Chapter 14

Milo said, “Don’t need you for a diagnosis¹.She’s loony. Even without the dope.”
“What dope?”
“You didn’t smell it on her? She stinks² of devil weed, dude. Those eyes?”
Red rims⁴, lack of coordination⁵, answers that seemed just a bit off-time. “Imust be slipping.”
“You didn’t get close enough to smell it. When I handed her my business card,she reeked⁶. Must’ve just finished toking.”
“Probably why she didn’t answer the door.”
He gazed down the block. The speck⁷ that was Nora Dowd had vanished. “Nutsand stoned and doesn’t keep records. Wonder if she married money or inheritedit. Or maybe she had her time at the bottom of the funnel⁸ and invested well.”
“Never heard of her.”
“Like she said, the axis⁹ shifts.”
“Planets have axes, stars don’t.”
“Whatever. Not very sympathetic to Michaela, was she?”
“Not even faking it. When Dylan Meserve came up she bolted. Maybe because heavails himself in all sorts of ways.”
“Creative consultant,” he said. “Yeah, they’re doing the nasty.”
“Situation like that,” I said, “a gorgeous young woman could be a threat toa woman of her age.”
“Couple of good-looking kids, up in the hills, naked…Dowd’s gotta be what,forty-five, fifty?”
“That would be my guess.”
“Rich lady gets her strokes playing guru to the lean and hungry andpretty…she picks Dylan out of the fold, he goes and fools with Michaela. Yeah,it’s a motive¹⁰, ain’t it? Maybe she told Dylan to clean things up. For all weknow, he’s right there, holed up in that big house of hers, got his wheelsstashed in her garage.”
I glanced back at the big, cream house. “It would also be a nice quiet placeto keep Michaela while they figured out what to do with her.”
“Load her in the Range Rover and dump her near her apartment to distancethemselves.” He crammed¹¹ his hands in his pockets. “Wouldn’t that be ugger-ly.Okay, let’s see what the neighbors have to say about Ms. Stoner.”
 
Three bell rings brought three cleaning ladies to the door, each one intoning,“Senora no esta en la casa.”
At the well-kept brick Tudor three doors north of Nora Dowd’s house, anelderly man wearing a bright green cardigan, a red wool shirt, gray plaidpants, and burgundy house slippers¹² studied us over the rim³ of hisold-fashioned. The toes of his slippers were embroidered¹³ with black wolves’heads. The dim marble entry behind him gave off a whiff of eau de codger.
He took a long time to examine Milo’sbusiness card. Reacted to Milo’s inquiry¹⁴ aboutNora Dowd with, “That one? Why?” A voice like gravel¹⁵ under heavy footsteps.
“Routine questions, sir.”
“Don’t give me that malarkey.” Tall but bent¹⁶, he had foxed-paper skin,coarse white hair, and clouded blue eyes. Stiff fingers bent the card in halfand palmed it. A fleshy, open-pored nose dipped toward a lopsided twig¹⁷ of anupper lip. “Albert Beamish, formerly¹⁸ of Martin, Crutch¹⁹, and Melvyn andninety-three other partners until the mandatory²⁰ out-to-pasture clause kicked inand they sentenced me to ‘emeritus.’ That was eighteen years ago so do thearithmetic and choose your words efficiently²¹. I could drop dead right in frontof you and you’d have to lie to someone else.”
“Till a hundred and twenty, sir.”
Albert Beamish said, “Get on with it, kiddo. What’d that one do?”
“One of her students was murdered and we’re getting background informationfrom people who knew the victim.”
“And you spoke²² to her and you saw what a lunatic she is.”
Milo chuckled²³.
Albert Beamish said, “Students? They let her teach? When did that start?”
“She runs her own acting²⁵ school.”
Beamish’s laughter was jagged. It took a while for his cocktail²⁶ to reach hislips. “Acting. That’s just more of the same.”
“The same what?”
“Being the indolent, spoiled brat²⁷ she’s always been.”
Milo said, “You’ve known her for a while.”
“She grew up in that overgrown log cabin. Her grandfather built it back inthe twenties, a blight²⁸ on the neighborhood then, just as it is now. Doesn’tfit, should be in Pasadenaor some place where they like that kind of thing.” Beamish’s filmy irises²⁹ aimedacross the street. “You see any others like it around here?”
“No, sir.”
“There’s a reason for that, kiddo. Doesn’t fit. Try telling that to BillDowd Senior—the grandfather. No sophistication. Came from Oklahoma, made money in groceries, drygoods, something of that sort. His wife was low-class, uneducated, thought shecould buy her way in spending money. Same with the daughter-in-law—that one’smother. Blond tramp, always throwing ostentatious parties.”
Beamish drank some more. “Damned elephant.”
Milo said, “Sir?”
“One time they brought in a damned elephant. For one of their birthdays,don’t remember which one. Filthied up the street, the stench lasted for days.”His nostrils³⁰ quivered. “Bill Junior never worked a day in his life, fooledaround on his daddy’s money, married late. Woman just like his mother, noclass. Now you’re telling me that one teaches acting. Where does this travestytake place?”
“West L.A.,” said Milo. “The PlayHouse.”
“I never venture that far from civilization,” said Beamish. “A play house?Sounds damned frivolous³¹.”
“It’s a Craftsman³² building, same as the house,” I said.
“Does it fit in over there?”
“The neighborhood’s pretty hetero—”
“Piles of logs. All that gloomy wood and stained glass belongs in a church,where the intent is to simultaneously³³ impress and depress. Bill Dowd Seniormade his fortune with canned peas, whatever, nailed up that heap of timber.Probably got the idea when he was buying up properties in Pasadena, SouthPasadena, Altadena, Lord knows what other ’denas. That’s what they’ve all beenliving off. She and her brothers. None of them worked a day in their lives.”
“How many brothers?” I said.
“Two. Bill the Third and Bradley. One’s a fool and the other’s shifty. Theshifty one sneaked³⁴ into my yard and stole my persimmons.” Pinpoints³⁵ of angerlivened the milky³⁶ blue eyes. “Stripped the damn tree bare. He denied it buteveryone knew.”
Milo said, “How long ago was this, sir?”
“Thanksgiving of ’72. Delinquent³⁷ never owned up to it but my wife and I knewit was him.”
“Why’s that?” said Milo.
“Because he’d done it before.”
“Stole from you?”
“From others. Don’t ask me the who and what, never heard the details, justgeneral woman’s talk. They must have believed it, too. They boarded him out.Some sort of military academy.”
“Because of the persimmons?”
“No,” said Beamish, exasperated³⁸. “We never told them about the persimmons.No sense being obtrusive³⁹.”
‘What about Nora Dowd?” said Milo. “Anyproblems with her?”
“She’s the youngest and the most spoiled. Always had those ideas. ”
“What ideas, sir?”
“Being an actress. ” Beamish’s lips curled. “Running around trying to getparts in movies. I always thought her mother was the one behind all that.”
“She ever get any parts?”
“Not that I heard. Do fools actually pay to hear what she has to say at herplay house?”
“Seems to be that way,” said Milo. “Did sheever marry?”
“Negative.”
“Does she live with anyone?”
“She’s got that heap of sticks all to herself.”
Milo showed him the snap of Dylan Meserve.
Beamish said, “Who’s that?”
“One of her students.”
“Looks like a delinquent, himself. Are they fornicating?”
Milo said, “What about visitors?”
Beamish snatched the picture from between Milo’sfingers. “Numbers around his neck. He’s a damned felon⁴⁰?”
“Misdemeanor arrest.”
Beamish said, “Nowadays, that could include homicide.”
“You don’t like Ms. Dowd.”
“Don’t have use for any of them,” said Beamish. “Those persimmons. I’mtalking the Japanese variety, tart²⁴, firm, nothing like those gelatinousabominations you get in the market. When my wife was alive she loved making compotefor Thanksgiving. She was looking forward to Thanksgiving. That wastrel⁴¹ filchedevery one. Stripped the tree naked. ”
He returned the photo. “Never seen him but I’ll keep an eye out.”
“Thanks, sir.”
“What’d you think of that pet of hers?”
“What pet, sir?”
Albert Beamish laughed so hard he began coughing.
Milo said, “You okay, sir?”
Beamish slammed the door.

1 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

2 stinks   

v.散发出恶臭( stink的第三人称单数 )；发臭味；名声臭；糟透

参考例句：

• The whole scheme stinks to high heaven—don't get involved in it. 整件事十分卑鄙龌龊——可别陷了进去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soup stinks of garlic. 这汤有大蒜气味。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

4 rims   

n.（圆形物体的）边( rim的名词复数 )；缘；轮辋；轮圈

参考例句：

• As she spoke, the rims of her eyes reddened a little. 说时，眼圈微红。 来自汉英文学 - 围城
• Her eyes were a little hollow, and reddish about the rims. 她的眼睛微微凹陷，眼眶有些发红。 来自辞典例句

5 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

6 reeked   

v.发出浓烈的臭气( reek的过去式和过去分词 )；散发臭气；发出难闻的气味 (of sth)；明显带有（令人不快或生疑的跡象）

参考例句：

• His breath reeked of tobacco. 他满嘴烟臭味。
• His breath reeked of tobacco. 他满嘴烟臭味。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 speck   

n.微粒，小污点，小斑点

参考例句：

• I have not a speck of interest in it.我对它没有任何兴趣。
• The sky is clear and bright without a speck of cloud.天空晴朗，一星星云彩也没有。

8 funnel   

n.漏斗；烟囱；v.汇集

参考例句：

• He poured the petrol into the car through a funnel.他用一个漏斗把汽油灌入汽车。
• I like the ship with a yellow funnel.我喜欢那条有黄烟囱的船。

9 axis   

n.轴，轴线，中心线；坐标轴，基准线

参考例句：

• The earth's axis is the line between the North and South Poles.地轴是南北极之间的线。
• The axis of a circle is its diameter.圆的轴线是其直径。

10 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

11 crammed   

adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式)

参考例句：

• He crammed eight people into his car. 他往他的车里硬塞进八个人。
• All the shelves were crammed with books. 所有的架子上都堆满了书。

12 slippers   

n. 拖鞋

参考例句：

• a pair of slippers 一双拖鞋
• He kicked his slippers off and dropped on to the bed. 他踢掉了拖鞋，倒在床上。

13 embroidered   

adj．绣花的

参考例句：

• She embroidered flowers on the cushion covers. 她在这些靠垫套上绣了花。
• She embroidered flowers on the front of the dress. 她在连衣裙的正面绣花。

14 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

15 gravel   

n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石

参考例句：

• We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我们购买了六袋碎石用来铺花园的小路。
• More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的砾石来填平车道上的坑洼。

16 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

17 twig   

n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解

参考例句：

• He heard the sharp crack of a twig.他听到树枝清脆的断裂声。
• The sharp sound of a twig snapping scared the badger away.细枝突然折断的刺耳声把獾惊跑了。

18 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

19 crutch   

n.T字形拐杖；支持，依靠，精神支柱

参考例句：

• Her religion was a crutch to her when John died.约翰死后，她在精神上依靠宗教信仰支撑住自己。
• He uses his wife as a kind of crutch because of his lack of confidence.他缺乏自信心，总把妻子当作主心骨。

20 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

21 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

22 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

23 chuckled   

轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
• She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情，她就轻轻地暗自发笑。

24 tart   

adj.酸的；尖酸的，刻薄的；n.果馅饼；淫妇

参考例句：

• She was learning how to make a fruit tart in class.她正在课上学习如何制作水果馅饼。
• She replied in her usual tart and offhand way.她开口回答了，用她平常那种尖酸刻薄的声调随口说道。

25 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

26 cocktail   

n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物

参考例句：

• We invited some foreign friends for a cocktail party.我们邀请了一些外国朋友参加鸡尾酒会。
• At a cocktail party in Hollywood,I was introduced to Charlie Chaplin.在好莱坞的一次鸡尾酒会上，人家把我介绍给查理·卓别林。

27 brat   

n.孩子；顽童

参考例句：

• He's a spoilt brat.他是一个被宠坏了的调皮孩子。
• The brat sicked his dog on the passer-by.那个顽童纵狗去咬过路人。

28 blight   

n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残

参考例句：

• The apple crop was wiped out by blight.枯萎病使苹果全无收成。
• There is a blight on all his efforts.他的一切努力都遭到挫折。

29 irises   

n.虹( iris的名词复数 )；虹膜；虹彩；鸢尾（花）

参考例句：

• The cottage gardens blaze with irises, lilies and peonies. 村舍花园万紫千红，鸢尾、百合花和牡丹竞相争艳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The irises were of flecked grey. 虹膜呈斑驳的灰色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

30 nostrils   

鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Her nostrils flared with anger. 她气得两个鼻孔都鼓了起来。
• The horse dilated its nostrils. 马张大鼻孔。

31 frivolous   

adj.轻薄的；轻率的

参考例句：

• This is a frivolous way of attacking the problem.这是一种轻率敷衍的处理问题的方式。
• He spent a lot of his money on frivolous things.他在一些无聊的事上花了好多钱。

32 craftsman   

n.技工，精于一门工艺的匠人

参考例句：

• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。
• The craftsman is working up the mass of clay into a toy figure.艺人把一团泥捏成玩具形状。

33 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

34 sneaked   

v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状

参考例句：

• I sneaked up the stairs. 我蹑手蹑脚地上了楼。
• She sneaked a surreptitious glance at her watch. 她偷偷看了一眼手表。

35 pinpoints   

准确地找出或描述( pinpoint的第三人称单数 )； 为…准确定位

参考例句：

• The bombs hit the pinpoints at which they were aimed. 炸弹精确地击中了目标。
• There's really no point in arguing about pinpoints. 为芝麻绿豆般的小事争论实在毫无意义。

36 milky   

adj.牛奶的，多奶的；乳白色的

参考例句：

• Alexander always has milky coffee at lunchtime.亚历山大总是在午餐时喝掺奶的咖啡。
• I like a hot milky drink at bedtime.我喜欢睡前喝杯热奶饮料。

37 delinquent   

adj.犯法的，有过失的；n.违法者

参考例句：

• Most delinquent children have deprived backgrounds.多数少年犯都有未受教育的背景。
• He is delinquent in paying his rent.他拖欠房租。

38 exasperated   

adj.恼怒的

参考例句：

• We were exasperated at his ill behaviour. 我们对他的恶劣行为感到非常恼怒。
• Constant interruption of his work exasperated him. 对他工作不断的干扰使他恼怒。

39 obtrusive   

adj.显眼的；冒失的

参考例句：

• These heaters are less obtrusive and are easy to store away in the summer.这些加热器没那么碍眼，夏天收起来也很方便。
• The factory is an obtrusive eyesore.这工厂很刺眼。

40 felon   

n.重罪犯；adj.残忍的

参考例句：

• He's a convicted felon.他是个已定罪的重犯。
• Hitler's early "successes" were only the startling depredations of a resolute felon.希特勒的早期“胜利 ”，只不过是一个死心塌地的恶棍出人意料地抢掠得手而已。

41 wastrel   

n.浪费者；废物

参考例句：

• Her father wouldn't let her marry a wastrel.她的父亲不会让她嫁给一个败家子。
• He is a notorious wastrel in our company.他在我们单位是个有名的饭囊，啥活儿都干不好。