长篇鬼故事 - 低语者

【九】

“在萨缪尔眼中，斯塔文除了体格健壮还有点儿用外，又愚蠢又喜欢自作聪明。他本来嘱咐斯塔文擦干净顶棚上的灰尘，结果斯塔文偷懒没那么干。这件事让萨缪尔意识到，和这样一个人搭档迟早要让自己栽进去，不过那时他还没有动过干掉斯塔文的念头。让他下决心的，是葛森的生花妙笔。”沃特曼坐了下来，跷着腿。

“我明白了，演员最大的悲哀，就是观众记得他演出的某个角色，而漠视了他的存在；作家最大的烦恼，则是读者对他笔下的人物崇拜不已，对他却一无所知。报纸上的宣传，让斯塔文成了传奇人物，他比演员和作家更倒霉，主动介绍自己就等于认罪。”

“所以他认罪了。”

“他为了金钱而犯罪，为了‘荣誉’而认罪，对此他没有解释吗？”

“荒诞不经。”沃特曼眯缝着眼睛，鼻尖有点儿泛红，“他声称金钱是实现目标的工具，他的目的是为了证明自己存在的价值，认罪是为了让所有人知道他是个‘真实而伟大的天才’。真是个疯子。”

“不，我想他没疯。”面对沃特曼诧异的目光，我继续说了下去，“每个人都有展示自己的欲望，像他这种年龄的人，这种欲望格外强烈。遗憾的是，他的聪明才智用在了黑暗的世界，结果仙人掌和羊羔成了他的倾诉和发泄的对象。”

“你什么时候变得这么讲人道主义了？”沃特曼冷笑道，“这种论调让我想起了一句谚语：‘儿子在外边被抢劫，自己却在家里为表兄的感冒伤心欲绝’。”

“知道我最讨厌你哪里吗？就是明明自己很虚伪，却打着滚地试图证明别人虚伪。”

沃特曼脸上的肌肉抽动了一下：“你这么说太过分了。”

“这句话是我教给他的。”葛森从卧室里走了出来，“实际上就是这样，你刚才说萨缪尔杀了斯塔文‘某种程度’上要归功于我，实际上我认为全部都是我的功劳。”

沃特曼的脸一下子拉长了：“谢泼德，你没告诉我他在这里。”

我笑了笑，没吭声。

“有一件事我觉得很奇怪，特地等在这里想要跟你核实一下。”葛森不客气地坐在沃特曼身边，“萨缪尔和斯塔文合谋盗窃学校的钱财，你说他没有得手，实际上并非如此，他偷走了将近30万。”

“请注意你的言辞。”沃特曼冷笑一声，“我对你已经没任何耐性了。”

“那30万是校长资助你的贿选基金。”

“你——”

“校长对我承认了这件事。”

“他——”

“你心中有鬼，在萨缪尔死不承认的情况下，你不敢逼着他说明藏钱的地点，就要求校长再给你募集30万。他远没有表面上那么富有，相反，吝啬贪婪得很。我告诉他，被报纸披露后，指望你当市长回报他，比香格里拉还遥远。他分析利害后，对我说了实话。”

“他是在污蔑。”沃特曼很快冷静下来，“你胆敢血口喷人，我就把你告上法庭，这场官司我可是有得打。”

“另外一件事，斯塔文和萨缪尔并不是第一次作案。他们在两年前就犯下了抢劫的罪行，在那次案件中，我的女儿被害身亡。她的遗言中描述其中一个劫匪在抢劫过程中没有动手，而是躲在旁边自言自语。孙吉云成为我的房客后，我发现她的男朋友萨缪尔很可疑，后来发生的事让我更加肯定，他们就是杀害我女儿的凶手！”

“证据不充分。”我说。

“对，警察就是用这条理由打发了我。”葛森的双手握成了拳，“我记得那时接待我的警官就是你，沃特曼。”

“记不清了……不过这都是在按条例办事。”沃特曼呻吟似的解释道，“按你的说法，证据确实不足。”

“我不是在和你翻旧账。”葛森的双眼喷火，“我知道证据不足，因此我就制造了机会让萨缪尔因为嫉妒杀了斯塔文，这下子你有了充足的证据去指控他。但你只考虑自己的安危，怕他把你贿选的事情抖出去，对他的审问浅尝辄止。你找谢泼德调查案件，仅仅是为了查清钱在什么地方，这样萨缪尔很可能在法庭上被辩护律师以精神异常为借口，得以从轻发落。不，这可不行，必须让他得到应有的惩罚！”

“如你所愿，我回去就开始彻查。”沃特曼神情恍惚地说。

“交换条件是我无视你渎职的行为？”葛森讥讽地说，“我可以跟任何人谈条件，唯独你是例外。渎职加上贿选，恐怕你要体会一段全新的人生经历了。”

沃特曼摇摇晃晃地站起身，嘴里不知道在嘟哝着什么，梦游般地走出了我的家门。

“你猜他会找个什么东西来自言自语？”

“别刻薄了。”我拍了拍他的肩膀，“我倒是猜出了他在念叨些什么。”

“把‘真相’挂在嘴边的人，说得反倒大部分是假话。”

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