書蟲1級《雪莉·霍姆斯和立陶宛青年案》4. 男朋友

4. The boyfriend

The next day I'm in the street in my car, opposite the house. I have a cup of coffee, a newspaper, and a lot of time. I want to see Tomas, and talk to him. Then I can make my report to Mrs Williams, and the job is finished.

At 17.45 Carrie walks down the street, and goes into the house. I'm watching carefully now. People are coming home from work... in cars, on bicycles, on foot. Lots to watch. Two people go into the house, a young woman and a short, older man with white hair.

At 18.25 a young man walks down the street. Tall, with dark hair. He walks to the front door, and in two seconds I'm out of the car, across the street, and standing behind him at the door.

He opens the door, and turns to look at me.

Hi!' I say. 'OK to come in? I'm visiting Mike Westerbrook at number six.'

Yes, that's OK,' the young man says. He holds the door open for me, and we walk up the stairs together.

Nice and sunny today,' I say. 'But rain's coming in later, they say.'

Mmm,' says the young man.

At the top of the stairs he turns to the door with number 4 on it, gets out his key, and opens the door. Suddenly, I run back to him.

In two seconds I'm standing behind him at the door.

Hey, excuse me! Is this yours? It was on the floor.' In my hand I'm holding a weekly bus ticket. It's more than two months old, but he can't see that because I've got my hand over the date.

He looks at the ticket, and I look through the open door of number 4... and see Carrie in the room. Then I'm through the door and inside the apartment.

Hey!' the young man shouts at me. 'What are you doing? Who are you? Get out!'

I turn to Carrie. 'Hello, Carrie,' I say. 'Did you text your mum last night?'

The young man is next to me now. 'Who is this?' he says to Carrie. 'What's this about?' He stares at me angrily.

Carrie looks angry too. 'She's a private investigator,' she tells the young man. 'Mum sent her. I talked to her yesterday in the café. I told you, remember?'

Ah!' The young man suddenly smiles. He has a very nice smile. 'How exciting! I never met a private investigator before. How do you do? I am Tomas Varnas, and I'm very pleased to meet you.'

He holds out his hand, and we shake hands. Wrong name, I think. Not the name on the door. But this is the Lithuanian boyfriend.

Shirley Homes. Pleased to meet you too,' I say. 'I'm sorry about this. But I need to talk to you. Carrie's mother—'

Of course,' says Tomas. 'I understand. Please – sit down. Can I get you some coffee?'

Hello, Carrie,' I say. 'Did you text your mum last night?'

He and Carrie make coffee, and we all sit down round a table. Tomas looks at me, smiling.

So,' he says. 'You want to ask me questions, so you can tell Carrie's mother all about me. I am very happy about that. What do you want to know? Shall I begin?'

So I listen to the story of Tomas Varnas's life. He is nineteen years old, and comes from Vilnius in Lithuania. He came to London six months ago because he wants to start a business. His family make linen cloth in Vilnius, and Tomas wants to sell it in England. At the moment he's working Monday to Friday in a hospital because he needs the money. But he's selling linen in the street market on Saturdays. Business is good, and is getting better every week.

Carrie wants to tell me more about it. 'It's beautiful linen, you know. The best in the world. I'm learning all about it.' She's excited, I can see it in her green eyes.

Tomas is smiling. 'Carrie is very good with the colours of the linen,' he says. 'She wants to work with me. And she's good at business too – very good. Better than me.'

He puts the back of his hand against Carrie's face, just a touch, a very gentle touch, and smiles into her eyes. She looks up at him, and the love in her eyes is clear. For a second or two the world stops for them. These two young people are very much in love.

Carrie looks at me again. 'Everybody wants to wear clothes made of linen now, you see. So our business is going to get bigger.'

Tomas is selling linen in the street market on Saturdays.

Lots of hard work,' says Tomas. 'But we're young, we can work hard, no problem about that. But we do have one problem.' He looks at Carrie. 'Your family.'

Oh, that!' Carrie says. 'Not important. I don't need them. We're fine without them.'

Not so,' Tomas says gently. 'Your mother is unhappy, your little brother is unhappy, and your father too.'

No, he isn't! My father is a horrible man! We have arguments all the time. Every day he tells me, "do this, don't do that, do this." He's always right, and I'm always wrong! Always! He never listens to me. He doesn't understand me, he doesn't want to understand me. He's just horrible...'

Shhh, shhh,' Tomas says. 'When people are angry, sometimes they say bad things. Maybe they don't really think that. You and your father have a lot of arguments, and you both get angry and say things.'

Yes, but...' Carrie says.

I sit and listen. This is not their first argument, and it's not going to be their last one. It's interesting to listen to them. Tomas is very gentle with Carrie, but he's strong too. He's in love, but he still thinks clearly.

Er, excuse me,' I say. 'I'm still here, you know.'

They look at me. Tomas laughs. 'Sorry!' he says. 'We talk about this often. In the end, Carrie must go back home. She knows that.'

No, I don't!' says Carrie. 'I'm not going back home. No way!'

But Carrie – you can't cut your family out of your life. Family is important. My family is important to me. And I want you to have your family too... to be friends with your mother, and your father. And your little brother!'

They're off again. I'm trying not to smile. This argument is going to run and run. I think Tomas is good for Carrie.

Well, I'm done here,' I say. 'It was good to meet you, Tomas. I can tell Mrs Williams about you now. And, well... good luck to both of you.'

Carrie smiles. 'Thanks, Shirley. Can I call you Shirley? Ant and Janice said you were all right. I sent mum a text last night, you know.'

Tomas stands up too. 'I must get home now,' he says.

I stare at him, surprised. 'Home? You live here, in this apartment. Don't you?'

No, no, no,' Tomas says. 'Of course not! Carrie is fifteen. We cannot marry before she is sixteen years old. It is against the law. So of course I don't live here. It is not correct.'

But this is your apartment—?'

No, no,' Tomas says again. 'It's my sister's apartment. Carrie lives here with my sister, Ruta Varnaite. She's working late tonight. I have a room with a friend near Putney Bridge.'

I'm very surprised. I sit down again and look at Carrie. 'Why didn't you tell me? Everybody thinks you're living with Tomas.'

They're off again. I'm trying not to smile.

Carrie doesn't look pleased. 'Well, I didn't tell them that. But my dad always thinks the worst. And sometimes my mum too. But we can get married next year, when I'm sixteen.'

Tomas laughs. He pulls her hair, gently. 'Sixteen is still very young to get married. We can wait. I want to know your family first, and you want to know my family.'

Yes, I really want to meet your family,' Carrie says. 'But you don't want to meet mine, you really don't.'

Tomas pulls her hair again, not so gently this time. 'Of course I do. I want to talk to your father, I want him to like me. We have all the time in the world, Carrie. Let's just take our time, eh?'

Carrie tries to look angry, then she laughs, and puts her arms around him.

Tomas and I leave the house together. He walks with me to my car.

I'm sorry about Mr Williams,' he says. 'I think he loves Carrie a lot. Maybe I can meet him and talk to him one day. But Mrs Williams doesn't need to be afraid for Carrie. Please tell her that.'

Of course,' I say. I've got a lot to say to Mrs Williams. Tomas and I shake hands again, and say goodbye.

I drive back to my office, and check my messages. There's a message from Saheed. Call me about the Lithuanian boyfriend.

I send him a text.

Found the boyfriend, thanks.

And the girl. All well, no problems.

Easy case, nothing horrible.

But thanks for the help!

SH

A text comes back from Saheed at once.

Oh, thanks a lot! I made 12 phone calls for you, all for nothing! Next time, YOU can help ME!

SP

Oh dear! Saheed is not pleased. I often need his help so I must be nice to him. I send him another text.

Sorry! Really really sorry!

Can I buy you a beer tonight?

SH

A text comes back from him.

OK. The King's Arms, by the river.

9 o'clock this evening. See you.

SP

linen n. a kind of strong cloth made from flax 亞麻（布）

touch n. the action of putting your hand or finger on something or somebody 觸摸；碰

gentle adj. quiet and kind 溫和的；輕柔的

strong adj. not easily frightened or influenced; powerful 堅(jiān)決的；堅(jiān)定的；有力的

4. 男朋友

第二天，我到了那條街，把車停在那座樓房對面，坐在車?yán)?。我有一杯咖啡、一份?bào)紙，還有大把的時間。我想見托馬斯，跟他談?wù)劇Ｈ缓?，我就可以向威廉斯太太匯報(bào)，我的工作也就完成了。

下午5點(diǎn)45分，卡麗從街的一頭走過來，進(jìn)了那座樓房。我開始仔細(xì)觀察。人們下班回家……開車的、騎車的、步行的，我目不暇接。有兩個人走進(jìn)那座大樓，是一個年輕的女人和一個比她年長的白發(fā)矮個子男人。

6點(diǎn)25分，一個年輕小伙子從街那頭走過來。高個子、深色頭發(fā)。他走到那座大樓的前門，兩秒鐘后，我下了車，穿過街道，站在他的身后。

他開了門，扭頭看著我。

“嗨！”我說，“我能進(jìn)去嗎？我要去六號的邁克·韋斯特布魯克家?！?/p>

“行，進(jìn)來吧，”那年輕人說。他替我撐住門，我們一起上樓梯。

“今天天氣真好，陽光普照，”我說，“不過，他們說等一會兒會下雨?！?/p>

“嗯?！蹦贻p人應(yīng)道。

到了頂樓，他朝四號公寓走過去，掏出鑰匙，開了門。我猛地轉(zhuǎn)身向他跑過去。

“嘿，請問，這是你的嗎？掉在地上了。”我手里攥著一張公共汽車周票。車票是兩個多月前的，但是他看不到，因?yàn)槲矣檬终谧×巳掌凇?/p>

他看了眼車票，這時我從開著的四號公寓門朝里看，看到卡麗在屋里。于是我從門口進(jìn)入公寓。

“哎！”那個年輕人沖我喊，“你干什么？你是誰？出去！”

我轉(zhuǎn)身面對著卡麗。“你好，卡麗，”我說道，“你昨晚給你媽媽發(fā)短信了嗎？”

這時，那個年輕人走到我旁邊。“她到底是誰？”他問卡麗，“這是怎么回事？”他生氣地瞪著我。

卡麗看起來也很生氣。“她是個私人偵探。”她告訴那個年輕人說，“我媽媽叫她來的。我昨天在咖啡館跟她聊過。我告訴過你的，記得嗎？”

“噢！”那個年輕人一下子笑了起來。他的笑容很討人喜歡?！岸嗝戳钊伺d奮！我從沒見過私人偵探呢。你好！我叫托馬斯·瓦納斯，很高興見到你。”

他伸出手來，我們握了握手。名字不對，我心想。不是門上的名字。不過，這的確是那個立陶宛男朋友。

“雪莉·霍姆斯。我也很高興見到你?！蔽艺f道，“我很抱歉，不過，我得跟你談?wù)?。卡麗的媽媽……?/p>

“當(dāng)然可以。”托馬斯說，“我理解。請——坐下。要給你來杯咖啡嗎？”

他和卡麗沖了咖啡，我們圍著桌子坐下來。托馬斯看著我，面帶笑容。

“那么，”他說，“你想問我一些問題，以便把我的一切情況轉(zhuǎn)告卡麗的媽媽。我很樂意幫忙。你想知道些什么？我可以開始說了嗎？”

于是，我聽托馬斯·瓦納斯講了他的故事。他今年19歲，來自立陶宛的維爾紐斯。他六個月前來到倫敦，想自己做生意。他的家人在維爾紐斯生產(chǎn)亞麻布，托馬斯想在英國銷售布料。目前，他周一到周五在一家醫(yī)院上班，因?yàn)樗枰@筆收入。但是他周六會在街頭市場上賣亞麻布。生意還不錯，而且一周比一周好。

卡麗想告訴我更多情況：“你要知道，是很漂亮的亞麻布。世界上最好的亞麻布。我正在全面了解這方面的知識。”她很興奮，我從她綠色的眼睛里能看出來。

托馬斯露出笑容。“卡麗對亞麻布的顏色感覺很敏銳，”他說道，“她想跟我一起干。而且她對做生意也很在行——非常在行，比我強(qiáng)。”

他的手背碰了碰卡麗的臉頰，只是輕輕一觸，非常輕柔，含笑看著她的雙眼。她抬頭凝望著他，眼里充滿愛意。有那么一兩秒鐘，世界為之靜止。這兩個年輕人彼此深愛著。

卡麗再次看著我?！澳阒溃F(xiàn)在人們都想穿亞麻布料的衣服，所以我們的生意會做得更大?！?/p>

“要付出很多的努力，”托馬斯說道，“不過我們還年輕，我們可以勤奮工作，這一點(diǎn)毫無問題。不過，我們確實(shí)面臨一個問題，”他看著卡麗，“你的家人?！?/p>

“噢，這個?。　笨愓f道，“這個不重要。我不需要他們。沒有他們我們也挺好的?！?/p>

“不是這樣的，”托馬斯溫柔地說，“你媽媽不快樂，你弟弟不快樂，你爸爸也不快樂?！?/p>

“不，我爸爸不會！我爸爸是個討厭的家伙！我們總是爭吵。他每天都嘮叨，‘做這個，別做那個，做這個?！肋h(yuǎn)對，而我永遠(yuǎn)錯！永遠(yuǎn)！他從不聽我的想法。他不理解我，他不想理解我。他討厭極了……”

“噓，噓，”托馬斯說，“有時候，當(dāng)人們生氣時，他們說話會很難聽。也許他們心里并不那么想。你和你爸爸吵過很多次，你們都在氣頭上，說了些氣話。”

“是的，可是……，”卡麗說道。

我坐在那里傾聽。這不是他們第一次爭執(zhí)，也不會是最后一次。聽他們爭執(zhí)很有意思。托馬斯對卡麗很溫柔，但他也很堅(jiān)決。雖然他在戀愛中，但他的頭腦仍然清醒。

“呃，對不起，”我說道，“要知道，我還在這兒呢?！?/p>

他們都轉(zhuǎn)向我。托馬斯笑著說：“對不起。我們經(jīng)常討論這件事?？愖罱K必須回家，她知道這一點(diǎn)。”

“不，我不知道！”卡麗說，“我不會回家的。沒門兒！”

“可是，卡麗，你不可能把家人排除在你生活之外。家人非常重要。我的家人對我很重要。我希望你也有家人……希望你跟你爸爸、你媽媽，還有你弟弟和睦相處。”

他們又開始爭執(zhí)起來。我努力克制，不讓自己笑出來。這場爭論會無休止地進(jìn)行下去。我認(rèn)為托馬斯很適合卡麗。

“嗯，我的任務(wù)完成了。”我說，“托馬斯，見到你很高興。我現(xiàn)在可以跟威廉斯太太說說你的情況了。還有，呃……祝你們倆好運(yùn)！”

卡麗笑了。“謝謝你，雪莉。我能叫你雪莉嗎？安特和賈尼絲說你人不錯。你知道，我昨天晚上給我媽媽發(fā)了條短信?！?/p>

托馬斯也站了起來?！拔业没丶伊耍彼f道。

我驚訝地盯著他?！盎丶遥磕阕∵@兒，就在這套公寓里，不是嗎？”

“不，不，不，”托馬斯連聲說，“當(dāng)然不是！卡麗今年15歲。她滿16歲之前我們不能結(jié)婚，否則是違法的。所以，我當(dāng)然不住這里。那樣是不對的。”

“但這不是你的公寓——？”

“不，不是，”托馬斯又連聲否認(rèn)，“這是我姐姐的公寓。卡麗跟我姐姐住在這兒，我姐姐叫魯塔·瓦內(nèi)特。她今晚會工作到很晚。我跟一個朋友合住，在帕特尼橋附近?！?/p>

我非常驚訝，又坐了下來，看著卡麗?！澳銥槭裁床桓嬖V我？每個人都以為你跟托馬斯住在一起了。”

卡麗看起來不太高興。“哼，我又沒有告訴他們我跟托馬斯住在一起。可是我爸爸總是把事情往最壞的地方想。有時候我媽媽也這樣。不過明年等我年滿16歲我們就可以結(jié)婚了。”

托馬斯笑了。他拽了一下卡麗的頭發(fā)，非常輕柔。“16歲結(jié)婚還是太早了。我們可以等。我想先認(rèn)識你的家人，你也想認(rèn)識我的家人?！?/p>

“是的，我的確想見你的家人，”卡麗說，“但是，你不想見我的家人，你肯定不愿意。”

托馬斯又拽了一下她的頭發(fā)，這次沒那么溫柔了?！拔耶?dāng)然想了。我想跟你爸爸聊天，我想讓他喜歡上我?？悾覀冇械氖菚r間。我們慢慢來，好嗎？”

卡麗使勁想繃起臉，但還是笑了。她抱住了托馬斯。

我和托馬斯一起離開公寓樓。他陪著我走到我的車邊。

“我為威廉斯先生感到難過，”他說，“我認(rèn)為他很愛卡麗。也許有一天我可以跟他見面聊聊。但是，威廉斯太太大可不必為卡麗擔(dān)心。請告訴她這一點(diǎn)?！?/p>

“我會轉(zhuǎn)告她的?！蔽艺f。我有很多事要告訴威廉斯太太。托馬斯和我再次握手，互相告別。

我開車回到辦公室，查看電話留言。薩希德有留言：有關(guān)那個立陶宛男朋友的事，請給我回電話。

我給他發(fā)了條短信：

找到那個男朋友了，謝謝。

還找到了那個女孩。一切都好，沒什么麻煩。

簡單的案子，沒什么麻煩。

但還是感謝你的幫助！

SH

薩希德很快回復(fù)了一條短信：

噢，非常感謝！我給你打了12個電話，都毫無音信！下次，你來幫我！

SP

慘了！薩希德不高興了。我經(jīng)常需要他幫忙，所以我得對他好點(diǎn)。我又給他發(fā)了條短信：

對不起！真的非常非常抱歉！

今晚能請你喝杯啤酒嗎？

SH

他回復(fù)了一條：

好吧?！皣跏直邸?，河邊那家。今晚9點(diǎn)。稍后見。

SP