Chapter 10

THE CRAMPED¹ THIRD-FLOOR OFFICE that housed the Homicide detail was buzzing, unlike any Sunday morning I could remember.

I got a clean bill of health at the hospital, then arrived at the office to find that the whole team had showed up. We had a couple of leads to follow, even before the results of the examination of the blast scene came back. Bombings usually don't involve kidnappings. Find that baby, everything told me, and we'll find whoever did this horrible thing.

A TV was on. Mayor Fiske and Police Commissioner² Tracchio were live at the bomb scene. "This is a horrible, vin-dictive tragedy," the mayor was saying, having come straight off the first tee at Olympic. "Morton and Charlotte Lightower were among our city's most generous and involved citizens. They were also friends."

"Don't forget contributors," Cappy Thomas, Jacobi's part-ner, said.

"I want everyone to know that our police department is already vigorously pursuing concrete leads," the mayor con-tinued. "I want to assure the people of this city that this is an isolated³ event."

"X/L..." Warren Jacobi scratched his head. "Think I own a few shares in that piece of shit they call my retirement⁴ fund."

"Me too," said Cappy. "Which fund you in?"

"I think it's called Long-Term Growth, but whoever named it sure has a twisted sense of humor. Two years ago I had -"

"If you moguls have a moment," I called. "It's Sunday and the markets are closed. We have three dead, a missing baby, and an entire town house burned to the ground in a possible bombing."

"Definite bombing," Steve Fiori, the department's press liaison⁵, chimed in. He'd been juggling⁶ about a hundred news departments and wire services in his Topsiders and jeans. "Chief just got it confirmed from the Bomb Squad⁷. The remains⁸ of a timing⁹ device and C-4 explosive were scraped off the walls."

The news didn't exactly surprise us. But the realization¹⁰ that a bomb had gone off in our city, that we had murderers out there with C-4, that a six-month-old baby was still miss-ing, sent a numb¹¹ quiet around the room.

"Shit," Jacobi sighed theatrically¹², "there goes the after-noon."

1 cramped   

a.狭窄的

参考例句：

• The house was terribly small and cramped, but the agent described it as a bijou residence. 房子十分狭小拥挤，但经纪人却把它说成是小巧别致的住宅。
• working in cramped conditions 在拥挤的环境里工作

2 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

3 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

4 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

5 liaison   

n.联系，（未婚男女间的）暖昧关系，私通

参考例句：

• She acts as a liaison between patients and staff.她在病人与医护人员间充当沟通的桥梁。
• She is responsible for liaison with researchers at other universities.她负责与其他大学的研究人员联系。

6 juggling   

n. 欺骗, 杂耍(=jugglery) adj. 欺骗的, 欺诈的 动词juggle的现在分词

参考例句：

• He was charged with some dishonest juggling with the accounts. 他被指控用欺骗手段窜改账目。
• The accountant went to prison for juggling his firm's accounts. 会计因涂改公司的帐目而入狱。

7 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。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

10 realization   

n.实现；认识到，深刻了解

参考例句：

• We shall gladly lend every effort in our power toward its realization.我们将乐意为它的实现而竭尽全力。
• He came to the realization that he would never make a good teacher.他逐渐认识到自己永远不会成为好老师。

11 numb   

adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木

参考例句：

• His fingers were numb with cold.他的手冻得发麻。
• Numb with cold,we urged the weary horses forward.我们冻得发僵，催着疲惫的马继续往前走。

12 theatrically   

adv.戏剧化地

参考例句：

• He looked theatrically at his watch. 他夸张地看看表。 来自柯林斯例句