马龙探案卷五 之 盛怒的审判七
黑暗中，河流变成了银灰色。马龙若有所思地凝视着它。
thE RIVER had turned silver gray in the darkness. malone gazed at it reflectively.
“给我讲讲这些人。” 他最后说，“先从尸体开始。”
“tell me about all these people,” he said at last, “and begin with the corpse.”
汤姆?伯罗斯舒服地坐在他的包装箱上。“已故的参议员杰拉尔德?佩维利于 1878 年出生在杰克逊县的一个农场。1885 年他在米勒溪镇的米勒镇学校上学 ——”
tom burrows settled himself fortably on his packing box. “the late Senator Gerald peveley was born on a farm in Jackson county in 1878. he attended miller township school at miller’s creek from 1885 -”
“别扯那些废话。” 小律师疲倦地说，“说重点。他的家庭、他的事业、他的性格和他的女人。”
“Skip the frills,” the little lawyer said wearily, “and get to the facts. his family, his business, his personality, and his women.”
“还有他的敌人。” 杰克补充道。
“And his enemies,” Jake added.
“他有相当多。” 年轻的新闻记者说。“我是说敌人，不是女人。据我所知，参议员过着无可指摘的生活。当然，在这样的小镇上你可以为所欲为。”
“he had plenty of those,” the young newspaperman said. “Enemies, I mean, not women. From all I ever knew, the Senator led a blameless life. of course you can get away with plenty in a town like this.”
“我听到的关于小镇的情况可不是这样。” 马龙调皮地说。
“that isn’t the way I heard it about small towns,” malone said coyly.
杰克哼了一声。“这说明你对小镇一无所知。我十五岁的时候 ——”
Jake snorted. “that shows what you know about it. why when I was fifteen -”
“别管你的私生活。” 海伦甜甜地说。“你可以写信给多萝西?迪克斯谈谈。继续，汤姆。”
“Never mind your private life,” helene said sweetly. “You can write to dorothy dix about it. Go on, tom.”
“嗯，” 伯罗斯说，“参议员佩维利是个杰出的公民。在像杰克逊这样的地方，没有哪个前参议员有那么多钱还能不是杰出人物。如果他是个普通人，每个人都会公开地、毫不掩饰地恨他入骨。”
“well,” burrows said, “Senator peveley was a prominent citizen. No ex-Senator, with that much dough, could be anything else in a place like Jackson. If he’d been an ordinary guy, everybody would have openly and admittedly hated his guts.”
“从我看到的他的样子，他可一点都不可爱。” 海伦大胆地说。
“he didn’t look exactly lovable,” helene ventured, “from what I saw of him.”
这次是马龙问：“如果他那么不得人心，他到底是怎么当选参议员的？”
this time it was malone who asked, “If he was so all-fired unpopular, how in the hell did he get elected Senator?”
“这很容易解释。” 汤姆?伯罗斯告诉他。“他在党内很受欢迎。他有很多钱可以捐给竞选活动，而且他出手大方。在整个候选人名单都顺利当选的时候，他被选为县财务主管，然后当他想竞选州财务主管的时候，党把他推了上去。最后他想竞选参议员，党说，‘哦，好吧，为什么不呢’，于是他就当选了。”
“that’s an easy one,” tom burrows told him. “he was popular with the party. he had plenty of money to contribute to campaign expenses, and he contributed with a lavish hand. he was elected county treasurer at a time when the whole ticket slid in, and then when he wanted to make it state treasurer, the party pushed him through. Finally he wanted to run for the Senate, and the party said, ‘oh well, why the hell not,’ and there he was.
“而且，” 他接着说，“他有一定的演讲天赋，也有让自己成为公众英雄的本事。在他退出之前，他对党来说是个真正的财富。”
“besides,” he went on, “he had a certain gift for oratory and for making a public hero of himself. he was a real asset to the party, until he quit.”
杰克说：“我想最终他只是厌倦了把自己当成一种财富。”
Jake said, “I suppose eventually he just got tired of making an asset of himself.”
“我刚写了一个很棒的白手起家的故事。” 汤姆?伯罗斯说。“从农场男孩到国会大厦，只需十步轻松课程。那全是胡说八道。参议员的老爸去世时留下了六七个农场。”
“I just wrote a swell rags-to-riches story,” tom burrows said. “Farm boy to capitol, in ten easy lessons. It was a lot of baloney. the Senator’s old man left half a dozen farms when he kicked off.”
马龙眨了眨眼。“在我看来这仍然像是白手起家的故事。”
malone blinked. “It still reads like rags to riches to me.”
“在这个国家，” 新闻记者说，“六七个农场意味着真正的财富。他去世的时候财富大概是那时的十倍，但那是亨利的功劳。亨利有真正的商业头脑。”
“In this country,” the newspaperman said, “half a dozen farms means real dough. he was worth about ten times that when he died, but that was henry’s doing. henry had the real business head.”
“对他来说不错。” 马龙说。“谁是亨利？”
“Nice for him,” malone said. “who’s henry?”
“参议员的兄弟。他很不寻常。” 汤姆?伯罗斯停顿了一下。“哦，好吧，你可能会亲自见到他。亨利是个鳏夫，没有孩子。参议员有一个孩子，弗洛伦斯。她和年轻的地方检察官订了婚。”
“the Senator’s brother. he’s rather unusual.” tom burrows paused. “oh well, you’ll probably meet him yourself. henry’s a widower, no children. the Senator had one child, Florence. She’s engaged to the young d. A.”
“别给我讲年轻的爱情故事。” 马龙说。“我只想知道参议员被杀的时候法院二楼都有谁。” 他又说，“你可以把这叫做从几乎最底层卷入谋杀案。”
“Spare me the young love interest,” malone said. “I just want to know who was on the second floor of the courthouse when the Senator got his.” he added, “You can call this getting in on murder on the next-to-the-ground floor.”
“别管我们是怎么卷入的。” 海伦说。“我们怎么脱身呢？”
“Never mind how you get in on it,” helene said. “how do we get out of it?”
汤姆?伯罗斯再次开口时声音若有所思。“恐怕你得了解一下这个镇的历史。像这样的一个小镇全是暗流涌动。每个人都和其他人有亲戚关系，或者通过出生、教堂、商业关系、仇恨、爱情或者债务和其他人纠缠在一起。就拿今天在法院里的那群人来说吧。”
tom burrows’ voice was thoughtful when he spoke again. “You’ll have to take the town history, I’m afraid. A little town like this is all currents and crosscurrents. Everybody is related to everybody else, or entangled with everybody else through birth, church, or business affiliations, hatred, love affairs, or debts. take that group up in the courthouse today.”
他停下来点了一支烟。“嗯，先从杰瑞?勒克斯通说起。他父亲是老勒克斯通法官，来自勒克斯通和阿普尔伯里事务所。大约十五年前曾是县法官。杰瑞的祖父也曾在这里当过勒克斯通法官。杰瑞是个聪明、讨人喜欢的年轻人，刚从法学院毕业不久。”
he paused to light a cigarette. “well, starting out with Jerry Luckstone. his father is old Judge Luckstone, of Luckstone and Applebury. was county judge about fifteen years ago. Jerry’s grandfather was a Judge Luckstone here, too. Jerry’s a bright, likable young man only recently out of law school.”
“他怎么当上地方检察官的？” 海伦问。“还是说你们在这里是从帽子里抽签选出来的？”
“how did he get to be district attorney?” helene asked. “or do you draw names out of a hat up here?”
“嗯，他被任命为助理是因为地方检察官是他家的朋友。然后老勒克斯通法官在县里有些权势，杰瑞是个聪明的年轻人，大家都喜欢他，所以几年后老地方检察官退出后他参加竞选并当选了。”
“well, he was appointed assistant because the d. A. was a friend of the family. then old Judge Luckstone is something of a power in county affairs, and Jerry’s a smart young boy and everybody likes him, so a couple of years later he ran for the office after the old d. o. dropped out, and got elected.”
“就这么简单！” 马龙钦佩地小声说。
“It’s as simple as that!” malone murmured admiringly.
“杰瑞和弗洛伦斯?佩维利大约一个月前宣布订婚。” 汤姆接着说。“我听说参议员不太高兴，但他没有直接反对。在那之前杰瑞常和阿琳在一起，我想他偶尔也会和科拉?贝尔出去，但县里大多数男性都这样。”
“Jerry and Florence peveley announced their engagement about a month ago,” tom went on. “I understood the Senator wasn’t too pleased, but he didn’t e right out and object. before that Jerry used to run around with Arlene, and I guess he used to go out with cora belle once in a while, but so did most of the male population of the county.”
“这有点《红字》的味道吗？” 海伦想知道。
“Is this a slight shade of the ‘scarlet letter’?” helene wanted to know.
“哦，不，完全不是那样。科拉?贝尔 —— 她是弗洛姆夫人 —— 有点让人皱眉，但大家还是跟她说话。我听说她还在高中的时候就有点活泼。她在毕业前两个月退学跑去了密尔沃基，至少表面上是为了找份工作，当时引起了一点议论。后来有消息说她嫁给了一个叫弗洛姆的人。几年前她和他离了婚回到了这里，靠赡养费过得相当奢华。科拉?贝尔非常有趣。” 他最后那句话带着一丝怀念的语气。
“oh no, nothing like that. cora belle - she’s mrs. Fromm - is frowned on a little, but everybody is still speaking to her. I understand she was something of a lively girl when she was still in high school. there was a little talk when she quit two months before she was to graduate and ran off to milwaukee, ostensibly, at least, to take some kind of job. then sometime later news came that she had married a guy named Fromm. A few years ago she divorced him and came back here, and she’s living fairly lavishly on her alimony. cora belle’s a heluva lot of fun.” he said the last in a faintly reminiscent tone.
“我想我要和她谈谈这个案子。” 马龙热情地说。他又说，“除了可能在某个黑暗的乡村小路上有点暧昧之外，她和参议员有什么联系吗？”
“I think I’d like to discuss the case with her,” malone said enthusiastically. he added, “Any link between her and the Senator, except possibly a little hanky-panky on some dark country lane?”
“据我所知没有。但她经常和埃伦?麦高恩的弟弟在一起，我听说那个老妇人一点也不喜欢。”
“Nothing I know about. but she runs around a lot with Ellen macGowan’s younger brother, and I’ve heard that the old dame doesn’t like it a little bit.”
律师叹了口气。“我明白你说的暗流涌动是什么意思了。” 他疲倦地说。“这个麦高恩小姐怎么样？”
the lawyer sighed. “I see what you meant about currents and crosscurrents,” he said wearily. “how about this miss macGowan?”
“埃伦?麦高恩，” 新闻记者说，“就是大家所说的那种了不起的女人。她是银行的出纳员，学校董事会成员，图书馆委员会主席，还参加了几个妇女俱乐部。一个非常受尊敬的公民，而且很能干。”
“Ellen macGowan,” the newspaperman said, “is what’s popularly known as a remarkable woman. She’s cashier of the bank, member of the school board, head of the library mittee, and belongs to a couple of women’s clubs. A highly respected citizen, and very capable.”
“我更喜欢我的女人有点无助，不要那么了不起。” 马龙说。
“I prefer my women a little more helpless,” malone said, “and not quite so remarkable.”
“二十年前，她肯定很漂亮，属于那种高挑纤细的类型。” 海伦说。“她怎么会想当女银行家呢？”
“She must have been very good-looking, in a tall, thin sort of way, about twenty years ago,” helene said. “what ever possessed her to bee a lady banker?”
“她算是继承了这份工作。” 汤姆?伯罗斯解释道。“她父亲是银行出纳员，她从学校毕业后就想当他的助手。据我所知，她很崇拜他。他也是个杰出的公民，担任过很多县里的职务。他当了很多年县财政官。如果我听到的都是真的，他是个很会享受生活的老顽童。过去常在杰克逊县集市上支持赛马，还拿闲钱去炒股。”
“She sort of inherited it,” tom burrows explained. “her father was cashier of the bank, and she wanted to be his assistant when she came out of school. From all I hear, she worshiped him. he was another prominent citizen and held a bunch of county offices. he was county treasurer for years. Something of a gay old boy, if all I hear is correct. Used to back the trotting races at the Jackson county Fair and play the market with his spare change.”
马龙不以为然地咂咂嘴。“我猜他结局很惨。”
malone clicked his teeth disapprovingly. “he came to a bad end, I presume.”
“不久前他病倒退休了。” 汤姆?伯罗斯说。“她把他送到加利福尼亚去养病，自己在这期间接管了他的工作。但他在那儿去世了，她就继续留在银行工作。”
“Some time ago he took sick and retired,” tom burrows said. “She shipped him off to california to get well and took over his job in the meantime. but he died out there, and she stayed on at the bank.”
“一种沉闷而有目标的生活。” 杰克说。“我希望她弟弟没那么出色。”
“A dreary sort of purposeful life,” Jake said. “I hope her brother didn’t turn out so well.”
“他没有。哦，我想他是个不错的农民。他比她小十五岁，他出生的时候他们的母亲就去世了，所以是她把他养大的。他一直没结婚，她很担心他会娶科拉?贝尔，都快急疯了。”
“he didn’t. oh, I guess he’s a pretty good farmer. he’s fifteen years younger than she is, and their mother died when he was born, so she brought him up. he’s never married, and she’s half out of her wits that he’ll marry cora belle.”
“就我在威斯康星州杰克逊看到的情况，” 杰克说，“他的选择可能会更糟。”
“From what I’ve seen of Jackson, wisconsin,” Jake said, “he could do a lot worse.”
“她受人尊敬，但不太受欢迎。” 汤姆?伯罗斯说。“阿琳叫她脾气坏的老猫。”
“She’s admired, but not too popular,” tom burrows said. “Arlene calls her a cross old cat.”
“一种厌世的女人。” 海伦提议道。
“A kind of misanthropussy,” helene suggested.
“这一切似乎和已故的参议员佩维利没什么关系。” 杰克打着哈欠说。“那个高奇女孩怎么样？” 他突然想起在县书记员办公室的那个电话，不知道自己是否应该说出来。
“None of this seems to have much to do with the late Senator peveley,” Jake said, yawning. “what about this Goudge girl?” he suddenly remembered the phone call in the county clerk’s office and wondered if he should have spoken.
“阿琳人不错。” 汤姆?伯罗斯突然有力地说，好像他被要求为她辩护一样。“她只是个十足的大傻瓜。” 他停顿了一下才继续说。“她在亨利?佩维利的房地产办公室工作。她父亲是县财政官，也是教会人士兄弟会的会长。他一有机会就发表公开演讲。”
“Arlene’s all right,” tom burrows said, with a sudden forcefulness, as though he’d been called on to defend her. “She’s just a plain damn fool.” he paused a moment before he went on. “She works for henry peveley in his real-estate office. her father’s the county treasurer, also head of the brotherhood of churchmen. he makes a public speech on every possible occasion.”
“一个非常该受责备的公民类型。” 杰克说着放下一个啤酒瓶。“但我看不出阿琳和已故参议员有什么联系。”
“A highly reprehensible type of citizen,” Jake said, setting down a beer bottle. “but I don’t see much connection between Arlene and the late Senator.”
“没有联系。” 汤姆?伯罗斯告诉他。“除非你把杰瑞?勒克斯通和已故参议员的女儿订了婚，以及阿琳曾经疯狂地爱着杰瑞?勒克斯通也算进去。事实上，我怀疑她现在还爱着他。”
“there isn’t,” tom burrows told him, “unless you count in that Jerry Luckstone is engaged to the late Senator’s daughter, and that Arlene used to be crazy about Jerry Luckstone. As a matter of fact, I suspect she still is.”
“嗯。” 海伦说。“这样一来，犯罪发生时在法院二楼的就还剩两个人了。”
“well,” helene said, “that leaves us two people who were on the second floor of the courthouse at the time of the crime.”
“埃德?斯金丁斯鲁德可能会杀人。” 汤姆?伯罗斯说。“但他会在盛怒之下杀人，而且很可能是赤手空拳。他是个看起来很温和的小个子，但脾气却像个野人。他当了二十四年的县委员会主席，而且是个非常出色的主席。在私人生活中，他是个非常成功的农民，也是农民合作社的负责人。”
“Ed Skindingsrude might murder somebody,” tom burrows said, “but he’d do it in a rage, and probably with his bare hands. he’s a mild-looking little guy, but he’s got the temper of a wild man. been chairman of the county board for twenty-four years, and a damned good one. In private life, he’s a very prosperous farmer, and head of the fanners’ cooperative.”
“和参议员有什么可能的联系吗？” 杰克问。“我不知道。” 新闻记者若有所思地说。“大约两年前，他在银行大厅里差点打了参议员一顿，但有人拦住了他。他声称参议员在一笔股票交易中骗了他。他曾是银行董事，但一气之下辞职了。不过，这还不足以成为两年后冷血谋杀的理由。”
“possible links with the Senator?” Jake asked. “I don’t know,” the newspaperman said thoughtfully. “he started to beat him up, right in the lobby of the bank, some two years ago, but somebody stopped him. claimed the Senator had rooked him on some stock deal. he’d been a director of the bank, but he resigned in a huff. Still, that’s hardly enough to bring on a murder in cold blood two years later.”
“嗯。” 海伦说。“还有那个英俊的县书记员，那个爱引用名言的天才。”
“well,” helene said, “there’s still the handsome county clerk, the quoting genius.”
“菲尔?史密斯连只跳蚤都不会杀。” 汤姆?伯罗斯有力地说。“他是世上最温和的人。” 他停下来打开最后一瓶啤酒。“大约十二年前，参议员佩维利和学校董事会认为古典文学对杰克逊的年轻人来说是浪费时间，而一个农场管理系会更有意义，在此之前，他一直在这里的高中教拉丁语、希腊语和古典历史。” 他又停顿了一下，然后说：“是的，我知道你要说什么，但那不是谋杀的动机。”
“phil Smith wouldn’t murder a flea,” tom burrows said forcefully. “he’s the gentlest man alive.” he paused to open the last bottle of beer. “he used to teach Latin, Greek, and classical history in the high school here, until about twelve years ago when Senator peveley and the school board decided the classics were wasted on Jackson’s youth and that a department of farm management would be more purposeful.” he paused again, and then said, “Yes, I know what you’re going to say, but that’s no motive for murder.”
“你会很惊讶的。” 马龙说。“如果你知道一些多么微不足道的事情都能引发谋杀。这个古典学者和已故参议员还有其他联系吗？”
“You’d be surprised,” malone said, “if you knew what trivial things can bring on murders. Is there any other tie between this classical scholar and the late Senator?”
“有一个。” 汤姆?伯罗斯告诉他。“参议员的妻子是菲尔?史密斯的妹妹。但仅此而已。从没人听说过菲尔对任何人发过脾气。当他失去教师职位的时候，老勒克斯通法官有个主意，让他竞选县书记员，他当选了，从那以后每年都连任。他不仅像我说的那样温和，而且镇上的每个人都喜欢他。”
“one,” tom burrows told him. “the Senator’s wife was phil Smith’s sister. but that’s all. No one ever heard of phil even losing his temper with anyone. when he lost his teaching position, old Judge Luckstone had the idea of running him for county clerk, he was elected and he’s been reelected every year since. he’s not only every bit as gentle as I said, but everybody in town loves him.”
沉默了好一会儿。
there was a longish silence.
“很多非常好的人。” 海伦最后说。“但他们似乎没有一个人杀了参议员佩维利。”
“A lot of very nice people,” helene said at last. “but none of them seems to have murdered Senator peveley.”
“他们其中之一肯定杀了。” 马龙说。“那六个人中的一个。”
“one of them must have,” malone said. “one of those six.”
他把雪茄扔到河里，站起来，像一只矮胖的猫一样伸了个懒腰。
he tossed his cigar out into the river, stood, and stretched like a short, plump cat.
“该去看现场新闻广播了。” 他看了看表宣布道。“我们走吧。”
“It’s time for that on-the-spot news broadcast,” he announced, looking at his watch. “Let’s go.”
当他们回到《企业报》办公室的时候，阿琳?高奇仍然满怀希望地坐在电话机旁。结果发现，这个晚上的平静只被两件事破坏了。钮扣发现一个有商业头脑的市民以每人十美分的价格带游客参观法院里的谋杀现场，于是他叫来了警察。一个小时后，警察发现钮扣以每人二十五美分的价格带游客参观犯罪现场，就把他扔进了市监狱。
Arlene Goudge was still sitting hopefully by the telephone when they climbed back up to the Enterprise office. It developed that the evening’s calm had been marred by only two events. buttonholes had discovered an enterprising citizen showing visitors the scene of the murder in the courthouse for ten cents a head, and had called the police. An hour later the police discovered buttonholes showing visitors the scene of the crime for twenty-five cents a head, and threw him in the city jail.
汤姆?伯罗斯向满怀渴望的阿琳挥挥手，让她加入他们，然后带路来到主街和第二街的交叉路口。这里人群的压力让马龙想起了选举前夜的巴斯豪斯?约翰酒吧，只是这里的人群稍微粗野一些。他们费力地在人群中挤出一条路来到中心，那里一个圆脸、满头大汗的年轻人正在对着一个便携式麦克风快速地说着什么，而他同样满头大汗的助手则试图把人群往后推。
tom burrows waved to the wistful Arlene to join them and led the way to the intersection of main and Second Streets. here the pressure of the crowd reminded malone of bathhouse John’s on Election Eve, save that this crowd was a little rougher. they managed to shove a path through to the center, where the newscaster, a round-faced, perspiring young man, was talking rapidly into a portable microphone, while his equally perspiring assistant tried to push back the crowd.
“我们错过了序曲。” 海伦小声说。
“we’ve missed the overture,” helene whispered.
等他们走近能听到声音的地方时，高奇先生正在接受采访。他宣称他认识参议员佩维利，从小到大认识了五十年，“你再也找不到比他更好、更有基督徒风度的绅士了。他是我们教会人士兄弟会的成员，也是社区的中流砥柱。他的去世是杰克逊县的一大损失。”
by the time they were within hearing distance, mr. Goudge was being interviewed. he declared that he had known Senator peveley, man and boy, for fifty years, “and a finer, more christian gentleman you couldn’t ask to find. A member of our brotherhood of churchmen, and a pillar of the munity. his death is a great loss to Jackson county.”
新闻播音员解释说他只是想知道高奇先生对这起谋杀案有没有什么看法。
the newscaster explained that he only wanted to know if mr. Goudge had any theories about the murder.
就在这时，一个满头大汗的第三助手跑过来，递给新闻播音员一张纸。
At this point a perspiring third assistant ran up and handed the newscaster a sheet of paper.
“女士们，先生们，我们中断这次采访插播一条重要新闻。我们刚刚得到消息，马文?克林治安官已经逮捕了地方检察官杰瑞?勒克斯通，并把他关进了县监狱，罪名是谋杀参议员杰拉尔德?佩维利 ——”
“Ladies and gentlemen, we interrupt this interview for an important news bulletin. we have just received the information that Sheriff marvin Kling has arrested district Attorney Jerry Luckstone and lodged him in the county jail, for the murder of Senator Gerald peveley -”
一直站在讲台上的埃德?斯金丁斯鲁德忘记了全国的广播听众。
Ed Skindingsrude, who had been standing on the platform, forgot the nation-wide radio audience.
“不。” 他喊道。“不，杰瑞没有杀他。”
“No,” he shouted. “No, Jerry didn’t kill him.”