马龙探案卷四 之 正确的凶案 二十八
北岸的火车上几乎空无一人。几个晚归的通勤者在座位上睡觉，或者漫不经心地瞥一眼明天的《论坛报》。杰克摸着他们在一家通宵药店买的袖珍手电筒，不知道这次会不会是白跑一趟。
The North Shore train was almost deserted. A few late muters slept in their seats, or glanced uninterestedly at tomorrow’s Tribune. Jake fingered the pocket flashlight they had picked up at an all-night drugstore and wondered if this would turn out to be a wild-goose chase.
“也许，”他在经过埃文斯顿的时候说，“我们走错方向了。也许我们应该回到莫娜·麦克莱恩家，从那里追踪那个女人。”
“Perhaps,” he said as he passed through Evanston, “we’re going the wrong way. Perhaps we ought to go back to Mona McClane’s and pick up the dame’s trail there.”
“该死，才不是呢。”马龙咆哮道，“我买了去枫树公园的往返票，我要让这钱花得值。”他皱着眉头。“我想知道路易·怀特在为谁工作。”
“Hell no,” Malone growled. “I’ve bought a round-trip ticket to Maple Park, and I’m going to get my money’s worth.” He scowled. “I wonder who Lou White was working for.”
“莫娜·麦克莱恩、迈克尔·文宁或者彭德利·泰德韦尔。”海伦立刻说道。
“Mona McClane, Michael Venning, or Pendley Tidewell.” Helene said promptly.
律师嘟囔着。“或者杰拉尔德·图伊兹或者杰拉尔德·图伊兹。”
The lawyer grunted. “Or Gerald Tuesday or Gerald Tuesday.”
离文宁和麦克莱恩庄园最近的枫树公园车站的站台荒凉而空寂。现在天空晴朗，繁星闪烁，但偶尔仍有阵阵松散的雪花吹过脏兮兮的站台木板，给晚上早些时候清理过的人行道铺上一层白色。
The platform at the Maple Park station nearest the Venning and McClane estates was desolate and deserted. The sky was clear and brilliant with stars now, but occasional flurries of loose snow still blew across the dingy boards of the platform and whitened the walks that had been cleared earlier in the evening.
现在已经过了午夜，枫树公园像一座鬼城。马龙满怀希望地四处张望想找一辆出租车，但一辆也没看到。街道上空无一人，人行道上也是如此。只有几盏灯在这儿那儿的房子里亮着，透过树影隐约可见。
It was well past midnight, and Maple Park was like a ghost town. Malone looked hopefully around for a taxi and saw none. The streets were empty, as were the sidewalks. Only a few lights burned here and there in houses seen dimly through the trees.
杰克看了看表。“大约五分钟后就会有一趟开往市中心的火车经过。”他渴望地说道。
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Jake looked at his watch. “There’ll be a Loop-bound train along in about five minutes,” he began wistfully.
海伦摇了摇头。“我们已经到这儿了，不能回去。”
Helene shook her head. “We’re out here and we’re not going to turn back.”
他们开始沿着一条蜿蜒的街道朝文宁庄园的方向走去。枫树公园的街道弯弯曲曲，没有明显的规律，这条街也不例外。他们走了两个街区后，马龙开始满怀期待地在他们经过的每个拐角处张望，心里有点纳闷什么时候会碰到从另一个方向走过来的自己。
They started walking up a winding street in the direction of the Venning estate. Streets in Maple Park turned, curved, straightened out, and turned again with no apparent rhyme or reason, and this one was no exception. By the time they had gone two blocks, Malone began looking expectantly around every corner they came to, half wondering when he was going to meet himself headed in the other direction.
“那是莫娜·麦克莱恩的家。”他们走到铁栅栏边时杰克说道。
“That’s Mona McClane’s,” Jake said, as they came to the iron fence.
“我们要从这儿进去吗？”
“Do we turn in here?”
“还不行。这该死的雪会把所有的痕迹都盖住，而且从这边我永远也找不到墙上的那个缺口。”
“Not yet. This damned snow will have covered any tracks there were, and I’d never find that opening in the wall from this side.”
他带路来到围着文宁庄园的高石墙边。那扇供服务人员出入的小门没锁，他推开门，为海伦和律师撑着门。
He led the way to the high stone wall that bordered the Venning estate. The small, service gateway was unlocked, and he pushed through it, holding it open for Helene and the lawyer.
在星光和飘落的雪花中，文宁家的房子看起来像一座姜饼屋，在天空的映衬下显得奇幻而不可思议。白色的痕迹附着在檐口和铁艺花边线条上，勾勒出这座巨大木建筑奇特的角度和圆顶。
The Venning house, in the starlight and the drifted snow, looked like a gingerbread house, fantastic and incredible, against the sky. Touches of white clung to cornices and lines of iron lacework and outlined the curious angles and cupolas of the huge wooden structure.
“它不在那儿。”马龙抱怨道，“它是画在一块布景上的。在我看来，画得也很糟糕。现在我们去哪儿？”
“It isn’t there,” Malone plained. “It’s painted on a piece of scenery. Painted damned badly, too, if you ask me. Now where do we go?”
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杰克领着他绕过那座老房子，穿过紫杉树篱中的拱门，在星光下，树篱现在呈现出一种深沉而神秘的蓝色。拱门那边，宽阔的草坪是一片令人吃惊的、几乎让人目眩的完整白色区域，平坦而结了一层硬壳。杰克打开手电筒，雪地上反射出的光就像照在粉状玻璃上一样。
Jake led him around the old house and through the archway in the yew hedge, now a deep, mysterious blue in the starlight. Beyond it, the wide lawn was a startling, almost blinding expanse of unbroken white, smooth and crusted over. Jake turned on the flashlight, and it reflected on the snow as though it shone on powdered glass.
“伊迪莎·文宁就站在那儿。”杰克说，“就在那边。”他用手电筒指着树的方向。