马龙探案卷四 之 正确的凶案 四
“但是你不能离开杰克。” 马龙愚蠢地说。“你们才刚结婚。”
“But you can’t have left Jake,” Malone said stupidly. “You’ve just married him.”
“我必须离开他才能离开他。” 海伦冷淡地说。“而且我已经离开了他。” 她坐在桌子的一角，点了一根烟。
“I had to, in order to be able to leave him,” Helene said coldly. “And I have left him.” She sat down on a corner of the desk and lit a cigarette.
“为什么？”
“Why?”
“我不会告诉你的。” 她的脸颊开始恢复了一点血色。“但不是因为你所想的那些原因。”
“I’m damned if I’ll tell you.” A little color began to e back into her cheeks. “But it wasn’t for any of the reasons you’re thinking about.”
马龙急忙说：“当然不是。” 他在口袋里摸索着找雪茄，最后找到了一根，点燃后说：“你怎么会身无分文呢？还是说你也不会告诉我这个原因？”
Malone said hastily, “Of course not.” He fumbled through his pockets for a cigar, finally found one, lit it, and said, “How e you’re broke, or are you damned if you’ll tell me that, either?”
“这是我离开杰克的部分原因。你刚才说这儿有喝的吗？”
“That’s part of the reason why I left Jake. Did you say there was a drink in the house?”
马龙在壁橱里的一顶旧草帽下找到了另一个杯子，擦了擦，拿出一瓶黑麦威士忌，把它平分到两个杯子里。他看得出这不够。想了一会儿，他拿起电话，拨了一个号码，说：“路易？我是马龙。马上给我送两夸脱黑麦威士忌来。什么？哦，是吗？我肯定是忘了。我马上给你寄张支票。快点送黑麦威士忌来。”
Malone located another glass under an old straw hat in the closet, dusted it, got the bottle of rye, and divided it into two equal parts. He could see it wasn’t going to be enough. After a moment’s reflection he picked up the phone, dialed a number, and said, “Louie? Malone speaking. Send me over a couple of quarts of rye, right away. What’s that? Oh, is it? It must have slipped my mind. I’ll send you a check right away. Hurry up with the rye.”
他猛地挂上电话。“我也身无分文。”
He banged down the telephone. “I’m broke, too.”
“多亲密啊。” 海伦评论道。“所以你终于遇到了一个喜欢珠宝的女孩。”
“How chummy,” Helene mented. “So you finally met a girl who liked jewelry.”
“是皮草。” 马龙有点脸红地说，“但你怎么知道的？”
“It was furs,” Malone said, coloring a little, “but how did you know?”
“我一直在上读心术的课。” 她拿起杯子，看了看，最后说：“一切都见鬼去吧。” 然后一饮而尽。
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“I’ve been taking lessons in mind reading.” She picked up her glass, gazed at it, finally said, “The devil with everything,” and emptied it.
马龙决定采取一种父亲般的态度。“人们一开始肯定会有这些小分歧。你会克服的。等你把事情想几天之后……”
Malone decided to adopt a fatherly attitude. “People are bound to have these little differences at first. You’ll get over it. When you’ve thought things over for a few days—”
“别结巴了。” 她重重地放下杯子说。“我已经离开他了，而且是永远离开。你可以省省你的评论了。”
“Stop stammering,” she said, setting the glass down hard. “I’ve left him and I do mean for good. You can save the mentary.”
他耸了耸肩。“这是你的事。你为什么回芝加哥？”
He shrugged his shoulders. “It’s your funeral. Why did you e back to Chicago?”
“我来告诉你我为什么回芝加哥。” 她的眼睛里闪着危险的光芒。“是因为杰克和莫娜?麦克莱恩打的那个赌。你记得吧。她跟他打赌，说她能犯下一桩谋杀案而他抓不到她的把柄，赌注是卡西诺赌场的地契。”
“I’ll tell you why I came back to Chicago.” A dangerous light came into her eyes. “It’s because of that bet Jake made with Mona McClane. You remember. She bet him the deed to the Casino she could mit a murder and he couldn't pin it on her.”
马龙沮丧地点点头。“我记得。我们在芝加哥到处跑，一有人被谋杀我们就差点累断了脖子，结果却发现是别人杀了那个人。”
Malone nodded gloomily. “I remember. We traipsed all over Chicago and damn near broke our necks as soon as some guy got murdered, only to find out it was somebody else murdered him.”
“但你知道莫娜后来怎么说的。” 她提醒他。“那个是错误的谋杀。我要找到正确的那个，然后赢得那个赌注。”
“But you know what Mona said afterwards,” she reminded him. “It was the wrong murder. I'm going to find the right one and win that bet.”
“随你便，可为什么呢？”
“Suit yourself, but why?”
“因为，” 海伦坚定地说，“这是我唯一能向杰克证明我不是一个被宠坏、娇生惯养的富家女的方法，除了在赌错马的时候给老爸发电报要钱，我就想不出别的事可做。” 她的脸颊突然变得绯红。“不是说我在乎他怎么想。”
“Because,” Helene said firmly, “it's the only way I can ever prove to Jake that I'm not just a spoiled, pampered rich brat who can't think of anything to do but wire her old man for dough when the wrong horse es in.” Her cheeks suddenly flamed scarlet. “Not that I care what he thinks.”
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“所以杰克在赌马上有点小麻烦。” 马龙喃喃地说。他觉得还是什么都不说为妙。
“So Jake had a little trouble with the horses,” Malone murmured. He decided it was wiser to say nothing more.