马龙探案卷四 之 正确的凶案 三十
“他会挺过来的，但可能会昏迷好几个小时。”马龙说，恶狠狠地咬着他的雪茄。“在他们决定也给我们准备床铺之前，我们最好离开这个地方。”
“He’ll pull through, but he may be unconscious for hours,” Malone said, chewing savagely on his cigar. “We might as well get out of this place before they decide to roll out beds for us, too.”
现在是早上八点。在医院候诊室里睡了两个小时让马龙稍微恢复了一点，但他有一种模糊而不安的感觉，觉得自己开始慢慢陷入麻痹状态。
It was eight in the morning. The two-hour nap in the hospital waiting room had helped Malone a little, but he had a vague and unfortable notion that creeping paralysis was beginning to get under way.
正如律师所猜测的那样，罗斯·麦克劳林的伤并不严重，但他因受冻而痛苦不堪。现在需要休息和安静。马龙希望有人也能给他开点休息和安静的药方。
Ross McLaurin’s injury, as the lawyer had guessed, was not serious, but he was suffering badly from exposure. Rest and quiet were indicated right now. Malone wished someone would prescribe rest and quiet for him.
三个人走到克拉克街，向南朝着市中心走去。天空又阴沉下来，呈现出一片寒冷、阴沉的灰色。有轨电车哐当哐当地驶过，挤满了第一批去上八点半班的工人。克拉克街本身沉闷而又几乎空无一人。那些打着“21 美分两杯”广告的酒馆和廉价舞厅正在被打扫。甚至当铺都关着门。几个流浪汉在那些简陋的小餐馆里吃着“五美分咖啡和两个甜甜圈”。在他们前面，市中心的高楼大厦和尖顶直插云霄，气势恢宏而又令人生畏。
The three walked over to Clark Street and headed south toward the Loop. The sky had clouded over again and was a cold, dismal gray. Streetcars rattled by, crowded with the first influx of workers headed for eight-thirty jobs. Clark Street itself was dreary and half deserted. Taverns advertising “Two Shots for 21c” and cheap dance halls were being swept out. Even the pawnshops were closed. A few bums were having “Coffee and Two Doughnuts, 5c,” in the hole-in-the-wall lunchrooms. Ahead of them, the towers and spires of the Loop reached up, massive and forbidding against the sky.
“正如我所想的那样。”马龙说，“这家伙四处游荡，然后开始和错误的人说话。不管他开始和谁说话，显然那个人把他引诱到了一个偏僻的地方，试图从他那里套取信息，最后把他带到了枫树公园，然后刺伤了他。凶手显然认为如果他还没死，寒冷的天气也会要了他的命。”他把衣领竖了起来。“我们这是要去哪儿，为什么不坐出租车呢？”
“It’s just as I thought,” Malone said. “This guy got to wandering around and he started talking to the wrong person. Whoever he started talking to evidently lured him off to some secluded spot, tried to pump him for information, finally got him out to Maple Park, and stabbed him. The murderer evidently figured if he wasn’t done for already, the cold weather would finish the job.” He turned up his coat collar. “Where the hell are we going, and why don’t we take a taxi?”
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“空气感觉很好。”杰克生气地说。
“The air feels good,” Jake said crossly.
海伦说：“你觉得邮件已经送到你的办公室了吗？”
“Helene said, “Do you suppose the mail has arrived at your office?”
“没这么早。”马龙说，“不管怎样，我觉得第一封邮件里不会有对那个广告的回复。”他走了半条街，然后说：“我应该回家换身衣服。我的西装看起来就像我穿着它睡过觉一样。”
“Not this early,” Malone said. “Anyway I don’t think there will be any answers to that want ad in the first mail.” He walked half a block and said, “I ought to go home and change my clothes. My suit looks as if I’d been sleeping in it.”
“你确实睡过。”海伦说，“还是你不记得了？冯·弗拉纳根听到这起未遂谋杀案会说什么？”
“You have been,” Helene said, “or don’t you remember? What’s von Flanagan going to say when he hears about this attempted murder?”
“他会说每个人都合起伙来让他的生活变得艰难，他要退休去办一份周报。但他不会对我说这些，因为在这一团糟的事情解决之前，我要躲着他，就好像他刚染上黑死病一样。”
“He’s going to say that everyone conspires to make life hard for him, and that he’s going to retire and run a weekly newspaper. Only he isn’t going to say it to me, because until this mess is straightened out, I’m going to avoid him as though he were just ing down with bubonic plague.”
他们沉默地走了几个街区。在周围，芝加哥开始迎来新的一天。杰克想，现在从加里到埃文斯顿，从橡树园到湖边，闹钟都在响着。有些人刚刚重新入睡。另一些人，他希望自己是其中之一，刚刚上床睡觉。不过，在某个地方，有一个男人或女人既没有醒来也没有睡着，因为莫娜·麦克莱恩杀了他。不是那两个图伊兹中的任何一个，也不是罗斯·麦克劳林。杰克开始怀疑，再要一具尸体是不是在考验上帝的安排。
They were silent for a few blocks. All around, Chicago was beginning to wake up for the day. Alarm clocks were ringing right now, Jake reflected, from Gary to Evanston, from Oak Park to the lake. Some people were just settling down for a second sleep. Others, and he wished he were one of them, were just getting into bed. Somewhere, though, was a man or a woman who wasn’t waking and wasn’t sleeping, because Mona McClane had murdered him. It wasn’t either of the Tuesdays and it wasn’t Ross McLaurin. Jake began to wonder if it wasn’t tempting providence to ask for another corpse.
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在有人说话之前，他们已经走到了横跨芝加哥河的桥上。走到桥中间，看着漂浮在黏糊糊的绿色水面上的巨大脏冰块，马龙说：“我很高兴她在监狱里。”
They had reached the bridge across the Chicago River before anyone spoke. Halfway across, looking down on the great cakes of dirty ice that floated on the slimy green water, Malone said, “I’m glad she’s in jail.”
“我也很高兴。”杰克说，“谁？”
“I’m glad, too,” Jake said. “Who?”
“洛特斯。显然凶手不想冒任何有意外目击者的风险。第二起谋杀发生的时候，洛特斯和莫娜·麦克莱恩在同一层楼。”
“Lotus. Evidently the killer isn’t taking any chances with accidental witnesses. Lotus was on the same floor of Mona McClane’s house when the second murder was mitted.”
“我也在。”海伦想起来，“说到这个，卢埃拉·怀特——对不起，是路易·怀特——还有彭德利·泰德韦尔也在。”
“So was I,” Helene reflected. “For that matter, so was Louella White—pardon me, Lou White—and Pendley Tidewell.”
“麦克劳林是个幸运的家伙。”杰克说，“他会挺过来的，而且可能在他住院的时候他们会让他清醒过来。他有很多钱，还有一个好女孩在等他，只要你能把她从监狱里弄出来。”
“McLaurin is a lucky guy,” Jake said. “He’s going to pull through, and probably they’ll sober him up while he’s in the hospital. He has all kinds of money, and he has a swell girl waiting for him as soon as you can get her out of jail.”
“你有我。”海伦指出。
“You have me,” Helene pointed out.
杰克哼了一声。“只是我和你在一起的时间不是在高架火车上就是在出租车里。”
“Jake snorted. “Except that the only time I spend with you is on elevated trains or in taxicabs.”
“没关系。等我们赢了那个赌注再说。”
“Never mind. Wait till we win that bet.”