喜鹊谋杀案（2022）

（2015年，谢斯顿写作中心）
“昆西勋爵，对着只存在于 他迂回错综的想象里
"Lord quincey, "lords it over butlers and footmen
那些管家和男仆发号♥施令
"that exist only in his anfractuous imagination.
房♥屋只是一个空壳
"The house is a shell,
餐柜空空如也，这个乡村受到了
"the larder void, "the very countryside ravaged
现代政♥治♥和古老仇恨所蹂躏 正如同一整片蝗虫压境一般
"by a locust cloud of modern politics and ancient hatreds.
‘于是这可怜的狗什么也没有’ 他低语道
"'And so the poor dog has none, ' he murmurs,
没有意识到这只狗其实
"unaware that the dog is,
就是…
in fact...
他自己”
himself."
谢谢
Thank you.
各位的看法呢？
Comments?
不要害羞
Don't be shy.
我给了你们的作品评语
I commented on your work.
你们也可以随意评论我的
You should feel free to comment on mine.
好，这是，呃，呃…
- Yes. It's, uh, uh...
李杰弗里
- Lee jaffrey.
对，当然，请继续
Yes, of course. Go on.
呃，我很喜欢
Uh, I liked it.
我觉得很有趣，而且，呃…
I thought it was interesting and, uh...
就是真的很有趣
Just really interesting.
请说
Yes?
我不太懂
- I'm not sure I get it.
嗯，有什么好不懂的？
- Well, what is there to get?
内容是关于什么的？
What's it about?
是关于帝国，关于贵族阶级
It's about empire, about the aristocracy.
关于文明的崩坏
About the collapse of civility.
对，那很好
Yeah. That's great.
但是，里面有任何谋杀吗？
But... Are there any murders?
不，不，这不是在写谋杀的谜团
No, no. It's not a murder mystery.
这不是侦探小说 它实际上是关于一些有意义的东西
It's not a whodunit. It's actually about something that matters.
是哦，但一本书为什么要有意义？
Yeah, but why does a book have to matter?
为什么不能只是让人享受读它的乐趣？
Why can't it just be enjoyed?
你问我这个问题是认真的吗？
Are you seriously asking me that question?
那么你是不打算再写 艾提克思彭德了吧…
You're not writing any more Atticus pund, then...
艾提克思彭德！
Atticus pund!
如果你期待的就只是这种水平
If that's the level of your expectations,
或许这门课对你来说 是在浪费你的时间，还有我的
maybe you're wasting your time, and mine, on this course.
我只是问问
I only asked.
提醒我一下，你叫什么名字？
Remind me - what's your name?
我叫布兰特
It's Brent.
布兰特
Brent.
我记住你了
I'll remember you.
布兰特，派伊府邸的园丁…
"Brent, the gardener at pye hall
住在他母亲留给他的 两房♥两厅双层透天里
"lived in a two-up, two-down "he had inherited from his mother.
她已经过世很久了
"She had long gone.
而现在他自己一个人住
"And now he lived alone.
隔天一大早，他推开了…
"Early the next morning,
他臭烘烘的脏衣服
"he pushed aside his foul-smelling laundry
以及他爱看的童军杂♥志♥
"and the boy scout magazines he liked to read,
然后拿起一块地板，修复他偷来的财物
"and lifted a floorboard "to recover the property he had stolen.
而这当然 是马格努斯派伊爵士宝藏的一部分
"This was, of course, "part of the treasure trove of sir Magnus pye,
是在湖畔找到的
"which had been found by the lake
而且是被偷走的，窃贼们是这么认为的
"and which had been stolen, it was thought, by burglars.
布兰特，自然…
"Brent, of course,
完全不知道它真正的价值
had no idea of its true value,
但当时他对几乎所有事都一无所知
"but then he was ignorant about almost everything."
你起得真早
Ah. You're up early.
你睡得还好吗？
Did you sleep OK?
呃，不好
Uh, no.
不太好
Not really.
咖啡
- Coffee.
谢了
- Thanks.
你现在就要走了吗？
- You're leaving already? - Mm.
我得回伦敦去
I gotta get back to London.
苏珊，你还在生我的气吗？
Susan... Are you still angry with me?
是因为我和艾伦康威的事吗？
Is this about me and Alan Conway?
噢，不是！不是的
Oh, no! No.
不是啦，跟那没关系
No, it's not that. It...
是别的事
It's something else.
安德鲁
- Andreas.
跟我说吧
- Tell me.
我都不知道该从何说起
I don't really know where to start.
有人寄了封信给我
Somebody sent me an email.
不要问我是谁寄的，是匿名信
Don't ask me who it was from. It was anonymous.
昨晚收到的 是一个我从来没听过的账户
It arrived last night from an account I never heard of.
-和安德鲁有关吗？ -对
- What, about Andreas? - Yeah.
信里说了什么？
What did it say?
信里指控他做了某件事
It accused him of something.
让我看看
- Let me see it. - No!
不行，不，不，不 我只是需要见他一面
No, no, no, I... I just need to see him.
我们会解决的
We'll sort it out.
还有听着，昨晚我们之间发生的 都没有关系了
And, listen, what happened between us last night doesn't matter.
真的，全部都没关系了
Really. None of it matters.
-我该走了 -你不留下来吃早餐吗？
I must be on my way. You're not staying for breakfast?
呃，不了，我不用
Uh. No, I'm OK.
你要去医院吗？
Are you going to the hospital?
今天早上稍晚，我会去
Later this morning. Yeah.
（詹姆斯泰勒来电）
嗨
- Hi.
你来得真快
- That was quick.
你打来的时候我正好在回伦敦的路上
You've caught me on my way to London.
进来吧
Come in.
所以你觉得怎么样呢？ 我在葬礼后发表的重大演说？
So, what did you think? My big speech after the funeral?
我希望你当时也在现场听
I hope you were there for it.
有啊，我大部分都有听到
Yeah, I heard most of it.
我没有说得太过分，对吧？
I wasn't too mean, was I?
呃，你有一点啦
Well, you were a bit.
他们全都恨我
They all hate me.
他们觉得我是小白脸
They think I'm a gold-digger.
一个同志小白脸，那又更糟了
A gay gold-digger. Makes it worse.
我觉得你这样对他们有点不公平
Aw, I think you're being a bit hard on them.
没差
Well, it doesn't matter.
我以后再也不用见到他们任何一个人了
I won't have to see any of them ever again.
我也没想到会再见到你
I wasn't expecting to see you again.
-你想喝咖啡吗？ -呃，不了，我不用，谢谢
- Would you like a coffee? - Uh, no. I'm OK, thanks.
你说你有一些东西或许对我有帮助
You said you had something that might help me.
你还在找那个缺失的章节吗？
You still looking for that missing chapter?
对，你找到了吗？
- Yes. Have you found it? - No such luck.
运气没那么好，我四处都找遍了 但我什么也没找到
I had a look around, but I didn't find anything.
然后，我想到一件事 天啊，这地方真是个垃圾场
Then, I had a thought. God! This place is such a tip.
你不知道我有多高兴可以离开这里
You've no idea how glad I'll be to get out of here.
-呃，詹姆斯… -对，抱歉
- Uh, James... - Yeah. Sorry.
所以你和我搜遍了艾伦的书房♥
So, you and I searched through Alan's study,
他把所有东西都放在那
which is where he kept everything,
但我待在这里的最后一天，就在他死前
but on my last day here, just before he died,
有一份副本，就放在这里
there was a copy right here.
-你知道它在哪里吗？ -不知道
- Do you know where it is? - No.
但可能有人把它拿走了
But someone could have taken it.
他姊姊那天来过
His sister came round that day.
我知道，因为我离开的时候看到她了
I know, because I saw her on the way out.
她为什么把它拿走呢？
- Why would she have taken it? - She was angry with him.
她在生他的气，我告诉过你
I told you. She did the typing and everything,
她负责打字和所有的工作 但他们吵了一架
- but they had a falling out. - Ah.
对
Right. Um...
这只是我的想法，我以为可能会有帮助
It was just a thought. I thought it might help.
噢，不会！谢谢你！不会，谢谢
Oh, no! Thank you! No. Thanks.
听着，呃，既然我都来了 我只是在想我能不能问你…
Uh, look, um... While I'm here, I just wondered if I could ask you...
-好啊，说吧 -一些事
- Yeah, go on. - Something.
你见过这个人吗？
Did you ever meet this man?
我不认得他欸，没见过
I can't say I recognise him. No.