“你是说你——你到底知道什么？”

“You mean that you—what the hell do you know?”

“我知道是谁犯下了两起半谋杀案。”马龙说，“我想我也知道莫娜·麦克莱恩和这件事有什么关系。”

“I know who mitted two-and-a-half murders,” Malone said. “I think I know what Mona McClane has to do with it, too.”

杰克生气地咒骂着，说：“你怎么知道是谁犯下了谋杀案？”

Jake swore angrily and said, “How do you know who mitted the murders?”

“因为天气。”马龙简洁地说。

“Because of the weather,” Malone said lacally.

“莫娜·麦克莱恩呢？”海伦问道。

“What about Mona McClane?” Helene demanded.

这个小律师似乎没有听到她的话。“你们最好把这一切都忘了。杰克，你可以给自己找份工作……”

The little lawyer didn’t seem to have heard her. “You’d better forget the whole thing. Jake, you can pick yourself up a job—”

“但是那个赌注……”

“But the bet—”

“取消它。”马龙说，“让正义得到伸张。”

“Call it off,” Malone said. “Let justice be done.”

杰克盯着他看了一会儿，然后突然发起一通愤怒的长篇大论，其中只有“赌注、赌场、莫娜·麦克莱恩和谋杀”这些词能清楚地听到。

Jake stared at him for a moment and then burst into an indignant tirade in which only the words, “Bet, Casino, Mona McClane, and murder,” were plainly audible.

“闭嘴。”马龙说，“我是个非常疲惫的人。”他深吸了一口气。“我刚和迈克尔·文宁的律师谈完回来。”他慢慢地说，“从他那里套出点话来还真不容易，但我知道了我想知道的。”他站起来，走到窗边，对着外面的屋顶说话。“老文宁，也就是现在这个迈克尔·文宁的父亲，留下了一份古怪的遗嘱——天知道人们为什么要做这些事。”

“Shut up,” Malone said. “I’m a very tired man.” He drew a long breath. “I’ve just e from talking with Michael Venning’s lawyer,” he said slowly. “It took a little doing to get anything out of him, but I learned what I wanted to know.” He rose, walked to the window, and addressed himself to the roofs outside. “Old man Venning, the present Michael Venning’s father, left a crazy will—God knows why people will do these things.”

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“但是什么……”海伦刚开口，又忍住了，等着他继续说下去。

“But what—” Helene began, caught herself, and waited for him to go on.

“他把文宁家族的财产收益，大概五百万美元，留给了他唯一的孩子。如果那个孩子——迈克尔——在五十岁之前去世，他的遗孀将终身每年获得两千美元的收入。他的孩子，如果有的话——但没有——也将终身每年获得两千美元，其余的将捐给一些医院。然而，如果迈克尔活到五十岁，整个财产就都归他了，他可以随意花费、遗赠给任何人、送人或者想怎么处置就怎么处置。他今天五十岁。”

“He left the ine from the Venning estate, some five million bucks, to his only child. If that child—Michael—died before the age of fifty, his widow was to receive an ine of two thousand a year for life. His children, if any—and there are none—two thousand a year for life, and the rest was to go to a collection of hospitals. However, if Michael lived to the age of fifty, the whole shebang was to pass to him, he could spend it, will it to anybody, give it away or do anything he damn pleased with it. He’s fifty today.”

“那这和图伊兹们有什么关系？还有莫娜·麦克莱恩呢？”

“What does that have to do with the Tuesdays?” Helene asked. “And Mona McClane?”

“一切都有关系。”他盯着钥匙。“但没用了。取消和莫娜·麦克莱恩的赌注，把这一切都忘了吧。”

“Everything.” He stared at the key. “It’s no go. Call off the bet with Mona McClane and forget the whole thing.”

“马龙，你疯了吗？”

“Malone, have you lost your mind?”

“没有。”他说，“但只要稍加劝说，我就会疯。”

“No,” he said, “but with a little coaxing, I will.”

海伦在桌子的一角坐下，点了一支烟。

Helene sat down on a corner of the desk and lit a cigarette.

“那个赌注一定会赢。”她坚定地说，“你觉得我们现在会放弃吗？在付出了这么多努力之后……”

“That bet is going to be won,” she said firmly. “Do you think we’d give it up now, after all the effort that’s been spent—”

他生气地看着她。“努力？我过去两个小时一直在打长途电话，了解图伊兹们的过去。我得花十年时间才能付清电话费。现在我把所有信息都收集齐了，我说去他的。”他重重地叹了口气。“你可能还是会赢得和莫娜·麦克莱恩的赌注。但你得等一段时间才能做到。”

He looked at her crossly. “Effort? I’ve spent the past two hours on the long-distance phone, learning the past history of the Tuesdays. It’ll take me ten years to work out the telephone bill. And now that I have all the information together, I say the hell with it.” He sighed heavily. “You may still win your bet with Mona McClane. But you’ll have to wait a while to do it.”

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海伦急促地吸了一口气。“莫娜·麦克莱恩杀了谁？”

Helene drew a quick breath. “Whom did Mona McClane murder?”

马龙还没来得及回答，电话就响了。马龙喊道：“我来接，玛吉。”拿起听筒说：“喂？哦，你好，冯·弗拉纳根。”六十秒后，他说：“我没给你打电话是因为当时是凌晨三点，我不想打扰你。我一整天都很忙。不管怎样，我也无能为力。等这孩子恢复意识，他会告诉你是谁刺伤了他。”这次停顿了三分钟。显然，电话那头传来了一篇关于警察烦恼的简短演说。马龙不时地用恼怒的声音说：“是，是，我知道。”然后突然说：“你到底为什么把她从监狱里放出来？是的，我知道如果她在监狱里就不可能刺伤麦克劳林，而且刺伤他的人也干了另外两起案子，但是……”停顿了一下，接着说：“谁坚持要你放了她？我是她的律师……”停顿的时间更短了，最后说：“好吧，该死，她出狱了。”他挂了电话。

Before Malone could answer, the telephone rang, Malone called out, “I’ll answer it, Maggie,” picked up the receiver, and said, “Hello? Oh, hello, von Flanagan.” Sixty seconds later, he said, “I didn’t call you because it was three in the morning and I didn’t want to disturb you. I’ve been busy all day. Anyway, there was nothing I could do. When the boy recovers consciousness, he’ll tell you who stabbed him.” This time there was a three-minute pause. Evidently a short speech on the troubles of a policeman was ing over the wire. At intervals Malone said, “Yes, yes, I know,” in an irritated voice. Then suddenly, “Why the hell did you let her out of jail. Yes I know she couldn’t have stabbed McLaurin if she was in jail and whoever stabbed him did the other two, but—” A pause, then, “Who insisted on your letting her go? I’m her lawyer—” A shorter pause, and finally, “All right, damn it, she’s out of jail.” He hung up.

他把钥匙推到桌子对面给杰克。“从市中心的火车站和汽车站开始找。不会超过十几个地方。拿着这把钥匙开始找，动作要快。当你找到标有 114 号、这把钥匙能打开的那个寄存柜时，把里面的东西拿出来，尽快拿到莫娜·麦克莱恩家给我。赶紧去，别问问题。”

“He shoved the key across the table to Jake. “Start on the downtown railway and bus stations. There can’t be more than a dozen or so. Take that key and start looking, and work fast. When you find the one numbered 114 that this key fits, take out what you find in the locker and bring it to me at Mona McClane’s as fast as you can. Get going, and don’t ask questions.”

小主，

杰克开始穿他的大衣。“那海伦呢？”

“Jake started putting on his overcoat. “What about Helene?”

“我要她和我一起去莫娜·麦克莱恩家。”律师说，“快点，现在不是站着聊天的时候。”

“I want her to go on to Mona McClane’s with me,” the lawyer said. “Come on, this is no time to stand around talking.”

在电梯下行到一半的时候，他气愤地说：“该死的冯·弗拉纳根！他当然得把她从监狱里放出来，可他为什么非得现在就这么做呢？这个该死的笨蛋！”

Halfway down the elevator he said indignantly, “Damn von Flanagan! Of course he had to let her out of jail, but why the hell did he have to do it right now? The damn fool!”

海伦盯着他。“你不为洛特斯出狱感到高兴吗？”

Helene stared at him. “Aren’t you glad Lotus is out of jail?”

“不。”他厉声说，“因为那个给冯·弗拉纳根打电话、坚持要放了她并且得逞的人。”他深吸了一口气。“有一起犯罪我想阻止，还有一起我不想阻止，而现在我恐怕除了阻止这两起犯罪之外别无他法。”

“No,” he snapped. “Because of the person who called von Flanagan and insisted on her being freed, and got away with it.” He drew a long breath. “There’s one crime that I want to prevent and one that I don’t want to prevent, and right now I’m afraid there’s nothing to do but prevent both of them.”

他拒绝再说一个字。

He refused to say another word.