马龙探案卷三 之 错误的凶案 三十七
乔治?布兰德往一杯苏打水里倒了双份黑麦威士忌，梦幻般地看着它，说：“你怎么知道所有这些的？”
GEoRGE bRANd poUREd A doUbLE RYE into a glass of seltzer, gazed at it dreamily, and said, “how did you know all that?”
“我不知道，” 马龙立刻说。“我是边编边说的。但是该死，我总得告诉冯?弗拉纳根点什么。”
“I didn’t,” malone said promptly. “I was making it up as I went along. but damn it, I had to tell Von Flanagan something.”
已经过了午夜。在第三街格斯的店里的一个隔间里有他们五个人：杰克、海伦、马龙、乔治?布兰德和莫娜?麦克莱恩。他们选择格斯的店一部分是因为这里离机场开车距离不远，杰克和海伦要乘坐黎明的飞机（尽管马龙发誓说有海伦开车的话，密尔沃基也不算远），另一部分是因为海伦宣称她喜欢格斯，哪儿也不想去。
It was past midnight. there were five of them in the booth in Gus’s place on 3rd Street: Jake, helene, ma-lone, George brand, and mona mcclane. they had selected Gus’s partly because it was easy driving distance from the airport from which Jake and helene were to take the dawn plane (though malone swore that milwaukee would be easy driving distance with helene at the wheel) and partly because helene declared that she liked Gus and refused to go anywhere else.
“你是说，” 莫娜?麦克莱恩说，“艾伦什么也没告诉你？”
“You mean,” mona mcclane said, “that Ellen didn’t tell you anything?”
“一点也没说，” 马龙愉快地说。
“Not a thing,” malone said cheerfully.
“但是那个速记员的笔记本，” 杰克说，“上面有记录。你是怎么做到的？”
“but that stenographer’s notebook,” Jake said, “with notes in it. how did you manage that?”
马龙说：“你们两个出去的时候，我叫来了玛吉，让她赶紧到办公室，我一边讲她一边记下来。” 他把他的酒一饮而尽，微微颤抖了一下，然后钦佩地说：“我什么都能想到。”
malone said, “while you two were out, I got hold of maggie and had her e down to the office in a hurry and take it all down as I told it to her.” he poured his drink down his throat, shuddered slightly, and said admiringly, “I think of everything.”
“你是说那些都不是真的？” 杰克问道。
“You mean none of that was true?” Jake demanded.
“全都是真的。但是我没法证明。那个笔记本是关键。反正只要冯?弗拉纳根把案子结了，他才不在乎呢。”
“All of it was true. but I couldn’t prove it. the notebook was the clincher. As long as Von Flanagan had the case closed, he didn’t give a hoot anyway.”
这个小个子律师拿出一支雪茄，看了看，点燃它，然后说：“如果我动动脑子的话，今天下午我就应该想到了。”
the little lawyer took out a cigar, looked at it, lit it, and said, “If I’d used my head I’d have known it this afternoon.”
“你今天下午就应该想到什么？” 海伦问道。
“You’d have known what this afternoon?” helene demanded.
“不是莫娜?麦克莱恩干的。至少我一看到她就应该明白过来。”
“that it wasn’t mona mcclane. At least I should have tumbled the minute I looked at her.”
“为什么？”
“why?”
“因为她的皮草，” 马龙说。他快速地扫视了一下桌子周围，然后向格斯大声下了个订单。“在弗雷特被谋杀到我们见到她的这段时间里，她根本没时间回家换掉她的皮草。”
“because of her furs,” malone said. he cast a quick glance around the table and bawled an order to Gus. “She never would have had time to go home and change her furs in the time between Fleurette’s murder and when we met her.”
“我可能很笨，” 杰克开口说，“但是……”
“I may be dumb,” Jake began, “but-”
“你是很笨，” 马龙尖刻地说，“如果你不能马上明白像莫娜?麦克莱恩这样穿着讲究的女人，在穿着今天下午那种浅米色皮草的时候，是不会拿着一个大白金狐皮暖手筒的。”
“You are,” malone said acidly, “if you don’t see right away that no woman as well dressed as mona mcclane would carry a big platinum fox muff with the pale beige fur she had on this afternoon.”
格斯送来了五杯更多的黑麦威士忌。
Gus delivered five more ryes.
马龙从他的内口袋里拿出一张折叠起来的纸，递给莫娜?麦克莱恩。“你可能想要这个，” 他说。那是结婚证书。
malone took a folded paper from his inside coat pocket and handed it to mona mcclane. “You might want this,” he said. It was the marriage certificate.
“谢谢，” 她说。她看了一眼，眼神突然柔和下来，然后温柔地说：“那是一种疯狂的冲动，当你非常年轻、容易受影响又备受呵护的时候，你无法抗拒。你可能不会相信，但是他是一个极其有魅力的年轻人，没有钱也没有前途。我不敢告诉任何人，然后突然发现自己被推进了一场……” 她做了个苦脸，“一场时髦的婚姻。我不敢做任何关于宣告婚姻无效的事情，而他已经消失了。当你十七岁的时候发生了这样的事情，你不知道该怎么办。我只是继续着这场时髦的婚姻，吓得要死。过了好几年我才又见到他。”
“thanks,” she said. She glanced at it, her eyes suddenly softened, and she said gently, “It was one of those mad impulses you can’t resist when you’re very young and impressionable and sheltered. You wouldn’t believe it, but he was an extremely attractive young man, with no money and no prospects. I didn’t dare tell anybody, and all of a sudden I found myself being pushed into,” she made a wry face, “a fashionable marriage. I didn’t dare do anything about an annulment, and he had disappeared. when you’re seventeen and something like that happens to you, you don’t know what to do. I just went ahead with the fashionable marriage, scared to death. It was years before I saw him again.”
她长长地、颤抖着、叹息着吸了一口气，接着说：“我只见过他一次。那时他已经变得富有了，他也变成了一个罪犯。那时我才知道，他在报纸上看到我订婚的消息后就离开了，因为他觉得这是唯一该做的事情。”
She drew a long, quivering, sighing breath and went on, “I only saw him once. he’d bee wealthy then, he’d also bee a criminal. I learned then that he’d gone away when he read in the papers of my engagement because he thought it was the only thing to do.”
“他曾经试图勒索过你吗？” 马龙非常温柔地问道。
“did he ever try to blackmail you?” malone asked very gently.
“从来没有。这是一件人们会忘记的事情。因为对此无能为力。那次见面之后，我甚至都没有再想起过他，直到……” 她嘴角微微上扬笑了笑，“我在报纸上看到他被谋杀的消息。” 她长久而若有所思地看着那张证书，把它折起来放进了她的钱包，然后说：“你在哪里找到这个的？”
“Never. It was one of those things one forgets. because there was nothing to be done about it. After that meeting I didn’t even think of him again until,” she smiled with just one half of her mouth, “I read of his murder in the newspapers.” She looked long and thoughtfully at the certificate, folded it and put it in her purse, and said, “where did you find that?”
马龙告诉她是在那个金属公文箱里发现的。
malone told her of its discovery in the metal dispatch box.
“在我找到那个之前，” 他说，“我相信是你杀了他。”
“Until I found that,” he said, “I believed that you’d killed him.”
杰克在狭窄的桌子下伸直了他的长腿，说：“不管怎么说，这些关于有动机和没动机的到底是怎么回事？”
Jake stretched his long legs under the narrow table and said, “what the hell is all this about motives and no motives, anyway?”
马龙说：“只要我找不到她犯罪的动机，我就认为是莫娜杀了他。一旦我找到了，我就知道她没有。” 他停顿了一下然后说：“听着。假设莫娜知道那个盒子里有那张证书的存在。假设冈布里尔一直在用它来勒索她，因此，她杀了他。事情看起来是这样的，不是吗？”
malone said, “As long as I couldn’t find her motive for the crime I believed mona had killed him. As soon as I found it, I knew she hadn’t.” he paused and said, “Look. Suppose mona knew of the existence of that certificate in that box. Suppose Gumbril had been using it to blackmail her, and, consequently, she killed him. that’s how it appeared, wasn’t it?”
“然后呢？” 杰克不耐烦地说。
“well?” Jake said crossly.
“那么，她会那么平静地离开，把那张证书留在那里让任何人都能找到吗？”
“would she, then, have calmly gone away and left that certificate there for anybody in the world to find?”
过了一会儿，杰克不好意思地说：“不，她不会。但也许她不知道去哪里找它。”
After a moment Jake said sheepishly, “No, she wouldn’t. but maybe she wouldn’t have known where to look for it.”
“你也不知道，” 律师说，“但你找到了。而且你没有知道要找什么的优势。即使她没有发现盒子没锁，她也会猜到证书在里面，然后把整个盒子都拿走。这就是为什么当我发现盒子里的东西时，我知道我一直都错了。这就是为什么当我发现它的时候那么震惊，因为按照我的所有推理，它不应该在那里。” 他喝完了他的黑麦威士忌，用手帕擦了擦嘴唇，然后相当自负地说：“观众还有问题吗？”
“Neither did you,” the lawyer said, “but you found it. And you didn’t have the advantage of knowing what to look for. Even if she hadn’t discovered the box was unlocked, she’d have guessed that the certificate was in it and carried the whole thing away. that’s why, when I found what was in the box, I knew I’d been wrong all along. that’s why I was so dumfounded when I discovered it, because, by all my reasoning, it shouldn’t have been there.” he finished his rye, wiped his lips on his handkerchief, and said, rather pompously, “Any more questions from the audience?”
“有上千个问题，” 杰克说，“但我才不会问呢。”
“thousands,” Jake said, “but I’m damned if I’ll ask.”
莫娜?麦克莱恩说：“你怎么知道是艾伦？”
mona mcclane said, “how did you know it was Ellen?”
“因为和我知道不是你的原因正好相反，” 马龙说。他停顿了一下然后大喊：“格斯！”
“For the reverse of the reason I knew it wasn’t you,” malone said. he paused and yelled, “Gus!”
“别理他，” 海伦说。“他靠让人困惑为生。”
“don’t mind him,” helene said. “he makes his living by confusing people.”
马龙不理她。“在今晚那个房间里的人当中，有五个人有明确的理由想要谋杀约书亚?冈布里尔，以及后来他的妹妹。莫娜?麦克莱恩、威利斯?桑德斯、达芙妮?桑德斯、艾伦?奥格特里和奥格特里夫人。我用在你身上的那套推理也适用于他们。在冈布里尔被杀之前，那个盒子里一定有与第一任桑德斯夫人被杀以及艾伦?奥格特里被绑架有关的文件。可能还有与奥格特里夫人的私人信息服务有关的东西。” 他向莫娜?麦克莱恩解释了他从马克斯?胡克那里了解到的情况。“当我打开盒子的时候，里面只有那张结婚证书。奥格特里的文件不见了，因为它们是冈布里尔被杀的原因。桑德斯的文件不见了，因为艾伦拿走了它们，用来勒索威利斯?桑德斯给她的男朋友一份工作。任何与奥格特里夫人有关的东西都不见了，因为她是艾伦的母亲。”
malone ignored her. “of the people in that room tonight, five had definite reasons for wanting to murder Joshua Gumbril and, later, his sister. mona mcclane, willis Sanders, daphne Sanders, Ellen ogletree, and mrs. ogletree. the same line of thought I applied to you applied to them. before Gumbril was killed, there must have been papers in that box relating to the killing of the first mrs. Sanders and to the Ellen ogletree kidnapping. possibly, something relating to mrs. ogletree’s personal-information service.” he explained to mona mcclane what he had learned from max hook. “when I opened the box, only that marriage certificate was there. the ogletree papers were missing because they were the reason Gumbril was killed. the Sanders papers were missing because Ellen took them to use in blackmailing willis Sanders into giving her boy friend a job. Anything about mrs. ogletree was missing because she was Ellen’s mother.”
乔治?布兰德从与他的杯子长时间的、恍惚的交流中回过神来。“但是那些关于第一任桑德斯夫人被杀的文件……” 他停顿了一下，咽了口唾沫，然后说，“它们对威利斯不利。”
George brand emerged from a long, trancelike munion with his glass. “but those papers about the murder of the first mrs. Sanders-” he paused, gulped, and said, “they’re incriminating to willis.”
“不利是个很温和的说法，” 马龙说。
“Incriminating is a mild word for it,” malone said.
乔治?布兰德脸色变得苍白。“如果它们被发现了……！我的天啊，马龙！它们在哪里？”
George brand turned pale. “If they should be found-! my God, malone! where are they?”
“在我的口袋里，” 小个子律师得意洋洋地说。他掏出两张用廉价纸打印的文件。“这是小乔治一直急于拿到的收据，上面写着他因参与策划绑架艾伦?奥格特里而收到了一千美元。我会把它交给他，让他烧了它 —— 在他今天下午的表现之后，他应该得到这份快乐作为奖励。” 他看着另一张纸，把它放在烟灰缸上方，然后点了一根火柴。“这是那个开枪打死第一任桑德斯夫人的人签的字，因为他是受弗雷特的雇来这么做的。”
“In my pocket,” the little lawyer said placently. he drew out two typewritten documents on cheap paper. “there’s the receipt Little Georgie was so anxious to get, stating he’d received one grand for his part in the arranged kidnapping of Ellen ogletree. I’ll give it to him and let him burn it-after his performance this afternoon he deserves that pleasure as a reward.” he looked at the other paper, held it over the ash tray, and set a match to it. “that was signed by the man who shot and killed the first mrs. Sanders because he was paid to do so by Fleurette.”
他们默默地看着它燃烧。
they watched it burn in silence.
突然杰克说：“你到底是怎么拿到那些文件的？”
Suddenly Jake said, “how the hell did you get those papers?”
马龙自豪地说：“我知道艾伦?奥格特里是那种会把重要文件放在手提包里的女孩。当我在海滩上和冯?弗拉纳根谈话的时候，我把手提包从他的口袋拿到我的口袋里，把文件从里面拿出来，然后又把手提包放了回去。” 他停顿了一下又说：“我曾经有一个客户是个扒手。”
malone said proudly, “I knew Ellen ogletree was the sort of girl who would carry important papers in her handbag. while I was talking to Von Flanagan there on the beach I moved the handbag from his pocket to mine, slipped the papers out of it, and put the handbag back.” he paused and added, “I had a client once who was a pickpocket.”
“他一定是个非常出色的扒手，” 杰克钦佩地说。
“he must have been a damned good one,” Jake said in admiring reverence.
“你告诉冯?弗拉纳根的有多少是真的？” 乔治?布兰德问道。
“how much of what you told Von Flanagan was true?” George brand asked.
马龙叹了口气说：“我真希望我知道。” 他搓掉手指上烧焦的纸，拿起他的雪茄。“我知道艾伦有谋杀冈布里尔的动机。她被绑架了。他收到了五万赎金，而他的银行存折告诉我他一分都没留。就像我们今晚了解到的，马克斯?胡克的手下只拿到了一千美元。有人拿走了剩下的钱。可能是艾伦的父亲，甚至可能是艾伦的母亲。或者可能是艾伦。海伦曾经告诉过我艾伦的父亲从不给她零花钱。然而达芙妮告诉我艾伦正用贵重的礼物赢得伦纳德?马奇蒙特的欢心。”
malone sighed and said, “I wish to God I knew.” he rubbed the burned paper from his fingers and picked up his cigar. “I knew Ellen had a motive for murdering Gumbril. She was kidnapped. he received fifty-grand ransom money and his bankbooks told me he didn't keep any of it. As we learned tonight, max hook's boy only got a grand. Someone got the rest. It might have been Ellen's father or it might even have been Ellen's mother. or it might have been Ellen. helene told me once that Ellen's father never gave her any spending money. Yet daphne told me that Ellen was winning Leonard marchmont's affections with valuable presents.”
海伦点点头。“这说得通。然后冈布里尔勒索她？”
helene nodded. “It adds up. then Gumbril blackmailed her?”
马龙点点头。“五万块似乎是一大笔钱，但是一方面她的男朋友很花钱，另一方面冈布里尔又经常勒索她。艾伦很快就发现她的银行账户又见底了。说到见底……” 他看了看他的杯子然后大喊，“格斯！如果你不专心做生意，你怎么指望发财呢？”
malone nodded. “Fifty grand seems like a lot of dough, but on the one hand the boy friend was expensive, and on the other Gumbril was shaking her down regularly. the first thing Ellen knew, her bank account was down to rock bottom again. Speaking of rock bottom-” he looked in his glass and bawled, “Gus! how do you expect to get rich if you don't tend to business?”
海伦若有所思地说：“我想和像杰伊?富尔顿那样的人订婚一定有很好的理由。”
helene said thoughtfully, “I thought there must have been some good reason for getting engaged to a guy like Jay Fulton.”
“也许她真的打算嫁给他，” 马龙说。“她走投无路了。然后她听到莫娜?麦克莱恩和杰克打的那个赌。她看到了一个谋杀冈布里尔并把罪责推到莫娜?麦克莱恩身上的机会。也许那时她就知道那个绿色金属盒子里有那张证书。但即使她不知道，她可能也觉得那个赌会起作用。她迫不及待地解除了和富尔顿的婚约，她马上就这么做了。然后她在莫娜?麦克莱恩家过了一夜，第二天早上拿走了暖手筒和枪，可能给冈布里尔打了个电话并和他约了个会，这个会让他走到州街，她跟踪他到一个拥挤的街角，然后开枪打死了他。”
“maybe she really meant to marry him,” malone said. “She was desperate. then she heard mona mcclane make that bet with Jake. She saw a chance to murder Gumbril and lay the blame on mona mcclane. maybe even then she knew about that certificate in the green metal box. but even if she didn’t, she probably figured the bet would do the trick. She couldn’t wait to break her engagement to Fulton, she did it right away. then she spent the night at mona mcclane’s, took the muff and the gun the next morning, probably called Gumbril and made some appointment with him that would cause him to walk to State Street, trailed him to a crowded corner, and shot him.”
他用一根火柴在桌子上划了两条线。
he drew two lines on the table with a match.
“这是艾伦，这是弗雷特。艾伦在谋杀之后的第一个行动就是闯进冈布里尔的房间 —— 她可能以前在给他钱的时候去过那里 —— 找到了盒子和盒子的钥匙，拿走了与绑架有关的文件。当她发现与桑德斯枪击案有关的文件时，她看到了一个让桑德斯给她男朋友一份工作的机会，也拿走了那份文件。另一份她留下作为莫娜?麦克莱恩谋杀冈布里尔的动机。她甚至给沃尔沃思县的县书记员打电话，让他查一下他的记录以确保证书是真的。”
“here’s Ellen and here’s Fleurette. Ellen’s first act after the murder was to break into Gumbril’s room-she’d probably been there before when she paid him off-found the box and the key to it, and removed the paper dealing with the kidnapping. when she found the paper dealing with the Sanders shooting, she saw a chance to induce Sanders to give her boy friend a job, and took that paper along too. the other she left to be mona mcclane’s motive for murdering Gumbril. She even called up the county clerk of walworth county and had him check up his records to make sure the certificate was genuine.”
他把火柴移到桌子上的第二条线上。“现在这是弗雷特。她在报纸上看到她哥哥被杀了。她的第一个行动就是赶紧去他的房间拿到那份有罪的文件。它不见了。艾伦?奥格特里的文件也不见了 —— 而弗雷特一定知道它的存在。这给了她一个关于发生了什么的线索。然后当弗雷特得知威利斯?桑德斯给了艾伦的男朋友一份工作时，弗雷特确定是艾伦杀了冈布里尔。”
he moved the match to the second line on the table. “here’s Fleurette, now. She read in the papers that her brother had been killed. her first act was to hurry to his room to get hold of that incriminating paper. It was gone. the Ellen ogletree paper was gone too-and Fleurette must have known of its existence. that gave her a hint as to what had happened. then when Fleurette learned that willis Sanders had given Ellen’s boy friend a job, Fleurette knew for certain that Ellen had killed Gumbril.”
“但是她为什么编出那个关于牙医诊所的故事呢？” 杰克问道。
“but why did she make up that yarn about the dentist office?” Jake asked.
“她是想吓唬艾伦让她把那份桑德斯的文件还回来，” 马龙说。“这也是她今天给我打电话的原因。她知道艾伦会听到她打的这个电话。你不能告诉我像弗雷特这样聪明的女人会在她不想被听到的时候被听到。她想如果艾伦认为她要来见我并说出她所知道的事情，艾伦会用那份文件来交换她保持沉默。然而，” 他深吸一口气后说，“艾伦杀了她。”
“She was trying to frighten Ellen into giving back that Sanders paper,” malone said. “that’s why she telephoned me today, too. She knew Ellen would overhear her make that call. You can’t tell me a smart woman like Fleurette would be overheard if she didn’t intend it. She figured that if Ellen thought she was ing to see me and spill what she knew, Ellen would trade that paper for her keeping her mouth shut. Instead,” he said after a long breath, “Ellen killed her.”
他拿起火柴，在离另外两条线稍远的地方画了第三条线。“威利斯?桑德斯一看到艾伦拿着她在冈布里尔的盒子里找到的东西来找他，就知道是艾伦杀了冈布里尔。但他没办法说出来。然后达芙妮发疯了。他完全被吓坏了。当达芙妮离家出走时，他的第一个行动就是让艾伦帮忙找到她并说服她回来。达芙妮冷静下来后就回家了，但桑德斯仍然很害怕，所以他来找我。当他得知弗雷特的死讯时，他知道是谁杀了她，但他不敢说出来，甚至对我也不敢说。”
he took up the match and drew a third line, a little away from the other two. “willis Sanders knew that Ellen had killed Gumbril, as soon as she came to him with what she’d found in Gumbril’s box. but he was in no position to talk. then daphne went berserk. he was scared clear through. when daphne left home, his first move was to ask Ellen to help find her and talk her into returning. daphne went home when she cooled off, but Sanders was still scared, and so he came to me. when he learned of Fleurette’s death he knew who had killed her, but he didn’t dare speak, not even to me.”
他沉重地叹了口气说：“如果客户们能对他们的律师诚实一点，那会省去多少麻烦啊。好吧，事情就是这样发生的。当然，这都是推测。但是，该死，世界上的一切都是推测性的。”
he sighed heavily and said, “what a lot of bother would be saved if clients would only be honest with their lawyers. well, that’s how it all happened. of course, it’s speculative. but hell, everything in the world is speculative.”
杰克什么也没说。他已经听到了所有他想听的解释。他拥有赌场的梦想似乎已经淡去，但不知怎的，现在这也不那么重要了。坦率地说，他对谋杀有点厌烦了。
Jake said nothing. he’d heard all the explanations he’d wanted to hear. his dream of owning the casino seemed to have faded, but somehow it didn’t matter much now. Frankly, he was a little bored with murder.
他在桌子下捏了捏海伦的手，在她耳边小声说：“听着，亲爱的。当人们结婚的时候……”
he squeezed helene’s hand under the table and whispered in her ear, “Listen, sweetheart. when people are married-”
她回捏了他的手。“你为什么看起来这么沮丧？我们现在除了度蜜月什么都不用做了。”
She squeezed his hand in return. “what are you looking so gloomy about? we’ve nothing to do now but honeymoon.”
“我只是在想起来，” 他小声回答，“那些运输机上可没有一点隐私。”
“I’ve just been remembering,” he whispered back, “that there’s no damn privacy on those transport planes.”
乔治?布兰德看了看表。“在我们离开之前还有时间再喝一杯。”
George brand looked at his watch. “time for one more before we leave.”
马龙嘟囔着说了些该死的终于摆脱了之类的话。
malone muttered something about damned good riddance.
莫娜?麦克莱恩身子探过桌子对着杰克微笑。“那个赌真可惜。”
mona mcclane leaned across the table and smiled at Jake. “too bad about the bet.”
他也对她微笑。“想象一下我的惊讶，” 他说，“当我发现我在追踪错误的凶手的时候。”
he smiled back at her. “Imagine my surprise,” he said, “when I found I was tracking down the wrong murderer.”
莫娜?麦克莱恩搅拌了一下她的饮料，过了一会儿才说话。当她说话的时候，她的声音几乎是欢快的。
mona mcclane stirred her drink for a moment before she spoke. when she did, her voice was almost gay.
“想象一下我的惊讶，” 她说，“当我发现你在解决错误的谋杀案的时候！”
“Imagine my surprise,” she said, “when I found you were solving the wrong murder!”
（本卷完）