原名安杰洛的洛特斯·艾伦倒吸了一口气。“你是说——他决定变成迈克尔·文宁？”
Lotus Allen, nee Angelo, gasped. “You mean—he decided to bee Michael Venning?”
是马龙回答了她。“我说过他是个伟大的机会主义者。如果那真的是一场意外，而不是谋杀，可能就在那天在那所房子里，文宁躺在楼梯下死了，他把这一切都想了一遍。文宁一死，他投入那十万美元到他生意里的机会就没了，这是真的。但这也是一个天赐良机，让他余生都能成为百万富翁。除了极少数无关紧要的人，没有人知道文宁来过这个国家。他可以秘密地埋葬文宁，冒充他，毫无困难地从遗产受托人那里每月领取支票。他所要做的就是远离认识他或认识文宁的人。”
It was Malone who answered. “I said he was a great opportunist. If it really was an accident, not murder, probably that day at the house, with Venning lying dead at the foot of the stairs, he thought it all over. Not only was it true that with Venning dead his chance of the hundred grand to put into his business was gone. But this was a God-given chance to be a millionaire for the rest of his days. No one knew Venning had been in this country, save a very few and unimportant people. He could bury Venning secretly, impersonate him, and collect the monthly checks from the trustees of the estate without any trouble. All he had to do was stay away from people who knew him or knew Venning.”
他看着伊迪莎·文宁。“当然，他得考虑到文宁的遗孀。但老文宁的遗嘱对他很有利。”
He looked at Editha Venning. “Of course he had Venning’s widow to reckon with. But old Venning’s will was a powerful argument in his favor.”
她凝视着炉火。“如果我自己有任何钱的话——但我没有。那份遗嘱规定，只要迈克尔的遗孀活着，每年就给她两千美元。如果现在让我重新选择一次……”
She stared at the fire. “If I’d had any money of my own—but I didn’t. That will allowed two thousand a year to Michael’s widow as long as she lived. If I had it to do all over again now—”
她停顿了一下，用一只手遮住眼睛，抬起头来说：“我不知道，我可能也会做同样的事情。谁能说得清呢？我真的不知道。”
She paused, passed one hand over her eyes, looked up, and said, “I don’t know, I might do the same thing. Who is to say? I honestly don’t know.”
“这是个艰难的决定。”海伦温柔地说，把目光移开。
“It was a hard decision,” Helene said gently, looking away.
伊迪莎·文宁轻轻地叹了口气。“其实非常简单。有几年我们会去一些我们完全陌生的地方——澳大利亚、爪哇、印度支那。杰拉尔德认为，随着时间的推移，会有足够多的人忘记迈克尔的长相，这样当杰拉尔德以他的身份出现时，人们只会觉得在东方的几年让他有点变化，仅此而已。他们身高、体型和肤色都差不多，长相也不是很不一样。”她停顿了一下，皱起眉头。“一旦我同意了，我就陷入其中了。从那以后，我也没有办法出卖他而不暴露自己。”
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