谎言书：12

“Who’s Mitchell Siegel?”

My dad turns to me as I say the name, but not for long. He turns back to the

coffin² and starts circling it, trying to figure out how to get it open.

“You didn’t look him up?” I ask.

“Of course I looked him up. Deer farts, remember? So according to this,

Mitchell Siegel is just a normal 1930s average Joe. Lived in Cleveland for

years . . . ran a tailor shop . . . had a nice family.”

“Why’d he get killed?”

“No one knows. Death certificate says two men came in and stole some

clothes.”

“He was killed for clothes?”

“It was the Depression — I have no idea. Like I said, the case is unsolved.

Just a bullet in this guy from this gun. Just like your dad.”

“Yeah,” I say as my father grips the lid at the top corner of the coffin and

tries to lift it open. It doesn’t budge³. He tries the bottom corner. Same thing.

I went to my first funeral when I was nine years old. With our clientele,

Roosevelt and I went to lots more. Even I know coffins⁴ are locked with a key.

“Oh, and in case you needed even more news of the odd: This guy Mitchell?

He’s the father of Jerry Siegel.”

“Am I supposed to know that name?”

“Jerry Siegel. The writer who created Superman.”

“Like Clark Kent Superman? As in ‘faster than a speeding bullet’?”

“Apparently⁵ his dad wasn’t. Bullet hit Mitchell square in the chest,” Benny

says. “Kinda kooky, though, huh? The gun that shoots your dad is the same

one that shot the dad of Superman’s creator?” He lowers his voice, doing a

bad Vincent Price. “Two mysteries, nearly eighty years apart. You not hearing

that Twilight⁶ Zone music?”

“Yeah, that’s very—” Across from me, my dad reaches into his pocket, pulls

out what looks like a small L-wrench, and slides it into a small hole at the

upper half of the casket. Is that—? Son of a bitch. He’s got a key.

“Benny, I gotta go,” I say, and slap my phone shut.

I rush toward my dad, whose back is still to me. Outside, the multiple sirens

in the distance go suddenly silent, which is even worse. “Where’d you get

that?” I shout.

He doesn’t turn around.

“Lloyd, I’m talking to you! Where’d you get that key!?”

Still no response.

There’s a loud thunk as he twists the metal key. The bolt in the coffin slides

and unlocks.

When my dad first saw the coffin, he was definitely scared. But the way his

hands crawl like tarantulas across the side — as fast as they’re moving — now

he’s excited. Digging his fingers into the lip of the casket, he lets out the

smallest of grunts⁷.

With that, the coffin opens.

22

“Hold on . . . I’m booting up now,” Special Agent Naomi Molina said,

reaching down to turn on her home computer while working hard not to spill

her oatmeal across her keyboard. It was harder than it looked. But like any

Jewban (Jewish mom, Cuban dad), finding balance was everything for her.

It started when Naomi was eleven years old, which was when she discovered

her first calling, sports (over Dad’s screaming, “Cuban girls should only wear

dresses!”). Taller than all the prepubescent boys, young Naomi was an all-star

catcher two years in a row.

“Jeez, Nomi, whatcha on, a Speak and Spell there?” Scotty teased through

the phone, laughing his snorty laugh.

“Scotty . . .”

“Yeah?”

“Shut up,” Naomi said through a mouthful of oatmeal as she flipped⁸ through

the files she’d been faxed this morning. She had known something was wrong

when Timothy didn’t report in last night. She’d been working with him at ICE

for nearly two years now. Timothy always reported in.

When Naomi was sixteen and fully⁹ hugging her wild side, she started working

at her dad’s repo shop, translating insurance documents from Spanish to

English. And when her father died a few years later, that’s when she found

her second calling.

“What kinda oatmeal?” Scotty asked. “No . . . lemme guess: cinnamon,

brown sugar.”

Naomi stayed silent and swallowed another spoonful, hating that at thirty-four

years old, she’d become that predictable.

She was eighteen when she went out on her first repo job, breaking into an

old orange Camaro with an ease that would’ve made her dad proud. That was

the next five years of her life: cars, boats, motorcycles, Jet Skis, even a plane

once — she could find and break into anything. It was dangerous, though.

And that was always the problem with the repo business: lots of headache, no

stability, and it always attracted the worst employees — sleeping all day and

working all night makes for a tough crew to manage. But Naomi managed it

— even loved it — until the parties went too late and the drinking was too

much.

She saw it in her boyfriend first, when he started with the heavier drugs.

Then with her friend Denise, who called her up one morning and in a heroin¹⁰

rush said, “Nomi, I can’t handle Lucas. My head’s not on straight and — and

— and — I’m thinking of — I don’t wanna hurt my boy!” she’d sobbed¹¹ about

her son. “Please, Nomi — I’m dropping him off now — I need you to take him!

Just for — I need to get better!” Lucas was two at the time. Today he was

eight. He’d been with Naomi every day in between.

Every life has forks in its road. And sometimes, the tines of that fork stab

deep. A year later, her repo business was sold, her boyfriend was long gone,

and Naomi Molina was back to translating documents for a local insurance

company. It took three months for the itch¹ of excitement to hit, which was

when she applied¹² for a job at Customs, eventually getting promoted to her

third calling: as a special agent at ICE.

For nearly two years, she’d been working with Timothy, which is why she got

the report about his abandoned car being found on Alligator¹³ Alley¹⁴ this

morning. But in total, all it took was four short years for an impatient, plus-size,

single girl with a splash of purple hair to be magically transformed into

an impatient plus-fluffy-size single mom with a L’Oréal medium-maple dye job

and an eight-year-old son who refused to learn how to tie his shoes.

“Mom,” young Lucas asked as he entered the living room, “can you—?”

“You wanted basketball shoes, tie them yourself,” Naomi threatened, still

poring over the reports as her computer finally began to boot up. “Otherwise,

wear the Velcro ones.”

“Didja try teaching him using two bows?” Scotty asked through the phone in

his heavy Bronx accent.

“Scotty . . .” Naomi shot back.

“Yeah?”

“You have kids?”

“Nope.”

“It shows. Two bows is harder. And the more frustrating¹⁵ it gets, the more

he’ll cry, and the more I’ll be forced to consider abandoning this life with

nothing more than the clothes on my back and a bag of mint Milanos.”

“That’s funny, Naomi — but I seen your office and the way you taped all

those photos around the edge of your monitor. Whattya got, forty, fifty pics

there? Everyone knows whatcha think about that boy.”

Again, she stayed silent. At least once a year, Naomi’s mother would call and

not-so-subtly hint about how her daughter’s life — how everything from the

repo business, to the adopted son, to the filthy¹⁶ law enforcement job — how

everything somehow found her. But Naomi knew that when it came to this

life, she was the one who found it.

That was always Naomi’s specialty¹⁷. Finding things. That’s what her dad taught

her — from repossessed cars, to bad guys on the job . . . to finding what

happened to her partner, Timothy, when he left the Port of Miami at four a.m.

and drove out to Alligator Alley. Where the hell could he be?

On-screen, she opened the e-mail from Scotty and clicked on the embedded¹⁸

link. The video footage started playing in front of her.

“Okay, I got it — this’s from last night?” she asked as she looked at a shot of

the roof of the H-shaped warehouse¹⁹. “Those pole cameras still don’t do

color?”

“Just watch.”

Sure enough, a white Crown Vic pulled up into the corner of the screen. But

for a full two minutes, no one got out. Timothy must’ve been talking to

someone. “How’s the audio?” Naomi asked.

“Poor. Keep watching. . . .”

The passenger door flew open, and a man with a baseball hat jumped out,

then got back in the car. A minute later, Baseball Hat stepped out again,

followed by Timothy, who got out on the driver’s side and quickly checked

over his own shoulder. No question, they were worried about something.

“And that’s the best we got?” Naomi asked. “Sixty-million dollars’ worth of

increased surveillance, and we’re outdone by a . . .” She hit the pause button

and squinted²⁰ at the screen. “Is that a Homeland Security baseball cap?”

“There’s lots of cameras. We’re collecting all the footage now.”

“What about Timothy’s cell phone?”

“Nothing to trace, which means it’s either smashed, underground, or

underwater. I’m telling you, it’s ugly, Naomi. They’re combing the canals, but

it’s been five hours since—”

“Mom, can I wear flip-flops?” Lucas asked, walking into the living room with

them already on his feet.

Naomi turned, her eyes filled with fire. “You are not wearing flip-flops, y’hear

me!?” But even as the words left her lips, she caught her breath, cursed the

existence of winter break, and brushed her medium-maple brown hair back

behind her ear. “That’s — It’s fine. Flip-flops are fine.”

“Naomi, you okay?” Scotty asked through the phone.

“Yeah, I’m — I’m just doing the preliminaries for my son’s future therapy.”

With a deep breath, she added, “Tell me you at least have Timothy’s phone

records.”

“Sending them right now. Apparently, he didn’t place a call all night — but at

two-fourteen a.m., he did get one from a guy named Calvin Harper.”

Gazing at the computer screen, Naomi studied the frozen black-and-white

image of the blurry²¹ man with the baseball cap.

Cal.

One of their own. Smart enough to know about the cameras. Of course it was

Cal.

“Don’t worry. I can definitely find him,” Naomi called out as she tossed her

cell phone to her son. “Lucas, call Nana. Tell her I need her to come over

earlier.”

23

“Don’t touch it!” I call out. “It’s evidence!”

“Evidence?” my dad asks, shaking his head. “You’re not a cop anymore, Cal.

Screw evidence. From here on in, we need to figure out how to stay alive —

and near as I can tell, it’s by finding out what’s really going on and nabbing

whatever’s in here.”

He motions down at the open, white-velvet-lined casket, where a dead Asian

man with black hair and surprisingly dark skin lies, arms crossed over his

chest. He’s slightly off center, a result of all the shaking and tugging²² we did to

get the coffin out.

Best of all, he has firm skin, lots of makeup²³, and not a bit of smell. He’s been

embalmed²⁴. But it’s his fine pin-striped suit, Yale tie, and pristine²⁵ manicure

that tells me he’s from money.

“Okay, enough already,” I growl²⁶ at my dad. “What the eff is going on?”

Down on his knees and ignoring the question, he squints²⁷ into the coffin like

he’s searching for a lost contact lens.

“Lloyd . . .”

“Help me open the other side,” he says, his voice racing²⁸. With a shove, he

flips²⁹ open the lower lid, revealing the interior at the foot end of the casket.

It’s cluttered³¹ like the back of an old junk drawer: a silver key ring, some dead

flowers, a dark wooden rosary, half a dozen family photos, a broken comb

(which I think is a tradition in China), a bottle of perfume, a stethoscope

(maybe a doctor), and even a full set of clothes wrapped and tied neatly³² in a

blue bow. Accompaniments for the afterlife.

I go for the photos, trying to figure out who this dead guy is. My father goes

for the clutter³⁰. He pushes aside the flowers and digs underneath³³ the pile of

perfectly³⁴ folded clothes. He’s searching for something, and as fast as he’s

moving — he already knows it’s there.

At the bottom of the interior chamber³⁵ of the coffin, there’s a flat white

package the size of a FedEx delivery envelope wrapped in what looks like an

oversize Ziploc bag.

My father yanks it out. There’s a zigzagging³⁶ smile on his face.

1 itch   

n.痒，渴望，疥癣；vi.发痒，渴望

参考例句：

• Shylock has an itch for money.夏洛克渴望发财。
• He had an itch on his back.他背部发痒。

2 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

3 budge   

v.移动一点儿；改变立场

参考例句：

• We tried to lift the rock but it wouldn't budge.我们试图把大石头抬起来，但它连动都没动一下。
• She wouldn't budge on the issue.她在这个问题上不肯让步。

4 coffins   

n.棺材( coffin的名词复数 )；使某人早亡[死，完蛋，垮台等]之物

参考例句：

• The shop was close and hot, and the atmosphere seemed tainted with the smell of coffins. 店堂里相当闷热，空气仿佛被棺木的味儿污染了。 来自辞典例句
• Donate some coffins to the temple, equal to the number of deaths. 到寺庙里，捐赠棺材盒给这些死者吧。 来自电影对白

5 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

6 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

7 grunts   

（猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的第三人称单数 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说； 石鲈

参考例句：

• With grunts of anguish Ogilvie eased his bulk to a sitting position. 奥格尔维苦恼地哼着，伸个懒腰坐了起来。
• Linda fired twice A trio of Grunts assembling one mortar fell. 琳达击发两次。三个正在组装迫击炮的咕噜人倒下了。

8 flipped   

轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转，撞毁了。
• The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

10 heroin   

n.海洛因

参考例句：

• Customs have made their biggest ever seizure of heroin.海关查获了有史以来最大的一批海洛因。
• Heroin has been smuggled out by sea.海洛因已从海上偷运出境。

11 sobbed   

哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说

参考例句：

• She sobbed out the story of her son's death. 她哭诉着她儿子的死。
• She sobbed out the sad story of her son's death. 她哽咽着诉说她儿子死去的悲惨经过。

12 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

13 alligator   

n.短吻鳄(一种鳄鱼)

参考例句：

• She wandered off to play with her toy alligator.她开始玩鳄鱼玩具。
• Alligator skin is five times more costlier than leather.鳄鱼皮比通常的皮革要贵5倍。

14 alley   

n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路

参考例句：

• We live in the same alley.我们住在同一条小巷里。
• The blind alley ended in a brick wall.这条死胡同的尽头是砖墙。

15 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 filthy   

adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories.整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。
• You really should throw out that filthy old sofa and get a new one.你真的应该扔掉那张肮脏的旧沙发，然后再去买张新的。

17 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。

18 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

19 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

20 squinted   

斜视( squint的过去式和过去分词 )； 眯着眼睛； 瞟； 从小孔或缝隙里看

参考例句：

• Pulling his rifle to his shoulder he squinted along the barrel. 他把枪顶肩，眯起眼睛瞄准。
• I squinted through the keyhole. 我从锁眼窥看。

21 blurry   

adj.模糊的；污脏的，污斑的

参考例句：

• My blurry vision makes it hard to drive. 我的视力有点模糊，使得开起车来相当吃力。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The lines are pretty blurry at this point. 界线在这个时候是很模糊的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 tugging   

n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Tom was tugging at a button-hole and looking sheepish. 汤姆捏住一个钮扣眼使劲地拉，样子显得很害羞。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• She kicked him, tugging his thick hair. 她一边踢他，一边扯着他那浓密的头发。 来自辞典例句

23 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

24 embalmed   

adj.用防腐药物保存（尸体）的v.保存（尸体）不腐( embalm的过去式和过去分词 )；使不被遗忘；使充满香气

参考例句：

• Many fine sentiments are embalmed in poetry. 许多微妙的情感保存于诗歌中。 来自辞典例句
• In books, are embalmed the greatest thoughts of all ages. 伟大思想古今有，载入书中成不朽。 来自互联网

25 pristine   

adj.原来的，古时的，原始的，纯净的，无垢的

参考例句：

• He wiped his fingers on his pristine handkerchief.他用他那块洁净的手帕擦手指。
• He wasn't about to blemish that pristine record.他本不想去玷污那清白的过去。

26 growl   

v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣

参考例句：

• The dog was biting,growling and wagging its tail.那条狗在一边撕咬一边低声吼叫，尾巴也跟着摇摆。
• The car growls along rutted streets.汽车在车辙纵横的街上一路轰鸣。

27 squints   

斜视症( squint的名词复数 )； 瞥

参考例句：

• The new cashier squints, has a crooked nose and very large ears. 新来的出纳斜眼、鹰钩鼻子，还有两只大耳朵。
• They both have squints. 他俩都是斜视。

28 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

29 flips   

轻弹( flip的第三人称单数 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• Larry flips on the TV while he is on vacation in Budapest. 赖瑞在布达佩斯渡假时，打开电视收看节目。
• He flips through a book before making a decision. 他在决定买下一本书前总要先草草翻阅一下。

30 clutter   

n.零乱，杂乱；vt.弄乱，把…弄得杂乱

参考例句：

• The garage is in such a clutter that we can't find anything.车库如此凌乱，我们什么也找不到。
• We'll have to clear up all this clutter.我们得把这一切凌乱的东西整理清楚。

31 cluttered   

v.杂物，零乱的东西零乱vt.( clutter的过去式和过去分词 )；乱糟糟地堆满，把…弄得很乱；（以…） 塞满…

参考例句：

• The room is cluttered up with all kinds of things. 零七八碎的东西放满了一屋子。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The desk is cluttered with books and papers. 桌上乱糟糟地堆满了书报。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

32 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

33 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

34 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

35 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

36 zigzagging   

v.弯弯曲曲地走路，曲折地前进( zigzag的现在分词 )；盘陀

参考例句：

• She walked along, zigzagging with her head back. 她回头看着，弯弯扭扭地向前走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We followed the path zigzagging up the steep slope. 我们沿着小径曲曲折折地爬上陡坡。 来自互联网