| 12 | |
| The trees on the upper side of Laverne Terrace had fresh green leaves after the rain. In the cool afternoon sunlight I could see the steep drop of the hill and the flight of steps down which the killer had run after his three shots in the darkness. Two small houses fronted on the street below. They might or might not have heard the shots. | Drveće je na gornjoj strani Laverne Terracea imalo poslije kiše svježe zeleno lišće. U studenom popodnevnom suncu mogao sam vidjeti strmi pad brežuljka i stepenište niz koje je ubojica nakon svoja tri pucnja pobjegao u tamu. Dvije su male kuće u ulici što je ležala ispod stajale sučelice. Ondje su mogli, ali ne i morali čuti pucnjeve. |
| There was no activity in front of Geiger’s house or anywhere along the block. The box hedge looked green and peaceful and the shingles on the roof were still damp. I drove past slowly, gnawing at an idea. I hadn’t looked in the garage the night before. Once Geiger’s body slipped away I hadn’t really wanted to find it. It would force my hand. But dragging him to the garage, to his own car and driving that off into one of the hundred odd lonely canyons around Los Angeles would be a good way to dispose of him for days or even for weeks. That supposed two things: a key to his car and two in the party. It would narrow the sector of search quite a lot, especially as I had had his personal keys in my pocket when it happened. | Ispred Geigerove kuće nije bilo zbivanja, a nije ga bilo ni bilo gdje drugdje duž bloka. Zatvorena je živica djelovala zeleno i miroljubivo, a šindra je na krovu još i sad bila mokra. Polako sam se provezao mimo, prežvakavajući jednu ideju. Prošle noći nisam pogledao u garažu. Nakon što je Geigerovo tijelo jednom otklizilo, više ga i nisam istinski želio naći. To bi mi vezalo ruke. No odvući ga do garaže, strpati u njegova kola i odvesti ih do kojeg od stotinu i više pustih kanjona oko Los Angelesa, bio bi dobar način da ga se otarase za mnoge dane, a možda i tjedne. To pretpostavlja dvije stvari: ključeve njegovih kola i dvojicu na zabavi. Tako bi se prilično suzilo područje istraživanja, napose zato što sam, kad se sve to dogodilo, imao njegove osobne ključeve u džepu. |
| I didn’t get a chance to look at the garage. The doors were shut and padlocked and something moved behind the hedge as I drew level. A woman in a green and white check coat and a small button of a hat on soft blond hair stepped out of the maze and stood looking wild-eyed at my car, as if she hadn’t heard it come up the hill. Then she turned swiftly and dodged back out of sight. It was Carmen Sternwood, of course. | Nisam imao prilike pogledati u garažu. Vrata su bila zatvorena i učvršćena lokotom, a nešto se pomaklo iza živice kad sam se skutren privukao iza nje. Neka je žena u bijelo-zeleno kariranom kaputu i s malim medaljonom od šešira na mekoj plavoj kosi iskoračila iz labirinta i zastala, dok su joj munje sijevale iz očiju na moj automobil, kao da ga nije čula dok se uspinjao uzbrdo. Zatim se brzo o-krenula i nestala iz vida. Bila je to Carmen Sternvvood, razumije se. |
| I went on up the street and parked and walked back. In the daylight it seemed an exposed and dangerous thing to do. I went in through the hedge. She stood there straight and silent against the locked front door. One hand went slowly up to her teeth and her teeth bit at her funny thumb. There were purple smears under her eyes and her face was gnawed white by nerves. | Nastavio sam uz ulicu, parkirao i odšetao natrag. Pri punom svjetlu to je izgledalo kao opasno izlaganje. Ušao sam kroz živicu. Stajala je uspravna i tiha uz zaključana ulazna vrata. Jedna joj je ruka polako pošla prema ustima, a zatim je zubima zagrizla u svoj smiješni palac. Pod oči- ma joj je bilo razmrljano crvenilo, a lice joj je bilo do kostiju oglodano nerviranjem. |
| She half smiled at me. She said: “Hello,” in a thin, brittle voice. “Wha—what—?” That tailed off and she went back to the thumb. | Napola mi se nasmiješila. Rekla je: — Haj — tankim, lomnim glasićem. — Š ... što? — To je zamrlo, i ona se vratila palcu. |
| “Remember me?” I said. “Doghouse Reilly, the man that grew too tall. Remember?” | — Sjećate se? — rekoh. — Pseća kućica Reilly, čovjek koji je previše izrastao u visinu. Sjećate? |
| She nodded and a quick jerky smile played across her face. | Kimnula je, a hitri joj je istrzani smiješak zaigrao na licu. |
| “Let’s go in,” I said. “I’ve got a key. Swell, huh?” | — Uđimo — rekoh. — Nabavio sam ključ. Moćno, ha? |
| I pushed her to one side and put the key in the door and opened it and pushed her in through it. I shut the door again and stood there sniffing. The place was horrible by daylight. The Chinese junk on the walls, the rug, the fussy lamps, the teakwood stuff, the sticky riot of colors, the totem pole, the flagon of ether and laudanum—all this in the daytime had a stealthy nastiness, like a fag party. | Gurnuo sam je u stranu, stavio ključ u bravu, otvorio vrata i rinuo je kroz njih. Zatvorio sam vrata i zastao njuškajući. Pri dnevnom je svjetlu mjesto bilo užasno. Kineske drekarije po zidovima, onaj tepih, kičaste svjetiljke, koje-štarije od tikovine, sluzava halabuka boja, totemski stup, boca etera i laudanuma — sve je to pri dnevnom svjetlu imalo prikrivenu gnusnost, kao pederska zabavica. |
| The girl and I stood looking at each other. She tried to keep a cute little smile on her face but her face was too tired to be bothered. It kept going blank on her. The smile would wash off like water off sand and her pale skin had a harsh granular texture under the stunned and stupid blankness of her eyes. A whitish tongue licked at the corners of her mouth. A pretty, spoiled and not very bright little girl who had gone very, very wrong, and nobody was doing anything about it. To hell with the rich. They made me sick. I rolled a cigarette in my fingers and pushed some books out of the way and sat on the end of the black desk. I lit my cigarette, puffed a plume of smoke and watched the thumb and tooth act for a while in silence. Carmen stood in front of me, like a bad girl in the principal’s office. | Djevojka i ja stajali smo gledajući jedno drugo. Pokušala je zadržati na licu nestašni smješčić, no lice je bilo preumorno a da bi se time dalo gnjaviti. Brisalo bi sve što bi na nj stavila. Smiješak bi se sprao poput vode s pijeska, a blijeda joj je koža ispod ošamućene i glupave praznine očiju imala grubu zrnatu strukturu. Bljedunjavi joj je jezik lizao kutove usnica. Lijepa, razmažena i ne baš jako bistra curica koja je pošla vrlo, vrlo krivim stazama, a da nitko nije poduzeo ništa s tim u vezi. Do đavola s bogatima. Bolestan sam od njih. Zavaljao sam cigaretu među prstima, gurnuo s puta nekoliko knjiga i sjeo na kraj crnog pisaćeg stola. Pripalio sam cigaretu, otpuhnuo perjanicu dima i neko vrijeme u tišini promatrao predstavu sa zubima i palcem. Carmen je stajala ispred mene, kao zločesta djevojčica u direktorovoj kancelariji. |
| “What are you doing here?” I asked her finally. She picked at the cloth of her coat and didn’t answer. | — Sto radite ovdje? — napokon sam upitao. Cupkala je tkanje svog kaputa, ne odgovorivši ništa. |
| “How much do you remember of last night?” | — Čega se sve sjećate iz prošle noći? |
| She answered that—with a foxy glitter rising at the back of her eyes. “Remember what? I was sick last night. I was home.” Her voice was a cautious throaty sound that just reached my ears. | Na ovo je odgovorila s lisičjim svjetlucanjem što joj je bljesnulo u dnu očiju. — Sjećam se čega? Noćas sam bila bolesna. I kod kuće. — Glas joj je bio oprezni zvuk iz grla, koji mi je jedva dopirao do ušiju. |
| “Like hell you were.” | — Đavola ste bili. |
| Her eyes flicked up and down very swiftly. | Oči su joj vrlo brzo zakvrcale gore i dolje. |
| “Before you went home,” I said. “Before I took you home. Here. In that chair—” I pointed to it—”on that orange shawl. You remember all right.” | — Prije no što ste pošli kući — rekoh. — Prije no što sam vas dopremio kući. Ovdje. U ovoj stolici ... — upro sam u nju — na toj narančastoj marami. Sjećate se jako dobro. |
| A slow flush crept up her throat. That was something. She could blush. A glint of white showed under the clogged gray irises. She chewed hard on her thumb. | Crvenilo joj se polako uspuzalo uz vrat. Ipak je to bilo nešto. Mogla je pocrvenjeti. Odbljesak se bijelog pokazao ispod začepljenih sivih šarenica. Žestoko je žvakala palac. |
| “You—were the one?” she breathed. | — Vi ... ste bili taj ? — dahnula je. |
| “Me. How much of it stays with you?” She said vaguely: “Are you the police?” | — Ja. Koliko vam je od toga ostalo u glavi? Upitala je neodređeno: — Vi ste iz policije? |
| “No. I’m a friend of your father’s.” | — Ne. Prijatelj vašeg oca. |
| “You’re not the police?” | — Niste iz policije? |
| “No.” | — Ne. |
| She let out a thin sigh. “Wha—what do you want?” | Ispustila je tihi uzdah. — I š ... što želite? |
| “Who killed him?” | — Tko ga je ubio? |
| Her shoulders jerked, but nothing more moved in her face. “Who else—knows?” | Ramena su joj se trznula, no ništa joj se nije pomaklo na licu. — Tko još ... zna? |
| “About Geiger? I don’t know. Not the police, or they’d be camping here. Maybe Joe Brody.” | — Za Geigera? Ne znam. Policija ne, jer bi kampirali ovdje. Možda Joe Brody. |
| It was a stab in the dark but it got a yelp out of her. “Joe Brody! Him!” | Bio je to ubod u mrak, no izvukao je uzvik iz nje. — Joe Brody! On! |
| Then we were both silent. I dragged at my cigarette and she ate her thumb. | Tad smo oboje utonuli u tišinu. Ja sam povlačio iz cigarete, a ona je jela palac. |
