If he only knew what had happened to that damned key. It had been in his pocket until just before the fight, he was fairly sure of that. At least, as sure as he was of anything that had gone on in the last few hours before daylight. Had the fight been deliberately started to enable somebody to get it away from him? He wrinkled up his brow, closed his eyes, and tried to remember the stranger who had precipitated the brawl. No one he knew. He opened his eyes again, shook his head sadly, and reflected that Joe the Angel might know.

小主，

也有可能是警察在他被关在警车里的时候，按照冯?弗拉纳根的命令把钥匙拿走了。

It was possible, too, that the police had lifted it, on von Flanagan’s orders, while he was in the wagon.

不管发生了什么，钥匙不见了。

Whatever had happened, the key was gone.

当他不知道钥匙能打开什么的时候，这把钥匙对他又有什么用呢？

What good would the key be to him anyway, when he didn’t know what it unlocked?

马龙仍在闷闷不乐地凝视着虚空，试图找出那个仍躺在库克县停尸间身份不明的人为什么在临终前喊出他的名字的原因，这时玛吉来到门口。

Malone was still staring moodily into space, trying to find some reason why the man who still lay unidentified in the Cook County morgue had called his name with his last breath, when Maggie came to the door.

“有一封从百慕大来的给你的到付电报。”

“There’s a collect cable for you from Bermuda.”

“到付？”

“Collect?”

“没错。”

“That’s right.”

马龙眨了眨眼，低声咒骂了一句，然后拿出钱包。里面有一张皱巴巴的一美元钞票、一张联合雪茄店的优惠券和一张写着 “路易丝，SHEL-7466” 的纸条。

Malone blinked, swore under his breath, and took out his wallet. It contained one crumpled dollar bill, a United Cigar Store coupon, and a slip of paper marked “Louise, SHEL-7466.”

“零用现金里有什么吗？” 他不好意思地问道。

“Is there anything in the petty cash?” he asked sheepishly.”

“只有收据。” 她不赞成地看了他一会儿，最后说：“幸好我今天早上带了些钱。” 然后回到接待室。一分钟后她又出现了，把电报放在他的桌上，说：“我会把电报费加到我的欠薪里。” 然后又走了。

“Nothing but receipts.” She looked at him disapprovingly for a moment, finally said, “It’s lucky I brought some money with me this morning,” and went back to the reception room. A minute later she reappeared, put the cable on his desk, said, “I’ll add the cable charge to my back salary,” and went away again.

马龙撕开电报，看到是杰克发来的。

Malone tore open the cable and saw that it was from Jake.

“立即电汇我回芝加哥的路费。我一到就解释一切。”

“WIRE ME RETURN FARE TO CHICAGO IMMEDIATELY WILL EXPLAIN EVERYTHING ON ARRIVAL”

“他本可以用五个字表达清楚。” 律师嘟囔道。

“He could have gotten it into five words,” the lawyer growled.

这封电报毫无意义。他生气地盯着它。杰克去百慕大的时候就带了所有他能合理拿到的钱。除此之外，他刚刚和拥有芝加哥一半财富的海伦?布兰德结婚。“我一到就解释一切。” 马龙想到了所有可能的解释，却没有一个似乎合适的，于是决定唯一能做的就是在某个地方筹到钱，然后等杰克回来解释。

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The cable didn’t make sense. He stared at it angrily. Jake had gone to Bermuda with all the money he needed for any reasonable purposes. Besides that, he had just married Helene Brand, who had half the money in Chicago. “Will explain everything on arrival.” Malone thought of every possible explanation, found none that seemed to fit, and decided the only thing to do was raise the money somewhere and wait till Jake could explain.

他刚做出这个决定，就听到接待室里有一阵轻微的骚动。有说话声，其中一个是女性的声音，听起来很熟悉。他冲过办公室，打开门。

He had just reached that decision when he heard a mild motion in the reception room. There were voices, one of them feminine and with a familiar ring. He raced across the office and opened the door.

海伦?布兰德 —— 不，现在是海伦?贾斯特了 —— 站在玛吉的办公桌旁，穿着精致的礼服，披着皮草，她的金发美丽而整齐地梳着。她那骨骼纤细、贵族气质的脸苍白得吓人，她那海蓝色的眼睛带着阴影，满是疲惫。然而，最让马龙担心的是她看起来完全清醒。

Helene Brand—no, Helene Justus now—stood by Maggie’s desk, exquisitely gowned and furred, her blonde hair beautifully and perfectly in place. Her small-boned, patrician face was deathly pale, her ocean-blue eyes were shadowed, and heavy with weariness. What worried Malone most, however, was the fact that she seemed entirely sober.

办公室里还有一个出租车司机。

There was a cab driver in the office, too.

“你好，马龙。” 她平静地说。“很高兴见到你。你能把出租车费付了让他走吗？”

“Hello, Malone,” she said calmly. “It’s nice to see you. Would you mind paying the cab driver, so he’ll go away?”

是玛吉应对了这个局面。“你去马龙先生的办公室吧，贾斯特夫人。” 她说。“我来处理出租车的事。” 她伸手去拿钱包。

It was Maggie who rose to the occasion. “You go on in Mr. Malone’s office, Mrs. Justus,” she said. “I’ll take care of the taxi.” She reached for her pocketbook.

在办公室里，马龙盯着他的访客。“杰克在哪儿？” 他不知道自己的声音是不是真的变尖了，还是只是感觉如此。

In the office, Malone stared at his visitor. “Where’s Jake?” He wondered if his voice really squeaked or if it only felt that way.

“我一点都不知道。” 海伦说，一边摘下手套。“在我看来，他可以留在那儿。这儿有喝的吗？”

“I haven’t the faintest idea,” Helene said, peeling off her gloves. “As far as I’m concerned, he can stay there. Is there a drink in the house?”