Chapter 90

High in the hayloft at Chateau¹ Villette, Collet stared at the computer monitor in amazement². "Thissystem is eavesdropping³ on all these locations?""Yes," the agent said. "It looks like data has been collected for over a year now."Collet read the list again, speechless.

　　COLBERT SOSTAQUE—Chairman of the Conseil ConstitutionnelJEAN CHAFFéE—Curator, Musée du Jeu de PaumeEDOUARD DESROCHERS—Senior Archivist, Mitterrand LibraryJACQUES SAUNIèRE—Curator, Musée du LouvreMICHEL BRETON—Head of DAS (French Intelligence)The agent pointed⁴ to the screen. "Number four is of obvious concern."Collet nodded blankly. He had noticed it immediately. Jacques Saunière was being bugged⁶. Helooked at the rest of the list again. How could anyone possibly manage to bug⁵ these prominentpeople? "Have you heard any of the audio files?""A few. Here's one of the most recent." The agent clicked a few computer keys. The speakerscrackled to life. "Capitaine, un agent du Département de Cryptographie est arrivé."Collet could not believe his ears. "That's me! That's my voice!" He recalled sitting at Saunière'sdesk and radioing Fache in the Grand Gallery to alert him of Sophie Neveu's arrival.

　　The agent nodded. "A lot of our Louvre investigation⁷ tonight would have been audible if someonehad been interested.""Have you sent anyone in to sweep for the bug?""No need. I know exactly where it is." The agent went to a pile of old notes and blueprints⁸ on theworktable. He selected a page and handed it to Collet. "Look familiar?"Collet was amazed. He was holding a photocopy⁹ of an ancient schematic diagram, which depicteda rudimentary machine. He was unable to read the handwritten Italian labels, and yet he knew whathe was looking at. A model for a fully¹⁰ articulated medieval French knight¹¹.

　　The knight sitting on Saunière's desk!

　　Collet's eyes moved to the margins¹², where someone had scribbled¹³ notes on the photocopy in redfelt-tipped marker. The notes were in French and appeared to be ideas outlining how best to insert alistening device into the knight.

科莱站在维莱特庄园高高的草棚上，瞪着眼睛看着计算机的显示器，惊奇不已。"所有这些区域，利用该系统都能偷听得到吗？"

"是的。"那名特工回答说："这些数据好像已收集一年多了。"

科莱看了看手中的名单，没说一句话。

科尔贝。索斯塔克--宪法委员会主席让。查菲--裘德。波姆国立美术馆馆长爱德华。德罗什--密特朗图书馆高级档案保管员雅克。索尼埃--卢浮宫博物馆馆长米歇尔。布勒东--法国情报局局长特工指了指电脑屏幕，说："第四个很明显让人关注。"

科莱面无表情地点了点头。他很快注意到了。有人在监听雅克。索尼埃呢。他又看了看那份名单。这样有名望的人，别人怎么可能偷听得到呢？"你听到什么音频文件没有？"

"听到一些。这是最近的一份文件。"那名特工敲了敲键盘，喇叭里便传来清脆而逼真的声音："局长，密码破译部的一位特工到了。"

科莱简直不相信自己的耳朵。"那是我！那是我的声音啊！"他想起了他坐在索尼埃的桌子旁边，用无线电向当时还在卢浮宫艺术大画廊的法希提醒索菲。奈芙到来的情景。

特工点点头："如果有人对我们此次行动感兴趣的话，那今晚我们在卢浮宫调查的大部分内容，都可能被人偷听了去。""那你有没有派人去搜寻那个窃听器呢？"

"我看没这个必要，我知道它在哪里。"特工走到工作台上一堆过时的笔记与设计图前，从中选了一页，递给科莱，说："很面熟吧？"

科莱惊骇万分。他手里拿着的是一张古代示意图的影印件，图上画的是一台机器的原始模型。他看不懂上面手写的意大利语标签号，但他知道他在看什么东西。这是一个组装起来的中世纪法国骑士的模型。

这骑士像眼下就放在索尼埃的办公桌上！

科莱的视线转移到页面空白的地方，有人用红色标签笔潦草的在影印件上作了些注解。这些注解是用法语写的，大意是如何正确地将窃听装置插在这位骑士的身上。

1 chateau   

n.城堡，别墅

参考例句：

• The house was modelled on a French chateau.这房子是模仿一座法国大别墅建造的。
• The chateau was left to itself to flame and burn.那府第便径自腾起大火燃烧下去。

2 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

3 eavesdropping   

n. 偷听

参考例句：

• We caught him eavesdropping outside the window. 我们撞见他正在窗外偷听。
• Suddenly the kids,who had been eavesdropping,flew into the room. 突然间，一直在偷听的孩子们飞进屋来。

4 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

5 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

6 bugged   

vt.在…装窃听器（bug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The police have bugged his office. 警察在他的办公室装了窃听器。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had bugged off before I had a chance to get a word in. 我还没来得及讲话，他已经走了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

8 blueprints   

n.蓝图，设计图( blueprint的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Have the blueprints been worked out? 蓝图搞好了吗？ 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• BluePrints description of a distributed component of the system design and best practice guidelines. BluePrints描述了一个分布式组件体系的最佳练习和设计指导方针。 来自互联网

9 photocopy   

n.影印本；v.影印

参考例句：

• The original reproduces clearly in a photocopy.原件复印得十分清晰。
• What's wrong with the photocopy machine?复印机出了什么问题？

10 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

11 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

12 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

13 scribbled   

v.潦草的书写( scribble的过去式和过去分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下

参考例句：

• She scribbled his phone number on a scrap of paper. 她把他的电话号码匆匆写在一张小纸片上。
• He scribbled a note to his sister before leaving. 临行前，他给妹妹草草写了一封短信。