| The door closed. Captain Gregory and I looked at each other in some more heavy silence. The door opened again and the woman put a tabbed green file on his desk. Captain Gregory nodded her out, put a pair of heavy horn-rimmed glasses on his veined nose and turned the papers in the file over slowly. I rolled a cigarette around in my fingers. | Vrata su se zatvorila. Kapetan Gregorv i ja gledali smo se u još nešto težoj tišini. Vrata su se ponovno otvorila i žena mu je stavila na stol zeleni, vrpcom uvezani fascikl. Kapetan Gregorv ju je kimanjem glave poslao napolje, stavio teške naočale u rožnatom okviru na žilicama išarani nos i počeo polako prevrtati papire u dosjeu. Valjao sam cigaretu među prstima. |
| “He blew on the 16th of September,” he said. “The only thing important about that is it was the chauffeur’s day off and nobody saw Regan take his car out. It was late afternoon, though. We found the car four days later in a garage belonging to a ritzy bungalow court place near the Sunset Towers. A garage man reported it to the stolen car detail, said it didn’t belong there. The place is called the Casa de Oro. There’s an angle to that I’ll tell you about in a minute. We couldn’t find out anything about who put the car in there. We print the car but don’t find any prints that are on file anywhere. The car in that garage don’t jibe with foul play, although there’s a reason to suspect foul play. It jibes with something else I’ll tell you about in a minute.” | — Otpirio je šesnaestog rujna — reče. — Jedina je važna stvar u vezi s tim da je tog datuma šofer imao slobodan dan, i da nitko nije vidio Regana kako je izvezao kola. Doduše, bilo je već predvečerje. Automobil su pronašli poslije četiri dana u garaži pripadajućoj nobl-kvartu bungalova nedaleko Sunset Towersa. Garažist ga je prijavio odjelu ukradenih vozila, veli da ne spada tamo. Mjesto se zove Časa de Oro. Ima još jedna stvar s tim u vezi, o kojoj ću vam sad reći. Nismo mogli otkriti ništa o tome tko je tamo stavio kola. Oprašili smo kola, no nismo mogli naći nikakvih otisaka koji bi bili bilo gdje u kartoteci. Auto u toj garaži ne poklapa se s prljavom igrom, iako imamo razloga posumnjati na nju. Ali on se poklapa s nečim drugim, o čemu ću vam sad pričati. |
| I said: “That jibes with Eddie Mars’ wife being on the missing list.” | Rekoh: — To se poklapa sa ženom Eddija Marsa koja je na popisu nestalih. |
| He looked annoyed. “Yeah. We investigate the tenants and find she’s living there. Left about the time Regan did, within two days anyway. A guy who sounds a bit like Regan had been seen with her, but we don’t get a positive identification. It’s goddamned funny in this police racket how an old woman can look out of a window and see a guy running and pick him out of a line-up six months later, but we can show hotel help a clear photo and they just can’t be sure.” | Djelovao je razjedeno. — Daa. Istražili smo među stanarima i otkrili da ona tamo živi. Otišla otprilike kad i Re-gan, unutar dva dana, u svakom slučaju. Tip koji pomalo zvuči na Regana bio je viđen s njom, ali nemamo pozitivnu identifikaciju. Prokleto je smiješno u ovom našem policijskom lopovluku kako neka starica može pogledati kroz prozor i vidjeti tipa u trku, i zatim ga izvući iz vrste poslije šest mjeseci, a hotelskom trčkaralu možemo pokazati bistru fotografiju, a da on naprosto nije siguran. |
| “That’s one of the qualifications for good hotel help,” I said. | — To je jedna od kvalifikacija za dobro hotelsko trčkaralo — rekoh. |
| “Yeah. Eddie Mars and his wife didn’t live together, but they were friendly, Eddie says. Here’s some of the possibilities. First off Regan carried fifteen grand, packed it in his clothes all the time. Real money, they tell me. Not just a top card and a bunch of hay. That’s a lot of jack but this Regan might be the boy to have it around so he could take it out and look at it when somebody was looking at him. Then again maybe he wouldn’t give a damn. His wife says he never made a nickel off of old man Sternwood except room and board and a Packard 120 his wife gave him. Tie that for an ex-legger in the rich gravy.” | — Daa. Eddie Mars i njegova žena nisu živjeli zajedno, no bili su u prijateljskim odnosima, veli Eddie. Evo nekih mogućnosti. Prvi put vani, Regan je ponio petnaest somova, zapakirao ih u odijelo, tako sve vrijeme. Prava lova, vele mi. Ne samo vanjsko pakovanje i hrpa sitniša. To je mnogo lovuljine, no možda je taj Regan bio momak koji ju je volio imati okolo tako da je može izvaditi i gledati u nju kad ga netko gleda. A onda opet, možda mu se za to frigalo. Njegova žena veli da nikad nije zgrnuo ni pet centi od tog starca Sternwooda, ako izuzmemo stan i hranu i packard 120 što ga je dobio od žene. Sad to povežite s bivšim šver-cuškom koji je upao u masnu čorbu. |
| “It beats me,” I said. | — Predajem se — rekoh. |
| “Well, here we are with a guy who ducks out and has fifteen grand in his pants and folks know it. Well, that’s money. I might duck out myself, if I had fifteen grand, and me with two kids in high school. So the first thought is somebody rolls him for it and rolls him too hard, so they have to take him out in the desert and plant him among the cactuses. But I don’t like that too well. Regan carried a gat and had plenty of experience using it, and not just in a greasy-faced liquor mob. I understand he commanded a whole brigade in the Irish troubles back in 1922 or whenever it was. A guy like that wouldn’t be white meat to a heister. Then, his car being in that garage makes whoever rolled him know he was sweet on Eddie Mars’ wife, which he was, I guess, but it ain’t something every poolroom bum would know.” | — Dakle, imamo sad momka koji je zgiljao, i koji ima petnaest somova u gaćama, i raja to zna. Dakle, to je lova. Mogao bih i ja zgiljati, da imam petnaest somova, i s moje dvoje klinaca u gimbi. I tako, prva misao, netko ga je oplin-drao za svu tu lovu, i oplindrao ga malo prejako, i tako su ga morali odvesti u pustinju i zasaditi među kaktuse. Ali ni to mi se previše ne dopada. Regan je nosio pljucu, i imao prilično iskustva što se tiče upotrebe, nije bio jedan iz musave alkoholne rulje. Shvatio sam da je zapovijedao čitavom brigadom u toj irskoj frci tamo 1922. ili kad je već to bilo. Takav momak ne bi bio meso bez kostiju za kakvog drparoša. I onda, ta kola što su u garaži, slijedi da je, tko god ga oplindrao, znao da je slab prema ženi Eddija Marsa, što je i bio, pretpostavljam, no to nije nešto što bi znala svaka budala iz bara. |
| “Got a photo?” I asked. | — Imate fotos? — upitah. |
| “Him, not her. That’s funny too. There’s a lot of funny angles to this case. Here.” He pushed a shiny print across the desk and I looked at an Irish face that was more sad than merry and more reserved than brash. Not the face of a tough guy and not the face of a man who could be pushed around much by anybody. Straight dark brows with strong bone under them. A forehead wide rather than high, a mat of dark clustering hair, a thin short nose, a wide mouth. A chin that had strong lines but was small for the mouth. A face that looked a little taut, the face of a man who would move fast and play for keeps. I passed the print back. I would know that face, if I saw it. | — Njegov, ne njezin. To je isto smiješno. Ima tu mnogo smiješnih stvari u ovom slučaju. Evo. — Gurnuo je preko stola sjajnu kopiju: ugledao sam irsko lice više sjetno no veselo, više rezervirano no drsko. Ne lice grubog momka i ne lice čovjeka koji bi se od ikog dao mnogo nabacivati. Ravne tamne obrve s jakim kostima ispod njih. Čelo prije široko no visoko, rogozina tamne zgvaljene kose, uzak kratak nos, široka usta. Brada jakih crta, no premalena u odnosu na usta. Lice što djeluje pomalo zategnuto, lice čovjeka koji se brzo kreće i igra da dobije. Proslijedio sam kopiju natrag. Prepoznao bih to lice kad bih ga vidio. |
| Captain Gregory knocked his pipe out and refilled it and tamped the tobacco down with his thumb. He lit it, blew smoke and began to talk again. | Kapetan Gregorv je kuckanjem ispraznio lulu, ponovno je napunio i nabio duhan palcem. Zapalio ju je, povukao dim i opet stao pričati. |
| “Well, there could be people who would know he was sweet on Eddie Mars’ frau. Besides Eddie himself. For a wonder he knew it. But he don’t seem to give a damn. We checked him pretty thoroughly around that time. Of course Eddie wouldn’t have knocked him off out of jealousy. The set-up would point to him too obvious.” | — Dakle, moglo je biti ljudi koji su znali da je slab na frau Eddie Mars. Osim samog Eddija. Začudo, on je to znao. No činilo se da ga boli briga. Ispitali smo ga prilično skroz naskroz oko tog vremena. Naravno da ga Eddie ne bi otpirio iz ljubomore. Okolnosti bi isuviše očito upućivale na njega. |
| “It depends how smart he is,” I said. “He might try the double bluff.” | — Ovisi o tome koliko je bistar — rekoh. — Mogao je pokušati dvostruki blef. |
| Captain Gregory shook his head. “If he’s smart enough to get by in his racket, he’s too smart for that. I get your idea. He pulls the dumb play because he thinks we wouldn’t expect him to pull the dumb play. From a police angle that’s wrong. Because he’d have us in his hair so much it would interfere with his business. You might think a dumb play would be smart. I might think so. The rank and file wouldn’t. They’d make his life miserable. I’ve ruled it out. If I’m wrong, you can prove it on me and I’ll eat my chair cushion. Till then I’m leaving Eddie in the clear. Jealousy is a bad motive for his type. Top-flight racketeers have business brains. They learn to do things that are good policy and let their personal feelings take care of themselves. I’m leaving that out.” | Kapetan Gregorv je odmahnuo glavom. — Ako je dovoljno bistar da se provlači u poslu kojim se bavi, onda je prepametan za takvu glupost. Da vam stvorim sliku. Izvodi glupu igru jer misli da je mi ne očekujemo od njega. U pogledu policije, to je krivo. Zato što bismo mu se toliko pleli među noge, da bi to smetalo poslu. V i možete pomisliti da bi glupa igra bila pametna. I ja mogu tako misliti. Ali raja ne bi. Ogadili bi mu život. To sam isključio. Ako sam u krivu, možete mi to dokazati, i pojest ću jastuk sa stolice. Do tada, ostavljam Eddija čistog. Ljubomora je loš motiv za njegov tip ljudi. Koji u tom poslu visoko lete, ti imaju poslovne glave. Nauče raditi stvari koje su dobra politika, a svoje osobne osjećaje ostavljaju da se brinu sami o sebi. To izbacujem. |
| “What are you leaving in?” | — A što ostavljate? |
| “The dame and Regan himself. Nobody else. She was a blonde then, but she won’t be now. We don’t find her car, so they probably left in it. They had a long start on us—fourteen days. Except for that car of Regan’s I don’t figure we’d have got the case at all. Of course I’m used to them that way, especially in good-class families. And of course everything I’ve done has had to be under the hat.” | — Damu i samog Regana. Nikoga drugog. Tada je bila plavuša, no ne mora biti i sada. Nismo našli njen automobil, i tako su vjerojatno otišli u njemu. Imali su mnogo fore pred nama: četrnaest dana. Da nema tog Reganovog automobila, ne mislim da bismo uopće imali slučaj. Naravno da sam navikao na taj njihov način, naročito u familijama dobre klase. I naravno da je sve što sam napravio moralo biti napravljeno pod poplunom. |
| He leaned back and thumped the arms of his chair with the heels of his large heavy hands. | Naslonio se i počeo velikim masivnim dlanovima mlatiti po naslonu za ruke. |
| “I don’t see nothing to do but wait,” he said. “We’ve got readers out, but it’s too soon to look for results. Regan had fifteen grand we know of. The girl had some, maybe a lot in rocks. But they’ll run out of dough some day. Regan will cash a check, drop a marker, write a letter. They’re in a strange town and they’ve got new names, but they’ve got the same old appetites. They got to get back in the fiscal system.” | — Ne vidim ništa što bi se dalo učiniti, osim da se čeka — rekao je. — Poslali smo pisamce uokolo, ali je još prerano očekivati rezultate. Regan ima petnaest somova za koje znamo. I cura ima ponešto, i možda mnogo u kamenči-nama. Ali jednog će dana ostati bez lovijanera. Regan će u-novčiti ček, ostaviti negdje priznanicu, napisati pismo. Nalaze se u stranom gradu i dobili su nova imena, no još uvijek imaju iste stare apetite. Suđeno im je da se vrate u fiskalni sistem. |
| “What did the girl do before she married Eddie Mars?” | — Što je cura radila prije negoli se udala za Eddija Marsa? |
| “Torcher.” | — Pjevala balade. |
| “Can’t you get any old professional photos?” | — Možete li dobiti koju staru profesionalnu fotogra-fiju? |
| “No. Eddie must of had some, but he won’t loosen up. He wants her let alone. I can’t make him. He’s got friends in town, or he wouldn’t be what he is.” He grunted. “Any of this do you any good?” | — Ne. Eddie mora imati poneku, ali se nije htio raz-vezati. Hoće da je puste na miru. Ne mogu ga prisiliti. Stekao je prijatelje u gradu, inače ne bi bio to što jest. — Za-gunđao je. — Bilo što od toga od kakve koristi? |
| I said: “You’ll never find either of them. The Pacific Ocean is too close.” | Rekoh: — Nikad nećete naći ni jedno od njih. Tihi je ocean suviše blizu. |
| “What I said about my chair cushion still goes. We’ll find him. It may take time. It could take a year or two.” | — Što rekoh o jastuku sa stolice još vrijedi. Naći ćemo ih. Možda protekne vremena. Možda prođu godina ili dvije. |
| “General Sternwood may not live that long,” I said. | — General Sternvvood može ne poživjeti toliko — rekoh. |
| “We’ve done all we could, brother. If he wants to put out a reward and spend some money, we might get results. The city don’t give me the kind of money it takes.” His large eyes peered at me and his scratchy eyebrows moved. “You serious about thinking Eddie put them both down?” | — Napravili smo sve što smo mogli, burazeru. Ako želi istaknuti nagradu i potrošiti nešto novca, mogli bismo doći do rezultata. Grad mi ne daje takve novce koliko bi za to trebalo. — Njegove su me velike oči radoznalo ogledavale, a škrabave su mu se obrve pomakle. — Vi ozbiljno ono da ih je Eddie oboje metnuo pod mengu? |
| I laughed. “No. I was just kidding. I think what you think, Captain. That Regan ran away with a woman who meant more to him than a rich wife he didn’t get along with. Besides, she isn’t rich yet.” | Nasmijao sam se. — Ne. Samo sam se zezao. Mislim upravo što i vi, kapetane. Da je Regan pobjegao sa ženom koja mu je značila više od bogate supruge s kojom se nije slagao. Osim toga, ona još nije bogata. |
| “You met her, I suppose?” | — Sreli ste je, pretpostavljani? |
| “Yes. She’d make a jazzy week-end, but she’d be wearing for a steady diet.” | — Da. Bila bi dobra za ludi vikend, ali zamorna svaki dan za ručak. |
| He grunted and I thanked him for his time and information and left. A gray Plymouth sedan tailed me away from the City Hall. I gave it a chance to catch up with me on a quiet street. It refused the offer, so I shook it off and went about my business. | On je zagunđao, a ja sam mu zahvalio na utrošenom vremenu i pruženim informacijama pa otišao. Siva me limuzina plvmouth slijedila od gradske vijećnice. Pružio sam joj šansu da se izravna sa mnom u nekoj tihoj ulici. Odbila je ponudu, i tako sam je otresao i produžio svojim poslom. |
