马龙探案卷四 之 正确的凶案 二十三
“我当然可以让他清醒到足以说话的程度。”马龙疲倦地说，“但那又有什么用呢？”
“Sure I could sober him up enough to talk,” Malone said wearily. “But what good would it do?”
“那没用。”杰克说，“关键是要从他完全清醒的时候开始，然后让他恢复到某个特定的状态。”
“It wouldn’t do any good,” Jake said. “The trick is to start with him pletely sober and bring him back to just a certain stage.”
“去他的。”律师说，“考虑到我们不在的时候他可能喝了各种各样的东西，要花两天时间才能把他弄清醒到能让他清醒说话的程度。”
“The hell with it,” the lawyer said. “Considering the many and varied collection of things he probably drank while we were out, it would take two days to unscramble him enough to get him sober.”
“等一下！”海伦说，“让我想想。”她沉默了一两分钟。“马龙，再把浴缸装满水，然后对他采取行动。我要打个电话。”
“Wait a minute!” Helene said. “Let me think.” She was silent for a moment or two. “Malone, fill up the bathtub again and go to work on him. I have telephoning to do.”
“海伦，你脑子里在想什么可怕的事情？”
“Helene, what horrible thing is forming in your mind?”
“别问问题。我知道自己在做什么。只要让他再动起来、再说话就行。”
“Don’t ask questions. I know what I’m doing. Just get him moving and talking again.”
律师呻吟道：“我真希望自己在睡觉。”
The lawyer groaned. “I wish I was asleep.”
“你想让我给冯·弗拉纳根打电话，告诉他你从昨天晚上起就一直把罗斯·麦克劳林藏在这儿吗？”
“Do you want me to phone von Flanagan and tell him you’ve been keeping Ross McLaurin hidden out here since yesterday evening?”
“好吧。”马龙疲倦地说，“我知道什么时候自己输了。”他走进浴室，打开冷水。“我不知道你要做什么，但不管是什么，我都不会喜欢。杰克，帮我一把。”他们两人一起把毫无反抗能力的年轻人拖进浴室，然后关上了门。
“All right,” Malone said wearily, “I know when I’m licked.” He went into the bathroom and turned on the cold water. “I don’t know what you’re going to do, but whatever it is, I won’t like it. Lend me a hand, Jake.” Between them they hauled the unresisting young man into the bathroom and closed the door.
他们回来的时候，海伦刚刚放下电话。“我们的年轻朋友恢复活力了吗？”
When they returned, Helene was just setting down the telephone. “Is our young friend restored to life?”
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“他能走能说了，如果你想知道的就是这个。但你从他那儿问不出任何信息。”
‘He walks and talks, if that’s what you want to know. But you can’t get any information out of him.”
“我们不行，”海伦说，“但利奥纳多·T·亨尼西医生可以。”
“We can’t,” Helene said, “but Dr. Leonardo T. Hennessey can.”
杰克瞪大了眼睛。“不是真的吧！”
“Not really!”
“哪个医生？”马龙怀疑地问。
“Doctor which?” Malone asked suspiciously.
“测谎仪专家。”海伦说，“你在报纸上读到过他。他要给罗斯做测谎测试。”
“The lie-detector man,” Helene said. “You’ve read about him in the papers. He’s going to give Ross a lie-detector test.”
“什么时候？”马龙问，希望是下周的某个时候。
“When?” Malone asked, hoping it was some time next week.
“现在。”海伦说，“只要我们能把他带到办公室。亨尼西医生不喜欢晚上十点还到市中心来，但我告诉他这是紧急情况。我们到的时候他就会在那儿了。帮我把这家伙的鞋穿上。”
“Right now,” Helene said. “As soon as we can get him over to the office. Dr. Hennessey didn’t like the idea of ing downtown at ten o’clock at night, but I told him it was an emergency case. He’ll be there by the time we arrive. Help me get this guy’s shoes on.”
“我自己穿我的鞋。”罗斯·麦克劳林用受伤的声音说。
“Put on m’own shoes,” said Ross McLaurin in a hurt voice.
“看。”海伦说，“他差不多清醒了。”
“See,” Helene said, “he’s practically sober.”
杰克哼了一声，“你在想‘那家伙没醉，我刚看到他眼皮动了一下’。不管怎么说，你期望从这个测谎测试中了解到什么呢？”
“Jake snorted, “You’re thinking of ‘That guy ain’t drunk, I just saw his eyelids flicker.’ What do you expect to learn from this lie-detector test, anyway?”
“谁谋杀了杰拉尔德·图伊兹。”
“Who murdered Gerald Tuesday.”
“再这样下去。”律师咆哮道，“我自己都要招供了。”
“Much more of this,” the lawyer growled, “and I’ll confess to it myself.”
二十分钟后，罗斯·麦克劳林僵硬地走在杰克和马龙之间，他们面对着一扇毛玻璃门，门上写着：
—202 室—
利奥纳多·T·亨尼西医生
心理心理学家
Twenty minutes later, Ross McLaurin walking stiffly between Jake and Malone, they faced a ground-glass door on which appeared:
— Room 202 —
DR. LEONARDO T. HENNESSEY
PSYCHO-PSYCHOLOGIST
下面是一只又大又蓝、看起来极其逼真的眼睛的图片，有光线从眼睛里射出来。
Below it was the picture of a wide, blue, and unfortably realistic-looking eye, with rays streaming out from it.
小主，
“什么是心理心理学家？”杰克问道。
“What the hell is a psycho-psychologist?” Jake demanded.
“在我看来这像是双重麻烦。”马龙咆哮道，“或者这是咬了你的狗的毛。”他打开了门。
“It looks like double trouble to me,” Malone growled. “Or maybe it’s the hair of the dog that bit you.” He opened the door.
亨尼西医生的候诊室宽敞而宁静。灰色的地毯铺满地面，墙壁是浅蓝色锦缎和玻璃板交替的镶板，所有角落都刻有神秘的符号。家具简约而昂贵，桌上放着《时尚先生》《时尚芭莎》和《纽约客》。它看起来像一位时髦专家的候诊室，只是稍微有点过于讲究。
The anteroom of Dr. Hennessey was spacious and subdued. A dove-gray carpet covered the floor, the walls were alternating panels of pale-blue brocade and plate-glass mirrors, all with cabalistic signs engraved in the corners. The furnishings were restrained and expensive, copies of Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar, and the The New Yorker were on the table. It looked like the waiting room of a fashionable specialist, with just a slight touch of overdressing.
墙上没有挂画，而是挂着一些有锯齿状线条的图表，像心电图一样。一扇门上写着“私人”，另一扇门上写着“实验室”和“小心”字样，两侧各有一个闪电标志。马龙本能地、不安地环顾四周，寻找隐藏的录音机和高压线。
On the wall, in lieu of pictures, were charts with zigzag lines, like cardiograms. One door bore the legend PRIVATE, another LABORATORY and the word CAUTION, flanked by two lightning bolts. Malone looked around instinctively and unfortably for hidden dictaphones and high-voltage wires.
“我们从这里进去。”海伦说着，朝标有“私人”的门走去。
“We go in here,” Helene said, moving toward the door marked PRIVATE.
“等一下。”杰克说，“亨尼西医生知道他在给这个人做什么测试吗？”
“Just a minute,” Jake said. “Does Dr. Hennessey know what he’s testing this guy for?”
她摇摇头。“他也不知道这个人不是完全清醒的。”她打开了门。
She shook her head. “He doesn’t know he isn’t perfectly sober, either.” She opened the door.
里面的房间同样宽敞，但一点也不宁静。墙壁上挂着厚厚的黑布，但室内装饰仅此而已。各种电器杂乱无章地堆在一起，就像鲁布·戈德堡的漫画和好莱坞恐怖电影的结合。
The inner room was likewise spacious, but far from subdued. The walls were hung with heavy black cloth, but interior decoration had stopped there. Electrical gadgets of all kinds were piled pell-mell on top of each other, like a bination of a Rube Goldberg cartoon and a Hollywood horror picture.
小主，
马龙肯定以为会看到鲍里斯·卡洛夫（1931年出演弗兰肯斯坦的演员）从黑色窗帘后走出来。然而，出现的是亨尼西医生。他是一位头发灰白、身着灰色西装的绅士，看起来很像《时代》杂志科学版面上的肖像，有着令人安心的医生风范，除了眼中闪烁的探寻光芒，没有任何东西能让人联想到他那奇特的职业。这有点像门上画的那只眼睛。
Malone definitely expected Boris Karloff to appear through the black curtains. Instead, it was Dr. Hennessey. He was a gray-haired, gray-suited gentleman, looking not unlike the portraits in the science sector of Time magazine, with a reassuringly medical manner, and nothing to suggest his strange profession save a searching gleam in his eye. It was a little like the eye painted on the door.
“很高兴再次见到你，布兰德小姐。”医生愉快地说，“你父亲从那个年轻女人那里拿回他的手表了吗？”
“How nice to see you again, Miss Brand,” the doctor said cheerfully. “Did your father ever get his watch back from that young woman?”
海伦说：“没有。”然后微微脸红了。“医生，这是贾斯特先生，我的……”
Helene said, “No,” and blushed faintly. “Doctor, this is Mr. Justus, my—”
“我还活着而且还在呼吸，杰克·贾斯特！”亨尼西医生高兴地叫道，“我猜你还在《观察家报》工作吧。会有摄影师来吗？”
“Jake Justus, as I live and breathe!” exclaimed Dr. Hennessey happily. “Still with the Examiner, I presume. Will there be a photographer ing?”
杰克本想解释他不再是记者了，但觉得还是不提为好，于是只说：“不，这次没有摄影师。”
Jake started to explain he was no longer a reporter, decided it would be more tactful not to mention it, and just said, “No, no photographer this time.”
“太可惜了。”亨尼西医生说。
“Too bad,” said Dr. Hennessey.
“这是罗斯·麦克劳林。”海伦接着说。
“This is Ross McLaurin,” Helene went on.
年轻人用一种机械而礼貌的声音说：“你好，医生。”
The young man said, “How do you do, doctor,” in an automatic and polite voice.
“这是马龙先生。”她又补充道。
“And this is Mr. Malone,” she added.
“啊，是的。”医生愉快地说。他清了清嗓子。“我通常晚上不会来我的实验室，但从你在电话里的谈话中，我觉得这肯定是紧急情况。有些失忆的病例非常令人难过。”他同情地笑了笑，把手放在马龙的肩膀上。“我猜这位就是我们的病人吧。”
“Ah yes,” the doctor said pleasantly. He cleared his throat. “I usually don’t e down to my laboratory in the evening, but I gathered from your conversation on the phone that this was definitely urgent. Some of these loss-of-memory cases are very sad.” He smiled sympathetically and laid a hand on Malone’s shoulder. “This would be our patient, I presume.”
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“不，不，不。”海伦说，“在那边。”她指了指罗斯·麦克劳林。
“No, no, no,” Helene said. “Over there.” She indicated Ross McLaurin.
“啊，是的。”亨尼西医生泰然自若地说，“麦克劳林先生。的确如此。现在，如果你能直接到这边来……”
“Ah yes.” Dr. Hennessey said, with magnificent aplomb. “Mr. McLaurin. Yes indeed. Now if you’ll just e right over here—”
病人要坐的椅子似乎是房间里所有电器设备的焦点。罗斯·麦克劳林顺从地坐了下来，虽然有点犹豫，并按照指示将手放在每只扶手末端的橡胶垫上。
The chair in which the patient was to sit seemed to be the focal point of all the electrical gadgets in the room. Ross McLaurin sat down in it obediently, though a bit hesitantly, and rested his hands, as directed, on the rubber pads at the end of each arm.
当医生在他的上臂绑上一个电极时，他抗议地抬头看着海伦。
It was when the doctor was strapping an electrode on the upper part of his arm that he looked up protestingly at Helene.
“你答应过我，如果我和马龙先生谈话，他们就不会这样对我。”
“You promised me if I’d talk to Mr. Malone, they wouldn’t do this to me.”
“这不是电椅。”海伦说，“只是看起来像而已。”
“It’s not the electric chair,” Helene said. “It only looks like one.”
“哈，哈，哈。”医生毫无幽默感地说，“我所有的病人都对这种相似之处发表过评论。现在，年轻人，没有什么会伤害你。一点都没有。就舒服地往后靠。对，就这样。”
“Ha, ha, ha,” the doctor said humorlessly. “All my patients ment on that similarity. Now there’s nothing to hurt you, young man. Nothing at all. Just sit back, quite fortably. That’s right.”
在椅子上方，病人看不到的地方，有一个红蓝相间的表盘，蓝色那面标着“真实”，红色那面标着“虚假”。
Over the chair, placed where the patient couldn’t see it, was a red and blue dial, marked “True” on the blue side and “False” on the red.
“首先我要让病人保持平衡。”亨尼西医生解释道，“安静。现在安静。很好。”他指着表盘补充道，“看到指针是如何平衡的了吧，正好在中间？病人很放松。”
“First I balance the patient,” explained Dr. Hennessey. “Quiet. Quiet, now. That’s fine.” He added, pointing to the dial, “See how the needle is balanced, right in the center? The patient is at ease.”
“放松。”杰克小声嘀咕道，“他可能都吓呆了。”
“At ease,” Jake muttered under his breath. “He’s probably petrified.”