chapter 40

I called Sewell Endicott's office. Somebody said he was in court and would not be available until late in the afternoon. Would I care to leave my name? No. I dialed the number of Mendy Menendez's joint¹ on the Strip. It was called El Tapado this year, not a bad name either. In American Spanish that means buried treasure among other things. It had been called other names in the past, quite a few other names. One year it was just a blue neon number on a blank high wall facing south on the Strip, with its back against the hill and a driveway curving around one side Out of sight of the street. Very exclusive. Nobody knew much about it except vice² cops and mobstem and people who could afford thirty bucks³ for a good dinner and any amount up to fifty grand in the big quiet room upstairs. I got a woman who didn't know from nothing. Then I got a captain with a Mex accent. "You wish to speak with Mr. Menendez? Who is calling?" "No names, amigo. Private matter." "Un momento, por favor." There was a longish wait. I got a hard boy this time. He sounded as if he was talking through the slit⁴ in an armored car. It was probably just the slit in his face. "Talk it up. Who wants him?" "The name's Marlowe." "Who's Marlowe?" "This Chick Agostino?" "No, this ain't Chick. Come on, let's have the password." "Go fry your face." There was a chuckle⁵. "Hold the line." Finally another voice said: "Hello, cheapie. What's the time by you?" "You alone?" "You can talk, cheapie. I been looking over some acts for the floor show." "You could cut your throat for one." "What would I do for an encore?" I laughed. He laughed. "Been keeping your nose clean?" he asked. "Haven't you heard? I got to be friends with another guy who suicided. They're going to call me the 'Kiss-of-Death Kid' from now on." "That's funny, huh?" "No, it isn't funny. Also the other afternoon I had tea with Harlan Potter." "Nice going. I never drink the stuff myself." "He said for you to be nice to me." "I never met the guy and I don't figure to." "He casts a long shadow. All I want is a little information, Mendy. Like about Paul Marston." "Never heard of him." "You said that too quick. Paul Marston was the name Terry Lennox used one time in New York before he came west." "So?" "His prints were checked through the F.B.I. files. No record. That means he never served in the Armed Forces." "So?" "Do I have to draw you a picture? Either that foxhole⁶ yarn⁷ of yours was all spaghetti or it happened somewhere else." "I didn't say where it happened, cheapie. Take a kind word and forget the whole thing. You got told, you better stay told." "Oh sure. I do something you don't like and I'm swimming to Catalina with a streetcar on my back. Don't try to scare me, Mendy. I've been up against the pros⁸. You ever been in England?" "Be smart, cheapie. Things can happen to a guy in this town. Things can happen to big strong boys like Big Willie Magoon. Take a look at the evening paper." "I'll get one if you say so. It might even have my picture in it. What about Magoon?" "Like I said—things can happen. I wouldn't know how except what I read. Seems Magoon tried to shake down four boys in a car with Nevada plates. Was parked right by his house. Nevada plates with big numbers like they don't have. Must have been some kind of a rib⁹. Only Magoon ain't feeling funny, what with both arms in casts, and his jaw¹⁰ wired in three places, and one ]eg in high traction¹¹. Magoon ain't tough any more. It could happen to you," "He bothered you, huh? I saw him bounce your boy Chick off the wall in front of Victor's. Should I ring up a friend in the Sheriff's office and tell him?" "You do that, cheapie," he said very slowly. "You do that." "And I'll mention that at the time I was just through having a drink with Harlan Potter's daughter. Corroborative¹² evidence, in a sense, don't you think? You figure to smash her up too?" "Listen to me careful, cheapie—" "Were you ever in England, Mendy? You and Randy Starr and Paul Marston or Terry Lennox or whatever his name was? In the British Army perhaps? Had a little racket in Soho and got hot and figured the Army was a cooling-off spot?" "Hold the line." I held it. Nothing happened except that I waited and my arm got tired. I switched the receiver to the other side. Finally he came back. "Now listen careful, Marlowe. You stir up that Lennox case and you're dead. Terry was a pal¹³ and I g9t feelings too. So you got feelings. I'll go along with you just this far. It was a Commando outfit¹⁴. It was British. It happened in Norway, one of those islands off the coast. They got a million of them. November 1942. Now will you lie down and rest that tired brain of yours?" Thank you, Mendy. I will do that. Your secret is safe with me. I'm not telling it to anybody but the people I know." "Buy yourself a paper, cheapie. Read and remember. Big tough Willie Magoon. Beat up in front of his own house. Boy, was he surprised when he come out of the ether!" He hung up. I went downstairs and bought a paper and it was just as Menendez had said. There was a picture of Big Willie Magoon in his hospital bed. You could see half his face and one eye. The rest of him was bandages. Seriously but not critically injured. The boys had been very careful about that. They wanted him to live. After all he was a cop. In our town the mobs don't kill a cop. They leave that to the juveniles¹⁵. And a live cop who has been put through the meat grinder is a much better advertisement. He gets well eventually and goes back to work. But from that time on something is missing—the last inch of steel that makes all the difference. He's a walking lesson that it is a mistake to push the racket boys too hard—espedally if you are on the vice squad¹⁶ and eating at the best places and driving a Cadillac. I sat there and brooded about it for a while and then I dialed the number of The Carne Organization and asked for George Peters. He was out. I left my name and said it was urgent. He was expected in about five-thirty. I went over to the Hollywood Public Library and asked questions in the reference room, but couldn't find what I wanted. So I had to go back for my Olds and drive downtown to the Main Library. I found it there, in a smallish red-bound book published in England. I copied what I wanted from it and drove home. I called The Carne Organization again. Peters was still out, so I asked the girl to reroute the call to me at home. I put the chessboard on the coffee table and set out a problem called The Sphynx. It is printed on the end papers of a book on chess by Blackburn, the English chess wizard, probably the most dynamic chess player who ever lived, although he wouldn't get to first base in the cold war type of chess they play nowadays. The Sphynx is an eleven-mover and it justifies¹⁷ its name. Chess problems seldom run to more than four or five moves. Beyond that the difficulty of solving them rises in almost geometrical progression. An eleven-mover is sheer unadulterated torture. Once in a long while when I feel mean enough I set It out and look for a new way to solve it. It's a nice quiet way to go crazy. You don't even scream, but you come awfully¹⁸ close. George Peters called me at five-forty. We exchanged pleasantries and condolences. "You've got yourself in another jam, I see," he said cheerfully. "Why don't you try some quiet business like embalming¹⁹?" "Takes too long to learn. Listen, I want to become a client of your agency, if it doesn't cost too much." "Depends what you want done, old boy. And you'd have to talk to Carne." "No." "Well, tell me." "London is full of guys like me, but I wouldn't know one from the other. They call them private enquiry agents. Your outfit would have connections. I'd just have to pick a name at random²⁰ and probably get hornswoggled. I want some information that should be easy enough to get, and I want it quick. Must have it before the end of next week." "Spill." "I want to know something about the war service of Terry Lennox or Paul Marston, whatever name he used. He was in the Commandos over there. He was captured wounded in November 1942 in a raid on some Norwegian island. I want to know what outfit he was posted from and what happened to him. The War Office will have all that. It's not secret information, or I wouldn't think so. Let's say a question of inheritance is involved." "You don't need a P.I. for that. You could get it direct. Write them a letter." "Shove it, George. I might get an answer in three months. I want one in five days." "You have a thought there, pal. Anything else?" "One thing more. They keep all their vital records over there in a place they call Somerset House. I want to know if he figures there in any connection—birth, marriage, naturalization, anything at all." "Why?" "What do you mean, why? Who's paying the bill?" "Suppose the names don't show?" "Then I'm stuck. If they do, I want certified²¹ copies of anything your man turns up. How much you soaking me?" "I'll have to ask Carne. He may thumb it out altogether, We don't want the kind of publicity²² you get. If he lets me handle it, and you agree not to mention the connection, I'd say three hundred bucks. Those guys over there don't get much by dollar standards. He might hit us for ten guineas, less than thirty bucks. On top of that any expenses he might have. Say fifty bucks altogether and Carne wouldn't open a file for less than two-fifty." "Professional rates." "Ha, ha. He never heard of them." "Call me, George. Want to eat dinner?" "Romanoff's?" "All right," I growled²³, "if they'll give me a reservation. — which I doubt." "We can have Carne's table. I happen to know he's dining privately²⁴. He's a regular at Romanoff's. It pays off in the upper brackets of the business. Carne is a pretty big boy in this town." "Yeah, sure. I know somebody—and know him personally—who could lose Carne under his little fingernail." "Good work, kid. I always knew you would come through in the dutch. See you about seven o'clock in the bar at Romanoff's. Tell the head thief you're waiting for Colonel Carne. He'll clear a space around you so you don't get elbowed by any riffraff like screenwriters or television actors." "See you at seven," I said. We hung up and I went back to the chess board. But The Sphynx didn't seem to interest me any more. In a little while Peters called me back and said it was all right with Carne provided the name of their agency was not connected with my problems. Peters said he would get a night letter off to London at once.

1 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 slit   

n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂

参考例句：

• The coat has been slit in two places.这件外衣有两处裂开了。
• He began to slit open each envelope.他开始裁开每个信封。

5 chuckle   

vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑

参考例句：

• He shook his head with a soft chuckle.他轻轻地笑着摇了摇头。
• I couldn't suppress a soft chuckle at the thought of it.想到这个，我忍不住轻轻地笑起来。

6 foxhole   

n.（军）散兵坑

参考例句：

• On an impulse he kicked some sand into Ridge's foxhole.一时性起，他就提起脚来将一些沙子踢进里奇的坑里。
• The sentry guard dived into his foxhole and closely observed the stranger towards him.哨兵跳入了散兵坑，密切注视着陌生人向他走来。

7 yarn   

n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事

参考例句：

• I stopped to have a yarn with him.我停下来跟他聊天。
• The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。

8 pros   

abbr.prosecuting 起诉；prosecutor 起诉人；professionals 自由职业者；proscenium （舞台）前部n.赞成的意见( pro的名词复数 )；赞成的理由；抵偿物；交换物

参考例句：

• The pros and cons cancel out. 正反两种意见抵消。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We should hear all the pros and cons of the matter before we make a decision. 我们在对这事做出决定之前，应该先听取正反两方面的意见。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 rib   

n.肋骨，肋状物

参考例句：

• He broke a rib when he fell off his horse.他从马上摔下来折断了一根肋骨。
• He has broken a rib and the doctor has strapped it up.他断了一根肋骨，医生已包扎好了。

10 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

11 traction   

n.牵引；附着摩擦力

参考例句：

• I'll show you how the traction is applied.我会让你看如何做这种牵引。
• She's injured her back and is in traction for a month.她背部受伤，正在作一个月的牵引治疗。

12 corroborative   

adj.确证（性）的，确凿的

参考例句：

• Is there any corroborative evidence for this theory? 是否有进一步说明问题的论据来支持这个理论？
• They convicted the wrong man on the basis of a signed confession with no corroborative evidence. 凭一张有签名的认罪书而没有确凿的佐证，他们就错误地判了那人有罪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 pal   

n.朋友，伙伴，同志；vi.结为友

参考例句：

• He is a pal of mine.他是我的一个朋友。
• Listen,pal,I don't want you talking to my sister any more.听着，小子，我不让你再和我妹妹说话了。

14 outfit   

n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装

参考例句：

• Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
• His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。

15 juveniles   

n.青少年( juvenile的名词复数 )；扮演少年角色的演员；未成年人

参考例句：

• Do you think that punishment for violent crimes should be the same for juveniles and adults? 你对暴力犯罪的惩罚对于青少年和成人应一样吗？ 来自生活英语口语25天快训
• Juveniles Should we not exactly in need of such strength and conviction? 少年的我们难道不正是需要这种力量和信念吗？ 来自互联网

16 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

17 justifies   

证明…有理( justify的第三人称单数 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护）

参考例句：

• Their frequency of use both justifies and requires the memorization. 频繁的使用需要记忆，也促进了记忆。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• In my judgement the present end justifies the means. 照我的意见，只要目的正当，手段是可以不计较的。

18 awfully   

adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地

参考例句：

• Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
• I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。

19 embalming   

v.保存（尸体）不腐( embalm的现在分词 )；使不被遗忘；使充满香气

参考例句：

• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming. 尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They were experts at preserving the bodies of the dead by embalming them with special lotions. 他们具有采用特种药物洗剂防止尸体腐烂的专门知识。 来自辞典例句

20 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

21 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

22 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

23 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。