The thoughtful look was deepening in the police officer’s eyes.

“然后，”马龙继续说，不敢停下来喘口气，“另一个图伊兹通过以前和莫娜·麦克莱恩的相识设法得到了来这里的邀请。文宁发现他搬到这里来一定大吃一惊，但他没有浪费任何时间。图伊兹在这里只待了几个小时就被谋杀了。”

“Then,” Malone went on, not daring to pause for breath, “the other Tuesday wangled an invitation to Mona McClane’s through a previous acquaintance with her. It must have been a nasty shock to Venning to find him moved in here, but he didn’t lose any time. Tuesday had only been here a few hours when he succeeded in getting himself murdered.”

不管冯·弗拉纳根一直在想什么，他都忘了。“但是听着，”他气愤地说，“那个人被谋杀的时候文宁在外面散步。你自己听到他进来的。”

Whatever von Flanagan had been thinking about, he forgot it. “But look here,” he said indignantly, “Venning was out walking when that guy was murdered. You heard him e in yourself.”

每个人都满怀希望地看着马龙。

Everyone looked hopefully at Malone.

“我听到的是他第二次进来。”马龙说，用手指转动着雪茄。他转向伊迪莎·文宁。“你们在外面的时候他离开过你几分钟，对吗？”

“I heard him e in the second time,” Malone said, rolling his cigar in his fingers. He turned to Editha Venning. “He left you for a few minutes while you were outside, didn’t he?”

她点点头。“就在我们进来之前。他想去药店买点东西，所以我在拐角处等他。”

She nodded. “Just before we came in. He wanted to run up to the drugstore for something, so I waited for him on the corner.”

本小章还未完，请点击下一页继续阅读后面精彩内容！

“他没去药店。”马龙告诉她，“他回到这里，用莫娜·麦克莱恩给所有客人的房子钥匙从侧门进来，上了楼，谋杀了第二个图伊兹，又从侧门出去，遇到了你，然后和你一起回到房子里。那时候你们被雨淋湿了。那场突然的雨下来的时候你在外面等他。你的外套毁了——我听到莫娜·麦克莱恩提到过。但他一点都没被淋湿。他走进房间的时候还没摘下帽子和外套——他帽子上的羽毛就是个明显的证据。它甚至都没湿。”

“He didn’t go to the drugstore,” Malone told her. “He came back here, entered by the side door with the house key Mona McClane gives all her guests, went up the stairs, murdered the second Tuesday, went out again by the side door, met you, and came back to the house again with you. That’s when you were caught in the rain. You were outside waiting for him when that sudden rainfall came down. Your coat was ruined—I heard Mona McClane speaking of it. But he didn’t get rained on at all. He walked into the room before taking off his hat and coat—and the feather in his hat was a dead giveaway. It wasn’t even moist.”

他转向冯·弗拉纳根。“那场雨是在图伊兹可能被杀害的唯一时间下起来的，”他说，“在海伦经过他的门看到他还活着，和我们都上楼发现他死了之间。我和气象局核对了时间。”

He turned to von Flanagan. “That rainfall came down during the only time Tuesday could have been killed,” he said. “between the time when Helene went past his door and saw him alive and when we all went upstairs and found him dead. I checked the time with the weather bureau.”

杰克突然说：“哦，这就是你那天晚上给气象局打电话的时候在做的事。我还以为你疯了。”

Jake said suddenly, “Oh, that’s what you were doing when you called up the weather bureau that night. I thought you’d lost your mind.”

马龙哼了一声。“你本可以对我多一点信心的。”他生硬地说。

Malone sniffed. “You might have had a little more confidence in me,” he said stiffly.

“但是他为什么要谋杀这个麦克劳林呢？”冯·弗拉纳根突然问道，“这和那件事有什么关系？”

“But why did he try to murder this McLaurin?” von Flanagan demanded suddenly. “Where does that fit in?”

“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.”

小主，

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.