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| 18 | |
| Ohls stood looking down at the boy. The boy sat on the couch leaning sideways against the wall. Ohls looked at him silently, his pale eyebrows bristling and stiff and round like the little vegetable brushes the Fuller Brush man gives away. | Ohls je stajao gledajući odozgo momka. Momak je sjedio na kauču naslonivši se bočno prema zidu. Ohls ga je gledao šutke, dok su mu se blijede obrve kostriješile, okrugle i krute, nalik na četke za pranje suda. |
| He asked the boy: “Do you admit shooting Brody?” | Upitao je dečka: — Priznaješ li da si upucao Brody-ja? |
| The boy said his favorite three words in a muffled voice. | Dečko je prigušenim glasom izgovorio svoje tri omiljene riječi. |
| Ohls sighed and looked at me. I said: “He doesn’t have to admit that. I have his gun.” | Ohls je uzdahnuo i pogledao me. Rekoh: — Ne mora priznati. Imam njegov pištolj. |
| Ohls said: “I wish to Christ I had a dollar for every time I’ve had that said to me. What’s funny about it?” | Ohls je odgovorio: — Volio bih doboga da sam dobio dolar svaki put kad sam to čuo. Što je toliko smiješno u tome? |
| “It’s not meant to be funny,” I said. | — Nije trebalo biti smiješno — rekoh. |
| “Well, that’s something,” Ohls said. He turned away. “I’ve called Wilde. We’ll go over and see him and take this punk. He can ride with me and you can follow on behind in case he tries to kick me in the face.” | — Dakle, bar nešto — kazao je Ohls. Okrenuo se od mene. — Nazvao sam Wildea. Prebacit ćemo se da ga vidimo i povesti ovog vagabunda. On se može voziti sa mnom, a ti me možeš slijediti za slučaj da me pokuša klepnuti po nosu. |
| “How do you like what’s in the bedroom?” | — Kako ti se sviđa ono u spavaonici? |
| “I like it fine,” Ohls said. “I’m kind of glad that Taylor kid went off the pier. I’d hate to have to help send him to the death-house for rubbing that skunk.” | — Krasno mi se sviđa — rekao je Ohls. — U neku ruku me veseli da je taj klinjo Tavlor otišao s mola. Bilo bi mi mrsko pomoći im da ga pošalju u mrtvačnicu zato što je zbrisao tog tvora. |
| I went back into the small bedroom and blew out the black candles and let them smoke. When I got back to the living room Ohls had the boy up on his feet. The boy stood glaring at him with sharp black eyes in a face as hard and white as cold mutton fat. | Vratio sam se u malu spavaonicu, otpuhnuo svijeće i ostavio ih da se dime. Kad sam se vratio u dnevnu sobu Ohls je već postavio dečka na noge. Ovaj je stajao žareći u nj oštrim crnim očima smještenim u lice tvrdo i bijelo kao hladni ovčji loj. |
| “Let’s go,” Ohls said and took him by the arm as if he didn’t like touching him. I put the lamps out and followed them out of the house. We got into our cars and I followed Ohls’ twin tail-lights down the long curving hill. I hoped this would be my last trip to Laverne Terrace. | — Idemo — rekao je Ohls i uhvatio ga za mišicu kao da mu nije drago što ga dodiruje. Isključio sam svjetiljke i pošao za njima iz kuće. Ušli smo u automobile, nakon čega sam slijedio Ohlsova dvostruka stražnja svjetla niz dugi vijugavi put. Nadao sam se da je to bio posljednji izlet do Laverne Terracea. |
| Taggart Wilde, the District Attorney, lived at the corner of Fourth and Lafayette Park, in a white frame house the size of a car-barn, with a red sandstone porte-cochere built on to one side and a couple of acres of soft rolling lawn in front. It was one of those solid old-fashioned houses which it used to be the thing to move bodily to new locations as the city grew westward. Wilde came of an old Los Angeles family and had probably been born in the house when it was on West Adams or Figueroa or St. James Park. | Taggart Wilde, okružni javni tužilac, živio je na uglu Četvrtog bulevara i parka Lafavette, u bijeloj drvenoj kući veličine središnjeg tramvajskog depoa, s kolskim ulazom od crvena pješčanika izgrađenim s jedne strane i s nekoliko rali tratine zasijane mekim australskim Ijuljem ispred pročelja. Bila je to jedna od onih solidnih staromodnih kuća kod kojih se uobičajilo da ih se u komadu prenosi na nove lokacije kako je grad rastao prema zapadu. Wilde je potjecao iz jedne stare losenđelske obitelji, i vjerojatno se rodio u toj kući dok je još bila na West Adamsu ili Figue-roi ili u St. James Parku. |
| There were two cars in the driveway already, a big private sedan and a police car with a uniformed chauffeur who leaned smoking against his rear fender and admired the moon. Ohls went over and spoke to him and the chauffeur looked in at the boy in Ohls’ car. | Na prilaznom su putu već bila dva automobila, velika privatna limuzina i policijska kola s uniformiranim šofe-rom koji se naslonio na stražnji blatobran, pušio i divio se mjesecu. Ohls je prešao do njega, nešto mu rekao, pa je ovaj pogledao momka u došljakovim kolima. |
| We went up to the house and rang the bell. A slick-haired blond man opened the door and led us down the hall and through a huge sunken living room crowded with heavy dark furniture and along another hall on the far side of it. He knocked at a door and stepped inside, then held the door wide and we went into a paneled study with an open French door at the end and a view of dark garden and mysterious trees. A smell of wet earth and flowers came in at the window. There were large dim oils on the walls, easy chairs, books, a smell of good cigar smoke which blended with the smell of wet earth and flowers. | Uspeli smo se do kuće i pritisnuli zvonce. Vrata je otvorio muškarac zalizane plave kose i poveo nas niz predvorje, kroz golemu dnevnu sobu na nešto nižem nivou natrpanu masivnim tamnim pokućstvom, pa zatim duž još jednog predvorja što se otvorilo na njenom daljem kraju. Zakucao je na vrata i zakoračio unutra, zatim pridržao vratna krila širom otvorena. Ušli smo u drvetom obložen studio s otvorenim ostakljenim vratima na jednom kraju i pogledom na tamni vrt i tajanstveno drveće. Miris je vlažne zemlje i cvijeća dopirao kroz prozor. Na zidovima su bila velika tamna ulja, a u sobi naslonjači, knjige i miris dima dobrih cigara, što se miješao s mirisima vlažne zemlje i cvijeća. |
| Taggart Wilde sat behind a desk, a middle-aged plump man with clear blue eyes that managed to have a friendly expression without really having any expression at all. He had a cup of black coffee in front of him and he held a dappled thin cigar between the neat careful fingers of his left hand. Another man sat at the corner of the desk in a blue leather chair, a cold-eyed hatchet-faced man, as lean as a rake and as hard as the manager of a loan office. His neat well-kept face looked as if it had been shaved within the hour. He wore a well-pressed brown suit and there was a black pearl in his tie. He had the long nervous fingers of a man with a quick brain. He looked ready for a fight. | Taggart Wilde je sjedio za pisaćim stolom. Bio je to sredovječan bucmast muškarac s bistrim plavim očima koje su uspijevale imati prijateljski izraz a da u stvari nisu imale baš nikakav. Pred sobom je imao šalicu crne kave, a među urednim opreznim prstima lijeve ruke držao je tanku pjegastu cigaru. Na uglu je stola u plavom kožnatom naslonjaču sjedio još jedan čovjek, muškarac hladna pogleda i lica nalik na sjekiru, mršav kao metla i kjrul aojej kreditnog odjela. Njegovo je uredno, dobro održavano lice djelovalo kao da je obrijano prije sat vremena. Nosio je dobro izglačano smeđe odijelo, a na kravati mu je bio crni biser. Imao je duge nervozne prste čovjeka kome mozak brzo radi. Izgledao je spreman za borbu. |
| Ohls pulled a chair up and sat down and said: “Evening, Cronjager. Meet Phil Marlowe, a private eye who’s in a jam.” Ohls grinned. | Ohls je pridigao stolicu, sjeo u nju i rekao: — D'r've-če, Cronjager. Upoznaj Phila Marlowa, privatnu njušku koja je u stisci. — Pri tom se nacerio. |
| Cronjager looked at me without nodding. He looked me over as if he was looking at a photograph. Then he nodded his chin about an inch. Wilde said: “Sit down, Marlowe. I’ll try to handle Captain Cronjager, but you know how it is. This is a big city now.” | Cronjager me pogledao ne kininuvši glavom. Prešao je pogledom jjreko mene kaoi da gleda u f o tograf i j u. 'tada j e kimnuo podbratkom za oko dva prsta. Wilđeje rekao: — Sjedite, Marlowe. Pokušat ću izaći na kraj s kapetanom Cronjagerom, no znate kako je. Ovo je sada veliki grad. |
| I sat down and lit a cigarette. Ohls looked at Cronjager and asked: “What did you get on the Randall Place killing?” | Sjeo sam i pripalio cigaretu. Ohls je pogledao Cronja-gera i upitao: — Što ste do sada skupili u vezi ubojstva na Randall Placeu? |
| The hatchet-faced man pulled one of his fingers until the knuckle cracked. He spoke without looking up. “A stiff, two slugs in him. Two guns that hadn’t been fired. Down on the street we got a blonde trying to start a car that didn’t belong to her. Hers was right next to it, the same model. She acted rattled so the boys brought her in and she spilled. She was in there when this guy Brody got it. Claims she didn’t see the killer.” | Čovjek izduženog lica je povukao jedan od svojih prstiju dok mu nije kvrcnuo zglob. Progovorio je ne podižući pogled. — Jedan ukočeni, s dva zrna u sebi. Dva pištolja iz kojih nije pucano. Dolje smo na ulici našli plavušu kako pokušava pokrenuti kola koja nisu njezina. Njena su bila prva do njih, isti model. Ponašala se smuvano, i tako su je momci dopremili, pa je profućkala. Bila je tamo unutra kad je taj tip Brody dobio svoje. Tvrdi da nije vidjela ubojicu. |
| “That all?” Ohls asked. | — To je sve? — upitao je Ohls. |
| Cronjager raised his eyebrows a little. “Only happened about an hour ago. What did you expect—moving pictures of the killing?” | Cronjager je za malenkost podigao obrve. — Dogodilo se pred samo oko sat. Što ste očekivali? — filmski zapis u-bojstva? |
| “Maybe a description of the killer,” Ohls said. | — Možda opis ubojice — rekao je Ohls. |
| “A tall guy in a leather jerkin—if you call that a description.” | — Visoki tip u kožnom kaputiću, ako to nazivate opisom. |
| “He’s outside in my heap,” Ohls said. “Handcuffed. Marlowe put the arm on him for you. Here’s his gun.” Ohls took the boy’s automatic out of his pocket and laid it on a corner of Wilde’s desk. Cronjager looked at the gun but didn’t reach for it. | — Eno ga vani u mojoj krntiji — rekao je Ohls. — Okovan. Marlovve je vama za ljubav stavio ruku na njega. Evo mu i pištolja. — Ohls je izvadio dečkov automatski pištolj iz džepa i položio ga na ugao Wildeovog pisaćeg sto- la. Cronjager se zagledao u pucaljku ali nije posegnuo za njom. |
| Wilde chuckled. He was leaning back and puffing his dappled cigar without letting go of it. He bent forward to sip from his coffee cup. He took a silk handkerchief from the breast pocket of the dinner jacket he was wearing and touched his lips with it and tucked it away again. | Wilde se zasmijuljio. Sjedio je zavaljen i puckao pjegavu cigaru ne vadeći je iz ustiju. Zatim se nagnuo prema naprijed i srknuo iz šalice za kavu. Izvadio je svilenu maramicu iz prsnog džepića smokinga što ga je imao na sebi, dodirnuo njome usne i turio je natrag. |
| “There’s a couple more deaths involved,” Ohls said, pinching the soft flesh at the end of his chin. | — Tu je upleteno još nekoliko mrtvaca — rekao je Ohls, štipkajući mekano meso na vrhu brade. |
| Cronjager stiffened visibly. His surly eyes became points of steely light. | Cronjager se vidljivo ukrutio. Osorne su mu se oči pretvorile u točke čeličnoplavog svjetla. |
| Ohls said: “You heard about a car being lifted out of the Pacific Ocean off Lido pier this a.m. with a dead guy in it?” | Ohls reče: — Čuli za auto dignut iz Tihog oceana kraj mola u Lidu u jutarnje sate s mrtvim tipom u sebi? |
| Cronjager said: “No,” and kept on looking nasty. | Cronjager je odgovorio: — Ne — i nastavio gledati opako. |
| “The dead guy in the car was chauffeur to a rich family,” Ohls said. “The family was being blackmailed on account of one of the daughters. Mr. Wilde recommended Marlowe to the family, through me. Marlowe played it kind of close to the vest.” | — Mrtvi je tip u automobilu bio šofer jedne bogate obitelji — rekao je Ohls. — Obitelj je bila ucijenjena na račun jedne od kćeri. Mister Wilde je preko mene preporučio Mariowea toj obitelji. Marlowe je to na neki način izveo tik uz kožu. |
| “I love private dicks that play murders close to the vest,” Cronjager snarled. “You don’t have to be so goddamned coy about it.” “Yeah,” Ohls said. “I don’t have to be so goddamned coy about it. It’s not so goddamned often I get a chance to be coy with a city copper. I spend most of my time telling them where to put their feet so they won’t break an ankle.” | — Volim privatne dekstere koji stvari s ubojstvima izvode tik uz kožu — zarežao je Cronjager. — Ne morate biti tako prokleto sramežljivi u vezi s tim. ? — Jeee — odgovorio je Ohls. — Ne moram biti tako prokleto sramežljiv u vezi s tim. Ne događa se baš tako prokleto često da imam priliku biti sramežljiv pred gradskim zbirom. Potrošio sam najveći dio svog vremena kazivajući im gdje da stave nogu kako ne bi polomili gležanj. |
| Cronjager whitened around the corners of his sharp nose. His breath made a soft hissing sound in the quiet room. He said very quietly: “You haven’t had to tell any of my men where to put their feet, smart guy.” | Cronjager je problijedio oko kutova svog oštrog nosa. Dah mu je proizvodio tihi psikavi zvuk u tihoj prostoriji. Rekao je vrlo tiho: — Nikad niste trebali reći niti jednom od mojih ljudi kamo da gazi, pametnjakoviću. |
| “We’ll see about that,” Ohls said. “This chauffeur I spoke of that’s drowned off Lido shot a guy last night in your territory. A guy named Geiger who ran a dirty book racket in a store on Hollywood Boulevard. Geiger was living with the punk I got outside in my car. I mean living with him, if you get the idea.” | — To ćemo još vidjeti — odgovorio je Ohls. — Taj šofer o kojem sam govorio, koji se utopio kraj Lida, upucao je sinoć jednog tipa na vašem teritoriju. Tipa imenom Geiger koji je vodio posao s prostim knjigama u dućanu na Hollywood Boulevardu. Geiger je živio s vagabundom kojeg sam dopremio; vani je u kolima. Mislio sam reći živio s njim, ako shvaćate što time hoću reći. |
| Cronjager was staring at him levelly now. “That sounds like it might grow up to be a dirty story,” he said. | Cronjager je sada ravnodušno zurio u njega. — Zvuči kao da bi moglo izrasti u prljavu priču — rekao je. |
| “It’s my experience most police stories are,” Ohls growled and turned to me, his eyebrows bristling. “You’re on the air, Marlowe. Give it to him.” | — Prema mom iskustvu većina policijskih priča može — progunđao je Ohls i okrenuo mi se s nakostriješenim obrvama. — Ti si sad na programu, Marlowe. Istresi mu je. |
| I gave it to him. | Istresao sam mu čitavu priču. |
| I left out two things, not knowing just why, at the moment, I left out one of them. I left out Carmen’s visit to Brody’s apartment and Eddie Mars’ visit to Geiger’s in the afternoon. I told the rest of it just as it happened. | Ispustio sam dvije stvari, naprosto u tom trenutku ne znajući zašto sam ispustio jednu od njih. Ispustio sam Carmenin posjet Brodyjevu apartmanu i popodnevnu posjetu Eddija Marsa Geigerovoj kući. Ostalo sam ispričao točno kako se dogodilo. |
| Cronjager never took his eyes off my face and no expression of any kind crossed his as I talked. At the end of it he was perfectly silent for a long minute. Wilde was silent, sipping his coffee, puffing gently at his dappled cigar. Ohls stared at one of his thumbs. | Cronjager nije nijednom skinuo pogled s moga lica dok sam govorio, niti je sve vrijeme bilo kakav izraz prešao preko njegova. Na koncu je utonuo u tišinu čitavu dugu minutu. I Wilde je šutio, srčući kavu, puckajući lagašno pjegavu cigaru. Ohls je zurio u jedan od svojih palaca. |
| Cronjager leaned slowly back in his chair and crossed one ankle over his knee and rubbed the ankle bone with his thin nervous hand. His lean face wore a harsh frown. He said with deadly politeness: | Cronjager se polako zavalio u naslonjaču, prebacio gležanj preko koljena i počeo trljati zglob tankom nervoznom rukom. Suho mu je lice bilo odjeveno u oporu grimasu. Tada je progovorio sa smrtonosnom pristojnošću: |
| “So all you did was not report a murder that happened last night and then spend today foxing around so that this kid of Geiger’s could commit a second murder this evening.” | — I tako, sve što ste učinili bilo je da ne prijavite jedno umorstvo koje se dogodilo još prošle noći, i zatim provedete dan lij aj ući okolo, takp da večeras taj Geigerov mali može počiniti i drugo. / |
| “That’s all,” I said. “I was in a pretty tough spot. I guess I did wrong, but I wanted to protect my client and I hadn’t any reason to think the boy would go gunning for Brody.” | — To je sve — rekoh. — Bio sam u prilično gadnom položaju. Slutim da sam učinio krivo, no želio sam zaštititi klijenta, i nisam imao nikakva razloga pomisliti da će se dečko dati u pucariju za Brodvjem. |
| “That kind of thinking is police business, Marlowe. If Geiger’s death had been reported last night, the books could never have been moved from the store to Brody’s apartment. The kid wouldn’t have been led to Brody and wouldn’t have killed him. Say Brody was living on borrowed time. His kind usually are. But a life is a life.” | — Razmišljanje na te teme posao je policije, Marlo-we. Da je Geigerova smrt bila prijavljena sinoć, knjige nikad ne bi bile maknute iz dućana u Brodvjev apartman. Klinjo ne bi bio naveden na Brodvja i ne bi ga ubio. Recimo da bi Brody zaglavio prije ili kasnije. Recimo da je živio na posuđenom vremenu. No život je život. |
| “Right,” I said. “Tell that to your coppers next time they shoot down some scared petty larceny crook running away up an alley with a stolen spare.” | — Ispravno — rekoh. — Recite to svojim murjacima kad sljedeći put ustrijele nekog sitnog tata muljaroša dok bude bježao niz ulicu s ukradenom rezervnom gumom. |
| Wilde put both his hands down on his desk with a solid smack. “That’s enough of that,” he snapped. “What makes you so sure, Marlowe, that this Taylor boy shot Geiger? Even if the gun that killed Geiger was found on Taylor’s body or in the car, it doesn’t absolutely follow that he was the killer. The gun might have been planted—say by Brody, the actual killer.” | Wilde je spustio obje ruke na stol s jednoglasnim praskom. — Sad je dosta toga — dreknuo je. — Što vas čini tako uvjerenim, Marlowe, da je taj dečko Tavlor upucao Geigera? Čak i ako je pištolj kojim je ubijen Geiger nađen uz Tavlorovo tijelo u automobilu, iz toga apsolutno ne sli- jedi da je on ubojica. Pištolj je mogao netko uvaliti, recimo Brody, pravi ubojica. |
| “It’s physically possible,” I said, “but morally impossible. It assumes too much coincidence and too much that’s out of character for Brody and his girl, and out of character for what he was trying to do. I talked to Brody for a long time. He was a crook, but not a killer type. He had two guns, but he wasn’t wearing either of them. He was trying to find a way to cut in on Geiger’s racket, which naturally he knew all about from the girl. He says he was watching Geiger off and on to see if he had any tough backers. I believe him. To suppose he killed Geiger in order to get his books, then scrammed with the nude photo Geiger had just taken of Carmen Sternwood, then planted the gun on Owen Taylor and pushed Taylor into the ocean off Lido, is to suppose a hell of a lot too much. Taylor had the motive, jealous rage, and the opportunity to kill Geiger. He was out in one of the family cars without permission. He killed Geiger right in front of the girl, which Brody would never have done, even if he had been a killer. I can’t see anybody with a purely commercial interest in Geiger doing that. But Taylor would have done it. The nude photo business was just what would have made him do it.” | — To je fizički moguće, — rekoh — ali moralno nemoguće. To pretpostavlja suviše koincidencija i previše koječega što nema nikakve veze s karakterom Brodvja i njegove cure, ni s karakterom onoga što je pokušao učiniti. Razgovarao sam s Brodvjem prilično dugo. Bio je zloćko, ali ne od onih što ubijaju. Imao je dvije puce, ali nije nosio ni jednu od njih. Pokušavao je pronaći način da se ubaci u Geigerov posao, o kojemu je, prirodno, znao sve preko te cure. Rekao je da je tu i tamo promatrao Geigera da vidi ima li kakvog moćnog zaštitnika. Ja mu vjerujem. Pretpostaviti da je ubio Geigera kako bi došao do njegovih knjiga, zatim otprašio s golišavom fotografijom Carmen Stern-wood koju je ovaj upravo snimio, zatim nakalemio pucu Owenu Tavloru i gurnuo ga kraj Lida u ocean, značilo bi pretpostaviti vraški puno previše. Tavlor je imao motiv, ljubomorno bjesnilo, i priliku da ubije Geigera. Bio je vani bez dopuštenja u jednom od obiteljskih automobila. Ubio je Geigera baš curi pred očima, što Brody nikad ne bi učinio, čak i kad bi bio ubojica. Ne vidim nikoga koga bi Geiger zanimao s čisto komercijalne strane, a koji bi to učinio. Ali Tavlor bi. Upravo je ta priča s golišavom fotografijom bila ono što bi ga na to navelo. |
| Wilde chuckled and looked along his eyes at Cronjager. Cronjager cleared his throat with a snort. Wilde asked: “What’s this business about hiding the body? I don’t see the point of that.” | Wilde se zasmijuljio i iskosa pogledao Cronjagera. Ovaj je zabrektavši očistio grlo. Wilde je upitao: — A što je s tim prtljanjem oko skrivanja leša? Ne vidim u tome nikakva smisla. |
| I said: “The kid hasn’t told us, but he must have done it. Brody wouldn’t have gone into the house after Geiger was shot. The boy must have got home when I was away taking Carmen to her house. He was afraid of the police, of course, being what he is, and he probably thought it a good idea to have the body hidden until he had removed his effects from the house. He dragged it out of the front door, judging by the marks on the rug, and very likely put it in the garage. Then he packed up whatever belongings he had there and took them away. And later on, sometime in the night and before the body stiffened, he had a revulsion of feeling and thought he hadn’t treated his dead friend very nicely. So he went back and laid him out on the bed. That’s all guessing, of course.” | Rekoh: — Mali nam nije kazao, no mora da je to on učinio. Brody ne bi ušao u kuću nakon što je Geiger upucan. Dečko mora da je stigao kući dok sam ja pratio Carmen njezinoj. Bojao se policije, naravno, jer je ono što jest, i vjerojatno je pomislio da bi bila dobra ideja da sakrije tijelo dok ne makne iz kuće svoje krpice. Izvukao ga je kroz prednja vrata, sudeći po tragovima na otiraču, i vrlo ga vjerojatno stavio u garažu. Tada je spakovao sve stvari što ih je ondje imao pa ih otpremio. A kasnije, u neko doba noći, no prije negoli se tijelo ukrutilo, došlo je do nagle promjene osjećaja, pa je pomislio kako se nije baš jako lijepo ponio prema svome mrtvom prijanu. I tako se vratio i položio ga na krevet. Razumije se, sve su to samo pretpostavke. |
| Wilde nodded. “Then this morning he goes down to the store as if nothing had happened and keeps his eyes open. And when Brody moved the books out he found out where they were going and assumed that whoever got them had killed Geiger just for that purpose. He may even have known more about Brody and the girl than they suspected. What do you think, Ohls?” | Wilde je kimnuo. — A onda jutros silazi u dućan kao da se ništa nije dogodilo i drži oči otvorene. A kada je Bro-dy iselio knjige, on otkriva kamo su otišle, i pretpostavlja da je onaj koji ih je pokupio ubio Geigera baš zbog toga. Mogao je čak znati i više o Brodvju i curi no što su oni slutili. Što vi mislite, Ohls? |
| Ohls said: “We’ll find out—but that doesn’t help Cronjager’s troubles. What’s eating him is all this happened last night and he’s only just been rung in on it.” | Ohls je rekao: — Otkrit će se, no od toga Cronjageru neće biti lakše. Ono što ga ždere, to je da se sve dogodilo još noćas, a njemu su samo zvrcnuli telefonom. |
| Cronjager said sourly: “I think I can find some way to deal with that angle too.” He looked at me sharply and immediately looked away again. | Cronjager je kiselo odgovorio: — Mislim da mogu naći načina da i s tom stranom stvari izađem na kraj. — Pogledao me oštro i zatim smjesta skrenuo pogled. |
| Wilde waved his cigar and said: “Let’s see the exhibits, Marlowe.” I emptied my pockets and put the catch on his desk: the three notes and Geiger’s card to General Sternwood, Carmen’s photos, and the blue notebook with the code list of names and addresses. I had already given Geiger’s keys to Ohls. | Wilde je odmahnuo cigarom i kazao: — Da vidimo materijalne dokaze, Marlowe. — Ispraznio sam džepove i stavio lovinu na stol: tri ceduljice i Geigerovu posjetnicu poslanu generalu Sternwoodu, Carrnenine fotke i modri notes sa šifriranim potpisom imena i adresa. Ohlsu sam već dao Geigerove ključeve. |
| Wilde looked at what I gave him, puffing gently at his cigar. Ohls lit one of his own toy cigars and blew smoke peacefully at the ceiling. Cronjager leaned on the desk and looked at what I had given Wilde. | Wilde je pogledao što sam mu dao, lagano puckajući cigaru. Ohls je zapalio jednu od svojih majucnih cigara i miroljubivo otpuhnuo dim prema stropu. Cronjager se naslonio na stol i promatrao to što sam dao Wildeu. |
| Wilde tapped the three notes signed by Carmen and said: “I guess these were just a come-on. If General Sternwood paid them, it would be through fear of something worse. Then Geiger would have tightened the screws. Do you know what he was afraid of?” He was looking at me. | Wilde je kucnuo po tri priznanice što ih je potpisala Carmen i rekao: — Mislim da je ovo bila samo sonda. Da ih je general Sternwood platio, bilo bi to zbog straha od nečega goreg. Tad bi mu Geiger pritegao šarafe. Znate li čega se boje? — Sad je gledao u mene. |
| I shook my head. | Odmahnuo sam glavom. |
| “Have you told your story complete in all relevant details?” | — Jeste li ispričali potpunu priču, u smislu svih relevantnih detalja? |
| “I left out a couple of personal matters. I intend to keep on leaving them out, Mr. Wilde.” | — Ispustio sam nekoliko osobnih stvari. I namjeravam ih i dalje držati izvan toga, mister Wilde. |
| Cronjager said: “Hah!” and snorted with deep feeling. | Cronjager je rekao: — Ha! — i zafrktao s najdubljim osjećajima. |
| “Why?” Wilde asked quietly. | — Zašto? — upitao je Wilde tiho. |
| “Because my client is entitled to that protection, short of anything but a Grand Jury. I have a license to operate as a private detective. I suppose that word ‘private’ has some meaning. The Hollywood Division has two murders on its hands, both solved. They have both killers. They have the motive, the instrument in each case. The blackmail angle has got to be suppressed, as far as the names of the parties are concerned.” | — Zato što moj klijent uživa pravo na takvu zaštitu, pred svim i svakim osim pred federalnom porotom. Imam dozvolu da djelujem kao privatni detektiv. Pretpostavljam da riječ »privatni« ima nekakvo značenje. Hollywoodska policija ima dva umorstva u rukama, obadva riješena. Ima i oba ubojice. Ima i motiv i instrument kojima su izvršena u oba slučaja. Ucjenjivačku stranu treba potisnuti utoliko koliko zadire u imena stranaka. |
| “Why?” Wilde asked again. | — Zašto? — upitao je Wilde ponovno. |
| “That’s okay,” Cronjager said dryly. “We’re glad to stooge for a shamus of his standing.” | — To je okej — rekao je Cronjager suho. — Drago nam je da budemo pa jaci anđela čuvara takve reputacije. |
| I said: “I’ll show you.” I got up and went back out of the house to my car and got the book from Geiger’s store out of it. The uniformed police driver was standing beside Ohls’ car. The boy was inside it, leaning back sideways in the corner. | Rekoh: — Pokazat ću vam. — Ustao sam i otišao iz kuće do svog automobila pa izvadio iz njega knjigu iz Geige-rova dućana. Uniformirani je policijski vozač stajao kraj Ohlsovih kola. Dečko je bio unutra, naslonivši se ramenom u kut. |
| “Has he said anything?” I asked. | — Je li što rekao? — upitah. |
| “He made a suggestion,” the copper said and spat. “I’m letting it ride.” | — Nešto mi je predložio — rekao je murjak i pljunuo. — Nije me šljivilo. |
| I went back into the house, put the book on Wilde’s desk and opened up the wrappings. Cronjager was using a telephone on the end of the desk. He hung up and sat down as I came in. | Vratio sam se u kuću, stavio knjigu na Wildeov stol i skinuo omot. Cronjager se upravo služio telefonom na kraju stola. Kad sam ušao spustio je slušalicu i sjeo. |
| Wilde looked through the book, wooden-faced, closed it and pushed it towards Cronjager. Cronjager opened it, looked at a page or two, shut it quickly. A couple of red spots the size of half dollars showed on his cheekbones. | Wilde je s drvenim licem pregledao knjigu, zatvorio je i gurnuo Cronjageru. Ovaj ju je otvorio, pogledao stranicu ili dvije i brzo je zatvorio. Par mu se crvenih mrlja veličine pola dolara pojavio na obrazima. |
| I said: “Look at the stamped dates on the front endpaper.” | Rekoh: — Pogledajte na štamblirane datume na prednjem zaštitnom listu. |
| Cronjager opened the book again and looked at them. “Well?” | Cronjager je ponovno otvorio knjigu i pogledao ih. — Dakle? |
| “If necessary,” I said, “I’ll testify under oath that that book came from Geiger’s store. The blonde, Agnes, will admit what kind of business the store did. It’s obvious to anybody with eyes that that store is just a front for something. But the Hollywood police allowed it to operate, for their own reasons. I dare say the Grand Jury would like to know what those reasons are.” | — Ako je potrebno — rekoh — posvjedočit ću pod zakletvom da je knjiga došla iz Geigerova dućana. Plavuša će, Agnes, priznati kakvim se poslom dućan bavio. Očito je svakome tko ima oči da je ta trgovina bila samo kulisa za nešto. No holivudska joj je policija dozvoljavala da djeluje, zbog nekih čisto svojih razloga. Usuđujem se reći da će porota poželjeti doznati koji su to razlozi bili. |
| Wilde grinned. He said: “Grand Juries do ask those embarrassing questions sometimes—in a rather vain effort to find out just why cities are run as they are run.” | Wilde se nacerio. Rekao je: — Porote ponekad uistinu postavljaju takva nezgodna pitanja, u prilično uzaludnom nastojanju da naprosto otkriju zašto se gradovima upravlja na način na koji se upravlja. |
| Cronjager stood up suddenly and put his hat on. “I’m one against three here,” he snapped. “I’m a homicide man. If this Geiger was running indecent literature, that’s no skin off my nose. But I’m ready to admit it won’t help my division any to have it washed over in the papers. What do you birds want?” | Cronjager je naglo ustao i stavio šešir na glavu. — Tu sam sam protiv trojice — kresne. — Moj su fah ubojstva. Ako je taj Geiger furao nepriličnu literaturu, za to mene ne boli glava. Ali sam spreman dopustiti da mom odjeljenju neće biti ni od kakve pomoći pranje prljavog rublja s tim u vezi po novinama. Što vi frajeri želite? |
| Wilde looked at Ohls. Ohls said calmly: “I want to turn a prisoner over to you. Let’s go.” | Wilde je pogledao Ohlsa. Ovaj je rekao hladno: — Želim vam predati uhapšenika. Idemo. |
| He stood up. Cronjager looked at him fiercely and stalked out of the room. Ohls went after him. The door closed again. Wilde tapped on his desk and stared at me with his clear blue eyes. | Ustao je. Cronjager ga je pogledao krvoločno i odšepu-rio se iz sobe. Ohls je pošao za njim. Vrata su se ponovno zatvorila. Wilde je zakuckao po stolu i zagledao se u mene svojim bistrim plavim očima. |
| “You ought to understand how any copper would feel about a cover-up like this,” he said. “You’ll have to make statements of all of it—at least for the files. I think it may be possible to keep the two killings separate and to keep General Sternwood’s name out of both of them. Do you know why I’m not tearing your ear off?” | — Morate razumjeti kako bi se svaki cajoš osjećao u vezi ovakvog zabašurivanja — reče. — Morat ćete dati iskaz u vezi svega toga, u najmanju ruku za dokumentaciju. Mislim da bi bilo moguće ostaviti svako ubojstvo za sebe, a ime generala Sternwooda izvan oba. Znate li zašto vam nisam iščupao uho? |
| “No. I expected to get both ears torn off.” | — Ne. Očekivao sam da ćete mi iščupati obadva. |
| “What are you getting for it all?” | — Što dobivate za sve to? |
| “Twenty-five dollars a day and expenses.” | — Dvadeset pet dolara na dan i troškove. |
| “That would make fifty dollars and a little gasoline so far.” | — To će biti pedeset dolara i malo benzina do sada. |
| “About that.” | — Tako nešto. |
| He put his head on one side and rubbed the back of his left little finger along the lower edge of his chin. | Nagnuo je glavu na stranu i protrljao poleđinom lijevog mezimca duž nižeg ruba brade. |
| “And for that amount of money you’re willing to get yourself in Dutch with half the law enforcement of this county?” | — I za takvu ste se svotu spremni igrati kauboja i Indijanaca s polovicom snaga reda i zakona ove zemlje? |
| “I don’t like it,” I said. “But what the hell am I to do? I’m on a case. I’m selling what I have to sell to make a living. What little guts and intelligence the Lord gave me and a willingness to get pushed around in order to protect a client. It’s against my principles to tell as much as I’ve told tonight, without consulting the General. As for the cover-up, I’ve been in police business myself, as you know. They come a dime a dozen in any big city. Cops get very large and emphatic when an outsider tries to hide anything, but they do the same things themselves every other day, to oblige their friends or anybody with a little pull. And I’m not through. I’m still on the case. I’d do the same thing again, if I had to.” | — To mi se ne dopada — rekoh. — No što da do đavola radim? Imam slučaj. Prodajem što imam za prodati da bih zaradio kruh. Prodajem to malo petlje što mi je bog dao, zajedno s dobrom voljom da se dam nabacivati kako bih zaštitio klijenta. Protiv mojih je principa i to što sam vam večeras rekao koliko sam rekao, a da se prije nisam posavjetovao s generalom. Što se tiče prikrivanja, i sam sam bio u tom policijskom poslu, kao što znate. Dobije ih se tucet za cent u svakom velikom gradu. Žbiri postaju vrlo važni i patetični kad neki autsajder pokuša nešto prikriti, no oni sami rade istu stvar svaki drugi dan da bi zadužili frendove ili bilo koga s malo žnore. I nisam gotov. Još sam na slučaju. Ponovno bih napravio istu stvar, kad bih morao. |
| “Providing Cronjager doesn’t get your license,” Wilde grinned. “You said you held back a couple of personal matters. Of what import?” | — Uz pretpostavku da vam Cronjager ne digne dozvolu — nacerio se Wilde. — Rekli ste da ste zadržali za sebe nekoliko privatnih stvari. Od kakve važnosti? |
| “I’m still on the case,” I said, and stared straight into his eyes. | — Još sam na slučaju — rekao sam i zagledao mu se ravno u oči. |
| Wilde smiled at me. He had the frank daring smile of an Irishman. “Let me tell you something, son. My father was a close friend of old Sternwood. I’ve done all my office permits—and maybe a good deal more—to save the old man from grief. But in the long run it can’t be done. Those girls of his are bound certain to hook up with something that can’t be hushed, especially that little blonde brat. They ought not to be running around loose. I blame the old man for that. I guess he doesn’t realize what the world is today. And there’s another thing I might mention while we’re talking man to man and I don’t have to growl at you. I’ll bet a dollar to a Canadian dime that the General’s afraid his son-in-law, the ex-bootlegger, is mixed up in this somewhere, and what he really hoped you would find out is that he isn’t. What do you think of that?” | Wilde mi se nasmiješio. Smiješak mu je bio otvoren i drzak, kakav imaju Irci. — Dajte da vam nešto kažem, sin-ko. Moj je otac bio bliski prijatelj starog Sternwooda. Učinio sam sve što mi moja služba dopušta, i možda prilično mnogo više, da bih starca poštedio tuge. No na duge pruge, tu se ništa ne da učiniti. Tim je curama pisano da se zakače za nešto što se neće moći zataškati, a to se posebno odnosi na onu malu plavu balavicu. Krivim staroga zbog toga. Pretpostavljam da nije shvatio kakav je svijet danas. A tu je još jedna stvar koju vam mogu spomenuti dok razgovaramo kao čovjek s čovjekom, dok ne moram režati na vas. Kladim se u dolar protiv kanadskih pet centi da se general boji da je njegov zet, bivši švercer, umiješan nekako u to, i da je ono čemu se zapravo nadao bilo da ćete otkriti da nije. Što mislite o tome? |
| “Regan didn’t sound like a blackmailer, what I heard of him. He had a soft spot where he was and he walked out on it.” | — Regan mi ne izgleda kao ucjenjivač, po svemu što sam čuo o njemu. Netko mu je tamo dirnuo u bolnu točku, i on je zbog toga odšetao. |
| Wilde snorted. “The softness of that spot neither you nor I could judge. If he was a certain sort of man, it would not have been so very soft. Did the General tell you he was looking for Regan?” | Wilde je otpuhnuo. — Kakve su mu bolne točke o tome ne možemo suditi ni vi ni ja. No ako je bio određene vrste ljudi, nije mogao biti jako osjetljiv. Je li vam general rekao da traži Regana? |
| “He told me he wished he knew where he was and that he was all right. He liked Regan and was hurt the way he bounced off without telling the old man goodbye.” | — Rekao mi je da bi želio znati gdje je i da je u redu. Volio je Regana i zaboljele ga je što je ovaj otperjašio ne rekavši starcu ni zbogom. |
| Wilde leaned back and frowned. “I see,” he said in a changed voice. His hand moved the stuff on his desk around, laid Geiger’s blue notebook to one side and pushed the other exhibits toward me. “You may as well take these,” he said. “I’ve no further use for them.” | Wilde se naslonio i namrštio. — Shvaćam — rekao je izmijenjenim glasom. Rukom je počeo premještati stvari po stolu, položio Geigerov plavi notes na stranu i gurnuo mi ostatak materijalnih dokaza. — Uostalom, možete uzeti i ovo — reče. — Ne mogu ih ni za što upotrijebiti. |