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| 13 | |
| He was a gray man, and gray, except for his polished black shoes and two scarlet diamonds in his gray satin tie that looked like the diamonds on roulette layouts. His shirt was gray and his double-breasted suit of soft, beautifully cut flannel. Seeing Carmen he took a gray hat off and his hair underneath it was gray and as fine as if it had been sifted through gauze. His thick gray eyebrows had that indefinably sporty look. He had a long chin, a nose with a hook to it, thoughtful gray eyes that had a slanted look because the fold of skin over his upper lid came down over the corner of the lid itself. | Bio je to sivi čovjek, sav siv, ako se izuzmu uglačane crne cipele i dva skrletna dijamanta u sivoj atlasnoj kravati dijamanta što su nalikovali »dijamantima«, oznakama na stolu ruleta. Košulja mu je bila siva, a odijelo s dvostrukim redom dugmadi od mekanog, lijepo skrojenog flanela. Ugledavši Carmen skinuo je sivi šešir, a kosa je ispod njega bila siva i tako fina kao da je bila prosijana kroz gazu. Guste su mu sive obrve imale neodređeno sportski izgled. Brada mu je bila duga, nos kukast, a zamišljene se oči činile kose jer su mu se nabori kože slijevali preko kutova kapaka. |
| He stood there politely, one hand touching the door at his back, the other holding the gray hat and flapping it gently against his thigh. He looked hard, not the hardness of the tough guy. More like the hardness of a well-weathered horseman. But he was no horseman. He was Eddie Mars. | Zastao je pristojno, jednom rukom dodirujući vrata za leđima, drugom držeći sivi šešir i lupkajući njime laga- no po bedru. Izgledao je otvrdlo, ali ne otvrdlo kao žilavo momče. Više kao jahač dugo izložen ćudima vremena. Ali nije bio jahač. Bio je to Eddie Mars. |
| He pushed the door shut behind him and put that hand in the lap-seamed pocket of his coat and left the thumb outside to glisten in the rather dim light of the room. He smiled at Carmen. He had a nice easy smile. She licked her lips and stared at him. The fear went out of her face. She smiled back. | Zatvorio je vrata gurnuvši ih za sobom i stavio ruku u prerezani džep svoga kaputa, ostavivši palac vani da blista u odista sumračnom osvjetljenju sobe. Nasmiješio se Carmen. Imao je lijep ležeran smiješak. Ona je oblizala usne i zagledala se u nj. Strah joj je nestao s lica. Uzvratila mu je smiješak. |
| “Excuse the casual entrance,” he said. “The bell didn’t seem to rouse anybody. Is Mr. Geiger around?” | — Oprostite zbog nehajnog ulaženja — reče. — Činilo mi se da se na zvono nitko ne odaziva. Je I' tu negdje mister Geiger? |
| I said: “No. We don’t know just where he is. We found the door a little open. We stepped inside.” | Rekoh: — Ne. Ne znamo zapravo gdje je. Zatekli smo vrata pritvorena. Ušli smo unutra. |
| He nodded and touched his long chin with the brim of his hat. “You’re friends of his, of course?” | Kimnuo je i dodirnuo svoju izbačenu bradu rubom šešira. — Vi ste mu prijatelji, razumije se? |
| “Just business acquaintances. We dropped by for a book.” | — Samo poslovni znanci. Svratili smo po knjigu. |
| “A book, eh?” He said that quickly and brightly and, I thought, a little slyly, as if he knew all about Geiger’s books. Then he looked at Carmen again and shrugged. | — Knjigu, ha? — Izgovorio je to brzo i jasno i, rekao bih, pomalo vragolasto, kao da zna sve o Geigerovim knjigama. Tad je ponovno pogledao Carmen i slegnuo ramenima. |
| I moved towards the door. “We’ll trot along now,” I said. I took hold of her arm. She was staring at Eddie Mars. She liked him. | Pomaknuo sam se prema vratima. — Sad ćemo malo prošetati — rekoh. Uhvatio sam je za ruku. Zurila je u Ed-dija Marsa. Sviđao joj se. |
| “Any message—if Geiger comes back?” Eddie Mars asked gently. | — Imate li poruku ... ako se Geiger vrati? — upitao je Eddie Mars obzirno. |
| “We won’t bother you.” | — Ne bismo vas gnjavili. |
| “That’s too bad,” he said, with too much meaning. His gray eyes twinkled and then hardened as I went past him to open the door. He added in a casual tone: “The girl can dust. I’d like to talk to you a little, soldier.” | — Zaista šteta — rekao je glasom u kojem je bilo i previše značenja. Sive su mu oči zatreptale i zatim se skrutile kad sam prošao pokraj njega da otvorim vrata. — Cura može otprašiti — dodao je ležernim tonom. — Volio bih malo porazgovoriti s tobom, stari borce. |
| I let go of her arm. I gave him a blank stare. “Kidder, eh?” he said nicely. “Don’t waste it. I’ve got two boys outside in a car that always do just what I want them to.” | Ispustio sam joj ruku. Bijelo sam ga pogledao. — Ze-zant, ha? — rekao je ljupko. — Nemoj se zeznuti. Imam dva momka vani u kolima koji uvijek rade upravo ono što ja želim da rade. |
| Carmen made a sound at my side and bolted through the door. Her steps faded rapidly down hill. I hadn’t seen her car, so she must have left it down below. I started to say: “What the hell—!” | Carmen je zašuškala pokraj mene i zatim iskočila kroz vrata. Koraci su joj brzo zamrli silazeći niz brdo. Nisam joj vidio automobil, mora dakle da ga je ostavila dolje. Počeo sam izgovarati: — Što k vragu . ..! |
| “Oh, skip it,” Eddie Mars sighed. “There’s something wrong around here. I’m going to find out what it is. If you want to pick lead out of your belly, get in my way.” | — O, preskoči — uzdahnuo je Eddie Mars. — Nešto tu ne štima. I ja ću pronaći što je to. Ako želiš trijebiti olovo iz trbuha, stani mi na put. |
| “Well, well,” I said, “a tough guy.” | — Vidi, vidi — rekoh. — Žilav momak. |
| “Only when necessary, soldier.” He wasn’t looking at me any more. He was walking around the room, frowning, not paying any attention to me. I looked out above the broken pane of the front window. The top of a car showed over the hedge. Its motor idled. | — Samo kad je neophodno, borčino. — Nije više gledao u mene. Šetao je po sobi, mrštio se, ne hajući ni malo za mene. Pogledao sam van preko slomljenog stakla fasad-nog prozora. Vrh se automobila pokazao iznad živice. Motor mu se polako okretao naprazno. |
| Eddie Mars found the purple flagon and the two gold-veined glasses on the desk. He sniffed at one of the glasses, then at the flagon. A disgusted smile wrinkled his lips. “The lousy pimp,” he said tonelessly. | Eddie Mars je pronašao grimiznu bocu i dvije zlatom išarane čaše na stolu. Onjušio je jednu od čaša i zatim bocu. Gadljiv mu je smiješak nabrao usne. — Ušljivi buzo-rant — rekao je bez intonacije. |
| He looked at a couple of books, grunted, went on around the desk and stood in front of the little totem pole with the camera eye. He studied it, dropped his glance to the floor in front of it. He moved the small rug with his foot, then bent swiftly, his body tense. He went down on the floor with one gray knee. The desk hid him from me partly. There was a sharp exclamation and he came up again. His arm flashed under his coat and a black Luger appeared in his hand. He held it in long brown fingers, not pointing it at me, not pointing it at anything. | Bacio je pogled na nekoliko knjiga, groknuo, obišao stol i zaustavio se ispred malog totemskog stupa s okom kamere. Proučio ga je, a zatim bacio pogled na pod ispred njega. Odmaknuo je nogom mali prostirač i zatim se brzo nagnuo, dok mu se tijelo napelo. Spustio je jedno sivo koljeno na pod. Stol ga je djelomično skrivao od mene. Uslijedio je oštar uzvik a zatim se opet podigao. Ruka mu je bljesnula pod sako, i crni mu se luger pojavio u ruci. Držao ga je dugačkim smeđim prstima, ne uperivši ga u mene, ne uperivši ga ni u što. |
| “Blood,” he said. “Blood on the floor there, under the rug. Quite a lot of blood.” | — Krv — reče. — Krv tu na podu, ispod prostirača. Prilično mnogo krvi. |
| “Is that so?” I said, looking interested. | — Zaista? — upitao sam, dajući sebi zainteresiran izraz. |
| He slid into the chair behind the desk and hooked the mulberry-colored phone towards him and shifted the Luger to his left hand. He frowned sharply at the telephone, bringing his thick gray eyebrows close together and making a hard crease in the weathered skin at the top of his hooked nose. “I think we’ll have some law,” he said. | Kliznuo je u stolicu za stolom, zakačio crveni telefon rukom i privukao ga k sebi, prebacujući luger u ljevicu. Oštro se namrštio na telefon, skupivši sive obrve sasvim blizu jednu drugoj i stvorivši dubok pregib u porušenoj koži iznad kukastog nosa. — Mislim da ćemo pozvati mu-riju — rekao je. |
| I went over and kicked at the rug that lay where Geiger had lain. “It’s old blood,” I said. “Dried blood.” | Prešao sam do prostirača što je bio na mjestu na kojem je ležao Geiger i ritnuo ga. — To je stara krv — rekoh. — Sasušena. |
| “Just the same we’ll have some law.” | — Svejedno ćemo pozvati muriju. |
| “Why not?” I said. | — Zašto ne? — rekoh. |
| His eyes went narrow. The veneer had flaked off him, leaving a well-dressed hard boy with a Luger. He didn’t like my agreeing with him. | Oči su mu se suzile. Lak se sljuštio s njega, i ostao je samo dobro odjeveni, sirovi momak s lugerom. Nije mu se dopalo što se slažem s njim. |
| “Just who the hell are you, soldier?” “Marlowe is the name. I’m a sleuth.” | — A tko si ti do đavola zapravo, stara borčino? . — Ime je Marlowe. Njuškalo. |
| “Never heard of you. Who’s the girl?” | — Nikad čuo za tebe. Tko je cura? |
| “Client. Geiger was trying to throw a loop on her with some blackmail. We came to talk it over. He wasn’t here. The door being open we walked in to wait. Or did I tell you that?” | — Klijent. Geiger joj je pokušavao namaknuti zamku na vrat s nešto malo ucjene. Došli smo da porazgovaramo. Nije ga bilo. Kako su vrata bila otvorena, ušetali smo i po-čekali. Ili sam ti to već rekao? |
| “Convenient,” he said. “The door being open. When you didn’t have a key.” | — Baš zgodno — reče. — Vrata bila otvorena. Kad nemaš ključ. |
| “Yes. How come you had a key?” | — Da. Kako si t i došao do ključa? |
| “Is that any of your business, soldier?” | — Je li to tvoja briga, borčino? |
| “I could make it my business.” | — Mogu napraviti da bude. |
| He smiled tightly and pushed his hat back on his gray hair. “And I could make your business my business.” | Nasmiješio se stiješnjeno i gurnuo šešir natrag na sivu kosu. — A ja mogu tvoje brige učiniti svojima. |
| “You wouldn’t like it. The pay’s too small.” | — Ne bi ti se dopalo. Preslabo se plaća. |
| “All right, bright eyes. I own this house. Geiger is my tenant. Now what do you think of that?” | — U redu, bistrooki. Ja sam vlasnik ove kuće. Geiger je moj stanar. I što sad veliš na to? |
| “You know such lovely people.” | — Poznaješ se s tako krasnim ljudima. |
| “I take them as they come. They come all kinds.” He glanced down at the Luger, shrugged and tucked it back under his arm. “Got any good ideas, soldier?” | — Poznajem se s onim tko naiđe. A nailaze svakojaki. — Bacio je pogled dolje na luger, slegnuo ramenima i za-taknuo ga ponovno pod lakat. — Imaš kakvu dobru ideju, borčino? |
| “Lots of them. Somebody gunned Geiger. Somebody got gunned by Geiger, who ran away. Or it was two other fellows. Or Geiger was running a cult and made blood sacrifices in front of that totem pole. Or he had chicken for dinner and liked to kill his chickens in the front parlor.” | Mnogo njih. Netko je upucao Geigera- Nekoga je upucao Geiger koji je zbrisao. Ili su bila neka druga dva tipa. Ili Geiger fura nekakvu sektu pa pravi žrtve klanice ispred totemskog stupa. Ili je imao pile za večeru, a obožava klati piliće u prednjem salonu. |
| The gray man scowled at me. | Sivi se namrštio na mene. |
| “I give up,” I said. “Better call your friends downtown.” | — Predajem se — rekoh. — Bolje nazovi prijatelje iz grada. |
| “I don’t get it,” he snapped. “I don’t get your game here.” | — Ne kopčani — ispalio je. — Ne kopčam kakvu igru igraš. |
| “Go ahead, call the buttons. You’ll get a big reaction from it.” | — Samo naprijed, nazovi plave. Izazvat ćeš jaku reakciju. |
| He thought that over without moving. His lips went back against his teeth. “I don’t get that, either,” he said tightly. | Promislio je o tome ne pomaknuvši se. Usne su mu se pripile uz zube. — Ne kopčam ni to — rekao je teško. |
| “Maybe it just isn’t your day. I know you, Mr. Mars. The Cypress Club at Las Olindas. Flash gambling for flash people. The local law in your pocket and a well-greased line into L.A. In other words, protection. Geiger was in a racket that needed that too. Perhaps you spared him a little now and then, seeing he’s your tenant.” | — Možda naprosto nije tvoj dan. Znam za vas, mister Mars. Cvpress Club u Las Olindasu. Mutno kockarenje za mutne ljude. Lokalna murija u džepu i dobro podmazana žnora do Los Angelesa. Drugim riječima, zaštita. Geiger je bio u švercu u kome to isto treba. Možda ste ga izvlačili pomalo tu i tamo, uzevši u obzir da vam je stanar. |
| His mouth became a hard white grimace. “Geiger was in what racket?” | Usta su mu se pretvorila u krutu bijelu grimasu. — Geiger je bio u kakvom švercu? |
| “The smut book racket.” | — Švercu knjiga s praščarijama. |
| He stared at me for a long level minute. “Somebody got to him,” he said softly. “You know something about it. He didn’t show at the store today. They don’t know where he is. He didn’t answer the phone here. I came up to see about it. I find blood on the floor, under a rug. And you and a girl here.” | Zurio je u mene dugu, jednoličnu minutu. — Netko ga je sredio — rekao je blago. — Ti znaš nešto o tome. Nije se danas pokazao u dućanu. Ne znaju gdje je. Ovdje nije odgovorio na telefon. Došao sam vidjeti što je. Našao sam krv na podu, ispod prostirke. I tebe i curu ovdje. |
| “A little weak,” I said. “But maybe you can sell the story to a willing buyer. You missed a little something, though. Somebody moved his books out of the store today—the nice books he rented out.” | — Malo škripi — rekoh. Ali možda možeš prodati priču željnoj mušteriji. Ipak si nešto malo ispustio*. Netko mu je danas maknuo knjige iz radnje ... One krasne knjige što ih je iznajmljivao. |
| He snapped his fingers sharply and said: “I should have thought of that, soldier. You seem to get around. How do you figure it?” | Oštro je zapucketao prstima i rekao: — Trebao sam misliti o tome, borčino. Čini se da si došao do stvari. Kako to zamišljaš? |
| “I think Geiger was rubbed. I think that is his blood. And the books being moved out gives a motive for hiding the body for a while. Somebody is taking over the racket and wants a little time to organize.” | — Mislim da su Geigera zbrisali. Mislim da je to njegova krv. A odvlačenje knjiga stvara motiv da mu se za ča-sak sakrije leš. Netko preuzima posao i treba mu nešto vremena da se sredi. |
| “They can’t get away with it,” Eddie Mars said grimly. | — Ne mogu brisnuti s tim — rekao je Eddie Mars mrko. |
| “Who says so? You and a couple of gunmen in your car outside? This is a big town now, Eddie. Some very tough people have checked in here lately. The penalty of growth.” | — Tko veli? Ti i par revolveraša vani u kolima? Ovo je postao veliki grad, Eddie. I ponešto se žilavih momaka upisalo u knjigu gostiju odnedavna. To je cijena rasta. |
| “You talk too damned much,” Eddie Mars said. He bared his teeth and whistled twice, sharply. A car slammed outside and running steps came through the hedge. Mars flicked the Luger out again and pointed it at my chest. “Open the door.” | — Pričaš prokleto previše — kazao je Eddie Mars. Ogolio je zube i dvaput zviznuo, oštro. Vani su tresnula vrata i trčeći su koraci prošli kroz živicu. Mars je ponovno trgnuo luger i uperio mi ga u prsa. — Otvori vrata. |
| The knob rattled and a voice called out. I didn’t move. The muzzle of the Luger looked like the mouth of the Second Street tunnel, but I didn’t move. Not being bullet proof is an idea I had had to get used to. | Zvonce je začegrtalo, i izvana je zazvao neki glas. Nisam se pomakao. Grlo je lugerove cijevi izgledalo kao ždrijelo Second Street tunela, ali se nisam pomakao. Da nisam nepropusan za metke bila je spoznaja na koju sam se tek trebao navići. |
| “Open it yourself, Eddie. Who the hell are you to give me orders? Be nice and I might help you out.” | — Otvori ih sam, Eddie. Tko si ti do đavola da mi naređuješ? Budi dobar i možda ti pomognem da se izvučeš. |
| He came to his feet rigidly and moved around the end of the desk and over to the door. He opened it without taking his eyes off me. Two men tumbled into the room, reaching busily under their arms. One was an obvious pug, a good-looking pale-faced boy with a bad nose and one ear like a club steak. The other man was slim, blond, deadpan, with close-set eyes and no color in them. | Ukočeno je ustao na noge lagane, maknuo se oko stola i prešao do vrata. Otvorio ih je ne skinuvši oči s mene. Dva su se čovjeka utumbala u prostoriju, posegnuvši poslovno pod pazuha. Jedan je očito bio zvijezda ringa, pristao blje- dolik momak sa zeznutim nosom i uhom nalik na tučeni odrezak. Drugi je bio tanak, plav, s licem izražajnim kao cigla, s blizu postavljenim očima bez boje u njima. |
| Eddie Mars said: “See if this bird is wearing any iron.” | Eddie Mars reče: — Vidite ima li ovca kakve željezna-rije. |
| The blond flicked a short-barreled gun out and stood pointing it at me. The pug sidled over flatfooted and felt my pockets with care. I turned around for like a bored beauty modeling an evening gown. | Plavi je trznuo kratkocjevnu pljucu i zastao držeći je uperenu u mene. Boksač je pospano iskoračio i pažljivo mi ispipao džepove. Okrenuo sam mu se u krugu, držeći se kao ljepotica koja umire od dosade dok joj isprobavaju večernju haljinu. |
| “No gun,” he said in a burry voice. | — Nema puce — rekao je frfljajućim glasom. |
| “Find out who he is.” | — Otkrij tko je on. |
| The pug slipped a hand into my breast pocket and drew out my wallet. He flipped it open and studied the contents. “Name’s Philip Marlowe, Eddie. Lives at the Hobart Arms on Franklin. Private license, deputy’s badge and all. A shamus.” He slipped the wallet back in my pocket, slapped my face lightly and turned away. | Zvijezda ringa mi je kliznula u unutrašnji džep pa izvukla lisnicu. Trzajem ju je otvorio pa proučio njen sadržaj. — Ime je Philip Marlowe, Eddie. Živi u Hobart Armsu, na Franklinu. Privatna dozvola, zamjenička značka i sve to. Anđeo čuvar. — Kliznuo mi je lisnicu natrag u džep, potapšao me po obrazu i okrenuo se. |
| “Beat it,” Eddie Mars said. | — Crta — rekao je Eddie Mars. |
| The two gunmen went out again and closed the door. There was the sound of them getting back into the car. They started its motor and kept it idling once more. | Dva su revolveraša izišla i zatvorila vrata. Ćulo se kako ponovno ulaze u kola. Pokrenuli su motor i još ga jednom ostavili da se vrti naprazno. |
| “All right. Talk,” Eddie Mars snapped. The peaks of his eyebrows made sharp angles against his forehead. | — U redu. Govori — ispalio je Eddie Mars. Vrhovi su mu obrva ocrtali oštre lukove na čelu. |
| “I’m not ready to give out. Killing Geiger to grab his racket would be a dumb trick and I’m not sure it happened that way, assuming he has been killed. But I’m sure that whoever got the books knows what’s what, and I’m sure that the blonde lady down at his store is scared batty about something or other. And I have a guess who got the books.” | — Nisam još spreman za službeni bilten. Ubiti Geige-ra da bi mu se zgrabio posao bio bi klimav štos, i nisam siguran da je to bilo tako, jasno, uz pretpostavku da je ubijen. Ali sam siguran da onaj koji je pokupio knjige zna što je što, i siguran sam da je plava dama dolje u dućanu luda od straha zbog ovog ili onog. A slutim i tko je skupio knjige. |
| “Who?” | — Tko? |
| “That’s the part I’m not ready to give out. I’ve got a client, you know.” | — To je dio službenog biltena za koji još nisam spreman. Znate, ja imam klijenta. |
| He wrinkled his nose. “That—” he chopped it off quickly. | Nabrao je nos. — To ... — ali je brzo odrezao ostatak. |
| “I expected you would know the girl,” I said. | — Očekivao sam da ćeš prepoznati curu — rekoh. |
| “Who got the books, soldier?” | — Tko je pokupio knjige, borčino? |
| “Not ready to talk, Eddie. Why should I?” He put the Luger down on the desk and slapped it with his open palm. “This,” he said. “And I might make it worth your while.” | — Još nisam spreman za izjave, Eddie. Zašto bih bio? Spustio je luger na stol i potapšao ga otvorenim dlanom. — Vidi — reče. — Možda shvatiš da se isplati. |
| “That’s the spirit. Leave the gun out of it. I can always hear the sound of money. How much are you clinking at me?” | — Došli smo na bit. Ostavi pucu izvan toga. Dobro čujem glasanje love. S koliko mi zveckaš? |
| “For doing what?” | |
| “What did you want done?” | |
| He slammed the desk hard. “Listen, soldier. I ask you a question and you ask me another. We’re not getting anywhere. I want to know where Geiger is, for my own personal reasons. I didn’t like his racket and I didn’t protect him. I happen to own this house. I’m not so crazy about that right now. I can believe that whatever you know about all this is under glass, or there would be a flock of johns squeaking sole leather around this dump. You haven’t got anything to sell. My guess is you need a little protection yourself. So cough up.” | |
| It was a good guess, but I wasn’t going to let him know it. I lit a cigarette and blew the match out and flicked it at the glass eye of the totem pole. “You’re right,” I said. “If anything has happened to Geiger, I’ll have to give what I have to the law. Which puts it in the public domain and doesn’t leave me anything to sell. So with your permission I’ll just drift.” | |
| His face whitened under the tan. He looked mean, fast and tough for a moment. He made a movement to lift the gun. I added casually: “By the way, how is Mrs. Mars these days?” | |
| I thought for a moment I had kidded him a little too far. His hand jerked at the gun, shaking. His face was stretched out by hard muscles. “Beat it,” he said quite softly. “I don’t give a damn where you go or what you do when you get there. Only take a word of advice, soldier. Leave me out of your plans or you’ll wish your name was Murphy and you lived in Limerick.” | |
| “Well, that’s not so far from Clonmel,” I said. “I hear you had a pal came from there.” | |
| He leaned down on the desk, frozen-eyed, unmoving. I went over to the door and opened it and looked back at him. His eyes had followed me, but his lean gray body had not moved. There was hate in his eyes. I went out and through the hedge and up the hill to my car and got into it. I turned it around and drove up over the crest. Nobody shot at me. After a few blocks I turned off, cut the motor and sat for a few moments. Nobody followed me either. I drove back into Hollywood. |