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马龙探案卷四 之 正确的凶案 八
马龙发现海伦在他的办公室里踱步。
malone found helene pacing the floor in his office.
“你迟到了十分钟。” 她坐在桌子上。
“You’re ten minutes late.” She sat down on the desk.
“你应该庆幸我能来就不错了。” 他告诉她。“冯?弗拉纳根想把我当作重要证人扣留。”
“You ought to be glad I got here at all,” he told her. “Von Flanagan wanted to hold me as a material witness.”
他把帽子和大衣扔在一把椅子上，坐在办公桌前看着她。她有一种奇特的军人气质，她那件紧身的藏青色外套上，两排巨大的闪亮纽扣整齐地排列着；她的帽子仿照澳大利亚士兵戴的那种，深蓝色的毡帽顶上有一条鲜红的绳子。她那精致的脸蛋总是很苍白，现在几乎没有血色；她的眼睛周围有淡淡的阴影。
he tossed his hat and overcoat on a chair, sat down at his desk, and looked at her. She had a curiously military air, enormous shiny buttons marched in two rows down her close-fitting, navy-blue coat; her hat, patterned after those worn by Australian soldiers, had a bright red cord around its dark-blue felt crown. her delicate featured face, always pale, seemed almost colorless; there were faint shadows around her eyes.
“我想你没有收到杰克的消息，是吗？”
“I don’t suppose you’ve heard from Jake, have you?”
马龙看起来很惊讶，用一个问题回答了她。“为什么？你期望我收到了吗？”
malone looked surprised and answered that with a question. “why? did you expect me to?”
“没有。” 她耸了耸肩。“我不知道。我只是觉得也许你有。”
“No.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. I just thought maybe you had.”
“别担心杰克。” 马龙告诉她。“他可能正玩得很开心呢。”
“don’t worry about Jake,” malone told her. “he’s probably having a wonderful time.”
有那么一瞬间，她的眼睛里闪着怒火。
For just an instant her eyes blazed.
马龙决定不利用这个优势。“你找到莫娜的谋杀案了吗？”
malone decided not to press his advantage. “have you found mona’s murder yet?”
她摇了摇头。“我必须先找到她的动机，才能找到谋杀案。警察可能还不知道任何关于谋杀的事情呢。” 看到马龙扬起询问的眉毛，她接着说，“据我们所知，也许尸体还没有被发现。她可能把它藏在了某个地方。或者也许她把它伪装成了自然死亡。” 海伦叹了口气。
She shook her head. “I’ve got to find her motive before I can find the murder. the police may not know anything about the murder yet.” As malone raised an inquiring eyebrow, she went on, “For all we know, maybe the body hasn’t been discovered. She might have hidden it somewhere. or maybe it was made to look like a death from natural causes.” helene sighed.
“你忘了那个赌注的条款了。” 马龙说。“她自己规定的条款。记得吗？‘一个我有谋杀动机的人 —— 在公共街道上被枪杀 —— 有很多目击者。’”
“You’re forgetting the terms of the bet,” malone said. “the terms that she laid down herself. Remember? ‘Someone I have a motive for murdering—shot down in the public streets—with plenty of witnesses.’”
她沉默了一会儿。“没错。我忘了。不过 —— 也许我把一切都弄反了，但该死，整个事情都是颠倒的。我们知道莫娜?麦克莱恩杀了人，但我们不知道是谁、什么时候、为什么。通常情况下，人们被谋杀时情况正好相反。”
She was silent for a moment. “that’s right. I had forgotten. Still—I may be going at everything backward, but dammit, the whole thing’s backward. we know mona mcclane murdered somebody, but we don’t know who, or when, or why. Usually it’s just the other way when people get murdered.”
“为反常的人准备的反常谋杀。”
“backward murders for backward people.”
她没理他。“这就是为什么，我不从谋杀案开始查起，而是从莫娜开始。我不会去找出她可能谋杀的人。我要像一个八卦作家一样回顾她的人生经历，找出她可能有谋杀动机的人，看看他们中有没有最近去世的。”
She paid no attention to him. “that’s why, instead of beginning with the murder, I’m beginning with mona. I’m not going to find people she might have murdered. I’m going over her life history like a gossip writer and find people she might have had a motive for murdering, and see if any of them are recently dead.”
“在我看来，你好像给自己规划了一项终身事业。” 马龙嘟囔着。
“It looks to me as if you’d mapped out a life work for yourself,” malone grunted.
两人都沉默了，想着同一件事。莫娜?麦克莱恩拥有世界上最庞大的财富之一，在所有已知的大陆上都有着稳固的社会地位。她的婚姻、离婚、恋情和丑闻都曾登上过周日增刊的历史。她曾穿着晚礼服，戴着着名的麦克莱恩祖母绿宝石独自飞越大西洋，因为她预计（并且确实）正好及时在巴黎参加一个派对而降落。她攀登珠穆朗玛峰的高度比其他任何女性都高，并且她还亲自为布鲁克菲尔德动物园捕获了两只老虎。她在三个晚上的轮盘赌中从芝加哥着名的餐饮、舞蹈和赌博场所 —— 赌场的老板，城市赌博集团的头目马克斯?胡克那里赢得了赌场。她有一个已婚的女儿，过着体面而富裕的郊区隐居生活，令人难以置信的是，她还是一位祖母。现在她声称在一场赌注中犯了一起谋杀案，而赌场就是赌注。
both were silent, thinking the same thing. mona mcclane had one of the world’s greatest fortunes and an assured social position on all the known continents. her marriages, divorces, romances, and scandals had made Sunday-supplement history. She had flown the Atlantic solo in an evening dress and wearing the famous mcclane emeralds because she expected to land (and did) just in time for a party in paris. She had climbed farther up mt. Everest than any other woman, and she had personally captured two tigers for the brookfield zoo. She had won the casino, chicago’s famous dining, dancing, and gambling spot, from the head of the city’s gambling syndicate, max hook, in three evenings at roulette. She had a married daughter living in respectable and wealthy suburban obscurity, and she was, incredibly, a grandmother. Now she claimed to have mitted a murder, on a bet, and the casino was the stakes.
马龙在桌子下踩灭了他的雪茄。“你会是个非常忙碌的女孩。你有什么成果了吗？”
malone stamped out his cigar under the desk. “You’re going to be a very busy girl. have you acplished anything yet?”
她摇了摇头。“给我点时间。对了，你有钱吗？”
She shook her head. “Give me time. Say, have you got any money?”
“当然。” 他伸手去拿钱包。“你需要多少？”
“Sure.” he reached for his wallet. “how much do you need?”
“我不需要钱。我以为你可能需要。毕竟，你昨天还身无分文呢。我昨晚打了桥牌。”
“I don’t need any. I thought you might. After all, you were broke yesterday. I played bridge last night.”
“我打扑克。” 马龙说着，把钱包放了回去。
