（外文电子版资料）A Kind of Murder.docVIP

A Kind of Murder by Larry Niven You are constantly coming to my home! he shouted. You never think of calling first. Whatever Im doing, suddenly youre there. And where the hell do you keep getting keys to my door? Alicia didnt answer. Her face, which in recent years had taken on a faint resemblance to a bulldogs, was set in infinite patience as she relaxed at the other end of the couch. She had been through this before, and she waited for Jeff to get it over with. He saw this, and the dinner he had not quite finished settled like lead in his belly. Theres not a club I belong to that you arent a member too. Whoever Im with, you finagle me into introducing you. If its a man, you try to make him, and if he isnt having any you get nasty. If its a woman, there you are like the ghost at the feast. The discarded woman. Its a drag, he said. He wanted a more powerful word, but he couldnt think of one that wouldnt sound overdramatic, silly. She said, Weve been divorced six years. What do you care who I sleep with? I dont like looking like your pimp! She laughed. The acid was rising in his throat. Listen, he said, why dont you give up one of the clubs? We, we belong to four. Give one up. Any of them. Give me a place of refuge, he prayed. Theyre my clubs too, she said with composure. You change clubs. Hed joined the Lucifer Club four years ago, for just that reason. Shed joined too. And now the words clogged in his throat, so that he gaped like a fish. There were no words left. He hit her. Hed never done that before. It was a full-arm swing, but awkward because they were trying to face each other on the couch. She rode with the slap, then sat facing him, waiting. It was as if he could read her mind. Weve been through this before, and it never changes anything. But its your tantrum. He remembered later that shed said that to him once, those same words, and shed looked just like that: patient, implacable. The call reached Homicide at 8:36 P.M., July 20, 2019. The ca