The paper bag contained cheese and cold beer. Tom Burrows took out an enormous pocketknife, first used it to open the bottles, and then began cutting the cheese into generous hunks. “Now about this murder,” he began. “Who cares?” Malone said dreamily. “Who cares about the murder of an ex-Senator?” He lifted the beer bottle to his lips, took it away, and sang a bar of Kathleen Mavourneen.
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“我在乎。” 杰克说，“如果他们要因为这个绞死我的话。”
“I care,” Jake said, “if they’re going to hang me for it.”
“在威斯康星州，他们不会因为谋杀绞死人。” 律师说。“他们会把你终身监禁。我查过了以确保这一点。” 他又长时间地、惬意地喝了一大口瓶子里的酒。“你把我一路叫到这里是因为你打了一个副警长。好吧，那件事都解决了。所以让我们忘掉这一切，开心起来吧。”
“They don’t hang people for murder in Wisconsin,” the lawyer said. “They put you in jail for life. I checked up on it to make sure.” He took another long, forting pull at the bottle. “You got me all the way up here because you’d socked a deputy sheriff. All right, that’s all fixed up. So let’s forget the whole thing and be merry.”
“那只是一部分原因。” 杰克说。“最小的一部分原因。你到底是不是我的律师？”
“That’s only part of it,” Jake said. “The smallest part of it. Are you my lawyer, or aren’t you?”
“有时候，” 马龙悲哀地说，“我开始觉得我是你的监护人。” 他点燃一支雪茄，在黑暗中盯着雪茄的烟头。“他们不能把你留在这里。这是违法的。”
“Sometimes,” Malone said mournfully, “I begin to think I’m your guardian.” He lighted a cigar and stared at the end of it through the darkness. “They can’t keep you here. It’s against the law.”
“杰克也是这么说的。” 海伦告诉他。“但是治安官有更广泛的看法。”
“That’s what Jake said,” Helene told him. “But the sheriff takes a larger view.”
马龙叹了口气。“好吧。从头开始说，不要遗漏任何你能记得的事情。”
Malone sighed. “All right. Begin at the beginning and don’t leave out anything you can remember.”
他静静地听着，直到杰克说到治安官说 “我就是杰克逊县的法律” 这句话的时候，他大声地哼了一声。
He listened in silence until Jake reached the point where the sheriff had said, “I’m the law in Jackson County” Then he snorted loudly.
“你在编故事。”
“You’re making it all up.”
“他没有编故事。” 海伦说。“没人会故意编出一个那样的治安官。”
“He is not making it up,” Helene said. “Nobody would deliberately make up a sheriff like that one.”
“我还是不相信。” 他用力地抽着雪茄。“他们没有任何针对你的证据。”
“I still don’t believe it.” He puffed hard at the cigar. “They’ve got nothing against you.”
“我们在这个镇上是陌生人。” 杰克这天第二次这么说。马龙愤慨地哼了一声，杰克又补充道，“你和海伦对小镇一无所知。我在一个小镇上生活到长大成人。任何陌生人都会引起好奇和怀疑，即使他不是在发生一起重大谋杀案的时候出现。”
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“We’re strangers in town,” Jake said for the second time that day. As Malone sniffed indignantly, he added, “You and Helene don’t know anything about small towns. I lived in one until I was grown up. Any stranger is an object of curiosity and suspicion, even when he doesn’t happen along at the time of an important murder.”
“不止如此。” 汤姆?伯罗斯说。“克林治安官今年秋天要竞选连任。他不想惹任何人不高兴而失去选票。同时，他又必须给人一种他在积极处理这起谋杀案的印象。所以他声称这两个人是重要证人，把大家的注意力转移到他们身上。而且我毫不怀疑，” 他最后说，“如果随着时间的推移，他找不到其他凶手，他就会把罪名安在杰克头上，然后了事。”
“There’s more to it than that,” Tom Burrows said. “Sheriff Kling is up for reelection this fall. He doesn’t want to make anybody mad at him and lose a vote. At the same time, he has to give the impression he’s doing something about this murder. So he claims these two are material witnesses and diverts attention to them. And I haven't any doubt,” he finished, “that if, as time goes along, he doesn’t find any other murderer, he’ll just pin it on Jake, and be done with it.”
沉默了一小会儿。
There was a little silence.
“当然，” 汤姆?伯罗斯说，“在此期间他可能会找到真正的凶手。”
“Of course,” Tom Burrows said, “he may find the real murderer in the meantime.”
这次是杰克哼了一声。“就像俗话说的，我可不想在他找到凶手之前就被绞死！”
This time it was Jake who snorted. “As the saying goes, I wouldn't like to hang until he does!”
“这非常奇怪，” 马龙若有所思地说，“有人能在法院这样的公共场所走到参议员佩维利面前开枪打死他而没有人看到，这太奇怪了。周围没有人吗？没有目击者吗？”
“It’s damned funny,” Malone said thoughtfully, “that somebody could walk up to Senator Peveley and shoot him without anybody seeing it, in a public place like the courthouse. Wasn’t anyone around? Weren’t there any witnesses?”
“有整整六个目击者。” 海伦告诉他。“但是没有人看到枪击发生，因为没有人在看。”
“There were an even half-dozen witnesses,” Helene told him. “But nobody saw the shooting because nobody was looking.”
“情况是这样的，” 杰克解释道。“法院西侧有一小段楼梯通向法庭和办公室。枪击就发生在楼梯顶端。大家都在四处走动，拿文件、取帽子或者聊天，突然一声枪响，参议员佩维利大叫一声，从楼梯上滚了下去。”
小主，
“It was like this,” Jake explained. “There’s this little flight of stairs leading up to the courtroom and the offices on the west side of the courthouse. The shooting took place right at the head of the stairs. Everybody was milling around, picking up papers, or getting hats, or talking, when suddenly there was a shot, Senator Peveley let out a yell, and rolled down the stairs.”
“但是，” 律师说，“肯定有人看到了凶手。一个拿着枪的男人或女人不会凭空消失。”
“But,” the lawyer said, “somebody must have seen the murderer. A man or woman with a gun doesn’t vanish into thin air.”
“大家都在看参议员，” 杰克说。“所有人都一窝蜂地冲下那段楼梯，没有人注意其他人。结果就是那六个目击者中没有一个人能发誓在枪响的时候其他人在哪里，或者枪响后他们立刻在哪里。”
“Everybody was looking at the Senator,” Jake said. “Everybody started down that flight of stairs in a rush, nobody paid any attention to anyone else. With the result that none of those six witnesses can swear where any of the others were at the time the shot was fired, or where any of them were immediately after it was fired.”
“但是那把枪，” 马龙恼怒地说。“那把枪到底去哪儿了？”
“But the gun,” Malone said irritably. “Where the hell did the gun get to?”
“那，” 海伦平静地说，“我希望这就是让马文?克林治安官夜不能寐的原因。”
“That,” Helene said smoothly, “is what’s giving Sheriff Marvin Kling a sleepless night, I hope.”
“他们搜查了法院吗？”
“Did they search the courthouse?”
“他们什么都做了，就差把法院拆了。” 杰克说。“他们还搜查了法院里的每一个人。”
“They did everything but tear it down,” Jake said. “And they searched everyone in the courthouse.”
“好吧，” 马龙说，“如果参议员被枪击的时候只有六个人在楼上，那他们其中之一肯定是凶手。无论如何，如果杰克当时在另一个楼梯上，他就不是嫌疑人。”
“Well,” Malone said, “if only six people were upstairs at the time the Senator was shot, one of them must be his murderer. In any case, Jake is no suspect, if he was going down the other staircase at the time.”
“克林治安官说他就是杰克逊县的法律。” 杰克平静地说。“而且他不是在开玩笑。你想看到我在杰克逊县的陪审团面前受审吗？而年轻的地方检察官和治安官都在今年秋天竞选连任。”
“Sheriff Kling says he’s the law in Jackson County,” Jake said quietly. “And he’s not trying to be funny. Do you want to see me on trial before a Jackson County jury, with the young D. A. and the sheriff ing up for reelection in the fall?”
小主，
“你明白了吧？” 海伦说。“从几乎任何角度看，这都是个糟糕的处境。”
“You see?” Helene said. “Viewed from practically any angle, it’s a bad spot.”
“我见过更糟的。” 小律师安慰道。“把一切都交给我吧。杰克逊县肯定有人听说过证据。你的这个证人，这个叫钮扣的怎么样？”
“I’ve seen worse ones,” the little lawyer said reassuringly. “Just leave everything to me. Somebody in Jackson County must have heard of evidence. How about this witness of yours, this Buttonholes?”
海伦轻声笑了起来。“他是镇上的骗子。而且，他有个威尔士奶奶。”
Helene snickered. “He’s the town liar. Besides, he’s got a Welsh grandmother.”
“好吧，” 马龙严厉地说，“这是他们不能把杰克扯进去的一件事。我们会出示出生证明。”
“Well,” Malone said grimly, “that’s one thing they can’t get Jake for. We’ll produce a birth certificate.”
“太棒了。” 杰克说。“但如果你开始行动找出凶手，我会感觉更安心。”
“Wonderful,” Jake said. “But I’d feel even easier in my mind if you got to work and produced the murderer.”