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"Balcony?" Max asked curiously. "No, I had a passkey. I did not know about the balcony. It might have saved me some trouble had I known about it."
"It's not my balcony," explained Ausable angrily. "It belongs to the next apartment." He glanced explanatorily at Fowler. "You see," he said, "this room used to be part of a large unit, and the next room through that door there used to be the living room. It had the balcony, which extends under my window now. You can get onto it from the empty room next door, and somebody did, last month. The management promised to block it off. But they haven't."

Max glanced at Fowler, who was standing stiffly a few feet from Ausable, and waved the gun with a commanding gesture. "Please sit down," he said. "We have a wait of half an hour, I think."
"Thirty-one minutes," Ausable said moodily. "The appointment was for twelve thirty. I wish I knew how you learned about the report, Max."
The little spy smiled evilly. "And we wish we knew how your people got the report. But, no harm has been done. I will get it back tonight. What is that? Who is at the door?"
Fowler jumped at the sudden knocking at the door. Ausable just smiled, "That will be the police," he said. "I thought that such an important paper should have a little extra protection. I told them to check on me to make sure everything was all right."

Max bit his lip nervously. The knocking was repeated.
"What will you do now, Max?" Ausable asked. "If I do not answer the door, they will enter anyway. The door is unlocked. And they will not hesitate to shoot."
Max's face was black with anger as he backed swiftly toward the window; with his hand behind him, he opened the window and put his leg out into the night. "Send them away!" he warned. "I will wait on the balcony. Send them away or I'll shoot and take my chances!"
The knocking at the door became louder and a voice was raised. "Mr. Ausable! Mr. Ausable!"

Keeping his body twisted so that his gun still covered the fat man and his guest, the man at the window swung his other leg up and over the window sill.
The doorknob turned. Swiftly Max pushed with his left hand to free himself and drop to the balcony. And then as he dropped, he screamed once, shrilly.
The door opened and a waiter stood there with a tray, a bottle and two glasses. "Here is the drink you ordered, sir." He set the tray on the table, uncorked the bottle, and left the room.
White faced and shaking, Fowler stared after him. "But... but... what about... the police?" he stammered.
"There never were any police." Ausable sighed. "Only Henry, whom I was expecting."
"But what about the man on the balcony?" Fowler began.
"No," said Ausable, "he won't return."

参考译文

“阳台？”Max吃惊地问。“不，我用的是万能钥匙。我不知道有阳台，要是知道，就可以省去很多麻烦。”
“那不是我的阳台，”Ausable生气地解释道。“那是隔壁的阳台。”他用解释的眼神看着Fowler。“看，”他说，“这个房间曾是一套大房子的一部分，通过这个门进去的隔壁房间曾是起居室，它有一个阳台，一直延伸到我的窗下。你可以从下一个门所属的空房间进去，上个月就有人这么做了。管理处答应把这里堵住，但他们还没做。”

Max看了一眼Fowler，他在距离Ausable几尺远的地方僵硬地站着，以居高临下的姿态挥舞着一把手枪。“请坐下，”他说。“我想我们得等半个小时。”
“31分钟，”Ausable不快地说。“会面定在十二点半，我想知道你是怎么得知这份报告的，Max。”
这名小间谍阴险地笑了笑，“我希望知道你们是怎么得到这份报告的，但是，什么事都没做，我今晚会回去，那是谁？谁在门外？”
外面突然响起了敲门声，Fowler跳到门口。 Ausable笑了笑，“那是警察，”他说。“我想给这么重要的文件应该再加强一点儿保护，我让他们来确保一切平安无事。”

Max紧张地咬着嘴唇，门外，敲门声再次响起。
“你准备怎么办，Max？” Ausable问。“如果我不开门，他们还是会进来的。门没有锁，他们会毫不犹豫地开枪的。”
Max迅速向后朝窗子走去，他的脸因生气而发青，他一只手放在背后，打开窗子，把腿伸进外面的夜色中。“让他们走！”他警告说。“我会在阳台上等着，让他们走，否则我会开枪碰碰运气的。”
门外的敲门声越来越大，有人叫道，“Ausable先生，Ausable先生！”

Max扭动身子，好让枪可以同时对准胖子和他的客人，他抬起另一条腿，越过窗台。
门把手扭动了， Max用左手灵巧地把自己松开，落在阳台上。掉下去的时候，他惨叫了一声。
门开了，一名侍者走进来，手里端着一个托盘，上面是一瓶酒，两个杯子。“这是您点的酒，先生。”他把托盘放在桌子上，打开酒瓶，然后离开房间。
Fowler脸色苍白、瑟瑟发抖地看着他，“但是...但是...警察在哪儿呢？”他支吾道。
“根本没有什么警察，”Ausable叹气道。“只有我等的 Henry。”
“但是阳台上的那个人呢？” Fowler问道。
“不，”Ausable说，“他不会回来的。”

词汇释义

1.passkey n. 总钥匙,另配的,门闩钥匙

例句：
"Don't you need your key?" "Got a passkey. I'll be seeing you."
“难道你不要钥匙了吗？”“我有一把万能钥匙呢。回头见。”

2.stiffly adv. 顽固地，僵硬地

例句：
He bowed stiffly
他很不自然地鞠躬。

3.evilly adv. 邪恶地

例句：
He eyed her evilly.
他狠狠地看著她.

4.shrilly adv. 尖声地

例句：
The monkeys cry (out) shrilly when they see danger.
猴子遇到危险时尖声大叫.

5.stammer vi. 结结巴巴地说话,口吃? vt. 结结巴巴地说

例句：
He stammers when he feels nervous.
他一紧张就结巴。

难句讲解

1.I wish I knew how you learned about the report.

【参考译文】我想知道你是怎么得知这份报告的。
【结构解析】此处的wish表示“但愿，希望”，后面从句的动词用过去时，同后面的“And we wish we knew how your people got the report”用法一样。

2.Keeping his body twisted so that his gun still covered the fat man and his guest.

【参考译文】Max扭动身子，好让枪可以同时对准胖子和他的客人。
【结构解析】句中so that 是“以便，为了” ，比如： We study hard so that we can have a good future. 我们努力学习是为了我们能有一个好的未来。
与so...that的区别：so……that 是“如此……以至于”，比如：The coffee is so hot that I can't drink now. 咖啡太热了以至于我现在不能喝。