“They were his bodyguards and she did them in.”

“那坟墓呢？”

“How about the grave?”

海伦叹了口气。“嗯，她为他准备好了坟墓。”

“Well, she has it ready for him.”

“你忘了，”杰克指出，“那个坟墓已经有很长时间了。”

“You forget,” Jake pointed out, “that grave has been dug for a long time.”

“也许她只是一直在等待一个好机会，并且相信有备无患。但是他的五十岁生日和这有什么关系呢？”

“Maybe she’s just been waiting for a good opportunity and believes in preparedness. But what does his fiftieth birthday have to do with it?”

“事实是，”杰克慢慢地说，“在马龙和文宁的律师谈完之前，我们做不了太多事情。我们知道的还不够多。”

“The fact is,” Jake said slowly, “we can’t do a great deal until Malone gets through talking with the Venning lawyer. We just don't know enough.”

海伦看了看表。“同时，我要回莫娜·麦克莱恩家换衣服，看看我能不能弄清楚那里发生了什么事。我稍后在马龙的办公室见你。”

“Helene looked at her watch. “Meantime, I'm going back to Mona McClane's and change my clothes, and see if I can find out what's been going on there. I'll meet you at Malone's office later.”

本小章还未完，请点击下一页继续阅读后面精彩内容！

杰克说，“我自己也想换身衣服，刮刮胡子。我可不是想不出更好的消磨时间的方式。”

“Jake said, “I could do with a change of clothes myself, and a shave. Not that I can't think of a better way to spend the time.”

“等赌注解决了，”她坚定地说，“午饭后我在马龙的办公室见你，看在上帝的份上，别把那把钥匙丢了。”

“When the bet is settled,” she said firmly, “I'll meet you at Malone's office after lunch, and for the love of God, don't lose that key.”

杰克下午到达马龙的办公室。他发现海伦在那里，看起来眼神明亮、精神饱满，就好像她这辈子从来没有错过一晚的睡眠似的。她穿着一套深绿色的套装，上面有大量柔软的棕色皮毛，一顶小小的棕色皮帽俏皮地戴在一条眉毛上方。马龙站在窗边，双手插在口袋里，肩膀缩着，周围是一团雪茄烟雾。

It was afternoon when Jake arrived at Malone's office. He found Helene there, looking as clear-eyed and fresh as though she had never missed a night's sleep in her life, in a dark-green suit with enormous quantities of soft brown fur, and a tiny brown fur hat perched jauntily just above one eyebrow. Malone was staring out the window, his hands in his pockets, his shoulders hunched, surrounded by a mist of cigar smoke.

“他不想说话。”海伦指着马龙说。

“He doesn't want to talk,” Helene said, indicating Malone.

杰克点点头。“你在莫娜·麦克莱恩家发现了什么？”

“Jake nodded. “What did you find out at Mona Mcclane's?”

“伊迪莎·文宁头上起了个包，头疼得厉害，但不严重。她说她昨晚去她丈夫的房间拿些安眠药……”

“Editha Venning has a bump on her bean and a bad headache, but nothing serious. She says she went into her husband’s room last night to get some sleeping tablets—”

“真是个糟糕的理由，不过继续说。”

“A hell of a reason,” Jake said, “but go on.”

“他不在。从赌场出来后不想睡觉，就出去狂欢了。她走进他的房间找安眠药——没开灯，天知道为什么——这时她发现房间里有人。她正要尖叫，突然头上挨了重重一击，然后她就什么都不知道了。”

“He was away. Didn’t feel like turning in after leaving the Casino and went out hell raising. She went into his room and was looking for the sleeping tablets—without turning on the light, God knows why—when she found someone was in the room. She was about to let out a scream when a ton of bricks landed on her head, and that’s all she knows.”

本小章还未完，请点击下一页继续阅读后面精彩内容！

“这是个说得过去的故事，但绝对是业余水平。她为什么不开灯在周围乱逛呢？”

“It’s a fair story, but definitely amateur,” Jake said. “Why was she prowling around without any lights?”

“也许她能在黑暗中看得见。不管怎样，她是这么说的。文宁大约一个小时后回来了。”

“Maybe she can see in the dark. Anyway, that’s the way she tells it. Venning came in about an hour later.”

“他发现她了吗？”

“Did he find her?”

“没有。女仆沿着走廊走，看到房间的门开着。她进去查看，发现文宁夫人躺在地上。窃贼显然已经逃走了。”

“No. The maid went down the hall and saw the door to the room was open. She investigated and found Mrs. Venning on the floor. The burglars had evidently escaped.”

“我猜他们是从烟囱逃走的。”杰克尖刻地说。

“Through the chimney, I suppose,” Jake said acidly.

“是你要听这个故事的，我告诉你可没得到一分钱好处。但这还不是全部。彭德利·泰德韦尔一直躲在床底下。”

“You asked for the story and I’m giving it to you without a cent of profit. But that’s not all. Pendley Tidewell was under the bed all the time.”

“在谁的床底下？”

“Under whose bed?”

“迈克尔·文宁的床底下。这件事没有告诉警察。莫娜拒绝讨论这件事，也不让其他人说。卢——或者卢埃拉——怀特头疼，脸色很难看。彭德利把自己锁在暗房里不出来。他肯定拍到了那些歌舞女郎比我们想象中更好的照片。”她转向律师。“马龙，罗斯代尔公墓里的那个坟墓里有什么？”

“Michael Venning’s. That wasn’t given to the police. Mona refuses to discuss that or let anyone else. Lou—or Louella—White has a headache and looks very grim. Pendley has locked himself in his darkroom and won’t e out. He must have gotten better shots of those chorus girls than we thought.” She turned to the lawyer. “Malone, what was in that grave in the Rosedale cemetery?”

“一口在那里放了二十年的棺材，还有一具没有经过防腐处理的男人的骷髅。”

“A coffin that had been there twenty years, and the skeleton of a man who hadn’t been embalmed.”

她倒吸一口凉气。“那么有三起谋杀案？”

“She gasped. “Then there were three murders?”

“他可能不是被谋杀的。经过这么久的时间，没有办法确定。”他转过身，走到桌子旁。他脸色苍白，非常疲惫。

“He might not have been murdered. There’s no way of telling, at this late date.” He turned around and walked over to the desk. He was pale and very tired.

“钥匙在这儿。”杰克说着，把它扔在桌子上。

小主，

“There’s the key,” Jake said, tossing it on the desk.

马龙拿起钥匙，看了看，又扔了下去。

Malone picked it up, looked at it, and tossed it down again.

“我不知道我们要它有什么用。”他沮丧地说，“我知道我们会找到什么。”

“I don’t know what we need it for,” he said gloomily “I know what we’ll find.”