QUEEN PALMS, KING PALMS, ROYAL PALMS, Phoenix1 palms shook their feathery fronds2 like the storm-tossed trees in Key Largo3. Buses and cars and trucks and SUVs clogged4 the streets, their wipers not quite as persistent5 as the beating rain, side windows half fogged, horns bleating6, brakes barking, jockeying for position, idling and spurting7 forward and idling again, the drivers exuding8 a palpable frustration9 reminiscent of the opening scene of Falling Down, minus the summer heat of that movie, minus Michael Douglas, although Ethan supposed that Michael Douglas might be in this mess, too, quietly going as mad as had his character. In front of a bookstore, under an awning10, stood a group of spike-haired, eyebrow-pierced, nose-pierced, tongue-pierced, painted punk rockers or just plain punks, dressed in black, one of them wearing a bowler11 hat, which made him think of the droogs in A Clockwork Orange. And here came a group of teenage schoolgirls, all beautiful, enjoying their seasonal12 freedom, walking without umbrellas, their hair plastered to their heads, all laughing, each of them playing the part of a fey party girl, all trying to be Holly13 Golightly in a remake of Breakfast at Tiffany’s shot this time three thousand miles from the original [407] location, this time on the nation’s wild coast. The storm gloom transformed midday to dusk, as if some director were shooting day-for-night. The shop lights, the neon, the cold-cathode tubes, the bright festoons of colorful and vaguely14 Asian lanterns that decorated streets in a politically correct nonreligious holiday spirit, the headlights and taillights—all rippled15 and flared16 off the storefront windows, off the walls of the glass buildings that rose in lunatic defiance18 of the earthquakes to come, across the wet pavement, sparkled like sequins in scintillant19 quicksilver plumes20 of vehicle exhaust, reminding Ethan of atmospheric21 shots in Blade Runner.
The day was simultaneously22 too real and a fantasy, the dreams of Hollywood having brightened the city in a few places, darkened it in many more, changed it in every corner, until nothing seemed as solid as it ought to be.
They were in Ethan’s Expedition, having left Hazard’s plain-wrap department sedan at Our Lady of Angels. Since Ethan had no police authority, he couldn’t arm-twist information out of anyone, but his partner couldn’t both arm-twist and drive.
To check out their six leads, they would enter jurisdictions23 other than those strictly24 within the authority of the LAPD. Without preparing the way through proper channels, even Hazard would not have entirely25 legitimate26 authority. They didn’t have time for protocol27.
Hazard rode shotgun, making phone calls. His voice rose from a polite and almost romantic murmur28 to a demanding thunder, but most often settled into an easy folksiness, while relentlessly29 he used his status as homicide detective to coax-pinch-push-pull-wrench cooperation from a series of higher-education bureaucrats31.
Every college and university in the greater Los Angeles area had closed for the last two or three weeks of the year. Something less than a skeleton staff remained on duty to serve those students who had not gone home for the holidays.
At each institution that he phoned, he employed charm, appeals to [408] good citizenship32, threats, and persistence33 to get from one know-nothing to another, but always eventually to a know-something who could further their investigation34.
Already they had learned that the drama professor—Dr. Jonathan Spetz-Mogg—had organized both of the weekend conferences on acting35 for which Rolf Reynerd had written checks. They had been granted an appointment with Spetz-Mogg at his home in Westwood, to which they were en route without benefit of emergency flashers or siren.
In the process of tracking down Dr. Gerald Fitzmartin, who had organized the three-day weekend conference on screenwriting, Hazard became so infuriated with the runaround at which all academic types excelled that he paused in the chase before frustration drove him to smash his department-issued phone to pieces against his own forehead.
“All these university cheese-eaters hate cops.”
“Until they need you,” Ethan said.
“Yeah, then they love us.”
“They never love you, but if they need you to save their ass17, then they’ll tolerate you.”
“You know that Shakespeare quote?” Hazard asked.
“There’s more than one.”
“About how to make the world a better place—”
“Kill all the lawyers.”
“Yeah, that one,” Hazard said. “Shakespeare didn’t stop to think who trains all the lawyers.”
“University cheese-eaters.”
“Yeah. You want to make a better world, go to the source.”
The traffic remained relentless30 and tight. The Expedition kissed paint with a black Mercedes SUV, spared from a bruise36 to the factory finish by nothing more than the lubricating lip gloss37 of rain.
With a start, Ethan thought that he saw Fric on the sidewalk, wandering alone among strangers. A closer look proved that the boy was younger than the Manheim heir, trailing behind his parents.
[409] This had not been the first false Fric that he had seen and reacted to since leaving the hospital. His nerves had been rubbed raw by too much weird38 experience.
“What about Blonde in the Pond?” Ethan asked. “Did you get your lab report this morning?”
“Didn’t check. If I’ve got the true goods on my city councilman, it’ll just make me squirmy, having to leave him walking around full of himself, the way he is, like he’s the Lord by election, which is even more infuriating when you think how many ballot39 boxes his thugs stuffed for him. I’ll call the lab tomorrow, the day after, whenever it is we settle the situation we’re in.”
“Sorry about this,” Ethan said.
“If you’re sorry for that nose of yours, get it fixed40. Anything else you’re sorry for, you shouldn’t be.”
“Lunch and a few mamouls didn’t pay you for this much trouble.”
“It wasn’t you turned my world upside down. Some guy gives me a set of dream bells out of a nightmare, then disappears into a mirror, I tend to get shook up without your help.”
Hazard reached under his jacket with both hands, tugging41 on his cotton sweater, and Ethan said, “You bulked up since yesterday?”
“Yeah. Had me a breakfast of Kevlar.”
“Never knew you to wear protection.”
“I’ve been thinking maybe I’ve dodged42 more bullets than any man has a right to. Doesn’t mean I’m not still fearless.”
“Didn’t say you weren’t.”
“I’m scared shitless, but I’m still fearless.”
“That’s the right psychology43.”
“Survivor’s psychology,” Hazard said.
“Anyway, what’s wrong with my nose?”
“What isn’t?”
The hard rain abruptly44 began to fall harder, and Ethan cranked the windshield-wiper speed to the highest setting.
Hazard said, “Feels like the end of the world.”
收听单词发音 |
1
phoenix
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| n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生 | |
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fronds
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| n.蕨类或棕榈类植物的叶子( frond的名词复数 ) | |
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largo
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| n.广板乐章；adj.缓慢的，宽广的；adv.缓慢地，宽广地 | |
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clogged
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| （使）阻碍( clog的过去式和过去分词 )； 淤滞 | |
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persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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bleating
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| v.（羊，小牛）叫( bleat的现在分词 )；哭诉；发出羊叫似的声音；轻声诉说 | |
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spurting
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| （液体，火焰等）喷出，（使）涌出( spurt的现在分词 )； （短暂地）加速前进，冲刺； 溅射 | |
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exuding
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| v.缓慢流出，渗出，分泌出( exude的现在分词 )；流露出对（某物）的神态或感情 | |
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frustration
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| n.挫折，失败，失效，落空 | |
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awning
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| n.遮阳篷；雨篷 | |
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bowler
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| n.打保龄球的人，（板球的）投（球）手 | |
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seasonal
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| adj.季节的，季节性的 | |
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holly
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| n.[植]冬青属灌木 | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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rippled
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| 使泛起涟漪（ripple的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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Flared
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| adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词 | |
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ass
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| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
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defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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scintillant
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| adj.产生火花的，闪烁（耀）的 | |
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plumes
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| 羽毛( plume的名词复数 )； 羽毛饰； 羽毛状物； 升上空中的羽状物 | |
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atmospheric
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| adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的 | |
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simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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jurisdictions
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| 司法权( jurisdiction的名词复数 )； 裁判权； 管辖区域； 管辖范围 | |
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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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protocol
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| n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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relentlessly
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| adv.不屈不挠地；残酷地；不间断 | |
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relentless
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| adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的 | |
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bureaucrats
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| n.官僚( bureaucrat的名词复数 )；官僚主义；官僚主义者；官僚语言 | |
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citizenship
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| n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份) | |
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persistence
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| n.坚持，持续，存留 | |
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investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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bruise
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| n.青肿，挫伤；伤痕；vt.打青；挫伤 | |
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gloss
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| n.光泽，光滑；虚饰；注释；vt.加光泽于；掩饰 | |
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weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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ballot
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| n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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tugging
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| n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 ) | |
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42
dodged
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| v.闪躲( dodge的过去式和过去分词 )；回避 | |
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psychology
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| n.心理，心理学，心理状态 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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