马龙说：“你尽管去查。查到了告诉我一声，好吗？我自己也不知道这把枪是谁的。”
“Malone said, “Go as far as you like. And let me know what you find out, will you? I don’t know myself who owns it.”
冯?弗拉纳根咧嘴笑了。“我会的，在你的二十四小时期限结束之前。” 他又看了看枪，然后看了看表。“更好的是，我跟你打赌两夸脱杜松子酒，如果这把枪是在芝加哥买的，我在午夜之前就能查到它的来源。”
“Von Flanagan grinned. “I will, before your twenty-four hours are up.” He looked at the gun again and then at his watch. “Better than that, I’ll bet you two quarts of gin that if it was bought in Chicago, I’ll have it traced before midnight.”
“成交，” 马龙冷冷地说。“我跟你赌。不是因为我怀疑你做不到，而是因为我知道如果有两夸脱杜松子酒作为赌注，你会做得更快。”
“Done,” Malone said coldly. “I’ll take you on that. Not because I doubt you can do it, but because I know you’ll do it quicker if there’s two quarts of gin in it for you.”
杰克刚要说话，又忍住了。马龙到底在干什么？
“Jake started to speak, stopped himself. What in blazes was Malone doing?”
冯?弗拉纳根仍然若有所思地看着枪。“马龙，你的委托人是谁？”
“Von Flanagan was still regarding the gun very thoughtfully. “Malone, who’s your client?”
“在这个案子里我没有委托人，” 律师立刻回答。
“I have none in connection with this case,” the lawyer said promptly.
警察叹了口气。“我不会说你在撒谎，但上帝啊，我不相信你。听着，” 他突然说，声音里带着一丝怀疑。“你告诉我你不知道这把枪是谁的。”
“The police officer sighed. “I won’t call you a liar, but by God, I don’t believe you. Listen here,” he said suddenly, a suspicious note creeping into his voice. “You told me you didn’t know who this gun belongs to.”
“我不知道，” 马龙说。
“I don’t,” Malone said.
“那你，” 冯?弗拉纳根问道，他的声音再次稳步升高接近吼叫，“如果你不知道这把枪是谁的，你是怎么拿到它的？” 他在质问 “你从哪里得到的？” 时达到了吼叫的高潮。
“Then how,” Von Flanagan asked, his voice again rising steadily toward a roar, “how did you get hold of it if you don’t know who it belongs to?” He reached the climax of the roar as he demanded, “Where did you get it?”
马龙说：“从圣诞老人那里。”
“Malone said, “From Santa Claus.”
这位疲惫不堪的警察靠在椅子上，发表了一通长篇大论，在其中他把约翰?J?马龙描述成一个最声名狼藉、惯于说谎的人，其出身不仅不合法、不道德，而且在其他方面也极不正规。他以满脸通红和向海伦道歉结束了这番话。
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