牛津書蟲《誰謀殺了總統(tǒng)》03：第三天
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The Third Day
Alex slept well for many hours, and the next morning Marta put a big breakfast on the table. Alex ate hungrily, and Marta talked.'What's happening to this country?' she said. 'I don't know. I didn't like the old President. He was old and stupid. There's never much food in the shops. When did I last eat some good meat?' she said angrily. 'I work every day, and what do I get? Nothing!'
'What do you think about the new President, then?' Alex asked.
'Oh, he's worse! He's a younger man, and he's not stupid, but he's more dangerous. He's very friendly with the police and the army. And he's putting a lot of people in prison. That's not good for the country. We want more food, not more prisoners.'
Just then they heard somebody at the door.
'Quick!' Marta said. 'Upstairs. Hide under the bed.'
Alex ran upstairs and hid. Three minutes later Marta came quickly upstairs. Her face was very angry.
'That was my friend George from the house down the road. Somebody saw you at the window this morning. It was that woman from the post office. The police give her money, and she tells them all the secrets of the village. Everybody hates her!'
'The police always have a "friend" in every village,' Alex said sadly. 'Marta, I'm going now. At once. The police are going to be here soon, and...'
'Huh!' Marta said angrily. 'I'm not afraid of the police or their questions. Alex Dinon? Who's he? Is he somebody on television?'
Alex smiled. 'You're a wonderful woman, Marta,' he said. 'Goodbye, and thank you.'
Marta looked at Alex and her old face was suddenly unhappy. 'Good luck, boy,' she said.
Alex left the house quickly. He went through Marta's back garden, and out into the fields again. He felt better after the night in Marta's house. He thought about Marta and smiled. Boy! He was thirty-three years old and a "dangerous murderer", but to Marta he was only a tired and hungry boy.
* * *
At eight ο'clock in the morning of the third day the telephone rang on Felix's desk. Felix listened, then put the phone down quickly.
'Adam!' he shouted. 'We've got him! He's in a village up north. In an old woman's house. Come on. Let's go!'
The big police car was fast, and the kilometres went quickly. Adam was tired and wanted to sleep, but Felix wanted to talk. 'I saw the Chief again last night,' he said. 'She's getting angry. I was in her office and the President phoned her. They want Dinon badly—dead or alive. Why do they want him dead?'
'I don't know,' Adam said. 'Let's find him first.'
In Marta's village a policeman stood at the door of her house. 'We looked all through the house, and there's nobody in there,' he said. 'Only Marta, the old woman. And she's not talking.'
Felix, Adam and the policeman went into the house. 'Hello!' Marta said. 'More policemen? What an exciting day!'
'Listen to the Inspector,' Adam said angrily. 'He wants to ask you some questions.'
Felix sat down and smiled at Marta. 'Now, Marta,' he said. 'Somebody saw a young man in your house yesterday. Who was he, Marta, and where did he go?'
'He was my sister's youngest son,' Marta said happily. 'He's a very nice boy.'
The policeman whispered in Felix's ear. Felix looked sadly at Marta. 'Your sister and all her family live in Australia, Marta. Who was the man in your house?'
'Oh dear!' Marta said. 'I'm an old woman, you know. Seventy-two last month. I forget things very easily. In Australia, did you say?'
Felix asked question after question, but Marta told him nothing. Sometimes the young man in her house was her sister's son. Sometimes he was the young doctor from the next village, but he was never Alex Dinon, the President's murderer. Adam got very angry and whispered to Felix：
'Can I ask the questions?'
'No,' Felix said. He did not like Adam's questions. He stood up and moved to the door, but Marta now wanted to ask him a question：
'And why do you work for the police, young man? The police always put the wrong people in prison, you know.'
'Marta,' Felix said tiredly, 'Alex Dinon is a murderer. He murdered—'
'Oh, I know that,' Marta said. 'The newspapers said that. But newspapers and the television never tell us the true story. Alex Dinon isn't a murderer. He's a nice young man.'
'A nice young man?' Felix said quickly. 'How do you know that?'
'He's got a nice face. That's why. I saw his picture on the television. I'm an old woman and I can read people's faces.'
'So who did murder the President, then?' Felix asked.
'I don't know,' Marta said. 'You're the policeman. You go and find the murderer. But I can tell you one thing. You can begin with the new President. He's got a murderer's face.'
Adam said angrily, 'That's dangerous talk.'
Marta laughed, and Felix opened the door. 'Let's go, Adam,' he said quietly.
Out in the road Adam said, 'Stupid old woman!'
'Yes,' Felix said. 'Perhaps she was... and perhaps she wasn't.'
?
第三天
亞歷克斯睡了好幾個小時，睡得很香。次日早上，瑪爾塔把一頓豐盛的早餐擺在了桌子上。亞歷克斯狼吞虎咽地吃著，瑪爾塔則和他說話。“這個國家發(fā)生了什么事？”她說，“我不知道。我不喜歡前任總統(tǒng)，他既老又蠢。商店里從來都沒有多少吃的東西可供應，我上次吃的那些肉真是美味，哎，那是什么時候的事了呢？”她憤怒地說著，“我每天干活，但是我得到了什么呢？一無所有！”
“那你覺得新總統(tǒng)怎樣？”亞歷克斯問。
“唉，他更糟糕！他年輕一點兒，也不蠢，卻更陰險。他同警察和軍隊關系曖昧，他把很多人都關進了監(jiān)獄。這對這個國家可沒什么好處，我們需要的是更多的食物，而不是囚犯。”
正在這時，他們聽到門口有人。
“快！”瑪爾塔說，“上樓去，藏在床底下。”
亞歷克斯跑到樓上，藏了起來。三分鐘后，瑪爾塔很快地上樓來了。她看起來怒氣沖沖。
“是我的朋友喬治，他就住在路那頭的那所房子里。今天早上，有人看見你站在窗口邊。是郵局的那個女的。警察給了她錢，她就把村里所有的秘密都告訴給他們。所有的人都恨她！”
“在每一個村莊，警察都會有一個‘朋友’。”亞歷克斯悲哀地說，“瑪爾塔，我要走了，現(xiàn)在就走，警察馬上就要來了，還有……”
“哼！”瑪爾塔憤怒地說，“我才不怕警察或者他們的盤問呢。亞歷克斯·迪農(nóng)？他是誰？是個電視上的人物？”
亞歷克斯笑了。“你真是個了不起的女人，瑪爾塔！”他說，“再見，謝謝你！”
瑪爾塔看著亞歷克斯，她那蒼老的臉突然變得神色凝重。“祝你好運，孩子。”她說。
亞歷克斯很快地離開了。他穿過瑪爾塔的后花園，又走到了那片地里。在瑪爾塔家休息了一個晚上之后，他感覺好多了。他想到瑪爾塔時，笑了。孩子！他已經(jīng)33歲了，而且是個“危險的謀殺犯”，但是在瑪爾塔眼里，他只不過是個饑困交加的孩子。
* * *
第三天早上8點鐘，費利克斯辦公桌上的電話響了。費利克斯接聽著，很快就把電話放下了。
“亞當！”他喊道，“我們找到他了！他在北部的一個村子里，在一個老太太家?？禳c兒，咱們走！”
大警車呼嘯而過，不一會兒已經(jīng)跑過了好幾公里。亞當覺得很累，想睡覺，但費利克斯卻要和他說話。“我昨晚又見到警長了，”他說，“她很生氣。我在她的辦公室的時候，總統(tǒng)來了電話。他們急切地要抓住迪農(nóng)——不管是死是活。他們?yōu)槭裁聪胱屗滥兀?rdquo;
“我也不知道，”亞當說，“我們還是先找到他吧。”
在瑪爾塔居住的那個村莊，一個警察站在她的家門口。“我們搜查了整個房子都沒找到人。”他說，“只有瑪爾塔一個人，就是那個老太太。而她什么也不說。”
費利克斯、亞當和那個警察走進了房子。“你們好！”瑪爾塔說，“又多了幾個警察！今天真令人興奮！”
“聽警員問話，”亞當怒氣沖沖地說，“他有問題要問你。”
費利克斯坐了下來，沖瑪爾塔笑了笑。“好，瑪爾塔，”他說，“昨天有人看到你的房子里有一個年輕人，他是誰，瑪爾塔？他去哪兒啦？”
“他是我妹妹的小兒子，”瑪爾塔開心地說，“他真是個不錯的孩子。”
那個警察對費利克斯耳語了些什么。費利克斯憂郁地看著瑪爾塔。“你妹妹全家都住在澳大利亞，瑪爾塔。在你房子里的那個人到底是誰？”
“噢，天哪！”瑪爾塔說，“你看，我老啦。我上個月就72歲了，動不動就忘事兒。你說他們在澳大利亞？”
費利克斯一個問題接著一個問題地問，但是瑪爾塔什么也沒告訴他。一會兒說她房子里的年輕人是他妹妹的兒子，一會兒又說他是鄰村的年輕醫(yī)生，反正永遠不會是亞歷克斯·迪農(nóng)，那個謀殺總統(tǒng)的兇犯。亞當非常生氣，對費利克斯耳語道：
“我可以問些問題嗎？”
“不行。”費利克斯答道。他不喜歡亞當?shù)膯栴}。他站起身來向門口走去，但是瑪爾塔卻要問他一個問題：
“年輕人，你為什么要當警察？你知道，警察總是把不該抓的人關進監(jiān)獄。”
“瑪爾塔，”費利克斯疲憊地說，“亞歷克斯·迪農(nóng)是個殺人犯，他謀殺了——”
“哦，這我知道，”瑪爾塔說，“報紙上登了。但是報紙和電視從來不會告訴我們事實的真相。亞歷克斯·迪農(nóng)不是殺人犯，他是一個不錯的年輕人。”
“一個不錯的年輕人？”費利克斯很快地反問道，“你怎么知道？”
“他的臉很友善，就因為這個。我在電視上看到了他的照片。我是一個老太太，活了這么多年，能夠讀懂人的臉。”
“那么到底是誰謀殺了總統(tǒng)呢？”費利克斯問。
“我不知道。”瑪爾塔說，“你是警察，你去抓那個謀殺犯。但是我可以告訴你一件事情。你可以從新總統(tǒng)開始查，他長了一張謀殺犯的臉。”
亞當惱怒地說：“這么講話可是很危險的。”
瑪爾塔笑了，費利克斯打開門，“咱們走，亞當。”他平靜地說。
在外面的路上，亞當說：“這個愚蠢的老太婆！”
“是呀，”費利克斯說，“也許她很蠢……但也許她一點兒也不蠢。”
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