牛津书虫《谁谋杀了总统》04：第四天
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The Fourth Day
After he left Marta's village, Alex moved quickly and quietly across the fields. Nobody saw him. He walked and ran, and walked again. It rained all day and all night. He walked through the night, and the next morning—the fourth day—he was very tired and very hungry. He hid in some trees for an hour or two, then he went on south. Always south. To his home town.'Where can I go?' he thought. 'Perhaps I can escape from the country, but I want to see Olivia again before I leave... or before the police find me.'
But first he needed food. He had some money in his pocket—Marta's money. He remembered her words. You take it. I don't need it. An old woman doesn't need money. Alex smiled. What a wonderful old woman!
He came to a small town on a river, and found a food shop in a quiet street. He opened the door and went in. There were a lot of people in the shop, and he waited quietly behind them. People looked at him, and a man went out quickly. Alex wanted to run, but he was very hungry, so he waited. Then a woman with her young son came into the shop. The woman whispered to the boy, and the boy came up to Alex. 'There are two policemen in the street,' he said very quietly, 'and they're coming here.'
Alex looked quickly at the door, but he could not escape now. Then the shopkeeper called to him, 'Hey, you!' he said. 'Quick! Go out through the back.'
Alex ran through the back of the shop, and the shopkeeper followed him. 'I never help the police—they're all bad,' he said. He opened the back door and looked out. 'It's OK,' he said quickly. 'You can get out of town along the river. Follow the back of the houses. Nobody goes there. Good luck!'
'Thank you,' Alex said, and ran.
Three kilometres from the town Alex came to a road. He crossed the road quickly but a lorry came along at the same time. The lorry slowed down and the driver called out to him, 'Where are you going?'
Alex said the name of his home town, and the driver said, 'Come on. I'm going near there. You can come with me.'
Alex got into the front of the lorry, and the driver looked carefully into his face. 'Do I know you?' he asked.
Alex said nothing, and waited. He felt very tired. The driver stared at him for a minute, then he smiled. 'No, I don't know you,' he said. 'Get into the back of the lorry. Nobody can see you there. Are you hungry?'
'Yes, I am,' Alex said. 'Very.'
'Well, I've got some sandwiches. Here you are. Now, get in the back quickly. Before we see a police car.'
The lorry drove slowly south. Alex ate all the driver's sandwiches and then slept like a dead man.
* * *
'We're always three hours or more behind him,' Felix said to Adam in the car. 'We drive up and down the country, but Dinon always moves on before we get there.'
'Perhaps this shopkeeper can tell us something,' Adam said.
But the shopkeeper was not helpful. 'Alex who?' he said.
'DINON!' Felix shouted. He was very tired. 'He escaped from prison five days ago. Somebody saw him in your shop.'
'I don't have prisoners in my shop,' the shopkeeper said angrily. 'And I don't want the police here.'
'Did Dinon come into this shop?' Felix asked.
'Dinon,' the shopkeeper said slowly. 'What did he do? Wait a minute. Yes! Did he write a book about the old President?'
'He killed the President,' Adam said. 'He murdered him.'
'Oh yes,' the shopkeeper said. 'I remember now. It was a good book. But the President's murderer did not come into my shop this morning.'
Felix watched the shopkeeper's face carefully. 'My question', he said, 'asked about Alex Dinon.'
The shopkeeper looked at Felix and smiled slowly. 'That's right,' he said.
Felix and Adam talked to a lot of people and asked a lot of questions in that small town, but they learned nothing.
Later, back in the office, Felix was very quiet. Suddenly he looked at Adam across the desk, and said:
'We can't get Dinon's book in this country. Do you know it, Adam?'
'No,' Adam said.
Felix stared at the telephone on his desk. 'Where is Dinon?' he said slowly. 'People are helping him, but why? He's a murderer. And nobody wants to help us.'
'People never help the police in this country,' Adam said. 'People don't like us.'
'Why are we policemen, Adam?'
'It's a good job,' Adam said. 'And the money's good.'
After a minute or two Felix said, 'Did Dinon murder the President? What do you think, Adam?'
'Well, why did they put him in prison, then?'
'That doesn't answer my question,' Felix said.
'I do my job,' Adam said, 'and I don't ask questions.'
Felix looked at him, but said nothing.
第四天
离开了玛尔塔的村庄，亚历克斯走得很快，他悄悄地穿过了田地。没有人看到他。他走一会儿跑一会儿，然后又继续走。雨下了一天一夜，他在夜色中穿行。到第二天早上——那是他逃出来的第四天了——他真是又饥又乏。他在一片树丛里躲了一两个小时，然后又继续向南走。一直朝南走，就能到他的家乡。“我能去哪儿呢？”他想，“我也许能逃离这个国家，但走之前我想再见奥利维亚一面……或者说是在警察抓住我之前。”
但是首先他得吃点什么。他口袋里有些钱——是玛尔塔给他的。他记起她的话：你拿去吧，我不需要，一个老太太不需要什么钱的。亚历克斯笑了。一个多好的老太太！
他来到河边的一个小镇上，在一条安静的街道上找到了一家食品店。他打开门，走了进去。店里人很多，他静静地排在他们后面等着。人们看着他，一个男人很快地出去了。亚历克斯想跑，但是他很饿，所以只好等着。随后一个女人带着她的小儿子进了商店。这个女人悄悄地对她的孩子说了些什么，小男孩儿朝亚历克斯走过来。“街上有两个警察，”他悄悄地说，“他们正在往这儿赶。”
亚历克斯立刻看看门口，但是他现在已经逃不掉了。这时，店主对他喊道：“嗨，你！”他说，“快！从后面出去。”
亚历克斯穿过食品店的后面，店主跟着他。“我从来不帮警察——他们都是坏蛋。”他说。他打开后门，向外看了看。“没事儿，”他说得很快，“你可以沿着河出镇，顺着房后走。没人去那些地方。祝你好运！”
“谢谢你。”亚历克斯说，然后就跑走了。
跑出小镇三公里，亚历克斯来到了公路上。他很快地穿过公路，但是一辆卡车也在这时开了过来。卡车慢了下来，司机对他喊：“你要去哪儿？”
亚历克斯说出了他家乡小镇的名字，司机说：“快点儿。我正要到那儿附近去，你可以和我一块儿去。”
亚历克斯进了驾驶室，司机仔细地打量他的脸。“我认识你吗？”他问。
亚历克斯什么也没说，他等待着。他感到疲惫不堪。司机盯着他看了一会儿，笑了。“不，我不认识你。”他说，“到卡车的车厢里去吧，在那儿，谁也看不到你。你饿吗？”
“是的，我饿了，”亚历克斯说，“非常饿。”
“好的，我有一些三明治。给你。现在，赶在我们看到警车之前，快钻到车厢里去。”
卡车慢慢地驶向南方。亚历克斯吃光了司机的三明治，然后像个死人似的睡着了。
* * *
“我们总是比他慢三个小时或者更多，”费利克斯在车里对亚当说，“我们开着车在这个国家来回奔波，但每次我们还没赶到，迪农就又逃掉了。”
“也许这个店主能告诉我们点儿什么。”亚当说。
但是店主并没有给他们提供什么有用的东西。“亚历克斯什么？”他问。
“迪——农！”费利克斯吼道，他非常疲惫，“他五天前从监狱里逃走了。有人看见他在你的店里。”
“我的店里没有罪犯，”店主生气地说，“而且我也不欢迎警察。”
“迪农来过这个店吗？”费利克斯问道。
“迪农，”店主慢悠悠地说，“他是干什么的？等一下，想起来了！他是不是写过一本关于前总统的书？”
“他杀了总统，”亚当说，“他谋杀了他。”
“噢，是的，”店主说，“现在我记起来了，那是一本好书。但是今天早上，谋杀总统的凶手并没有来我的店。”
费利克斯认真地观察店主的脸。“我的问题，”他说，“是在问亚历克斯·迪农。”
店主看着费利克斯，慢慢地笑了。“没错呀。”他说。
费利克斯和亚当同那个小镇里的好多人谈了话，也问了不少问题，但是他们一无所获。
后来，回到办公室时，费利克斯非常的平静。突然，他看着桌子对面的亚当，说：
“在这个国家里，我们没法儿弄到迪农的书，你知道吗，亚当？”
“不知道。”亚当说。
费利克斯盯着桌上的电话。“迪农在哪儿呢？”他若有所思地说，“人们在帮助他，但这是为什么？他是个谋杀犯呀。然而却没人愿意帮助我们。”
“在这个国家，人们向来不帮警察。”亚当说，“人们不喜欢我们。”
“那为什么我们要做警察呢，亚当？”
“这个活儿不错，”亚当说，“还有，薪水也不错。”
过了一两分钟，费利克斯才说：“迪农谋杀总统了吗？你怎么看，亚当？”
“嗯，那他们为什么要把他关进监狱呢？”
“这不能回答我的问题。”费利克斯说。
“我只管低头干活，”亚当说，“我不问问题。”
费利克斯看着他，什么也没说。
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