马龙探案卷四 之 正确的凶案 十八
“请努力回想一下，” 海伦恳求道，“这是为了帮你，你知道的。”
“Please try to remember,” Helene begged. “It’s to help you, you know.”
“我在努力，” 罗斯?麦克劳林疲倦地说，“但没用。我就是什么都想不起来。”
“I am trying,” Ross McLaurin said wearily. “But it isn’t any use. I simply can’t remember anything.”
马龙叹了口气。“让他休息吧，海伦。”
Malone sighed. “Let him rest, Helene.”
杰克又倒了一杯咖啡。“别着急，孩子。也许你会想起来的。”
Jake poured another cup of coffee. “Take your time, kid. Maybe it’ll e to you.”
快到下午五点了。在这段时间里，这个脸色苍白的年轻人已经了解了前一天晚上发生的事情、他对海伦说的话以及杰拉尔德?图伊兹在除夕夜被谋杀以及在天使乔的酒吧里死去的那个人的情况。
It was nearly five in the afternoon. In the intervening time the pale young man had been acquainted with the events of the night before, with his statements to Helene, and with the circumstances of the murder of Gerald Tuesday and the man who had died in Joe the Angel’s bar on New Year’s Eve.
罗斯?麦克劳林把空咖啡杯放在床头柜上。“这对我来说都是新闻。” 他最后说。
Ross McLaurin set the empty coffee cup down on the bed table. “It’s all news to me,” he said at last.
海伦在他身边坐下。“听着，罗斯。除夕夜你做了什么？”
Helene sat down beside him. “Listen, Ross. What did you do on New Year’s Eve?”
他皱起眉头。“我们有一群人。我前一天刚到城里。让我想想。有莫娜、文宁夫妇、洛特斯，还有一个非常爱慕莫娜的电影演员 —— 不过他很早就走了，十点得赶飞机。” 他揉着额头。“他的名字 —— 让我想想。你知道的，我对美国演员不是很熟悉。” 他想了一会儿，然后说出一个让他们都吃了一惊的名字。“还有怀特小姐、彭德利?泰德韦尔，还有一个从东部来的年轻人，他老围着洛特斯转，让我很生气。”
He wrinkled his brow. “There was a party of us. I’d just arrived in town the day before. Let me think. There was Mona, and the Vennings, and Lotus, and some movie-actor chap who was very devoted to Mona—he left early though, had to catch a plane at ten.” He rubbed his brow. “His name—let’s see. I’m not very familiar with American actors, you know.” He thought for a minute and then mentioned a name that made them all blink. “And Miss White, and Pendley Tidewell, and a young chap from the East who made me angry hanging around Lotus.”
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“你们去了哪里？” 马龙问道。
“Where did you go?” Malone asked.
“我们在某个俱乐部吃了晚饭，然后在赌场喝了几杯，接着去了谢尔曼酒店的黑豹厅。我想那就是它的名字，对吧？” 他又皱起眉头。“那时我有点晕乎乎的。很奇怪，但我不记得我确切是什么时候开始不记得事情的了，如果你明白我的意思的话。有晚餐，有黑豹厅，然后事情就变得模糊了。我记得在一辆出租车里吻了洛特斯，但我想那是在从俱乐部出来的路上。还有就是我一个人在某个奇怪的酒吧里。就这些。” 他沉默了一会儿。“不，还有别的事情，但我就是想不起来。我不知道那是什么。但那是很可怕、很恐怖的事情。”
“We had dinner at some club, and then stopped at the Casino for a few drinks, and then we went to the Panther Room at the Sherman. I guess that’s the name, isn’t it?” He wrinkled his brow again. “I was a little dizzy by that time. It’s funny, but I can’t remember the exact time when I stopped remembering, if you know what I mean. There was dinner, and the Panther Room, and then things get vague. I remember kissing Lotus in a cab, but I guess that was on the way down from the club. Something about being in some strange bar all by myself. That’s all.” He was silent for a moment. “No, there is something else, but I can’t just put my finger on it. I don’t know what it was. But it was something horrible, ghastly.”
“那就是谋杀。” 海伦告诉他。
“That was the murder,” Helene told him.
他虚弱地对她笑了笑。“但是，我亲爱的年轻女士，我这辈子从没认识过符合马龙先生给我描述的人。从来没有。”
He smiled wanly at her. “But, my dear young lady, I never knew anyone who answered the description Mr. Malone gave me. Never in my life.”
“好吧，” 马龙温和地说，“别想了。那昨天呢？”
“All right,” Malone said gently, “let it go. What about yesterday?”
“我醒来的时候感觉不太舒服。我非常……”—— 他似乎在找一个词 ——“非常宿醉未醒。”
“I woke up not feeling very well. I was terribly”—he seemed to be looking for a word—“terribly hung over.”
“你再说一遍？” 杰克问。
“How’s that again?” Jake asked.
“没关系，” 海伦说，“这个词用得恰到好处。继续。”
“Never mind,” Helene said. “It’s exactly the right word. Go on.”
“非常沮丧。该死，我不知道为什么，但我就是这样。所以我起床后喝了几杯。听着，我不是在为喝醉找借口，但我确实很沮丧。”
“Very depressed. Damned if I know why, but I was. So I took a few drinks when I got up. Look here, I’m not making excuses for getting drunk, but I was depressed.”
小主，
“没关系，” 杰克说，“有五百万个理由，这和其他任何理由一样好。”
“That’s all right,” Jake said. “There’s five million reasons, and that’s as good a one as any.”
“但是到午饭的时候我感觉好多了，有点兴奋，但还不错。午饭后我又感到沮丧和非常孤独。你知道的。就像那只老鸟在柱子上待了那么久。西蒙什么的。”
“But by lunchtime I felt pretty good,” the young man went on, “a little buzzy, but pretty good. After lunch I felt depressed again and very solitary. You know. Like the old bird who stayed up on the pillar all that time. Simon Something-or-other.”
“最初的旗杆静坐者，” 马龙说，“你做了什么，爬上了一根电线杆吗？”
“The original flagpole sitter,” Malone said. “What did you do, go climb up a telephone pole?”
罗斯?麦克劳林咧嘴一笑，“我回到我的房间又喝了几杯。” 笑容消失了。“我不记得了 —— 事情又变得模糊了。最近不知为什么，我似乎忘记了我喝酒的时候发生的事情。昨天……” 他皱起眉头。“我和洛特斯说了几句话。不记得说了什么。还有别的事情。关于一个男人 —— 我想他是黑头发，卷发，戴着眼镜。”
Ross McLaurin grinned, “I went up to my room and had a few drinks.” The grin faded. “I don’t—things get vague again. For some reason lately I seem to forget what happened when I was drinking. Yesterday—” He frowned. “I had a word with Lotus. Don’t recall what about. There’s something else, too. About a man—he was black-haired, I think, curly hair, and he wore eyeglasses.”
“那是图伊兹。” 马龙说。
“That was Tuesday,” Malone said.
这个年轻人绝望地做了个手势。“我告诉你，我这辈子从没认识过一个叫杰拉尔德?图伊兹的人。你认为我会忘记认识一个叫杰拉尔德?图伊兹的人吗？”
The young man made a despairing gesture. “I tell you I never knew a Tuesday in my life. Do you think I’d forget knowing a man named Gerald Tuesday?”
“别担心，” 海伦安慰道，“接着说昨天的事。”
“Don’t worry about it,” Helene said soothingly. “Go on about yesterday.”
“就这些了，” 罗斯?麦克劳林疲倦地说，“没有别的了。就好像我一直在睡觉。不，等等。还有一件事。等等……”
“That’s all,” Ross McLaurin said wearily. “There just isn’t anything else. It’s as though I’d been sleeping all that time. No, wait. There is something. Wait—”
他们等着，紧张得喘不过气来。
They waited, and breathlessly.
“我想起来了，” 他得意地说，“我想起我背诵了吉卜林的《靴子》。”