I said, "go on trying to get hold of him."

"I'm sorry, sir."

"Forget it. It's just one of those things."

His young enthusiastic voice (if only one could still feel that enthusiasm for a routine job: how

many opportunities, flashes of insight one misses simply because a job has become just a job),

his voice tingled up the wire: "You know, sir, I can't help feeling that we ruled out the possibility

of murder too easily. There are one or two points ..."

"Put them on paper, Carter."

"Yes, sir. I think, sir, if you don't mind my saying so (Carter is a very young man) we ought to

have him dug up. There's no real evidence that he died just when the others said."

"I agree, Carter. Get on to the authorities."

Martins was right! I had made a complete fool of myself, but remember that police work in an

occupied city is not like police work at home. Everything is unfamiliar: the methods of one's

foreign colleagues: the rules of evidence: even the procedure at inquests. I suppose I had got into

the state of mind when one trusts too much to one's personal judgement. I had been immensely

relieved by Lime's death. I was satisfied with the accident. I said to Martins: "Did you look

inside the newspaper kiosk or was it locked?"

"Oh, it wasn't exactly a newspaper kiosk," he said. "It was one of those solid iron kiosks you see

everywhere plastered with posters."

"You'd better show me the place."

"But is Anna all right?"

Мультиязыковой проект Ильи Франка www.franklang.ru

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"The police are watching the flat. They won't try anything else yet."

I didn't want to make a fuss and stir in the neighbourhood with a police car (я не хотел

устраивать шум и волнение в окрэге полицейской машиной), so we took trams (так что мы

сели в: «взяли» трамваи)—several trams (несколько трамваев), changing here and there

(делая пересадки здесь и там; to change – менять(ся), делать пересадку), and came into the

district on foot (и пришли в тот район пешком). I didn't wear my uniform (я не носил мою

униформу = на мне не было униформы), and I doubted anyway (и я сомневался все равно)

after the failure of the attempt on Anna (после неудачи покушения на Анну), whether they

would risk a watcher (рискнули ли бы они: «если они бы рискнули» наблюдателем). "This is

the turning (это есть тот поворот)," Martins said and led me down a side street (Мартинс

сказал и повел меня вдоль: «вниз» (по) переулку; to lead – вести). We stopped at the kiosk

(мы остановились у киоска). "You see he passed behind here (вы видите он прошел сзади

здесь) and simply vanished (и просто исчез)—into the ground (в землю)."

"That was exactly where he did vanish to (именно туда он и исчез)," I said (я сказал).

"How do you mean (что вы имеете в виду)?"

An ordinary passer-by (обычный прохожий) would never have noticed (никогда бы не

заметил) that the kiosk had a door (что киоск имел дверцу), and of course it had been dark

when the man disappeared (и конечно было темно когда тот человек исчез). I pulled the door

open (я открыл дверь: «я потянул дверь открытой») and showed to Martins the little curling