“我们可以试着把你的绑架受害者和你偷来的车还回去。” 马龙冷淡地说。
“We might try returning your kidnap victim and your stolen car,” Malone said coldly.
本小章还未完，请点击下一页继续阅读后面精彩内容！
“那不行。他是我的财产，我不会放他走。而且我们需要这辆车。我自己的车在杰克和我本来要住的公寓楼的车库里。” 她沉默了几分钟。“我知道我们该怎么办了。我们去取我的车，把这辆还回去，然后把这家伙带到那个公寓去。我还有那套公寓的钥匙。”
“That’s no good. He’s my property and I won’t let him go. And we need the car. My own is in the garage of the apartment building where Jake and I were going to live.” She was silent for a few minutes. “I know what we’ll do. We’ll get my car and return this one, and take this guy up to that apartment. I still have a key to it.”
“天哪，不行，” 马龙说。“你不能那么做。”
“Good God, no,” Malone said. “You can’t do that.”
“为什么不行？”
“Why not?”
“我知道那栋楼。他们对在那里藏绑架受害者这种事非常挑剔。”
“I know that building. They’re fussy as the devil about having kidnap victims kept there.”
她气愤地哼了一声。“该死，马龙，我们得把他带到某个地方去。”
She snorted indignantly. “Damn it, Malone, we’ve got to take him somewhere.”
“为什么？” 马龙哀怨地问。“也许我看到他的时候不会喜欢他。”
“Why?” Malone asked plaintively. “Maybe when I get a look at him I won’t like him.”
“他会撞到警察然后因为谋杀罪被捕。而且，我有种预感，这起谋杀案和莫娜?麦克莱恩有关。毕竟，事情发生在她家里，就算不是她干的。我想知道这家伙知道些什么。我觉得把他带到那个公寓的主意不错，我就要这么做。”
“He’ll stumble into a policeman and get arrested for murder. Besides, I have a hunch that murder had something to do with Mona McClane. After all, it happened in her house, even if she couldn’t have done it. I want to find out what this guy knows. I think my idea of taking him up to that apartment is a good one, and I’m going to do it.”
“不行！” 马龙说。几乎是一声吼叫。“太冒险了。”
“No!” Malone said. It was almost a roar. “It’s too risky.”
“那你想个办法。”
“Then you think of something.”
“先把车处理掉，” 马龙说。“你随时可能在任何一个街角被抓住。”
“Get rid of the car first,” Malone said. “You may get pinched at any street corner.”
“警察可能还不知道车被偷了呢。”
“The police probably don’t even know it’s been stolen yet.”
这位小律师叹了口气。“这很容易查清楚。把车停在你遇到的第一个巷子里，我去打电话。”
The little lawyer sighed. “That’s easy enough to find out. Park in the first alley you e to, and I’ll telephone.”
这章没有结束，请点击下一页继续阅读！
她在下一个街区的半道上找到了一条巷子。马龙走进一家街角药店，买了一枚硬币，打电话给警察，想知道一辆车牌为 607–871 的深绿色别克轿车是否被报失窃。
She found one halfway up the next block. Malone went into a corner drugstore, bought a slug, called the police, and wanted to know if a dark-green Buick sedan bearing the license plates 607–871 had been reported stolen.
是的，车被报失窃了。
It had.
马龙说：“嗯，我从六十三街和科特格罗夫街的一家商店打来电话。车就在这附近。我觉得车里的人行为可疑，这辆车可能是被偷来用于抢劫的。是的，四个人。不，我没看清楚他们，没法描述他们。他们刚沿着六十三街向西走了。我叫什么？图伊兹。杰拉尔德?图伊兹。” 他迅速挂了电话，跑回车上。
Malone said, “Well, I’m calling from a store at 63rd and Cottage Grove. The car is in the neighborhood. I thought the men in it were acting suspiciously and that the car might have been stolen to use in a holdup. Yes, four men. No, I didn’t get a good enough look at them to describe them. They just went west on 63rd. My name? Tuesday. Gerald Tuesday.” He hung up fast and ran back to the car.
“是的，这辆车很烫手。我们得把它处理掉。让我想想。”
“Yes, the car’s hot. We have to get rid of it. Let me think a minute.”
海伦拿起她旁边座位上的瓶子，喝了一口。然后她把瓶子递给马龙。“我感觉好多了。让我想一会儿。”
Helene picked up the bottle on the seat beside her and took a drink. Then she handed the bottle to Malone. “I feel better. Let me think for a while.”
有一阵短暂的沉默。后座上的男人轻轻地呻吟了一声，嘟囔了一句可能是 “妈妈” 也可能是 “谋杀” 的话。
There was a brief silence. The man in the back seat moaned slightly and murmured something that might have been either “mother” or “murder.”
“我想我们的朋友要醒了。” 海伦突然坐直了身子。“我确实有个主意。我认识休伦街上一个地方的酒保，离这儿不到一个街区。这家伙不重。我觉得我们两个能把他抬那么远。” 她爬出车子，打开后座的门。
“I guess our friend is waking up,” Helene said. Suddenly she sat up. “I do have an idea. I know the bartender in a place over on Huron Street, not a block from here. This guy isn’t heavy. I think the two of us can haul him that far.” She climbed out of the car and opened the door to the back seat.
马龙叹了口气，跟着她。“然后呢？”
Malone sighed and followed her. “Then what?”
小主，
“你会看到的。帮我把他弄出来。别忘了杜松子酒。我带着它以防万一。”
“You’ll see. Help me get him out of here. And don’t forget the gin. I took it with me just in case.”
马龙第一次露出高兴的神情。“嘿，” 他说，“这是个好主意。我可以接个案子。也许这个醉醺醺的疯子就是那个案子。”
Malone looked happy for the first time. “Say,” he said, “that’s an idea. I could use a case. Maybe this drunken lunatic is it.”
当罗斯?麦克劳林被扶着站直时，他的脚开始移动。结果发现把他弄走只是个引导他并防止他脸着地的简单事情。等他们走到巷子尽头的时候，他嘴里正嘟囔着什么。马龙听到了 “垂死” 这个词，便凑近他，急切地想听清后面的内容。又走了十步，他才意识到他们的俘虏正在背诵吉卜林的《靴子》。
When Ross McLaurin was stood upright and firmly supported, his feet moved. Conveying him turned out to be a simple matter of guiding him and keeping him from falling on his face. By the time they reached the end of the alley, he was muttering something under his breath. Malone caught the word “dying” and leaned close to him, anxious to hear the rest. Ten paces farther he realized their prisoner was reciting Kipling’s Boots.
又走了几步，海伦也加入了背诵。马龙因为担心自己不发声会引起注意，便决定和他们一起背。但他只能记得副歌部分，这让他的贡献大打折扣。而且，他安慰自己说，反正这也不是什么好诗。
A few steps more, and Helene joined in. Malone, having a vague fear of attracting attention to himself by his silence, decided to recite along with them. His contribution was rendered less valuable by the fact that he could only remember the refrain. Besides, he consoled himself, it wasn’t good poetry, anyway.
他们背完《靴子》的最后一句，同时也到了街角的酒吧。这是个小地方，更显温馨而不是华丽，装饰着填充的鸟和动物。马龙注意到一只填充松鼠的尾巴在轻轻摆动，吓了一跳，后来才发现它正好在电扇的风道上。
They reached the last line of Boots and the corner bar at the same moment. It was a small place, more intimate than ornate, decorated with stuffed birds and animals. Malone noticed the tail of a stuffed squirrel, waving lightly, and shuddered, before he discovered it was directly in the path of an electric fan.
他们只想要一辆有诚实司机的出租车，海伦向酒保解释道，亲切地称呼他为 “阿尔门”。她的话还没说完，酒吧里站成一排的五个出租车司机就都主动提出为他们服务。
All they wanted was a taxi with an honest driver, Helene explained to the bartender, addressing him familiarly as “Armen.” Before the words were out of her mouth, five taxi drivers ranged along the bar offered their services.
本小章还未完，请点击下一页继续阅读后面精彩内容！
最后海伦从帽子里抽名字选了一个司机，并解释说他们的朋友需要被送回家，这谁都看得出来。
It ended with Helene picking their names out of a hat selecting one, and explaining their friend needed to be taken home, as anyone could see.
嗯，也许在等出租车开到前门的时候可以快速来一杯。
Well, maybe just one quick one, while they waited for the cab to be driven around to the front door.