牛津书虫《谁谋杀了总统》03：第三天
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The Third Day
Alex slept well for many hours, and the next morning Marta put a big breakfast on the table. Alex ate hungrily, and Marta talked.'What's happening to this country?' she said. 'I don't know. I didn't like the old President. He was old and stupid. There's never much food in the shops. When did I last eat some good meat?' she said angrily. 'I work every day, and what do I get? Nothing!'
'What do you think about the new President, then?' Alex asked.
'Oh, he's worse! He's a younger man, and he's not stupid, but he's more dangerous. He's very friendly with the police and the army. And he's putting a lot of people in prison. That's not good for the country. We want more food, not more prisoners.'
Just then they heard somebody at the door.
'Quick!' Marta said. 'Upstairs. Hide under the bed.'
Alex ran upstairs and hid. Three minutes later Marta came quickly upstairs. Her face was very angry.
'That was my friend George from the house down the road. Somebody saw you at the window this morning. It was that woman from the post office. The police give her money, and she tells them all the secrets of the village. Everybody hates her!'
'The police always have a "friend" in every village,' Alex said sadly. 'Marta, I'm going now. At once. The police are going to be here soon, and...'
'Huh!' Marta said angrily. 'I'm not afraid of the police or their questions. Alex Dinon? Who's he? Is he somebody on television?'
Alex smiled. 'You're a wonderful woman, Marta,' he said. 'Goodbye, and thank you.'
Marta looked at Alex and her old face was suddenly unhappy. 'Good luck, boy,' she said.
Alex left the house quickly. He went through Marta's back garden, and out into the fields again. He felt better after the night in Marta's house. He thought about Marta and smiled. Boy! He was thirty-three years old and a "dangerous murderer", but to Marta he was only a tired and hungry boy.
* * *
At eight ο'clock in the morning of the third day the telephone rang on Felix's desk. Felix listened, then put the phone down quickly.
'Adam!' he shouted. 'We've got him! He's in a village up north. In an old woman's house. Come on. Let's go!'
The big police car was fast, and the kilometres went quickly. Adam was tired and wanted to sleep, but Felix wanted to talk. 'I saw the Chief again last night,' he said. 'She's getting angry. I was in her office and the President phoned her. They want Dinon badly—dead or alive. Why do they want him dead?'
'I don't know,' Adam said. 'Let's find him first.'
In Marta's village a policeman stood at the door of her house. 'We looked all through the house, and there's nobody in there,' he said. 'Only Marta, the old woman. And she's not talking.'
Felix, Adam and the policeman went into the house. 'Hello!' Marta said. 'More policemen? What an exciting day!'
'Listen to the Inspector,' Adam said angrily. 'He wants to ask you some questions.'
Felix sat down and smiled at Marta. 'Now, Marta,' he said. 'Somebody saw a young man in your house yesterday. Who was he, Marta, and where did he go?'
'He was my sister's youngest son,' Marta said happily. 'He's a very nice boy.'
The policeman whispered in Felix's ear. Felix looked sadly at Marta. 'Your sister and all her family live in Australia, Marta. Who was the man in your house?'
'Oh dear!' Marta said. 'I'm an old woman, you know. Seventy-two last month. I forget things very easily. In Australia, did you say?'
Felix asked question after question, but Marta told him nothing. Sometimes the young man in her house was her sister's son. Sometimes he was the young doctor from the next village, but he was never Alex Dinon, the President's murderer. Adam got very angry and whispered to Felix：
'Can I ask the questions?'
'No,' Felix said. He did not like Adam's questions. He stood up and moved to the door, but Marta now wanted to ask him a question：
'And why do you work for the police, young man? The police always put the wrong people in prison, you know.'
'Marta,' Felix said tiredly, 'Alex Dinon is a murderer. He murdered—'
'Oh, I know that,' Marta said. 'The newspapers said that. But newspapers and the television never tell us the true story. Alex Dinon isn't a murderer. He's a nice young man.'
'A nice young man?' Felix said quickly. 'How do you know that?'
'He's got a nice face. That's why. I saw his picture on the television. I'm an old woman and I can read people's faces.'
'So who did murder the President, then?' Felix asked.
'I don't know,' Marta said. 'You're the policeman. You go and find the murderer. But I can tell you one thing. You can begin with the new President. He's got a murderer's face.'
Adam said angrily, 'That's dangerous talk.'
Marta laughed, and Felix opened the door. 'Let's go, Adam,' he said quietly.
Out in the road Adam said, 'Stupid old woman!'
'Yes,' Felix said. 'Perhaps she was... and perhaps she wasn't.'
第三天
亚历克斯睡了好几个小时，睡得很香。次日早上，玛尔塔把一顿丰盛的早餐摆在了桌子上。亚历克斯狼吞虎咽地吃着，玛尔塔则和他说话。“这个国家发生了什么事？”她说，“我不知道。我不喜欢前任总统，他既老又蠢。商店里从来都没有多少吃的东西可供应，我上次吃的那些肉真是美味，哎，那是什么时候的事了呢？”她愤怒地说着，“我每天干活，但是我得到了什么呢？一无所有！”
“那你觉得新总统怎样？”亚历克斯问。
“唉，他更糟糕！他年轻一点儿，也不蠢，却更阴险。他同警察和军队关系暧昧，他把很多人都关进了监狱。这对这个国家可没什么好处，我们需要的是更多的食物，而不是囚犯。”
正在这时，他们听到门口有人。
“快！”玛尔塔说，“上楼去，藏在床底下。”
亚历克斯跑到楼上，藏了起来。三分钟后，玛尔塔很快地上楼来了。她看起来怒气冲冲。
“是我的朋友乔治，他就住在路那头的那所房子里。今天早上，有人看见你站在窗口边。是邮局的那个女的。警察给了她钱，她就把村里所有的秘密都告诉给他们。所有的人都恨她！”
“在每一个村庄，警察都会有一个‘朋友’。”亚历克斯悲哀地说，“玛尔塔，我要走了，现在就走，警察马上就要来了，还有……”
“哼！”玛尔塔愤怒地说，“我才不怕警察或者他们的盘问呢。亚历克斯·迪农？他是谁？是个电视上的人物？”
亚历克斯笑了。“你真是个了不起的女人，玛尔塔！”他说，“再见，谢谢你！”
玛尔塔看着亚历克斯，她那苍老的脸突然变得神色凝重。“祝你好运，孩子。”她说。
亚历克斯很快地离开了。他穿过玛尔塔的后花园，又走到了那片地里。在玛尔塔家休息了一个晚上之后，他感觉好多了。他想到玛尔塔时，笑了。孩子！他已经33岁了，而且是个“危险的谋杀犯”，但是在玛尔塔眼里，他只不过是个饥困交加的孩子。
* * *
第三天早上8点钟，费利克斯办公桌上的电话响了。费利克斯接听着，很快就把电话放下了。
“亚当！”他喊道，“我们找到他了！他在北部的一个村子里，在一个老太太家。快点儿，咱们走！”
大警车呼啸而过，不一会儿已经跑过了好几公里。亚当觉得很累，想睡觉，但费利克斯却要和他说话。“我昨晚又见到警长了，”他说，“她很生气。我在她的办公室的时候，总统来了电话。他们急切地要抓住迪农——不管是死是活。他们为什么想让他死呢？”
“我也不知道，”亚当说，“我们还是先找到他吧。”
在玛尔塔居住的那个村庄，一个警察站在她的家门口。“我们搜查了整个房子都没找到人。”他说，“只有玛尔塔一个人，就是那个老太太。而她什么也不说。”
费利克斯、亚当和那个警察走进了房子。“你们好！”玛尔塔说，“又多了几个警察！今天真令人兴奋！”
“听警员问话，”亚当怒气冲冲地说，“他有问题要问你。”
费利克斯坐了下来，冲玛尔塔笑了笑。“好，玛尔塔，”他说，“昨天有人看到你的房子里有一个年轻人，他是谁，玛尔塔？他去哪儿啦？”
“他是我妹妹的小儿子，”玛尔塔开心地说，“他真是个不错的孩子。”
那个警察对费利克斯耳语了些什么。费利克斯忧郁地看着玛尔塔。“你妹妹全家都住在澳大利亚，玛尔塔。在你房子里的那个人到底是谁？”
“噢，天哪！”玛尔塔说，“你看，我老啦。我上个月就72岁了，动不动就忘事儿。你说他们在澳大利亚？”
费利克斯一个问题接着一个问题地问，但是玛尔塔什么也没告诉他。一会儿说她房子里的年轻人是他妹妹的儿子，一会儿又说他是邻村的年轻医生，反正永远不会是亚历克斯·迪农，那个谋杀总统的凶犯。亚当非常生气，对费利克斯耳语道：
“我可以问些问题吗？”
“不行。”费利克斯答道。他不喜欢亚当的问题。他站起身来向门口走去，但是玛尔塔却要问他一个问题：
“年轻人，你为什么要当警察？你知道，警察总是把不该抓的人关进监狱。”
“玛尔塔，”费利克斯疲惫地说，“亚历克斯·迪农是个杀人犯，他谋杀了——”
“哦，这我知道，”玛尔塔说，“报纸上登了。但是报纸和电视从来不会告诉我们事实的真相。亚历克斯·迪农不是杀人犯，他是一个不错的年轻人。”
“一个不错的年轻人？”费利克斯很快地反问道，“你怎么知道？”
“他的脸很友善，就因为这个。我在电视上看到了他的照片。我是一个老太太，活了这么多年，能够读懂人的脸。”
“那么到底是谁谋杀了总统呢？”费利克斯问。
“我不知道。”玛尔塔说，“你是警察，你去抓那个谋杀犯。但是我可以告诉你一件事情。你可以从新总统开始查，他长了一张谋杀犯的脸。”
亚当恼怒地说：“这么讲话可是很危险的。”
玛尔塔笑了，费利克斯打开门，“咱们走，亚当。”他平静地说。
在外面的路上，亚当说：“这个愚蠢的老太婆！”
“是呀，”费利克斯说，“也许她很蠢……但也许她一点儿也不蠢。”
