1. A missing daughter

Somebody is ringing my office doorbell. It's ten past nine on a Monday morning. That's early for a client to call. But perhaps this is going to be a good week. Last week business was not very good. I need some new clients.

I look at my computer. I want to see the person before I open the door. The little camera over the door shows me a woman in a raincoat. About forty, maybe. Not rich. The raincoat is a cheap one, from the street market. She's carrying a newspaper, the Putney Gazette.

I hit the 'open door' button on the wall. The door opens, and the woman comes in.

Are you the private investigator? Shirley Homes?' she asks. She looks around the office, probably looking for someone older.

I am.' I use my older person voice. 'Please sit down, Mrs... er...'

Williams. Edith Williams,' she says. She sits down in my best chair, and looks around the office again, still looking for that older person.

How can I help you, Mrs Williams?' I say. 'What's your problem?'

She looks at me then, and the trouble in her face is clear.

Do you find people?' she says. 'Can you find my daughter? She left home five weeks ago. Just walked out. Took all her things, and walked out. And not a word from her. No phone calls. Not even a text. Nothing.'

The little camera over the door shows me a woman in a raincoat.

Edith Williams is nearly crying now.

Why?' I ask.

I'm careful. Family problems can be dangerous. You open a door, and all kinds of dark and horrible things come out. And when those dark and horrible things are out, you can never put them back in again.

Edith Williams is still trying not to cry.

Why, Mrs Williams?' I say again. 'Why did your daughter leave home? Was there an argument?'

Not with me, no. It's her father, he...' Now she really is crying. Five weeks of crying, all in two minutes in my office.

I get her a cup of coffee, and sit on a chair next to her.

Tell me all about it, Mrs Williams. Take your time.'

The daughter, Carrie, is fifteen, I learn. She likes boys, has lots of boyfriends, doesn't listen to her parents. So what's new? Many fifteen-year-old girls are like that.

But the new boyfriend, Edith Williams says, is older, and he's not English. He's a foreigner, from Lithuania.

I remember my Ukrainian grandmother, my Greek mother. Foreigners.

Is that a problem for you?' I ask. 'A foreigner?'

Tell me all about it, Mrs Williams. Take your time.'

Not for me, but it is for my husband,' Edith Williams says. 'He doesn't like foreigners. They come here, he says, they take our jobs, they take our houses, they take our money. And they can't speak English. He gets very angry about it. He says some horrible things to Carrie. “I don't want this foreigner in my house,” he says, and Carrie goes crazy. She calls her father some horrible names, and he gets really angry. He's shouting, and Carrie's crying. They don't stop for hours.'

Edith Williams stops for a second. She can still hear the shouting and the crying, I think.

And what happened next?' I ask quietly.

The next day,' Mrs Williams says, 'Carrie left. Early in the morning, before we all got up. She left a letter.'

Have you got the letter?' I ask.

Yes, I have.' She gives the letter to me, and I read it quickly. An angry letter, from an angry fifteen-year-old. Nothing useful. I give the letter back to her.

I asked all her friends,' Mrs Williams says. 'Everyone. They didn't know – or they didn't want to tell me. And she's stopped going to school.'

What about the police?' I ask.

I can't go to the police. My husband doesn't want to see her again. We can't even say her name at home.'

We? Who's we?'

Me and Darren. He's Carrie's little brother. He's ten. He's very unhappy about all this.'

Carrie calls her father some horrible names, and he gets really angry. He's shouting, and Carrie's crying.'

I must meet Darren. Ten-year-old boys can be very useful. They see and hear a lot.

Edith Williams looks at me with her red eyes. 'Can you find her for me? I just want to know she's all right. And this boyfriend, this Lithuanian... What's he like? How old is he? What does he do? Is he kind? Is he the right person for my little girl?'

I take the job. I ask for a photograph of Carrie, the names of friends, the school, mobile phone numbers.

Can I talk to Darren?' I ask.

Yes, we can meet him after school,' Edith Williams says. 'But please don't come to my house. Please. My husband...'

I understand,' I say. 'I can text you when I have some news.'

She doesn't know the name of the Lithuanian boyfriend. That's really helpful. There are thousands of Lithuanians in London. Finding one young man without a name in thousands of people? How easy is that!

missing adj. lost, or not in the usual place 失踪的

doorbell n. a bell on a house door which you push to tell the people inside you are there 门铃

client n. a person who pays another person for help 客户；顾客

business n. 1.your work, your job 工作；业务　2.making and selling things 生意；商务

private investigator a detective who is not in the police, and who has private clients 私人侦探

problem n. something that is difficult, or that worries you 困难；疑难问题

trouble n. problems in your life which you are worried about 苦恼，烦恼

walk out to leave (one's family or partner) and go to live somewhere else 离家出走

text n. a written message on a mobile phone （手机）短信 v. to send such a message 发送短信

horrible adj. very unpleasant and often frightening or worrying 可怕的，吓人的

argument n. talking angrily with someone because you do not agree 争执；争吵；争论

really adv. 1. in fact, actually 事实上；真地 2. very or very much 非常

take one's time do something slowly or do not hurry 慢慢来；不着急

foreigner n. a person from another country 外国人

crazy adj. very angry 非常生气的

1. 失踪的女儿

我办公室的门铃响了。现在是周一早上9点10分，客户来访的话时间尚早。不过，也许这周的生意会不错。上周的生意不是很好，我需要些新的客户。

我看着电脑。我想先看清楚门外是谁再开门。安在门上方的那个小摄像机显示有一个穿着雨衣的女人。她40岁左右，不是有钱人，那件雨衣是从街头集市买的廉价货。她手里拿着一份《普特尼公报》。

我按下墙上的“开门”按钮。门开了，那个女人走了进来。

“你就是那个私人侦探吗？叫雪莉·霍姆斯？”她问道。她环顾办公室，也许是在寻找一个年纪比我大的人。

“我就是。”我用我听起来比实际年龄大的嗓音说：“请坐，呃……太太。”

“威廉斯，伊迪丝·威廉斯。”她说。她在我最好的那把椅子上坐下来，然后环顾四周，仍然在寻找一个比我年纪大的人。

“有什么需要我帮忙吗，威廉斯太太？”我问道。“您有什么困难？”

这时她才看着我，她的苦恼清晰地写在脸上。

“你找人吗？”她问道，“你能替我找女儿吗？五个星期前她离开了家，就这样出走了。她拿走了自己所有的衣物，就再也没回来。至今都没有她的消息，也没打电话，甚至都没发一条短信。什么都没有。”

说到这儿，伊迪丝·威廉斯快要哭出来了。

“为什么？”我问道。

我很谨慎。家庭问题可能会比较棘手。你打开一扇门，各种隐秘的和可怕的事情就都被抖搂出来。一旦那些隐秘的、可怕的事情被抖搂出来，你就再也无法把它们封存回去了。

伊迪丝·威廉斯还在强忍着眼泪。

“为什么，威廉斯太太？”我再问一遍，“您女儿为什么离家出走？吵架了吗？”

“不是跟我，不是。是跟她父亲，他……”这回她真的哭出来了。五个星期的眼泪啊，来我办公室两分钟之后全都倾倒出来了。

我给她倒了杯咖啡，坐到她旁边的椅子上。

“把事情经过全告诉我吧，威廉斯太太。不着急，慢慢说。”

然后我得知，她失踪的女儿叫卡丽，15岁。她喜欢男孩子，有很多男朋友，不听父母的话。这有什么新鲜的呢？很多15岁的女孩都那样。

伊迪丝·威廉斯说，但是她新交的这个男朋友比她大，而且不是英国人。他来自立陶宛。

我想起我的祖母是乌克兰人，我母亲是希腊人。她们都是外国人。

“这对你来说是个问题吗？”我问，“外国人？”

“对我来说不是问题，但是对我丈夫来说是个问题。”伊迪丝·威廉斯说，“他不喜欢外国人。他说他们来这里，抢走了我们的工作，占领了我们的房子，拿走了我们的钱。而且他们不会说英语。他对此感到非常气愤。他对卡丽说了些难听的话。他说：‘我不要让这个外国人出现在我家里。’卡丽气疯了。她用很难听的话骂她父亲，他气坏了。他在大吼大叫，卡丽在哭。他们吵了好几个小时。”

伊迪丝·威廉斯沉默了一会儿。我想，她耳边仍然能听到吼叫声和哭泣声吧。

“后来发生什么呢？”我轻声问。

“第二天，”威廉斯太太接着说道，“卡丽走了。趁我们都还没起床，一大早就走了。她留下了一封信。”

“信您带来了吗？”我问。

“有，我带来了。”她把信递给我，我飞快扫了一眼信的内容。字里行间充满了愤怒，出自一个愤怒的15岁少女之手。没有什么有用的信息。我把信还给她。

“我问了她所有的朋友。”威廉斯太太说，“每个朋友都询问过了。她们都不知道，或者她们不想告诉我。她已经不去上学了。”

“警察那边有什么消息？”我问。

“我不能去警察局报警。我丈夫不想再见到她。我们在家里甚至不能提她的名字。”

“我们？‘我们’是谁？”

“我和达伦。他是卡丽的弟弟，今年10岁。现在发生的这一切让他非常伤心。”

我必须见见达伦。10岁的孩子也许可以帮上大忙。很多事情都逃不过他们的眼睛和耳朵。

伊迪丝·威廉斯用红肿的眼睛看着我。“您能帮我找到我女儿吗？我只是想知道她没事。还有，她的这个男朋友，这个立陶宛人……他长什么样？多大了？他是做什么工作的？他人好吗？他适合我女儿吗？”

我接下了这活儿，向她要了一张卡丽的照片、卡丽朋友们的名字、学校的名字和所有相关人员的手机号码。

“我能跟达伦谈谈吗？”我问道。

“可以，我们可以去接他放学。”伊迪丝·威廉斯说，“不过，请不要去我家。千万别去。我丈夫……”

“我明白，”我说，“有消息的话，我可以给你发短信。”

她不知道她女儿的那个立陶宛男朋友的名字。名字可是真正有用的线索。伦敦有成千上万的立陶宛人。从这成千上万人当中找到一个不知道名字的年轻人？谈何容易！