马龙探案卷五 之 盛怒的审判二
“但是他不可能被谋杀，” 公路专员办公室的一个丰满女孩一遍又一遍地重复着。“他是佩维利参议员。”
BUT he can’t be murdered,” one of the plump girls from the highway missioner’s office kept repeating over and over. “He’s Senator Peveley.”
杰克看着她。“很抱歉，但这是一种我从未听说过的参议员豁免权。”
Jake looked at her. “I’m sorry, but that’s one kind of Senatorial immunity I never heard of.”
他感到愤愤不平，并非完全没有缘由。“这就是我们来到乡村想要摆脱的那种事情，” 他对海伦说。
He felt aggrieved, not altogether without cause. “This is the sort of thing we came to the country to get away from,” he said to Helene.
她同情地点点头。“这与我们无关，” 她说。“让我们离开这里，继续我们的钓鱼之旅，不管有没有谋杀案。”
She nodded sympathetically. “It’s none of our business,” she said. “Let’s get out of here and go on with our fishing trip, murder or no murder.”
“恐怕不行，” 杰克说。“即使在乡村，在警察到来之前从尸体旁走开也被认为是不得体的行为。”
“I’m afraid not,” Jake said. “Even in the country it isn’t considered good form to walk away from a corpse before the police arrive.”
现在每个人都在看着已故的佩维利参议员，但是杰克提醒自己，很快那些目光就会带着好奇和敌意投向他们。海伦不会知道这一点。她没有在格罗夫度过她生命的最初几年。
Everybody was now looking at the late Senator Peveley but, Jake reminded himself, soon those glances would be directed at them, with a mixture of curiosity and hostility. Helene wouldn’t know that. She hadn’t spent the first years of her life in Grove Falls.
令人惊讶的是法院走廊突然挤满了人。就在片刻之前，它还空荡荡、黑漆漆且像洞穴一样。现在它挤满了震惊和好奇的人。他抬头认出了灰发的麦高恩小姐、矮壮的斯金丁斯鲁德先生、高大英俊的菲尔?史密斯。还有其他人，他不认识的人。
It was amazing how the courthouse corridor had suddenly filled with people. Only a moment before it had been empty, dark, and cavernous. Now it was crowded with shocked and curious people. He looked up and recognized the gray-haired Miss MacGowan, the stocky little Mr. Skindingsrude, the tall, handsome Phil Smith. There were others, strangers to him.
阿尔文?高奇，他的光头闪闪发亮，挤到人群中间。“佩维利参议员被枪击了！这太可怕了！得有人做点什么。”
Alvin Goudge, his bald head shining, pushed his way into the center of the group. “Senator Peveley shot! This is terrible! Somebody’s got to do something.”
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“佩维利参议员不可能死，” 一个戴眼镜的瘦子疯狂地说。“为什么，我五分钟前还在和他说话。”
“Senator Pevely can’t be dead,” a thin, spectacled man said wildly. “Why, I was only talking to him five minutes ago.”
“你为什么认为那是一种保证？” 杰克恼怒地说。“你觉得他只是在装死？”
“What makes you think that’s a guarantee?” Jake said irritably. “You figure he’s just doing imitations?”
他专注地环顾人群。从听到第一声尖叫他就一直在这儿，他知道没有人从那两扇双开门出去。在那条走廊里的某个人谋杀了佩维利参议员。
He looked around the group intently. He had been there since the first sound of the scream, and he knew that nobody has gone out through those double doors. Someone, there in that corridor, had murdered Senator Peveley.
一个杰克在楼上法庭注意到的穿棕色西装的年轻人挤过人群，站在那里盯着尸体。他是一个英俊的年轻人，带着一种淡淡的忧虑，棕色头发和棕色眼睛。他脸上有一侧有铅笔污渍。
A young, brown-suited man Jake had noticed upstairs in the courtroom had pushed his way through the crowd and was standing staring at the body. He was a handsome young man, in a thin, worried way, brown-haired and brown-eyed. There was a lead pencil smudge on one side of his face.
“杰瑞?勒克斯通，新的地方检察官，” 纽扣先生对杰克小声说。
“Jerry Luckstone, the new district attorney,” Buttonholes whispered to Jake.
地方检察官的脸变得惨白。
The district attorney’s face had turned a sickly white.
“但是是佩维利参议员，” 他茫然地说。
“But it’s Senator Peveley,” he said in a dazed voice.
“第一次就答对了，” 杰克说。“现在试试回答价值四美元的问题。”
“Right the first time,” Jake said. “Now try for the four-dollar question.”
杰瑞?勒克斯通没有听到。他傻傻地盯着死者白色亚麻西装的背面。
Jerry Luckstone hadn’t heard. He was goggling foolishly at the back of the dead man’s white linen suit.”
“他不可能被谋杀，” 他最后宣称。“我和他的女儿订婚了。”
“He can’t have been murdered,” he declared at last. “I’m engaged to marry his daughter.”
杰克叹了口气。“你只能找别人来把新娘交给新郎了。” 他深吸一口气。“那么，你打算怎么做？一个人被谋杀了。你不能就站在这儿永远看着他。”
Jake sighed. “You’ll just have to get someone else to give the bride away.” He drew a long breath. “Well, what are you going to do about it? A man’s been murdered. You can't just stand here looking at him forever.”
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杰瑞?勒克斯通瞪大眼睛盯着他。“你究竟是谁？在这里做什么？” 他喘着气说。“你和佩维利参议员有什么仇怨？”
Jerry Luckstone stared at him, wild-eyed. “Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?” He gasped. “What did you have against Senator Peveley?”
“我这辈子从没见过佩维利参议员。” 杰克愤慨地说。“我们只是碰巧在这个该死的法院拿钓鱼许可证，这时有人杀了你们的参议员，这就是我所知道的全部。”
“I never saw Senator Peveley before in my life,” Jake said indignantly. “We just happened to be in this damned courthouse getting a fishing license when somebody bumped off your Senator, and that’s all I know about it.”
“但这里没人可能谋杀他。” 年轻的地方检察官说。他环顾四周的面孔，眼神惊愕。“为什么，我们都互相认识。”
“But nobody here could have murdered him,” the young district attorney said. He looked around at the circle of faces, his eyes startled. “Why, we all know each other.”
杰克看到海伦张嘴要说话，便紧紧抓住她的胳膊。这正是他一直在想的。这些人都互相认识。他和海伦是陌生人，是外来者。他知道走廊里的每个人都用冷漠、不友好的眼神盯着他们，他们俩被与其他人分开，独自站着，被怀疑地看着。甚至巴顿也怀疑地看着他们。
Jake saw Helene opening her mouth to speak, and tightened his hand on her arm. That was exactly what he’d been thinking. These people all knew each other. They, he and Helene, were the strangers, the outlanders. He knew that everyone in the corridor was staring at them, with cold, unfriendly eyes, that the two of them had been set apart from the others, standing alone and regarded with suspicion. Even Butttonholes was looking at them dubiously.