04-01-04-三十九级台阶 [3]
给他铺了一张床，然后就自己回去睡觉，感到一个月来从没这么高兴过。刺激的事有时到底碰得上，甚至在伦敦也一样。
第二天早晨我的仆人帕多克来了，我把迪格比上尉介绍给他。我说上尉在军队是个重要人物，他工作得太辛苦了需要休息和安静。然后我就出门去，把他们俩留在房里。大约午饭时我回来，看门人告诉我住在十五号房的先生自杀了。我上了顶楼，和警察谈了几句，就回来告诉斯卡德尔他的计划成功了。警察相信那个死尸就是斯卡德尔，而且是自杀的。斯卡德尔听了很高兴。
他在我寓所住的前两天神态非常平静，一直在读书，吸烟，在一个黑色的小笔记本上写东西。然而此后他变得坐卧不宁，惴惴不安。他愁的不是自己的危险，而是他制止谋杀卡罗里德斯的计划能否成功。一天晚上他神色非常严肃。
“听我说，哈内，”他对我说，“我觉得这件事我得多给您讲点。如果我来不及托付给别人继续执行我的计划就被杀掉，会遗恨无穷的。”
我不甚认真地听着。因为我对斯卡德尔的冒险故事感兴趣，而对政治无所谓。我记得他说过卡罗里德斯只有在伦敦才有危险。我还记得他提过一个叫朱莉娅·采奇尼的女人。他谈过一个叫黑石的人和一个说话口齿不清的人。他还绘声绘色地说起另外一个人，这个人可能最为险恶——一个说话声音像年轻人，像猫头鹰似地眯着眼睛的老人。
第二天晚上我得出去一下，去见一个在非洲的熟人，并一块吃顿饭。我回到寓所时吃惊地看到书房的灯关掉了。我想斯卡德尔是不是早早睡觉了。打开灯，但一个人也没有。后来看到墙角处有个什么东西，吓得我浑身冰凉。
斯卡德尔仰面朝天躺着。一把长刀贯穿心脏，把他钉在地板上。
■ 2 The milkman starts his travels
I sat down in an armchair and felt very sick. After about five minutes I started shaking. The poor white face with its staring eyes was too much for me，so I got a tablecloth and covered it. Then I took the whisky bottle and drank several mouthfuls. I had seen men die violently before. I had killed a few myself in the Matabele war；but this was different. After a few more minutes I managed to calm myself down a little. I looked at my watch and saw that it was halfpast ten. I searched the flat carefully，but there was nobody there. Then I locked the doors and windows.
By this time I was beginning to think more clearly. It looked bad for me-that was clear. It was now certain that Scudder's story was true-the proof was lying under the tablecloth. His enemies had found him and made sure of his silence. But he had been in my flat for four days，and they must think he had told his story to me. So I would be the next to die. It might be that night，or the next day，or the day after，but it was sure to happen.
Then I thought of another problem. I could call the police now，or go to bed and wait for Paddock to discover the body and call them in the morning. But what would the police think？What story would I tell them about Scudder？I had lied to Paddock about him，and my story would be hard to believe. They would arrest me for murder，and I had no real friends in England to help me. Perhaps that was part of the plan. An English prison would be a safe place for me until the 15th of June.
Even if the police did believe my story，I would still be helping Scudder's enemies. Karolides would stay at home，which was what they wanted. Scudder's death had made me certain that his story was true；now I felt responsible for continuing his work. I hate to see a good man beaten，and if I carried on in Scudder's place，the murderers might not win.
I decided I must disappear，and remain hidden until just before the 15th of June. Then I must contact some government people and tell them Scudder's story. I wished he had told me more，and that I had listened more carefully to what he had told me. There was a risk that the government would not believe me，but it was my best chance. Perhaps more evidence would appear which would help me to make my story believable.
It was now the 24th of May，so I had twenty days of hiding. Two groups of people would be looking for meScudder's enemies，who would want to kill me，and the police，who would want me for Scudder's murder. There was going to be a chase，and，surprisingly，I was almost happy about this. I did not want to sit in one place and wait. If I could move，the situation did not seem so bad.
I wondered if Scudder had any papers which would give me more information about his business. I lifted off the table-cloth and searched him. There were only a few coins in his trouser pockets. There was no sign of the little black notebook. I supposed his murderer had taken that.
When I turned from the body，I noticed that all the cupboards were open. Scudder had been a very careful man，and always kept the place tidy. Someone had been searching for something，and perhaps for the notebook. I went round the flat and found that everything had been searched-the insides of books，cupboards，boxes，even the pockets of my clothes. There was no sign of the notebook，so Scudder's enemies had probably found it in the end.
第二天早晨我的仆人帕多克来了，我把迪格比上尉介绍给他。我说上尉在军队是个重要人物，他工作得太辛苦了需要休息和安静。然后我就出门去，把他们俩留在房里。大约午饭时我回来，看门人告诉我住在十五号房的先生自杀了。我上了顶楼，和警察谈了几句，就回来告诉斯卡德尔他的计划成功了。警察相信那个死尸就是斯卡德尔，而且是自杀的。斯卡德尔听了很高兴。
他在我寓所住的前两天神态非常平静，一直在读书，吸烟，在一个黑色的小笔记本上写东西。然而此后他变得坐卧不宁，惴惴不安。他愁的不是自己的危险，而是他制止谋杀卡罗里德斯的计划能否成功。一天晚上他神色非常严肃。
“听我说，哈内，”他对我说，“我觉得这件事我得多给您讲点。如果我来不及托付给别人继续执行我的计划就被杀掉，会遗恨无穷的。”
我不甚认真地听着。因为我对斯卡德尔的冒险故事感兴趣，而对政治无所谓。我记得他说过卡罗里德斯只有在伦敦才有危险。我还记得他提过一个叫朱莉娅·采奇尼的女人。他谈过一个叫黑石的人和一个说话口齿不清的人。他还绘声绘色地说起另外一个人，这个人可能最为险恶——一个说话声音像年轻人，像猫头鹰似地眯着眼睛的老人。
第二天晚上我得出去一下，去见一个在非洲的熟人，并一块吃顿饭。我回到寓所时吃惊地看到书房的灯关掉了。我想斯卡德尔是不是早早睡觉了。打开灯，但一个人也没有。后来看到墙角处有个什么东西，吓得我浑身冰凉。
斯卡德尔仰面朝天躺着。一把长刀贯穿心脏，把他钉在地板上。
■ 2 The milkman starts his travels
I sat down in an armchair and felt very sick. After about five minutes I started shaking. The poor white face with its staring eyes was too much for me，so I got a tablecloth and covered it. Then I took the whisky bottle and drank several mouthfuls. I had seen men die violently before. I had killed a few myself in the Matabele war；but this was different. After a few more minutes I managed to calm myself down a little. I looked at my watch and saw that it was halfpast ten. I searched the flat carefully，but there was nobody there. Then I locked the doors and windows.
By this time I was beginning to think more clearly. It looked bad for me-that was clear. It was now certain that Scudder's story was true-the proof was lying under the tablecloth. His enemies had found him and made sure of his silence. But he had been in my flat for four days，and they must think he had told his story to me. So I would be the next to die. It might be that night，or the next day，or the day after，but it was sure to happen.
Then I thought of another problem. I could call the police now，or go to bed and wait for Paddock to discover the body and call them in the morning. But what would the police think？What story would I tell them about Scudder？I had lied to Paddock about him，and my story would be hard to believe. They would arrest me for murder，and I had no real friends in England to help me. Perhaps that was part of the plan. An English prison would be a safe place for me until the 15th of June.
Even if the police did believe my story，I would still be helping Scudder's enemies. Karolides would stay at home，which was what they wanted. Scudder's death had made me certain that his story was true；now I felt responsible for continuing his work. I hate to see a good man beaten，and if I carried on in Scudder's place，the murderers might not win.
I decided I must disappear，and remain hidden until just before the 15th of June. Then I must contact some government people and tell them Scudder's story. I wished he had told me more，and that I had listened more carefully to what he had told me. There was a risk that the government would not believe me，but it was my best chance. Perhaps more evidence would appear which would help me to make my story believable.
It was now the 24th of May，so I had twenty days of hiding. Two groups of people would be looking for meScudder's enemies，who would want to kill me，and the police，who would want me for Scudder's murder. There was going to be a chase，and，surprisingly，I was almost happy about this. I did not want to sit in one place and wait. If I could move，the situation did not seem so bad.
I wondered if Scudder had any papers which would give me more information about his business. I lifted off the table-cloth and searched him. There were only a few coins in his trouser pockets. There was no sign of the little black notebook. I supposed his murderer had taken that.
When I turned from the body，I noticed that all the cupboards were open. Scudder had been a very careful man，and always kept the place tidy. Someone had been searching for something，and perhaps for the notebook. I went round the flat and found that everything had been searched-the insides of books，cupboards，boxes，even the pockets of my clothes. There was no sign of the notebook，so Scudder's enemies had probably found it in the end.