陪审法官

The realist in murder writes of a world in which gangsters can rule nations and almost rule cities, in which hotels and apartment houses and celebrated restaurants are owned by men who made their money out of brothels, in which a screen star can be the fingerman for a mob, and the nice man down the hall is a boss of the numbers racket; a world where a judge with a cellar full of bootleg liquor can send a man to jail for having a pint in his pocket, where the mayor of your town may have condoned murder as an instrument of moneymaking, where no man can walk down a dark street in safety because law and order are things we talk about but refrain from practising; a world where you may witness a hold-up in broad daylight and see who did it, but you will fade quickly back into the crowd rather than tell anyone, because the hold-up men may have friends with long guns, or the police may not like your testimony, and in any case the shyster for the defense will be allowed to abuse and vilify you in open court, before a jury of selected morons, without any but the most perfunctory interference from a political judge.

写谋杀小说的现实主义作家所写的世界中，歹徒可能统治国家，甚至城市。在那里，旅馆公寓、有名的酒楼餐厅的主人是靠开妓院发财的，电影明星可能是盗匪的眼线，大厅里那个彬彬有礼的人可能是彩票老板。在这个世界里，法官藏有一地窖的私酒，却可能因一个人口袋里有一瓶酒而送他进监牢；你家乡的市长可能为了到手钱财而对谋杀案眼开眼闭；入夜之后无人敢在街上行走，因为法律和治安是句空话，从来没有实行过。在这个世界里，你很可能在光天化日之下见到有人沿路拦劫，明明看清楚是谁在作案，但是你马上躲开，混到人群中去，不愿出来告发，因为拦劫的人可能有朋友为他报复，或者警方可能不喜欢你出庭作证，不管怎样，为被告辩护的恶讼师可以在法庭上对你百般侮辱，因为陪审团里都是他们挑选的低能儿。有党派背景的法官除了敷衍一下外不会加以干涉。

The Honorable Jane Doe, Associate Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts.

简·德阁下，马萨诸塞州最高法院陪审法官

As she looked at Warrington's manly face, and dark, melancholy eyes, she had settled in her mind that he must have been the victim of an unhappy attachment.

每逢看到沃林顿那刚毅的脸，那乌黑、忧郁的眼睛，她便会相信，他一定作过不幸的爱情的受害者。

Maybe they'll disappear into a pothole.

也许他们将在壶穴里消失