马龙探案卷四 之 正确的凶案 十六
“谢天谢地！” 杰克深情地说道，把嘴里的雪吐了出来。“你熟悉这一带。” 他不浪漫地补充道，“有没有不原路返回就能离开这里的办法？” 他开始小心翼翼地往地面上爬。
“thank God!” Jake said soulfully, blowing the snow out of his mouth. “You know the neighborhood,” he added unromantically. “Is there any way to get out of this place without going back the way I came?” he began climbing cautiously up to ground level.
“有。一直往前走穿过树林。墙的另一边是森林大道。但是为什么……”
“Yes. Straight ahead through the woods. Forest Avenue is on the other side of the wall. but why—”
“那就快点。你还在等什么？”
“e on, then. what the hell are you waiting for?”
他把她从坑里拉出来，抓住她的胳膊，开始穿过树林。
he hauled her out of the excavation, grabbed her arm, and started through the woods.
“但是杰克……”
“but Jake—”
“现在不是玩问答游戏的时候。” 他严肃地对她说。
“this is no time to be professor quiz,” he told her grimly.
空坟墓后面的小路已经很久没人走了。现在，被雪覆盖着，它只不过是树林间的一块空地。杰克尽可能地沿着小路走，帮着海伦跨过树根和树枝，咒骂着那些想绊倒他的不友好的石头。走到离墙还有一半路程的时候，他停下来听了听。
the path beyond the empty grave had not been used for a long time. Now, covered with snow, it was little more than a space between the trees. Jake followed it as best he could, helping helene over roots and branches, swearing at unfriendly stones that tried to trip him. halfway to the wall he paused, listening.
“杰克 —— 为什么 ——”
“Jake—why—”
“闭嘴！” 他压低声音严厉地说，“你听到什么声音了吗？”
“Shut up!” he said in a fierce whisper. “do you hear anything?”
从远处的某个地方，他们能听到有人在灌木丛中穿行的微弱声音。
From somewhere in the distance they could hear the faint sounds of someone pushing through bushes.
“我们离开这儿！”
“we’re getting out of here!”
他半拖着她走完剩下的路来到墙边。在那里，借助几块石头和一棵方便的树，他爬到了墙顶，把她拉到自己身边，跳到墙的另一边，然后扶她走到人行道上。有那么一会儿，他靠在墙上站着，喘着粗气。在那些闹鬼的树林之后，看到铺好的街道、路灯杆、人行道和远处的房子，让人感到无比安心。
he half dragged her the remaining distance to the wall. there, with the help of a few rocks and a convenient tree, he scrambled to the top, pulled her up beside him, jumped down on the other side, and helped her to the sidewalk. For a moment he stood leaning against the wall, catching his breath. there was something wonderfully reassuring about the sight of paved streets and lampposts, sidewalks and distant houses, after those haunted woods.
大片大片柔软的雪花开始纷纷扬扬地飘落下来。看起来雪可能会下很长时间。
heavy snow was beginning to fall, in great, soft, feathery flakes. It looked as though it might go on falling for a long time.
“该死。” 杰克痛苦地说，“这场雪会把一切都盖住。它会掩盖住脚印，很可能还会把坟墓填满。现在我们永远也找不到那些脚印通向哪里，也找不到那个人在哪里了。”
“damn it,” Jake said bitterly, “that snow is going to cover everything. It’s covering up the footprints and it’s probably going to fill in the grave. Now we’ll never be able to find out where those footprints led or where that guy was.”
“你感觉还好吧？” 海伦用安慰的语气问道。
“You’re feeling all right, aren’t you?” helene asked, in a soothing voice.
“不。我感觉糟透了。而且我也没有被错当成兔子。是我。有人在向我开枪。因为迈克尔?文宁的坟墓。”
“No. I feel terrible. And I wasn’t mistaken for a rabbit, either. It was me. he was shooting at me. because of michael Venning’s grave.”
“你喝酒了。” 海伦说。
“You’ve been drinking,” helene said.
“还没有。” 杰克疯狂地说，“但我肯定会尽快找个酒吧开始喝。那个混蛋向我开枪让我很生气。我不喜欢这样。”
“Not yet,” Jake said wildly, “but I’m sure as hell starting in as soon as I can find a bar.” he glared at her as though it were all her fault. “It made me sore when that bastard started shooting at me. I don’t like it.”
“谁在向你开枪？”
“who was shooting at you?”
“我不知道。” 杰克吼道，“现在又开始下雪了，我可能永远也不会知道了。但是不管那个……”
“I don’t know,” Jake roared, “and now that it’s started snowing again, I probably never will know. but whoever the—”
他突然停了下来，盯着她，第一次真正看到她。
he broke off suddenly and stared at her, seeing her for the first time.
“还有，你到底在这里干什么？”
“And what the hell are you doing here?”
“我跟踪了伊迪莎?文宁。她……”
“I followed Editha Venning. She—”
“我不是这个意思。你应该在哈瓦那。”
“that’s not what I mean. You’re supposed to be in havana.”
“你应该在百慕大。”
“You’re supposed to be in bermuda.”
“嗯，我不在。我回来是为了赢和莫娜?麦克莱恩打的那个赌。”
“well, I’m not. I came back here to win that bet with mona mcclane.”
“我也是。”
“So did I.”
杰克盯着她，说不出话来。她看起来脸色苍白，非常疲惫。一顶小巧贴身的深褐色毛皮帽子，与她宽松的、有大口袋的外套很相配，衬托着她小巧精致的脸。
Jake stared at her, speechless. She seemed pale and very tired. A small, close-fitting cap of some clipped dark-brown fur that matched her loose, big-pocketed coat, framed her small, delicate face.
“听着。” 他突然说，“现在不是说话的时候。下一趟北岸的火车什么时候开往文明世界？”
“Look here,” he said suddenly, “this is no time to talk. when does the next North Shore train start back to civilization?”
她从钱包里拿出一张时刻表看了看。“三点四十七分。”
She consulted a schedule taken from her purse. “three-forty-seven.”
他看了看表。“现在正好三点四十三分。我希望老天保佑火车站不远。”
he looked at his watch. “It’s three-forty-three right now. I hope to heaven it isn’t far.”
“几个街区远。沿着森林大道一直走然后……”
“A couple of blocks. Right down Forest Avenue and—”
他抓住她的手。“别站在那儿说个不停了。快走。”
he grabbed her hand. “don’t stand there talking about it. e on.”
他们在轻轻飘落的雪花中沿着森林大道飞奔，在最后一个街区向左拐去北岸车站，最后冲刺跑完了这段路。
they raced down Forest Avenue through the gently falling snow, wheeled left for the last block to the North Shore station, and covered it in a final sprint.
就在杰克领着她沿着通往铁轨交叉处的煤渣小路走下去，走到另一边的时候，他们听到了钟声当当响起，行人门开始关上。在远处，那两节车厢的郊区特快列车风驰电掣般地向车站驶来，竭力想让自己看起来尽可能像一辆高速流线型列车。
Just as Jake piloted her down the cindered path leading to the track crossing and over to the other side, they could hear bells clanging as the pedestrian gates began to swing shut. In the distance the rattling two-car suburban limited hurled itself at the station, trying to look as much as possible like a crack streamliner.
当杰克向站台边缘走去时，海伦抓住他的胳膊，把他拉回到一群等着上火车的郊区居民后面的遮蔽处。
As Jake started for the edge of the platform, helene caught at his arm and pulled him back behind the shelter of the little group of suburbanites waiting to take the train.
“杰克！看那儿！”
“Jake! Look there!”
他看到一个身材较高、体格壮实的女人，穿着一件深蓝色的水手短上衣，头上歪戴着一顶小花图案的毡制水手帽。她宽阔的脸庞上露出严厉、坚定的神情，她的小眼睛似乎在同时向四面八方张望。尽管戴着帽子，但她一点也不可笑。
he saw a tallish, heavy-set woman in a navy-blue reefer coat, a small, flowered felt sailor set slightly awry on her head. her broad face was set in grim, determined lines, her small eyes seemed to be trying to peer everywhere at once. In spite of the hat, there was nothing even remotely ic about her.
“我看到她了，可她是谁？”
“I see her, but who is she?”
“伊迪莎?文宁的同伴 —— 卢埃拉?怀特。别让她看到我们。”
“Editha Venning’s panion—Louella white. don’t let her see us.”
卢埃拉?怀特。他想起了马龙对她的描述，从一位枫树公园主妇的海豹皮肩头向外偷看了一眼。这一眼并没有让他比第一眼更喜欢她。
Louella white. he remembered malone’s description of her, and peered over the sealskin shoulder of a maple park matron for a second look. It didn’t make him like her any better than the first one had.
海伦上气不接下气地说：“今天早上在莫娜家，我想同时留意每个人。我觉得伊迪莎?文宁想找个机会单独离开，所以我一直盯着她，但我有种不妙的感觉其他人也都在盯着她。”
helene said breathlessly, “this morning at mona’s I was trying to watch everybody at once. I had an idea Editha Venning was trying to get off somewhere on her own, and kept my eye on her, but I had a dirty feeling everybody else was keeping an eye on her too.”
“你在莫娜?麦克莱恩家干什么？”
“what were you doing at mona mcclane’s?”
“别管了。不管怎样，伊迪莎去了市中心，说她要去看眼科医生。我找了个借口跟在她后面，我有种预感这个像大理石雕像一样的同伴也这么做了。但我知道在我们到达卢普区之前她就甩掉了同伴。她直奔亚当斯街的北岸车站，我也一样，但我被交通堵住了，当我的出租车把我扔在门口时，她已经买了票，上了楼梯一半了。我赶到站台时刚好看到她上了一辆火车，但没来得及赶上同一辆。我知道她一定是要来这里，所以我等了三十分钟坐下一趟火车也跟了出来。”
“Never mind. Anyway, Editha got away downtown, saying she was going to the oculist. I made some excuse and went after her, and I have a hunch this marble-map panion did, too. but I know she lost the panion before we got down to the Loop. She headed right for the North Shore station at Adams Street, and so did I, but I got snagged up in traffic and when my cab dumped me at the door, she had already bought a ticket and was halfway up the stairs. I got up to the platform just in time to see her grab a train, but not in time to catch the same one. I knew she must be ing out here, so I waited thirty minutes for the next train and came on out myself.”
“但是为什么……” 杰克刚开口。
“but why did—” Jake began.
他的话被海岸特别快车的嘈杂声打断了，火车突然在站台前停下，带着小矮人穿着丝绸披风上台时的那种自负。在随后上下车的乘客的混乱中，杰克一直留意着卢埃拉?怀特，看到她上了第二节车厢。他小心地领着海伦朝第一节车厢走去，把她带到最前面的吸烟车厢。
he was interrupted by the noisy arrival of the Shoreline special, halting abruptly before the platform with all the self-importance of a midget ing onstage in a silk bat. In the ensuing confusion of passengers getting on and off, Jake managed to keep an eye on Louella white, and saw that she got onto the second car. he carefully steered helene in the direction of the first one and led her up to the smoking partment in the very front.
“我觉得她没看到我们。”
“I don’t think she saw us.”
火车猛地一震，开始沿着轨道疾驰而去。吸烟车厢里空无一人，只有一个上了年纪的醉汉在角落里睡觉，还有一个穿着制服的年轻人全神贯注地看着一本电影杂志。
the train started with a jerk and began hurtling down the track. the smoking partment was deserted save for an elderly drunk sleeping in one corner and a uniformed young man deep in a movie magazine.
杰克摘下帽子，拂去帽檐上的雪，擦了擦额头，又把帽子戴上。他拿出一支烟，非常悠闲、故意地慢慢点着，深深地吸了一口。然后他靠在座位上，眼睛盯着海伦。
Jake took off his hat, brushed the snow from the brim, mopped his brow, and put it on again. he took out a cigarette, lit it very leisurely and deliberately, and took a long, slow drag on it. then he settled back in his seat and fixed his eyes on helene.
“亲爱的，” 他说，“你是一具身份不明的尸体吗？”
“darling,” he said, “are you an unidentified corpse?”
海伦难过地说：“我看起来有那么糟糕吗？”
“helene said sadly, “do I look that bad?”
“你看起来美极了。只是马龙派我去布莱克县找一具尸体，看看我找到了什么。”
“You look wonderful. only malone sent me out to blake county hunting a corpse, and look what I found.”
“很抱歉让你失望了。” 海伦的声音充满渴望。“现在你打算怎么办？”
“I’m sorry to disappoint you.” helene’s voice was wistful. “Now what are you going to do?”
“两件事，” 杰克坚定地说，“首先，我要让这里的其他乘客大吃一惊，别问我怎么做。其次，我要找到马龙，揍他一顿。”
“two things,” Jake said firmly. “First I’m going to shock the pants off the rest of the passengers here, and don’t ask me how. Second, I’m going to find malone and knock his block off.”
海伦笑了。“马龙可以等。在我看来，这些乘客似乎很想被吓一跳呢。”
helene smiled. “malone can wait. And it looks to me as though these passengers would love to be shocked.”