爱的力量(2)

基米没有理会鸟鸣、绿树和花香，径直向饭店走去。到了那里，他要了一份烧鸡、一瓶葡萄酒和一支比监狱长给他的要好的雪茄，随后慢慢地踱向了火车站。他向坐在门边的盲人的帽中丢了2角5分钱。3个小时之后，他来到了自己的家乡，直奔他的好友迈克·杜兰开的咖啡馆而去，跟独自站在柜台后面的迈克握了握手。“很抱歉我们没有早些办成，基米，我的孩子，”迈克说，“这次可真不容易，我们费了不少周折。你一切都好吧？”

“Fine,” said Jimmy. “Have you got my key?”

“很好，”基米说，“你没拿我的钥匙吧？”

He took his key and went upstairs, unlocking the door of his room. Everything was just as he had left it. There on the floor was still the collar-button that had been torn from the shirt of Ben Price—the well known detective—when Price had come to arrest him. Jimmy removed a panel in the wall and dragged out a dust-covered suitcase. He opened it and looked fondly at the finest set of burglar’s tools in the East. It was a complete set, made of special steel. The set consisted of various tools of the latest design. He had invented two or three of them himself, and was very proud of them. Over nine hundred dollars they had cost him! They had been made at X., a place where they make such things for the profession.

他拿了钥匙就上了楼，打开他房间的门。一切都和他离开时一样。地板上那颗领扣还在，这是那个著名侦探本·普莱斯逮捕他时，从他的衬衫上撤掉的。基米移开墙壁上的一块嵌板，取出一只积满灰尘的手提箱。他将它打开之后，爱惜地瞧着那套在东部最出色的盗窃工具。这是完整的一套，是用特种钢制成的，包括各种最新式的工具，其中两三件还是他自己发明的，对此他感到非常自豪。他为这套工具花费了900多美元。这是在某地制作的，那个地方以制造这种东西而闻名。

In half an hour Jimmy went downstairs and walked through the cafe. He was now dressed in an elegant new suit, and carried his cleaned suitcase in his hand. “What are you going to do next? To break another safe?” asked Mike Dolan smiling cheerfully.

半小时后，基米下了楼，穿过咖啡馆，现在他穿上一套新颖雅致的衣服，手里提着擦拭一新的手提箱。“下一步准备做什么呢？撬开另一个保险柜吧？”迈克·杜兰笑道。

“I don’t understand. I’m representing the New York Amalgamated Biscuit Company.”

“我不懂你的意思，我是纽约联合陶器公司的代表。”

This statement delighted Mike to such an extent that he gave Jimmy a seltzer-and-milk on the spot. Jimmy never touched “hard” drinks.

这一番话把迈克逗乐了，他为此马上递给基米一杯矿泉牛奶。基米是从来不碰烈性饮料的。

A week after the release of Valentine, 9762, there was a new safe-burglary in Richmond, Indiana. Only eight hundred dollars were stolen. Two weeks after that another safe was opened and fifteen hundred dollars disappeared; securities and silver were untouched. That began to interest the detectives. A few days later the Jefferson City Bank was robbed and banknotes amounting to five thousand dollars were taken. The losses were now so high that it was time for so well known a detective as Ben Price to begin investigation. When all the cases were compared, a striking similarity in the methods of burglaries was noticed. Ben Price investigated the scenes of the robberies and was heard to say.