Blackmail课文翻译

Blackmail课文翻译

XXX XXX's "Blackmail"

Detective O'Givie。in charge of the hotel security。finally

answered the us phone call and arrived at the suite of the Duke and

Duchess of Croysdon two XXX heard the dull buzz of the doorbell

outside.

The Duchess had already sent the maid away and gave the

round-faced male secretary。who was afraid of dogs。a deadly

task of taking the XXX't relax。knowing that these two people

could return at any moment.

O'Givie walked into the living room with a cigar in his mouth。and the Duchess looked at him with disdain as she asked him to

put out the cigar。as she and her husband hated the strong XXX at

her and then looked around the us and well-XXX at him with a

puzzled n.

You have a well-decorated suite here," O'Givie said。taking

the cigar out of his XXX decorative fireplace on the right。but

missed and let it fall on the carpet。The Duchess's lips tightened

as she said。"I don't think you came here to talk about the decor."

XXX his fat body。"No。madam。of course not。But I do

appreciate elegant things。like your car parked outside the hotel。the American Tiger brand。right?"

Oh!" The Duke's voice sounded as if it came out of his nose。His wife XXX.

What does our car have to do with you?" she asked.

This seemed to be a signal for O'Givie。and his XXX。"Are

there any other people here?"

No。we sent them all away," the Duke replied.

It's better to check," the fat man said。quickly and skillfully

inspecting the entire suite。XXX。he was very familiar with the

layout of the XXX and closed the door to the outside room。he

returned to the living room with a satisfied n.

XXX XXX-backed chair。while O'Givie was still standing.

I mean," he began。"why did you hit someone and then run

away in your car?"

XXX?" she asked。XXX his eyes.

别开玩笑了，夫人。这可不是闹着玩的。"他掏出一支新的雪茄，咬掉了烟头。"你们应该已经看过报纸了，电台也广播了不少。"

XXX公爵夫人的脸上泛起了两团红晕。"你说话含糊不清，太荒唐可笑了。"

闭嘴！"探长像炸雷一样吐出这句话，他的凶相毕露，之前的温和已经荡然无存。XXX并没有把公爵放在眼里，他把那支未点燃的雪茄晃在对手的鼻子下面。"全城都在闹翻了，警察、市长和所有人。一旦他们查出昨晚撞死小孩和她母亲的肇事者是谁，他们一定会严惩不贷，不管他们有多显赫的爵衔。现在我知道真相，如果我照章办事，警察会很快赶到这里。但我想先听听你们的说法。"他的小眼睛眨了几下，变得凶狠起来。"如果你们有其他的出路，现在说出来也不迟。"

XXX公爵夫人并没有轻易屈服，她跳了起来，怒容满面，灰绿色的眼睛里喷射出火光，直直地盯着探长。她的声音可以吓到任何熟悉她的人。"你这个下流的恶棍，竟敢撒野，真是狗胆包天！"

XXX也为之一震，但XXX公爵插话了："这也不是个办法，老太婆。但试试也好。"他面向XXX说："你的指控是正确的，肇事者是我，是我开车撞死那小姑娘的。"

这才像话。"XXX点燃了那支新的雪茄。"我们总算谈到点子上了。"

XXX公爵夫人疲乏地做了一个认输的手势，颓然坐回到椅子上。她双手对握着，以掩饰自己的手在颤抖，问道："你知道了什么？"

好吧，我就说出来。"探长悠闲自得地喷出一团青色的雪茄烟雾，同时还把那双眼睛带着嘲弄意味地瞟向公爵夫人，仿佛故意逗她反感。但公爵夫人没有说话，只是厌恶地皱了皱鼻子。

XXX指着公爵说："昨晚，你去了爱尔兰牛轭湖的XXX。你开着你们那辆豪华的美洲虎去的，还带着一个女朋友。至少，如果你不过于挑剔字眼的话，我想你会这么称呼她的。"

XXX转向公爵夫人，笑咧嘴巴。公爵厉声喊道：“继续说下去！”XXX得意地回答：“好的，据我所知，你先在赌桌上赢了一百，接着在酒吧里全花掉了。正当你准备和一些有头有脸的人赌上第二个一百时，你的夫人乘坐出租车赶到了那里。”公爵问：“你是怎么知道的？”XXX回答：“我在这个城市和这个旅馆呆了很久，到处都有我的朋友。我时常为他们帮忙，他们也同样帮我的忙，比如说告诉我哪里发生了什么事情，住在这个旅馆的人们做了些什么事情，凡是有点出格的，那就很少能瞒得过我。他们多半都不知道我会知道，而且也不认识我。他们以为自己的那些小秘密被隐瞒住了，也的确有瞒住的时候，但这一次却瞒不住了。”公爵说：“原来如此。”XXX问公爵夫人：“我想知道你是如何猜到他的去处的？”公爵夫人回答：“你知道得这么多，说给你听也无所谓了。我丈夫打电话时有做记录的惯，而打完电话后又总是忘了毁掉这些记录。”XXX表示责备：“就这么一个小小的粗心大意的惯，公爵，你看它为你带来多大的麻烦。接下来的情况我猜是这样的。你和你的夫人一起回家了。是你开的车，尽管后来的结果表明，若是换了她来开车，那情形也许会好些。”公爵说：“我夫人不会开车。”XXX点头表示理解：“这个是清楚了。反正，我估计你当时已经醉酒了，但是好……”公爵夫人打断了他的话：“这么

说你并不知道！你并没有掌握什么真实情况，你拿不出任何真凭实据……”XXX回答：“夫人，凡是需要证实的，我都能证实。”公爵规劝她说：“老婆子，还是让他把话说完吧。”XXX说：“好好坐着听我讲。昨天夜里，我看见你们进来了——为了不穿过门厅，你们走的是地下室，而且看起来还是一副惊魂未定的样子，你们两人都是。我本人也恰在那时进屋，一看那情形就觉得奇怪，想探个究竟。我刚才说过，我这人生性好奇。”公爵夫人轻声道：“说下去。”XXX继续说：“昨晚深夜，汽车撞人的消息传开了。我觉得有点不对劲，就去车库里悄悄地查看了一下你们的汽车。你们大概没注意到，它刚好停在一个角落里，又隐在一个柱子背后，使得那些开车经过的人都无法看见。”公爵舔了舔嘴唇：“我想现在那已经没什么要紧了。”

However。you may have left some traces there," said XXX。teasingly。"Anyway。XXX investigate - I went to the police n

and inquired there。I know the people there well." He paused to

take a puff of his cigar。while his XXX。XXX continuing。"They have three things that can be traced。They found a

headlight rim。which must have fallen off the car when it hit the

child and the woman。they found some broken pieces of headlight

glass。and when they examined the child's clothes。XXX."

What kind of mark?"

Duchess。if you rub your clothes on a hard object。especially a smooth object like a car bumper。it leaves a

fingerprint-like mark。The police lab has a way of treating these

marks like fingerprints - they apply powder and the mark es

visible."

That's quite novel," the Duchess XXX。"I've never heard of

it before."

Not many people have。But in this case。I don't think it

makes much difference。Your car has a broken headlight and

missing rim。There's no doubt that they will check it thoroughly。and even if they don't find any scratches or bloodstains。they can

still find out。Oh。I ot to tell you。there are many bloodstains in

the car。but they are not very XXX."

Oh my God!" The Duchess covered her face with her hand

and turned away。Her husband asked。"What do you think we

should do?"

The fat man rubbed his XXX。fleshy fingers。"As I said

earlier。I came here to hear your side of the story first."

I don't know what else to say。You already know everything

that happened," the Duke said。trying to puff up his XXX."

XXX。there's no need to rush." His grating voice now had a

thoughtful tone。"It's too late now。and being in a hurry won't

help bring the child and her mother back to life。Besides。when

you go to the police n。Duke。you won't like the way they handle

XXX。XXX。XXX it."

After hearing this。the two XXX.

I hope," Poirot said。"that you two can come up with some

ideas."

I don't understand," the Duke said usly.

I understand," the Duchess said。"You want money。don't

you。You're here to extort us." If she hoped to shock him with this

statement。she failed。The XXX you say it。madam。I don't

care。I came here to help you get out of trouble。but I also need

to eat."

If we give you money。will you keep what you know to

yourself?"

I think that's possible."

Based on what you said,” the Duchess。who had regained her

calm and collected demeanor。pointed out。“it's useless anyway。The car will be XXX.”

I guess you'll just have to try your luck。But there's

something I haven't told you yet,” Ogilvy said.

Please tell us,” the Duchess said.

I haven't fully figured it out myself。When you hit the child。you were driving out of town。not into town.”

We went the wrong way,” the Duchess said。“I don't know

how it happened。but we went in the wrong XXX it's easy to get

lost。We only found our way back by taking a back road.”

I think the police didn't think of this n,” Ogilvy XXX out of

town。So。they're only XXX the city。They may come back to

search the city later。but not now.”

How long will it take for them to come?”

Probably three or four days。They have a lot of places to

search first.”

What help is that to us - a few days' delay?”

It might help,” Ogilvy said。“As long as no one notices your

car - doesn't find where it's parked。you might have that stroke of

luck。As long as you can get it out.”

You mean get out of this state?”

What I mean is to leave the South.”

That's not easy。is it?”

It's not easy。madam。The neighboring states - Texas。Arkansas。Mississippi。Alabama。and other XXX ”

XXX。“Is it possible to repair it first。We'll pay a high price

if we can quietly repair the car.”

XXX。“In that case。you might as well go to the police

XXX。Once a car like yours that needs to be repaired is found。they will XXXXXX business.”

XXX struggled to control her wild thoughts。She knew it

was crucial to keep a cool head and be nal。The last few minutes

of the XXX。as if they were discussing XXX。XXX een her and

this us fat man。her husband had only played the role of a XXX't

avoid it。they had to face it。What was important was to be

prepared for any possible XXX.

You said the police found something that fell off our car。What was it called?”

A frame.”

Will it XXX?”

XXX肯定地点头。“他们可以查出车子的生产厂家、车型，甚至可能查出出厂年份或大致出厂时间。车灯玻璃碎片也可以提供同样的信息。但由于你们的车子是外国的，查起来可能需要几天时间。”

那几天后，”她追问道，“警方会知道他们要找的是一辆美洲虎吗？”

我想是这样。”今天是星期二。从这家伙所讲的情况看来，他们最多只能拖到星期五或星期六。公爵夫人冷静地盘算了一番：现在需要解决的是一个关键的问题。假如贿赂了这个旅馆侦探，他们唯一的机会——一个渺茫的机会——就在于迅速将汽车弄走。如果能将车开到北方的某个大城市，那里的人们不会知道XXX发生的这起车祸和警方的搜查行动，车子可以在那里悄悄修好，这样罪证也就消失了。那么，即使以后再怀疑到XXX夫妇头上，也找不到什么真凭实据。但是，如何将车弄走呢？

毫无疑问，这个粗俗愚笨的侦探说的是真话：要想将车开到北方，沿途所要经过的各州都会像路易斯安那州一样警惕和注意，所有的公路巡警都会留意一辆前灯撞破、框圈掉落的车子，甚至可能设路障。要想不被某个警察抓到，谈何容易。

但这仍然是有可能做到的，只要能够在夜间行车，而白天将汽车隐藏起来。有许多偏僻地方远离公路，不会受到人们的注意。这样做可能会冒险，但总比在这里等待被擒要好。也许有些乡间小路可走，为了掩人耳目，他们可以选择一条不大会有人走的路线。

但还存在其他的一些复杂问题……现在需要考虑这些问题。走偏僻小路必须要熟悉地形，XXX夫妇不熟悉地形，而且他们俩对地图也不太在行。另外，行车途中不能不停车加油，停车加油时他们的言谈举止都有可能暴露自己的身份而引起别人的注意。但这些风险是必须冒的。

真的必须冒险吗？

公爵夫人面对着XXX。“你要多少钱？”

这突如其来的问话把他吓了一跳。“唔……我想你们家是非常有钱的。”

她冷冷地说：“我只问你要多少。”

那对猪眼睛眨巴了一下。“一万美元。”

尽管这数目比她所预料的多了一倍，她却不动声色。“如果我们真的支付了这样一笔巨款，我们能得到什么回报？”

大胖子似乎被这话问糊涂了。“我已经说过，我可以对自己知道的一切守口如瓶。”“如果我们不付钱呢？”

他耸了耸肩。“我就下楼到门厅里去，拿起电话。”

不，"她的话语铿锵有力，“我们不会付钱给你。”XXX公爵不安地移动身子，探长那圆滚滚的肉脸涨得通红。“你听着，夫人……”她打断了他的话。“我不要听你的，你得听我说。”她紧紧盯住他的脸，展现出霸道的神态。“即使我们付钱给你，

也得不到什么好处，最多只是拖延几天时间罢了。你已经讲得很清楚了。”

这对你们可是一个难得的机会……”

住口！”她厉声呵斥道，他忍气吞声，满脸不高兴地住口了。XXXXXX公爵夫人知道，接下来的行动也许会是她一生中所作出的最重大的决定。她不能因自己的见识有限而出半点差错，也不能优柔寡断或举棋不定。要想赢大钱，就得下大注。她想利用这大肥佬的贪心大赌一场，而且恰到好处，使结果能保证万元一失。

她果断地宣布，“我们不会付给你一万美元，但我们会付给你二万五千美元。”

探长的眼珠子都鼓起来了。

作为回报，”她不动声色地继续说道，“你得将我们的汽车开到北方。”XXX依然是一副目瞪口呆的样子。

二万五千美元，”她重复道。“现在先付一万，等你到芝加哥与我们碰面时再付一万五。”

大胖子舔了舔自己的嘴唇，依然一言未发，那双圆圆的小眼睛似乎不相信似的直盯住她的双眼。一阵沉默。

后来，在她目不转睛的逼视下，他微微点了一下头。

场面还是一片寂静。最后还是XXX开了腔：“这支雪茄让您讨厌了吧，公爵夫人？”她点了点头，他随即将它掐灭了。