if you will. I listened to your message when I got to your mother's house, but of course I couldn't be sure where you'd called from.  这是一种第六感，如果你愿意这样称呼的话。能拿到你的门牌号对我来说很有用，

　　It was very useful to have your number, but you could have been in Antarctica for all I knew, and the game wouldn't work unless you were close by. 但就我所知，你也可能在南极洲。如果你不在附近的话，这个游戏就没有意义了。

　　"Then your boyfriend got on a plane to Phoenix. Victoria was monitoring them for me, naturally; in a game with this many players, I couldn't be working alone.  然后，你的男朋友坐上了飞往凤凰城的航班。很自然地，维多利亚把这件事告诉了我。

　　And so they told me what I'd hoped, that you were here after all. I was prepared; I'd already been through your charming home movies.  在这场游戏里有这么多的玩家，我不可能是孤军奋战。所以，这些讯息告诉了我我所希望的事情，你终究是在这里。我做好了准备。我看完了你那些迷人的家庭录像。

　　And then it was simply a matter of the bluff. 然后，只剩下虚张声势的问题。

　　"Very easy, you know, not really up to my standards. So, you see, I'm hoping you're wrong about your boyfriend. Edward, isn't it?" 你知道，这一切来得太容易了，完全没有达到我的标准。所以，你看，我很希望你对你男朋友的判断是错误的。他叫爱德华，对吧？”

　　I didn't answer. The bravado was wearing off. I sensed that he was coming to the end of his gloat. It wasn't meant for me anyway. There was no glory in beating me, a weak human. 我没有回答。那种虚张声势的作用正在逐渐消失。我感觉到，他即将结束他贪婪的注视。无论如何，那不是冲着我来的。击败我，这个脆弱的人类，不能给他任何荣耀。

　　"Would you mind, very much, if I left a little letter of my own for your Edward?" “你是否会，很介意，如果我用自己的方式留一封短信给你的爱德华？”

　　He took a step back and touched a palm-sized digital video camera balanced carefully on top of the stereo.  他后退一步，拿起一部原本被小心地放在立体声音响上的巴掌大小的数码摄像机。

　　A small red light indicated that it was already running. He adjusted it a few times, widened the frame. I stared at him in horror. 一点小小的红光显示着它一直开着。他调整了几下，把镜框调大。我震惊地看着他。