RAGE OF ANGELS

   The hunters were closing in for the kill at the Criminal Courts Building of downtown Manhattan.  

   The 1)quarry, Michael Moretti, sat at the 2)defendant's table, a silent, handsome man. Attacking him was Robert Di Silva, the 3)fiery District Attorney. Di Silva was a fiercely ambitious man, a 4)gutter fighter who neither forgot nor forgave.

   Michael Moretti was front-page news, the son-in-law of Antonio Granelli, capo di capi, head of the largest of the five eastern 5)Mafia Families. Moretti had beeninvolved in dozens of crimes ranging from 6)mayhem to murder, but no district attorney had ever been able to prove anything.

   Robert Di Silva had taken no chances. He prepared the case against Michael Moretti with 7)meticulous care. The key to the case against Moretti was Camillo Stela, and Di Silva's star witness was heavily protected. No one was allowed to get near him.

   It was the morning of the fifth day of the trial. It was Jennifer Parker's first day at the trial. She was seated at the 8)prosecutor's table with five other young assistant district 9)attorneys who had been sworn in with her that morning. Jennifer Parker was a slender, dark-haired girl of twenty-four with a pale skin, an intelligent, mobile face, and green, thoughtful eyes.

   The District Attorney walked over to the witness box where Camillo Stela had been sworn in.

   “Mr. Stela, Michael Moretti is on trial for the murders of Eddie and Albert Ramos. Were you present when they were killed?”

   “Yeah.” His whole body seemed to twitch 1.

   “Who did the actual killing 2?”

   “Mike.” For a second, his eyes caught Michael Moretti's eyes and Stela quickly looked away.

   “Michael Moretti?”

   “That's right.”

    District Attorney Di Silva looked at the faces of the jurors and what he saw there told him he had won the case. He turned to Thomas Colfax. “Your witness for cross.”

    Thomas Colfax rose gracefully 3 to his feet. “If it please Your Honor, might I request that the court 10)recess for lunch now and I'll 11)cross-examine this afternoon?”

   “Very well.” Judge Lawrence Waldman rapped his gavel on the bench. “This court stands 12)adjourned until two o'clock.”

       Everyone in the courtroom rose.

  Jennifer watched as a man said something to Di Silva, 13)detached himself from the group around the District Attorney, and hurried over toward Jennifer. He was carrying a large manila envelope. “Miss Parker?”

     Jennifer looked up in surprise. “Yes?”

   “The Chief wants you to give this to Stela.” He handed the envelope to Jennifer and she looked over at Di Silva. He remembered my name, she thought. It's a good omen 4.

After delivering the envelope to Stela, Jennifer passed the open door of a deserted 5 courtroom. She could not resist stepping inside the room for a moment.

     She was part of the system now and, standing 6 there, Jennifer was filled with an 14)overwhelming feeling of pride. She would do everything she could to honor it, to help preserve it. She stood there for a long moment, then turned to leave.

     From the far end of the hall there was a distant hum that grew louder and louder, and became 15)pandemonium. Alarm bells began to ring. Jennifer heardthe sound of running feet in the corridor and saw policeman with drawn 7 guns racing 8 towards the front entrance of the 16)courthouse.

   It was bedlam 9. Far down the hall, Jennifer saw the District Attorney Robert Di Silva wildly issuing instructions to half a dozen policeman, his face drained of color.

      She pushed her way through the crowd. As she approached, one of the deputies who had been guarding Stela looked up and saw Jennifer. He raised an arm and pointed 10 to her, and five seconds later Jennifer Parker found herself being grabbed, 17)handcuffed and placed under arrest.

   “You have the right to have an attorney before you make any statement,” Judge Waldman informed Jennifer, “and you have the right to remain silent.”

  “I don't need an attorney, Your Honor! I can explain what happened.”

Robert Di Silva was leaning so close to her that Jennifer could see the 18)throbbing of a 19)vein 11 in his temple. “Who paid you to give that package to Camillo Stela?”

   “Paid me? Nobody paid me!”

     Di Silva picked up a familiar looking Manila envelope from Judge Waldman's desk. “No one paid you? You just walked up to my witness and delivered this?” He shook the envelope and the body of a yellow 20)canary fluttered onto the desk. Its neck had been broken.

     It's all a nightmare, Jennifer thought.

   “Where do you stand, Bobby?” asked Judge Waldman, “is Stela still willing to be cross-examined?”

   “Cross-examined? He's a basket case! Scared out of his wits. He won't take the stand again.”

Judge Waldman looked at Jennifer and said, “Whatever the motivation, the consequences have been extremely unfortunate. I am going to request that the 21)Appellate Division 22)undertake an investigation 12 and, if it feels the circumstances 23)warrant it, to begin disbarment proceedings 13 against you.”

天使的愤怒

                  西德尼.谢尔顿（著）

   在曼哈顿闹市区的刑事法庭大楼里，猎手们四面包围过来，捕杀即将开始。

   坐在被告席上的狩猎目标是迈克尔·莫雷蒂，他沉默寡言，相貌英俊。向他发起攻击的是脾气暴躁的地区检查官--罗伯特·迪·西尔瓦。迪·西尔瓦野心勃勃，他是个好惹是生非的泼皮，向来不忘旧恶，也从不宽恕仇人。

   有关迈克尔·莫雷蒂一案的报道成了报纸的头条新闻，他是东海岸五个黑手党家族之首、安东尼奥·格拉纳利的女婿。莫雷蒂与几十起残害人体以至谋杀的案件有牵连，可是没有一个地区检查官能抓到任何确凿的证据。

   罗伯特·迪·西尔瓦慎之又慎。他为迈克尔·莫雷蒂一案做了大量过细的准备工作。此案的关键人物卡米罗·斯特拉作为重要人证，受到迪·西尔瓦极度严密的保护。任谁也不能接近他。

   审讯进入第五天的早晨。这是詹妮弗·帕克第一天出庭。她和另外五个年轻的地区律师坐在公诉人席上。他们六人都是那天早上宣誓就职的。詹妮弗·帕克二十四岁，身材苗条，深棕色头发，皮肤白皙，聪慧的面孔上表情丰富，一双碧眼敏思善睐。

   地区检查官走到证人席上，卡米罗·斯特拉已经在这里起过誓。

   “斯特拉先生，迈克尔·莫雷蒂现因谋杀爱迪·雷莫斯和阿伯特·雷莫斯而受审。他俩被杀害时你在场吗？”

   “在场。”此时他浑身上下似乎都在颤抖。

   “到底谁是真正的凶手？”

   “麦克。”他和迈克尔·莫雷蒂的视线倏地相遇，斯特拉慌忙掉过头去。

   “是迈克尔·莫雷蒂吗？”

   “是他。”

   地区检查官迪·西尔瓦扫视了陪审员一眼，他们的表情告诉他官司已经打赢。他转过身来对着托马斯·科尔法克斯：”现在该你来盘问证人了。”

   托马斯·科尔法克斯从容地站起来。”我提议暂时休庭，待午饭过后再进行盘问，请法官大人允许。”

   “很好。”劳伦斯·沃特曼法官敲了一下小木槌，宣布道：”本庭现在休庭，下午二时继续开庭。”

   大家纷纷站起身来。

   詹妮弗看见一个人在跟迪·西尔瓦说了些什么，然后离开围在地区检查官身旁的一圈人，急匆匆地朝她走来，手里拿着一只马尼拉大信封。”您是帕克小姐吧？”

   詹妮弗吃惊地抬起头：”是的。”

   “检查官要您把这交给斯特拉。”

   他把信封递给詹妮弗。她朝迪·西尔瓦望了一眼，心里想：他倒记得我，这是好兆头。

   把信封给了斯特拉后，詹妮弗走过审判庭打开的大门，里面空无一人，她情不自禁地走进去待了一会儿。

   现在，她已经成为这个权力机构的一员了，站在那里，心中充满了自豪。为了给这一神圣事业增添光彩，使它流传久远，她甘愿鞠躬尽瘁。她感慨良久，这才依依不舍地离开。

   突然，从大厅远处传来嘈杂的人声，喧哗声越来越响，最后变得震耳欲聋。接着传来了急促的警铃声。走廊里脚步声响成一片，持枪的警察向法庭门口蜂拥而去。

   四处一片混乱。大厅尽头，只见地区检查官罗伯特·迪·西尔瓦脸色铁青，正发狂似地给六七个警察下命令。

   正当她挤过人群靠过去时，一个守卫卡米罗·斯特拉的法警抬头看见了她。他举起一只手向她一指，五秒钟后，詹妮弗·帕克被人抓住，戴上手铐。她被逮捕了。

   “在陈述前你有权要求找律师，”沃特曼法官对詹妮弗说，”你也有权保持沉默。”

   “我不需要什么辩护律师，法官大人！我自己可以把发生的事讲清楚。”

   罗伯特·迪·西尔瓦俯身凑近詹妮弗。他靠得很近很近，詹妮弗连他太阳穴上跳动的青筋也看得清清楚楚。”是谁出钱指使你把那包东西递给卡米罗·斯特拉的？”

   “出钱？谁也没有给我钱！”

　　迪·西尔瓦从沃特曼法官的桌上拿起一只马尼拉信封，詹妮弗一看就觉得眼熟。”没人给你钱，你就那样走过去把它交给了我的证人？”他抖了抖信封，一只死了的黄色金丝雀落在桌子上，那鸟的脖子被拧断了。

   真是一场恶梦，詹妮弗想。

   “你看怎么办，波比？”沃特曼法官问道，”斯特拉是否还愿意接受继续盘问？”

   “盘问？他是个不中用的东西。他已经给吓得魂飞魄散，再也不敢出庭了。”

   沃特曼法官看着詹妮弗说：”不管动机如何，造成的后果是十分不幸的。我建议由上诉法院进行调查，如果调查结果表明对你的指控是有根据的话，那就开始实施取消你的律师资格的法律程序。”

1) quarry  n. 猎物   

2) defendant  n. 被告 

3) fiery  a. 暴躁的

4) gutter  n. 贫民环境  

5) Mafia  n. 黑手党

6) mayhem  n. 故意伤害罪         7) meticulous   a. 小心翼翼的

8) prosecutor  n. 检举人       

9) attorney  n. 律师

10) recess  n. 休息，休假        11) cross-examine 反复盘问，诘问

12) adjourn  v. 休会，延期

13) detach  v. 分开，分离              14) overwhelming  a. 无法抵抗的

15) pandemonium  n. 喧哗吵闹

16) courthouse  n. 法院       

17) handcuff   v. 上手铐

18)throb v.跳动                19) vein n. 血管，静脉

20) canary n. 金丝雀             21) appellate   a. 受理上诉的

22) undertake  v. 承担，担任   

23) warrant   v. 批准，保证，证明