马龙探案卷五 之 盛怒的审判五
约翰?J?马龙
79 西华盛顿街
芝加哥，伊利诺伊州
杰克在威斯康星州杰克逊卷入谋杀案，你能来吗？
海伦
JOHN J MALONE
79 WEST WASHINGTON STREET
CHICAGO ILLINOIS
JAKE INVOLVED IN MURDER IN JACKSON WISCONSIN CAN YOU COME
HELENE
约翰?约瑟夫?马龙，芝加哥最聒噪也最有名的刑事律师，不悦地盯着桌上的电报。这可能是个恶作剧，也可能是真事。不管是哪种情况，他都不想参与。
JOHN JOSEPH MALONE, Chicago’s noisiest and most noted criminal lawyer, stared sourly at the telegram on his desk. It might be a gag, or it might be serious. Whichever it was, he wanted no part of it.
他是个矮胖、红脸的男人，一头浓密的黑色乱发总是需要梳理。他那天早上刚穿上的芬奇利套装，已经看起来像是他在高架桥下睡了六周一样。他那条鲜艳的花格子三美元领带上有个小污点，潮湿的衬衫前襟上有一堆雪茄烟灰。
He was a short, pudgy, red-faced man, with a thick shock of damp black hair perpetually in need of bing. His Finchley suit, freshly donned that morning, already looked as though he had been sleeping under the El for six weeks. There was a small spot on his bright plaid three-dollar cravat, and a cascade of cigar ashes on his damp shirt front.
从他的外表看不出他在职业上的成功，但他的声誉和客户群都令人羡慕 —— 或者说不令人羡慕，这取决于从哪个角度看。他最关心的是确保他的客户都不会进监狱，而每当这无法在不出庭的情况下实现时，他在陪审团面前的表现与其说是技术性的，不如说是戏剧性的。
There was nothing about his appearance to indicate his success in his profession, but both his reputation and his clientele were enviable-or unenviable, depending on how one looked at it. His greatest concern was in seeing that none of his clients landed behind the bars, and whenever this couldn’t be achieved without actually appearing in court, his manner before a jury was not so much technical as pyrotechnical.
他对着电报做了个厌恶的表情。“杰克和海伦上次卷入谋杀案差点毁了我。” 他嘟囔道。
He made a disgusted face at the telegram. “The last time Jake and Helene got mixed up in a murder damned near ruined me,” he muttered.
他在桌上一堆上周的报纸下面找到铅笔和纸，开始写一封回电：
He found pencil and paper under a litter of last week’s newspapers on his desk, and began posing a telegram to send in return:
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海伦?贾斯特
威斯康星州杰克逊
告诉他们他没做，别再烦我了
我很忙
马龙
HELENE JUSTUS
JACKSON WISCONSIN
TELL THEM HE DIDN'T DO IT AND STOP BOTHERING ME
I'M A BUSY MAN
MALONE
他把电报交给办公室的女孩，点燃一支新雪茄，危险地向后靠在椅子上，仔细考虑着事情。
He gave the telegram to his office girl, lit a fresh cigar, and leaned perilously far back in his chair, thinking things over.
在杰克做新闻代理人的时候，有一次，杰克的乐队指挥客户的秘密新娘被指控谋杀了她亲爱的老姑奶奶。马龙解决了那件事。那个案子让杰克和北岸的女继承人海伦走到了一起。然后，杰克做新闻代理人的那个广播明星卷入了不是一起谋杀案，而是三起，马龙不仅把她从法律的困境中解救出来，还让她在这件事中名声无损地度过了难关。
There had been the time, back in Jake’s press-agent days, when the secret bride of Jake’s bandleader client had been accused of murdering her dear old great-aunt. Malone had untangled that one. That case had brought Jake and the North Shore heiress Helene together. Then the radio star Jake was press-agenting had bee involved in not one murder, but three, and Malone had not only saved her from the law but brought her through the affair with her reputation unblemished.
杰克和海伦现在结婚了。在他的婚礼那天，杰克轻率地和世界上最富有的女人之一莫娜?麦克莱恩打赌，说她不能犯下一起谋杀案还能逃脱惩罚。那个不经意的小赌注让马龙疲于奔命地去解决一起结果是错误的谋杀案，最后几乎把头发都愁白了才解决了那起被证明是正确的谋杀案。
Jake and Helene were married now. On his wedding day Jake had rashly bet Mona McClane, one of the world’s wealthiest women, that she couldn’t mit a murder and get away with it. That casual little bet had caused Malone to run himself ragged solving a murder which turned out to be the wrong one, and finally all but turned his hair white solving what proved the right murder.
现在，他告诉自己，他绝对、绝对、绝对不会再卷入杰克和海伦的任何事情中了。
Now, he told himself, he was damned and double and triple damned if he was going to get mixed up in any more of Jake and Helene’s affairs.
“威斯康星州的杰克逊。” 他哼了一声。“谁他妈听说过威斯康星州的杰克逊！”
“Jackson, Wisconsin,” he snorted. “Who the hell ever heard of Jackson, Wisconsin!”
事实上，在这四件事情中他都收到了高得离谱的费用，但这丝毫没有缓和他对这些事情的反感。钱已经花掉了。
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The fact that he had received scandalously fat fees in all four of the affairs didn’t temper his feeling about them in the least. The money was already spent.
“我不去！” 他咆哮道。
“I won’t go!” he roared.
那个漂亮的黑发办公室女孩出现在门口。
The pretty, dark-haired office girl appeared at the door.
“你叫我吗，马龙先生？”
“Did you call me, Mr. Malone?”
“没有！” 他喊道。