“哦,” 马龙说。“你藏在后座的就是这个人。罗斯?麦克劳林。”
“Oh,” Malone said. “That’s who you have stowed away back there. Ross McLaurin.”
“你以为是谁?秀兰?邓波儿吗?”
“Who the devil did you think it was? Shirley Temple?”
“但是罗斯?麦克劳林不可能杀任何人,” 马龙说。“他喝醉了。”
“But Ross McLaurin couldn’t have murdered anybody,” Malone said. “He was drunk.”
“人在喝醉的时候会做出奇怪的事情。我记得有一次……”
“People can do funny things when they’re drunk. I remember once—”
“别管那个了,” 马龙赶紧说。“我是说他醉得不省人事了。艾伦那个女孩说她去叫他的时候,他像个蛤蜊一样冷冰冰的。”
“Never mind,” Malone said hastily. “I mean he’d passed out. The Allen girl said she went to call him, and he was as cold as a clam.”
“他可能是在给自己制造不在场证明,不是吗?或者她走后他可能醒过来了。人是会这样的。”
“He could have been giving himself an alibi, couldn’t he? Or he could have e to after she left. People do.”
“他告诉你他杀了图伊兹吗?”
“Did he tell you he’d murdered Tuesday?”
“他似乎隐约觉得自己杀了好几个人,但他不确定是谁。其中一个听起来像是杰拉尔德?图伊兹。他吐露说他不认识自己杀的那些人。”
“He seemed to have a vague impression he’d murdered several people, but he wasn’t just sure who they were. One of them sounded like Gerald Tuesday to me. He confided that he didn’t know the people he’d murdered.”
“我的天啊,” 马龙说。“你绑架了一个疯子。”
“My God,” Malone said. “You’ve kidnaped a lunatic.”
“不,是个醉鬼。这是有区别的。” 她在富兰克林街向北拐,这个时候这条街黑暗又冷清。
“No, a drunk. There’s a distinction.” She turned north on Franklin Street, dark and deserted at this hour.
“我们别在这上面争论了,但是你怎么会绑架他呢?是意外吗?”
“Let’s not quibble, but how did you happen to kidnap him? Was it an accident?”
“不完全是。我第一个念头就是把他带给你,这样他就不会向某个完全陌生的人乱说他的故事。要是他落入警察手里就太可惜了。他是个很好的男孩,而且我觉得罗特斯?艾伦爱上他了。当你自己的爱情生活刚刚结束的时候,你会对恋爱中的人很有同情心。”
“Not entirely. My first thought was to bring him to you, so he couldn’t go babbling his story to some perfect stranger. It would be a shame to have him fall into the hands of the police. He’s such a nice boy, and I think Lotus Allen is in love with him. You feel very sympathetic about people in love when your own love life has just been ended.”
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