Chapter 22

I always liked working tough murder cases with Kyle Craig, so I was glad that he would be joining Jamilla Hughes and me in Los Angeles later that day. I was surprised, however, when I saw him already at the murder scene in Beverly Hills when we arrived. The body had been found at the Chateau¹ Marmont, the hotel where John Belushi had overdosed and died.
The hotel looked like a French castle and rose seven stories over the Sunset Strip. As I entered the lobby, I noticed that everything looked to be authentic² 1920s, but dated rather than antique. Supposedly, a studio boss had once told the actor William Holden, If you have to get into trouble, do it at the Chateau Marmont.’ Kyle met us at the door of the hotel room. His dark hair was slicked back and it looked like he’d gotten a little sun. Unusual for Kyle. I almost didn’t recognize him.
‘This is Kyle Craig, FBI,’I told Jamilla.’Before I met you, he was the best homicide investigator³ I ever worked with.’ Kyle and Jamilla shook hands. Then we followed him into the hotel room. Actually, it was a hillside bungalow⁴: two bedrooms, a living room with a working fireplace. It had its own private street entrance.
The crime scene was as depressingly bad as the others. I recalled something typically pessimistic that a philosopher had written. I’d once had this same thought at a grisly crime scene in North Carolina: ‘Human existence must be a kind of error. It is bad today and every day it will get worse, until the worst of all happens.’ My own philosophy was a little cheerier than Schopenhauer’s, but there were times when he seemed on the mark.
The worst of all had happened to a twenty-nine-year-old record company executive named Jonathan Mueller, and in the worst possible way. There were bites on his neck. I didn’t see any knife cuts.  Mueller had been hung from a lighting⁵ fixture⁶ in the hotel room. His skin was waxy⁷ and translucent⁸ and I didn’t think he had been dead very long.
The three of us moved closer to the hanging body. It was swaying slightly, and still dripping blood.
‘The major bites are all in his neck/I said.’It looks like role-playing vampires⁹ again. The hanging has to be their ritual, maybe their signature.’
‘This is so goddamn creepy,’Jamilla whispered.’This poor guy had the blood sucked out of him. It almost looks like a sex crime.’ ‘I think it is,’ Kyle said. ‘I think they seduced¹⁰ him first.’ Just then the cell phone in my jacket pocket went off. The timing¹¹ couldn’t have been worse.
I looked at Kyle before I answered the call.’It could be him,’I said.
‘The Mastermind.’
I put the receiver to my ear.
‘How do you like LA, Alex?’ the Mastermind asked in his usual mechanical drone. ‘The dead pretty much look the same everywhere, don’t they?’
I nodded at Kyle. He understood who was on the line. The Mastermind.
He motioned for me to give him the phone and I handed it over. I watched his face as he listened, then frowned deeply. Kyle finally took the phone away from his ear.
‘He broke off the connection,’ he said. ‘It was like he knew you weren’t on the line anymore. How did he know, Alex? How does the bastard¹² know so much? What the hell does he want from you?’ I stared at the slowly revolving¹³ corpse¹⁴, and I didn’t have any answers. None at all. I felt drained myself.

1 chateau   

n.城堡，别墅

参考例句：

• The house was modelled on a French chateau.这房子是模仿一座法国大别墅建造的。
• The chateau was left to itself to flame and burn.那府第便径自腾起大火燃烧下去。

2 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。

3 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

4 bungalow   

n.平房，周围有阳台的木造小平房

参考例句：

• A bungalow does not have an upstairs.平房没有上层。
• The old couple sold that large house and moved into a small bungalow.老两口卖掉了那幢大房子，搬进了小平房。

5 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

6 fixture   

n.固定设备；预定日期；比赛时间；定期存款

参考例句：

• Lighting fixture must be installed at once.必须立即安装照明设备。
• The cordless kettle may now be a fixture in most kitchens.无绳电热水壶现在可能是多数厨房的固定设备。

7 waxy   

adj.苍白的；光滑的

参考例句：

• Choose small waxy potatoes for the salad.选些个头小、表皮光滑的土豆做色拉。
• The waxy oil keeps ears from getting too dry.这些蜡状耳油可以保持耳朵不会太干燥。

8 translucent   

adj.半透明的；透明的

参考例句：

• The building is roofed entirely with translucent corrugated plastic.这座建筑完全用半透明瓦楞塑料封顶。
• A small difference between them will render the composite translucent.微小的差别,也会使复合材料变成半透明。

9 vampires   

n.吸血鬼( vampire的名词复数 )；吸血蝠；高利贷者；（舞台上的）活板门

参考例句：

• The most effective weapon against the vampires is avampire itself. 对付吸血鬼最有效的武器就是吸血鬼自己。 来自电影对白
• If vampires existed, don`t you think we would`ve found them by now? 如果真有吸血鬼，那我们怎么还没有找到他们呢？ 来自电影对白

10 seduced   

诱奸( seduce的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾引； 诱使堕落； 使入迷

参考例句：

• The promise of huge profits seduced him into parting with his money. 高额利润的许诺诱使他把钱出了手。
• His doctrines have seduced many into error. 他的学说把许多人诱入歧途。

11 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。

12 bastard   

n.坏蛋，混蛋；私生子

参考例句：

• He was never concerned about being born a bastard.他从不介意自己是私生子。
• There was supposed to be no way to get at the bastard.据说没有办法买通那个混蛋。

13 revolving   

adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想

参考例句：

• The theatre has a revolving stage. 剧院有一个旋转舞台。
• The company became a revolving-door workplace. 这家公司成了工作的中转站。

14 corpse   

n.尸体，死尸

参考例句：

• What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。