Chapter 68

I stared out at the great, sweeping¹ live oaks. Then I noticed the plump magnolias and sloppy², fanning banana trees of the Garden District. There was nothing else for me to do. The surveillance continued. Jamilla was starting to repeat herself. We both were, and that became a running gag between us. Sections of the day’s Times-Picayune were all over the backseat of the car. We had read it cover to cover.
“There’s no physical evidence tying Daniel or Charles to a single murder. Not in any of the cities, Alex. Everything we have on them is circumstantial, or theoretical, hypothetical bullshit. Does that make any sense to you? It doesn’t to me.’ She was talking, probably just to talk, but she was making sense. ‘It just doesn’t add up. They can’t be that good. No one is.’
We were parked four blocks north of the house on LaSalle. The domain³. We could get there in seconds if anything developed, but so far, nothing had. That was the problem. Daniel and Charles rarely left their two-hundred-year-old mansion⁴, and when they did, it was only to go shopping, or to a fancy restaurant downtown. Not surprisingly, they had good taste.
I tried to answer Jamilla’s question. ‘It makes some sense to me that we can’t link them to the early murders.You know as well as I do - once a murder case gets old it’s almost impossible to find witnesses, or compelling evidence. I don’t understand why we haven’t found anything on the recent murders, though.’
‘That’s what I’m thinking too. We have witnesses to the killings⁵ in Savannah and in Charleston, but no one recognizes photos of Daniel or Charles. Why not? What are we missing?’
‘Maybe they don’t commit the actual murders themselves,’ I said.
‘Maybe they used to, but not anymore.’
‘Don’t they want to feast on the kills? Drink the blood? What other purpose do the murders serve? Are they symbolic⁶? Is this part of some arcane⁷ mythology⁸? Are they creating a new mythology?  Jesus, Alex, what the hell are these two monsters doing in New Orleans?’
I didn’t have answers to her questions, or my own. No one did, unfortunately. So we sat in the car, tried to keep cool in the heat, and waited for Daniel and Charles to make their next move.  If they were so careful and so good then why did we know about them, why were we here?

1 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

2 sloppy   

adj.邋遢的，不整洁的

参考例句：

• If you do such sloppy work again,I promise I'll fail you.要是下次作业你再马马虎虎，我话说在头里，可要给你打不及格了。
• Mother constantly picked at him for being sloppy.母亲不断地批评他懒散。

3 domain   

n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围

参考例句：

• This information should be in the public domain.这一消息应该为公众所知。
• This question comes into the domain of philosophy.这一问题属于哲学范畴。

4 mansion   

n.大厦，大楼；宅第

参考例句：

• The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
• The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。

5 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

6 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

7 arcane   

adj.神秘的，秘密的

参考例句：

• The technique at one time was arcane in the minds of most chemists.这种技术在大多数化学家心目中一度是神秘的。
• Until a few months ago few people outside the arcane world of contemporary music had heard of Gorecki.直至几个月前，在现代音乐神秘殿堂之外很少有人听说了戈莱斯基。

8 mythology   

n.神话，神话学，神话集

参考例句：

• In Greek mythology,Zeus was the ruler of Gods and men.在希腊神话中，宙斯是众神和人类的统治者。
• He is the hero of Greek mythology.他是希腊民间传说中的英雄。