马龙探案卷四 之 正确的凶案 十七
马龙不安地动了动，朝窗户的方向睁开一只眼睛，又迅速闭上，含含糊糊地嘟囔了几句关于一个叫麦克白的人和谋杀睡眠的话，然后又打起盹来。
malone stirred unfortably, opened one eye in the direction of the window, shut it quickly, muttered something incoherent about someone named macbeth and the murder of sleep, and dozed off again.
几分钟后，他睁开双眼，呻吟了一声，看到房间里的光线是深沉而忧郁的灰色，便伸手去拿放在旁边桌子上的手表。
A few minutes later he opened both eyes, groaned, saw that the light in his room was a deep, melancholy gray, and reached for the watch on the table beside him.
刚过四点。
Just a little past four o’clock.
这时候醒来可真不是时候。
A hell of a time to wake up.
他把脸埋在胳膊里，假装只要闭着眼睛足够长时间，就会自动再次入睡，等他再次睁开眼睛的时候，就会是好几个小时以后了。
he buried his face in his arm and pretended that if he kept his eyes closed long enough, he would automatically drop off again, and when he opened them once more it would be hours and hours later.
但这不管用。
It didn’t work.
最后他放弃了，坐起来，若有所思地挠着脸。他不明白自己为什么穿着所有衣服就睡着了。说到这个，他也不明白自己为什么在椅子上就睡着了。
At last he gave it up, sat up, and scratched his face meditatively. he wondered why he had gone to sleep with all his clothes on. For that matter, he wondered why he had gone to sleep in the chair.
而且，谁在他床上睡觉呢？某个家伙 ——
besides, who was sleeping in his bed? Some guy—
罗斯?麦克劳林。
Ross mcLaurin.
现在不是早上四点，而是下午四点。
It wasn’t four in the morning, it was four in the afternoon.
从窗户透进来的光被飘落的雪遮住了，而不是黎明的阴影。
that light from the window was darkened by falling snow, not by the shadows of dawn.
他试着动了动。一只胳膊和一条腿的一部分瘫痪了，可能一辈子都这样了。除此之外，他感觉很好，只是显然在他睡觉的时候，某个爱开玩笑的人进来把他的舌头粘在了上颚上。
he moved experimentally. one arm and part of one leg were paralyzed, probably for life. outside of that, he felt fine, except that apparently while he slept some practical joker had e in and glued his tongue to the roof of his mouth.
也许只要有点耐心，他就能再次入睡，或者更好的是，就这么平静地死去。
maybe with a little patience he could go back to sleep again, or better yet, just die peacefully.
五分钟后，他决定放弃。
Five minutes later he decided to give it up.
海伦在哪儿？杰克在哪儿？从早上开始肯定发生了什么事情。他伸手去拿电话，拨打了麦克莱恩家的号码。女仆告诉他，自从海伦早饭后离开家后就没有她的消息了。他打电话到杰克住的公寓酒店，被告知贾斯特先生还没回来。楼下的服务台也没有给他的留言。
where was helene? where was Jake? Something should have happened since morning. he reached for the telephone and called the mcclane number. the maid told him that helene had not been heard from since she left the house after breakfast. he called Jake’s apartment hotel and was told that mr. Justus had not e in. there were no messages for him at the desk downstairs.
他慢慢地、不舒服地从椅子上站起来，查看了一下罗斯?麦克劳林。这个年轻人还在睡觉，像个孩子一样平静而满足。
he rose slowly and unfortably from his chair and examined Ross mcLaurin. the young man still slept, peacefully and contentedly as a child.
换身衣服可能会有帮助。在安乐椅上睡觉可没让这些衣服变好。他最后看了一眼罗斯，踮着脚尖走出了房间。
A change of clothes might help. Sleeping in the easy chair hadn’t improved these any. he took one last glance at Ross and tiptoed out of the room.
回到自己的房间，他正在扣一件干净衬衫的扣子，这时电话响了。是杰克打来的。
back in his own room, he was just buttoning a clean shirt, when the telephone rang. It was Jake.
“马龙，我真不知道该怎么感谢你给我那个去布莱克县的线索。”
“malone, I can’t thank you enough for giving me that tip to go out to blake county.”
这个小律师对着电话眨了眨眼。
the little lawyer blinked at the telephone.
“你再说一遍？”
“how’s that again?”
“等我告诉你我在那儿遇到了什么。我在楼下的药店打电话，五分钟内我就上去找你。”
“wait till I tell you what I ran into out there. I’m phoning from the drugstore downstairs, and I’ll be up to see you inside of five minutes.”
马龙还没来得及说一个字，就听到电话那头传来挂断的声音。
before malone could say a word, he heard the receiver click at the other end of the line.
他的大脑还因为睡觉而昏昏沉沉的，一次只能处理一件事。杰克要上来了。这可不行。海伦随时都可能过来，看看罗斯?麦克劳林是否能说话了。不知怎么的，他必须赶紧把杰克从这儿弄走。
his mind, still dazed from sleep, could only cope with one thing at a time. Jake was ing up here. that wouldn’t do. helene might be along at any minute, to find out if Ross mcLaurin was in talking condition. Somehow he must get Jake away from here, and in a hurry.
仿佛是为了证实他最糟糕的担心，就在他正在调整背带的时候，电话又响了。是海伦打来的。
As if to confirm his worst fears, just as he was adjusting his suspenders, the phone rang again. It was helene.
“马龙？我在大厅。我马上就上去。”
“malone? I’m down in the lobby. I’ll be right up.”
“等一下 ——”
“wait a minute—”
但她已经挂了电话。
but she had hung up.
当杰克和海伦打开小律师房间的门时，他们发现他坐在床边，眼睛紧紧地闭着，手指塞在耳朵里。
when Jake and helene opened the door to the little lawyer’s room, they found him sitting on the edge of his bed, his eyes shut tight, and his fingers in his ears.
马龙胆怯地睁开一只眼睛，说：“我看你们已经见过面了。” 然后又闭上了。
malone opened one eye timidly, said, “I see you’ve met before,” and closed it again.
“我们在枫树公园见过，你这个可恶的老骗子。” 海伦愤怒地说，“你不能怪我想让你难受一下，因为你这样欺骗我们。”
“we met out in maple park, you damned old fraud,” helene said indignantly. “You can’t blame me for wanting to give you a bad moment for deceiving us like this.”
他睁开双眼，看了看他们的脸，从他们的表情中得到了安慰。
he opened both eyes, glanced at their faces, and was reassured by what he saw there.
“而且，” 杰克接着说，“我们还是会赢得和莫娜?麦克莱恩打的那个赌。我们还有一个附加赌注，看谁先赢，但我才不会告诉你赌注是什么呢。”
“what’s more,” Jake added, “we’re still going to win that bet with mona mcclane. we have a side bet, too, on who will win it first, but I’m damned if I’ll tell you what it is.”
马龙决定不再冒险。他换了个话题。
malone decided not to press his luck. he changed the subject.
“你在枫树公园遇到了什么？”
“what did you run into, out in maple park?”
“除了海伦，” 杰克说，“很多事。” 他的眼睛里闪着明亮而兴奋的光芒，“那个混蛋朝我开枪。不管有没有赌注，我现在都不会放弃。”
“besides helene,” Jake said, “plenty.” A bright, glittering light came into his eyes. “that bastard, shooting at me. bet or no bet, I wouldn’t give up now.”
马龙在床底下找到一瓶杜松子酒。他因为把杰克派到布莱克县而感到非常内疚，决定尽快把这种懊悔淹没在酒里。
malone located a bottle of gin under his bed. he was feeling very guilty over having sent Jake out to blake county and decided to drown remorse as quickly as possible.
“他也想朝我开枪。” 那个红头发的人说。
“he meant to shoot at me, too,” the red-haired man said.
马龙叹了口气。“也许你最好从头开始给我讲讲。不过，首先，我想向你道歉。”
malone sighed. “maybe you’d better tell me about it from the beginning. First, though, I want to apologize to you.”
“为什么？是你朝我开枪了吗？”
“why? were you shooting at me?”
“因为让你白跑了一趟。”
“For letting you go out there on a wild-goose chase.”
杰克盯着他看了一会儿，然后笑了起来。“这可不是白跑一趟。我找到了制造一场精彩谋杀所需的一切，除了一件一直缺失的东西。尸体。”
Jake stared at him for a minute and then began to laugh. “It was no wild-goose chase. I found everything I needed for a good murder, except for one item that’s been consistently missing. the corpse.”
他从头开始，把整个故事都告诉了律师。讲完后，马龙沉默了一会儿，半个身子隐在一团蓝色的雪茄烟雾中，陷入了沉思。
he began at the beginning and told the lawyer the whole story. when he finished, malone was silent for a while, half hidden in a cloud of blue cigar smoke, and deep in thought.
“你确定她说 —— 她丈夫的坟墓？”
“You’re sure she said—her husband’s grave?”
“肯定。她提了好几次。一开始我以为她疯了。但坟墓确实在那儿。”
“positive. She spoke of it several times. At first I thought she’d gone off the rails. but the grave really was there.”
“她很正常，没错。” 马龙忧郁地说，“但我开始怀疑我自己是否正常了。” 他又叹了口气。“我们去和罗斯?麦克劳林谈谈吧。他现在应该可以醒来了。”
“She’s sane all right,” malone said gloomily, “but I’m beginning to wonder if I am.” he sighed again. “Let’s go talk to Ross mcLaurin. he ought to be fit to wake up by now.”
他带路沿着走廊来到另一个房间。
he led the way down the hall to the other room.
“他昨晚过得很糟糕。” 马龙说，“但我觉得他现在应该可以上手术台了。” 他看着海伦，又痛苦地补充道，“下次你给我找个客户的时候，我希望你能找个清醒点的。”
“he had a bad night,” malone said, “but I think he ought to be ready for the operating table.” he looked at helene and added bitterly, “the next time you find me a client, I wish you’d find a sober one.”
他把钥匙插进 1106 房间的门锁，轻轻打开了门。罗斯?麦克劳林还躺在床上，眼睛闭着，年轻的脸庞很苍白。
he slipped a key into the door of room 1106 and opened it softly. Ross mcLaurin still lay in bed, his eyes closed, his young face pale.
“帅哥。” 杰克评价道。
“handsome guy,” Jake mented.
床上的年轻人微微动了一下，轻轻呻吟了一声，睁开了眼睛。他反复睁开又闭上眼睛，最后把目光聚焦在床边高挑苗条的金发女孩身上。
the young man in the bed stirred faintly, moaned a little, and opened his eyes. he opened and closed them several times, at last focusing his gaze on the tall, slender blonde girl beside his bed.
“你好。” 他愉快地说。他的声音带有一种模糊的外国口音。“是你把我带到这儿来的吗？你真是太好了。但我这是在哪儿？我是怎么到这儿来的？”
“how do you do?” he said pleasantly. his voice had a vaguely foreign sound. “did you bring me here? Ever so good of you. but where am I, and how did I get here?”
海伦在床边坐下，双手握住他的一只手。
helene sat down on the edge of the bed and took one of his hands in both of hers.
“你不记得了吗？” 她温柔地说，“我们一开始是一起去喝一杯的。我把你带到这儿是因为我怕警察会把你抓走。这位马龙先生是个律师，是这个城市里最好的辩护律师。”
“don’t you remember?” she said softly. “we started out to get a drink together. I brought you here because I was afraid the police would pick you up. mr. malone here is a lawyer, the best defense lawyer in the city.”
罗斯?麦克劳林皱起眉头。“警察？律师？我要律师干什么？我做错什么事了吗？”
Ross mcLaurin frowned. “police? Lawyer? what do I need a lawyer for? have I done anything wrong?”
马龙俯身在床边。“你不记得跟这位年轻女士说过你犯了两起谋杀案吗？” 他温和地问道。
malone leaned over the bed. “don’t you remember telling this young lady about the two murders you mitted?” he asked gently.
这个年轻人从床上坐起来，眼睛睁得大大的。“谋杀？你在说什么呀？” 他盯着他们看了一会儿，然后笑了起来。“这是个愚蠢的玩笑。我这辈子从没杀过人。”
the young man sat up in bed, his eyes wide. “murders? what are you talking about?” he stared at them for a moment, and then laughed. “this is some stupid kind of joke. I never murdered anybody in my life.”