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| 25 | |
| It was raining again the next morning, a slanting gray rain like a swung curtain of crystal beads. I got up feeling sluggish and tired and stood looking out of the windows, with a dark, harsh taste of Sternwoods still in my mouth. I was as empty of life as a scarecrow’s pockets. I went out to the kitchenette and drank two cups of black coffee. You can have a hangover from other things than alcohol. I had one from women. Women made me sick. | Idućeg je jutra ponovno kišilo, iskošenom sivom kišom što je nalikovala zanjihanom zastoru od kristalnih bobica. Ustao sam osjećajući se umorno i prebijeno i zastao zagledavši se kroz prozor, s tamnim, oporim okusom Stern-vvoodovih još i sad u ustima. BJioJe to prazan život, prazan popju džgrjova strašila. Otišao sam u kuhinjicu i popio dvije šaliclfćrne kave". Možete imati mamurluk i od drugih stvari, ne samo od alkohola. Ja sam ga imao od žena. Od njih sam se razbolijevao. |
| I shaved and showered and dressed and got my raincoat out and went downstairs and looked out of the front door. Across the street, a hundred feet up, a gray Plymouth sedan was parked. It was the same one that had tried to trail me around the day before, the same one that I had asked Eddie Mars about. There might be a cop in it, if a cop had that much time on his hands and wanted to waste it following me around. Or it might be a smoothie in the detective business trying to get a nose full of somebody else’s case in order to chisel a way into it. Or it might be the Bishop of Bermuda disapproving of my night life. | Obrijao sam se i otuširao i obukao i izvadio kišni kaput i spustio se niz stepenice i pogledao van kroz glavna vrata. Preko puta, tridesetak metara uzbrdo, bio je parkiran sivi plvmouth. Bio je to onaj isti koji me je pokušavao natjeravati okolo proteklog dana, onaj o kojemu sam pitao Ed-dija Marsa. Unutra bi mogao biti zbir, kad bi zbir imao toliko vremena u rukama i želio ga rasuti na to da me slijedi. Mogao bi biti i neki mudrajsa u detektivskom poslu koji pokušava skupiti pun nos tuđeg slučaja, kako bi se mogao ubaciti. A mogao bi biti i bermudski biskup koji ne odobrava moj noćni život. |
| I went out back and got my convertible from the garage and drove it around front past the gray Plymouth. There was a small man in it, alone. He started up after me. He worked better in the rain. He stayed close enough so that I couldn’t make a short block and leave that before he entered it, and he stayed back far enough so that other cars were between us most of the time. I drove down to the boulevard and parked in the lot next to my building and came out of there with my raincoat collar up and my hat brim low and the raindrops tapping icily at my face in between. The Plymouth was across the way at a fireplug. I walked down to the intersection and crossed with the green light and walked back, close to the edge of the sidewalk and the parked cars. The Plymouth hadn’t moved. Nobody got out of it. I reached it and jerked open the door on the curb side. | Izišao sam otraga, uzeo svoj kabriolet iz garaže i zavezao ga oko pročelja, pokraj sivog plvmoutha. Unutra je bio neki čovječuljak, sam. Pokrenuo se za mnom. Bolje je to izvodio po kiši. Ostajao je dovoljno blizu da ne mogu skrenuti u kratki blok i napustiti ga prije negoli on uđe, i dovoljno daleko da su veći dio vremena između nas bili drugi automobili. Odvezao sam se dolje do bulevara i parkirao na mjestu odmah do moje zgrade, pa izišao s uzdignutim o-vratnikom kišnoga kaputa i spuštenim obodom šešira, dok su mi kapi kiše ledeno kuckale po licu što je ostalo između. Plvmouth je bio preko puta, pokraj hidranta. Odšetao sam dolje do križanja, prešao po zelenom svjetlu i vratio se, uz rub pločnika i parkirane automobile. Plvmouth se nije pomaknuo. Nitko nije izišao iz njega. Ispružio sam ruku i trzajem otvorio vrata na strani rubnika. |
| A small bright-eyed man was pressed back into the corner behind the wheel I stood and looked in at him, the rain thumping my back. His eyes blinked behind the swirling smoke of a cigarette. His hands tapped restlessly on the thin wheel. | Sitni, bistrooki muškarac utisnuo se u kut iza upravljača. Stajao sam i gledao ga unutra, dok me je kiša bubetala po leđima. Oči su mu žmirkale iza uskovitlanog dima cigarete. Ruke su mu nemirno kuckale po tankom volanu. |
| I said: “Can’t you make your mind up?” | Rekoh: — Zar se ne možete odlučiti? |
| He swallowed and the cigarette bobbed between his lips. “I don’t think I know you,” he said, in a tight little voice. | Progutao je slinu, a cigareta mu se zatrzala među usnama. — Ne mislim da vas znam — rekao je sitnim, stiješnje-nim glasom. |
| “Marlowe’s the name. The guy you’ve been trying to follow around for a couple of days.” | — Ime je Marlovve. Čovjek koga pokušavate slijediti već nekoliko dana. * |
| “I ain’t following anybody, doc.” | — Ne slijedim ja nikoga, facane. |
| “This jalopy is. Maybe you can’t control it. Have it your own way. I’m now going to eat breakfast in the coffee shop across the street, orange juice, bacon and eggs, toast, honey, three or four cups of coffee and a toothpick. I am then going up to my office, which is on the seventh floor of the building right opposite you. If you have anything that’s worrying you beyond endurance, drop up and chew it over. I’ll only be oiling my machine gun.” | — Ali ova fordaljka da. Možda je ne možeš obuzdati. Neka bude po tvom. Sad idem doručkovati u kafeteriju preko puta, narančin sok, jaja sa slaninom, tost, med, tri do četiri šalice kave i čačkalicu. Nakon toga se penjem u svoj ured, koji je na šestom katu zgrade baš nasuprot tebi. Ako postoji išta što te muči preko granice izdržljivosti, kapni gore pa izmelji. Zabavljat ću se uljenjem strojne puške. |
| I left him blinking and walked away. Twenty minutes later I was airing the scrubwoman’s Soirée d’ Amour out of my office and opening up a thick, rough envelope addressed in a fine, old-fashioned, pointed handwriting. The envelope contained a brief formal note and a large mauve check for five hundred dollars, payable to Philip Marlowe and signed, Guy de Brisay Sternwood, by Vincent Norris. That made it a nice morning. I was making out a bank slip when the buzzer told me somebody had entered my two by four reception room. It was the little man from the Plymouth. | Ostavio sam ga da žmirka i otišao. Poslije dvadeset minuta izračivao sam iz ureda Soiree d' Amour peračice podova i otvarao debelu, grubu kuvertu adresiranu finim, staromodnim, usiljenim rukopisom. Omotnica je sadržavala kratko formalno pisanice i veliki ček sljezove boje na pet stotina dolara, isplativ Philipu Marloweu i potpisan u ime Guy de Brisay Sternwooda, preko Vincenta Norrisa. To mi je odmah proljepšalo jutro. Baš sam popunjavao bankovni odrezak kad mi je zujalo reklo da je netko ušao u moju metar sa pol veliku prijemnu sobu. Bio je to čovječuljak iz plvmoutha. |
| “Fine,” I said. “Come in and shed your coat.” | — Fino — rekoh. — Ulazi i sljušti kaput. |
| He slid past me carefully as I held the door, as carefully as though he feared I might plant a kick in his minute buttocks. We sat down and faced each other across the desk. He was a very small man, not more than five feet three and would hardly weigh as much as a butcher’s thumb. He had tight brilliant eyes that wanted to look hard, and looked as hard as oysters on the half shell. He wore a double-breasted dark gray suit that was too wide in the shoulders and had too much lapel. Over this, open, an Irish tweed coat with some badly worn spots. A lot of foulard tie bulged out and was rain spotted above his crossed lapels. | Kliznuo je oprezno kraj mene dok sam pridržavao vrata, tako oprezno kao da se bojao da bih mu mogao usaditi vritanjak u majušno debelo meso. Sjeli smo i suočili se preko pisaćeg stola. Bio je to vrlo sitan muškarac, ne viši od sto i šezdeset, i težak jedva kao mesarov palac. Imao je primaknute blistave oči koje su željele izgledati tvrdo, a izgledale su tvrdo kao ostrige na polovici ljušture. Nosio je ta-mnosivo odijelo s dvostrukim redom dugmadi, preširoko u ramenima i s prerazvijenim reverom. Preko toga otvoren irski kaput od tvida, s nekoliko gadno pohabanih mjesta. Mnogo mu je svilene kravate sa sitnim tiskanim uzorkom bilo nabreklo i postrapano kišom iznad prekriženih suvra-taka. |
| “Maybe you know me,” he said. “I’m Harry Jones.” | — Možda me znate — reče. — Ja sam Harry Jones. |
| I said I didn’t know him. I pushed a flat tin of cigarettes at him. His small neat fingers speared one like a trout taking the fly. He lit it with the desk lighter and waved his hand. | Rekao sam mu da ga ne poznajem. Gurnuo sam mu tanku limenu kutiju s cigaretama. Njegovi su sitni uredni prsti ćopnuli jednu poput pastrve kad hvata muhu. Pripalio ju je stolnim upaljačem i odmahnuo rukom. |
| “I been around,” he said. “Know the boys and such. Used to do a little liquor-running down from Hueneme Point. A tough racket, brother. Riding the scout car with a gun in your lap and a wad on your hip that would choke a coal chute. Plenty of times we paid off four sets of law before we hit Beverly Hills. A tough racket.” | — Bilo me je okolo — reče. — Znam momke i tako. Biva da se bavim malo furanjem cuge odozgo s Hueneme Pointa. Gadan posao, burazeru. Ciljati pred mariolama s pucaljkom u krilu i s grbom love na boku kojom bi začepio rudničko okno. Prilično puta smo otpisali četiri kompleta murjaka prije nego bismo udarili u Beverlv Hills. Gadan posao. |
| “Terrible,” I said. | — Grozno — rekoh. |
| He leaned back and blew smoke at the ceiling from the small tight corner of his small tight mouth. | Zahvalio se i otpuhnuo prema plafonu dim iz malog uskog kuta svojih malih uskih usta. |
| “Maybe you don’t believe me,” he said. | — Možda mi ne vjeruješ — rekao je. |
| “Maybe I don’t,” I said. “And maybe I do. And then again maybe I haven’t bothered to make my mind up. Just what is the build-up supposed to do to me?” | — Možda i ne — rekoh. — A možda i da. I tada još jednom, možda si još nisam dao truda da se odlučim. I sad, što je ta priprema terena trebala kod mene postići? |
| “Nothing,” he said tartly. | — Ništa — rekao je kiselo. |
| “You’ve been following me around for a couple, of days,” I said. “Like a fellow trying to pick up a girl and lacking the last inch of nerve. Maybe you’re selling insurance. Maybe you knew a fellow called Joe Brody. That’s a lot of maybes, but I have a lot on hand in my business.” | — Slijediš me već nekoliko dana — rekoh. Kao frajer koji pokušava pokupiti djevojku, a fali mu još onaj zadnji prst kuraže. Možda prodaješ police osiguranja. Možda znaš tipa zvanog Joe Brody. Ima tu mnogo možda, no ja ih u ovom poslu uvijek imam mnogo pri ruci. |
| His eyes bulged and his lower lip almost fell in his lap. “Christ, how’d you know that?” he snapped. | Oči su mu iskočile, a donja mu je usnica gotovo pala u krilo. — Kriste, odakle to znaš? — zinuo je. |
| “I’m psychic. Shake your business up and pour it. I haven’t got all day.” | — Ja sam psihogonolog. Promućkaj to što imaš, pa istoči. Nemam na raspolaganju čitav dan. |
| The brightness of his eyes almost disappeared between the suddenly narrowed lids. There was silence. The rain pounded down on the flat tarred roof over the Mansion House lobby below my windows. His eyes opened a little, shined again, and his voice was full of thought. | Sjaj mu je očiju gotovo nestao između naglo suženih kapaka. Zavladala je tišina. Kiša je tukla po ravnom katran-skom krovu nad aulom Mansion Housea ispod prozora. Oči su mu se malkice otvorile, zasjale ponovno, a glas mu je bio pun dubokih misli. |
| “I was trying to get a line on you, sure,” he said. “I’ve got something to sell—cheap, for a couple of C notes. How’d you tie me to Joe?” | — Pokušavam ti dobaciti udicu, sigurno — rekao je. — Imam nešto na prodaju — jeftino, za par stojanera. Kako si me povezao s Joeom? |
| I opened a letter and read it. It offered me a six months’ correspondence course in fingerprinting at a special professional discount. I dropped it into the waste basket and looked at the little man again. “Don’t mind me. I was just guessing. You’re not a cop. You don’t belong to Eddie Mars’ outfit. I asked him last night. I couldn’t think of anybody else but Joe Brody’s friends who would be that much interested in me.” | Otvorio sam pismo i pročitao ga. Nudilo mi je šestero-mjesečni dopisni tečaj daktiloskopije uz specijalni profesionalni popust. Bacio sam ga u košaru za smeće i ponovno pogledao čovječuljka. — Ne obaziri se. Samo sam pogađao. Nisi zbir. Ne pripadaš ekipi Eddija Marsa. Pitao sam ga sinoć. Nisam mogao smisliti nikoga osim Brodvjevih prijatelja tko bi se toliko zanimao za mene. |
| “Jesus,” he said and licked his lower lip. His face had turned white as paper when I mentioned Eddie Mars. His mouth drooped open and his cigarette hung to the corner of it by some magic, as if it had grown there. “Aw, you’re kidding me,” he said at last, with the sort of smile the operating room sees. | — Isuse — rekao je i oblizao donju usnu. Lice mu je postalo bijelo kao papir kad sam spomenuo Eddija Marsa. Čeljust mu je spala, usta se otvorila a cigareta nekom čarolijom ostala visjeti u njihovu kutu, kao da je ondje izrasla. — Au, ti me zezaš — rekao je napokon sa smiješkom kakav se viđa po operacijskim dvoranama. |
| “All right. I’m kidding you.” I opened another letter. This one wanted to send me a daily newsletter from Washington, all inside stuff, straight from the cookhouse. “I suppose Agnes is loose,” I added. | — U redu. Zezam se. — Otvorio sam još jedno pismo. Ovo mi je željelo slati dnevni bilten iz Washingtona, sve unutrašnje mućke, ravno iz kuhinje. — Pretpostavljam da je Agnes f raj — dodao sam. |
| “Yeah. She sent me. You interested?” | — Jeee. Ona me poslala. Zanima te? |
| “Well—she’s a blonde.” | — Mislim ... ona je plavuša. |
| “Nuts. You made a crack when you were up there that night—the night Joe got squibbed off. Something about Brody must have known something good about the Sternwoods or he wouldn’t have taken the chance on that picture he sent them.” | — Svašta. Načeo si stvar kad si bio ondje te noći... te noći kad su Joea ispucali. Nešto o tome kako Brodv mora znati nešto lijepo o Sternwoodovima inače ne bi riskirao da im šalje tu sliku. |
| “Uh-huh. So he had? What was it?” | — A — ha. Dakle je znao? A što to? |
| “That’s what the two hundred bucks pays for.” I dropped some more fan mail into the basket and lit myself a fresh cigarette. | — To je ono za što se plaća dvije stotine baksi. Bacio sam još nešto žicarske pošte u koš i pripalio novu cigaretu. |
| “We gotta get out of town,” he said. “Agnes is a nice girl. You can’t hold that stuff on her. It’s not so easy for a dame to get by these days.” | — Moramo se maknuti iz grada — reče. — Agnes je krasna cura. Ne možeš joj to zamjeriti. Teško se dami provlačiti u ovakva vremena. |
| “She’s too big for you,” I said. “She’ll roll on you and smother you.” | — Prevelika je za tebe — rekoh. — Svalit će se na tebe i pridušiti te. |
| “That’s kind of a dirty crack, brother,” he said with something that was near enough to dignity to make me stare at him. | — To ti je prilično glupav štos, burazeru, — rekao je s nečim što je bilo dovoljno blizu dostojanstvu da bih blenuo u njega. |
| I said: “You’re right. I’ve been meeting the wrong kind of people lately. Let’s cut out the gabble and get down to cases. What have you got for the money?” | Rekoh: — Imaš pravo. Sretao sam u posljednje doba krivu vrst ljudi. Ali dosta pričam ti priču, idemo na slučaj. Što imaš za taj novac? |
| “Would you pay for it?” | — Hoćeš li platiti za to? |
| “If it does what?” | — Ako to — učini što? |
| “If it helps you find Rusty Regan.” | — Ako ti pomogne naći Rustvja Regana. |
| “I’m not looking for Rusty Regan.” | — Ne tražim Rustyja Regana. |
| “Says you. Want to hear it or not?” | — Tako veliš. Želiš li čuti ili ne? |
| “Go ahead and chirp. I’ll pay for anything I use. Two C notes buys a lot of information in my circle.” | — Samo naprijed, odcvrkući. Platit ću sve što mi posluži. S dva se stojanera u mom krugu može kupiti mnogo informacija. |
| “Eddie Mars had Regan bumped off,” he said calmly, and leaned back as if he had just been made a vice-president. | — Eddie Mars je deknuo Regana — rekao je smirenim glasom i naslonio se kao da je upravo postao potpredsjednik. |
| I waved a hand in the direction of the door. “I wouldn’t even argue with you,” I said. “I wouldn’t waste the oxygen. On your way, small size.” | Mahnuo sam rukom u smjeru vrata. — Neću čak ni raspravljati s tobom — rekoh. — Neću piskati kisik. Put pod noge, mali broju. |
| He leaned across the desk, white lines at the corners of his mouth. He snubbed his cigarette out carefully, over and over again, without looking at it. From behind a communicating door came the sound of a typewriter clacking monotonously to the bell, to the shift, line after line. | Nagnuo se preko stola, s bijelim linijama u kutovima usta. Pritisnuo je cigaretu pažljivo, gaseći je ponovno i ponovno, a da je nije pogledao. Iza prolaznih vrata dopirao je zvuk pisaćeg stroja, jednolično zveckanje do zvonca, do povrata kolica, redak po redak. |
| “I’m not kidding,” he said. | — Ne zezam se — rekao je. |
| “Beat it. Don’t bother me. I have work to do.” | — Crta. Nemoj me gnjaviti. Imam ja i svog posla. |
| “No you don’t,” he said sharply. “I ain’t that easy. I came here to speak my piece and I’m speaking it. I knew Rusty myself. Not well, well enough to say ‘How’s a boy?’ and he’d answer me or he wouldn’t, according to how he felt. A nice guy though. I always liked him. He was sweet on a singer named Mona Grant. Then she changed her name to Mars. Rusty got sore and married a rich dame that hung around the joints like she couldn’t sleep well at home. You know all about her, tall, dark, enough looks for a Derby winner, but the type would put a lot of pressure on a guy. High-strung. Rusty wouldn’t get along with her. But Jesus, he’d get along with her old man’s dough, wouldn’t he? That’s what you think. This Regan was a cockeyed sort of buzzard. He had long-range eyes. He was looking over into the next valley all the time. He wasn’t scarcely around where he was. I don’t think he gave a damn about dough. And coming from me, brother, that’s a compliment.” | — Ne, nemaš — rekao je oštro. — Nećeš sa mnom tako jednostavno. Došao sam ovdje odverglati svoje, i evo, verglam. Poznavao sam Rustvja u glavu. Ne dobro, ali dovoljno dobro da pitam »Kako ide?« a on mi odgovori ili ne, ovisno na koju je nogu ustao. Ipak, fin momak. Uvijek mi se sviđao. Bio je slab prema pjevačici imenom Mona Grant. A onda je promijenila ime u Mars. Rustvja je to ubolo, pa se oženio bogatom damom što je visjela po bircuzima kao da kod kuće ne može dobro spavati. Znaš sve o njoj, visoka, crna, lijepa kao pobjednik derbvja, ali od onih koje pritisnu frajera, gadno. Visoki napon. Rusty nije mogao izaći s njom na kraj. No bože, izišao je na kraj s lovijanerom njenog starog, ne? Da, tako ti misliš. Ali taj Regan je bio navrnuti tip zvrkavca. Imao je dalekometne oči. Sve je vrijeme gledao preko brda, pa u drugu dolinu. Jedva da je i bio gdje je bio. Ne mislim da je šljivio papirišku. A od mene, brate, to je kompliment. |
| The little man wasn’t so dumb after all. A three for a quarter grifter wouldn’t even think such thoughts, much less know how to express them. | Na koncu konca, mali i nije bio tako glup. Frtaljipolpa-rački žmukler ne bi nikad ni došao do takvih misli, još bi ih manje znao izraziti. |
| I said: “So he ran away.” | Rekoh: — I tako je zgiljao. |
| “He started to run away, maybe. With this girl Mona. She wasn’t living with Eddie Mars, didn’t like his rackets. Especially the side lines, like blackmail, bent cars, hideouts for hot boys from the east, and so on. The talk was Regan told Eddie one night, right out in the open, that if he ever messed Mona up in any criminal rap, he’d be around to see him.” | — Možda je počeo giljati. S tom curom Monom. Ta nije živjela s Eddijem Marsom, nije joj se sviđala njegova bi-za. Pogotovo ne sporedni poslovi kao ucjena, označene kar- te, jazbine za paprene momke s istoka, i tako dalje. Priča priča da je jedne večeri Regan rekao Eddiju, usred bijela dana, ako ikad uplete Monu u kakvu kriminalnu frku, da će mu svratiti na jedan mali razgovor. |
| “Most of this is on the record, Harry,” I said. “You can’t expect money for that.” | — Većina je od toga javna tajna, Harry — rekoh. — Ne očekuj lovu za to. |
| “I’m coming to what isn’t. So Regan blew. I used to see him every afternoon in Vardi’s drinking Irish whiskey and staring at the wall. He don’t talk much any more. He’d give me a bet now and then, which was what I was there for, to pick up bets for Puss Walgreen.” | — Dolazim na ono što nije. I tako je Regan otpirio. Dotad sam ga viđao svakog popodneva kod Vardija, kako pije irski viski i zuri u zid. Nije više puno pričao. Dao bi mi tu i tamo koji ulog, zbog čega sam i bio tamo, da skupljam uloge za Pu§&_Walgreena r |
| “I thought he was in the insurance business.” | — Mislio sam da se bavio osiguranjem. |
| “That’s what it says on the door. I guess he’d sell you insurance at that, if you tramped on him. Well, about the middle of September I don’t see Regan any more. I don’t notice it right away. You know how it is. A guy’s there and you see him and then he ain’t there and you don’t not see him until something makes you think of it. What makes me think about it is I hear a guy say laughing that Eddie Mars’ woman lammed out with Rusty Regan and Mars is acting like he was best man, instead of being sore. So I tell Joe Brody and Joe was smart.” | — To je ono što piše na vratima. Mislim da bi ti utra-pio policu kad bi natrapao na njega. No dobro, oko sredine rujna nisam više viđao Regana. Nisam odmah primijetio. Znaš kako je to. Tip je tamo i ti ga viđaš, i onda nije tamo i ti ga ne viđaš, dok te nešto ne natjera da promisliš o tome. A što me je natjeralo, bio je neki frajer, rekao je cerekajući se da je ženska Eddija Marsa odšepesala s Rustvjem Rega-nom, a Eddie Mars se drži kao dilber, umjesto da spusti nos. I tako sam to rekao Joeu Brodvju, a taj je bio bistar. |
| “Like hell he was,” I said. | — Odavde dovde — rekoh. |
| “Not copper smart, but still smart. He’s out for the dough. He gets to figuring could he get a line somehow on the two lovebirds he could maybe collect twice—once from Eddie Mars and once from Regan’s wife. Joe knew the family a little.” | — Ne kao boza, ali ipak bistar. Bio je tata-mata za lovu. I tako se dao na razmišljanje: kad bi nekako mogao baciti udicu dvama golubanima, možda bi mogao inkasirati dvaput — jednom od Eddija Marsa i jednom od Reganove žene. Joe je pomalo poznavao familiju. |
| “Five grand worth,” I said. “He nicked them for that a while back.” | — Poznavao za pet hiljki — rekoh. — Toliko im je maločas izmuzao. |
| “Yeah?” Harry Jones looked mildly surprised. “Agnes ought to of told me that. There’s a frail for you. Always holding out. Well, Joe and me watch the papers and we don’t see anything, so we know old Sternwood has a blanket on it. Then one day I see Lash Canino in Vardi’s. Know him?” | — Daa? :— Harry Jones je djelovao blago iznenađeno. — Agnes mi je to trebala reći. To je prava ženska. Uvijek jezik za zubima. No dobro, Joe i ja pratimo novine i ne vidimo ništa, znači, stari je Sternwood sve zgurao pod poplun. I tada jednog dana vidim Lasha Caninajaod Vardija Znaš ga? |
| I shook my head. | Odmahnuo sam glavom. |
| “There’s a boy that is tough like some guys think they are tough. He does a job for Eddie Mars when Mars needs him—trouble-shooting. He’d bump a guy off between drinks. When Mars don’t need him he don’t go near him. And he don’t stay in L.A. Well it might be something and it might not. Maybe they got a line on Regan and Mars has just been sitting back with a smile on his puss, waiting for the chance. Then again it might be something else entirely. Anyway I tell Joe and Joe gets on Canino’s tail. He can tail me, I’m no good at it. I’m giving that one away. No charge. And Joe tails Canino out to the Sternwood place and Canino parks outside the estate and a car come up beside him with a girl in it. They talk for a while and Joe thinks the girl passes something over, like maybe dough. The girl beats it. It’s Regan’s wife. Okay, she knows Canino and Canino knows Mars. So Joe figures Canino knows something about Regan and is trying to squeeze a little on the side for himself. Canino blows and Joe loses him. End of Act One.” | — To je momak koji je žilav onako kao neki momci koji misle da su žilavi. Obavio bi posao za Eddija Marsa kad bi to ovome trebalo. Brze intervencije. Taj bi ucecao frajera između dva pića. Kad Marsu nije bio potreban, nije mu prilazio blizu. I nije živio u Angelesu. Dakle, moglo je bi- ti nešto, a možda i nije. Možda su dobacili konac do Regana, i Mars sad samo sjedi s cerom na labrnji i čeka šansu. A onda opet, može tu biti i nešto sasvim drugo. Bilo kako bilo, rekoh Joeu, a ovaj je ušao Caninu u trag. Taj zna njušiti za frajerom. Ja, ja nisam dobar za to. Eto, ovo vam dajem. Bez naplate. A Joe slijedi Canina sve do Sternwoodove rupe, i Canino parkira pokraj imanja, i auto dolazi kraj njega, a u njemu cura. Pričaju neko vrijeme i Joe misli da cura nešto daje, kao možda lovu. Cura gilja. To je Reganova žena. Okej, ona zna Canina, a Canino zna Marsa. Tako Joe smišlja da Canino zna nešto o Reganu i pokušava sa strane malo izmusti za sebe. Canino je otpirio i Joe ga gubi. Kraj prvog čina. |
| “What does this Canino look like?” | — Kako Canino izgleda? |
| “Short, heavy set, brown hair, brown eyes, and always wears brown clothes and a brown hat. Even wears a brown suede raincoat. Drives a brown coupe. Everything brown for Mr. Canino.” | — Nizak, masivno složen, smeđa kosa, smeđe oči, i uvijek nosi smeđu odjeću i smeđi šešir. Čak i kišni kaput od smeđeg velura. Vozi smeđi kupe. Sve smeđe kod mistera Canina. |
| “Let’s have Act Two,” I said. | — Da pogledamo drugi čin. |
| “Without some dough that’s all.” | — Bez nešto lovijanera, to je sve. |
| “I don’t see two hundred bucks in it. Mrs. Regan married an ex-bootlegger out of the joints. She’d know other people of his sort. She knows Eddie Mars well. If she thought anything had happened to Regan, Eddie would be the very man she’d go to, and Canino might be the man Eddie would pick to handle the assignment. Is that all you have?” | — Ne vidim u tome dvije stotine baksi. Gospođa Re-gan se udala za bivšeg švercera, dakle iščašenog tipa. Znala je druge ljude njegove vrste. Dobro poznaje Eddija Marsa. Ako je pomislila da se Reganu išta dogodilo, Eddie bi bio prvi čovjek kojemu bi otišla, a Canino bi mogao biti taj kojeg bi ovaj izabrao da sredi zadatak. Je li to sve što imaš? |
| “Would you give the two hundred to know where Eddie’s wife is?” the little man asked calmly. | — Bi li dao dvije stotine da doznaš gdje je Eddijeva žena? — upitao je mali mirnim glasom. |
| He had all my attention now. I almost cracked the arms of my chair leaning on them. | Sad je imao svu moju pažnju. Skoro sam polomio naslone za ruke uprijevši se o njih. |
| “Even if she was alone?” Harry Jones added in a soft, rather sinister tone. “Even if she never run away with Regan at all, and was being kept now about forty miles from LA. in a hideout—so the law would keep on thinking she had dusted with him? Would you pay two hundred bucks for that, shamus?” | — Čak i ako je sama? — dodao je Harry Jones mekim, prilično zloslutnim tonom. — Čak i ako uopće nikad nije pobjegla s Reganom, i ako je sada drže sedamdeset kilometara od Los Angelesa u jazbini, tako da murija nastavi misliti da je otprašila s njim? Bi li platio dvije stotine baksi za to, deksterčino? |
| I licked my lips. They tasted dry and salty. “I think I would,” I said. “Where?” | Liznuo sam usne. Bile su suhe i slane. — Mislim da bih — rekoh. — Gdje? |
| “Agnes found her,” he said grimly. “Just by a lucky break. Saw her out riding and managed to tail her home. Agnes will tell you where that is—when she’s holding the money in her hand.” | — Agnes ju je našla — rekao je mračno. — Sretno joj se zalomilo. Vidjela ju je kako vozi i uspjela je otpratiti kući. Agnes će ti reći gdje je to ... kad bude držala novac u ruci. |
| I made a hard face at him. “You could tell the coppers for nothing, Harry. They have some good wreckers down at Central these days. If they killed you trying they still have Agnes.” | Servirao sam mu tvrdo lice. — Reći ćeš murjacima za džabe, Harry. Baš ovih dana imaju neke dobre demolirce u centrali. Ako te ubiju dok se budu trudili oko tebe, još im preostaje Agnes. |
| “Let ‘em try,” he said. “I ain’t so brittle.” | — Neka pokušaju — odgovorio je. — Nisam tako lo-man. |
| “Agnes must have something I didn’t notice.” | — Agnes mora imati nešto što nisam opazio. |
| “She’s a grifter, shamus. I’m a grifter. We’re all grifters. So we sell each other out for a nickel. Okay. See can you make me.” He reached for another of my cigarettes, placed it neatly between his lips and lit it with a match the way I do myself, missing twice on his thumbnail and then using his foot. He puffed evenly and stared at me level-eyed, a funny little hard guy I could have thrown from home plate to second base. A small man in a big man’s world. There was something I liked about him. “I haven’t pulled anything in here,” he said steadily. “I come in talking two C’s. That’s still the price. I come because I thought I’d get a take it or leave it, one right gee to another. Now you’re waving cops at me. You oughta be ashamed of yourself.” | — Ona je žmukler, detektivko. I ja sam žmukler. Mi smo žmukleri. I tako, prodajemo jedan drugog za pet banki. Okej. Vidi možeš li me natjerati. — Posegnuo je za još jednom od mojih cigareta, smjestio je među usnice i pripalio šibicom na način na koji ja to radim, zeznuvši dva puta na noktu i zatim se posluživši nogom. Jednolično je otpuhivao dim i gledao me ravno u oči, smiješni mali žilavi momak kojeg; bih mogaosj enitrajaapu u svijetu velikih riba. Bilo je u njemu nešto što mi se dopadalo. ""— Ja tebi nisam ništa uvalio — rekao je staloženo. — Došao sam uzeti dvije stoje. To je još uvijek cijena. Došao sam jer sam mislio: bit će uzmi ili ostavi, pošten s poštenim. A sad mi tu mašeš murijom. Trebao bi se stidjeti. |
| I said: “You’ll get the two hundred—for that information. I have to get the money myself first.” | Rekoh: — Dobiti ćeš dvije stotine za tu informaciju. Ali najprije moram ja doći do tih novaca. |
| He stood up and nodded and pulled his worn little Irish tweed coat tight around his chest “That’s okay. After dark is better anyway. It’s a leery job—buckin’ guys like Eddie Mars. But a guy has to eat. The book’s been pretty dull lately. I think the big boys have told Puss Walgreen to move on. Suppose you come over there to the office, Fulwider Building, Western and Santa Monica, four-twenty-eight at the back. You bring the money, I’ll take you to Agnes.” | Ustao je, kimnuo i čvrsto stegnuo svoj iznošeni mali irski kaput od tvida oko prsiju. — To je okej. U svakom slučaju, bolje je iza mraka. To je škakljiv posao, zezati se s ljudima kao što je Eddie Mars. Ali momak treba nešto jesti. A knjižica mi je prilično pusta odnedavna. Mislim da su veliki dečki rekli Pussu Walgreenu da se makne. Pretpostavimo da dođeš u ured, Fulvvider Building, Western i Santa Monica, četiri-dvadeset-osam, na kraju. Ti nosiš novac, ja te vodim Agnezi. |
| “Can’t you tell me yourself? I’ve seen Agnes.” | — Ne možeš mi sam reći? Agnes sam već upoznao. |
| “I promised her,” he said simply. He buttoned his overcoat, cocked his hat jauntily, nodded again and strolled to the door. He went out. His steps died along the hall. | — Obećao sam joj — rekao je jednostavno. Zakopčao je ogrtač, prpošno nakrivio šešir, ponovno kimnuo i odšetao do vrata. Izišao. Koraci su mu zamrli niz hodnik. |
| I went down to the bank and deposited my five-hundred-dollar check and drew out two hundred in currency. I went upstairs again and sat in my chair thinking about Harry Jones and his story. It seemed a little too pat. It had the austere simplicity of fiction rather than the tangled woof of fact. Captain Gregory ought to have been able to find Mona Mars, if she was that close to his beat. Supposing, that is, he had tried. | Spustio sam se do banke, deponirao ček na pet stotina dolara pa podigao dvije stotine u gotovini. Uspeo sam se ponovno i sjeo u stolicu razmišljajući o Harrvju Jonesu i njegovoj priči. Djelovala je malo prečvrsto. Imala je strogu jednostavnost izmišljotine više negoli zapetljanu brbljariju činjenica. Kapetan Gregorv je morao biti sposoban naći Monu Mars, ako je bila tako blizu njegovu rancu. Pretpo-stavivši, istina, da je uopće pokušao. |
| I thought about it most of the day. Nobody came into the office. Nobody called me on the phone. It kept on raining. | Razmišljao sam o tome najveći dio dana. Nitko nije došao u ured. Nitko me nije nazvao telefonom. I dalje je kišilo. |