读者文摘:美国历史上最大的彩票骗局(2)

"I was convinced it would never be claimed," says Mary Neubauer, the Iowa Lottery¹'s vice² president of external relations, of the jackpot.

“爱荷华州彩票机构负责对外关系的副总裁玛丽·纽鲍尔在谈到这个头奖时说：“我当时确信它永远不会被认领。”

And it wasn't, until exactly a year after the drawing—less than two hours before the 4 p.m. deadline—

它确实没有被认领，直到开奖后整整一年——离下午四点的截止时间不到两个小时的时候——

when representatives from a Des Moines law firm showed up at lottery head-quarters with the winning ticket.

得梅因市的一家律师事务所的代表们拿着中奖彩票出现在彩票总部。

The firm was claiming the prize on behalf of a trust whose beneficiary was a corporation in Belize.

该公司代表一个信托基金来领取奖金，该信托基金的受益人是伯利兹的一家公司。

Its president was Philip Johnston—the same man who said he'd worn a sports coat to buy the ticket.

该公司的总裁是菲利普·约翰斯顿-就是声称穿了运动外套来买彩票的那名男子。

"It just absolutely stank³ all over the place," says Terry Rich, chief executive of the Iowa Lottery.

爱荷华州彩票机构的首席执行官特里·里奇表示，“这是个充满着肮脏的地方。”

So they held on to the jackpot while the attorney general's office opened an investigation⁴. But it went nowhere.

因此，当司法部长办公室展开调查时，他们仍然坚持中了头奖。但调查不了了之。

Two years later, a baby-faced district attorney named Rob Sand inherited the languishing⁵ lottery file.

两年后，一个长着娃娃脸、名叫罗布·桑德的地区检察官接手了这份日渐衰落的彩票文件。

In college, Sand had studied computer coding before going to law school, where his specialty⁶ was white-collar crime.

在大学里，桑德在进入法学院之前学过计算机编码，他的专业是白领犯罪。

Still, this case stumped⁷ him. His best evidence was that grainy video of a man in a hoodie,

尽管如此，这个案子还是难倒了他。他最有力的证据是一个穿着连帽衫的男人的模糊视频，

so he decided⁸ to release the footage to the media, hoping it might spark leads—and it did.

因此，他决定将这段录像公诸于媒体，希望能找到一些线索-而后确实找到了。

The first came from an employee of the Maine Lottery who recognized the distinct voice in the video as that of a man who had conducted a security audit⁹ in their offices.

第一个线索来自缅因州彩票机构的一名员工，他认出视频中男子独特的声音，这名男子在他们的办公室做过安全审计。

A web developer at the Iowa Lottery also recognized the voice: It belonged to a man she had worked alongside for years, Eddie Tipton.

爱荷华州彩票公司的一名网络开发人员也认出了这个声音：这个声音属于她共事多年的同事埃迪·蒂普顿。

Eddie was the information-security director for the Multi-State Lottery Association, based in Des Moines.

埃迪是位于得梅因市的多州乐透协会的信息安全主管。

Among the games the association ran: the Hot Lotto. Eddie cut a big figure around the lottery office.

协会经营的彩票项目包括：热乐透。埃迪在彩票公司赚了大钱。

He wrote software, handled network firewalls, and reviewed security for games in nearly three dozen states.

他编写软件，处理网络防火墙问题，并审查了近36个州的彩票安全。

His life revolved¹⁰ around his job; he sometimes stayed at his desk until 11 p.m. When a coworker was in a bad mood,

他的生活围绕着他的工作转；他有时在办公桌前呆到晚上11点。

one colleague said, Eddie would pat him on the shoulder and say, "I just want you to know I'm your friend."

一位同事说，当某个同事心情不好时，艾迪会拍拍他的肩膀说，“我只想让你知道我是你的朋友。”

But he was also a paranoid sort. He rarely paid with credit cards, worried about people tracing his identity.

但他也是一个偏执的人。他很少用信用卡支付，担心人们追查他的身份。

In private moments, Eddie told friends he was lonely and wanted a family more than anything.

私下里，艾迪对朋友们说，他很孤独，最想要的是一个家庭。

He built a 4,800-square-foot, $540,000 house in the cornfields south of Des Moines, complete with five bedrooms and a stadium-style home theater.

他在得梅因市以南的玉米地建造了一栋面积4800平方英尺、价值54万美元的房子，包括五间卧室和一个体育场风格的家庭影院。

Friends wondered why a single man needed such a big house and how he could afford it on his salary.

他的朋友们好奇为什么一个单身汉需要一个这么大的房子，凭他的薪水怎么负担得起。

Eddie told them he had poured his savings¹¹ into the house in hopes of filling it with a wife and children.

艾迪告诉他们，他把积蓄都投进了房子里，希望能有个老婆和孩子。

But the right partner never came along.

但是对的人却从未出现。

1 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 stank   

n. (英)坝，堰，池塘 动词stink的过去式

参考例句：

• Her breath stank of garlic. 她嘴里有股大蒜味。
• The place stank of decayed fish. 那地方有烂鱼的臭味。

4 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

5 languishing   

a. 衰弱下去的

参考例句：

• He is languishing for home. 他苦思家乡。
• How long will she go on languishing for her red-haired boy? 为想见到她的红头发的儿子，她还将为此烦恼多久呢？

6 specialty   

n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长

参考例句：

• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town.贝雕是该城的特产。
• His specialty is English literature.他的专业是英国文学。

7 stumped   

僵直地行走，跺步行走( stump的过去式和过去分词 )； 把（某人）难住； 使为难； （选举前）在某一地区作政治性巡回演说

参考例句：

• Jack huffed himself up and stumped out of the room. 杰克气喘吁吁地干完活，然后很艰难地走出房间。
• He was stumped by the questions and remained tongue-tied for a good while. 他被问得张口结舌，半天说不出话来。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 audit   

v.审计；查帐；核对；旁听

参考例句：

• Each year they audit our accounts and certify them as being true and fair.他们每年对我们进行账务审核，以确保其真实无误。
• As usual,the yearly audit will take place in December.跟往常一样，年度审计将在十二月份进行。

10 revolved   

v.（使）旋转( revolve的过去式和过去分词 )；细想

参考例句：

• The fan revolved slowly. 电扇缓慢地转动着。
• The wheel revolved on its centre. 轮子绕中心转动。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。