但是亲眼见到你的工作情况
But to see it firsthand, I mean, to watch you work…
真不可思议
is incredible.
这并不难 那家伙的老婆对我意思
Well, it wasn’t hard, Robby. The guy’s wife liked me.
而且他还是个外行人
Besides, he was an amateur.
对付外行人可容易多了
It’s too easy with amateurs.
你要判断谁是专家 谁又不是
See, you try to figure out who’s professional and who isn’t.
当你理解其中的乐趣时
That’s when it gets fun when you…,
也就成为专家了
when you run into a pro.
我的员工就算把鼻子贴到上面
You know, most of my salesmen couldn’t sniff out a phony claim…
也没能发现欺诈行为 但你…
if their noses were nailed to it, but you…
你从未失手
man, you never miss.
有什么失手的
What’s to miss?
你只要期待人的阴暗面 就不会失手
You learn to expect the worst in people, and you get it.
每个人都在尝试着做一名好人
Everyone’s looking to play an angle.
而我就善于清理他们的失败
I’m always there to clean up the mess.
告诉你吧
I’ll tell you what.
别当自♥由♥工作者了 替我做事吧
You stop freelancing, join my staff.
我不会亏待你的
I’ll make it worth your while, Trent.
算了吧 罗比
Forget it, Robby.
我向来独来独往 没人可以约束我
I’m my own man. Nobody pulls my strings.
自立愉快
I’m independent, I’m happy.
好吧 那再为我做件事
Well, be my man one more time.
是”奥法”那边的烂摊子
I’m having quite a difficult mess with Arcane.
那家出版社?
The publishing house?
对 我最大的客户
Yeah, my biggest account.
他们申报的保险赔偿要让我破费百万
They just filed a claim that cost me millions.
我想要你立即接手
I want you on this right away.
什么样的事件
What’s the claim?
撒特·凯恩失踪了
Sutter Cane is missing.
谁?
Who?
撒特·凯恩
Sutter Cane.
你读撒特·凯恩的书吗?
Do you read Sutter Cane?
什么?
What?
恐怖小说家撒特·凯恩
Horror writer Sutter Cane
是一种无伤大雅的流行现象
a harmless pop phenomenon…
还是极度疯狂的小说预言家?
or a deadly mad prophet of the printed page?
这是今天在城里几家书店外的情景
This was the scene today outside several city bookstores.
警方相信骚乱源于
Police believe the riots began
书店没有足够的订单数量
because the stores could not meet the demand…
顾客无法预订撒特·凯恩的新书
for advance orders of Sutter Cane’s latest novel…
《战栗黑洞》
“In the Mouth of Madness.”
何时小说成为了宗教信仰?
When does fiction become religion?
他的书迷危险吗?
And are his fans dangerous?
如果斧头也算的话
Only if you count axes.
据报导 已有18家书店出现暴♥力♥事件
In related news, there were 18 other stores across the city reporting…
特伦特先生
Mr. Trent.
特伦特先生
Mr. Trent.
你可以会见哈格洛先生了
Mr. Harglow will see you now.
谢谢
Thank you.
你没听懂 我说了昨天就要
You’re not listening to me. I needed it yesterday.
如果你再拖延下去 那头版也可以说再见了
If you wait any longer, it’ll be all over the front page.
快点搞定
Get it done!
我是杰克森·哈格洛 特伦特先生 幸会
Jackson Harglow, Mr. Trent. I’m pleased to meet you.
幸会
It’s a pleasure.
抱歉这里一团糟 我们遇到了一些运营危机
Excuse the commotion. We have something of a crisis going on.
所有人请出去
Now everybody out, please.
我要和特伦特先生谈谈
I need time with Mr. Trent.
让希薇亚去接电♥话♥ 把琳达叫进来
Have Sylvia hold the calls, and you get Linda in here.
是 哈格洛先生
Yes, Mr.Harglow
很有威严 连我都想出去了
Gee. That was great. I almost left myself.
请坐
Sit down, please.
这几天来我也很烦躁
I am a little short on patience these days I afraid.
那么特伦特 你熟悉”奥法”公♥司♥吗?
So, Mr. Trent, are you familiar with Arcane?
除了你们在我的雇主那儿投了保险以外
Well aside from that you’re insured by the company I work for.
不好意思 此外我对”奥法”一无所知
I never heard of Arcane. I’m sorry.
你看书吗?
You read books?
琳达斯·黛尔丝 这位是约翰·特伦特
Linda Styles, John Trent.
琳达的工作就是看书 是我们最好的编辑之一
Linda reads books for a living. She’s one of our best editors.
自从她任职开始 就负责撒特·凯恩的书稿
Since she joined the firm she’s been handling Sutter Cane exclusively.
撒特·凯恩
Sutter Cane.
就是那个写三流恐怖小说的家伙
Isn’t he the guy that writes that horror crap?
看来他对你来说太深奥了
Maybe he’s too sophisticated for you.
撒特·凯恩被喻为是本世纪最出色的小说家
Sutter Cane happens to be this century’s most widely read author.
史蒂芬·金都算不上什么
You can forget about Stephen King.
肯恩的书比他们畅销
Cane outsells them all.
那么你的摇钱树怎么了
So what happened to this cash cow of yours?
肯恩两个月前失踪了
Cane disappeared two months ago without a trace.
警方没有任何发现线索
The police have turned up nothing.
最后一个知道他音讯的人是谁
Who was the last person to hear from him?
他的经纪人
His agent.
不到两周前 肯恩将其新作中的几章寄给了他
Cane mailed him several chapters of his new book, oh, not two weeks ago.
褐色包裹 没有寄信人地址
Plain brown wrapper. No return address.
噢 抱歉 你介意吗
Oh, gee, I’m sorry. You don’t mind, do you?
那个经纪人最后说了什么?
What’d the agent have to say?
你听过他说的了
Well, you heard what he had to say.
什么意思?
What are you talking about?
那个可怜的人在曼哈顿区发疯的时候
I understand you were there when the poor man went crazy
你也在场吧
in midtown Manhattan. You…
我想你亲眼看到他被击毙了
witnessed the shooting, I believe.
那个拿着斧头的疯子就是肯恩的经纪人?
That lunatic with the ax? That was Cane’s agent?
难以置信吧
Hard to believe, isn’t it?
这个胜过史蒂芬·金的家伙是该找个更好的经纪人
Yeah, well, you’d think a guy that outsells Stephen King could find better representation.
不好意思
Excuse me.
只是个玩笑而已
It’s just a little joke.
现在没心情开玩笑
Well, we’re not in the mood.
我送你出去 特伦特先生
I’ll see you out, Mr. Trent.
谢谢
Thank you.
肯恩是身价亿万的人
Cane is a billion-dollar franchise.
他可是这个公♥司♥的支柱
He’s the tent pole to this company.
我们已经卖♥♥掉了他新书的电影版权
We’ve already sold the film rights to his new book…
以及十八种语言的出版权
as well as publication rights in eighteen languages…
但你们就是没有那本新书
The book you can’t find?
他的经纪人至少拿到了一部分
Well, his agent found it, at least part of it.
你认为他看了这部最新的作品
You think he took one look at this latest work of art
然后在光天化日之下玩起了斧头
and went ax-happy in broad daylight?
很不错
I think it’s great.
大幅提升”奥法”的公众知名度
It’s great promotion for Arcane, great publicity.
这可不是炒作 你当时也在场
This was not a publicity stunt. You were there.
肯恩的书被认为会影响那些不理智的读者
Cane’s writing has been known to have an effect on his less stable readers.
怎么个影响?
An effect? Like what?
迷失 失忆
Well, disorientation, memory loss…
严重的妄想反应
severe paranoid reaction.
人们花钱就为了感受这个?有意思
People pay money to feel like that? It’s cute.
真该写到广♥告♥里 – 等一下
Put it in the press kit. – Look.
我们需要你
We need you.
那…
OK.
不如我们下班后 一起看看他的资料
why don’t you and I get together after work? We’ll go through his files.
我看还是算了
I don’t think so.
我要看看他的合同 文件 你懂的
I need to see his contracts, papers, you know.
算了吧
Impossible.
他的经纪人全权负责 我们甚至不知道肯恩住哪
His agent was a total buffer. We don’t even know where Cane lives.
那你知道什么?
What do you know?
在他失踪的大约一年前
Well, for about a year before he disappeared
他的书变得古怪 偏激 更诡异
his work became erratic, bent, more bizarre than usual.
他开始相信他写的都是真的 不是虚构
He became convinced his writing was real, not fiction.
然后书稿也不送来了
Then the work stopped coming.
我要知道他活着还是死了
I need to know if he’s alive or dead.
而且我需要那本书
And I need that book.
我们已经尽量拖延出版日期了
We’ve delayed publication as long as we can.
书迷们越来越焦躁了
His fans are getting really restless.

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