书虫二级《法兰克福的耳环》：警察来访

2.A visit from the police
2．警察来访

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.

珍妮弗整晚都没睡好，醒来时依然觉得疲惫，心情很糟。到达吉布森大夫的诊所后，她朝候诊室里瞧了瞧，里面几乎坐满了人。她暗想，又是一个繁忙的早晨。这时她听到了屋外吉布森大夫的汽车声。他匆匆忙忙地走进了自己的房间。

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.

三个小时之后，他看完了最后一个病人。珍妮弗端来了一杯咖啡，放在了吉布森大夫的桌上。他说了声谢谢，珍妮弗随即转身要走。

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.'

他叫住她说：“嗯——稍等，我有几句话想跟你说。”听他的语气似乎有些生气。“今天早上，大概一个小时前，有个电话找你。当时你忙得脱不开身，所以我接了。”

Oh, who was it?'

“哦，是谁打来的？”

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.'

“让我看看，我把它写在什么地方了。”他翻弄着桌上的文件。“她说她是你弟弟的一个朋友。”

My brother? But why did she want me?'

“我弟弟？但她打电话找我干什么？”

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，在这儿呢。”他递给珍妮弗一张纸。上面写着一个人的名字——温迪。“她没有留下电话号码。她会再给你家里打电话的。”

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

珍妮弗看着上面的名字。温迪？……哪个温迪？她问自己道。

Thank you, Dr Gibson,' she said.

“谢谢你，吉布森大夫。”她说。

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

“麻烦你告诉她，就诊时间不要打电话来。”

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。不会再有下次了。”珍妮弗本想向他解释她根本不认识这个叫温迪的人，但她又打消了这个念头。几分钟后吉布森大夫大声说了句“再见”便离开了，屋里只剩下了珍妮弗一人。理查德的朋友她倒认识一些，可却没有一个叫温迪。但是理查德换女朋友就像换衬衫一样频繁！珍妮弗无法把她们的名字全都记下来。

*　　*　　*

*　　*　　*

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?'

一天结束后，珍妮弗回到了寓所。上楼的时候，她听到楼上有说话声。两名男子正站在她家门口，其中一位向她走来。“您是沃尔顿小姐吗？”他问道，“我是警探巴雷特。请允许我问你几个问题。我们可以进屋吗？”

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

她用钥匙开了锁，然后将门推开，三个人进屋坐了下来。

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?'

“是关于理查德·沃尔顿先生的事情。我想他是你弟弟。”巴雷特开始说道。他说话声音很轻，但却强硬、冷淡，让人感到不友好，他那双淡蓝色的眼睛一直目不转睛地盯着珍妮弗的脸。“你最后一次见到他是什么时候？”

Jennifer told him.

珍妮弗告诉了他。

And before that?'

“那么之前一次呢？”

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

“我不是很确定，大概是三四个星期之前吧。”

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

这双淡蓝色的眼睛依然注视着她。这让她开始感到很不自在。

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

“这么说来上个周末你没有见到他喽？”

No.'

“没有。”

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

“试着好好想想。上周六他来过这儿没有？晚上的时候？

No.'

“没有。”

You're sure?'

“你肯定吗？”

Yes, of course I'm sure.'

“是的，我当然可以肯定。”

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门。“你没在其他地方见过他吗？比如说在机场？”

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

“是的，我没见过他。告诉你我差不多已经一个月没见过他了。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……”巴雷特接过她的话。“请告诉我们更多关于昨晚的情况。你从马克西姆餐厅……送一位男士去了医院？”

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.'

“我以前从没见过他。他摔倒后伤着了自己。他的同伴们说他心脏不好，所以我就送他去了医院。就这样。”

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?'

“难道你以前从没有见过他吗？沃尔顿小姐，你真让我感到吃惊。”巴雷特仔细观察着她的表情。“难道你不知道他就是乔·凯利先生，你弟弟的老板吗？”

No, I didn't.'

“是的，我不知道。”

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

“真的吗？你不认识他？你不觉得这太奇怪了吗？”

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?'

这一连串的问题开始让她感到恼怒。她站起身，走向巴雷特，“听着，巴雷特警探，我简直烦透了。这一切是怎么了？你想让我回答你的问题，却不告诉我是为了什么。我想知道出了什么事。是理查德遇到了什么麻烦吗？”

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。“没什么，别紧张。”他挤出一丝微笑，但那双冷漠的眼睛仍死死盯住珍妮弗。另一位警探悄悄地对巴雷特说了些什么，然后巴雷特继续说道，“你弟弟——你认识他的女朋友吗？”

His girl friend?'

“他的女朋友？”

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

“是的，温迪。理查德和她同在乔·凯利的公司做事。”

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.'

温迪！早上在诊所接到的神秘电话！珍妮弗试图掩饰内心的惊奇。她先看了看巴雷特，又看了看另一位警探。然后冷冷地说：“理查德没跟我提起过他的女朋友。”

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过温迪。他们彼此相处得非常融洽，还一起去了德国。”他扭头对另一个警探说，“是上周末，对吧？”

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.'

另一个警探稍稍凑近了一些，轻声对巴雷特说：“她对此毫不知情。你得向她解释解释。”

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.'

巴雷特又回过头对珍妮弗说：“我们正在寻找一批从德国偷来的珠宝。我们相信你弟弟了解一些情况。沃尔顿小姐，这话你恐怕不爱听，但你弟弟是在为一个罪犯、一个小偷效劳，很快他就会发现自己惹上麻烦了。”

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

“但我弟弟昨天丢了工作。他昨晚告诉我的，所以他以后不会再为这个人干活了。”

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。“他有可能不再为凯利工作了，也有可能只是想让别人这么认为。”他接着说道，“如果你不想看到你弟弟坐牢的话，就让他离凯利远点儿，还有离像温迪这样年轻漂亮的女孩远点儿。”

Jennifer looked at him and said nothing.

珍妮弗看着他，一言不发。

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，便和他一起朝大门走去。珍妮弗跟在他们身后，为他们打开了门。

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

“晚安，沃尔顿小姐。感谢你的帮助。”

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

他们走到了楼梯口。等了几秒钟之后，珍妮弗走进屋，关上了门。

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。出什么事儿了？你在做什么呢？为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.

她给理查德的住所打了电话，但无人接听。于是她上床躺了下来，并且整整半宿都在为她这个弟弟担忧。

*　　*　　*

*　　*　　*

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，她只有一个上午的班。在吉布森大夫的诊所里忙完后，她就回家吃午饭，然后打算绕道去理查德的公寓跟他谈谈。然而她刚进家门电话铃就响了，她穿过屋子，跑过去接起了电话。

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

“你好，是珍妮弗·沃尔顿小姐吗？”对方问道。这是个女孩儿的声音。

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.

打电话的人沉默了片刻，然后说道：“你不认识我。我是你弟弟的一个朋友。你现在有时间吗？我想跟你见一面，这件事非常重要。”她又立即接着说，“我就在你公寓附近的拐角处。我能上去吗？3分钟就到。”她随即放下了电话。

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.

当这位来访者到达时，珍妮弗正等在门口。眼前的女孩让珍妮弗大吃一惊，她认得这张面孔。她正是马克西姆餐厅里的那位年轻女孩，不过今天她没有戴那对金耳环。

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?'

那个女孩也同样感到很吃惊，“星期四的晚上我在马克西姆餐厅里见过你。”她说道，“你带乔·凯利去了医院。你真的是理查德的姐姐珍妮弗吗？”

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。她上下打量了一下来访者，心里不由得开始推测。“那你一定是温迪了。”

Yes,' the girl said.

“没错。”女孩儿说。

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，让女孩儿进了屋。两人坐了下来，珍妮弗冷冷地看着这个女孩儿。这么看来她就是理查德的女朋友了……她为乔·凯利这个罪犯做事。她有一张娇小美丽的脸，满面愁容。不过珍妮弗并不希望自己喜欢上这个女孩儿。

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

“你想见我是为了什么事？”她问道。

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.'

“这事解释起来有些困难，”女孩儿开口说道。她郁郁地看着珍妮弗，而珍妮弗也显出了一脸的不友善。“你知道，理查德跟我谈起过你。他说你为人善良，……还总是帮着他。他把你的电话号码给了我，并且说……”她停了一下，珍妮弗等着她继续把话说完。“他说我可以找你帮忙。”

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，看着女孩儿那张娇小但却显得心事重重的脸，心想：“我一向都是慈爱的大姐姐。”

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

“那么，请接着讲吧，”她用更为温和的语气说道。“告诉我发生的一切。我希望理查德没有遇上什么麻烦。”

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

“要知道，我为乔·凯利做事，”温迪开始说道。她滔滔不绝地讲了好长时间，珍妮弗聚精会神地听着。

This was Wendy's story.

这便是温迪的故事。