“Well?” Jake said crossly.
“那么，她会那么平静地离开，把那张证书留在那里让任何人都能找到吗？”
“Would she, then, have calmly gone away and left that certificate there for anybody in the world to find?”
过了一会儿，杰克不好意思地说：“不，她不会。但也许她不知道去哪里找它。”
After a moment Jake said sheepishly, “No, she wouldn’t. But maybe she wouldn’t have known where to look for it.”
“你也不知道，” 律师说，“但你找到了。而且你没有知道要找什么的优势。即使她没有发现盒子没锁，她也会猜到证书在里面，然后把整个盒子都拿走。这就是为什么当我发现盒子里的东西时，我知道我一直都错了。这就是为什么当我发现它的时候那么震惊，因为按照我的所有推理，它不应该在那里。” 他喝完了他的黑麦威士忌，用手帕擦了擦嘴唇，然后相当自负地说：“观众还有问题吗？”
“Neither did you,” the lawyer said, “but you found it. And you didn’t have the advantage of knowing what to look for. Even if she hadn’t discovered the box was unlocked, she’d have guessed that the certificate was in it and carried the whole thing away. That’s why, when I found what was in the box, I knew I’d been wrong all along. That’s why I was so dumfounded when I discovered it, because, by all my reasoning, it shouldn’t have been there.” He finished his rye, wiped his lips on his handkerchief, and said, rather pompously, “Any more questions from the audience?”
“有上千个问题，” 杰克说，“但我才不会问呢。”
“Thousands,” Jake said, “but I’m damned if I’ll ask.”
莫娜?麦克莱恩说：“你怎么知道是艾伦？”
Mona McClane said, “How did you know it was Ellen?”
“因为和我知道不是你的原因正好相反，” 马龙说。他停顿了一下然后大喊：“格斯！”
“For the reverse of the reason I knew it wasn’t you,” Malone said. He paused and yelled, “Gus!”
“别理他，” 海伦说。“他靠让人困惑为生。”
“Don’t mind him,” Helene said. “He makes his living by confusing people.”
马龙不理她。“在今晚那个房间里的人当中，有五个人有明确的理由想要谋杀约书亚?冈布里尔，以及后来他的妹妹。莫娜?麦克莱恩、威利斯?桑德斯、达芙妮?桑德斯、艾伦?奥格特里和奥格特里夫人。我用在你身上的那套推理也适用于他们。在冈布里尔被杀之前，那个盒子里一定有与第一任桑德斯夫人被杀以及艾伦?奥格特里被绑架有关的文件。可能还有与奥格特里夫人的私人信息服务有关的东西。” 他向莫娜?麦克莱恩解释了他从马克斯?胡克那里了解到的情况。“当我打开盒子的时候，里面只有那张结婚证书。奥格特里的文件不见了，因为它们是冈布里尔被杀的原因。桑德斯的文件不见了，因为艾伦拿走了它们，用来勒索威利斯?桑德斯给她的男朋友一份工作。任何与奥格特里夫人有关的东西都不见了，因为她是艾伦的母亲。”
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