Disregarding the song of the birds, the green trees, and the smell of the flowers, Jimmy went straight to a restaurant. There he ordered a roast chicken and a bottle of white wine and a better cigar than the one the warden had given him. Then he walked slowly to the railroad station. He put a quarter into the hat of a blind man sitting by the door, and took a train. Three hours later he arrived at his native town, went directly to the cafe of his old friend Mike Dolan and shook hands with Mike, who was alone behind the counter. “Sorry we couldn’t make it sooner, Jimmy, my boy,” said Mike. “It wasn’t so easy this time and we had a lot of trouble. Are you all right?”

基米沒有理會(huì)鳥鳴、綠樹和花香，徑直向飯店走去。到了那里，他要了一份燒雞、一瓶葡萄酒和一支比監(jiān)獄長給他的要好的雪茄，隨后慢慢地踱向了火車站。他向坐在門邊的盲人的帽中丟了2角5分錢。3個(gè)小時(shí)之后，他來到了自己的家鄉(xiāng)，直奔他的好友邁克·杜蘭開的咖啡館而去，跟獨(dú)自站在柜臺后面的邁克握了握手�！昂鼙�歉我們沒有早些辦成，基米，我的孩子，”邁克說，“這次可真不容易，我們費(fèi)了不少周折。你一切都好吧？”

“Fine,” said Jimmy. “Have you got my key?”

“很好，”基米說，“你沒拿我的鑰匙吧？”

He took his key and went upstairs, unlocking the door of his room. Everything was just as he had left it. There on the floor was still the collar-button that had been torn from the shirt of Ben Price—the well known detective—when Price had come to arrest him. Jimmy removed a panel in the wall and dragged out a dust-covered suitcase. He opened it and looked fondly at the finest set of burglar’s tools in the East. It was a complete set, made of special steel. The set consisted of various tools of the latest design. He had invented two or three of them himself, and was very proud of them. Over nine hundred dollars they had cost him! They had been made at X., a place where they make such things for the profession.

他拿了鑰匙就上了樓，打開他房間的門。一切都和他離開時(shí)一樣。地板上那顆領(lǐng)扣還在，這是那個(gè)著名偵探本·普萊斯逮捕他時(shí)，從他的襯衫上撤掉的。基米移開墻壁上的一塊嵌板，取出一只積滿灰塵的手提箱。他將它打開之后，愛惜地瞧著那套在東部最出色的盜竊工具。這是完整的一套，是用特種鋼制成的，包括各種最新式的工具，其中兩三件還是他自己發(fā)明的，對此他感到非常自豪。他為這套工具花費(fèi)了900多美元。這是在某地制作的，那個(gè)地方以制造這種東西而聞名。

In half an hour Jimmy went downstairs and walked through the cafe. He was now dressed in an elegant new suit, and carried his cleaned suitcase in his hand. “What are you going to do next? To break another safe?” asked Mike Dolan smiling cheerfully.

半小時(shí)后，基米下了樓，穿過咖啡館，現(xiàn)在他穿上一套新穎雅致的衣服，手里提著擦拭一新的手提箱�！跋乱徊綔�(zhǔn)備做什么呢？撬開另一個(gè)保險(xiǎn)柜吧？”邁克·杜蘭笑道。

“I don’t understand. I’m representing the New York Amalgamated Biscuit Company.”

“我不懂你的意思，我是紐約聯(lián)合陶器公司的代表。”

This statement delighted Mike to such an extent that he gave Jimmy a seltzer-and-milk on the spot. Jimmy never touched “hard” drinks.

這一番話把邁克逗樂了，他為此馬上遞給基米一杯礦泉牛奶�；�米是從來不碰烈性飲料的。

A week after the release of Valentine, 9762, there was a new safe-burglary in Richmond, Indiana. Only eight hundred dollars were stolen. Two weeks after that another safe was opened and fifteen hundred dollars disappeared; securities and silver were untouched. That began to interest the detectives. A few days later the Jefferson City Bank was robbed and banknotes amounting to five thousand dollars were taken. The losses were now so high that it was time for so well known a detective as Ben Price to begin investigation. When all the cases were compared, a striking similarity in the methods of burglaries was noticed. Ben Price investigated the scenes of the robberies and was heard to say.

在9762號范林丁釋放一周之后，印第安那州的里土滿又發(fā)生了一起保險(xiǎn)柜被盜事件。只有區(qū)區(qū)800美元。兩星期后，一家保險(xiǎn)柜再次被盜，1500美元不翼而飛，證券和銀器紋絲未動(dòng)。這開始引起了偵探的注意。又過了幾天，杰弗遜市銀行被盜，被竊走了5000美元�，F(xiàn)在損失的數(shù)目越來越大，因此該由本·普萊斯這樣大名鼎鼎的偵探來著手偵查。在比較了所有的案件之后，普萊斯偵探發(fā)現(xiàn)盜竊手法如出一轍。本·普萊斯調(diào)查了這些盜竊案的現(xiàn)場。爾后，人們聽他說道：

“That’s all Jimmy Valentine’s work. He’s resumed business. He’s got the only tools that can open any safe without leaving the slightest trace. Yes, it is Mr. Valentine.”

“這都是基米·范林丁干的。他又重操舊業(yè)了。他有非常出色的工具，可以打開任何保險(xiǎn)柜而又不留下任何蛛絲馬跡。是的，這是范林丁干的。”