"All right, Kathie, or Dave; whoever's out there. Come on in."
Then he went to his desk and reached under it, snapping off a switch. As he straightened, the door from the reception-office opened and his secretary, Kathie O'Grady, entered, loading a cigarette into an eight-inch amber2 holder3. She was a handsome woman, built on the generous lines of a Renaissance4 goddess; none of the Renaissance masters, however, had ever employed a model so strikingly Hibernian. She had blue eyes, and a fair, highly-colored complexion5; she wore green, which went well with her flaming red hair, and a good deal of gold costume-jewelry.
Behind her came Dave Ritter. He was Rand's assistant, and also Kathie's lover. He was five or six years older than his employer, and slightly built. His hair, fighting a stubborn rearguard action against baldness, was an indeterminate mousy gray-brown. It was one of his professional assets that nobody ever noticed him, not even in a crowd of one; when he wanted it to, his thin face could assume the weary, baffled expression of a middle-aged6 book-keeper with a wife and four children on fifty dollars a week. Actually, he drew three times that much, had no wife, admitted to no children. During the war, he and Kathie had kept the Tri-State Agency in something better than a state of suspended animation7 while Rand had been in the Army.
Ritter fumbled8 a Camel out of his shirt pocket and made a beeline for the desk, appropriating Rand's lighter9 and sharing the flame with Kathie.
"You know, Jeff," he said, "one of the reasons why this agency never made any money while you were away was that I never had the unadulterated insolence10 to ask the kind of fees you do. I was listening in on the extension in the file-room; I could hear Kathie damn near faint when you said five grand."
"Yes; five thousand dollars for appraising11 a collection they've been offered ten for, and she only has a third-interest," Kathie said, retracting12 herself into the chair lately vacated by Gladys Fleming. "If that makes sense, now ..."
"Ah, don't you get it, Kathleen Mavourneen?" Ritter asked. "She doesn't care about the pistols; she wants Jeff to find out who fixed13 up that accident for Fleming. You heard that big, long shaggy-dog story about exactly what happened and where everybody was supposed to have been at the time. I hope you got all that recorded; it was all told for a purpose."
Rand had picked up the outside phone and was dialing. In a moment, a girl's voice answered.
"Carter Tipton's law-office; good afternoon."
"Hello, Rheba; is Tip available?"
"Oh, hello, Jeff. Just a sec; I'll see." She buzzed another phone. "Jeff Rand on the line," she announced.
A clear, slightly Harvard-accented male voice took over.
"Hello, Jeff. Now what sort of malfeasance have you committed?"
"Nothing, so far—cross my fingers," Rand replied. "I just want a little information. Are you busy?... Okay, I'll be up directly."
"Our client," he said, "wants two jobs done on one fee. Getting the pistol-collection sold is one job. Exploring the whys and wherefores of that quote accident unquote is the other. She has a hunch15, and probably nothing much better, that there's something sour about the accident. She expects me to find evidence to that effect while I'm at Rosemont, going over the collection. I'm not excluding other possibilities, but I'll work on that line until and unless I find out differently. Five thousand should cover both jobs."
"You think that's how it is?" Kathie asked.
"Look, Kathie. I got just as far in Arithmetic, at school, as you did, and I suspect that Mrs. Fleming got at least as far as long division, herself. For reasons I stated, I simply couldn't have handled that collection business for anything like a reasonable fee, so I told her five thousand, thinking that would stop her. When it didn't, I knew she had something else in mind, and when she went into all that detail about the death of her husband, she as good as told me that was what it was. Now I'm sorry I didn't say ten thousand; I think she'd have bought it at that price just as cheerfully. She thinks Lane Fleming was murdered. Well, on the face of what she told me, so do I."
"All right, Professor; expound," Ritter said.
"You heard what he was supposed to have shot himself with," Rand began. "A Colt-type percussion16 revolver. You know what they're like. And I know enough about Lane Fleming to know how much experience he had with old arms. I can't believe that he'd buy a pistol without carefully examining it, and I can't believe that he'd bring that thing home and start working on it without seeing the caps on the nipples and the charges in the chambers17, if it had been loaded. And if it had been, he would have first taken off the caps, and then taken it apart and drawn19 the charges. And she says he started working on it as soon as he got home—presumably around five—and then took time out for dinner, and then went back to work on it, and more than half an hour later, there was a shot and he was killed." Rand blew a Bronx cheer. "If that accident had been the McCoy, it would have happened in the first five minutes after he started working on that pistol. No, in the first thirty seconds. And then, when they found him, he had the revolver in his right hand, and an oily rag in his left. I hope both of you noticed that little touch."
"Yeah. When I clean a gat, I generally have it in my left hand, and clean with my right," Ritter said.
"Exactly. And why do you use an oily rag?" Rand inquired.
Ritter looked at him blankly for a half-second, then grinned ruefully.
"Damn, I never thought of that," he admitted. "Okay, he was bumped off, all right."
"But you use oily rags on guns," Kathie objected. "I've seen both of you, often enough."
"When we're all through, honey," Ritter told her.
"Yes. When he brought home that revolver, it was in neglected condition," Rand said. "Either surface-rusted, or filthy20 with gummed oil and dirt. Even if Mrs. Fleming hadn't mentioned that point, the length of time he spent cleaning it would justify21 such an inference. He would have taken it apart, down to the smallest screw, and cleaned everything carefully, and then put it together again, and then, when he had finished, he would have gone over the surface with an oiled rag, before hanging it on the wall. He would certainly not have surface-oiled it before removing the charges, if there ever were any. I assume the revolver he was found holding, presumably the one with which he was killed, was another one. And I would further assume that the killer22 wasn't particularly familiar with the subject of firearms, antique, care and maintenance of."
"And with all the hollering and whooping23 and hysterics-throwing, nobody noticed the switch," Ritter finished. "Wonder what happened to the one he was really cleaning."
"That I may possibly find out," Rand said. "The general incompetence24 with which this murder was committed gives me plenty of room to hope that it may still be lying around somewhere."
"Well, have you thought that it might just be suicide?" Kathie asked.
"I have, very briefly25; I dismissed the thought, almost at once," Rand told her. "For two reasons. One, that if it had been suicide, Mrs. Fleming wouldn't want it poked26 into; she'd be more than willing to let it ride as an accident. And, two, I doubt if a man who prided himself on his gun-knowledge, as Fleming did, would want his self-shooting to be taken for an accident. I'm damn sure I wouldn't want my friends to go around saying: 'What a dope; didn't know it was loaded!' I doubt if he'd even expect people to believe that it had been an accident." He shook his head. "No, the only inference I can draw is that somebody murdered Fleming, and then faked evidence intended to indicate an accident." He rose. "I'll be back, in a little; think it over, while I'm gone."
Carter Tipton had his law-office on the floor above the Tri-State Detective Agency. He handled all Rand's not infrequent legal involvements, and Rand did all his investigating and witness-chasing; annually27, they compared books to see who owed whom how much. Tipton was about five years Rand's junior, and had been in the Navy during the war. He was frequently described as New Belfast's leading younger attorney and most eligible28 bachelor. His dark, conservatively cut clothes fitted him as though they had been sprayed on, he wore gold-rimmed glasses, and he was so freshly barbered, manicured, valeted and scrubbed as to give the impression that he had been born in cellophane and just unwrapped. He leaned back in his chair and waved his visitor to a seat.
"Tip, do you know anything about this Fleming family, out at Rosemont?" Rand began, getting out his pipe and tobacco.
"The Premix-Foods Flemings?" Tipton asked. "Yes, a little. Which one of them wants you to frame what on which other one?"
"That'll do for a good, simplified description, to start with," Rand commented. "Why, my client is Mrs. Gladys Fleming. As to what she wants...."
He told the young lawyer about his recent interview and subsequent conclusions.
"So you see," he finished, "she won't commit herself, even with me. Maybe she thinks I have more official status, and more obligations to the police, than I have. Maybe she isn't sure in her own mind, and wants me to see, independently, if there's any smell of something dead in the woodpile. Or, she may think that having a private detective called in may throw a scare into somebody. Or maybe she thinks somebody may be fixing up an accident for her, next, and she wants a pistol-totin' gent in the house for a while. Or any combination thereof. Personally, I deplore29 these clients who hire you to do one thing and expect you to do another, but with five grand for sweetening, I can take them."
"Yes. You know, I've heard rumors30 of suicide, but this is the first whiff of murder I've caught." He hesitated slightly. "I must say, I'm not greatly surprised. Lane Fleming's death was very convenient to a number of people. You know about this Premix Company, don't you?"
"Vaguely31. They manufacture ready-mixed pancake flour, and ready-mixed ice-cream and pudding powders, and this dehydrated vegetable soup—pour on hot water, stir, and serve—don't they? My colored boy, Buck32, got some of the soup, once, for an experiment. We unanimously voted not to try it again."
"They put out quite a line of such godsends to the neophyte33 in the kitchen, the popularity of which is reflected in a steadily34 rising divorce-rate," Tipton said. "They advertise very extensively, including half an hour of tear-jerking drama on a national hookup during soap-opera time. Your client, the former Gladys Farrand, was on the air for Premix for a couple of years; that's how Lane Fleming first met her."
"Well, not exactly. You see, Premix is only Little Business, as the foods industry goes, but they have something very sweet. So sweet, in fact, that one of the really big fellows, National Milling & Packaging, has been going to rather extreme lengths to effect a merger37. Mill-Pack, par18 100, is quoted at around 145, and Premix, par 50, is at 75 now, and Mill-Pack is offering a two-for-one-share exchange, which would be a little less than four-for-one in value. I might add, for what it's worth, that this Stephen Gresham you mentioned is Mill-Pack's attorney, negotiator, and general Mr. Fixit; he has been trying to put over this merger for Mill-Pack."
"I'll bear that in mind, too," Rand said.
"Naturally, all this is not being shouted from the housetops," Tipton continued. "Fact is, it's a minor39 infraction40 of ethics41 for me to mention it to you."
"I'll file it in the burn-box," Rand promised. "What was the matter; didn't Premix want to merge38?"
"Lane Fleming didn't. And since he held fifty-two per cent of the common stock himself, try and do anything about it."
"Anything short of retiring Fleming to the graveyard42, that is," Rand amended43. "That would do for a murder-motive, very nicely.... What were Fleming's objections to the merger?"
"Mainly sentimental44. Premix was his baby, or, at least, his kid brother. His father started mixing pancake flour back before the First World War, and Lane Fleming peddled45 it off a spring wagon46. They worked up a nice little local trade, and finally a state-wide wholesale47 business. They incorporated in the early twenties, and then, after the old man died, Lane Fleming hired an advertising49 agency to promote his products, and built up a national distribution, and took on some sidelines. Then, during the late Mr. Chamberlain's 'Peace in our time,' he picked up a refugee Czech chemist and foods-expert named Anton Varcek, who whipped up a lot of new products. So business got better and better, and they made more money to spend on advertising to get more money to buy more advertising to make more money, like Bill Nye's Puritans digging clams50 in the winter to get strength to hoe corn in the summer to get strength to dig clams in the winter.
"So Premix became a sort of symbol of achievement to Fleming. Then, he was one of these old-model paternalistic employers, and he was afraid that if he relinquished51 control, a lot of his old retainers would be turned out to grass. And finally, he was opposed in principle to concentration of business ownership. He claimed it made business more vulnerable to government control and eventual52 socialization."
"I'm not sure he didn't have something there," Rand considered. "We get all our corporate48 eggs in a few baskets, and they're that much easier for the planned-economy boys to grab.... Just who, on the Premix side, was in favor of this merger?"
"Just about everybody but Fleming," Tipton replied. "His two sons-in-law, Fred Dunmore and Varcek, who are first and second vice53 presidents. Humphrey Goode, the company attorney, who doubles as board chairman. All the directors. All the New York banking54 crowd who are interested in Premix. And all the two-share tinymites. I don't know who inherits Fleming's voting interest, but I can find out for you by this time tomorrow."
"Do that, Tip, and bill me for what you think finding out is worth," Rand said. "It'll be a novel reversal of order for you to be billing me for an investigation55.... Now, how about the family, as distinct from the company?"
"Well, there's your client, Gladys Fleming. She married Lane Fleming about ten years ago, when she was twenty-five and he was fifty-five. In spite of the age difference, I understand it was a fairly happy marriage. Then, there are two daughters by a previous marriage, Nelda Dunmore and Geraldine Varcek, and their respective husbands. They all live together, in a big house at Rosemont. In the company, Dunmore is Sales, and Varcek is Production. They each have a corner of the mantle56 of Lane Fleming in one hand and a dirk in the other. Nelda and Geraldine hate each other like Greeks and Trojans. Nelda is the nymphomaniac sister, and Geraldine is the dipsomaniac. From time to time, temporary alliances get formed, mainly against Gladys; all of them resent the way she married herself into a third-interest in the estate. You're going to have yourself a nice, pleasant little stay in the country."
"I'm looking forward to it." Rand grimaced57. "You mentioned suicide rumors. Such as, and who's been spreading them?"
"Oh, they are the usual bodyless voices that float about," Tipton told him. "Emanating58, I suspect, from sources interested in shaking out the less sophisticated small shareholders59 before the merger. The story is always approximately the same: That Lane Fleming saw his company drifting reefward, was unwilling60 to survive the shipwreck61, and performed seppuku. The family are supposed to have faked up the accident afterward62. I dismiss the whole thing as a rather less than subtle bit of market-manipulation chicanery63."
"Or a smoke screen, to cover the defects in camouflaging64 a murder as an accident," Rand added.
Tipton nodded. "That could be so, too," he agreed. "Say somebody dislikes the looks of that accident, and starts investigating. Then he runs into all this miasma65 of suicide rumors, and promptly66 shrugs67 the whole thing off. Fleming killed himself, and the family made a few alterations68 and are passing it off as an accident. The families of suicides have been known to do that."
"Yes. Regular defense-in-depth system; if the accident line is penetrated69, the suicide line is back of it," Rand said. "Well, in the last few years, we've seen defenses in depth penetrated with monotonous70 regularity71. I've jeeped through a couple, myself, to interrogate72 the surviving ex-defenders. It's all in having the guns and armor to smash through with."
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
ushering
|
|
| v.引，领，陪同( usher的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
amber
|
|
| n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
holder
|
|
| n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
renaissance
|
|
| n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
complexion
|
|
| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
middle-aged
|
|
| adj.中年的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
animation
|
|
| n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
fumbled
|
|
| （笨拙地）摸索或处理（某事物）( fumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 乱摸，笨拙地弄； 使落下 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
lighter
|
|
| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
insolence
|
|
| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
appraising
|
|
| v.估价( appraise的现在分词 )；估计；估量；评价 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
retracting
|
|
| v.撤回或撤消( retract的现在分词 )；拒绝执行或遵守；缩回；拉回 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
fixed
|
|
| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
disciples
|
|
| n.信徒( disciple的名词复数 )；门徒；耶稣的信徒；（尤指）耶稣十二门徒之一 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
hunch
|
|
| n.预感，直觉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
percussion
|
|
| n.打击乐器；冲突，撞击；震动，音响 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
chambers
|
|
| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
par
|
|
| n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
drawn
|
|
| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
filthy
|
|
| adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
justify
|
|
| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
killer
|
|
| n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
whooping
|
|
| 发嗬嗬声的，发咳声的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
incompetence
|
|
| n.不胜任，不称职 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
briefly
|
|
| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
poked
|
|
| v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
annually
|
|
| adv.一年一次，每年 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
eligible
|
|
| adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
deplore
|
|
| vt.哀叹，对...深感遗憾 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
rumors
|
|
| n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
vaguely
|
|
| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
buck
|
|
| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
neophyte
|
|
| n.新信徒；开始者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
steadily
|
|
| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
irate
|
|
| adj.发怒的，生气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
woes
|
|
| 困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
merger
|
|
| n.企业合并，并吞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
merge
|
|
| v.(使)结合，(使)合并，(使)合为一体 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
minor
|
|
| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
infraction
|
|
| n.违反；违法 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
ethics
|
|
| n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
graveyard
|
|
| n.坟场 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
Amended
|
|
| adj. 修正的 动词amend的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
sentimental
|
|
| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
peddled
|
|
| （沿街）叫卖( peddle的过去式和过去分词 )； 兜售； 宣传； 散播 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
wagon
|
|
| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
wholesale
|
|
| n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
corporate
|
|
| adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
advertising
|
|
| n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
clams
|
|
| n.蛤；蚌，蛤( clam的名词复数 )v.（在沙滩上）挖蛤( clam的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
relinquished
|
|
| 交出，让给( relinquish的过去式和过去分词 )； 放弃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
eventual
|
|
| adj.最后的，结局的，最终的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
vice
|
|
| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
banking
|
|
| n.银行业，银行学，金融业 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
investigation
|
|
| n.调查，调查研究 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
mantle
|
|
| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
grimaced
|
|
| v.扮鬼相，做鬼脸( grimace的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
emanating
|
|
| v.从…处传出，传出( emanate的现在分词 )；产生，表现，显示 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
shareholders
|
|
| n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
unwilling
|
|
| adj.不情愿的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
shipwreck
|
|
| n.船舶失事，海难 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
afterward
|
|
| adv.后来；以后 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
chicanery
|
|
| n.欺诈，欺骗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
camouflaging
|
|
| v.隐蔽( camouflage的现在分词 )；掩盖；伪装，掩饰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
miasma
|
|
| n.毒气；不良气氛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
promptly
|
|
| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
shrugs
|
|
| n.耸肩（以表示冷淡，怀疑等）( shrug的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
alterations
|
|
| n.改动( alteration的名词复数 )；更改；变化；改变 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
penetrated
|
|
| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
monotonous
|
|
| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
regularity
|
|
| n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
interrogate
|
|
| vt.讯问，审问，盘问 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |