Английский язык с Крестным Отцом
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empire, until after the war was over, the Turk Sollozzo broke the peace and plunged the
Don's world into its own war, and brought him to his hospital bed.
Book 4
Chapter 15
In the New Hampshire village, every foreign phenomenon was properly noticed by
housewives peering from windows, storekeepers lounging (to lounge –
развалясь, праздно проводить время) behind their doors. And so when the black
automobile bearing New York license plates stopped in front of the Adams' home, every
citizen knew about it in a matter of minutes.
Kay Adams, really a small-town girl despite her college education, was also peering
from her bedroom window. She had been studying for her exams and preparing to go
downstairs for lunch when she spotted the car coming up the street, and for some
reason she was not surprised when it rolled to a halt (/автомобиль/ остановился) in
front of her lawn. Two men got out, big burly men who looked like gangsters in the
movies to her eyes, and she flew down the stairs to be the first at the door. She was
sure they came from Michael or his family and she didn't want them talking to her father
and mother without any introduction. It wasn't that she was ashamed of any of Mike's
friends, she thought; it was just that her mother and father were old-fashioned New
England Yankees and wouldn't understand her even knowing such people.
She got to the door just as the bell rang and she called to her mother, "I'll get it." She
opened the door and the two big men stood there. One reached inside his breast pocket
like a gangster reaching for a gun and the move so surprised Kay that she let out a little
gasp but the man had taken out a small leather case which he flapped open to show an
identification card. "I'm Detective John Phillips from the New York Police Department,"
he said. He motioned to the other man, a dark-complexioned man with very thick, very
black eyebrows. "This is my partner, Detective Siriani. Are you Miss Kay Adams?"
Kay nodded. Phillips said, "May we come in and talk to you for a few minutes. It's
about Michael Corleone."
She stood aside to let them in. At that moment her father appeared in the small side
hall that led to his study. "Kay, what is it?" he asked.
Her father was a gray-haired, slender, distinguished-looking man who not only was
the pastor of the town Baptist church but had a reputation in religious circles as a
scholar. Kay really didn't know her father well, he puzzled her, but she knew he loved
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her even if he gave the impression he found her uninteresting as a person. Though they
had never been close, she trusted him. So she said simply, "These men are detectives
frorn New York. They want to ask me questions about a boy I know."
Mr. Adams didn't seem surprised. "Why don't we go into my study?" he said.
Detective Phillips said gently, "We'd rather talk to your daughter alone, Mr. Adams."
Mr. Adams said courteously, "That depends on Kay, I think. My dear, would you rather
speak to these gentlemen alone or would you prefer to have me present? Or perhaps
your mother?"
Kay shook her head. "I'll talk to them alone."
Mr. Adams said to Phillips, "You can use my study. Will you stay for lunch?" The two
men shook their heads. Kay led them into the study.
They rested uncomfortably on the edge of the couch as she sat in her father's big
leather chair. Detective Phillips opened the conversation by saying, "Miss Adams, have
you seen or heard from Michael Corleone at any time in the last three weeks?" The one
question was enough to warn her. Three weeks ago she had read the Boston
newspapers with their headlines about the killing of a New York police captain and a
narcotics smuggler named Virgil Sollozzo. The newspaper had said it was part of the
gang war involving the Corleone Farnily.
Kay shook her head. "No, the last time I saw him he was going to see his father in the
hospital. That was perhaps a month ago."
The other detective said in a harsh voice, "We know all about that meeting. Have you
seen or heard from him since then?"
"No," Kay said.
Detective Phillips said in a polite voice, "If you do have contact with him we'd like you
to let us know. It's very important we get to talk to Michael Corleone. I must warn you
that if you do have contact with him you may be getting involved in a very dangerous
situation. If you help him in any way, you may get yourself in very serious trouble."
Kay sat up very straight in the chair. "Why shouldn't I help him?" she asked. "We're
going to be married, married people help each other."
It was Detective Siriani who answered her. "If you help, you may be an accessory
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