马龙探案卷四 之 正确的凶案 三十一

“那确实是我的。”马龙说，“我想我不知道我把它丢了。”

“That’s mine, all right,” Malone said. “I guess I didn’t know I lost it.”

“这可让你闹了个大笑话。”天使乔说，“你最好来一杯免费的，就当是开启美好的一天。”

“That’s a good one on you,” Joe the Angel said. “You’d better have one on the house, just to start the day right.”

马龙衷心地同意他的话。

Malone heartily agreed with him.

酒倒好后，杰克愤愤不平地说：“当然了，这是你绝对想不到要去找的地方。”

After the drink was poured, Jake said indignantly, “Of course, this is the one place you wouldn’t think of looking for it.”

“可能是在打斗的时候从我的口袋里掉出来的。”马龙说道，语气中带着几分歉意。

“It probably fell out of my pocket during the brawl,” Malone said, almost apologetically.

“你也没想到这一点，”海伦指责道。

“That wouldn’t occur to you either,” Helene said in an accusing tone.

“哼，该死。”律师说，“我不可能什么都想到。”

“Well, damn it,” the lawyer said, “I can’t think of everything.”

杰克和海伦同时说道：“现在你拿回来了，让我们看看吧。”

Jake and Helene said simultaneously, “Now you’ve got it back, let’s have a look at it.”

就在小律师把钥匙扔在桌上的时候，酒吧后面的收音机宣布时间正好是九点半。马龙像被枪击了一样从椅子上跳起来，冲向门口。

Just as the little lawyer tossed the key down on the table, the radio back of the bar announced that the time was exactly nine-thirty. Malone was out of his chair as though he’d been shot at and dived in the direction of the door.

跑到一半，他回头喊道：“你们自己看吧。我有三十分钟的时间去烫西装、刮胡子，然后赶到老费瑟斯通的办公室。这个约会我一定得去。”

Halfway there, he called back, “Look at it yourselves. Thirty minutes to get my suit pressed, get shaved, and be at old man Featherstone’s office. That’s one appointment I’ve got to keep.”

海伦缓过气来后说：“不管怎么说，我们有钥匙了。”她仔细地看了看钥匙，然后递给杰克。“看看这是什么？”

After she had caught her breath, Helene said, “Well, we’ve got the key, anyway.” She looked at it closely and handed it to Jake. “See what it is?”

杰克慢慢地点点头。“联合包裹寄存柜。”他大声念道。

“Jake nodded slowly. “United Parcel Lockers,” he read aloud.

“这是火车站里那种投币式行李寄存箱的钥匙，”海伦说，“我一直觉得那种箱子是藏东西的好地方，很安全。”

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“It opens one of those dime-in-the-slot baggage lockers you find in railway stations,” Helene said. “I’ve always thought one of them would be a swell place to hide something safely.”

“我想知道里面藏着什么。”杰克说。

“I wonder what’s hidden there,” Jake said.

“也许是另一个杰拉尔德·图伊兹。”海伦生气地说，“让我想想。”

“Maybe another Gerald Tuesday,” Helene said crossly. “Let me think.”

杰克要了更多的咖啡，焦急地坐着看着她。

Jake called for more coffee and sat watching her anxiously.

“我们有钥匙，”她最后慢慢地说，“但这只是其中一部分。不管那个包裹寄存柜里有什么，还有很多事情无法解释。问题是有太多东西似乎和其他东西都没有关系。”

“We have the key,” she said at last, slowly, “but that’s only part of it. No matter what’s in that parcel locker, a lot is still unaccounted for. The whole trouble is there’s too much stuff that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with any other stuff.”

“事情太多了。”杰克嘟囔着，“还有太多死人。谁那么想除掉伊迪莎·文宁，以至于给她的保镖下了蒙汗药？”

“Too much stuff,” Jake muttered, “and too many stiffs. Who wanted to do in Editha Venning badly enough to feed her bodyguard knockout drops?”

“谁想谋杀迈克尔·文宁呢？”海伦反问道。

“Who wants to murder Michael Venning?” Helene countered.

“好吧。”杰克气愤地说，“如果你在想问题，那就想出一堆好问题，我们把它们发给《问答儿童》节目。趁你想的时候，那两个杰拉尔德·图伊兹是谁，是谁杀了他们，最后但同样重要的是，莫娜·麦克莱恩杀了谁。”

“All right,” Jake said indignantly, “if you’re thinking up questions, think up a bunch of good ones and we’ll send ’em to Quiz Kids. While you’re about it, who were the two Gerald Tuesdays and who murdered them, and, last but not least, who did Mona McClane murder.”

她叹了口气。“你把这一切都说得太复杂了。”

She sighed. “You make it all sound so plicated.”

“海伦，我们把这一切都忘了吧。卢·西尔弗下周要带着他的乐队巡回演出，我可以作为新闻代理人一起去。我们会玩得很开心的。”

“Helene, let’s forget the whole thing. Lou Silver is taking his band out on the road next week, and I can go along as press agent. We could have a wonderful time.”

“如果你想去你就去吧。”她沮丧地说，“但我要留在这里，赢下那个赌注。你觉得这个怎么样？文宁夫人在她丈夫死后会得到他的遗产，而彭德利·泰德韦尔是她的继承人。彭德利计划谋杀他们两个，而文宁夫人有所怀疑，就雇了一个保镖。”

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“You can go if you want to,” she said gloomily, “but I’m going to stay right here and win that bet. How do you like this one? Mrs. Venning gets her husband’s estate when he dies, and Pendley Tidewell is her heir. Pendley plans to murder them both, and Mrs. Venning, suspecting it, hires herself a bodyguard.”

“非常好，但那两个图伊兹呢？”

“Very pretty, but how about the Tuesdays?”

“那完全是另一码事，和文宁夫妇毫无关系。”

“That’s a different affair entirely and has nothing to do with the Vennings.”

“我不喜欢。再试试。”

“I don’t like it,” Jake said. “Try again.”

“迈克尔·文宁计划谋杀他的妻子，这样他就可以娶另一个女孩——不，这留下了太多无法解释的地方。伊迪莎·文宁计划谋杀她的丈夫，这样她就可以得到他的钱。这是个更好的起点。”

“Michael Venning plans to murder his wife so he can marry another girl—no, that leaves too much unaccounted for. Editha Venning plans to murder her husband so she can have his dough. That’s a better starting point.”

“那两个图伊兹又怎么说呢？”

“How about the Tuesdays again?”

“他们是他的保镖，而她杀了他们。”

“They were his bodyguards and she did them in.”

“那坟墓呢？”

“How about the grave?”

海伦叹了口气。“嗯，她为他准备好了坟墓。”

“Well, she has it ready for him.”

“你忘了，”杰克指出，“那个坟墓已经有很长时间了。”

“You forget,” Jake pointed out, “that grave has been dug for a long time.”

“也许她只是一直在等待一个好机会，并且相信有备无患。但是他的五十岁生日和这有什么关系呢？”

“Maybe she’s just been waiting for a good opportunity and believes in preparedness. But what does his fiftieth birthday have to do with it?”

“事实是，”杰克慢慢地说，“在马龙和文宁的律师谈完之前，我们做不了太多事情。我们知道的还不够多。”

“The fact is,” Jake said slowly, “we can’t do a great deal until Malone gets through talking with the Venning lawyer. We just don't know enough.”

海伦看了看表。“同时，我要回莫娜·麦克莱恩家换衣服，看看我能不能弄清楚那里发生了什么事。我稍后在马龙的办公室见你。”

“Helene looked at her watch. “Meantime, I'm going back to Mona McClane's and change my clothes, and see if I can find out what's been going on there. I'll meet you at Malone's office later.”

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杰克说，“我自己也想换身衣服，刮刮胡子。我可不是想不出更好的消磨时间的方式。”

“Jake said, “I could do with a change of clothes myself, and a shave. Not that I can't think of a better way to spend the time.”

“等赌注解决了，”她坚定地说，“午饭后我在马龙的办公室见你，看在上帝的份上，别把那把钥匙丢了。”

“When the bet is settled,” she said firmly, “I'll meet you at Malone's office after lunch, and for the love of God, don't lose that key.”

杰克下午到达马龙的办公室。他发现海伦在那里，看起来眼神明亮、精神饱满，就好像她这辈子从来没有错过一晚的睡眠似的。她穿着一套深绿色的套装，上面有大量柔软的棕色皮毛，一顶小小的棕色皮帽俏皮地戴在一条眉毛上方。马龙站在窗边，双手插在口袋里，肩膀缩着，周围是一团雪茄烟雾。

It was afternoon when Jake arrived at Malone's office. He found Helene there, looking as clear-eyed and fresh as though she had never missed a night's sleep in her life, in a dark-green suit with enormous quantities of soft brown fur, and a tiny brown fur hat perched jauntily just above one eyebrow. Malone was staring out the window, his hands in his pockets, his shoulders hunched, surrounded by a mist of cigar smoke.

“他不想说话。”海伦指着马龙说。

“He doesn't want to talk,” Helene said, indicating Malone.

杰克点点头。“你在莫娜·麦克莱恩家发现了什么？”

“Jake nodded. “What did you find out at Mona Mcclane's?”

“伊迪莎·文宁头上起了个包，头疼得厉害，但不严重。她说她昨晚去她丈夫的房间拿些安眠药……”

“Editha Venning has a bump on her bean and a bad headache, but nothing serious. She says she went into her husband’s room last night to get some sleeping tablets—”

“真是个糟糕的理由，不过继续说。”

“A hell of a reason,” Jake said, “but go on.”

“他不在。从赌场出来后不想睡觉，就出去狂欢了。她走进他的房间找安眠药——没开灯，天知道为什么——这时她发现房间里有人。她正要尖叫，突然头上挨了重重一击，然后她就什么都不知道了。”

“He was away. Didn’t feel like turning in after leaving the Casino and went out hell raising. She went into his room and was looking for the sleeping tablets—without turning on the light, God knows why—when she found someone was in the room. She was about to let out a scream when a ton of bricks landed on her head, and that’s all she knows.”