“You keep overlooking Louella White,” Jake plained. “I bet she’d murdered half a dozen people before she was ten years old. She isn’t getting half enough attention. She could have slipped into that guy’s room, stabbed him, and slipped out again without any one noticing her.”
“而且，”海伦说，“我对她很怀疑。她声称做伊迪莎·文宁的同伴好多年了。但我愿意打个小赌，她从来没去过东方。”
“Besides,” Helene said, “I’m very doubtful about her. She claims to have been Editha Venning’s panion for a number of years. But I’d be willing to place a small bet she’s never been in the Orient.”
“为什么？”杰克问道。
“Why?” Jake demanded.
“我来告诉你为什么。”海伦说。“今天早饭前我有机会偷偷看了一下她的房间，我就这么做了。没有一个仿玉佛像或者精致雕刻的烟灰缸。甚至连一件五彩手工刺绣的和服都没有。你不能说那个女人在东方哪怕待了一个星期却不带回点纪念品。”她点了一根烟。“我甚至愿意打赌没有叫卢埃拉·怀特这个人。”
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“I’ll tell you why,” Helene said. “I had a chance to snoop around her room this morning before breakfast, and I took it. There isn’t one single imitation jade Buddha or fancy-carved ash tray. Not even a hand-embroidered kimono in five natural colors. You can’t tell me that woman would spend even a week in the Orient without bringing home mementoes.” She lit a cigarette. “I’m even willing to bet there is no such person as Louella White.”
“我自己看到过她。”杰克反对道。“我偶尔会做噩梦，但我不会产生幻觉。”
“I saw her myself,” Jake objected. “I have occasional nightmares, but I don’t have delusions.”
“我是说她的名字可能不叫卢埃拉·怀特。可能是别的什么。”
“I mean her name may not be Louella White. It may be something else.”
“可能是杰拉尔丁·图伊兹。”杰克嘟囔道。
“Probably Geraldine Tuesday,” Jake muttered.
她没理他。“还有一件事，她对伊迪莎·文宁来说就像一台冰箱一样不友好。她所做的只是一直盯着她。但为什么呢？伊迪莎·文宁看起来心智健全。她喝酒，但她不是个酒鬼。”
She ignored him. “Another thing, she’s about as panionable to Editha Venning as a Frigidaire. All she does is watch her all the time. But why? Editha Venning seems of sound mind. She drinks, but she’s not a dipso.”
“也许她是个傻瓜。”杰克说。
“Maybe she’s a dopey,” Jake said.
“我不这么认为。”马龙说，“她没有任何那种行为。不，海伦是对的。这个同伴的事有点古怪，但我真不知道是哪种古怪。”
“I don’t think so,” Malone said, “she hasn’t any of the behavior. No, Helene’s right. This panion business is some kind of gag, but I’m damned if I know what kind.”
海伦皱起眉头。“在战争期间匆忙回国的过程中，很多人的身份可能都搞混了。洛特斯·安杰洛变成了洛特斯·艾伦。卢埃拉·怀特可能是任何人。这两个人以杰拉尔德·图伊兹的身份出现，现在还有这个坟墓……”
Helene frowned. “In the rush back to this country during the war, a lot of identities may have gotten scrambled. Lotus Angelo turns up as Lotus Allen. Louella White might be anybody. These two guys turn up as Gerald Tuesday, and now this grave—”
“这甚至可能只是巧合。”杰克说。“其中一个是来自澳大利亚的奥斯卡·Q·麦奥斯卡维茨，另一个是来自斯特金湾的理查德·罗（常出现在法律术语中的一个虚构的人名）。出于只有他们自己最清楚的原因，他们都决定改名，从书里选名字。他们俩恰好读了同一本书，所以就有了两个杰拉尔德·图伊兹。然后他们俩都被谋杀了，而且由于巧合的长臂——早在 1921 年……”
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“It might even be coincidence,” Jake said. “One of them is Oscar Q. McOscarvitz from Australia, and the other one is Richard Roe from Sturgeon’s Bay. For reasons best known to themselves, they both decide to change their names, and pick names out of books. Both of them happen to read the same book, and so we have two Gerald Tuesdays. Then both of them get murdered, and by the long arm of coincidence—way back in 1921—”
海伦尖刻地说：“巧合的手臂很长，但没那么多弯。其中一个人塞给马龙一把标着 114 的钥匙，而他马上就喝醉了把钥匙丢了，另一个人在死前试图给马龙打电话，手里还拿着一张写着 114 的纸。他们俩都是被刀以完全相同的方式杀死的……”
Helene said acidly, “Coincidence has a long arm, but not quite that many elbows. One of them slipped Malone a key marked 114, which he immediately got drunk and lost, and the other one tried to telephone Malone before he died, and had a paper with 114 written on it in his hand Both of them were killed in exactly the same manner with a knife—”
“或者可能是卢埃拉·怀特的一根织针。”杰克插嘴道。
“Or maybe one of Louella White’s knitting needles,” Jake put in.
她没理他。“马龙，那把刀怎么了？凶器在哪里？”
She ignored him. “Malone, what’s happened to the knife? Where’s the weapon?”
“凶手拿着它。”马龙说完，喝光了他的杜松子酒。“他留着它呢。”
“The murderer kept it,” Malone said, finishing his gin. “He’s saving it.”
“留着干什么？”
“What for?”
“为了再杀更多的杰拉尔德·图伊兹。穿上你的外套，我们去我的办公室。不管有没有谋杀案，我都得给大楼管理员写一封漂亮的信，承诺有一天会付房租。”
“To murder more Gerald Tuesdays. Put your coat on, were going to my office. Murder or no murder, I’ve got to write a nice letter to the building manager promising to pay the rent some day.”