“No!” he shouted.

她退了出去，嘟囔着：“我又不聋！”

She retreated, murmuring, “I’m not deaf!”

过了一段时间，第二封电报来了。

In due course of time the second telegram arrived.

约翰?J?马龙

79 西华盛顿街

芝加哥，伊利诺伊州

这是很严重的事，我们需要你。

海伦

JOHN J MALONE

79 WEST WASHINGTON ST

CHICAGO ILLINOIS

THIS IS SERIOUS WE NEED YOU

HELENE

有几分钟的时间，他坐在那里盯着电报，额头皱着。

For a few minutes he sat staring at the telegram, his forehead wrinkled.

杰克可能有麻烦了。海伦可能撞到了人。不，那不会是谋杀。虽然他确信她开着她那辆大功率汽车的方式是一种比谋杀还严重的罪行。杰克和海伦自己都不会真的去谋杀任何人。所以这不可能是非常严重的事。

Jake might be in trouble. Helene might have run over somebody. No, that wouldn’t be murder. Although he had a conviction that the way she drove her high-powered cars was a crime worse than murder. Neither Jake nor Helene would actually murder anybody, themselves. Therefore it couldn’t be terribly serious.

他找铅笔，在桌子底下找到它滚到的地方，然后写道：

He looked for the pencil, found it where it had rolled under the desk, and wrote:

海伦?贾斯特，威斯康星州杰克逊

我现在的客户的事情也很严重。他也需要我。而且他付钱给我。爱你，吻你。

马龙

HELENE JUSTUS JACKSON WISCONSIN

MY PRESENT CLIENT’S BUSINESS IS ALSO SERIOUS. HE NEEDS ME TOO. AND HE PAYS ME. LOVE AND KISSES.

MALONE

他现在的客户是他最喜欢的客户之一，一个连锁马厩的老板，不知怎么地触犯了法律。

His present client was one of his favorites, the owner of a chain of horse parlors who had somehow fallen afoul of the law.

“给哈里的妻子打电话，” 他把电报递给办公室女孩时说，“告诉她我明天就把他从监狱里弄出来。”

“And call Harry’s wife,” he told the office girl as he handed her the telegram, “tell her I’ll have him out of jail tomorrow.”

小主，

她哼了一声。“你昨天也是这么跟她说的。你甚至都没在处理这件事。”

She sniffed. “That’s what you told her yesterday. You aren’t even working on it.”

“我在处理。” 他反对道。他指着桌上的一张纸。

“I am too,” he objected. He pointed to a paper on his desk.

“那是什么？” 她问道。

“What’s that?” she demanded.

“这是一份欠哈里钱的人的名单。我宁愿对他的指控被撤销，这样可以节省时间和麻烦。”

“It’s a list of the people who owe Harry money. I’d rather have the case against him dropped, it would save time and trouble.”

接下来的一个小时，他都在仔细研究那份名单。最后，他打了几个电话，通话对象从一个着名的劳工敲诈者到一位市法官都有。最后，他叫办公室的女孩。

He spent the next hour poring over the list. At last he made several telephone calls, to persons ranging from a prominent labor racketeer to a municipal judge. Finally he called to the office girl.

“给哈里的妻子打电话，告诉她一切都干好了，压力已经施加了。哈里午饭前就能回家。别忘了明早给他寄账单。”

“Call Harry’s wife and tell her everything’s O. K., the pressure’s on. Harry’ll be home in time for lunch. Don’t forget to send him a bill in the morning.”

他从台灯顶上拿起他那顶昂贵但有点破旧的巴拿马帽，戴上，又说：“我要出去一会儿。如果再有电报来，就用它们当卷烟纸吧。”

He picked his expensive, slightly battered Panama hat from the top of his desk lamp, put it on, and added, “I’m going out for a while. If any more telegrams e, use ‘em for cigarette paper.”

他漫步走到乔天使的市政厅酒吧，要了一份黑麦面包夹咸牛肉和两杯啤酒。在等的时候，他从一个路过的报童那里买了一份报纸。

He strolled down the street to Joe the Angel’s City Hall Bar, and called for a corned-beef on rye and two beers. While he waited, he bought a paper from a passing newsboy.

参议员佩维利被谋杀

在威斯康星州杰克逊县法院大楼内被枪杀

两名芝加哥人被作为重要证人扣押