“你答应过 ——” 海伦开始说。
“You promised -” Helene began.
“她当时歇斯底里。” 马龙咕哝道。“她不会让我遵守那个承诺的。再说，” 他停顿了一下又说，“我没答应把这个人从监狱里弄出来。我答应过做点什么，但没说具体是什么。”
“She was hysterical,” Malone muttered. “She won’t hold me to it. Besides,” he paused and added, “I didn’t promise to get this guy out of jail. I promised to do something, but I didn’t say what it was.”
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海伦还没来得及发表任何评论，杰克就到了，热得气喘吁吁。
Before Helene could make any ments, Jake arrived, hot and breathless.
埃德?斯金丁斯鲁德，他解释说，拒绝进一步解释他那令人吃惊的声明。“很可能，” 海伦说，“是他自己干的。”
Ed Skindingsrude, he explained, had refused to enlarge on his startled and startling statement. “Probably,” Helene said, “he did it himself.”
“我把赌注压在菲尔?史密斯身上。” 杰克说。“任何一个有全镇最温柔的人这样名声的人，内心深处肯定隐藏着谋杀的种子。再说，失去教授希腊语、拉丁语和古典历史的工作是个很好的杀人动机。”
“My money’s on Phil Smith,” Jake said. “Anybody who has the reputation of being the gentlest soul in town must have the seeds of murder in him somewhere. Besides, losing a job teaching Greek, Latin, and classical history is a swell motive.”
马龙皱起眉头。“随着我们开始挖掘这个小镇上人们的私人生活，动机肯定会越来越多，可能足以构成半打谋杀案。” 他开始说道。
Malone frowned. “Motives are bound to pile up, probably suitable for half a dozen murders, as we begin to dig into the private lives of this town,” he began.
“我们？” 杰克问道。
“We?” Jake demanded.
“口误。” 小律师红着脸说。“别再想了。现在这位可敬的治安官已经把某人关进了监狱，尤其是像地方检察官这样重要的人物，他不会再想和你们有任何瓜葛。明天早上我们就会离开杰克逊县，把这里的尘土从我们的脚后跟甩掉，然后继续我们的旅程。”
“A slip of the tongue,” the little lawyer said, blushing. “Don’t give it another thought. Now that the worthy sheriff has clamped somebody in jail, especially somebody as important as the D. A. himself, he won’t want any further truck with you. Tomorrow morning we’ll kiss the dust of Jackson County good-by off our heels, and be on our way.”
“你是说另一个人完蛋了。” 海伦说。
“You mean another heel bites the dust,” Helene said.
突然，《企业报》办公室的门开了，一个红发女孩大步走了进来，后面跟着一个矮胖的小老头，脸红红的，头发卷曲花白。
Suddenly the door of the Enterprise office opened, and a red-haired girl strode in, followed by a short, plump little man with a rosy face and curly white hair.
“我就知道能在这儿找到你们。” 女孩说。
“I thought I’d find you here,” the girl said.
杰克盯着她。她不是个漂亮的女孩，事实上，她苍白的脸绝对很普通，但她肯定很引人注目。她很高，甚至比海伦还高，她的头发像草原上的火。她穿着有点脏的牛仔工装裤。
小主，
Jake stared at her. She wasn’t a pretty girl, in fact her dead-white face was definitely on the plain side, but she certainly was a striking one. She was tall, even taller than Helene, and her hair was like a prairie fire. She was dressed in slightly soiled denim slacks.
“你们在找我们吗？” 马龙礼貌地问道。
“Were you looking for us?” Malone asked politely.
“我跟她说过她不该来这儿。” 小个子男人焦急地说。“我跟她说她这样到处乱逛不好看，尤其是她还穿成这样。” 他的脸不开心地皱了起来。
“I told her she shouldn’t e here,” the little man said anxiously. “I told her it didn’t look well for her to go wandering all over, especially dressed the way she is.” His face wrinkled unhappily.
“你们似乎识我们。” 杰克说。“来点反馈怎么样？”
“You seem to know us,” Jake said. “How about a little reciprocity?”
“我是弗洛伦斯?佩维利。” 女孩说，“这是亨利叔叔。”
“I’m Florence Peveley,” the girl said, “and this is Uncle Henry.”
“你瞧？” 亨利叔叔说。“她父亲从今天下午一点十五分才去世，她就穿着这样满镇跑。” 他求助地看着马龙。“人们会怎么想？”
“You see?” Uncle Henry said. “Here her father’s only been dead since one-fifteen this afternoon, and she’s going all over town, dressed like that.” He looked appealingly at Malone. “What will people think?”
“我才不在乎人们怎么想。” 弗洛伦斯?佩维利不耐烦地说。“从来不在乎，现在也不想开始在乎。听着，你 ——” 她在对马龙说话 ——“我了解你的一切。有个记者差不多把你的生平都告诉我了。谢天谢地你在这儿。你得为此做点什么。”
“I don’t give a good red damn what people think,” Florence Peveley said impatiently. “Never have, and I don’t intend to start in now. Look here, you” - she was addressing Malone - “I know all about you. One of those reporters told me your life history, practically. Thank God you’re here. You’ve got to do something about this.”
马龙眨了眨眼。“关于什么？”
Malone blinked. “About what?”
她怒视着他。“那个疯治安官把杰瑞以谋杀罪关起来。这太荒谬了。杰瑞是我这辈子见过的最大的傻瓜，但他不会杀人，尤其是不会杀爸爸。”
She scowled at him. “That insane sheriff locking Jerry up for murder. It’s absurd. Jerry’s the damnedest fool I ever knew in my life, but he wouldn’t murder anybody, especially Pa.”
小主，
“你这样谈论你订婚的男人可不好。” 亨利叔叔不赞成地说。
“That’s a fine way to talk about the man you’re engaged to,” Uncle Henry said disapprovingly.
“去他的那些。” 红发女孩说。“你到底要不要做点什么？”
“The hell with all that,” the red-haired girl said. “Are you going to do something, or aren’t you?”
“你想让他做什么？” 海伦热心地问。
“What do you want him to do?” Helene asked helpfully.
“找出到底是谁 —— 对不起，是谁杀了爸爸，然后把杰瑞从监狱里弄出来。我不能让我的未婚夫在监狱里，这看起来太糟糕了。” 她对海伦微笑着。“我喜欢你，你看起来很有头脑。”
“Find out who the hell - pardon me, who killed Pa, and get Jerry out of jail. I can’t have my fiance in jail, it looks like the devil.” She smiled at Helene. “I like you, you look as if you had sense.”
“谢谢。” 海伦说，“我有头脑。我也喜欢你。我一直希望我有一头红发。”
“Thanks,” Helene said, “I have. I like you, too. I always wished I had red hair.”