在费尔法克斯酒店门口，她告诉他：“开个房间，预付房费，尽量表现得好像你十分钟前才第一次见到我。”
At the door to the Fairfax Hotel she told him, “Get a room, pay for it in advance, and try to look as if you’d never seen me until ten minutes ago.”
“海伦，求你了……”
“Helene, please-”
“别显得那么尴尬。”
“And stop looking embarrassed.”
杰克叹了口气，决定配合她。那个孤单、衣衫褴褛的行李员带他们去了四楼一个肮脏的房间，收起小费后就离开了。他关上门，若有所思地看着她。
Jake sighed and decided to play along. The lone, shabby bellhop showed them to a dingy room on the fourth floor, pocketed his tip and went away. He closed the door and looked at her thoughtfully.
“既然我们来了，既然我们已经付了房费……”
“Since we’re here, and since we’ve paid for the room-”
“我知道你的意思，” 她说，“这是一个很好的想法，但这是一次公务入住。我希望你还带着马龙给你的那把万能钥匙。”
“I know what you mean,” she said, “and it’s a wonderful idea, but this is a business trip. I hope you still have that skeleton key Malone gave you.”
“我带着，但那又怎么样？如果冯?弗拉纳根在 514 房间安排了警察，那把钥匙对我们就没用了。”
“I have, but what of it? If Von Flanagan has a cop stationed in room five fourteen, the key won’t do us any good.”
“如果它能打开 514，那它也能打开 614。” 她打开门看了看。走廊里空无一人。海伦开始向楼梯走去；杰克满怀希望地跟在后面。
“If it will open five fourteen, it’ll open six fourteen.” She opened the door and looked out. The corridor was empty. Helene started for the stairs; Jake hopefully followed.
六楼的走廊也是空荡荡的。她带路走向 614 房间。
The sixth floor corridor was just as empty. She led the way to six fourteen.
“试试钥匙，祈祷它能用。”
“Try the key and pray that it works.”
钥匙能用。她打开灯，关上门并锁上。然后她从钱包里拿出一个用纸包着的小包裹，这是世界上的第八大奇迹，她打开它，拿出一根长长的粗绳子和一个大钩子。
It did. She switched on the light, closed and locked the door. Then she took a small, paper-wrapped package from her purse, woman’s eighth wonder of the world, unwrapped it, and took out a long piece of heavy cord and a large hook.
“我们要去‘钓鱼’了，” 她宣布。她把绳子牢牢地绑在钩子上，把这套装置递给杰克。“我还需要告诉你接下来该怎么做吗，还是你已经明白了？”
“We’re going fishing,” she announced. She tied the cord securely to the hook and handed the apparatus to Jake. “Do I need to suggest what to do next, or do you get the idea?”
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