyer. Not any money at all. Not any. Do you understand?”