马龙探案卷四 之 正确的凶案 二十二
“不知道我怎么会干出这种事。”罗斯·麦克劳林严肃地向海伦保证，“我这辈子从没想要谋杀任何人。不明白我为什么要杀一个我甚至都不认识的人。”他现在不用杯子了，每说一句话就喝一口瓶子里的酒。“从没听说过一个叫杰拉尔德·图伊兹的人。不可能忘记一个叫那样的名字的人。有谁能忘记一个叫杰拉尔德·图伊兹的人呢？”
“don’t know how I could’ve done it,” Ross mcLaurin assured helene gravely. “Never wanted murder anyone in m’whole life. can’t understan’ why I murdered man I didn’ even know.” he had discarded the use of glasses now, and was punctuating his remarks with sips from the bottle. “Never even heard of a man named Gerald tuesday. couldn’t forget man name like that. could anybody forget man name Gerald tuesday?”
“绝对忘不了。”海伦郑重地说。她坐在床尾，一只手拿着一杯黑麦威士忌，另一只手拿着一只鸡腿。“但也许他真的不叫图伊兹。”
“Never,” helene said solemnly. She was sitting on the foot of the bed, a glass of rye in one hand, and a chicken leg in the other. “but maybe he wasn’t really named tuesday.”
罗斯·麦克劳林用瓶子比划着。“不管他叫什么。我这辈子都没见过这个人。”
Ross mcLaurin gestured with the bottle. “whatever’s name was. Never knew the man in whole life.”
马龙拿起他的杜松子酒瓶子。半小时前他也放弃用杯子了。“胡说。你这辈子也没杀过人。”
malone picked up his bottle of gin. he too had given up glasses half an hour ago. “Nuts. You never murdered anybody in your life, either.”
年轻人盯着他。“也许你是对的。也许我真没杀过。”有那么一会儿，他看起来清醒了，完全地、痛苦地清醒了。“哦，上帝啊，要是我能想起来就好了。”
the young man stared at him. “maybe you’re right. maybe I never did.” For a moment he seemed sober, pletely, painfully sober. “oh God, if I only remembered.”
杰克说：“别紧张，孩子。”
“You can remember,” helene said convincingly. “You were just about to tell me what happened on New Year’s Eve.”
“我在一个酒吧里遇到这个人。我非常生气，这个人老围着洛特斯转。不是我们现在说的这个人，是另一个人。天哪，你知道我的意思。”
“I met this man in a bar. I was so damned mad, this man hanging around Lotus. Not the man we’re talking about, another man. Gosh, you know what I mean.”
“当然。”杰克说，“我完全明白你的意思。”
“Sure.” Jake said, “I know exactly what you mean.”
“我气坏了，就离开了派对。我肯定是喝多了才会干出那种事。我四处游荡，进了一家酒吧。有个男人走了进来，是个英俊的年轻人。现在他死了，可怜的家伙。他叫酒保，说他在找一个叫马龙的人。”
“I got so mad I walked out onna party. I must’ve been drunk to do thing like that. wandered around and got into a bar. there was a man came in, good-looking young man. dead now, poor devil. he called the bartender and said he was looking for man named malone.”
“那就是我。”律师说。
“that’s me,” the lawyer said.
罗斯·麦克劳林盯着他，仿佛第一次见到他。“你叫马龙？真想不到。世界真小，不是吗？”
Ross mcLaurin stared at him as though seeing him for the first time. “Your name malone? Imagine that. It’s a small world, isn’t it?”
“每分钟都在变小。”马龙向他保证。
“Getting smaller every minute.” malone assured him.
“继续说。”杰克耐心地说，“这个男人走进酒吧找马龙……”
“Go on,” Jake said patiently. “this man came into the bar asking for malone—”
“这个名字听起来很熟悉。我记得莫娜提起过一个马龙。跟我讲过他。所以我就朝这个家伙走过去。我径直走到他跟前，我说，‘我认识一个马龙。听说过他的所有事情。约翰·约瑟夫·马龙。对女人有不可抗拒的魅力。很棒的律师。’”
“Name sounded familiar. Remembered mona had talked about a malone. told me about him. So I went up to this chap. I went right up to him and I said, “I know of a malone. heard all about him. John Joseph malone. Irresistible to women. wonnerful lawyer.”
“那还是我。”马龙说着，伸手去拿杜松子酒。
“that’s still me,” malone said, reaching for the gin.
“闭嘴。”海伦说，“继续，罗斯。他说了什么？”
“Shut up,” helene said. “Go on, Ross. what did he say?”
“他说那就是他要找的人。”
“he says that was the man he was looking for.”
“看，”马龙得意洋洋地说，“我就说吧。”
“See,” malone said triumphantly. “I told you so.”
这一次海伦没理他。罗斯·麦克劳林也没理他，现在他全神贯注地讲着自己的故事。
this time helene ignored him. So did Ross mcLaurin, now absorbed in the telling of his story.
“我说，‘我帮你找他。’他说，‘太好了。’于是我喝了一杯，然后我们一起走了出去。有一首非常好听的歌就叫这个名字。”他决定唱这首歌。“我们将一起漫步……”
“I said, ‘I’ll help you look for him.’ he said, ‘Fine,’ so I had a drink and out we went. together. there’s a very good song with that for a title.” he decided to sing it. “we’ll stroll along—together—”
杰克说：“听着，罗斯。别唱了。你还记得除夕夜你发生了什么事吗？”
Jake said, “Listen, Ross. Skip that. do you remember what happened to you on New Year’s Eve?”
“除夕夜？我永远不会忘记。我当时在黑豹厅和……”
“New Year’s Eve? I’ll never forget it. I was at the panther Room with—”
“现在不是了。”海伦说，“你现在和一个当晚晚些时候被杀的男人在一起，在找一个叫马龙的律师。”
“Not now you aren’t,” helene said. “You’re out with a man who was killed later that night, looking for a lawyer named malone.”
“是啊。”罗斯·麦克劳林说，“我们去了某个酒吧。在那里喝了几杯，他向酒保打听一个人。我想他叫马龙。”
“So I was,” Ross mcLaurin said. “we went to some bar. had a couple of drinks there while he asked the bartender for some man. malone, I think his name was.”
“那就是我。”马龙说。没人听到他说话。
“that’s me,” malone said. No one heard him.
“我又停下来喝了一杯，这个家伙——我不知道他是谁——没等我就走了。这让我很生气。他走了把我丢下，而我只是想帮他找一个人——想不起来他叫什么了。”
“I stopped for one more drink and this chap—don’t know who he was—went on without me. that made me mad. he’d gone off and left me, and I was only trying to help him find some chap—can’t think of his name.”
“马龙。”律师说。
“malone,” the lawyer said.
“对，马龙。不寻常的名字。不管怎么说，我很生气。所以我就出去找他。看到他走进街那头的一个酒吧。在那里追上了他，我对他说，‘听着，我认识一个叫马龙的律师。很乐意帮你找到他。’他根本不理我。表现得好像他觉得我喝多了，不知道自己在干什么。就那么走了，把我丢在那里。我很生气。所以我喝完酒就去追他。我只是想帮忙，可这家伙对我一点都不礼貌。”
“that’s it, malone. Unusual name. Anyway, I was mad. So I went out after him. Saw him going in barroom up the street. caught up with him there and I said to him, ‘Look here, I know a lawyer named malone. be glad to help you find him,’ he didn’t pay any attention to me. Acted as though he thought I’d been drinking and didn’t know what I was doing. Just walked off and left me there. I was mad. So I finished my drink and went after him. only wanted to help, and chap wasn’t even civil to me.”
“真想不到。”海伦同情地说。她把鸡骨头扔向废纸篓。“那你怎么办了？”
“Imagine that,” helene said sympathetically. She threw the chicken bone at the wastebasket. “So what did you do?”
“我一直跟着他。去了不同的地方。还在找这个马龙。我想那个时候他应该已经厌倦了。不记得他去了哪些地方。也不记得花了多长时间。”突然他停了下来，呼吸半窒。“还有别的事情。”有那么一瞬间，他看起来完全清醒了。“但我想不起来是什么。很可怕的事情。我想不起来了。一切都混在一起了。我记得跟着一个人去了很多不同的地方，因为他在找一个叫马龙的人，而我听说过一个叫马龙的人，进进出出那些地方，还有街上的雪，还有一些很可怕的事情，但我想不起来是什么，就这些。一切都混在一起了，我也不记得什么时候发生了什么。”他深深地吸了口气，浑身颤抖，把脸埋在双手里，说了些听起来像“妈妈！”的话。过了一会儿，他又抬起头来。“我想不起来了。”
“I kept after him. went different places. Still looking for this malone. think he’d have been tired of it by that time. can’t remember what places he went. can’t remember how long it took.” Suddenly he paused breath half indrawn. “there’s something else too.” For another brief moment, he seemed entirely sober. “but I can’t think what it was. Something ghastly. I can’t remember it. Everything gets mixed up. I remember following some man to a lot of different places because he was looking for someone named malone, and I’d heard of someone named malone, and going in and out of places and the snow out on the street and something that was terrible but I can’t think what it was, and that’s all. And it’s all mixed up and I can’t remember what happened when.” he drew a long, shuddering breath, buried his face in his hands, and said something that sounded like “mamma!” After a while he looked up again. “I can’t remember.”
“别想了。”杰克轻声说。
“don’t try,” Jake said quietly.
沉默了很久之后，海伦温柔地说：“你需要的，罗斯，是一杯酒。”
After a very long silence, helene said gently, “what you need, Ross, is a drink.”
他感激地看着她。“没错。也许我们最好出去找一杯。”
he looked at her gratefully. “that’s right. maybe we’d better go out and get one.”
海伦看了看梳妆台上的一排瓶子，说：“也许我们最好就呆在这儿。”她拿起那瓶老乌鸦威士忌递给他。“罗斯，杰拉尔德·图伊兹被杀那天发生了什么？”
helene glanced at the array of bottles on the bureau and said, “maybe we’d better stay right here.” She picked up the bottle of old crow and handed it to him. “Ross, what happened the day Gerald tuesday was murdered?”
他的眼睛亮了起来。“我记得。那不是很久以前的事。有个叫图伊兹的人。还有一些关于一个叫马龙的人的事情。”
A light came into his eyes. “I remember. that wasn’t very long ago. there was this man tuesday. And something about some man named malone.”
“那就是我。”小律师无力地说。
“that’s me,” the little lawyer said feebly.
年轻人转向海伦。“真有趣，有这么多人叫马龙。”
the young man turned to helene. “Funny how many men there are named malone.”
“这可不仅仅是有趣。”海伦严肃地说。“图伊兹先生在找一个叫马龙的人吗？”
“Funny is no word for it,” helene said grimly. “was mr. tuesday looking for a malone?”
“对。我一个人在房间里。喝了一点酒。孤零零的，甚至没人关心我在哪里。有人敲我的门。一个男人走了进来。说他叫杰拉尔德·图伊兹。在找电话簿。他说，‘很抱歉打扰你，老兄，我在找一本电话簿。’”罗斯·麦克劳林停顿了一下，渴望地说，“哪里能找到最好的酒？”
“that’s it. I was all alone in my room. been drinking a little. All alone, nobody even cared where I was. Somebody knocked on my door. man came in. Said his name was Gerald tuesday. Looking for telephone book. he said, ‘I’m sorry to trouble you, old man, but I’m looking for a telephone book.’” Ross mcLaurin paused and said wistfully, “where’s the best place to get a drink?”
“就在这儿。”杰克赶紧说，又把瓶子递给他。“你有电话簿吗？”
“Right here,” Jake said hastily, handing him the bottle again. “did you have a telephone book?”
他点点头。“我当然有电话簿。怎么，你想要一本吗？不？嗯，这个人想要。我拿起电话簿说，‘你要找什么名字？很乐意帮你查一下。’他的表现就好像他觉得我喝醉了。这让我很生气。我说，‘你不认为我能在电话簿里找到一个名字吗？’他说他在找一个叫马龙的人。我说，‘真有趣，我认识一个叫马龙的人……’”
he nodded. “Sure I had a telephone book. why, you want one? No? well, this man did. I picked it up and said, ‘what name d’ya want? be glad to look it up for you’ he acted as though he thought I was drunk. that made me mad. I said, ‘don’t you think I can find a name in the telephone book?’ he said he was looking for a man named malone. I said, ‘that’s funny, I know of a man named malone—’”
海伦坚定地用一只手捂住马龙的嘴，说：“你帮他找到那个名字了吗？”
helene put a hand firmly over malone’s mouth and said, “did you find the name for him?”
罗斯·麦克劳林用力地摇摇头。“他自己查了。说了声谢谢就走了。然后我坐下来喝了一杯，我开始思考。这个男人在找一个叫马龙的人。现在，很巧的是，在除夕夜我遇到了另一个也在找某个叫马龙的人。我跟你们说过这件事吗？”
Ross mcLaurin shook his head vigorously. “he looked it up himself. Said thanks and went away. then I sat down and had a drink and I got to thinking. here this man was looking for a malone. Now by a funny kind of coincidence on New Year’s Eve I’d met another man looking for some malone. did I tell you about that?”
杰克和海伦异口同声地点点头。“你说过。”海伦严肃地说。
Jake and helene nodded in unison. “You did,” helene said grimly.
“没错，我想我是说过。嗯，不管怎么说，我开始思考这件事，然后得出结论，我最好把这件事告诉这个杰拉尔德·图伊兹。我不喜欢他，但我觉得我最好告诉他。所以我喝了一杯酒让自己镇定下来，然后去了他的房间。”
“tha’s right, guess I did. well, anyway, I got to thinking about it, and I came to the conclusion I’d better tell this Gerald tuesday about the whole thing. didn’t like him, but thought I’d better tell him. So I took a drink to steady my nerves and went down to his room.”
大家都焦急地沉默着。“然后呢？”杰克最后问道。
there was an anxious silence. “well?” Jake said at last.
“我没停下来敲门。直接打开门就进去了。”又是一阵让人痛苦的长时间停顿。
“I didn’t stop to knock. Just opened the door and went in.” there was another pause, agonizingly long.
“你打开门进去了。”海伦实在忍不住了，说道，“然后呢？”
“You opened the door and went in,” helene said, when she couldn’t stand it any more, “and then what?”
“我……”年轻人在床上坐直身子，盯着她。他的脸颊开始失去血色。“我没有忘记。我确实记得。我记得所有的事情，就像当时发生的一样。”
“I—” the young man sat straight up in bed, staring at her. the color began to recede from his cheeks. “I haven’t forgotten. I do remember. I remember everything, exactly as it was.”
突然他又躺回到枕头上，眼睛闭上了。
Suddenly he lay back on the pillow, his eyes closed.
“是的，我确实记得。我走进那里……”他的声音渐渐消失在沉默中。
“Yes, I do remember. I went in there—” his voice trailed off into silence.
“罗斯。”杰克严厉地说，然后声音更大了，“罗斯！”
“Ross,” Jake said sharply, and then louder, “Ross!”
没有回应。
there was no answer.
“哦，上帝啊！”海伦哀号道，“他死在我们手里了！”
“oh Lord!” helene wailed, “he’s died on our hands!”
马龙吃力地从地上站起来，俯身看着床上一动不动的身影，仔细地检查着。
malone rose laboriously from the floor, bent over the bed, and carefully examined the motionless figure.
“不。”他疲倦地说，“他没死。但他对这个世界毫无知觉了。在接下来的几个小时里他可能都会这样。而我们仍然不知道他到底记得什么。”
“No,” he said wearily, “he’s not dead. but he’s dead to the world. he probably will be, for hours to e. And we still don’t know what the hell he remembers.”