马龙探案卷四 之 正确的凶案 十二
“他一个小时内都不会动一下眼皮。” 海伦指着后座上的乘客说。“但是对于一辆偷来的车，最好的处理办法是什么呢？”
“He won’t move an eyelash for another hour,” Helene said, referring to the passenger in the back seat. “But what’s the best thing to do with a stolen car?”
“别再开着它在州街上来回跑了。” 马龙生气地说。她拐进了瓦克大道的下层车道，他松了一口气。“你真幸运，我能这么快穿好衣服。我当时在床上。”
“To stop driving it up and down State Street,” Malone said crossly. She swung into the lower level of Wacker Drive, and he breathed easier. “It’s a good thing for you I’m able to get dressed in a hurry. I was in bed.”
“我得说你创了穿衣最快的记录。”
“I will say you made it in record time.”
“那，” 他告诉她，“这就是始终保持冷静和头脑清醒的结果。人一激动就会惹麻烦。我从不会忘记自己在做什么。”
“That,” he told her, “is what es of always being calm and cool-headed. It’s when you get excited that you get into trouble. I never forget what I’m doing.”
海伦说：“尽管如此，我还是忍不住想知道为什么你的裤脚下面露出两英寸的睡裤，还有为什么你只穿了一只袜子。”
Helene said, “Just the same, I can’t help wondering why there’s two inches of pajama pants showing below your trouser cuffs and why you only have one sock on.”
马龙气愤地沉默着。她过了河，然后在格兰德大道向西拐。
Malone was indignantly silent. She crossed the river and turned west on Grand Avenue
“这一切是怎么发生的？” 律师最后问道。
“How did all this happen?” the lawyer asked at last.
“房子里晚上已经很安静了。每个人都睡了。我睡不着。我想是有什么事在我脑子里。不管怎样，我在楼下转了一会儿，最后决定回我的房间。当我上楼梯的时候，我发现这个笨蛋在四处游荡，好像在找图伊兹先生的尸体。他似乎觉得自己把尸体忘在什么地方了。”
“The house had pretty well quieted down for the night. Everyone was in bed. I couldn’t sleep. Something on my mind, I guess. Anyway, I prowled around downstairs for a while and finally decided to go up to my room. When I got up the stairs I found this dope wandering around looking for Mr. Tuesday’s body. He seemed to think he’d mislaid it somewhere.”
“他不知道警察已经把尸体带走了吗？”
“Didn’t he know the police had taken it away?”
“他甚至都不知道警察已经找到了尸体。别忘了他一直醉得不省人事呢。”
“He didn’t even know the police had found it. Remember he was passed out cold all that time.”
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“哦，” 马龙说。“你藏在后座的就是这个人。罗斯?麦克劳林。”
“Oh,” Malone said. “That’s who you have stowed away back there. Ross McLaurin.”
“你以为是谁？秀兰?邓波儿吗？”
“Who the devil did you think it was? Shirley Temple?”
“但是罗斯?麦克劳林不可能杀任何人，” 马龙说。“他喝醉了。”
“But Ross McLaurin couldn’t have murdered anybody,” Malone said. “He was drunk.”
“人在喝醉的时候会做出奇怪的事情。我记得有一次……”
“People can do funny things when they’re drunk. I remember once—”
“别管那个了，” 马龙赶紧说。“我是说他醉得不省人事了。艾伦那个女孩说她去叫他的时候，他像个蛤蜊一样冷冰冰的。”
“Never mind,” Malone said hastily. “I mean he’d passed out. The Allen girl said she went to call him, and he was as cold as a clam.”
“他可能是在给自己制造不在场证明，不是吗？或者她走后他可能醒过来了。人是会这样的。”
“He could have been giving himself an alibi, couldn’t he? Or he could have e to after she left. People do.”
“他告诉你他杀了图伊兹吗？”
“Did he tell you he’d murdered Tuesday?”
“他似乎隐约觉得自己杀了好几个人，但他不确定是谁。其中一个听起来像是杰拉尔德?图伊兹。他吐露说他不认识自己杀的那些人。”
“He seemed to have a vague impression he’d murdered several people, but he wasn’t just sure who they were. One of them sounded like Gerald Tuesday to me. He confided that he didn’t know the people he’d murdered.”
“我的天啊，” 马龙说。“你绑架了一个疯子。”
“My God,” Malone said. “You’ve kidnaped a lunatic.”
“不，是个醉鬼。这是有区别的。” 她在富兰克林街向北拐，这个时候这条街黑暗又冷清。
“No, a drunk. There’s a distinction.” She turned north on Franklin Street, dark and deserted at this hour.
“我们别在这上面争论了，但是你怎么会绑架他呢？是意外吗？”
“Let’s not quibble, but how did you happen to kidnap him? Was it an accident?”
“不完全是。我第一个念头就是把他带给你，这样他就不会向某个完全陌生的人乱说他的故事。要是他落入警察手里就太可惜了。他是个很好的男孩，而且我觉得罗特斯?艾伦爱上他了。当你自己的爱情生活刚刚结束的时候，你会对恋爱中的人很有同情心。”
“Not entirely. My first thought was to bring him to you, so he couldn’t go babbling his story to some perfect stranger. It would be a shame to have him fall into the hands of the police. He’s such a nice boy, and I think Lotus Allen is in love with him. You feel very sympathetic about people in love when your own love life has just been ended.”
小主，
马龙用嘴唇和舌头发出一声粗鲁刺耳的声音。
Malone made a rude, raucous noise with his lips and tongue.
“我是认真的。” 海伦气愤地说。
“I mean it,” Helene said indignantly.
“我也是认真的，” 马龙说，“不过接着讲你的故事。从你决定把这家伙带给我这里开始讲起。”
“So do I,” Malone said, “but go on with your story. Begin with where you decided to bring this guy to me.”
“他好像想喝一杯，所以我告诉他我刚看过了，房子里没有酒。我知道以他当时的精神状态，我没法让他安静地跟我来见你，但我很确定如果我跟他说出去找个酒吧，他会跟我走，他确实这么做了。”
“He seemed to want a drink, so I told him I’d just looked and there wasn’t one in the house. I knew I couldn’t get him to e along quietly and see you, in the mental condition he was in, but I felt pretty sure he’d go out with me to look for a bar, and he did.”
“车是怎么回事？”
“Where did the car e into this?”
“车是上天的馈赠。”
“The car was a gift from providence.”
马龙叹了口气。“警察要逮捕上天可有的忙了。接着说。”
Malone sighed. “The police are going to have one terrible time arresting providence. Go on.”
“我们开始沿着贝尔维尤广场走，然后我看到这辆车停在路边，钥匙还在里面。‘这是我的车，’我说，‘上车。’他上了车，我们就出发了。然后我犯了个错误，试图向他解释我们要去哪儿，他反对。还很强烈地反对。我不能让他在密歇根大街中间从车里跳出去，所以我脱下拖鞋，用鞋跟给了他一下。从那以后他就像个孩子一样安静。我把车开进一条小巷，把他推到后座，用毯子盖住他。这就把事情说到现在了，我们现在该怎么办？”
“We started walking down Bellevue Place, and I saw this car standing at the curb with the keys in it. ‘Here’s my car,’ says I, ‘hop in.’ He hopped in and away we went. Then I made the error of trying to explain to him where we were going, and he objected. Rather strenuously, too. I couldn’t have him jumping out of the car in the middle of Michigan Avenue, so I took my slipper off and conked him one with the heel. He’s been peaceful as a child ever since. I drove up an alley and shoved him over into the back seat and covered him with a blanket. That brings us up to date, and what do we do now?”