Chapter 1 East 43rd Street, Manhattan
　　Monday, January 17th. It was Martin Luther King Day, a holiday in the U.S.A. The streets of Manhattan were white with snow and unusually quiet. Many New Yorkers were enjoying a lazy long weekend with their families. But I don’t have a family to spend time with, so I was working by myself at my office on East 43rd Street.
　　The name’s Nat Marley. I’ve been a private investigator in this city for over ten years. Before that, I was a police officer with the New York Police Department, “an NYPD cop.” The working life of an investigator is rather different from what you see in the movies – I’m not often in danger. Maybe a wife wants to know if her husband’s seeing another woman. Or sometimes I’m looking for a teenager who’s run away from home. 
　　While I was working, I got a phone call.
　　“Nat Marley speaking,” I said.
　　“I’m pleased I caught you on a holiday. My name’s Curtis Wilson,” the caller began. “I want to talk with you about a family problem, but not over the phone. Could I see you this afternoon?”
　　第1章 曼哈頓東43街
　　1月17日，星期一，適逢馬丁?路德?金紀(jì)念日，一個(gè)美國(guó)節(jié)日。曼哈頓的大街小巷銀裝素裹，寧?kù)o異常。許多紐約人都在和家人享受這個(gè)悠閑的長(zhǎng)周末�？晌覅s沒(méi)有家人去共度時(shí)光，所以獨(dú)自待在東43 街的辦公室里工作。
　　我叫納特?馬利，在這個(gè)城市做私人偵探已有十余年。這之前我是紐約市警察局的警官，一個(gè)“紐警條子”。偵探的職業(yè)生活跟你在電影中看到的迥然不同——我并非常處險(xiǎn)境。可能有時(shí)是替一位妻子查明丈夫是否有外遇，有時(shí)是尋找離家出走的少年。
　　正在工作時(shí)，我接到一個(gè)電話(huà)。
　　“我是納特?馬利，”我說(shuō)。
　　“真高興在假期還能找到您，我是柯蒂斯?威爾遜，”電話(huà)那邊說(shuō)，“我想跟您聊個(gè)家庭問(wèn)題，但不是在電話(huà)里。今天下午我能與您面談嗎？”