Chapter 19 Chapter 19 The Russian Trick
The young man was lying on his back on the sofa, breathing like a corpse.Joe Kylo sat beside him, head bowed, rubbing his face and wrists, brushing his hair back from his forehead, talking to him in a low voice, gazing anxiously at his pale, A motionless face.
Bridget O'Shaughnessy stood between the corner of the table and the wall, with one hand flat on the table and the other on her chest.She bit her lower lip and stole glances at Spade when he wasn't looking at her; when his eyes turned to hers, she looked at Kylo and Wilmer.
Gutman no longer frowns, and his cheeks are rosy again.He stood facing Spade with his hands in his trouser pockets, watching him boredly.
Spade jingled the gun in his hand leisurely, nodded at Kylo's chubby back, and asked Gutman, "Is he going to be okay?"
"I don't know," said the fat man quietly. "It's all up to you, sir."
Spade's smile accentuated his V-shaped jaw.He called out, "Carol."
The Levantine turned his dark, anxious face away.
"Give him a break before turning him over to the police. We've got to hammer out the details before he wakes up," Spade said.
Kai Luo asked angrily, "Don't you think you haven't bullied him enough?"
"Exactly," Spade said.
Kai Luo left the sofa and walked to the side of the fat man. "Please don't do this, Mr. Gutman," he begged, "you must understand—"
Spade interrupted him: "It's settled. The question is, what are you going to do? Join, or quit?"
Although Gutman's smile was a little sad, even a little lost, he still nodded. "I don't want to," he told the Levantine, "but we can't help it now, really."
Spade asked again, "How are you, Kylo? In or out?"
Kylo licked his lips and turned his face slowly to Spade. "If," he said, gulping, "I have—do I have a choice?"
"Yes," Spade assured him solemnly, "but you know, if your answer is quit, we're going to hand you over to the police, along with your boyfriend."
"Oh, come on, Mr. Spade," Gutman protested, "that's not—"
"The hell we're going to let him go," Spade said. "He's either going to join us or he's going to the police. We can't be anticlimactic and make a lot of holes." He glared at Gutman angrily. He yelled petulantly, "God! Is this the first thing you stole? You're a bunch of kids eating lollipops! What are you going to do next? Get down on your knees and pray?" He stared at Kay again. Luo, "How is it? What to choose?"
"You left me with no choice," Kylo shrugged his narrow shoulders in despair, "I'll join."
"Okay," Spade said, and looked from Gutman to Bridget O'Shaughnessy, "sit down."
The girl sat tremblingly at the end of the sofa, right at the feet of the unconscious young man.Gutman returned to the rocking chair, and Kylo sat back in the armchair.Spade put the guns in his hand on the table and sat himself on the corner of the table next to him.He looked at the watch on his wrist and said, "It's two o'clock. I'll have to wait until daylight to get the eagle, or eight o'clock. We've got plenty of time to get everything in order."
Gutman cleared his throat. "Where's the eagle?" he asked, and then hastily added, "I don't really care, sir, I just think it's best for the few of us not to leave each other's sight before the official transaction, which is best in all respects." ’” He looked at the sofa, then at Spade, his eyes sharpened, “Is the envelope on you?”
Spade shook his head, looked at the sofa, then at the girl.With a smile in his eye, he said, "At Miss O'Shaughnessy's."
"Yes, here I am," she whispered, putting a hand inside her coat. "I put it away."
"It's all right," Spade said to her, "just put it away." He said to Gutman, "We don't need to lose sight of each other. I can have the eagle delivered."
"That would be great," said Gutman contentedly. "Then, sir, we'll give you ten thousand dollars and Wilmore. In exchange, you'll give us the eagle and an hour or two of your time— That way we'll be out of town by the time you hand him over to the police."
"You don't have to hide," Spade said. "It's not going to leak."
"Perhaps, sir. Still, we felt safer getting out of here while Wilmer was being questioned by your District Attorney."
"Whatever you want," Spade replied, "I can keep him here all day if you want." He began to roll his cigarette. "Let's get the details out. Why did he kill Thursby?" ? Why did he shoot Jacoby? Where did he shoot him?"
Gutman laughed wildly, shook his head, and said, "Come, sir, don't count on that. We've given you the money and the Wilmer, and that's all we've got to offer as agreed."
"I do expect you to tell me," Spade said, holding up the lighter to the cigarette, "that I want a scapegoat. He's not a scapegoat unless he's going to be convicted. So, to make sure he's convicted , I need to know what's going on with all this." He frowned, "What are you complaining about? If you let him go, you can't expect to sit here in peace."
Guttmann leaned forward and waggled a fat finger at the pile of pistols next to Spade's leg. "His evidence is strong, sir, with these guns. It would have been easy for the experts in the police department to determine whether the bullets that killed the two men were fired from these guns. You know, you mentioned it yourself. That seems to me ample proof of his guilt."
"Maybe," echoed Spade, "but it's more complicated than that. I need to know what's going on to make sure the contradictory parts are covered up."
Kylo's eyes were round and gleaming with anger. "Apparently you've forgotten that you promised us it would be easy," he turned that agitated black face to Gutman. "Look! I told you not to do it, I don't think—"
"It doesn't matter what the hell you two think," Spade said bluntly. "It's too late for that now, you're too deep. Why did he kill Thursby?"
Gutman crossed his fingers on his stomach and rocked back and forth in his chair.There was frank regret in his voice and smile. "You man, it's almost impossible to get the upper hand on you," he said. "I'm beginning to think we made a mistake in bringing you in. Good God, it is, sir!"
Spade waved his hand casually. "You didn't do that badly. You escaped prison and you're about to get the eagle. What else do you want?" He put the cigarette in the corner of his mouth and said, "Anyway, you now understand His own situation. Why did he kill Thursby?"
Gutman stopped shaking. "Thursby was a notorious killer and an associate of Miss O'Shaughnessy. We thought getting rid of him in that way would not only give her one less troublesome protector, but give her pause for thought. Thought, thought maybe it would be best to let go of the past and get back together. You see, sir, I'm being honest with you, aren't I?"
"Yes, keep it up. It never occurred to you that the eagle might be in his hands?"
Gutman shook his head, and his round cheeks trembled. "It never occurred to us," he replied, with a kind smile on his face, "fortunately we know Miss O'Shaughnessy all too well. Though we did not know that she gave the eagle to Jacoby in Hong Kong." Captain, let him bring the hawk over the Dove, and they themselves took a faster ship. If only one of them knew where the hawk was, we never thought it was Thursby. "
Spade nodded thoughtfully, and asked, "Didn't you try to make a deal with him before you killed him?"
"Tried, sir, of course we tried. I talked to him personally that night. Wilmore had found his place two days ago and tried to track him down to where he met Miss O'Shaughnessy. But Thursby was too cunning, though he didn't know he was under our watch. Wilmer went to his hotel that night, found out he wasn't there, and waited for him outside. I guess Thursby killed I went back as soon as I got your partner. Nevertheless, Wilmer brought him to me. We couldn't talk to him about anything, and he was dead set on his loyalty to Miss O'Shaughnessy. So, sir, Wilmer Follow him back to the hotel and finish him off."
Spade thought for a moment. "That sounds okay, now say Jacoby."
Gutman looked at Spade with heavy eyes and said, "Captain Jacoby's death is entirely Miss O'Shaughnessy's fault."
The girl gasped: "Oh!" She covered her mouth with her hand.
Spade's voice was deep and calm. "It doesn't matter now. Tell me what happened."
Gutman looked at Spade shrewdly, then laughed. "As you say, sir," he said, "Cairo came here one night, as you know. He got in touch with me the next day after he left the police station—I sent To him. We realized that cooperation would be beneficial to both parties." He turned his smile to the Levantine. He recalled that when he was in Hong Kong he had heard that Jacoby was seen with Miss O'Shaughnessy. He was looking for her in Hong Kong at the time. At first he thought she had left on the White Pigeon, but later he found out about her. No. Anyway, sir, when he saw the arrival notice in the paper, he guessed the truth of the matter: she gave Jacobi the bird to bring him here. Of course, Jacobi didn't know What is that. Miss O'Shaughnessy is too cautious in that."
He glanced at the girl, shook his chair twice, and continued: "Mr. Carroll, Wilmore, and I are going to visit Captain Jacoby. Fortunately, Miss O'Shaughnessy was still there when we got there." There. It was a tough negotiation by all accounts. But we finally got Miss O'Shaughnessy to back down, or so we thought we did. Then we left the ship and went to my hotel. I'm going to Pay Miss O'Shaughnessy at the hotel and receive the hawk. But, sir, we are a bunch of ignorant people who think we can handle her. On the way, she and Captain Jacoby and the A hawk slipped through our fingers without a trace." He laughed happily, "My God, sir, that was a beautiful job."
Spade looked at Bridget.She opened her deep eyes and looked at him earnestly.He asked Gutman: "Did you set the boat on fire before you disembarked?"
"Not intentionally, sir, really not," replied the fat man, "but I must say that we—or Wilmer at least—were responsible for the fire. While we were talking in the cabin, he was looking for the Eagle. No doubt he was careless with the matches."
"That's all right," Spade said. "If something goes wrong, Jacobi's murder case is necessary to convict him, and we can add an arson charge to him. Well, now for the shooting."
"Well, sir, we've been prowling around town all day for them and finally found them late this afternoon. At first we weren't sure we'd found them, only that we found Miss O'Shaughnessy's The apartment. But we heard them walking around at the door, so we believed they were there, so we rang the doorbell. She asked who we were, and we told the truth, and then we heard the window open through the door.
"Of course we understand what that means. So Wilmer rushed downstairs as fast as he could, intending to go around the back of the building and block the fire exit. As soon as he turned into the alley on the side of the building, he ran away with the eagle under his arm. Captain Jacoby hit his chest. It was a tricky situation to deal with, but Wilmer did his best. He shot Jacoby - more than once - but Jacoby was tenacious and didn't give up. Didn't miss the hawk. He was too close to Wilmer, and Wilmer couldn't dodge his punch. He knocked Wilmer down and ran away. It was broad daylight, you know, it was afternoon Time. As soon as Wilmer got up, he saw a policeman coming from the south block, so he had to give up. The back door of the building next to the Crown Apartment was open. He ducked in the door, walked through the building to the front of the road, and went to Lou joined us—fortunately, sir, he was not seen.
"Then, sir, we were dumbfounded again. After Miss O'Shaughnessy closed the window for Jacoby, she opened the door for me and Mr. Carroll. And she—" He paused, smiling as he thought about it. , "We persuaded her—'persuaded' is the best word, sir. She told us that she sent Jacobi to you with a hawk. Even if the police didn't stop him, he didn't look like he could To get that far alive, but that was our only chance. So again, we 'convinced' Miss O'Shaughnessy to give us a little help. We, uh... persuaded her to call your office, trying to take advantage of Jacob's Get you out of the way before you get there, and send Wilmore after him. Unfortunately, it took us a long time to convince Miss O'Shaughnessy—"
The young man on the sofa groaned and turned over to lie on his side.His eyes opened and closed several times.The girl stood up, and then stood in the corner between the table and the wall.
"—cooperate with us," Guttman concluded hastily, "so you get the eagle before we call you."
The young man stepped on the ground with one foot, raised his body with the support of his elbow, opened his eyes wide, put the other foot on the ground, and sat up.He looked around, and when his eyes fell on Spade, there was a bewildered look in his eyes.Kylo got up from the armchair, walked up to the young man, put his arms around his shoulders, and said something to him.The young man stood up quickly and shook off Kylo's arm.He scanned the room, fixing his eyes on Spade again.At this moment, his expression was grim, and his whole body was tense, which made him look even shorter, as if his body had been shrunk.
Spade sat on the corner of the table, dangling his legs nonchalantly, and said, "Listen, boy. If you come up and mess around, I'll kick your face. Sit down and shut up. Just hang around and you'll live." It has to be longer."
The boy looked at Gutman.
Guttmann smiled kindly and said to him, "Well, Wilmer, I really don't want to lose you. I hope you understand that I love you as much as my own son; but —Oh, my God! If one son is lost, another may be gained; but there is only one Maltese eagle."
Spade laughed.
Kai Luo stepped forward and whispered something to Wilmore.The lad stared into Gutman's face with his pale brown eyes, and sat down on the sofa with the Levantine next to him.
Gutman sighed, but still had a smile on his face.He said to Spade: "There are some things that people just can't see through when they are young."
Kai Luo put his arm around the young man's shoulder again, whispering to him.Spade grinned at Guttman and said to Bridget O'Shaughnessy, "It would be nice if you could go into the kitchen and see what's available to eat and make some more coffee. Do you think How? I don't want to leave my guests behind."
"Of course." She said and walked towards the door.
Gutman stopped the rocking chair. "Wait a minute, dear," he held up a plump hand, "wouldn't you better leave that envelope here? You don't want to splatter some oil on it."
The girl asked Spade with her eyes, and the latter said in a cold tone: "The money is still his now."
She reached into her coat, took out the envelope and handed it to Spade.Spade threw it on Gutman's lap and said, "Sit on it if you're afraid of losing it."
"You misunderstood me," Gutman said tactfully, "I didn't mean that at all, but you have to do business like a business." He opened the envelope, took out the thousand-dollar bills, nodded, and rattled Laughing, his big belly was shaking, "For example, there are only nine banknotes here now." He spread the banknotes on his fat knees and thighs, "When I handed it to you, there were ten banknotes. , you know very well." With a big smile on his face, he was happy like a winner.
Spade looked at Bridget O'Shaughnessy and asked, "Huh?"
She shook her head vigorously, her lips squirmed slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she didn't say anything.She looked terrified.
Spade held out his hand to Gutman, and the fat man put the money in his hand.Spade counted the money—nine thousand-dollar bills—and returned it to Gutman.Then Spade stood up, his expression calm and sullen.He picked up the three guns on the table and said in a matter-of-fact tone, "I want to find out what's going on, we—" He tilted his head at the girl, but didn't look at her, "Go to the bathroom. The door It will always be open, and I will face the door. To get out of here, you must go through the bathroom door, unless you want to jump from the third floor. Don't do such a stupid thing."
"Seriously, sir," Gutman protested, "it's not necessary, it's too unkind for you to threaten us like this, you have to know, we have no intention of leaving at all."
"I know better after checking." Spade was patient, but also determined. "This kind of ghost tricks will mess things up. I have to figure out the answer. It won't take long." He touched the girl elbow, "Come on."
In the bathroom, Bridget O'Shaughnessy spoke.She put her hands on Spade's chest, turned her face up to Spade's eyes, and said softly, "I didn't take that bill, Sam."
"I didn't say you took it," he said, "but I need to find out. Take your clothes off."
"You don't believe me?"
"No. Take your clothes off."
"I won't take it off."
"Okay, then let's go back to the room just now, and I'll ask them to help you take off."
She took a step back, covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes were wide open, startled and terrified. "Are you threatening me?" she asked through her fingers.
"No," he said, "I've got to find out where the bill went, and I don't care about girlish shyness or anything like that."
"Oh, not for that," she said, coming closer to him again, and putting her hand on his chest, "I'm not ashamed to be naked in front of you, but—don't you understand? Not like this. Don't you understand , if you make me do it, you're—you're going to destroy something?"
His tone didn't change a bit: "I don't understand this. I need to find out what happened to that bill. Take off your clothes."
She looked into his unblinking gray-yellow eyes, and her face turned crimson first, then pale.She stood up straight with her head held high and began to undress.He sat on the edge of the tub watching her and the open door.There was no movement from the living room.She took off her clothes quickly and deftly, letting them fall to the floor and piled up at her feet.After undressing, she took a step back from the pile of clothes and stood there looking at him with an air of arrogance, without resistance or embarrassment.
He put the pistol on the toilet, and knelt on one knee in front of her pile of clothes facing the door, picking them up and looking through them carefully.He couldn't find the thousand-yuan bill.After checking, he stood up with her clothes and handed them to her. "Thanks," he said, "now I know."
She took the clothes from him without saying anything.He grabbed those guns and went out, closed the bathroom door, and went back into the living room.
Gutman sat in the rocking chair and smiled kindly at him. "Found it?" he asked.
Kylo and Wilmore sat side by side on the sofa.Kylo looked at Spade with opaque eyes full of question marks.Wilmer didn't look up. He leaned forward, put his head in his hands, rested his elbows on his knees, and stared at the ground between his feet.
"I didn't find it," Spade said to Gutman. "You kept it in your hand."
The fat man laughed softly: "I hid it in my hand?"
"That's right," Spade said, jingling the gun in his hand. "Are you going to confess or do you want to be searched?"
"Searched—"
"Admit it," Spade said, "or I'll hunt you. There's no third way."
Gutman looked up at Spade's grim face and burst out laughing. "My God, sir, I'm sure you will, really. You're a character, sir, if you don't mind me saying so."
"You hid it in your hand," Spade said.
"That's right, I hid it." The fat man took out a crumpled banknote from his vest pocket, flattened it on his leg, and took out the envelope containing nine banknotes from his coat pocket, and put the Flattened bills in. "I like to crack a little joke now and then, and I'm curious how you'd do in that situation. I've got to say, you not only passed the test, you beat it, sir. I didn't expect you to find out the truth in such a simple and direct way."
Spade didn't think he was disobedient, and only sneered at him. "I thought this kind of thing could only be done by people of the age of punks."
Gutman giggled.
Bridget O'Shaughnessy put on her clothes again, only without coat and hat.She came out of the bathroom, took a step towards the living room, then turned and walked to the kitchen, turning on the light.
Kylo moved closer to Wilmo on the sofa, and began to whisper to him again.The boy shook his shoulders irritably.
Spade looked at the gun in his hand, then at Gutman, and walked out of the room to the wardrobe in the hallway.He opened the cupboard door, put the pistol on a suitcase in the closet, closed and locked the door, put the key in his trousers pocket, and went to the kitchen door.Bridget O'Shaughnessy pours water into an aluminum coffee pot.
"Can you find everything?" Spade asked.
"Yeah." She replied coldly without raising her head.Then she put the coffee pot aside and walked toward the door.Her face was flushed, her eyes were wide open, and her eye sockets were wet, and her eyes were full of reproach. "You shouldn't have done that to me, Sam," she said softly.
"I gotta figure it out, baby." He bowed his head, kissed her lightly on the mouth, and went back to the living room.
Gutman smiled at Spade, handed him the white envelope, and said, "This will be yours soon, so you might as well take it now."
Spade didn't answer.Sitting in an armchair, he said, "There's plenty of time for this. We haven't finished talking about money. I should get more than ten thousand dollars."
"Ten thousand dollars is a lot of money," Gutman said.
"You're quoting me. But it's not all the money in the world," Spade said.
"No, sir, it's not. I agree with that. But it's easy to make money in a few days, so ten thousand dollars is a lot."
"You think it's easy?" Spade asked, and then he shrugged, "Well, maybe, but that's my business."
"Of course," the fat man agreed.He rolled his eyes, gestured to the kitchen with his head, and lowered his voice: "Are you going to share it with her?"
"That's my business, too," Spade said.
"Of course," the fat man echoed again, "but—" he hesitated, "I want to give you a piece of advice."
"Please."
"If you don't—I dare say you'll give her some money anyway, but—if you don't give her what she thinks she deserves, my advice is—be careful."
There was a mocking gleam in Spade's eyes."Is it that bad?" he asked.
"It's that bad," replied the fat man.
Spade grinned and rolled his cigarette.
Kai Luo put his arm around Wilmo's shoulder again, still whispering to him.Suddenly, the boy pushed the arm away and turned to face the Levantine with a look of disgust and anger.He clenched his small hand into a fist and hit Kai Luo directly on the mouth.Kai Luo yelled like a woman, retreated far away to the other side of the sofa, took out a silk handkerchief from his pocket and covered his mouth.When the handkerchief was taken off it was stained with blood.He put his handkerchief over his mouth again, and looked at the lad reproachfully.The young man yelled, "Get away from me" angrily, and put his head between his hands again.The room smelled of chypre perfume from Kylo's handkerchief.
Kylo's screams ushered Bridget O'Shaughnessy to the door.Spade pointed to the sofa with his thumb and said with a smile, "This is true love. How's the food going?"
"It's almost ready." She said and went back to the kitchen.
Spade lit a cigarette and said to Gutman, "Let's talk about money."
"With pleasure, sir, I say it from the bottom of my heart," replied the fat man, "but I may as well tell you right now, frankly, that I have only raised ten thousand dollars."
Spade let out a puff of smoke. "I should get twenty thousand."
"I hope you get it too. If I had it, I'd be more than happy to give it to you, but I swear I can only afford ten thousand now. Of course, sir, you have to understand that this is just a down payment for you. Later -"
Spade laughed. "I know you're going to give me millions," he said, "but we're only talking about a down payment. Fifteen thousand?"
Gutman smiled, frowning and shaking his head. "Mr. Spade, I have told you frankly and frankly. I swear on the honor of a gentleman, that all the money I have and I can raise, every penny added up, is only ten thousand. .”
"But you didn't say 'definitely.'"
Gutman laughed and said, "Sure."
"That sucks," Spade said darkly. "But if that's all you can do, give it to me."
Gutman handed him the envelope.Spade counted the bills and pocketed the money.Just then Bridget O'Shaughnessy entered with a tray.
Wilmore would not eat.Carlo drank a cup of coffee.Bridget, Gutman, and Spade ate her scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, and marmalade, and each drank two cups of coffee.Then they sat down and waited out the long night.
Gutman smokes a cigar and reads "American Criminal," occasionally giggling or commenting on the funny bits.Kylo watched his mouth carefully, sulking as he sat alone on the sofa.The lad sat with his head in his hands until one after four, when he lay down, with his feet toward Kylo, and turned his face toward the window, and fell asleep.Bridget O'Shaughnessy sat drowsy in her armchair, listening to the fat man's comments and chatting casually with Spade.
Spade rolled, smoked, and paced the room, but never fidgeted or tensed.Sometimes he sat on the arm of the girl's chair, sometimes on the corner of a table, sometimes on the rug at her feet, sometimes in a chair with an upright back.He looked refreshed, in a good mood, and full of energy from head to toe.
At five-thirty, he went into the kitchen and made some more coffee.Half an hour later the lad stirred, woke up, sat up and yawned.Gutman looked at his watch and asked Spade, "Can you get it now?"
"Wait another hour."
Gutman nodded and continued reading his book.At seven, Spade went to the phone and dialed Effie Perrin's number.
"Hello, Mrs. Palin? ... I'm Spade, can I have a word with Effie? ... Yes, that's right ... Thank you." He whistled a few times softly, blowing The most popular is the melody of "In Cuba", "Hi, baby, I'm sorry to wake you up... yes. The plan is this: you go to the post office with our mailbox with Helan's name on it. There is an envelope with my name on it." An address in scribbled handwriting. Inside the envelope is a luggage check from Pickwick Bus Station for the bag we got yesterday. Could you hurry up and get that bag out and bring it to me? … Yes, I am at home... This is a good girl, go now... Goodbye."
At ten past eight, the doorbell rang downstairs.Spade walked to the intercom and pressed the button to unlock the lock.Gutman put down the book and stood up smiling. "You don't mind if I answer the door with you?" he asked.
"Okay," Spade told him.
Gutman followed him to the door, which Spade opened.Effie Palin was coming down the elevator with the brown paper bag.She walked almost at a trot, her boyish face looking cheerful and bright.She glanced at Gutman and looked away, just smiled at Spade and handed him the package.
He took the package and said, "Thanks, ma'am. Sorry to ruin your day off, but this time—"
"It's not the first time you've done something like this," she replied with a smile.Seeing that he obviously didn't intend to invite her in, she asked again: "Is there anything else?"
He shook his head. "No, thank you."
She said "goodbye" and walked back to the elevator.Spade closed the door and took the package to the living room.Gutman's face was flushed, and his cheeks were trembling slightly.As Spade put the package on the table, Kylo and Bridget O'Shaughnessy approached, both excited.Wilmer stood up, pale and nervous, but he still stood by the sofa, glaring at the others through his curved eyelashes.
Spade stepped back from the table and said, "You come."
Gutman's fat fingers parted the string, paper, and shavings, and took the black bird in his palm. "Ah," he said in a hoarse voice, "I've been waiting for this moment for seventeen years." His eyes were moist.
Kylo licked his red lips and twisted his hands together.The girl bit her lower lip.She and Kylo and Gutman, and Spade and the boy, everyone's breathing became heavy.The air in the room was cold and smelly, and with the smoke from the cigars, it became cloudy.
Gutman put the bird on the table and fumbled into his pocket. "That's it," he said, his chubby cheeks glistening with sweat, "but let's make sure." He faltered and pulled out a golden pocket knife and opened the blade.
Kylo and the girl stood next to him on one side.Spade stood a little back in order to keep an eye on Wilmer and the men at the table at the same time.
Gutman turned the bird upside down and scraped at its base with a knife.The black enamel was scraped off and turned into a pile of curled debris, revealing blackened metal under the enamel.Guttman's blade sliced into the metal, cutting a thin arc.Both the inside of the flake and the narrow facet that remained after it had been shaved off had a soft gray sheen, the sheen of lead.
Gutman bared his teeth, hissed and exhaled, the blood rushed to the top of his head, and his face was flushed.He turned the bird upside down and slashed hard at its head.Here, too, lead was exposed under the knife edge.He let the knife and the bird thump on the table, and turned to Spade in a hoarse voice, "Fake."
Spade's face hardened.He nodded slowly, but his hand shot out like lightning, and he grabbed Bridget O'Shaughnessy by the wrist, pulled her to her face, and with the other hand grabbed her chin, and lifted her face roughly. . "Okay," he growled lowly in her face, "you've made your little joke. Now tell us what it is."
She cried, "No, Sam, don't! That's the eagle I got from Kemidov, I swear—"
Joe Kylo slammed between Spade and Guttman and burst out in a high-pitched voice: "There! There! It's the Russian! I should have known! We took him for a fool. , but he played us all hard!" The Levantine danced with excitement, tears streaming down his cheeks. "It's you who screwed up!" he snapped at Gutman. "You foolishly begged him for it! You big fat fool! You made him understand that it was worth a fortune. He figured out what it was worth." How valuable it was to give us a copy! No wonder we stole it so easily! No wonder he sent me all over the world so willingly to find it! You imbecile! You smug fool!" He covered his face with his hands , sobbing and crying.
Gutman's face was drawn long, and he blinked blankly.Then he shook himself, and when all the flesh on his body stopped shaking, he was a happy fat man again. "Come, sir," he said kindly, "there's no need to hang your head any longer. Everyone makes mistakes, and you know it hit me as hard as anyone else. No.错，这就是俄国人耍的把戏，毫无疑问。那么，先生，你有什么提议？我们应该站在这儿抹着眼泪呼喊彼此的名字吗？或者，我们是不是应该——”他停顿了一下，露出一个天真无邪的微笑，“到君士坦丁堡去？”
凯罗把手从脸上拿开，眼睛都瞪得凸出来了，结结巴巴地说：“你要——”他立刻就明白了古特曼的意思，惊讶得说不出话来。
古特曼拍了拍手，眨眨眼，用带着点儿呼噜声的喉音得意扬扬地说：“十七年来我一直想要这个小东西，一直在努力得到它。如果要我再找一年——喏，先生，额外花费的时间只不过是——”他计算的时候无声地动着嘴皮子，“十七分之一，也就是百分之五又十七分之十五。”
黎凡特人咯咯地傻笑起来，嚷道：“我和你去！”
斯佩德突然放开女郎的手腕，在房间里四下扫了一眼。那个威尔莫不见了。斯佩德走到玄关，看到通向走廊的门开着。他不满地瘪瘪嘴，关上门，回到起居室，靠在门框上看着古特曼和凯罗。他用古怪的眼神盯着古特曼看了好一会儿，然后学着胖子那带着呼噜声的喉音说：“得了，先生，我得说你们真是贼性难改啊！”
古特曼低声笑起来。“我们没太多可自夸的，但这一点是事实，先生。”他说，“不过，你看，我们都还活得好好的，仅仅因为遭遇了一点小小的挫折就以为世界末日来了，这种想法一点用都没有。”他从身后抽出左手，伸到斯佩德跟前，光滑多肉的粉色掌心朝上，“我得把那个信封要回来了，先生。”
斯佩德一脸木然，没有动弹。他说：“我该做的都做了，你拿到了你的小玩意儿。货不对版，是你自己运气不好，不怪我。”
“得啦，先生，”古特曼劝道，“我们都栽了，没理由让任何人独自承担后果，而且——”他把右手也从身后抽出来，手里握着一把小手枪，这玩意儿金银相间，嵌着贝母，雕刻着华丽的花纹，“总而言之，先生，我一定得让你还我这一万美元。”斯佩德一脸无动于衷，耸耸肩，从口袋里掏出那个信封。他正要把它递给古特曼，又犹豫了一下，打开信封，拿出一张千元钞票。他把钞票放进裤子口袋，再把信封的折口塞进去，盖住其他的钞票，然后递给古特曼。“那是补偿我的时间和开支的。”他说。
古特曼顿了几秒钟，模仿斯佩德的样子耸耸肩，接过了信封。“好吧，先生，我们要和你说再见了，除非——”他眼睛旁边浮肿的肥肉皱了起来，“你想加入我们的君士坦丁堡探险队。你不来？好吧，坦白说我真的很想要你一起来。你这个人很讨我喜欢，足智多谋，判断力上佳。正因为你判断力上佳，所以我们可以一万个放心地和你说再见，而你一定不会泄露我们这个探险小活动的秘密。我们也知道你一定明白，依现在的情形来看，最后这几天带给我们的法律难题，你和迷人的奥肖内西小姐也同样有份。我相信以你的精明不会没想到这一点。”
“我懂。”斯佩德回答。
“我就知道你懂的。我还同样确信，没有替罪羊你也能设法把警察应付过去，既然现在也没有第二条路了。”
“我会把问题解决的。”斯佩德答道。
“我就知道你可以的。好啦，先生，最短的告别就是最好的。永别啦。”他郑重其事地鞠了一躬，“还有你，奥肖内西小姐，永别了。我把那只稀罕的鸟儿留在桌上给你做纪念吧。”
Notes:
Notes: