Chapter 5 chapter Five

He had met Caro at noon on a Friday in late April 1942, at the Grand Café near the University of Pennsylvania campus.He was in his final year of law school and she was a senior at university. Seeing that there was no space on the first floor, he carried the tray upstairs.There were almost as many people upstairs as downstairs. He looked to the other side of the room and saw a very beautiful girl sitting alone at a table for two against the wall.She seemed to be reading a textbook.If this had happened a year ago, he would never have walked up to him, put the tray on the corner of the table and said, "Shall we join the table?"He wasn't particularly shy, but he wasn't always good at flirting with girls he didn't know.Now, however, it was 1942, and there was a new smell of recklessness all over the world.Guidelines of all kinds are changing rapidly.He's been burying his head in his studies, and it's April, and there's a breath of spring everywhere, and this girl is really, really beautiful.

"How about a table together?" She quickly gave him a cold look, then lowered her head to read the book again: "Please go ahead." He put the contents of the tray on the table and sat down to eat.She had finished her meal and was now eating a piece of cheesecake, which she forked and ate a little at a time.Since she had no intention of looking up again, it made him feel safe to stare at her.She was really good-looking, with long eyelashes, beautiful eyebrows, high cheekbones, and ridiculously thick black hair.She was wearing a green suit over a yellow shirt with a ruffled neckline.He desperately thought of some of his more extroverted friends, all of whom were able to speak confidently and confidently.She would finish her cheesecake and coffee in no time and get up and leave, maybe giving him one more cold look.And he could just sit there by himself, thinking about what he could have said.

Suddenly, he recognized the textbook she was reading.He also used that book when he was in college, which was Du Fei's Abnormal Psychology.After practicing in silence a few times, he said, as casually as he could, "This class is killing me." She glanced at him as if surprised that someone else was sitting at the same table. "Really." She turned back to her own book.That sentence was not a question, but ended all conversation. He continued flusteredly: "I...I am very opposed to the ambiguity in this field. They use a lot of labels, but they don't seem to be able to measure... various actual situations."

She closed the book slowly, clamping her fingers to the page she was reading.She glared at him, then looked at his plate.He wished he had ordered something better than sausage and beans. "Don't you understand the rules?" she asked coldly. "What rules?" "Unwritten rules. In this great university, you are not allowed to strike up a conversation with female students. We are stupid, pathetic, short-sighted, little things that you boys call bookworms, not worthy of causing you arrogant Note. If a fraternity member actually brings a female classmate to a fraternity event, he will be looked down upon, so you might as well go out and go to Bryn Mawr (also in Pennsylvania, there is Bryn Mawr women's college) to try their luck."

He felt his face sweat and flushed.She opened her textbook again.His embarrassment gradually turned to anger: "Well, I'm talking to you. If you don't want to talk to me, just make it clear, but being beautiful doesn't give you the privilege of being rude. Those unwritten rules I didn't make it up, the reason I don't date girls from my school is because I happen to have a fiancée in New York." She didn't seem to be listening to him at all.He kills a frankfurter with a fork, and the sausage bounces off the plate onto him.When he put the sausage back on the plate, she said without looking up, "Then why did you come to hook me up?"

"Isn't it too arrogant to say that?" She stared at him, pursing her lips.He saw her brown eyes so dark they were almost black. "yes?" "Arrogant and uncomfortable. I didn't mean to hook you up, and if I meant it just now, man, I don't have it now." She grinned at him mockingly. "You see, you've admitted to yourself that you've had the idea." "I don't have one!" "It's impossible for most people to be honest in this situation. You don't look like that either." "I'm completely honest with myself."

"I don't believe it, let's see if you can really be honest. Suppose when you say that desperate quote and I jump up like a hungry perch in response, then we very eagerly Talk about this class. And then you see me like I'm playing with this cheesecake, so you get up and get me some more coffee, and I react like you're Deus Ex to get me an emerald Like. Then we get out of here together, let's say you have a class at two o'clock and we hang on so long that you only have five minutes to get to class. Now, let's be honest, we're standing outside and I'm taking With a smirk, I said to you: "It's so interesting to chat with you." Now is your chance to be honest, will you skip the two o'clock class and walk back to the dirty and small dormitory with me? ?”

"Of course not." She looked at him with her angry smile.He thought hard, then sighed. "Okay, I will, I will send you off, but there is something wrong and unfair about it." She held out her hand. "Congratulations, you're being half-honest. My name is Caroline Whitney." She shook hands firmly and quickly withdrew them. "Also I want to let you know that I have a great fiancé too. He's currently sending Pensacola (Navy Flying Station) to learn to fly. So I'm not going to smirk at you , and won't wink at you." "My name is Sam Bowden." He smiled at her and nodded at the book in her hand. "This class is really killing me."

"Really well, and I think I like you, Sam Bowden. I happen to be good at that subject. How long ago did it bother you?" "Several years ago, I'm in my final year of law school now." "Then what are you going to do?" "I guess it's something to do with the war. Clary insisted that I finish my studies and get my degree instead of doing what she called a stupid thing. Her father had a factory in New Jersey and was with the Army Fang has signed a lot of contracts, and Clary has been convincing me to work with her father. He is very willing and promised to give me a deferment. I haven't made a decision yet. We plan to get married as soon as I get my degree. Isn't it Everyone tells you about their life?"

"I'm the empathetic kind of guy. Bill and I plan on getting married as soon as he wears his Naval Air Corps badge. I'm not a NJ Defense Industries plant girl, and if I were, I couldn't help it." Let him not be a soldier, he has long been obsessed with being a soldier, I don't think I will even try." He actually went to bring her another coffee, and they actually left there together, saying, "I'll walk you back to the dirty dormitory." "Don't you have a fancy roadster?" "No, I'm a working class." He walked slowly with her.

"The first two years were very easy, and then my father passed away. With summer jobs and part-time errands, I was able to survive part-time and part-time. I quit my job in the past three months, because if I can save some money Well, I should have enough money saved, and I want to spend all my time with books. When there is a conflict between patriotism and money, it's going to be funny." "What's the meaning?" "My brother George and I have to help support my mother, who doesn't make enough money. My brother is married but has no children. Mom lives with them in Pasadena, a city in southwestern California. city), and George is about to be called up, and those are good reasons why I can't rush into the army. The pay of two GIs combined is pretty small." "So that plant in New Jersey looks pretty good." "Or at least become an officer if I can figure it out." "I have nothing to worry about. I am an only child, and my mother passed away ten years ago. Finally, my father can still support my education. He has worked in the oil field all his life. As long as he can make up enough money, he will go to find oil. Unfortunately, it will be dug out. All the wells are dry, but he still refuses to give up." When they reached the door of her dormitory, he asked her that important key question.She hesitated for a moment, then said, "Okay, I'll still have lunch there at the same time tomorrow." After a week, they spent all their free time together.They talked about everything, telling each other that this was a perfect platonic relationship of pure friendship.They often told each other about their love and devotion to Bill and Clary, and they also said that Bill and Clary would never object to pure friendship between men and women.He thinks that although he has moved a part of his reading time, his thinking has become more agile than before, and his reading efficiency has also improved. He knows that his grades are good.They had no money, but it was springtime in Philadelphia, and they walked for miles and miles together, and they sat in the park and talked and talked.It's just a pure friendship, and even if it makes him short of breath when he sees her walking towards him, it's nothing special. He dutifully called and wrote to Clary.She wrote to Bill and told him his convictions, and when she skipped some of the more intimate passages, he would be filled with vague rage.He said that Bill should be a good guy, but in his heart he decided that Bill was a pompous, simple-minded, hopeless, immature brat.In order to retaliate, he also told Kai Luo about Corary's perfume-scented beliefs, but he was embarrassed by the superficiality of Corary's words. Then, in late May, in a small park in the middle of the night, on a beautiful, starry night, things took an inevitable turning point.They begin by talking about wars, childhood, music, pine trees, and good breeds of dogs.Then she said that there was still class at eight o'clock the next day, so they stood up facing each other, the light of a street lamp in the distance shone dimly on her face, and the surrounding was strangely silent for a while, he put his hand on her shoulder, and she Quickly throwing them all into his arms, the long, hungry kiss made them sway and lose their balance in excitement.They sat on the bench and he took her hand, and in that long and wonderful silence she threw her head back and looked straight up at the sky full of stars overhead.They kissed again, their need growing, and finally she gently pushed him away. "It's horrific for me to tell Bill," she said. "It's the same for Clary." "Fuck his Clary." "Fuck his Bill too. It's simple math. We can make two happy and two unhappy instead of four unhappy." "It's the oldest truth in the world, dear." "Please say it again." "It's the oldest in the world—" "Just say the last three words." "Darling, my God, I've been calling you that for weeks, only without a sound, and lots of other things. Let's tell it all, you first." They stayed up all night that day.They got their degrees later, and their wedding rings were sent back.They got married, and the wedding was quiet and unremarkable.They very much believe that they are two people who are the most in love and perfectly compatible in every way in the history of human beings.An unexpected check from her father kept them afloat while he applied for commissioning and reported to Washington.They rented a nice room in a brick house in Arlington, which became their special personal paradise. She went to the West Bank with him and spent three weeks waiting for the ship at the Anza camp.George had been in the Army for six months by then.Caro was very popular with Sam's mother and sister-in-law, and everyone thought she should move in with them instead of going back to Texas to live with her father.She was seven months pregnant when he left, and he was glad she was living with his mother and sister-in-law Bates. He boarded a ship to go abroad in early May 1943 and returned to China in September 1945.Tanned from forty days on his head under the blue canvas cover of the hatch, he returned to a much changed world after his discharge.George was killed in Italy in 1944, his mother died two months later, and Caro's father was killed in an oil field accident in Texas. After paying funeral expenses and selling his belongings, he had fifteen hundred dollars left. .Sam was discharged in California after applying.He moved into a small rented house in Pasadena with his wife and daughter whom he had never met.Two weeks after he came home they attended Baez's wedding to an older man, a widower who took good care of the solitary woman. Two weeks later, after a long-distance phone call with Bill Starr, they arrived in New Essex and lived in a rented house, while Sam studied hard for his bar exam.Caro had made some feigned indignation and acerbity on Christmas Eve, blasted the military in general, and Captain Bowden in particular, and then announced that she had found out she was pregnant again. Sam brushed generously over the hull and listened to the voices of the children talking.He thought about the good old days, the best times, and a lot of love, and success in a career that wasn't particularly brilliant, but was fairly steady. Sam was delighted when Caro came back from the pier and got to work, and Butch decided to paint the bottom of the boat while no one else was looking.He took a big brush and filled it with paint, and the paint was right on top of his head.So Caro screamed when he saw him, and Butch was horribly white from head to toe, like a clown in full makeup.They all stopped working and wiped Butch clean with rags and pine scent.He squealed and wriggled, and when he was roughly clean, all the kids went to the boat club to get changed before going for a swim at the pier.Caro and Sam did the rest of the paint job. On Monday morning, when Sam had read his letter and rescheduled some of his appointments, he and Captain Mark Dutton agreed to meet at New Essex Police Headquarters at eleven o'clock.The police station is adjacent to the city hall, and Dutton's office is in the new building.He is the leader of the criminal team, an ordinary-looking man wearing a very ordinary gray suit.Sam had seen him two or three times before at some folk function.Dutton was gray-haired and poised, and unless he was looking you in the eye you would have thought he was a broker or an insurance broker or an advertising agency clerk or something.When he looks at you, that's when you see his policeman's eyes and expression - direct, suspicious and full of harsh, tired, insightful intelligence.His small office is very tidy.Looking through a glass wall, more than half of the desks in the large office outside were empty, and the walls were full of tall gray filing cabinets. After they shook hands, and Sam sat down, Dutton said, "Isn't that the same thing that Charlie Hooper told me himself?" "Yeah, about a guy named Max Cuddy, Charley seems to think you can... bother him and make him quit. I don't want you to do anything special, you know. But I think he's very Dangerous, I know he is dangerous." "Charlie is in politics, and his first priority is to make people happy, and his secondary goal is to make people think he is happy." "Did you promise him nothing?" "We brought in Kadi and kept him there for a while to find out." "Charlie told me he's not wanted." "No. As they say, he's paid off society for the crimes he committed. His car and money are legally owned, and he's not destitute. Because of the only criminal record he has, we're already in A data card was created in the bad guy's file." "Captain, he is probably wanted somewhere, I mean, if you can take further action." "What do you mean?" Sam recounted what Cady had said about kidnapping and raping his ex-wife.With his trained, precise legal mind, he took down every detail.Dutton pulled out a pad and took notes as Sam spoke. "Don't know what her last name is?" Dutton asked. "I don't know, but it shouldn't be difficult to find her." Dutton looked at his notes. "She can be found. May I ask, do you think this is a story Cuddy made up—to frighten you?" "As a lawyer, the team leader, I have heard a lot of lies, and I think he is telling the truth." Dutton frowned and pulled his earlobe. "It's a very shrewd beast you're dealing with. If there's anything he says, he must know what he's telling the truth enough to find her. So he must be pretty sure she's too scared to speak. And , I have seen some mountain residents, even if they are not intimidated, they are unlikely to seek help from the police." "But you're going to try to look it up?" "I'm going to check with the people in Charleston to see if they can help, you know, and it's possible she didn't come home at all, but she probably did, with the baby. I'm not sure about that. Don't get your hopes up, Mr Bowden." "If there is no result of this matter, team leader, can you still force someone to leave this place?" Dutton nodded: "We have done this kind of thing before, although not often. The last time was three years ago. This is a fairly clean town, and it can be said that it is the cleanest town of the same size in the country. One. I don't mean clean and spotless, Mr. Bowden, but we've kept the gangsters out of the way. We've kept a little gang in here because there's always a need of some degree. When they want to expand , or want to enter some legitimate business, or oppress good people, we will fight head-on. If there are big gangs who want to come in, we will protect our small gangs. They will donate money to political parties and police charities The fund is used as a return, and as long as anyone who comes here from other places wants to bluff and make a fortune, they will report to us. I am speaking very frankly, and this is not a formal speech. You can find it from the statistics of the FBI Find proof. In almost every category of crime, we are low. Twenty years ago, we had one of the highest crime rates in the country, and some extremely old-fashioned people kept trying to expose us for being a The thing about the little punks hooking up, we let the little punks we know hang out here and fend off the big punks we don't know, but you can't make them understand that. It's safe to walk the streets of New Essex at night, it's That's enough for me, I know we're doing a good job. Three years ago, two gangsters came into town from like Chicago, Miami, Las Vegas, etc. They wore sunglasses, Carrying a suitcase made of pigskin, driving a lavender Cadillac, and bringing along two blond female secretaries who can't even type. They booked two large suites in the New Essex Hotel and started Goofing around trying to get our tame little gang into their organization. Director Tanner, Mayor Haskell, Chief Goldman and I had a meeting and we sent our best ten men Go to that area and we interpret the letter of the law in our own way. If we didn't do anything at the time, we would be in trouble, and a lot of trouble. "So we went to trouble with them first, they would break certain rules they hadn't heard of if they made a move, and we installed bugs in their suites to give us more leads. Twice that As soon as the two blond girls walked out of the big hotel, they were arrested and brought into the police station. They were punished with a heavy fine for the crime of soliciting, and they were required to undergo blood tests and physical examinations. The showgirls were pissed off. It took four days, $5,600 in fines, and these guys finally gave up. We found out how they got out of town, and we called the county and state troopers first, and after they Got caught 4 times for speeding and DUI before leaving the border. They both had driver's licenses and we confiscated three and kept one and let them drive with one of those two chicks, ok Let her drive across the state line, and they never came back. But sooner or later someone will try again. There is money to be made, and wherever there is money to be made, there are gangs." "Can't you do that to Cady?" "It's also possible. It will take a lot of manpower and a lot of time. When he was locked in the detention center, I personally questioned him. He won't be afraid, and you can't hurt his self-esteem, because he has no self-esteem at all." "Would you like to do that?" Dutton picked up a yellow pencil with his thick index finger. He gave Sam a sharp look and said, "No." "Can you give me a reason, Team Leader." "I can give you many reasons. First: the local population is 113,000 people, and the current police force and equipment are the same as when there were only 80,000 people. Too heavy. When something happens, I have to get the cops on leave to come back to work and apologize because we can't pay that much overtime. The mothers keep going to the city hall to protest because we can't More police at school gate intersections. Second: This sort of thing—and you're a lawyer, you should understand—sets a strange precedent. We're using methods outside of legal constraints, and a lot of time and effort to avoid A threat to the whole town, not just one person. If we do that, people will ask questions. If he goes and hires an unscrupulous bastard lawyer—sorry, I used that word—then we're It's fucking hilarious. And those people I send will be curious about this extra task. Third: You are not a resident of this city. You work here, but your home is not here, and you don't Pay taxes to the city. Your company pays taxes, but it's none of your business. You don't pay me anything personally." Sam blushed and said, "I didn't know that sounded like—" "Let me finish. One last point, I've seen the guy. He looks very smart, not mad, I think he's just trying to put some pressure on you. I don't want you to be leaving, though. I feel like none of us are cooperating with you when I'm in this office. If this guy Cuddy does anything wrong within my powers, I'll be sure to call the cops and arrest him, and I'll give the judge a good tip, and they'll Severe punishments shall be imposed within the scope prescribed by law." "Thank you very much, team leader, do you still have time to listen to my account of what else he has done so far?" "I'm very interested." Sam told him about Sylvester and the dog.Dutton sat back in the chair, frowning, and pressed the eraser end of a pencil to the side of the bridge of his nose. "If he caught Sylvester's stalking so quickly and got rid of him so easily, then he's pretty darn good at it. As for the dog, do you have any evidence?" "No. But after talking to him, I'm sure." "Of course, this matter is not within our jurisdiction." "I know." Dutton thought for a while. "I'm sorry, Mr. Bowden, but I can't help you other than what I've told you. If you are really worried, I suggest that your family move to another place for the time being." "We've discussed that as well." "It might be a good idea. After a while he'll get tired of it and get out of here. Let me know of any new developments." He stood up and held out his hand.Sam thanked him and walked out. Passing Bill Starr's office at three o'clock that afternoon, he looked in and saw Bill alone.On impulse, he went in and told the whole thing.Bill was shocked and sympathetic, but offered absolutely nothing constructive.Sam had the strange feeling that Bill didn't want to be involved at all, that he wanted to stay out of it. "Poor dog. There are such wicked people in the world, Sam." "Cady is the bad guy I want to give a special nomination to." Bill leaned back with a thoughtful look in his eyes. He was a tall man with a red face, pure white hair, and blue eyes.The chairs in his office and the clothes on his body are all custom-made, and the outside looks a kind of bumbling joviality, but when he was still in the army many years ago, Sam knew that hidden under Bill's friendly attitude was a very A complex, devious and shrewd mind. "It's very uncomfortable," Bill said. "It also made me do some really funny things, and if I let myself go to the police and politely ask them to do something illegal, I'd be really upset." Stark laughed lightly. "That pretty Lady Justice with the scales in her hand still peeks out from under the blinding strips now and then, and Samuel Bowden is her most ardent admirer. Many children have You think like this, but it's really rare that there are a few big men who can... continue to maintain this kind of obsession." Sam felt like he was being taught, which made him feel bad. "What do you mean by that?" "Don't get mad, Sam, damn it, I knew we needed some noble themes to maintain our semblance of sanctity when it was just Tauredi and Starch at the firm. I'm working with you in India After that, it felt like you were exactly what we needed, and the situation couldn't have been better. Mike Tauretti and I were a pair of licensed pirates, and we needed a new blood that could balance it out, someone with a lot of fantasy." "Well, fuck it, Bill, I don't want to—" "Don't worry, you are our partner, and your work performance is also very good. It is definitely worth the money. We are very happy to bring you in. It is a wise move. But in this industry, some parts are You can't handle it and we won't give you a chance to do it. It's up to Mike and I to get our hands dirty, that's the loophole part, and from that loophole we get paid a lot, regardless of the hands whether it is right or not.” "Like the Morris' case last year?" "It's like the Morriss case last year." "I think it stinks a bit in there." "That's right, buddy, that's why I took it from you before you lost our client, and let me handle it myself." "You make me feel like a fucking newbie." Bill shook his head. "You're not. You're a smart lawyer, Sam, and you're a rare breed. You're a good guy who believes in yourself and what you do. Every law firm should have at least one like you." It's a pity that few firms can do it. So ignore me, the old robber who sneers. We don't really steal, sometimes we tell people how to steal, but this kind of thing can Not often. You might as well worship the goddess of justice with the scales, but don't be too hard on yourself when you go to ask the police for extrajudicial favors. Life is a constant compromise, Sam, the important thing is You'll be able to hold on to a modicum of self-respect at the end. That's all for today's speech. I hope you can work out your thorny little problem." Back in his office, Sam sat behind his desk, feeling a little contemptuous of himself.He was a wild dreamer, a lawyer who took Lincoln as his teacher.Criminal lawyers fiercely defend notorious murderers, and no one would call them immoral.So if someone signs a contract to buy and sell a piece of land in a proper way, and he finds out that he can make more money, he comes to the law office, hat in his hand, and says, "Tell me how to break the contract." You help him find a way to terminate the contract.He is the customer, and he pays to be served. But that contract was well established, and from a fair point of view it would be inappropriate to find loopholes in the law. Stop bleeding, Bowden, you've grown up, stop parading around with your little flags.By the time you're crying over your diploma and rummaging through all the dusty books trying to figure out the legal countermeasures against Cardi, he's already gunning down your kids. He called Top Detective Agency and left his phone number, asking Sylvester to call him back. At five forty-five, just as he was getting ready to leave work, Sylvester called, and they made an appointment to meet in ten minutes at a bar three blocks from Sam's office.Sam called Kai Luo and said he would come home later.She said the kids were all right, except that Butch cried again for Marilyn when he came back from school, but not for long.They went to the creek with Jamie and Michael to find a stone for a tombstone, and she carried her big straw bag with her.Later they found a good stone, and it took a lot of effort to carry it back. Sylvester was standing in front of the bar when Sam walked into the bar.He nodded, and when Sam's order arrived, he headed for the rear stall farthest from the jukebox, which was directly across from the men's room. "I spoke to Captain Dutton today and he won't do anything." "I don't think he can do anything, if you put more pressure on him, maybe you can push him, but he is still very reluctant. By the way, he is the best cop, and the kid is very quiet and easygoing." , but hard as a rock. Do you want to do as we discussed?" "I... I guess so." Sieves flashed a smile. "Stop talking about legal methods?" "I've talked too much about this today, enough to keep me going for a long time." "You're much smarter." "That's because of an accident. On Friday he drove over and poisoned my dog, which belonged to my boys, without leaving any evidence. And on Saturday he went to the shipyard , bold and shameless." "He'll soften." "Can you do as you say?" "Three hundred bucks will do it, Bowden. I ain't going to find a man myself, I have a friend, he has a way, and he's going to get three guys to deal with him. I know that place in Cuddy too, it's in Behind 211 Jack Street there's a shed and a fence near where he parks, and they can lie in wait for him there." "What will they...how?" "What do you think will happen? Hai Bian beat him up, using two iron pipes and a bicycle chain or something. They are very professional, and they will beat him to the hospital." His eyes changed, becoming somewhat estranged. "I've been beaten by pros once before. Ah, I was a tough guy back then. I thought they couldn't hurt me unless they killed me. I'd be like Mike Hammer. Spillane's private eye) recovered immediately. But it turned out to be nothing like that, Mr. Bowden, that would hurt you through and through, I think it was the pain. They wouldn't let it go. You hear yourself begging, and they won't stop, and it takes your guts and your self-respect away. I've been like a cripple for two years, and although I'm perfectly healthy, I'm always scared, and terrified Terrible. I just can't let people hurt me like that again. Then I started to recover. This happened eighteen years ago, but even today, I'm still not sure if I'm completely the same as before. Besides I'm also a much tougher guy than most. Not one man in fifty ever recovers after being overhauled by a pro - you know, I've seen that number with my own eyes. They'll have rabbit blood in their veins for the rest of their lives, and they can't get up again. You decided it was the right thing to do." "Did they miss him and kill him?" "They're pros, Bowden!" "I know that, but can something like that happen?" “万分之一的机率吧。即使是那样，也查不到我们身上，安排这种事的过程会经过太多太多管道。就算有人在乎——我想是不会有人在乎的——也追溯不到你身上的。” “要我给你开支票吗？” “天啊，不行！要付现。什么时候才能付钱呢？” “明天，银行一开门我就去提钱。” “明天同一时间把钱拿到这里来给我，我今晚就开始安排。” “你想他们什么时候会动手？” “明天晚上或者是礼拜三晚上，不会再更晚了。” 他喝干杯里的酒，把杯子放下，滑出了座位。 山姆抬头望着他，歪嘴笑了笑说：“这种事常有吗？我想，我还太嫩了吧？” “这种事是会有的，有些人耍得太过头了，就要让他们收敛一点，有时候只有这个办法才能跟他们讲得通。” “这是卡迪最喜欢的某个说法。” “那他一定会很高兴了。” "why?" “把道理讲通了嘛。” 等到两个男孩子都上了床，而南西在她自己房间念书准备今年的最后一次大考之后，他才把以上的三段遭遇全说出来。凯珞注意地听着，脸上表情毫无变化，十分淡漠。他们并肩坐在客厅的长沙发上。她两腿盘在身下坐着，浑圆而温暖的膝盖靠在他大腿上。她一直不停地把手腕上的银手镯转来转去。 “所以你打算付三百美元让他被打得只剩一口气。” “对，就是这样，可是难道你不明白，这是唯一——” “啊，亲爱的，不必解释也不必抱歉，我不是那个意思，我是在幸灾乐祸。我觉得这事棒透了，我情愿去帮人家割草、洗衣服来赚那三百块钱。” “我想，女人真的是原始得多。” “我这个女人正是，我这个女人绝对是。” 他坐立不安地站了起来。 “这件事还是不该去做的，做这种事还是不对的。” "How to say?" He shrugged. “万一哪个沮丧的当事人觉得我也需要类似的教训呢？只要他找对了门路，他就可以好好教训我一顿。这让这个世界听起来就像是原始丛林一样，这个世界应该有法律和秩序的呀。” 她走到他身边，伸手揽住他的腰，抬头望着他。 “可怜的山缪尔！亲爱的，也许这就是一座丛林，而我们知道在丛林里有一头野兽。” “我实在弄不清楚，如果这真的是处理这件事的正确方式，那我生活的基础就都要崩坏了。” 她做了个鬼脸。 “我快崩坏了吗？” “只有我生活中的某些部分，我指的是我的职业生活。” “你这只大呆鹅，难道你看不出眼前并不是在正常的情况下吗？凡事讲逻辑只会让你走进死胡同，碰到这种事，你就得凭直觉行事。直觉可是女人最好的工具，而我知道这件事你做得很对。要是我，我也会这样做。我希望这件事是由我来安排，而不是由你来安排。你是个好人，亲爱的。” “这句话我好像听得太多了。” “你不必跟我抱怨！” “好吧，我是个好人，我要付三百大洋让另一个人躺进医院。” “你还是好人一个。你受了那么多的苦，别再扯那么多形而上的理论，只要帮我开心起来就行了，因为现在我不再害怕了，能不再害怕是一件好事。我还有点怕，因为这件事还没做，可是一旦做完之后，我会成为镇上最快乐的太太，如果这样会让我成为一个嗜血的女巫，那又怎么样？” 凯珞睡着之后，他轻轻地下了床，走到卧室窗前的椅子上坐下来，悄然无声且小心地拉起了百叶窗，点上一支香烟，望着外头银白色的路和石墙。黑夜中一片空虚。他那四个最珍贵的、随时都可能会失去的宝贝，此刻都深深地沉在睡乡里。地球在转动，星星高挂在空中，他告诉他自己，这一切都是现实：黑夜、地球、星星和沉睡的家人。另外一件看起来富有价值的事物只是一个极其古老的规范，它让人能在相当平静、安全的情况下生活在一起。在古时候，村子里的长老们处罚那些触犯禁忌的人，而所有的法律就是一个巨大、极其沉重的大结构，据以构筑的基本概念就是群体可以对不顺从的人加以处罚。这是自古相传的仪式，包括白色的假发、法官袍服和誓词等等。只是这些碰巧不适用于他自己所碰到的状况。可是，若是在两千年前，他可以坐在会议桌上向长老们解释他的危难，并得到村人的支持，而那个色情狂则会被石头打死。所以这种行动是补充法律的不足之处，因此是正当且正确的。可是等他回到床上之后，他仍然无法接受自己的这番说词。