The fact that he had received scandalously fat fees in all four of the affairs didn’t temper his feeling about them in the least. The money was already spent.
“我不去！” 他咆哮道。
“I won’t go!” he roared.
那个漂亮的黑发办公室女孩出现在门口。
The pretty, dark-haired office girl appeared at the door.
“你叫我吗，马龙先生？”
“Did you call me, Mr. Malone?”
“没有！” 他喊道。
“No!” he shouted.
她退了出去，嘟囔着：“我又不聋！”
She retreated, murmuring, “I’m not deaf!”
过了一段时间，第二封电报来了。
In due course of time the second telegram arrived.
约翰?J?马龙
79 西华盛顿街
芝加哥，伊利诺伊州
这是很严重的事，我们需要你。
海伦
JOHN J MALONE
79 WEST WASHINGTON ST
CHICAGO ILLINOIS
THIS IS SERIOUS WE NEED YOU
HELENE
有几分钟的时间，他坐在那里盯着电报，额头皱着。
For a few minutes he sat staring at the telegram, his forehead wrinkled.
杰克可能有麻烦了。海伦可能撞到了人。不，那不会是谋杀。虽然他确信她开着她那辆大功率汽车的方式是一种比谋杀还严重的罪行。杰克和海伦自己都不会真的去谋杀任何人。所以这不可能是非常严重的事。
Jake might be in trouble. Helene might have run over somebody. No, that wouldn’t be murder. Although he had a conviction that the way she drove her high-powered cars was a crime worse than murder. Neither Jake nor Helene would actually murder anybody, themselves. Therefore it couldn’t be terribly serious.
他找铅笔，在桌子底下找到它滚到的地方，然后写道：
He looked for the pencil, found it where it had rolled under the desk, and wrote:
海伦?贾斯特，威斯康星州杰克逊
我现在的客户的事情也很严重。他也需要我。而且他付钱给我。爱你，吻你。
马龙
HELENE JUSTUS JACKSON WISCONSIN
MY PRESENT CLIENT’S BUSINESS IS ALSO SERIOUS. HE NEEDS ME TOO. AND HE PAYS ME. LOVE AND KISSES.
MALONE
他现在的客户是他最喜欢的客户之一，一个连锁马厩的老板，不知怎么地触犯了法律。
His present client was one of his favorites, the owner of a chain of horse parlors who had somehow fallen afoul of the law.
“给哈里的妻子打电话，” 他把电报递给办公室女孩时说，“告诉她我明天就把他从监狱里弄出来。”
“And call Harry’s wife,” he told the office girl as he handed her the telegram, “tell her I’ll have him out of jail tomorrow.”
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