Briefing
The following is a police interview with a suspect who was arrested on suspicion of murder. The suspect is Mr Shuang, a Mandarin-speaking man, and the interview is being conducted by Inspector Plod at St Kilda police station.
Listen to Dialogue
Mandarin-English Dialogue #24 – Murder Investigation
Transcript and reference translation
Plod: Mr Shuang, you have been arrested under suspicion of committing murder, namely for the unlawful killing of Mr Ben Johnson. Do you understand? [霜先生,你因为涉嫌谋杀而被捕,也就是杀害了本.约翰逊先生 ,你明白吗?]
Shuang: 是的,我明白,但是你们抓错人了。[Yes, I understand, but you’ve got the wrong man.]
Plod: Well, you will have the opportunity to give us your version of events in this interview. So, firstly, what was your relationship to the deceased? [那么,你在这次审讯中有机会告诉我们你想说的事情的版本。那么,首先,你跟死者有什么关系?]
Shuang: 根本没有关系呀。我不认识你们所说的那个被杀的人。[No relationship at all. I don’t know that person who you said was killed.]
Plod: Mr Shuang, I’ll remind you that we have a witness who saw you speaking to the deceased man on the day he was murdered at a bottle shop. What do you say to that? [霜先生,我要提醒你,我们有一个证人看到在死者被谋杀的那一天,你曾经在一个买酒的店里跟他说过话。你对此有什么要说的?]
Shuang: 那肯定是他们说谎。我对这个男的一无所知,见都没见过。[Then they must be lying. I don’t know anything about this man. I’ve never met him.]
Plod: I see. Then do you deny being at that establishment on Friday 20 July 2012? [我明白了。那你否认2012年7月20日星期五的时候你在那个地方吗?]
Shuang: 不确定。您说的是哪儿呢?[I’m not sure. What place are you talking about?]
Plod: It’s a small bottle shop named Travis St Liquor on 14 Travis St, Collingwood. It’s between a butcher’s and an op shop, and opposite Smithdon Park. So, were you or were you not at that place on Friday 20 July 2012 between the hours of 6 and 8pm? [那是一个卖酒的店,叫做Travis St Liquor,在Collingwood,Travis路14号。商店是在一家肉铺和一家二手商店中间,在Smithdon公园对面。那你2012年7月20号星期五从晚上6到8点在不在那儿呢?]
Shuang: 我倒是记得那天晚上买了一些啤酒,但是在哪儿买的我就不大记得了。我老婆和我刚搬到这附近,我们当时在开派对,庆祝搬家的派对。[I do remember buying some beer that evening but I can’t remember which shop I bought it from. My wife and I had just moved into the neighbourhood and we were having a party, a housewarming party.]
Plod: The witness we spoke to identified you by your facial birthmark and the skull tattoo on your arm. [跟我们交谈过的目击者记得你,是因为你脸上的胎记和胳膊上的骷髅纹身。]
Shuang: 很多人都有这样的纹身啊。况且胎记很容易用化妆品弄出来的。[Many people have tattoos like this. And a birthmark could easily be faked using make-up.]
Plod: Mr Shuang, I think the likeliness of that is remote at best. Besides, this afternoon we turned up a restraining order in your records made by Ben Johnson a year ago. He had complained that you were harassing him about money you claimed he owed you. [霜先生,我觉得这种可能性很低。再说,今天下午我们在你的档案里发现了一个几年之前的本.约翰逊针对你的限制令。他抱怨说,你那个时候骚扰他,因为你说他欠你钱。]
Shuang: 好吧好吧。我承认我认识约翰逊先生。但我没杀他。你得相信我。[All right, all right. I know Mr Johnson. But I didn’t kill him. You have to believe me.]
Plod: I will start believing you Mr Shuang when you start telling me the truth! [霜先生,如果你不说实话的话,我不会相信你的。]
Shuang: 我老婆能证明约翰逊被杀的时候我在哪儿。那天晚上她参加麻将比赛去了,她还要我去接她。所以晚上六点左右,我开车去她所在的墨尔本市中心,接上她就回家了。[My wife can verify where I was when Mr Johnson was killed. That night she was participating in a mahjong competition and she asked me to pick her up. So at around about 6pm that night I drove to Melbourne CBD where she was, picked her up then drove back home.]
Plod: Your alibi will be investigated. But first let’s talk about the crime scene. The man’s body was found in a billabong just three blocks from your house. The man had been strangled with a rope, and then left there to drown. [我们将调查你的不在现场的证明。但是我们首先谈一谈犯罪现场吧。尸体被发现在一个池塘里,离你的房子只有三个街口。这个男的是被人用绳子勒死的,然后溺死在池塘里。]
(…)
Now, a forensic examination has turned up some very damning evidence which places you at the scene of the crime. All that is left now is to determine when you were present at the scene… not if, Mr Shuang. [法医调查发现一些有力的证据表明你在犯罪现场。剩下来要做的就是确定你什么时候在现场,而不是你是否在现场,霜先生。]
Shuang: 您说的是什么样的证据呢。[What kind of evidence are you talking about?]
Plod: Let me draw your attention to Exhibits A and B. Do you recognise these items? [请注意证物A和B。你认识这些东西吗?]
Shuang: 对,是绳子。那跟我有什么关系呢?[Sure. They’re ropes. What’s it got to do with me?]
Plod: Don’t play dumb, Mr Shuang. The first rope is the rope we pulled from the crime scene. We have confirmed it was used to kill Ben Johnson. The second rope is the rope we found in the basement of your house. Both ropes are made from nylon, and are beige in colour. [不要装傻,霜先生。第一条绳子我们从犯罪现场找到的。我们确认了这条绳子就是用来杀死本.约翰逊的。第二条绳子是我们在你的房子的地下室找到的。两条绳子都是尼龙制造的,颜色是米色。]
Shuang: 我用这绳索去攀岩,每周末都去。这是我的个人爱好。肯定是什么人闯进我家偷了绳子。我怎么可能杀人呢?我走路都不踩蚂蚁的 。[I use that rope for rock climbing. I go every weekend. It’s a hobby of mine. Someone must have broken into my house and stolen it. I could never kill someone. I couldn’t even hurt a fly.]
Plod: If what you are saying is true, you have a lot of explaining to do, as we were able to link you to the crime scene by your fingerprints. We also found two types of blood on the deceased’s clothing. So do you have anything else you’d like to say? [如果你说的是对的话,你还有很多事情要解释,因为我们能够在犯罪现场找到你的指纹。在死者的衣服上我们还发现了两种血液 。那你还有什么话要说的吗?]
Shuang: 在没有律师的情况下我拒绝回答任何问题![I refuse to answer any questions without a lawyer!]
Plod: Very well. We’ll suspend this interview until your lawyer can be present. [好的。那我们暂停这次询问直到你的律师能够来。]
I just changed the reference translation of “unlawful killing” from 谋杀 to 杀害, as I think this is a more appropriate rendering.
我不认识你们所说的那个被杀的人: Can I translate as: I don’t know the victim of the murder.