Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18 "Robert Cahill Henderson," Isabel repeated into the cell phone. "Got it." She turned around to talk to the others in the backseat. They'd left Coober Pedy at high speed, but she'd pulled off the road in order to take the call she'd been waiting for. "It's about time somebody did something right. The Lucian stronghold used their mother computer to analyze all known Ekaterinas from 1840 to 1900. The computer had a match for Coober Pedy and Cahill. Apparently, even mute crazy fools have to use their real name on a mining claim. Robert Cahill Henderson is our man." "So where do we go next?" Natalie asked, flipping her long silky hair over her shoulder. "I hope it's someplace with good shopping. Dubai?" she asked hopefully. "Jakarta," her mother said.

“罗伯特·卡希尔·亨德森。”伊莎贝尔对着手机重复了一遍。 “明白了。”她转过身去和后座上的其他人说话。 他们以高速离开了库伯佩迪，但她把车停在路边，去接她一直在等的电话。 “是时候有人做些正确的事情了。 卢西恩据点用他们的母电脑分析了1840年到1900年所有已知的叶卡捷琳娜。 电脑找到了库伯·佩迪和卡希尔的匹配。 显然，即使是哑巴疯子也必须在采矿申请中使用真名。 罗伯特·卡希尔·亨德森就是我们要找的人。” “那么我们下一步要去哪里呢？”娜塔莉一边问，一边把她柔顺的长发甩到肩上。 “我希望是一个购物方便的地方。 迪拜？”她满怀希望地问道。 “雅加达，”她母亲说。

"Where is that?" Natalie said, crashing back against the seat. "It doesn't sound glamorous." "Why am I paying for your education?" Isabel asked. "Jakarta is on Java. Henderson took passage from there on a ship called the Lady Anne to Sydney in 1883." Isabel eyed Irina. "What's your problemski, comrade? Are you worried about little Dan and Amy? They seem to have nine lives. They survived. A little scare will keep them on their toes." Irina said nothing. At her feet was the empty jar and box that the Fixer had delivered to Isabel. Isabel had whistled as she'd carried it herself to the private plane she'd hired to take them to Coober Pedy. She'd also arranged for a Hummer to be driven up from Adelaide. Irina hadn't known what was in the box until Isabel had opened it. Isabel had smiled as she shook out the jar of deadly spiders. She'd planned on releasing them into the Cahills' hotel room, but this was better still. Right down the shaft onto their heads! Isabel had also handled the snake easily. Not a drop of perspiration on her brow as she flipped the latch and grabbed him from

“在哪儿？”娜塔莉说着，向后撞到座位上。 “这听起来并不迷人。” “为什么我要为你的教育买单？”伊莎贝尔问道。 “雅加达在爪哇岛上。1883年，亨德森从那里乘坐一艘名为安妮夫人号的船前往悉尼。” 伊莎贝尔看着伊琳娜。“你有什么问题吗，同志？” 你担心小丹和艾米吗？ 它们好像有九条命。 他们活了下来。一点惊吓就能让他们保持警惕。” 伊琳娜什么也没说。在她的脚边放着那个空罐子和盒子，那是修定者送给伊莎贝尔的。 伊莎贝尔一边吹着口哨，一边把它搬上她雇来带他们去库伯佩迪的私人飞机。 她还安排了一辆悍马从阿德莱德开过来。 直到伊莎贝尔打开盒子，伊琳娜才知道盒子里装的是什么。 伊莎贝尔笑着抖了抖那罐致命的蜘蛛。 她原计划把他们送到卡希尔家的酒店房间，但这样更好。 直接从竖井里砸到他们的头上！伊莎贝尔也很轻松地处理了那条蛇。 当她掀开门闩把他从

behind, wearing the heavy gloves. She had enjoyed it. Enjoyed being close to so much deadly terror. "I want you to keep track of the Cahill brats while I take Ian and Natalie with me. Report in on their movements. If by some slim chance they're on their way to Java, delay them. I'm tired of them in my hair." "And then?" Irina asked. "And then what?" Isabel asked irritably. She was checking her lipstick in the rearview mirror, and she tilted it to look at Irina. "They aren't going away for long," Irina said. "We have seen their tenacity. What are your ultimate plans for them?" Isabel shrugged. "I haven't thought that far ahead. I'm concentrating on this clue. We could even find all thirty-nine clues— can you imagine that, children?— because we're almost one hundred percent sure that Robert Cahill Henderson had most, if not all, of them. Amy and Dan will be immaterial. They'll be dust. Not worth dealing with." Isabel played with the gold charms on her bracelet, then turned her attention

后面，戴着沉重的手套。 她很享受。很享受近距离接触这么多致命的恐怖。 “我要你照看卡希尔家的孩子们，我带着伊恩和娜塔莉一起去。 报告他们的动向。 如果他们在去爪哇的路上，那就拖延他们。 我厌倦了它们在我头发上。” “然后呢?”伊丽娜问道。“然后呢？”伊莎贝尔不耐烦地问。 她正对着后视镜检查她的口红，她把后视镜斜着看艾琳娜。 “他们不会离开太久的，”伊琳娜说。 “我们看到了他们的坚韧。 你对他们的最终计划是什么？”伊莎贝尔耸耸肩。 “我还没想那么远。 我正专注于这个线索。 我们甚至可以找到所有的39条线索——孩子们，你们能想象吗？因为我们几乎百分之百确定罗伯特·卡希尔·亨德森即使不是全部，也有大部分。 艾米和丹将是无关紧要的。 它们会变成灰尘。不值得处理。” 伊莎贝尔把玩着手镯上的金饰物，然后转移了注意力

to her fingernails. Irina watched Isabel's careless indifference, as though her manicure was the most important thing in the world. She knew Isabel too well and for too long. It was true she cared deeply about nail polish. But she also cared deeply about getting rid of dust. Isabel had used some of her best tricks to scare them away. Soon she would unleash her rage. Irina could feel it building. This has been a long road, she thought. Now, I can finally see the end.

她的指甲。伊琳娜看着伊莎贝尔的漫不经心，仿佛她的美甲是世界上最重要的事情。 她认识伊莎贝尔太久了。 没错，她非常喜欢指甲油。 但她也非常关心如何清除灰尘。 伊莎贝尔使出了她的绝招把他们吓跑了。 她很快就会发泄她的愤怒。 伊琳娜能感觉到它在积聚。 这是一条漫长的路，她想。 现在，我终于可以看到结局了。