怪盗与名侦探：虹彩胸针之谜 Robben versus Chesterton: Iridescent Brooch

怪盗与名侦探：虹彩胸针之谜·卷一 Robben versus Chesterton: Iridescent Brooch (I)

流行于枫丹的娱乐读物，讲述了人称「幻影绅士」的怪盗方托马斯·洛本与名侦探切斯特顿之间第一次正面对决的故事。免责声明：本故事纯属虚构，与一切真实存在的地点、人物、事件均无关联。

An entertaining novel quite popular in Fontaine. It tells a story about the thief "Phantom Gentleman" Fantomas Robben and the famous detective Chesterton's first confrontation. Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to persons living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

叫我布瓦列特吧。几年前——别管它究竟是多少年前——我已经身无分文，在城外也没有什么让我特别留恋的事情，于是我便来到了枫丹廷，投靠我的叔父，著名的私家侦探，切斯特顿先生。然而，让我没有想到的是，他交给我的第一份任务，便是作为他的助手，追踪神出鬼没的怪盗洛本…

Call me Poiret. Some years ago — never mind how long precisely — having little or no Mora in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me outside of the city, I traveled to the Court of Fontaine and entered the care of my uncle Chesterton, the famous private detective. To my surprise, he immediately tasked me with assisting him in tracing Robben, the mysterious Phantom Thief...

午夜的枫丹廷原本不应如此冷清，然而，此时此刻，皮埃尔先生的宅邸附近，街道上却不见行人影踪，唯有秋夜的风声，如同悠长呜咽的琴音，回荡在清冷的月下。

The Court should not be so deserted at midnight, and yet, at this point in time, there was nary a person to be seen on the streets outside Mr. Pierre's mansion. Only the autumn night wind echoed beneath the cold moon like a lamenting harp.

阴影中，警员与记者都目不转睛地注视着不远处灯火通明的宅邸，等待着某位「贵客」的到来。

In the shadows, the police and journalists watched the well-lit mansion a stone's throw away like hawks, waiting for the arrival of a certain "esteemed guest."

如同所有的相关人士一样，我匿身于街道拐角的阴影中。漫长的等待让我不由感到有些乏味：

Like everyone else involved, I, too, was hidden in the shadow of a street corner. The long wait was beginning to bore me...

「已经过了这么久，洛本真的会来吗？」

"This is taking too long. Will Robben really show up?"

显然，来自蒸汽鸟报的记者小姐，对此似乎有着不同的见解，当即反驳：

The lady journalist from the Steambird seemed to hold a different opinion about this matter, and rebutted me immediately:

「一定会来的！怪盗洛本已经发出了预告信，说是要偷走那枚虹彩星石胸针——他是不会食言的！只是不知道，这一次，他会用什么样的帅气方式登场…」

"Of course he will! He's sent a message ahead, claiming that he shall steal that Iridescent Starstone Brooch — he's not going to go back on his word! The only question, really, is what sort of cool method he'll use to arrive at the scene this time..."

「哦？这么说来，你对他…」

"Hmm? You seem to be..."

「那是自然！不管是谁，都难免会对传奇的怪盗洛本心生倾慕吧！」

"Of course I am! It would be more surprising for someone to not be enamored with the Phantom Thief!"

正当记者小姐兴奋地向我介绍怪盗洛本的桩桩「丰功伟绩」时，时钟的指针悄然指向了零时零分。

And just as the journalist was excitedly regaling me with tales of this rogue's "great deeds," the clock struck midnight exactly.

突然，一阵爆破声响起，随即，宅邸的灯光尽数熄灭。不待我们适应突如其来的黑暗，耀目的闪光又从宅邸的窗口迸射而出，让夜幕也一时间亮如白昼。

Suddenly, there was a great explosion, and the mansion lights died all at once. Before we could adapt to the sudden darkness, a great light blazed forth from the mansion window, rendering the night day for a few moments.

好不容易恢复了视觉的警员们鱼贯而入，我也随波逐流，踏进了皮埃尔先生宅邸的收藏室。

Having recovered their sight, the police filed in, and I trailed after, stepping into Mr. Pierre's collection room.

台座上空无一物，虹彩星石胸针不知去向。

There was nothing on the dais — the Iridescent Starstone Brooch was gone.

面对显而易见的事实，无论是愤怒的吼叫，还是不甘的嘟哝，都显得苍白而无意义。渐近的嘈杂人声与渐远的爆破余音混在一起奏成不和谐的交响，真让人头疼。

Both the roars of rage and cries of dismay seemed washed out and meaningless in the face of this obvious truth. The hubbub of the crowd and the remnant sounds of the explosion formed a cacophonic mix that made my head hurt.

我没什么事可做，于是按叔父交代的，装模作样地在现场勘察了一番，之后便打道回府。

There was nothing for me to do, so as my uncle instructed, I pretended to investigate the scene before returning home.

离去之前，我听到身后传来快门声，以及记者小姐缺乏职业素养的赞叹：

Before I left, I heard the sound of a shutter behind me, and the lady journalist's most unprofessional gushing:

「啊——！传奇的侠盗洛本，又一次华丽地取走了不义之财！不愧是洛本大人，多么完美的表演！」

"Ah! The legendary Phantom Thief Robben makes yet another extravagant exit! A wonderful performance indeed!"

怪盗与名侦探：虹彩胸针之谜·卷二 Robben versus Chesterton: Iridescent Brooch (II)

流行于枫丹的娱乐读物，讲述了人称「幻影绅士」的怪盗方托马斯·洛本与名侦探切斯特顿之间第一次正面对决的故事。免责声明：本故事纯属虚构，与一切真实存在的地点、人物、事件均无关联。

An entertaining novel quite popular in Fontaine. It tells a story about the thief "Phantom Gentleman" Fantomas Robben and the famous detective Chesterton's first confrontation. Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to persons living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

好在现场与叔父家相去不远，我拖着疲惫的身躯回到家中。

Luckily, the crime scene was not far from my uncle's house, and I dragged my exhausted self back there.

叔父对我的归来没有任何特别的表示，他与往常一样，坐在他惯常的座位上，翻阅着手中的读物。

He did not react to my return, instead continuing to read at his usual spot, just as always.

「明天的《蒸汽鸟报》，想必会非常精彩吧。」

"I imagine that The Steambird's headline tomorrow will be quite a riot."

「您看起来似乎一点也不忧心。」我将外套挂好，扯开衣领的纽扣，在沙发上找了个舒适的位置坐下，将刚才发生的一切与现场的细节逐一讲述。

"You don't seem worried at all," I hung my coat up, unfastened my collar button, and sank into a comfy spot on the sofa, before giving him all the details of the incident.

「…最初的爆炸想来并非为了破坏房屋结构，而是用更大的声响掩盖发条机关动作的声音。」

"...The explosion was not intended to destroy anything within the mansion, but to cover up a different part of the Phantom Thief's plan. He was hiding the sound of a clockwork meka's movements underneath the loud sounds of the explosion."

「发条机关？带着这样笨重的机器，会很难逃脱吧，这么说来，发条机关一定留在了现场附近。说不定还能在发条机关上找到什么线索…看来洛本也不过如此，他离落网应该不远了。」

"A clockwork meka? He'd be hard-pressed to escape with something that large, so it must have been ditched somewhere nearby. And we may yet find some clues off of it... It seems that this Robben is not as clever as claimed — methinks we shall close the net around him soon."

「也不尽然。就像最初的爆炸只是为了掩护发条机关的行动，发条机关本身也未必不是另一重诱饵。」

"That is no certain thing. Just as the explosion was only used to hide the sound of the clockwork meka, the meka itself could also be little more than bait."

「搞得这么复杂。」我揉了揉自己的一头乱发，「那么关键的胸针的下落…」

"This is so complicated." I ran my hands through my messy hair. "And what about the brooch?"

「还被藏在宅邸里。」叔父顿了顿，「几重的设计都只为了一个目的，那就是让现场的警员认定胸针已经被带走。谁也不会想到，原以为失窃的物件仍留在室内。」

"It's still in the mansion." My uncle paused for a second. "All these tricks point to a single goal — convincing everyone that the brooch is already gone. No one could ever imagine now that the 'stolen' item is actually still on-site."

「那么——接下来，只需要伪造一个合适的身份，便可以光明正大地进入宅邸，在不引起任何人怀疑的情况下，顺势取走那枚胸针，不是吗？」

"After that, all he needs to do is to fabricate some identity that will grant him access to the mansion — in which case, he can swipe the brooch without raising any alarms."

怪盗与名侦探：虹彩胸针之谜·卷三 Robben versus Chesterton: Iridescent Brooch (III)

流行于枫丹的娱乐读物，讲述了人称「幻影绅士」的怪盗方托马斯·洛本与名侦探切斯特顿之间第一次正面对决的故事。免责声明：本故事纯属虚构，与一切真实存在的地点、人物、事件均无关联。

An entertaining novel quite popular in Fontaine. It tells a story about the thief "Phantom Gentleman" Fantomas Robben and the famous detective Chesterton's first confrontation. Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to persons living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

「原来如此，真是狡猾的家伙…」

"I see. What a cunning fellow..."

叔父饶有兴趣地盯着我，似乎在等待我继续说下去。于是我深吸一口气，开始述说自己的推理。

My uncle stared at me with obvious interest, as if waiting for me to continue. Seeing that, I took a deep breath and started explaining my deductions.

「正如您从前所说，排除一切不可能，剩下的无论多么难以置信，都只会是真相。那么，彼时在场的所有人，都有作案的嫌疑——不，最糟糕的情况下，或许所有这些人都是共犯，名为洛本的怪盗，原本便并非一人…」

"As you have said, when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. So with your hypothesis in mind, everyone at the scene could be guilty — and in the worst case, everyone could be involved. Robben the Phantom Thief may, in fact, be a group rather than a person..."

我回忆着那时在场的所有人，试图记起每一个可疑的细节。

I recalled everyone back there, trying to remember every trivial suspicious thing.

「来自蒸汽鸟报的露珀莱小姐，对洛本的崇拜昭然若揭。我检查过她的记者证，但伪造身份对洛本而言，原本便是家常便饭。」

"Ms. Leblanc from The Steambird is definitely an admirer of Robben. Well, I did examine her journalistic credentials, but forging identification papers should be easy for him."

「来自执律庭的夏恩德勒先生，在胸针失窃前，曾经短暂离开过现场，直至事件发生，才回到我们面前。至于他那副气急败坏的样子，如今想来，未免也有些刻意。」

"Mr. Chandler from the Maison Gardiennage left the scene for a time, and did not return till the theft had already happened. He was incredibly infuriated, but on further consideration, that might also have been an act."

「来自逐影庭的克里斯蒂女士，一直在向其他人强调洛本利用发条机关的可能性。根据您的说法，这也许正是洛本使用的障眼法。」

"Madame Christie from the Marechaussee Phantom has been stressing to everyone the possibility of Robben using a clockwork meka. Considering your hypothesis, this could in fact be a deliberate red herring."

……

...

「那么，在您看来，所有这些人中，最有可能是犯人的，究竟是谁呢？」

"Well, who do you think? Amongst all these people, who is the most likely to be the culprit?"

分析过所有在场之人的嫌疑，我小心翼翼地向叔父提问。

Having evaluated everyone for the possibility of guilt, I asked my uncle this question with much care.

「您的观察相当敏锐，」叔父放下手中的烟斗，站起身来，依然握着他那把在月光下映着冰冷光芒的白钢手杖，「但您似乎忽视了一点，对案件来说最关键的一点。」

"You have keen eyes indeed." My uncle put his pipe down and stood up, his steel cane glinting coolly in the moonlight. "However, you've missed something... something most vital to the case."

我愣了一下，而他则举起了手杖。

I was stunned for a moment. He raised the cane.

「您——前来投奔自己素未谋面的叔父、自称是『布瓦列特』的先生，彼时也在现场的人群当中。对吧，洛本先生？」

"You — the gentleman who came to see the uncle he has never met, claiming to be Poiret — were in the crowd back then, too. Am I not right, Mr. Robben?"