伊迪莎·文宁的大眼睛变得阴暗。她的嘴唇颤抖着。“这是——真的，只是通常那种事。东方——女人——”她咬着嘴唇。“鸦片——哦，求你了，能不能忘了这件事？文宁这个名字很——有名——真的没有必要——把所有这些都公之于众——”

Editha Venning’s immense eyes grew shadowy. Her lips quivered. “It was—really, just the usual sort of thing. The Orient—women—” She bit her lip. “Opium—Oh please, can’t it be forgotten? The Venning name is so—well known—there really isn’t any use in—dragging all that up for the public—”

马龙感谢上天赐予一个思维敏捷的女人，然后说：“她说得对，冯·弗拉纳根。这是一起谋杀案，不是勒索案。只要你知道是谁杀了那两个图伊兹，案子就结了。就让睡着的狗继续躺着吧。”在冯·弗拉纳根说话之前，他又补充道：“文宁试图保护他的妻子。他甚至雇了一个保镖来让这些人远离她。对吗，卢·怀特？”

Malone thanked heaven for a woman who could think fast, and said, “She’s right, von Flanagan. This is a murder case, not blackmail. As long as you know who killed the two Tuesdays, the case is closed. Let’s just let lying dogs sleep.” Before von Flanagan could say anything, he added, “Venning tried to protect his wife. He even hired a bodyguard to keep these men away from her. That’s correct isn’t it, Lou White?”

那个穿着有点紧的灰色西装的魁梧男人与马龙对视了一会儿。“是的，”他说，“没错。”

The burly man in the rather tight gray suit met Malone’s eyes for an instant. “Yes,” he said. “That’s right.”

小主，

“你明白了吧？”马龙对警察说，“如果你不相信我，你有卢·怀特的话为证，他是纽约州有执照的私家侦探。”他看到冯·弗拉纳根的眼睛里又开始露出沉思的神情，便赶紧说：“你应该非常感激麦克莱恩夫人。如果不是她，你现在就得出去追捕凶手，你的手下很有可能会遭到枪击。”

“You see?” Malone said to the police officer. “If you don’t believe me, you have Lou White’s word for it, and he’s a licensed private detective of the state of New York.” He saw the thoughtful look beginning to form again in von Flanagan’s eyes and said quickly, “You owe a great debt of gratitude to Mrs. McClane. If it wasn’t for her, you’d be out chasing a murderer right now, with a good chance of having pot shots taken at the men on your staff.”

警察突然笑了起来。“我非常感激，夫人。我在想——外面有一群记者在等着——你是否介意和我一起拍张照片——也许可以让我看看你用来射击的枪……”

The police officer beamed suddenly. “I’m sure grateful, ma’am. And I wonder—there’s a bunch of newspaper guys waiting outside—if you would mind having your picture taken with me—maybe showing me the gun you done it with—”

“我很乐意。”莫娜·麦克莱恩优雅地应对着这个场合，说道，“当然可以，把记者们都请进来吧。”

“I’d be delighted,” Mona McClane said, rising to the occasion. “By all means, let’s have in the press.”

这时，彭德利·泰德韦尔像一条从魔术师篮子里钻出来的蛇一样，从房间后面的大椅子上舒展开身体。“如果要拍照的话……”他满怀希望地开口说道。

At that, Pendley Tidewell uncoiled himself from the big chair in the back of the room like a serpent ing out of a magician’s basket. “If there’s going to be any pictures taken—” he began hopefully.

自从十二年前莫娜·麦克莱恩竞选国会议员（但没有成功）以来，湖滨大道上的老麦克莱恩大厦还从未同时出现过这么多摄影师。

The old McClane mansion on Lake Shore Drive hadn’t seen so many photographers together since the time twelve years ago when Mona McClane had run (unsuccessfully) for Congress.

当所有的兴奋都过去之后，冯·弗拉纳根是最后一个离开的。在过去的五分钟里，他的脸上一直带着困惑的皱眉，好像他在努力回忆一件被他忘记的事情。

When the excitement was all over, von Flanagan was the last to leave. There had been a puzzled frown on his face for the past five minutes, as though he were trying hard to remember something that had slipped his mind.

小主，

“当然，你们都得在审讯时出庭。”他心不在焉地说。有一会儿他沉默不语，揉着一只耳朵。然后他突然狠狠地瞪着马龙。

“You’ll all have to appear at the inquest, of course,” he said in a faraway tone. For a moment he was silent, rubbing one ear. Then suddenly he scowled heavily at Malone.

“那很好，”他气愤地说，“但你还是没告诉我那个人那天晚上走进天使乔的酒吧然后倒地身亡的时候为什么在找你。”

“That’s all very well,” he said indignantly, “but you still haven’t told me why that guy was looking for you the night he came into Joe the Angel’s bar and fell over dead.”

“哦，那个呀，”小律师说，好像那是件无足轻重的事，他都给忘了。“一开始，文宁决定和图伊兹兄弟交涉。他想让我代表他，并且也跟他们这么说了。除了和文宁家族产业有关的律师，他不认识芝加哥的其他律师，而麦克莱恩夫人提到过我。”他停下来重新点着雪茄。

“Oh, that,” the little lawyer said, as though it was so unimportant he had forgotten it. “At first, Venning decided to deal with the Tuesdays. He intended to have me act for him, and told them so. He didn’t know any Chicago lawyers except those connected with the Venning estate, and Mrs. McClane had mentioned me.” He paused to relight his cigar.

“第一个图伊兹不想浪费时间开始谈判，所以他决定亲自来找我，把事情推动起来。他打听出我常去哪些酒吧，然后就出去找我。文宁就在这过程中遇到了他。这就是为什么文宁知道他必须马上行动，事实上就是那个晚上。”

“The first Tuesday didn’t want to lose any time getting negotiations under way, so he decided to look me up himself and start the ball rolling. He found out what bars I usually frequent, and went out hunting for me. Venning ran into him in the midst of it. That’s why Venning knew he had to act fast, that very night, in fact.”

冯·弗拉纳根想了几分钟才说：“哦。”

Von Flanagan thought that over for a few minutes before he said, “Oh.”

他走后，房间里安静了一会儿。最后马龙摇了摇头。“我什么都想到了。我不知道我是怎么做到的。”突然他对卢·怀特咧嘴一笑。“你戴着假发的时候我更喜欢你。你到底是在哪儿学会织毛衣的？”

After he had gone, the room was quiet for a little while. At last Malone shook his head. “I think of everything. I don’t know how I do it.” Suddenly he grinned at Lou White. “I liked you better with the wig on. Where the hell did you ever learn to knit?”

小主，

那个矮壮、秃顶的男人怒视着他。“我这辈子从没这么不