第98章 卷31（2/2）

虾皮小说【www.xpxs.net】第一时间更新《马龙探案之三点的迷案》最新章节。

这个大匪徒放下雪茄，令人难以置信地选了一支带香味的香烟点燃，然后危险地往后靠在椅子上。“嗯，事情是这样的，” 他开始回忆，“早在 1927 年，我有机会从边境走私一批酒来赚笔快钱，但当时我没有足够的现金来周转。我的一个小弟把我介绍给了冈布里尔，他为我提供了资金。从那以后，你几乎可以说我们就是在一起做生意了，直到禁酒令废除……”

the big gangster laid down his cigar, selected and lit, incredibly, one of the perfumed cigarettes, and leaned perilously far back in his chair. “well, it’s like this,” he began reminiscently. “way back in ‘27, I had a chance to make some quick dough on a big load of liquor run down from the border, only I didn’t have the cash to swing it. one of my boys put me next to Gumbril, and he put up for me. After that, you might almost say we was in business together, and when repeal e in-”

他讲述的是一个很长的故事，一个关于犯罪和赌博的小垄断组织的故事，吝啬、干瘪的冈布里尔是商业头目，而大块头匪徒则负责运作管理。这个故事慢慢引出了奥格特里绑架案。

the story he unfolded was a long one, the story of a Little monopoly of crime and gambling, with the miserly, wizened Gumbril as business head, and the big gangster as manager of operations. the tale led slowly up to the ogletree kidnapping.

“小乔治是自己处理绑架案的吗？” 马龙问，“还是为了你，或者为了冈布里尔？”

“did Little Georgie handle the snatch on his own?” malone asked, “or for you, or for Gumbril?”

马克斯?胡克把头歪向一边。“嗯，实际上是为了冈布里尔。你可以说我把乔治借给了冈布里尔。”

max hook put his head on one side. “well now, it was really for Gumbril. You might say I lent the cherry to Gumbril.”

“你得到了多少？” 这个问题就像鞭子一样犀利。

“how much did you get?” the question was like the snap of a whip.

“一分也没……” 马克斯?胡克话锋一转，“这他妈关你什么事？”

“Not a damn-” max hook caught himself. “what the hell business of yours is it?”

马龙吹了声口哨。“你意味着你没分到那五万块？”

malone whistled. “You mean you didn’t get a cut of the fifty grand?”

大块头的脸颊上竟然泛起了一丝红晕。“我告诉过你，我把乔治借给了冈布里尔。这是我个人对他的帮助。我欠他一两个人情，你懂吧。冈布里尔给了乔治一千块，考虑到乔治只是负责接走那个女孩，这对他来说是一笔大钱。”

there was actually a faint blush on the big man’s cheek. “I told you I lent the cherry. It was a personal favor to Gumbril. I owed him a favor or two, y’understand. Gumbril, he give the cherry a grand, which was big pay for him, considering all the cherry done was pick up the girl and deliver her.”

“冈布里尔让他签收据了吗？”

“did Gumbril make him sign a receipt for the dough?”

“你当然知道他签了，” 小乔治突然说道，“他给别人一分钱都会要收据。他说这是他保护自己的方式。你以为我那天闯进那个房间要从那里拿走什么？”

“You know damned well he did,” Little Georgie said suddenly. “he never gave anybody a dime without a receipt. Said it was his way of protecting himself. what the hell do you think I wanted out of that room, anyway?”

马克斯?胡克突然说：“那它现在在哪里？这才是我想知道的。如果你没有拿到，而桑德斯女士也没有，那它在哪里？”

max hook suddenly said, “where is it now? that’s what I want to know. If you didn’t get it, and the Sanders dame didn’t have it, where is it?”

马龙等了足足三十秒，然后才非常随意地问道：“你为什么会认为她可能拿到了？”

malone waited a good thirty seconds before he asked, very casually, “what made you think she might have had it?”

“我知道你想要的东西冈布里尔一定有，” 匪徒说，“否则贾斯特先生就不会去搜查他的房间。所以我想弗洛西?桑德斯一定是找到了那东西，并打算和你做交易。如果她有了那个东西，她可能也有了其他的东西。我知道她打算和你做交易，因为奥格特里夫人提醒我，说她和你约好了……”

“I knew you wanted something Gumbril must have had,” the gangster said, “or mr. Justus here wouldn’t have cased his room. So I figured Flossie Sanders must have found it and was going to make a deal with you. If she had that, she probably had the other stuff too. I knew she must be going to make a deal with you as soon as the ogletree dame tipped me off she had made a date with you-”

“等一下，” 马龙非常平静地说，“你是说艾伦？”

“wait a minute,” malone said very quietly. “You mean Ellen?”

胡克盯着他。“当然不是。是奥格特里夫人。那个老太太。”

hook stared at him. “hell no. mrs. ogletree. the old lady.”

“该死的，” 杰克突然爆发出来，“我已经受够了。这到底是怎么回事？”

“damn it,” Jake burst out suddenly, “I’ve had about all I can stand of this. what’s it all about, anyway?”

小乔治安抚地说：“我给你倒杯酒，贾斯特先生。你的神经太紧张了。”

Little Georgie said soothingly, “Let me fix you a drink, mr. Justus. Your nerves ain’t so hot.”

“听着，” 马克斯?胡克说，“当我得到好东西时，我不喜欢放手，明白吗？但我会告诉你关于奥格特里夫人的事。她是那种喜欢玩轮盘赌的老太太，只是她不太擅长计算。我一开始就知道，我手里有一大堆足以压死一匹小马的借据，而且没办法兑现，因为她丈夫太吝啬了，你用凿子都撬不出他一分钱。所以冈布里尔建议我和她做一笔小交易。我忘掉那些借据，而她则把所有的社交八卦都告诉我，也告诉冈布里尔。你可能会惊讶地发现，我就是这样得到了多少好东西。”

“Look here,” max hook said, “when I’ve got a good thing, I don’t like to let go of it, see. but I’ll tell you about the ogletree dame. She’s one of these old ladies who likes to play the wheels, see, only she can’t figure so good. First thing I know, I’m stuck with a bunch of IoU’s big enough to choke a pony, and no way to collect because her old man’s so tight you couldn’t pry a dime outa him with a cold chisel. So Gumbril suggested I make a little deal with her. I forget about the IoU’s and she passes on all the social gossip to me, and to Gumbril. You’d be surprised to know how many good things I got next to that way.”

“我可能会惊讶，” 马龙冷淡地说，“这个安排是在女孩被绑架之前还是之后达成的？”

“I probably would be,” malone said dryly. “was this arrangement made before the girl was snatched, or after?”

“之前。只是那个老太太并没有指认她自己的孩子，如果你是这个意思的话。她对此一无所知。见鬼，她甚至来找我商量这事，我不得不让冈布里尔亲自向她保证孩子会没事。”

“before. only the old dame didn’t put the finger on her own kid, if that’s what you mean. She didn’t know from nothing about it. hell, she even came to me about it and I had to get Gumbril to give her his personal assurance the kid would be o. K.”

“谁指认了那个女孩？” 马龙问。

“who did put the finger on the girl?” malone asked.

“弗洛西?桑德斯。你知道，她是冈布里尔的妹妹。” 这个大匪徒用上一根烟的余烬点燃了另一根香烟。“在冈布里尔被干掉后，她有很多理由想要得到他的文件。他保留了所有关于第一任桑德斯夫人是怎么得到她的东西的资料。所以我有预感她可能已经得到了这些文件，我让奥格特里夫人留意她。今天，奥格特里夫人发现弗洛西要去找你，她立刻给我打了电话，通知了我。”

“Flossie Sanders. She was Gumbril’s sister, you know.” the big gangster lit another cigarette from the glowing end of the last one. “She had plenty of reasons for wanting to get Gumbril’s papers after he was bumped off. he kept all the stuff about the way the first mrs. Sanders got hers. So I had a hunch she might have got hold of them, and I asked the ogletree dame to keep an eye on her. today she found out Flossie was going to see you, and she gave me a ring right away and tipped me off.”

“所以你让手下的人在菲尔德百货公司门口拦住她，当他想不出其他办法阻止她来找我时，他就开枪打死了她，” 马龙轻松地说。

“So you had one of the boys pick her up at the entrance to Field’s, and when he couldn’t figure any other way to keep her from ing to me, he shot her,” malone said lightly.

“上帝作证，马龙，” 小乔治?拉塞拉意外地插话道，“你完全误解我了。我们正沿着州街往下走，试图在人群中一直盯着她，追上她，和她安静地谈谈。”

“honest to God, malone,” Little Georgie la cerra put in unexpectedly, “you got me all wrong. we was going down State Street trying to keep her in sight in all that mob, trying to catch up with her and have a little quiet word with her.”

“我知道你们安静的谈话是什么意思，” 马龙说，“但继续说。”

“I know your little quiet words,” malone said, “but go on.”

“快到麦迪逊街的时候，我们突然在人群中失去了她的踪影，明白吗？我们正试图挤过去，这时前面突然乱了起来。我挤进人群，我看到那个女人被枪杀了。但我没开枪。”

“Almost to madison Street, we all of a sudden lose her in the crowd, see. we’re trying to shove through when hell breaks loose up ahead. I push up in the crowd and I see the dame has been shot. but I didn’t shoot her.”

“尽管听起来很奇怪，” 马龙说，“但我相信你。但我真想知道，在去太平间的路上，她的衣服到底是怎么被脱掉的。”

“Strange as it seems,” malone said, “I believe you. but I’d give a lot to know how the hell her clothes got taken off on the way to the morgue.”

“你想知道，嗯？” 马克斯?胡克突然说道。他放声大笑，笑声仿佛要把他那淡粉色的墙壁震裂，他打开书桌的抽屉，拿出一堆各式各样的女装，朝马龙扔了过去。“喏，在那儿呢。”

“You would, eh,” max hook said suddenly. he burst into a laugh that threatened to split the pale pink walls of his apartment, opened a drawer of his desk, pulled out a heap of assorted feminine garments, and tossed them at malone. “well, there they are.”

马龙看着这一堆衣服，拿起一件小巧的蕾丝衣物，又好像被烫到一样扔掉了，他说：“这些怎么会在这里？”

malone looked at the collection, picked up a tiny, lacy affair, dropped it as though it had bitten him, and said, “how did these get there?”

“说吧，乔治，” 马克斯?胡克和蔼地说，“告诉这位先生。”

“Go on, Georgie,” max hook said amiably, “tell the gentleman.”

小乔治?拉塞拉深吸了一口气。“是这样的，马龙先生。老板让我做一件事，他就是要我做成这件事。他让我搜查这个叫桑德斯的女人，找冈布里尔的文件，我知道他就是要我搜查她。突然之间，她在州街和麦迪逊街的拐角处中枪了，周围挤满了五万人。我该怎么办呢？”

Little Georgie la cerra drew a long breath. “well, it’s like this. mr. malone, when the boss tells me he wants a thing done, he means he wants it done. he tells me he wants this Sanders dame searched for Gumbril’s papers, so I know he wants her searched. So all of a sudden there she is shot, right smack on the corner of State and madison Streets, and fifty thousand people milling around. what am I going to do?”

“我能猜三次吗？” 马龙愉快地说，“还是你直接告诉我？”

“do I get three guesses?” malone said pleasantly, “or do you tell me?”

“我这就告诉你，” 这个枪手说，“我们把车停在几个街区外的一个停车场里，明白吗。在运尸车开来之前，我和路易悄悄走过去，开车回到拐角处。那时他们已经把这个女人抬上了车，两个警察坐在前排座位上，所以我们开车跟在后面，尾随运尸车，想着接下来该怎么办。我知道胡克想要那些文件，明白吗？”

“I’m telling you,” said the gunman. “we got the car parked in a lot a few blocks off, see. before the dead wagon pulls up, me and Louie ducks up and gets the car and drives back to the corner. by that time they got the dame inside, with two cops sitting up in the front seat, so we drive along and tails the dead wagon, trying to think what to do next. I know the hook wants them papers, see?”

“是，是，是，” 马龙说，“但看在上帝的份上……”

“Yes, yes, yes,” malone said. “but for the love of God-”

“她已经死了，后面没人陪她，” 小乔治说，“而且那些门很容易打开。所以当运尸车被堵在路上时，我从车里跳出来，打开门，跳了进去。就是这么简单。”

“She being dead already, there ain’t nobody in back with her,” Little Georgie said. “And those doors are easy to open. So when the dead wagon gets stalled in traffic, I hops out of the car, opens the doors, and hops in. It was as easy as that.”

“听你这么一说，” 马龙说，“我觉得我以前努力谋生的方式真是浪费时间。”

“the way you tell it,” malone said, “I think I’ve been wasting my time trying to make a living the hard way.”

“让他说完，” 杰克沙哑地说。

“Let him finish,” Jake said hoarsely.

“然后我搜查了她。包里没有，口袋里也没有。我脱掉她的衣服，衣服里面也没有缝任何东西，我脱掉她的长袜，袜子里也没有。那时我就知道她根本没有带任何文件，我该怎么办呢？”

“then I searched her. Nothing in the bag. Nothing in the pockets. I take her dress off. Nothing sewed inside it. I take the stockings off. Nothing in the stockings. by that time I know she ain’t got no papers of no kind. what am I going to do?”

没有人提出任何建议。当枪手再次开口时，他的声音很低，带着一种奇怪的尴尬。“马龙先生，我得向胡克证明我确实搜查了那个女人，我怎么证明呢？突然之间，我灵光一闪，我只要把这个女人的衣服带回去就行了，这样就能证明我搜查过她。所以我把所有的衣服卷成一团，夹在胳膊下面，打开门，等着运尸车再次被堵在路上，然后跳出来，路易用车接我，我们就走了，事情就是这样。”

No one had any suggestions. when the gunman spoke again, his voice was low, curiously embarrassed. “mr. malone, I got to prove to the hook I really searched the dame. how’m I gonna prove it? All of a sudden it e to me in a kind of flash. I’d just take the dame’s clothes back with me. that oughta prove I searched her. So I rolls all the clothing up in a bundle, sticks it under my arm, opens the door, waits till the dead wagon slows down in traffic again, hops out, Louie picks me up in the car, away we go, and there you are.”

“我真希望我当时也在场，” 海伦说。

“I wish I had been,” helene said.

马克斯?胡克脸上的笑容是对他手下的人充满极大自豪的笑容。马龙总结了整个情况。他说：“你是说，在去太平间的路上，你上了一辆警察的救护车，搜查并脱掉了尸体的衣服，然后安然无恙地离开了？”

the smile on max hook’s face was one of great pride in his boys. Jake looked reverent. It was ma-lone who summed up the situation. he said, “You mean you got in a police ambulance on the way to the morgue, searched and undressed the body, and got clean away?”

“当然，” 小乔治?拉塞拉说，“胡克让我搜查她，我就搜查了她。” 他似乎费力地说着。“我不喜欢这样做。我以前从没给女人，哪怕是死女人，脱过衣服。”

“Sure,” said little Georgie la cerra. “the hook told me to search her, and I searched her.” he seemed to speak with effort. “I didn’t like to do it. I never undressed no lady before-no dead lady.”

他的脸，从头发到衣领，红得鲜艳夺目。

his face, from hair to collar, was a brilliant, gorgeous crimson.

“嗯，对于一个业余者来说，这活儿干得不错，” 马龙最后说。他给海伦和正在检查死者衣物的杰克打了个手势，杰克脸上带着好奇的皱眉。在门口，这位律师停顿了一下，好像刚刚想起了什么。

“well, it was a nice job for an amateur,” malone said at last. he signaled to helene, and to Jake, who was examining the dead woman’s clothing, a curious frown on his face. At the door, the lawyer paused as though he had just remembered something.

“胡克，你对莫娜?麦克莱恩了解多少？”

“hook, what do you know about mona mcclane?”

这个黑帮老大的脸上露出了一种真诚的钦佩之情。“那个女人！你知道她做了什么吗？她在我的游戏中打败了我。如果再多几个像她这样的人，这个城市里的每一家赌场都会亏损。” 他叹了口气，摇了摇头。“她四次把银行的钱都赢光了。然后她提出要用她的赢来的钱和赌场对赌，结果鬼才信，她又赢了！”

A look of sincere admiration came over the gangster’s face. “that dame! You know what she done? She took me at my own game. many more people like her, and every gambling house in the city would run at a loss.” he sighed and shook his head. “Four times she cleaned out the bank. then she offers to bet her winnings against the casino, and I’m God damned if she didn’t win!”

“她认识冈布里尔吗？” 马龙漫不经心地问道。

“did she ever know Gumbril?” malone asked unconcernedly.

胡克摇了摇头。“像她这样的优秀女人，怎么会认识冈布里尔这样的人呢？” 他又叹了口气，那效果就像一座山被地震震动一样。“一个优秀的女人。但相信我，和她对赌可不是什么好主意！”

hook shook his head. “what would a swell dame like that be doing, knowing a guy like Gumbril?” he sighed again, the effect was not unlike that of a mountain caught in an earthquake. “A swell dame. but take it from me, she’s a bad one to bet with!”