第136章 卷33 (第2/2页)

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“他害怕麦克劳林可能在第二个图伊兹被谋杀的那个下午看到他上楼了，”马龙说，“他不能确定，但他不想冒险。”

“he was afraid mclaurin might have seen him e upstairs the afternoon of the second murder,” malone said. “he couldn’t know for sure, but he wasn’t taking any chances.”

冯弗拉纳根摇了摇头。“他简直就是一个人的犯罪浪潮。”突然他想起了寡妇在场，他的脸色变得严肃起来，用尊敬的语气说：“对不起，文宁夫人。”

von flanagan shook his head. “he was a regular one-man crime wave.” suddenly he remembered the presence of the widow, his face sobered, and he said, “pardon me, mrs. venning,” in a respectful tone.

“嗯，一个勒索者通常罪有应得。勒索——如果你问我的意见——那是犯罪！”

“well, a blackmailer usually deserves the worst he can get. blackmail—if you ask my opinion—that’s criminal!”

“谋杀也是，从某种程度上来说。”马龙低声说。

“so is murder,” malone murmured, “in its way.”

警察要么没听见要么没理他。“还有一件事。文宁夫人。这些人勒索你的丈夫什么呢他做了什么”

the police officer either didn’t hear or ignored him. “one thing more. mrs. venning. what were these men blackmailing your husband about? what had he been up to?”

房间里有一阵令人焦虑的沉默。

there was a moment’s anxious silence in the room.

伊迪莎文宁的大眼睛变得阴暗。她的嘴唇颤抖着。“这是——真的，只是通常那种事。东方——女人——”她咬着嘴唇。“鸦片——哦，求你了，能不能忘了这件事文宁这个名字很——有名——真的没有必要——把所有这些都公之于众——”

editha venning’s immense eyes grew shadowy. her lips quivered. “it was—really, just the usual sort of thing. the orient—women—” she bit her lip. “opium—oh please, can’t it be forgotten? the venning name is so—well known—there really isn’t any use in—dragging all that up for the public—”

马龙感谢上天赐予一个思维敏捷的女人，然后说：“她说得对，冯弗拉纳根。这是一起谋杀案，不是勒索案。只要你知道是谁杀了那两个图伊兹，案子就结了。就让睡着的狗继续躺着吧。”在冯弗拉纳根说话之前，他又补充道：“文宁试图保护他的妻子。他甚至雇了一个保镖来让这些人远离她。对吗，卢怀特”

malone thanked heaven for a woman who could think fast, and said, “she’s right, von flanagan. this is a murder case, not blackmail. as long as you know who killed the two tuesdays, the case is closed. let’s just let lying dogs sleep.” before von flanagan could say anything, he added, “venning tried to protect his wife. he even hired a bodyguard to keep these men away from her. that’s correct isn’t it, lou white?”

那个穿着有点紧的灰色西装的魁梧男人与马龙对视了一会儿。“是的，”他说，“没错。”

the burly man in the rather tight gray suit met malone’s eyes for an instant. “yes,” he said. “that’s right.”

“你明白了吧”马龙对警察说，“如果你不相信我，你有卢怀特的话为证，他是纽约州有执照的私家侦探。”他看到冯弗拉纳根的眼睛里又开始露出沉思的神情，便赶紧说：“你应该非常感激麦克莱恩夫人。如果不是她，你现在就得出去追捕凶手，你的手下很有可能会遭到枪击。”

“you see?” malone said to the police officer. “if you don’t believe me, you have lou white’s word for it, and he’s a licensed private detective of the state of new york.” he saw the thoughtful look beginning to form again in von flanagan’s eyes and said quickly, “you owe a great debt of gratitude to mrs. mcclane. if it wasn’t for her, you’d be out chasing a murderer right now, with a good chance of having pot shots taken at the men on your staff.”

警察突然笑了起来。“我非常感激，夫人。我在想——外面有一群记者在等着——你是否介意和我一起拍张照片——也许可以让我看看你用来射击的枪……”

the police officer beamed suddenly. “i’m sure grateful, ma’am. and i wonder—there’s a bunch of newspaper guys waiting outside—if you would mind having your picture taken with me—maybe showing me the gun you done it with—”

“我很乐意。”莫娜麦克莱恩优雅地应对着这个场合，说道，“当然可以，把记者们都请进来吧。”

“i’d be delighted,” mona mcclane said, rising to the occasion. “by all means, let’s have in the press.”

这时，彭德利泰德韦尔像一条从魔术师篮子里钻出来的蛇一样，从房间后面的大椅子上舒展开身体。“如果要拍照的话……”他满怀希望地开口说道。

at that, pendley tidewell uncoiled himself from the big chair in the back of the room like a serpent ing out of a magician’s basket. “if there’s going to be any pictures taken—” he began hopefully.

自从十二年前莫娜麦克莱恩竞选国会议员（但没有成功）以来，湖滨大道上的老麦克莱恩大厦还从未同时出现过这么多摄影师。

the old mcclane mansion on lake shore drive hadn’t seen so many photographers together since the time twelve years ago when mona mcclane had run for congress.

当所有的兴奋都过去之后，冯弗拉纳根是最后一个离开的。在过去的五分钟里，他的脸上一直带着困惑的皱眉，好像他在努力回忆一件被他忘记的事情。

when the excitement was all over, von flanagan was the last to leave. there had been a puzzled frown on his face for the past five minutes, as though he were trying hard to remember something that had slipped his mind.

“当然，你们都得在审讯时出庭。”他心不在焉地说。有一会儿他沉默不语，揉着一只耳朵。然后他突然狠狠地瞪着马龙。

“you’ll all have to appear at the inquest, of course,” he said in a faraway tone. for a moment he was silent, rubbing one ear. then suddenly he scowled heavily at malone.

“那很好，”他气愤地说，“但你还是没告诉我那个人那天晚上走进天使乔的酒吧然后倒地身亡的时候为什么在找你。”

“that’s all very well,” he said indignantly, “but you still haven’t told me why that guy was looking for you the night he came into joe the angel’s bar and fell over dead.”

“哦，那个呀，”小律师说，好像那是件无足轻重的事，他都给忘了。“一开始，文宁决定和图伊兹兄弟交涉。他想让我代表他，并且也跟他们这么说了。除了和文宁家族产业有关的律师，他不认识芝加哥的其他律师，而麦克莱恩夫人提到过我。”他停下来重新点着雪茄。

“oh, that,” the little lawyer said, as though it was so unimportant he had forgotten it. “at first, venning decided to deal with the tuesdays. he intended to have me act for him, and told them so. he didn’t know any chicago lawyers except those connected with the venning estate, and mrs. mcclane had mentioned me.” he paused to relight his cigar.

“第一个图伊兹不想浪费时间开始谈判，所以他决定亲自来找我，把事情推动起来。他打听出我常去哪些酒吧，然后就出去找我。文宁就在这过程中遇到了他。这就是为什么文宁知道他必须马上行动，事实上就是那个晚上。”

“the first tuesday didn’t want to lose any time getting negotiations under way, so he decided to look me up himself and start the ball rolling. he found out what bars i usually frequent, and went out hunting for me. venning ran into him in the midst of it. that’s why venning knew he had to act fast, that very night, in fact.”

冯弗拉纳根想了几分钟才说：“哦。”

von flanagan thought that over for a few minutes before he said, “oh.”

他走后，房间里安静了一会儿。最后马龙摇了摇头。“我什么都想到了。我不知道我是怎么做到的。”突然他对卢怀特咧嘴一笑。“你戴着假发的时候我更喜欢你。你到底是在哪儿学会织毛衣的”

after he had gone, the room was quiet for a little while. at last malone shook his head. “i think of everything. i don’t know how i do it.” suddenly he grinned at lou white. “i liked you better with the wig on. where the hell did you ever learn to knit?”

那个矮壮、秃顶的男人怒视着他。“我这辈子从没这么不喜欢一份工作。相信我，当女仆把你的纸条拿给我的时候，我很高兴，上面说游戏结束了，我最好换回我平常的衣服。”

the stocky, bald-headed man glared at him. “i never liked a job less in my life. believe me, i was glad when the maid brought your note up to me, saying the game was up and i’d better switch back to my regular clothes.”

海伦伸手握住杰克的手，紧紧地握着。

helene reached for jake’s hand and held it tight.

伊迪莎文宁出人意料地站了起来。“但他相信了这一切！他相信了每一个字！”

editha venning rose to her feet unexpectedly. “but he believed all that! he believed every word of it!”

“当然，”马龙说，“事情会这样记录在案。官方来说，正义得到了伸张，案子也结了。”他停顿了一下，然后钦佩地补充道，“我可以轻而易举地骗过冯弗拉纳根。”

“sure,” malone said. “it’ll go down in the records that way. officially, justice has been done, and the case is closed.” he paused, and added admiringly, “i can twist my little finger around von flanagan, just like that.”

她盯着他。“你为什么要这么做”她深深地吸了一口气，几乎是在抽泣。“你为什么不告诉他真相”

she stared at him. “what made you do it?” she drew a long, almost sobbing breath. “why didn’t you tell him the truth?”

马龙非常缓慢而慎重地放下他的雪茄。“然后让你失去五百万美元”他的声音里既有愤怒又有怀疑。“那是不道德的！你以为你找的是什么样的律师”

malone laid down his cigar very slowly and deliberately. “and do you out of five million bucks?” his voice was halfway between indignation and incredulity. “that would be unethical! what the hell kind of a lawyer do you think you’ve got?”