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| 30 | |
| This was another day and the sun was shining again. | To je bio već drugi dan, i sunce je ponovno sjalo. |
| Captain Gregory of the Missing Persons Bureau looked heavily out of his office window at the barred upper floor of the Hall of Justice, white and clean after the rain. Then he turned ponderously in his swivel chair and tamped his pipe with a heat-scarred thumb and stared at me bleakly. | Kapetan Gregorv iz Ureda za nestale osobe gledao je tmurno kroz prozor svog ureda na prugasti gornji kat palače pravde, čist i umiven nakon kiše. Tada se nezgrapno okrenuo u okretnoj stolici, nabio lulu vatrom izbrazdanim prstom i bijelo me pogledao. |
| “So you got yourself in another jam.” | — I tako ste upali u još jednu gužvu. |
| “Oh, you heard about it.” | — A, čuli ste o tome. |
| “Brother, I sit here all day on my fanny and I don’t look as if I had a brain in my head. But you’d be surprised what I hear. Shooting this Canino was all right I guess, but I don’t figure the homicide boys pinned any medals on you.” | — Brajko, sjedim ovdje čitav dan na starki i ne izgledam kao da imam mozga u glavi. Ali će vas iznenaditi što sam čuo. Upucati tog Canina bilo je sasvim u redu, rekao bih, ali ne računam da će vam momci iz umorstava prikačiti ikakvu medalju. |
| “There’s been a lot of killing going on around me,” I said. “I haven’t been getting my share of it.” | — Mnogo se ubijanja zbivalo oko mene — rekoh. — A nisam dobio svoj dio. |
| He smiled patiently. “Who told you this girl out there was Eddie Mars’ wife?” | Strpljivo se nasmiješio. — Tko vani je rekao da je ta cura tamo žena Eddija Marsa? |
| I told him. He listened carefully and yawned. He tapped his gold-studded mouth with a palm like a tray. “I guess you figure I ought to of found her.” “That’s a fair deduction.” | Rekao sam mu. Saslušao me pažljivo i zijevnuo. Lup-nuo se po zlatom našpikanim ustima dlanom velikim po-put tave.—"Kekao bih da računate da bih je trebao naći. ~ . -,_ rj,Q je obj.0 zaključivanje. |
| “Maybe I knew,” he said. “Maybe I thought if Eddie and his woman wanted to play a little game like that, it would be smart—or as smart as I ever get—to let them think they were getting away with it. And then again maybe you think I was letting Eddie get away with it for more personal reasons.” He held his big hand out and revolved the thumb against the index and second fingers. | — Možda sam i znao — rekao je. — Možda sam i mislio, ako se taj Eddie i njegova ženska žele na takav način malo poigrati, bilo bi pametno, ili bar toliko pametno koliko je meni dano, da ih pustim misliti kako im igra pali. A možda opet mislite kako sam pustio Eddija da zbriše zbog mnogo osobnijih razloga. •— Ispružio je svoju veliku ruku i zavrtio palac o kažiprst i srednjak. |
| “No,” I said. “I didn’t really think that. Not even when Eddie seemed to know all about our talk here the other day.” | — Ne — rekoh. — Zaista to nisam ni pomislio. Čak ni kad se učinilo da idući dan Eddie zna sve o našem razgovoru ovdje. |
| He raised his eyebrows as if raising them was an effort, a trick he was out of practice on. It furrowed his whole forehead and when it smoothed out it was full of white lines that turned reddish as I watched them. | Podigao je obrve kao da je to iziskivalo napor; bio je to trik s kojim već dugo nije imao prakse. Izbrazdao mu je čitavo čelo, a kad se ono zagladilo, ostalo je puno bijelih crta koje su se pretvorile u crvenkaste dok sam ih gledao. |
| “I’m a copper,” he said. “Just a plain ordinary copper. Reasonably honest. As honest as you could expect a man to be in a world where it’s out of style. That’s mainly why I asked you to come in this morning. I’d like you to believe that. Being a copper I like to see the law win. I’d like to see the flashy well-dressed mugs like Eddie Mars spoiling their manicures in the rock quarry at Folsom, alongside of the poor little slum-bred hard guys that got knocked over on their first caper and never had a break since. That’s what I’d like. You and me both lived too long to think I’m likely to see it happen. Not in this town, not in any town half this size, in any part of this wide, green and beautiful U.S.A. We just don’t run our country that way.” | — Ja sam cajoš— rekao je. — Naprosto obični jednostavni cajoš. Do razumne mjere pošten. Pošten koliko to možete očekivati od čovjeka u svijetu u kojem je poštenje -jzvan mode. To je glavno zbog čega sam vas jutros pozvao da dođeteT Volio bih da povjerujete u to. Jer sam cajoš, volim vidjeti kako pobjeđuje pravda. Volio bih vidjeti zasljep-Ijujuće dobro odjevene facurende pioput Eddija Marsa kako kvare manikir u kamenolomu u Folsomu, rame uz rame s jadnim malim slamovima othranjenim žilavim momcima koje su čopili na prvom provodu, a da nikad, poslije nisu izašli. To je ono što volim. Ali i vi i ja smo predugo živjeli da bismo smatrali vjerojatnim da ću to ikada vidjeti. Niti u ovom gradu, hiti u jednom gradu upola tako velikom, niti u jednom dijelu naše velike, zelene i krasne USA. Mi naprosto ne vodimo zemlju na takav način. |
| I didn’t say anything. He blew smoke with a backward jerk of his head, looked at the mouthpiece of his pipe and went on: | Nisam rekao ništa. Otpuhnuo je dim trznuvši natrag glavom, pogledao kamiš lule i nastavio: |
| “But that don’t mean I think Eddie Mars bumped off Regan or had any reason to or would have done it if he had. I just figured maybe he knows something about it, and maybe sooner or later something will sneak out into the open. Hiding his wife out at Realito was childish, but it’s the kind of childishness a smart monkey thinks is smart. I had him in here last night, after the D.A. got through with him. He admitted the whole thing. He said he knew Canino as a reliable protection guy and that’s what he had him for. He didn’t know anything about his hobbies or want to. He didn’t know Harry Jones. He didn’t know Joe Brody. He did know Geiger, of course, but claims he didn’t know about his racket. I guess you heard all that.” | — Ali to ne znači da mislim kako je Eddie Mars uko-kao Regana, niti da je za to imao ikakva razloga, niti da bi to učinio da ga je i imao. Samo sam mislio, možda zna nešto o tome, i možda će prije ili poslije nešto procuriti na sunce. Skrivati ženu tamo kod Realita bilo je djetinjasto, no bila je to takva vrsta djetinjarije za koju lukavi majmun misli da je lukava. Priznao je čitavu stvar. Rekao je da je znao Canina kao pouzdanog momka za čuvanje, i da ga je zbog toga i imao. Nije znao ništa o njegovim hobijima niti je želio znati. Nije poznavao Harrvja Jonesa. Nije poznavao Joe Brodvja. Naravno, poznavao je Geigera, no tvrdi da nije znao ništa o njegovu poslu. Pretpostavljam da ste to sve već čuli. |
| “Yes.” | — Da. |
| “You played it smart down there at Realito, brother. Not trying to cover up. We keep a file on unidentified bullets nowadays. Someday you might use that gun again. Then you’d be over a barrel.” | — Lukavo ste izveli to u Realitu, brate. Ni pokušali zabašuriti. Ali danas imamo kartoteku neidentificiranih metaka. Jednog dana možete ponovno upotrijebiti tu pucaljku. Tad ste se usosili. |
| “I played it smart,” I said, and leered at him. He knocked his pipe out and stared down at it broodingly. “What happened to the girl?” he asked, not looking up. | — Lukavo sam to izveo — rekao sam i nacerio mu se. Izbacio je lulu iz usta i zamišljeno se u nju zagledao. — Što je bilo s curom? — upitao je ne podižući pogled. |
| “I don’t know. They didn’t hold her. We made statements, three sets of them, for Wilde, for the Sheriff’s office, for the Homicide Bureau. They turned her loose. I haven’t seen her since. I don’t expect to.” | — Ne znam. Nisu je zadržali. Dala je izjave, tri kompleta, za Wildea, za šerifov ured i za odjel ubojstva. Pustili su je s lanca. Nisam je vidio odonda. Nisam ni očekivao. |
| “Kind of a nice girl, they say. Wouldn’t be one to play dirty games.” | — Kao fina cura, vele. Nije od onih što igraju prljave igre. |
| Captain Gregory sighed and rumpled his mousy hair. “There’s just one more thing,” he said almost gently. “You look like a nice guy, but you play too rough. If you really want to help the Sternwood family—leave ‘em alone.” | Kapetan Gregorv je uzdahnuo i razbarušio svoju mišje sivu kosu. — Postoji još samo jedna stvar — rekao je gotovo nježno. — Izgledate kao fin momak, ali igrate pregru-bo. Ako zaista želite pomoći obitelji Stermvood, ostavite ih na miru. |
| “I think you’re right, Captain.” | — Mislim da ste u pravu, kapetane. |
| “How do you feel?” | — Kako se osjećate? |
| “Swell,” I said. “I was standing on various pieces of carpet most of the night, being balled out. Before that I got soaked to the skin and beaten up. I’m in perfect condition.” | — Fanta — rekoh. — Svi su mi redom čitali bukvicu, nakon što su me raspakirali, i tako veći dio noći. A prije toga sam promočio do kože i dobio svoje. U savršenom sam stanju. |
| “What the hell did you expect, brother?” | — A što ste, do đavola, očekivali, braco moj ? |
| “Nothing else.” I stood up and grinned at him and started for the door. When I had almost reached it he cleared his throat suddenly and said in a harsh voice: “I’m wasting my breath, huh? You still think you find Regan.” | — Ništa drugo. — Ustao sam, nacerio mu se i pošao prema vratima. Kad sam gotovo stigao do njih, iznenada je pročistio grlo i rekao hrapavim glasom: — Uzalud trošim grlo, ha? Još mislite da možete naći Regana. |
| I turned around and looked him straight in eyes “No, I don’t think I can find Regan. I’m not even going to try. Does that suit you?” | Okrenuo sam se i pogledao ga ravno u oči. — Ne, ne mislim da mogu naći Regana. Neću čak ni pokušati. Da li vam to odgovara? |
| He nodded slowly. Then he shrugged. “I don’t know what the hell I even said that for. Good luck, Marlowe. Drop around any time.” | Polako je kimnuo. Zatim je slegnuo ramenima. — Ne znam čak ni zašto sam to do đavola rekao. Sretno, Marlo-we. Zaletite se kad vam je zgodno. |
| “Thanks, Captain.” | — Hvala, kapetane. |
| I went down out of the City Hall and got my car from the parking lot and drove home to the Hobart Arms. I lay down on the bed with my coat off and stared at the ceiling and listened to the traffic sounds on the street outside and watched the sun move slowly across a corner of the ceiling. I tried to go to sleep, but sleep didn’t come. I got up and took a drink, although it was the wrong time of day, and lay down again. I still couldn’t go to sleep. My brain ticked like a clock. I sat up on the side of the bed and stuffed a pipe and said out loud: | Izišao sam iz vijećnice, pokupio automobil s parkirališta i odvezao se kući do Hobart Armsa. Legao sam na krevet skinuvši sako i zurio u strop i osluškivao buku prometa izvana s ulice i promatrao sunce kako se polako pomiče preko kuta plafona. Pokušao sam zaspati, ali san nije dolazio. Ustao sam i popio piće, iako u krivo doba dana, i opet legao. Nikako nisam mogao zaspati. Mozak mi je kuckao kao sat. Sjeo sam na rub kreveta, natrpao lulu i glasno izgovorio: |
| “That old buzzard knows something.” | — Stara rikavela nešto zna. |
| The pipe tasted as bitter as lye. I put it aside and lay down again. My mind drifted through waves of false memory, in which I seemed to do the same thing over and over again, go to the same places, meet the same people, say the same words to them, over and over again, and yet each time it seemed real, like something actually happening, and for the first time. I was driving hard along the highway through the rain, with Silver-Wig in the corner of the car, saying nothing, so that by the time we reached Los Angeles we seemed to be utter strangers again. | Lula je bila gorka kao lukšija. Stavio sam je na stranu i opet legao. Svijest mi je plutala kroz valove lažnih sjećanja, u kojima se činilo da istu stvar radim ponovno i ponovno, da idem na ista mjesta, susrećem iste ljude, govorim im iste stvari, ponovno i ponovno, pa ipak je svaki put djelovalo stvarno, kao nešto što se uistinu događa, i prvi put. Mučno sam vozio cestom kroz kišu, sa Srebrnom Perikom u kutu automobila, ne govoreći ništa, tako da se činilo, kad smo stigli u Los Angeles, da smo ponovno potpuni stranci. |
| I was getting out at an all night drugstore and phoning Bernie Ohls that I had killed a man at Realito and was on my way over to Wilde’s house with Eddie Mars’ wife, who had seen me do it. I was pushing the car along the silent, rain-polished streets to Lafayette Park and up under the porte-cochere of Wilde’s big frame house and the porch light was already on, Ohls having telephoned ahead that I was coming. I was in Wilde’s study and he was behind his desk in a flowered dressing-gown and a tight hard face and a dappled cigar moved in his fingers and up to the bitter smile on his lips. Ohls was there and a slim gray scholarly man from the Sheriff’s office who looked and talked more like a professor of economics than a cop. | Izlazio sam iz kola i ulazio u dragstor koji radi čitavu noć, i telefonirao Berniju Ohlsu da sam u Realitu ubio čovjeka i da sam na putu prema VVildeovoj kući sa ženom Eddija Marsa, koja me je vidjela kako- sam to učinio. Probijao sam se kolima tihim, kišom ulaštenim ulicama do parka Lafavette i zatim uzbrdo sve do kolnog ulaza Wilde-ove velike drvene kuće, gdje je svjetlo u trijemu već gorjelo, jer je Ohls unaprijed javio da dolazim. Bio sam u Wilde-ovu studiju i on je bio za stolom u cvjetićima išaranoj spa-vaćici i imao je stisnuto tvrdo lice i pjegava se cigara micala u njegovim prstima i zatim gore do gorkog smiješka na njegovim ustima. Ohls je već bio ondje, a s njim i tanki sivi akademski muškarac iz šerifova ureda koji je govorio više kao profesor ekonomije nego kao cajac. |
| I was telling the story and they were listening quietly and Silver-Wig sat in a shadow with her hands folded in her lap, looking at nobody. There was a lot of telephoning. There were two men from the Homicide Bureau who looked at me as if I was some kind of strange beast escaped from a traveling circus. I was driving again, with one of them beside me, to the Fulwider Building. We were there in the room where Harry Jones was still in the chair behind the desk, the twisted stiffness of his dead face and the sour-sweet smell in the room. | Pričao sam im priču a oni su slušali u tišini, dok je Srebrna Perika sje- dila u sjeni s rukama presavijenima u krilu, ne gledajući pri tome nikoga. Bilo je mnogo telefoniranja. Bila su i dva čovjeka iz Odjela za ubojstva zio sam ponovno, s jednim odnjlh kraj sebe, do Fuhvider Buildinga. Bili smo ondje u sobi u kojoj je Harry Jones još i sad sjedio u stolici za pisaćim stolom, u kojoj je još uvijek trajala iskrivljena ukočenost njegova mrtvog lica i ki-selkasto-slatki miris cijanida. |
| There was a medical examiner, very young and husky, with red bristles on his neck. There was a fingerprint man fussing around and I was telling him not to forget the latch of the transom. (He found Canino’s thumb print on it, the only print the brown man had left to back up my story.) | Bio je tu i sudski liječnik, vrlo mlad i mišićav, s crvenim čekinjama na vratu. Bio je i momak za otiske koji se pleo okolo, i ja sam mu govorio neka ne zaboravi kvaku prozora nad vratima. (Tu je našao otisak Caninovog palca, jedini otisak što ga je smeđi čovjek ostavio da podupre moju priču.) |
| I was back again at Wilde’s house, signing a typewritten statement his secretary had run off in another room. Then the door opened and Eddie Mars came in and an abrupt smile flashed to his face when he saw Silver-Wig, and he said: “Hello, sugar,” and she didn’t look at him or answer him. Eddie Mars, fresh and cheerful, in a dark business suit, with a fringed white scarf hanging outside his tweed overcoat. Then they were gone, everybody was gone out of the room but myself and Wilde, and Wilde was saying in a cold, angry voice: “This is the last time, Marlowe. The next fast one you pull I’ll throw you to the lions, no matter whose heart it breaks.” | Bio sam ponovno u Wildeovoj kući, potpisivao otipkanu izjavu s kojom je njegova tajnica otrčala u drugu sobu. Tada su se otvorila vrata i ušao je Eddie Mars, i nagli mu je smiješak bljesnuo na licu kad je ugledao Srebrnu Periku, nakon čega je rekao: »Zdravo, zlato«, no ona mu nije odgovorila niti ga pogledala. Eddie Mars, svjež i veseo, u tamnom poslovnom odijelu, sa resastim bijelim šalom što viri ispod kaputa od tvida. I tada ga više nije bilo, i nikoga nije više bilo, osim mene i Wildea, a Wilde je govorio hladnim, Ijutitim glasom: — Ovo je posljednji put, Marlowe. Još jedna psina i bacit ću vas lavovima, pa vrlo važno kome srce pukne. |
| It was like that, over and over again, lying on the bed and watching the patch of sunlight slide down the corner of the wall. Then the phone rang, and it was Norris, the Sternwood butler, with his usual untouchable voice. | Bilo je baš tako, ponovno i ponovno, dok sam ležao na krevetu i promatrao mrlju sunca kako klizi niz kut zida. Tada je zazvonio telefon, i bio je Norris, Sternvvoodov bat-ler, sa svojim uobičajenim nedodirljivim, glasom. |
| “Mr. Marlowe? I telephoned your office without success, so I took the liberty of trying to reach you at home.” | — Mister Marlowe? Telefonirao sam vam u ured, ali bez uspjeha, pa sam si uzeo slobodu da vas pokušam dobiti kod kuće. |
| “I was out most of the night,” I said. “I haven’t been down.” | — — Bio sam gotovo čitavu noć vani — rekoh. — Nisam ni bio dolje, |
| “Yes, sir. The General would like to see you this morning, Mr. Marlowe, if it’s convenient.” | — Da, sir. General bi vas želio vidjeti ovoga jutra, mi-ster Marlowe, ako vam to odgovara. |
| “Half an hour or so,” I said. “How is he?” | — Za pola sata ili tako — rekoh. — Kako je on? |
| “He’s in bed, sir, but not doing badly.” | — U postelji je, sir, ali nije loše. |
| “Wait till he sees me,” I said, and hung up. | — Vidjet ćemo kad me vidi — rekoh i spustih slušalicu. |
| I shaved, changed clothes and started for the door. Then I went back and got Carmen’s little pearl-handled revolver and dropped it into my pocket. The sunlight was so bright that it danced. I got to the Sternwood place in twenty minutes and drove up under the arch at the side door. It was eleven-fifteen. The birds in the ornamental trees were crazy with song after the rain, the terraced lawns were as green as the Irish flag, and the whole estate looked as though it had been made about ten minutes before. I rang the bell. It was five days since I had rung it for the first time. It felt like a year. | Obrijao sam se, preodjenuo i krenuo prema vratima. Tada sam se vratio i uzeo Carmenin mali revolver sa se-defnom drškom i spustio ga u džep. Nebo je plesalo od vedrine. Stigao sam do Sternvvoodove kuće za dvadeset minuta i zavezao pod nadsvođeni trijem pred postranim vratima. Bilo je jedanaest i petnaest. Ptice u ukrasnom drveću bile su nakon kiše lude za pjevanjem, terasasta je tratina bila zelena poput irske zastave, a čitav je posjed Izgledao kao da je Otvoren prije deset minuta. Pritisnuo sam na zvonce. Prošlo je pet dana otkako sam to učinio prvi put. Činilo se kao godina. |
| A maid opened the door and led me along a side hall to the main hallway and left me there, saying Mr. Norris would be down in a moment. The main hallway looked just the same. The portrait over the mantel had the same hot black eyes and the knight in the stained-glass window still wasn’t getting anywhere untying the naked damsel from the tree. | Sobarica mi je otvorila vrata i povela me kroz bočno do glavnoga predvorja, pa me ostavila ondje rekavši mi da će mister Norris sići za trenutak. Glavno je predvorje izgledalo kao i prije. Portret nad kaminom imao je iste žarke crne oči, a vitez na vitraju još nije nikamo dospio otpetljavajući golu djevu s drveta. |
| In a few minutes Norris appeared, and he hadn’t changed either. His acid-blue eyes were as remote as ever, his grayish-pink skin looked healthy and rested, and he moved as if he was twenty years younger than he really was. I was the one who felt the weight of the years. | Norris se pojavio za nekoliko minuta, no ni on se nije izmijenio. Njegove anilinski plave oči bile su odsutne kao i uvijek, sivkasto-ružičasta koža izgledala mu je zdravo i odmorno, a kretao se kao da je dvadeset godina mlađi no što je uistinu bio. Ja sam bio taj koji je osjećao teret godina. |
| We went up the tiled staircase and turned the opposite way from Vivian’s room. With each step the house seemed to grow larger and more silent. We reached a massive old door that looked as if it had come out of a church. Norris opened it softly and looked in. Then he stood aside and I went in past him across what seemed to be about a quarter of a mile of carpet to a huge canopied bed like the one Henry the Eighth died in. | Uspeli smo se keramikom obloženim stepeništem i za-krenuli suprotnim putem od onoga što je vodio u Vivianinu sobu. Sa svakim se korakom kuća činila veća i tiša. Stigli smo do masivnih starih vrata što su izgledala kao da ih je netko skinuo sa crkve. Norris ih je pažljivo otvorio i pogledao unutra. Tada je stao u stranu, i ja sam ušao mimo njega i prešao preko, činilo se, pola kilometra saga sve do golemog kreveta s baldahinom, nalik na onaj u kojemu je umro Henrik Osmi. |
| General Sternwood was propped up on pillows. His bloodless hands were clasped on top of the sheet. They looked gray against it. His black eyes were still full of fight and the rest of his face still looked like the face of a corpse. | General Sternwood je bio podbočen jastucima. Njegove su beskrvne ruke bile preklopljene na plahti. Djelovale su sivo na toj pozadini. Crne su mu oči još bile pune borbenosti, no ostatak je lica bio nalik licu mrtvaca. |
| “Sit down, Mr. Marlowe.” His voice sounded weary and a little stiff. | — Sjednite, mister Marlovve. — Glas mu je zvučao u-morno i pomalo kruto. |
| I pulled a chair close to him and sat down. All the windows were shut tight. The room was sunless at that hour. Awnings cut off what glare there might be from the sky. The air had the faint sweetish smell of old age. | Povukao sam stolicu do njega i sjeo. Svi su prozori bili čvrsto zatvoreni. U to doba dana u njoj nije bilo sunca. Platnene su nadstrešnice odsijecale i ono odsjaja što je mo- glo doći s neba. Zrak je imao slabašan slatkast miris starosti. |
| He stared at me silently for a long minute. He moved a hand, as if to prove to himself that he could still move it, then folded it back over the other. He said lifelessly: | Zurio je u mene u tišini dugu minutu. Pomaknuo je ruku, kao da je samome želio dokazati da to još može učiniti, a onda je opet preklopio preko druge. Rekao je beživotnim glasom: |
| “I didn’t ask you to look for my son-in-law, Mr. Marlowe.” | — Nisam vas zamolio da potražite mog zeta, mister Marlovve. |
| “You wanted me to, though.” | — Ipak ste to željeli. |
| “I didn’t ask you to. You assume a great deal. I usually ask for what I want.” I didn’t say anything. | — Nisam vas zamolio. Pretpostavili ste jako mnogo. Ja obično pitam, kad nešto želim. Nisam ništa odgovorio. |
| “You have been paid,” he went on coldly. “The money is of no consequence one way or the other. I merely feel that you have, no doubt unintentionally, betrayed a trust.” | — Bili ste plaćeni — nastavio je hladno. — Novac tu nema važnosti ni na koji način. Samo osjećam da ste, bez sumnje nenamjerno, iznevjerili povjerenje. |
| He closed his eyes on that. I said: “Is that all you wanted to see me about?” | Izgovorivši to zatvorio je oči. Rekoh: — Je li to sve zbog čega ste me željeli vidjeti? |
| He opened his eyes again, very slowly, as though the lids were made of lead. “I suppose you are angry at that remark,” he said. | Ponovno je otvorio oči,_vrlo_ sporo, _kao da su mu kap-cinapravljeni od olo a. — Pretpostavi] arn da se ljutite zBogrnoje primjedbe — reče. |
| I shook my head. “You have an advantage over me, General. It’s an advantage I wouldn’t want to take away from you, not a hair of it. It’s not much, considering what you have to put up with. You can say anything you like to me and I wouldn’t think of getting angry. I’d like to offer you your money back. It may mean nothing to you. It might mean something to me.” | Odmahnuo sam glavom. — Imate prednost preda mnom, generale. To je prednost koju vam ne bih želio oduzeti, niti jednu jedinu njenu dlaku. Ta prednost nije mnogo, kad se uzme u obzir što morate podnositi. Možete mi kazati što god želite, a ja neću ni pomisliti da se naljutim. Želio bih vam ponuditi da vratim novac. On vama možda ne znači ništa. Ali bi nešto mogao značiti meni. |
| “What does it mean to you?” | — Što on vama znači? |
| “It means I have refused payment for an unsatisfactory job. That’s all.” | — Znači da sam odbio plaću za posao obavljen na nezadovoljavajući način. To je sve. |
| “Do you do many unsatisfactory jobs?” | — Radite li mnogo poslova obavljenih na nezadovoljavajući način? |
| “A few. Everyone does.” | — Poneki. Svatko ih radi. |
| “Why did you go to see Captain Gregory?” | — Zašto ste otišli kapetanu Gregorvju? |
| I leaned back and hung an arm over the back of the chair. I studied his face. It told me nothing. I didn’t know the answer to his question—no satisfactory answer. | Naslonio sam se i prebacio ruku preko naslonjača. Proučavao sam njegovo lice. Nije mi govorilo ništa. Nisam znao odgovor na njegovo pitanje — u svakom slučaju, ne zadovoljavajući odgovor. |
| I said: “I was convinced you put those Geiger notes up to me chiefly as a test, and that you were a little afraid Regan might somehow be involved in an attempt to blackmail you. I didn’t know anything about Regan then. It wasn’t until I talked to Captain Gregory that I realized Regan wasn’t that sort of guy in all probability.” | Rekoh: — Bio sam uvjeren da ste mi namjestili te Gei-gerove priznanice u prvom redu kao test, i da se pomalo bo- jite da je Regan mogao na neki način biti upleten u pokušaj da vas se ucijeni. Nisam tada znao ništa o Reganu. Tek poslije razgovora s kapetanom Gregorvjem shvatio sam da Regan po svemu sudeći nije momak takvoga tipa. |
| “That is scarcely answering my question.” | — To je jedva odgovor na moje pitanje. |
| I nodded. “No. That is scarcely answering your question. I guess I just don’t like to admit that I played a hunch. The morning I was here, after I left you out in the orchid house, Mrs. Regan sent for me. She seemed to assume I was hired to look for her husband and she didn’t seem to like it. She let drop however that ‘they’ had found his car in a certain garage. The ‘they’ could only be the police. Consequently the police must know something about it. If they did, the Missing Persons Bureau would be the department that would have the case. | Kimnuo sam. — Da. To je jedva odgovor na vaše pitanje. Mislim da mi se naprosto ne dopada priznati da sam radio po špurijusu. Onog jutra kad sam bio ovdje, nakon što sam otišao iz staklenika s orhidejama, gospođa Regan je poslala po mene. Činilo se da pretpostavlja kako ste me unajmili da tražim njena muža, i činilo se da [oj se to ne dopada. Ipak joj se omaklo da su »oni« našli njegov automobil u izvjesnoj garaži. »Oni« su mogli biti jedino policajci. Dosljedno tome, policija je morala znati nešto o tome. Ako su to oni učinili, Ured za nestale osobe morao je biti odjel koji je preuzeo slučaj. |
| I didn’t know whether you had reported it, of course, or somebody else, or whether they had found the car through somebody reporting it abandoned in a garage. But I know cops, and I knew that if they got that much, they would get a little more—especially as your driver happened to have a police record. I didn’t know how much more they would get. That started me thinking about the Missing Persons Bureau. What convinced me was something in Mr. Wilde’s manner the night we had the conference over at his house about Geiger and so on. | Naravno, nisam znao jeste li ga vi prijavili, ili netko drugi, ili su pronašli automobil jer im je netko javio da je napušten u garaži. Ali ja poznajem žace, i znam ako imaju toliko, da će uskoro imati i malo više — pogotovo jer se desilo da vaš vozač postoji u policijskoj kartoteci. Nisam znao koliko bi još toga mogli skupiti. Zbog toga sam počeo razmišljati o Uredu za nestale osobe. Ono što me je uvjerilo bilo je nešto u ponašanju mi-stera Wildea one večeri kad smo u njegovoj kući završili razgovor o Geigeru i tome. |
| We were alone for a minute and he asked me whether you had told me you were looking for Regan. I said you had told me you wished you knew where he was and that he was all right. Wilde pulled his lip in and looked funny. I knew just as plainly as though he had said it that by ‘looking for Regan’ he meant using the machinery of the law to look for him. Even then I tried to go up against Captain Gregory in such a way that I wouldn’t tell him anything he didn’t know already.” | Ostali smo sami na trenutak, i on me je upitao jeste li mi rekli da tražite Regana. Rekao sam mu da ste mi kazali kako biste željeli znati gdje je i je li s njim u redu. Wilde je uvukao usnicu, djelovao je smiješno. Bilo mi je jasno kao da je to i izrekao, da je pod »tražiti Regana« podrazumijevao upotrebu policijske mašinerije koja bi tragala za njim. Pa ipak sam i tada pokušao nadići kapetana Gregorvja tako što mu nisam rekao ništa što već otprije nije znao. |
| “And you allowed Captain Gregory to think I had employed you to find Rusty?” | — I vi ste pustili kapetana Gregorvja da misli kako sam vas ja uposlio da nađete Rustvja? |
| “Yeah. I guess I did—when I was sure he had the case.” | — Jest. Mislim da jesam, kad sam postao siguran da je on preuzeo slučaj. |
| He closed his eyes. They twitched a little. He spoke with them closed. “And do you consider that ethical?” | Zatvorio je oči. Malo su se zatrzale. Sad je govorio držeći ih zatvorene. — Mislite li da je to etički? |
| “Yes,” I said. “I do.” | — Da — rekoh. — Mislim. |
| The eyes opened again. The piercing blackness of them was startling coming suddenly out of that dead face. “Perhaps I don’t understand,” he said. | Oči su se ponovno otvorile. Njihova je probojna crnina djelovala zaplašujuće, došavši naglo s tog mrtvog lica. — Možda ne razumijem — rekao je. |
| “Maybe you don’t. The head of a Missing Persons Bureau isn’t a talker. He wouldn’t be in that office if he was. This one is a very smart cagey guy who tries, with a lot of success at first, to give the impression he’s a middle-aged hack fed up with his job. The game I play is not spillikins. There’s always a large element of bluff connected with it. Whatever I might say to a cop, he would be apt to discount it. And to that cop it wouldn’t make much difference what I said. | — Možda i ne. Glava Ureda za izgubljene osobe nije klepetalo. Ne bi tu bio da jest. Ovaj je vrlo bistri premazani momak koji pokušava, s mnogo uspjeha u početku, stvoriti dojam kako je sredovječni čilac sit svoga posla. Igra koju igram nije mikado. Uz nju je uvijek vezan veliki element blefa. Što god rekao žaci, on će to uvijek biti spreman potkresati. A o v o m žaci bi bilo sasvim svejedno što god rekao. |
| When you hire a boy in my line of work it isn’t like hiring a window-washer and showing him eight windows and saying: ‘Wash those and you’re through.’ You don’t know what I have to go through or over or under to do your job for you. I do it my way. I do my best to protect you and I may break a few rules, but I break them in your favor. The client comes first, unless he’s crooked. Even then all I do is hand the job back to him and keep my mouth shut. After all you didn’t tell me not to go to Captain Gregory.” | Kad unajmljujete dečka u mom privrednom sektoru, to nije kao da unajmljujete perača prozora pa mu pokažete osam prozora i velite: »Operi to pa si gotov«. Vi ne znate kroz što sam sve morao proći, i ispod čega, i preko čega, da bih za vas obavio taj posao. Napravio sam ga na svoj način. Napravio sam najbolje što sam znao i umio da vas zaštitim, i možda sam pri tom i prekršio koje pravilo, no prekršio sam ga u vašu korist. Klijent dolazi na prvo mjesto, osim ako nije mutan. Pa čak i tada, sve što učinim, to je da mu vratim posao i držim usta zatvorena. Na koncu konca, vi mi niste rekli da ne odem kapetanu Gregorvju. |
| “That would have been rather difficult,” he said with a faint smile. | — To bi bilo prilično teško — rekao je uz slabašni smiješak. ' |
| “Well, what have I done wrong? Your man Norris seemed to think when Geiger was eliminated the case was over. I don’t see it that way. Geiger’s method of approach puzzled me and still does. I’m not Sherlock Holmes or Philo Vance. I don’t expect to go over ground the police have covered and pick up a broken pen point and build a case from it. If you think there is anybody in the detective business making a living doing that sort of thing, you don’t know much about cops. It’s not things like that they overlook, if they overlook anything. | — Dakle, što sam krivo učinio? Vaš čovjek Norris je, čini se, mislio, kad je Geiger eliminiran da je slučaj gotov. Ja nisam na to tako gledao. Zbunila rne Geigerova metoda prilaženja, i još me zbunjuje. Nisam Sherlock Holmes ili Philo Vance. Ja ne očekujem da ću proći teren koji je policija već pretfesla, pokupiti odlomijeni vršak pera i na tome izgraditi slučaj. Ako mislite da postoji itko u detektivskom poslu tko zarađuje kruh radeći takve stvari, onda ne znate mnogo o žbirima. Nisu takve stvari one koje previđaju, ako uopće previđaju išta. |
| I’m not saying they often overlook anything when they’re really allowed to work. But if they do, it’s apt to be something looser and vaguer, like a man of Geiger’s type sending you his evidence of debt and asking you to pay like a gentleman—Geiger, a man in a shady racket, in a vulnerable position, protected by a racketeer and having at least some negative protection from some of the police. Why did he do that? Because he wanted to find out if there was anything putting pressure on you. | Ne velim da često i nfr previde, čak i kad im se zbilja da da rade. Ali ako previde, to bi prije bilo nešto, mutno i nejasno, kao primjerice da vam čovjek Geigerova tipa šalje dokaze dugovanja i moli vas da ih platite kao gentleman — Geiger, čovjek u mutnim poslovima, u ranjivoj poziciji, zaštićen kolegama i uživajući bar nešto negativne zaštite od policije. Zašto je to učinio? Zato što je želio otkriti postoji li išta što vas pritišće. |
| If there was, you would pay him. If not, you would ignore him and wait for his next move. But there was something putting a pressure on you. Regan. You were afraid he was not what he had appeared to be, that he had stayed around and been nice to you just long enough to find out how to play games with your bank account.” | Ako postoji, platili biste mu. Ako rie, ne biste se obazreli na nj, već pričekali na njegov idući potez. Ali postojalo je nešto što vas je pritiskalo. Regan. Bojali ste se da nije bio ono što se činio da jest, da se tu motao okolo i bio fin prema vama samo toliko koliko mu je trebalo da otkrije kako da zaigra igru s vašim bankovnim računom. |
| He started to say something but I interrupted him. “Even at that it wasn’t your money you cared about. It wasn’t even your daughters. You’ve more or less written them off. It’s that you’re still too proud to be played for a sucker—and you really liked Regan.” | Počeo je nešto izgovarati, no ja sam ga prekinuo. — Pa čak ni u tom slučaju ne bi bio novac o čemu biste brinuli. Ne'bi bile čak ni vaše kćeri. Vi ste ih već manje-više otpisali. Stvar je u tome što ste još uvijek preponosni da biste dopustili da ispadnete ovca. I u tome što ste uistinu voljeli Regana. |
| There was a silence. Then the General said quietly: “You talk too damn much, Marlowe. Am I to understand you are still trying to solve that puzzle?” | Uslijedila je tišina. Tada je general rekao tiho: — Pričate prokleto previše, Marlowe. Trebam li shvatiti da još pokušavate razriješiti taj rebus? |
| “No. I’ve quit. I’ve been warned off. The boys think I play too rough. That’s why I thought I should give you back your money—because it isn’t a completed job by my standards.” | — Ne. Napuštam. Upozoren sam. Momci misle da igram pregrubo. Eto zbog čega sam mislio da bih vam trebao vratiti novac: zato što to prema mojim standardima nije dovršen posao. |
| He smiled. “Quit, nothing,” he said. “I’ll pay you another thousand dollars to find Rusty. He doesn’t have to come back. I don’t even have to know where he is. A man has a right to live his own life. I don’t blame him for walking out on my daughter, nor even for going so abruptly. It was probably a sudden impulse. I want to know that he is all right wherever he is. I want to know it from him directly, and if he should happen to need money, I should want him to have that also. Am I clear?” | Nasmiješio se. — Napustiti, koješta — rekao je. — Platit ću vam još tisuću dolara da pronađete Rustvja. Ne mora se vratiti. Ne moram čak ni znati gdje je. Čovjek ima pravo živjeti svoj život. Ne krivim ga što je otišao od moje kćeri, čak ni zato što je to učinio tako naglo. Bio je to vjerojatno neočekivani impuls. Želim samo znati da je u redu, gdje god bio. Želim to doznati izravno od njega, a ukoliko bi se dogodilo da treba novaca, želio bih da i to dobije. Jesam li bio jasan? |
| I said: “Yes, General.” | Rekoh: — Da, generale. |
| He rested a little while, lax on the bed, his eyes closed and dark-lidded, his mouth tight and bloodless. He was used up. He was pretty nearly licked. He opened his eyes again and tried to grin at me. | Odmorio se na časak, malaksao na krevetu, zatvorenih očiju i potamnjelih kapaka, čvrsto skupljenih i beskrvnih usana. Istjecao mu je rok trajanja. Već je sasvim grogi. Ponovno je otvorio oči i pokušao mi se nasmiješiti. |
| “I guess I’m a sentimental old goat,” he said. “And no soldier at all. I took a fancy to that boy. He seemed pretty clean to me. I must be a little too vain about my judgment of character. Find him for me, Marlowe. Just find him.” | — Mislim da sam sentimentalni stari jarac — reče. — I uopće ne vojnik. Zagrijao sam se za tog momka. Činio mi se prilično čist. Mora da sam malo previše tašt kad je riječ o mojim procjenama karaktera. Pronađite ga zbog mene, Marlowe. Samo ga pronađite. |
| “I’ll try,” I said. “You’d better rest now. I’ve talked your arm off.” | — Pokušat ću — rekoh. — A sada bolje da se odmorite. Probio sam vam pričanjem i uši i pluća. |
| I got up quickly and walked across the wide floor and out. He had his eyes shut again before I opened the door. His hands lay limp on the sheet. He looked a lot more like a dead man than most dead men look. I shut the door quietly and went back along the upper hall and down the stairs. | Hitro sam ustao i otišao preko širokog poda pa kroz vrata. Oči su mu ponovno bile zatvorene prije no što sam otvorio vrata. Ruke su mu mlitavo ležale na pokrivaču. Više je nalikovao mrtvacu negoli većina mrtvaca. Tiho sam zatvorio vrata i vratio se kroz gornje predvorje i niz stepenice. |