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马龙探案卷四 之 正确的凶案 二
“我告诉过你，我以前从没见过这家伙。” 约翰?J?马龙重复道。“我完全不知道他是谁。他走进乔天使的酒吧，在差两分钟十二点的时候死在了地上，这就是我所知道的关于他的全部事情。”
“I tell you I never saw the guy before,” John J. malone repeated. “I haven’t the faintest idea who he was. he came into Joe the Angel’s bar and dropped dead on the floor at exactly two minutes to twelve, and that’s every last thing I know about me about him.”
“别跟我来这套，马龙。” 凶杀组的丹尼尔?冯?弗拉纳根狠狠地皱起了眉头。他是个高大的男人，接近中年，有一张大圆脸和稀疏的灰发。“你肯定认识他，因为他认识你。他的背上插着一把刀，从街上的某个地方来到乔天使酒吧，还喊着‘马龙’。”
“don’t try to give me that noise, malone.” daniel von Flanagan of the homicide division scowled heavily. he was a tall, big man, somewhere near middle age, with a large moon face and thinning, gray hair. “You must’ve known him because he knew you. he made it to Joe the Angel inconveniences bar from some place up the street with a knife in his ribs, and hollered ‘malone.’”
“他肯定是认错人了。” 律师说。
“he mistook me for someone else,” the lawyer said.
冯?弗拉纳根大声哼了一声。“得了吧。他是谁？是你的客户？还是你的客户当射击目标来用的靶子？”
Von Flanagan snorted loudly. “e on, who was he? A client? or just somebody a client of yours was using for target practice?”
“对我来说他完全是个陌生人。” 马龙坚持说。他又小声补充道，“我真希望你也是。”
“he was a perfect stranger to me,” malone insisted. he added under his breath, “And I wish to God you were.”
在冯?弗拉纳根办公室里的大电钟上的时间，现在显示在两点到三点之间。第一辆警车抵达乔天使酒吧时，午夜的喧嚣声刚刚消退。三十秒后，运尸车从太平间开来。这是常规操作。然而，因为这是跨年夜，找到任何有权处理此事的人都要花一点时间。冯?弗拉纳根办公室里的僵局现在才刚刚开始第二个小时。
It was sometime between two and three by the big electric clock in von Flanagan’s office. the first squad car had arrived at Joe the Angel’s bar just as the last echoes of the twelve o’clock racket were dying away. the dead-wagon had arrived from the morgue thirty seconds later. that was routine. however, since it was New Year’s Eve, locating anyone in authority had taken a little time. the deadlock in von Flanagan’s office was only starting its second hour now.
约翰?J?马龙比之前更不开心，而且他的感觉还更糟糕。距离上一杯杜松子酒已经过去了两个半小时，之前喝的那些杜松子酒的酒劲已经开始发作。他觉得自己的胳膊、肢和头对身体的其他部分来说有点太重了，他还有一种模糊的感觉，隐约觉得有些绿色的小矮人此刻正坐在他的肩膀上，拿着微型攻城槌在往他耳朵里戳。
John J. malone was even unhappier than before, and in addition he felt terrible. It had been two hours and twenty-five minutes since the last drink of gin, and the after effects of the preceding gins were beginning to take hold. he felt that his arms, legs, and head were a little too heavy for the rest of him, and he had a vague notion that small green men were sitting on his shoulders, poking miniature battering rams into his ears.
“为什么要找我麻烦，” 他闷闷不乐地说，“就因为我碰巧安静地坐在酒吧里，所以某个流浪汉就被人用刀捅了？”
“why pick on me,” he said morosely, “just because I happened to be sitting quietly in a barroom when some bum gets mixed up in a knifing?”
“他可不是什么流浪汉。” 冯?弗拉纳根说。“流浪汉可不是那个人。他的钱包里有四百多块，手腕上还戴着一块精致的瑞士手表。”
“he was no bum,” von Flanagan said. “Not that guy. he had over four hundred bucks in his kick and a fancy Swiss watch strapped on his wrist.”
“好吧，” 马龙尽量表现得友好一些。“他不是流浪汉。这就证明我不可能认识他。咱们把这事忘了吧。在我看来，总部是个过跨年夜糟糕的地方。”
“All right,” malone said, with an attempt at amiability. “he wasn’t a bum. that proves I couldn’t have known him. Let’s call the whole thing off. If you ask me, headquarters is one hell of a place to spend New Year’s Eve.”
“你倒好意思说，” 冯?弗拉纳根咆哮道。“要是你做我的工作会怎样？该死，马龙，我从来就不想当警察。只要我攒够钱，能在乡下某个地方买一小块地，我就辞职，这就说明了一切。我当时正在我姐夫家参加跨年派对……” 他停顿了一下，若有所思地补充道，“不过话说回来，那派对也不怎么样。你说呢，马龙，等我处理完这堆破事，我想我们还能赶上格瑞特大舞台的最后一场表演吧？”
“You should talk,” von Flanagan growled. “what if you had my job? damn it, malone, I never wanted to be a cop. As soon as I get enough dough saved up to buy a little weekly newspaper some place in the country, I’m gonna quit. this just goes to show you. here I was at a Newvable New Year’s party at my brother-in-law’s—” he paused, looked thoughtful, and added, “Not but what it wasn’t a stinking party, anyway. what’dya say, malone, when I get through with this mess—I think we could still make the last floor show at the Grand terrace?”
小个子律师的脸上露出喜色。他看了看表，说：“我想我们能赶上。”
the little lawyer’s face brightened. he looked at his watch and said, “I guess we could.”
“太好了。” 冯?弗拉纳根热情地说。“现在说说这家伙……” 他又皱起眉头。“他干嘛不在他中刀的地方附近，在某个可能有人认识他的地方倒下呢，干嘛要满世界走，故意给我找麻烦。有人在他右肩胛骨下面捅了一刀。要是在另一边，他很可能当场就死了。可他偏不……”
“Fine,” von Flanagan said heartily. “Now about this guy—” he scowled. “why couldn’t he of fell over right where he was, in some place where somebody might of known him, instead of walking all over town just to make it hard for me. Somebody stuck him in the ribs, just below his right shoulder blade. If it’d been on the other side, he probably would of died right then and there. but no, he has to—”
“医生觉得他走了多远？” 马龙插嘴道。
“how far does the doc think he walked?” malone interrupted.
“见鬼，他也说不准。很可能他还没走几个街区，就因为内出血就死了，但这也证明不了什么。” 冯?弗拉纳根语气很冲地说。
“hell, he can’t say. chances are he wouldn’t get more’n a coupla blocks before internal hemorrhage carried him off but that don’t prove nothing.” Von Flanagan spoke bitterly.
“嗯，我只是想帮忙。” 律师用受伤的语气说。突然他皱起眉。“奇怪的是他身上没有任何身份证明。这跟我没关系，不过你不介意我仔细看看他的衣服吧？”
“well, I was only trying to sortices this was trying to help,” the lawyer said in an injured tone. Suddenly he frowned. “Funny he wouldn’t have any kind of identification on him. this is none of my business, but do you mind if I take a good look at his clothes?”
“一点也不。” 冯?弗拉纳根告诉他，语气比刚才多了一丝希望。“再好好看看本人吧。不管怎样，我还得回太平间一趟，你不妨跟我一起去，也好有个伴。”
“Not a bit,” von Flanagan told him, a shade more hopefully than before. “take another look at him, too. I have got to go back to the morgue anyway and you might as well e along to keep me pany.”
“不过要记住，我可不想掺和这事。” 马龙一边说一边费力地穿上大衣。
“Remember, though, I’m not mixing up in this,” malone said, as he struggled into his overcoat.
“哦，当然。” 警官热情过度地向他保证。“只要你确定不认识他，也不知道他为什么走进乔天使酒吧喊你，这就与你无关。你今晚只是帮我个小忙，仅此而已，完全没有卷入其中。”
“oh, sure,” the police official assured him, almost too heartily. “As long as you’re positive you don’t abstain who he was, and why he came into Joe the Angel’s bar hollering for you, why it’s none of your affair. You’re just helping me out a little tonight, that’s all. You’re not mixed up in it a bit.”
律师希望冯?弗拉纳根是对的，但他并不相信。
the lawyer hoped von Flanagan was right, but he didn’t believe it.
走进乔天使酒吧的那个陌生人曾经是个英俊且令人印象深刻的人物。即使在库克县太平间阴森的环境中，他现在看起来也是如此。他身材高大，骨骼粗大，肌肉发达，有一张瘦削、五官分明的脸。那是一张坚毅的脸，几乎有些冷酷；即使现在看着他躺在铺着白色床单的桌子上，脸上仍带着严峻、不可动摇的神情，一种即使在死后也依然存在的决心。
the stranger who had stumbled into Joe the Angel’s bar had been a handsome and impressive figure. he appeared so even now, in the gloomy austerity of the cook county morgue. he had been tall, big-boned, and muscular, with a lean, large-featured face. It had been a hard face, almost cruel; seen even now against the white-sheeted table, it had an expression of grim, inexorable force, a determination that persisted even in death.
“看起来很凶悍的家伙。” 冯?弗拉纳根多此一举地评论道。
“tough-looking mug,” von Flanagan needlessly mented.
死者的头发是栗棕色的，几乎是黑色的，又粗又硬，非常直。他的胸膛和上臂的皮肤白皙细腻，几乎像女人的皮肤，但在被太阳和风晒到的地方，是深褐色的、像皮革一样。马龙猜测他的眼睛要么是灰色要么是蓝色，很可能是灰色。
the dead man’s hair had been chestnut brown, almost black, coarse and heavy, and perfectly straight. the skin on his chest and upper arms was delicately white, almost womanish, but where it was exposed to sun and wind it was a deep, leathery brown. malone guessed that his eyes had been either gray or blue, probably gray.
“你确定不认识他？” 冯?弗拉纳根问道。
“Sure you don’t know him?” von Flanagan asked.
律师摇了摇头。“完全不认识。我这辈子从没见过他。” 他现在几乎完全清醒了，但仍然非常不舒服。他希望自己能喝上一杯。看到这个身份不明的人在库克县太平间开始新的一年，这让他感到非常沮丧。
the lawyer shook his head. “Not from Adam. Never saw him in my life.” he felt almost entirely sober now, but still extremely unfortable. he wished he had a drink. the spectacle of the unidentified man starting the new year in the cook county morgue depressed him.
“我们看看他的衣服。” 他对冯?弗拉纳根说。
“Let’s look at his clothes,” he told von Flanagan.
骆驼毛大衣和芥末色花呢套装乱七八糟地堆在一张有缺口的棕色木桌上。马龙心不在焉地戳了戳它们，拿起白色细布衬衫检查了一下，用手指摸了摸那双深褐色的厚底皮鞋。突然，他一动不动地站着，面无表情，盯着那堆衣服。
the camel’s hair topcoat and mustard tweed suit were piled together untidily on a nicked brown wooden table. malone poked at them absently, picked up the white broadcloth shirt and examined it, ran a finger over the heavy tan brogues. Suddenly he stood stock-still, his face expressionless, staring at the heap of clothing.
“今晚雪是什么时候停的？”
“what time did it stop snowing tonight?”
冯?弗拉纳根眨了眨眼。“大概在午夜时分。如果你想知道确切时间，我可以去查一下。”
Von Flanagan blinked. “Sometime around midnight. I can find out exactly when it was, if you want me to.”
