書蟲二級《法蘭克福的耳環(huán)》：警察來訪

2.A visit from the police
2．警察來訪

Jennifer did not sleep well that night. She woke up feeling tired and unhappy. When she arrived at Dr Gibson's surgery, she looked into the waiting-room. It was nearly full. Another busy morning, she said to herself. Just then she heard the doctor's car outside. He hurried in and went into his room.

珍妮弗整晚都沒睡好，醒來時依然覺得疲憊，心情很糟。到達吉布森大夫的診所后，她朝候診室里瞧了瞧，里面幾乎坐滿了人。她暗想，又是一個繁忙的早晨。這時她聽到了屋外吉布森大夫的汽車聲。他匆匆忙忙地走進了自己的房間。

Three hours later he finished with his last patient. Jennifer brought a cup of coffee and put it on Dr Gibson's desk. He said thanks and she turned to go.

三個小時之后，他看完了最后一個病人。珍妮弗端來了一杯咖啡，放在了吉布森大夫的桌上。他說了聲謝謝，珍妮弗隨即轉身要走。

Er—just a minute,' he called after her, 'I want a word with you.' He sounded a little cross. 'There was a phone call for you this morning—about an hour ago. You were busy at the time so I answered it.'

他叫住她說：“嗯——稍等，我有幾句話想跟你說。”聽他的語氣似乎有些生氣。“今天早上，大概一個小時前，有個電話找你。當時你忙得脫不開身，所以我接了。”

Oh, who was it?'

“哦，是誰打來的？”

Let me see—I wrote it down somewhere.' He began to move the papers on his desk. 'She said that she was a friend of your brother's.'

“讓我看看，我把它寫在什么地方了。”他翻弄著桌上的文件。“她說她是你弟弟的一個朋友。”

My brother? But why did she want me?'

“我弟弟？但她打電話找我干什么？”

Ah, here it is.' He gave Jennifer a piece of paper. On it was a name—Wendy. 'She didn't leave a number. She'll call you again at home.'

“噢，在這兒呢。”他遞給珍妮弗一張紙。上面寫著一個人的名字——溫迪。“她沒有留下電話號碼。她會再給你家里打電話的。”

Jennifer looked at the name. Wendy?... Wendy who? she asked herself.

珍妮弗看著上面的名字。溫迪？……哪個溫迪？她問自己道。

Thank you, Dr Gibson,' she said.

“謝謝你，吉布森大夫。”她說。

And tell her, please, no phone calls during surgery hours.'

“麻煩你告訴她，就診時間不要打電話來。”

I'm sorry. It won't happen again.' Jennifer wanted to explain that she did not know this Wendy but decided not to. A few minutes later Dr Gibson shouted goodbye to her and Jennifer was alone. She knew a few of Richard's friends but nobody called Wendy. But Richard changed his girl friends as often as his shirts! Jennifer did not try to remember all their names.

“我很抱歉。不會再有下次了。”珍妮弗本想向他解釋她根本不認識這個叫溫迪的人，但她又打消了這個念頭。幾分鐘后吉布森大夫大聲說了句“再見”便離開了，屋里只剩下了珍妮弗一人。理查德的朋友她倒認識一些，可卻沒有一個叫溫迪。但是理查德換女朋友就像換襯衫一樣頻繁！珍妮弗無法把她們的名字全都記下來。

*　　*　　*

*　　*　　*

At the end of the day Jennifer arrived at her flat and was going up the stairs when she heard voices above. Two men were standing outside her door. One of them came up to her. 'Miss Walton?' he asked. 'My name's Detective Barrett. I'd like to ask you a few questions, please. Can we come in?'

一天結束后，珍妮弗回到了寓所。上樓的時候，她聽到樓上有說話聲。兩名男子正站在她家門口，其中一位向她走來。“您是沃爾頓小姐嗎？”他問道，“我是警探巴雷特。請允許我問你幾個問題。我們可以進屋嗎？”

She turned the key in the lock and pushed open the door, and all three of them went inside and sat down.

她用鑰匙開了鎖，然后將門推開，三個人進屋坐了下來。

It's about Mr Richard Walton. He's your brother, I think,' Barrett began. He spoke softly but he had a hard voice, cold and unfriendly, and his light blue eyes never left Jennifer's face. 'When did you last see him?'

“是關于理查德·沃爾頓先生的事情。我想他是你弟弟。”巴雷特開始說道。他說話聲音很輕，但卻強硬、冷淡，讓人感到不友好，他那雙淡藍色的眼睛一直目不轉睛地盯著珍妮弗的臉。“你最后一次見到他是什么時候？”

Jennifer told him.

珍妮弗告訴了他。

And before that?'

“那么之前一次呢？”

I'm not sure—about three or four weeks ago.'

“我不是很確定，大概是三四個星期之前吧。”

Those light blue eyes were still on her. She was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

這雙淡藍色的眼睛依然注視著她。這讓她開始感到很不自在。

You didn't see him last weekend, then?'

“這么說來上個周末你沒有見到他嘍？”

No.'

“沒有。”

Try to remember—did he come here last Saturday? In the evening?'

“試著好好想想。上周六他來過這兒沒有？晚上的時候？

No.'

“沒有。”

You're sure?'

“你肯定嗎？”

Yes, of course I'm sure.'

“是的，我當然可以肯定。”

Barrett's voice became a little louder. 'You didn't meet him in some other place? At the airport perhaps?'

巴雷特稍稍提高了嗓門。“你沒在其他地方見過他嗎？比如說在機場？”

No, I didn't. I haven't seen him for nearly a month, I tell you. Until last night, I mean.'

“是的，我沒見過他。告訴你我差不多已經一個月沒見過他了。我的意思是直到昨天晚上。”

Last night...' Barrett said after her. 'Tell us more about last night. You took a man to hospital...from Maxim's restaurant.'

“昨晚……”巴雷特接過她的話。“請告訴我們更多關于昨晚的情況。你從馬克西姆餐廳……送一位男士去了醫(yī)院？”

Yes.'

“是的。”

A friend of yours?'

“他是你的朋友？”

I never saw him in my life before. He fell and hurt himself. They said that he had a bad heart so I went to the hospital with him. That's all.'

“我以前從沒見過他。他摔倒后傷著了自己。他的同伴們說他心臟不好，所以我就送他去了醫(yī)院。就這樣。”

You never saw him before? You surprise me, Miss Walton.' Barrett was watching her carefully. 'You didn't know that he was Mr Joe Kelly, your brother's boss?'

“難道你以前從沒有見過他嗎？沃爾頓小姐，你真讓我感到吃驚。”巴雷特仔細觀察著她的表情。“難道你不知道他就是喬·凱利先生，你弟弟的老板嗎？”

No, I didn't.'

“是的，我不知道。”

Really? You didn't know him? Very strange, don't you think?'

“真的嗎？你不認識他？你不覺得這太奇怪了嗎？”

All these questions—she was feeling angry now. She stood up and went across to Barrett. 'Look, Detective Barrett, I'm getting tired of this. What's it all about? You want me to answer your questions and you don't tell me why. What's the matter—I want to know. Is Richard in trouble?'

這一連串的問題開始讓她感到惱怒。她站起身，走向巴雷特，“聽著，巴雷特警探，我簡直煩透了。這一切是怎么了？你想讓我回答你的問題，卻不告訴我是為了什么。我想知道出了什么事。是理查德遇到了什么麻煩嗎？”

Barrett held up his hands. 'All right, take it easy.' He gave a little smile but his eyes were cold and he was still looking hard at Jennifer. The other detective said something quietly to Barrett. Then Barrett went on, 'Your brother—what do you know about his girl friend?'

巴雷特抬起了手。“沒什么，別緊張。”他擠出一絲微笑，但那雙冷漠的眼睛仍死死盯住珍妮弗。另一位警探悄悄地對巴雷特說了些什么，然后巴雷特繼續(xù)說道，“你弟弟——你認識他的女朋友嗎？”

His girl friend?'

“他的女朋友？”

Yes, Wendy. He works with her at Joe Kelly's.'

“是的，溫迪。理查德和她同在喬·凱利的公司做事。”

Wendy! The mystery telephone call at the surgery that morning! Jennifer tried to hide her surprise. She looked first at Barrett, then at the other man. Then she said coldly, 'Richard doesn't talk to me about his girl friends.'

溫迪！早上在診所接到的神秘電話！珍妮弗試圖掩飾內心的驚奇。她先看了看巴雷特，又看了看另一位警探。然后冷冷地說：“理查德沒跟我提起過他的女朋友。”

He's told you about Wendy, I'm sure. They're very friendly, the two of them. They went to Germany together.' He turned to the other man. 'Last weekend, wasn't it?'

“我敢肯定他跟你提起過溫迪。他們彼此相處得非常融洽，還一起去了德國。”他扭頭對另一個警探說，“是上周末，對吧？”

The second detective moved a little nearer and spoke quietly to Barrett. 'She doesn't know anything about this. You'll have to explain it to her.'

另一個警探稍稍湊近了一些，輕聲對巴雷特說：“她對此毫不知情。你得向她解釋解釋。”

Barrett turned to Jennifer again. 'We're looking for some stolen jewellery, from Germany. And we believe that your brother knows something about it. You won't like this, Miss Walton, but your brother works for a criminal, a thief, and one of these days he's going to find himself in trouble.'

巴雷特又回過頭對珍妮弗說：“我們正在尋找一批從德國偷來的珠寶。我們相信你弟弟了解一些情況。沃爾頓小姐，這話你恐怕不愛聽，但你弟弟是在為一個罪犯、一個小偷效勞，很快他就會發(fā)現自己惹上麻煩了。”

But my brother lost his job yesterday. He told me last night. So he doesn't work for this man any more.'

“但我弟弟昨天丟了工作。他昨晚告訴我的，所以他以后不會再為這個人干活了。”

Barrett smiled. 'Perhaps he doesn't...or perhaps he wants people to think that he doesn't work for Kelly.' He went on. 'If you don't want to see your brother in prison, tell him to keep away from Kelly. And from beautiful young girls like Wendy.'

巴雷特笑了。“他有可能不再為凱利工作了，也有可能只是想讓別人這么認為。”他接著說道，“如果你不想看到你弟弟坐牢的話，就讓他離凱利遠點兒，還有離像溫迪這樣年輕漂亮的女孩遠點兒。”

Jennifer looked at him and said nothing.

珍妮弗看著他，一言不發(fā)。

Barrett stood up. He looked at the other man and they both moved to the door. Jennifer followed and opened it for them.

巴雷特站起身，瞅了另一位警探一眼，便和他一起朝大門走去。珍妮弗跟在他們身后，為他們打開了門。

Good night, Miss Walton. Thanks for your help.'

“晚安，沃爾頓小姐。感謝你的幫助。”

They walked to the top of the stairs. Jennifer waited for a few seconds, then went inside and closed the door.

他們走到了樓梯口。等了幾秒鐘之后，珍妮弗走進屋，關上了門。

Oh Richard, she thought. What is happening? What are you doing? Why can't you stay out of trouble?

噢，理查德，她心里想道。出什么事兒了？你在做什么呢？為什么你就不能不惹是生非呢？

She telephoned Richard's flat, but there was no answer. So she went to bed, and worried half the night about her young brother.

她給理查德的住所打了電話，但無人接聽。于是她上床躺了下來，并且整整半宿都在為她這個弟弟擔憂。

*　　*　　*

*　　*　　*

The next day, Saturday, she worked only in the morning. When Dr Gibson's surgery finished, she went home to have lunch. Then she planned to go round to Richard's flat and talk to him. But when she got into her flat, the telephone was ringing. She ran across the room and answered it.

翌日是星期六，她只有一個上午的班。在吉布森大夫的診所里忙完后，她就回家吃午飯，然后打算繞道去理查德的公寓跟他談談。然而她剛進家門電話鈴就響了，她穿過屋子，跑過去接起了電話。

Hello, is that Jennifer Walton?' someone asked. It was a girl's voice.

“你好，是珍妮弗·沃爾頓小姐嗎？”對方問道。這是個女孩兒的聲音。

Yes, Jennifer here. Who's speaking?'

“是的，我是珍妮弗。您是哪位？”

The caller was silent for a second or two, then said, 'You don't know me, but I'm a friend of your brother's. Are you free just now? I need to see you. It's important.' She went on quickly. 'I'm just round the corner from your flat. Can I come up? I'll be there in three minutes.' And she put the phone down.

打電話的人沉默了片刻，然后說道：“你不認識我。我是你弟弟的一個朋友。你現在有時間嗎？我想跟你見一面，這件事非常重要。”她又立即接著說，“我就在你公寓附近的拐角處。我能上去嗎？3分鐘就到。”她隨即放下了電話。

Jennifer was waiting at the door when her visitor arrived. She looked at her in surprise. She knew that face. It was the young girl from Maxim's, but without the gold ear-rings today.

當這位來訪者到達時，珍妮弗正等在門口。眼前的女孩讓珍妮弗大吃一驚，她認得這張面孔。她正是馬克西姆餐廳里的那位年輕女孩，不過今天她沒有戴那對金耳環(huán)。

The girl was also surprised. 'I saw you at Maxim's on Thursday night,' she said. 'You took Joe Kelly to hospital. Are you Jennifer, Richard's sister?'

那個女孩也同樣感到很吃驚，“星期四的晚上我在馬克西姆餐廳里見過你。”她說道，“你帶喬·凱利去了醫(yī)院。你真的是理查德的姐姐珍妮弗嗎？”

Yes,' said Jennifer. She looked at her visitor, and began to put two and two together. 'And you must be Wendy.'

“是的。”珍妮弗回答道。她上下打量了一下來訪者，心里不由得開始推測。“那你一定是溫迪了。”

Yes,' the girl said.

“沒錯。”女孩兒說。

Jennifer stood back, and the girl went inside. They sat down and Jennifer looked at the girl coldly. So this was Richard's girl friend... who worked for the criminal, Joe Kelly. She had a beautiful little face and looked very unhappy, but Jennifer did not want to like her.

珍妮弗退后一步，讓女孩兒進了屋。兩人坐了下來，珍妮弗冷冷地看著這個女孩兒。這么看來她就是理查德的女朋友了……她為喬·凱利這個罪犯做事。她有一張嬌小美麗的臉，滿面愁容。不過珍妮弗并不希望自己喜歡上這個女孩兒。

What do you want to see me about?' she asked.

“你想見我是為了什么事？”她問道。

It's difficult to explain,' the girl began. She looked unhappily at Jennifer's unfriendly face. 'You see, Richard has told me about you. He says that you're very kind... you always help him. He gave me your phone numbers and said...' She stopped, and Jennifer waited. 'He said that I could ask you for help.'

“這事解釋起來有些困難，”女孩兒開口說道。她郁郁地看著珍妮弗，而珍妮弗也顯出了一臉的不友善。“你知道，理查德跟我談起過你。他說你為人善良，……還總是幫著他。他把你的電話號碼給了我，并且說……”她停了一下，珍妮弗等著她繼續(xù)把話說完。“他說我可以找你幫忙。”

Jennifer smiled to herself. Always the kind big sister, she thought. She looked at the girl's small, worried face.

珍妮弗暗自微微一笑，看著女孩兒那張嬌小但卻顯得心事重重的臉，心想：“我一向都是慈愛的大姐姐。”

Well, go on, then,' she said more kindly. 'Tell me all about it. I hope that Richard's not in trouble.'

“那么，請接著講吧，”她用更為溫和的語氣說道。“告訴我發(fā)生的一切。我希望理查德沒有遇上什么麻煩。”

You see, I work for Joe Kelly,' Wendy began. She talked for a long time, and Jennifer listened carefully.

“要知道，我為喬·凱利做事，”溫迪開始說道。她滔滔不絕地講了好長時間，珍妮弗聚精會神地聽著。

This was Wendy's story.

這便是溫迪的故事。