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都说英美两国很亲，亲得都要穿一条裤子了。而在旷日持久的反恐战争中，两国的关系更是空前的铁。这也许正是该片同名原著小说（本片在英国名叫《The Ghost》，即原著小说的名字）的作者罗伯特·哈里斯（Robert Harris）想说的吧。哈里斯是英国新闻界著名的政治新闻的记者、编辑，他创作的这部小说并非空穴来风。他曾说：“随着我这几年在英国政治界采访的深入，我越来越觉得政治这个东西是一潭浑水。”他原来就认识英国前首相布莱尔，并且是他的支持者。但伊拉克战争使他的态度发生了变化。2007年布莱尔下台后，哈里斯放下手头所有工作，创作了这部小说。
声称一直想拍一部政治惊悚片的著名导演罗曼·波兰斯基看上了哈里斯的小说，两人一拍即合，合作编剧，并最终拍成了这部影片。电影安排得井井有条，情节发展层层递进，一步步拨开迷局，又在结尾处成功地将前面的结论全部推翻。影片最大的特点便是它的“波氏悬疑”——欲扬先抑，后发制人。影片的大部分时间都在作铺垫：零星的线索，真真假假的信息，看不透的人物，一切的一切都在为最后的高潮作准备。同一般惊悚片相比，波氏电影的成功之处在于它的精致。它的每一个情节都合情合理，每一个“故事”都像“事实”，都经得起推敲。但到了最后，结局总能让人始料不及。
【前情提要】
英 国前首相亚当·朗回忆录的写手迈克·麦卡拉神秘自杀身亡。另一名成功的英国写手接受了续写回忆录的工作，来到了美国东海岸一座岛屿上。但就在他抵达的第二天，英国前外交大臣就称朗在任期间，曾非法把恐怖分子嫌疑人交给美国中情局，并请求国际刑事法庭着手调查此事。
What Exactly Are You?你到底是什么态度？
(The Ghost is reading news on the Internet.)
“Former British Foreign Secretary Richard Rycart has asked the International Criminal Court in the Hague to investigate 1)allegations that the former British Prime Minister Adam Lang ordered the illegal handover of terrorist suspects for torture by the CIA.”
(In Adam Lang’s office.)
Amelia Bly (Adam’s Assistant): What about the media?
Ruth (Adam’s Wife): Issue a holding statement, something short.
Adam: This is when we need Mike.
Amelia: I’ll write something.
Ruth: Let him do it. He’s supposed to be the writer.
The Ghost: Hang on a minute.
Adam: I should sound confident. Not defensive, that’d be fatal. But I shouldn’t be 2)cocky. No bitterness, no anger, and don’t say I’m pleased at this opportunity to clear my name or any balls like that.
The Ghost: So, you’re not defensive, but you’re not cocky. You’re not angry, but you’re not pleased?
Adam: That’s it.
The Ghost: Then what exactly are you?
Amelia: Wait!
(On TV, a representative of the International Criminal Court makes a statement.)
“I wish to make a short statement. I won’t be taking questions. This morning, I was granted power to investigate the former British Prime Minister, Mr. Adam Peter Bennett Lang, under 3)Articles 7 and 8 of the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. I shall shortly be contacting Mr. Lang and the British government to ask for their full cooperation. Thank you.”
(The Ghost stumbles on a few items his predecessor, Mike McAra, left, including a college picture with Lang and Prof. Emmett together.)
Ruth: How’s it going?
The Ghost: The book? Well, it’s not, to be honest.
Ruth: Sit there.
The Ghost: Can I ask you something?
Ruth: Of course.
The Ghost: I find it difficult to understand certain things.
Ruth: What things?
The Ghost: Well...I can’t understand why this good-looking lad who goes to Cambridge without the slightest interest in politics and who spends his time acting and chasing girls, suddenly ends up...
Ruth: Married to me?
The Ghost: Oh, no, not that. No, not that, at all. No, what I don’t get is, is why, at 22, he’s suddenly a political activist. I mean, where does that come from?
Ruth: Didn’t you ask him?
The Ghost: He said he joined the party because of you. Told me a great story about you turning up at his place in the rain. I was gonna start the whole book with it.
Ruth: And now you’re not?
The Ghost: No, I can’t. It’s not true.
Ruth: Isn’t it?
The Ghost: Well, you know it’s not. He’d been a member for two years before he met you.
Ruth: How do you know that?
The Ghost: I’ve got a copy of his original party membership card. Mike McAra found it in the archives.
Ruth: Typical Mike, to ruin a good story with too much research. Did he find anything else?
The Ghost: Not much. Cambridge stuff mainly. You were more political than he was.
Ruth: I was certainly a change from his Cambridge girlfriends.
The Ghost: And so his marriage to you must have been pretty vital, your knowledge and your contacts in the party.
Ruth: And I thought he married me for my body.
The Ghost: Did you ever want to be a proper politician in your own right?
Ruth: Of course.
（写手正在看互联网上的一条消息。）
“英国前外交大臣理查德·赖卡特已经向位于海牙的国际刑事法院提出对英国前首相亚当·朗下令非法将恐怖分子嫌疑犯移交中情局实行酷刑一事展开调查。”
（在朗的办公室里）
阿米莉亚·布莱（朗的助手）：媒体那边怎么办？
露丝（朗的妻子）：先发表一个简短声明。
亚当：这个时候迈克在就好了。
阿米莉亚：我会写好的。
露丝：让他写吧，他可是个靠笔头吃饭的人。
写手：等一下。
亚当：声明要体现我的自信，不要有任何辩解的意思，那会是毁灭性的。但不要显得很傲慢，不能有愤懑情绪，不能怒气冲冲，也不要说我很高兴有这次机会来澄清自己名誉这一类胡言。
写手：这么说，不采取辩解，也不傲慢，既不愤懑，却也不高兴。是吗？
亚当：是的。
写手：那你到底是什么态度呢？
阿米莉亚：等等。
（在电视上，国际刑事法院的代表正在发表声明。）
“我将发表一份简短声明，但我不会接受任何提问。今天上午，我已获得授权，将根据1998年《国际刑事法院罗马规约》的第七条和第八条，对英国前首相亚当·彼得·贝内特·朗先生展开调查。我会很快与朗先生以及英国政府取得联系，要求他们全力配合。谢谢各位。”
（写手偶然发现了前任迈克·麦卡拉留下的几样东西，其中包括朗与艾米特教授上大学时的合影。）
露丝：进展如何？
写手：书吗？嗯，老实说，不太顺利。
露丝：坐那儿吧。
写手：我能问你些事情吗？
露丝：当然。
写手：有些事情我发现很难理解。
露丝：什么事情？
写手：呃……我不能理解为什么一个在剑桥上学，对政治毫不感兴趣，大部分时间用来表演和泡妞的帅哥，怎么突然就……
露丝：和我结婚了？
写手：哦，不，不，不是那个，根本不是。我不明白的是，为什么他在22岁的时候，突然就成了政治活跃份子。我是说，原因是什么？
露丝：你没问过他吗？
写手：他说，他加入政党是因为你，还给我讲了你当年冒雨出现在他家门口的感人故事。我原来还准备用这个故事作为书的开篇呢。
露丝：现在不打算用了吗？
写手：不用了，我不能用，因为这事不是真的。
露丝：不是真的吗？
写手：你应该清楚这事不是真的。事实上他在遇见你之前，就已经入党两年了。
露丝：你怎么知道的？
写手：我有一张他原始党籍证的复印件。迈克·麦卡拉在档案中找到的。
露丝：迈克就是这样，有些事情太过认真，反而毁了一个好故事。他还发现什么？
写手：没什么，主要是一些剑桥的事。你比他更有政治头脑。
露丝：我显然和他在剑桥的那些女朋友们不同。
写手：那么你们的婚姻对他来说一定很重要，你的学识，还有你在党内的人脉。
露丝：我还以为他只是看上了我的脸蛋。
写手：你曾想过以自己的能力成为一个真正的政治家吗？
露丝：当然。
This Explains Everything.这确实可以解释一切。
(The Ghost escapes an apparent chase and contacts Rycart.)
Richard Rycart: Before we go any further, I wonder if I might take a look at that book.
The Ghost: No. Before we go any further, there’s a few things I’d like to know first. Such as, why did Mike McAra have your number?
Richard: OK. Sure. He was helping me.
The Ghost: McAra? How?
Richard: Mike found the documents linking Lang to the torture flights.
The Ghost: What? It was McAra who gave you the documents?
Richard: Yeah, Mike McAra. The loyalest of the loyal.
The Ghost: But why?
Richard: He didn’t like discovering he was working for a war criminal. Would you? Oh, I forgot. You are. The book?
The Ghost: Well, don’t tell me you’re gonna read it now.
Richard: Not all of it. Just the beginning. There’s something very important about it.
The Ghost: Yeah. It’s the cure for 4)insomnia.
Richard: Mike said he’d discovered something new. It’s the last time he called me. He said it explained everything that had gone wrong when we were in government.
The Ghost: What was it?
Richard: He wouldn’t say over the phone. He just kept saying if anything happened to him, the truth was in Lang’s memoirs. “It’s all there in the beginning.”
The Ghost: The beginning? Then he means Cambridge.
(The Ghost shows Rycart the college picture.)
Richard: What the hell’s this?
The Ghost: That is Lang, and that is Paul Emmett.
Richard: Emmett? 5)The Arcadia guy. So what?
The Ghost: On the day that Mike McAra died, he drove up to see Emmett, and I think he was murdered on his way home.
Richard: What?
The Ghost: I went to see Emmett today, and two guys followed me from his house. That’s why I called you. At the time that this photograph was taken, Paul Emmett was an officer in the CIA.
Richard: Emmett?
The Ghost: Foreign Resources Division.
Richard: Oh, my God. You realize how important this is, don’t you? This explains why Lang went into politics. Everyone knows he didn’t have a political thought in his pretty little head. This is why he rose so quickly, with a little help from his friends.
The Ghost: Well, do you think it’s possible...
Richard: OK, a quiz for you. Name one decision Lang made in 10 years as Prime Minister which wasn’t in the interests of the USA. Well, come on, it’s not a trick question. Iraq, Middle East policy, Star Wars Defense, buying American nuclear missiles, support of terrorist 6)rendition. The 7)sacking of any minister Washington didn’t like, including 8)yours truly. McAra was right. This explains everything.
（写手逃过了一次疑似追捕，与赖卡特取得了联系。）
理查德·赖卡特：在我们详谈以前，我想看看那本书。
写手：不行，在我们详谈之前，有些事我得先弄明白。比如说，为什么迈克·麦卡拉会有你的电话？
理查德：好吧，没问题。他在帮我做事。
写手：麦卡拉？怎么会？
理查德：迈克发现了朗与移交犯人有关的文件。
写手：什么？是麦卡拉把文件给你的？
理查德：没错，迈克·麦卡拉，那个最忠心耿耿的人。
写手：但是，他为什么要这么做？
理查德：他不愿意到头来发现自己在为战争犯工作。你会愿意吗？哦，我忘了，你还在为他工作。书呢？
写手：别告诉我你现在就要看。
理查德：不是全部，只看开头。里面有些很重要的东西。
写手：没错，枯燥得能治好失眠症。
理查德：迈克最后一次打电话给我时，说发现了一些新东西。他说那能解释我们执政时出现的所有状况。
写手：什么发现？
理查德：他不愿意在电话上讲。他只是说如果他出了什么事，真相就在朗的回忆录里，他说，“真相就在开头。”
写手：开头？那他是指在剑桥的时候。
（写手把他找到的照片给赖卡特看。）
理查德：这他妈的是什么啊？
写手：那是朗，另一个是保罗·艾米特。
理查德：艾米特？那个运营阿卡迪亚的人。那又怎样？
写手：迈克·麦卡拉死的那一天，他开车去找过艾米特，之后就在回来的路上被谋杀了。
理查德：什么？
写手：我今天也去找艾米特了。有两个人从他家开始跟踪我，所以我才给你打电话。当时拍这张照片的时候，保罗·艾米特是中情局的官员。
理查德：艾米特？
写手：海外资源部。
理查德：哦，我的天啊。你知道这事有多重要，对吧？这解释了朗从政的原因。所有人都知道，那个小白脸是政治白痴，只有在他朋友的帮助下，他才可能崛起得这么快。
写手：你觉得有没有可能……
理查德：好了，考考你。你想想朗在任首相的十年里所做的决定中，有哪一个不是符合美国利益的？说啊，这不是脑筋急转弯。伊拉克战争、中东政策、星球大战计划、购买美国核导弹、支持引渡恐怖分子、解雇所有华府不喜欢的部长，也包括我。麦卡拉是对的，这确实可以解释一切。
This is grotesque.简直太荒唐了。
(The Ghost rides along with Lang on his plane back to the island.)
Adam: Do you have something to tell me?
The Ghost: I went to see Emmett.
Adam: (laughing) That 9)windbag! Why?
The Ghost: I know about you and Emmett.
Adam: Me and Emmett?
The Ghost: I know that he was your...
Adam: My?
The Ghost: ...handler, if that’s what they’re called.
Adam: My handler?
The Ghost: Yeah, that he was your handler in the CIA.
Adam: Oh, my God. You’re serious, aren’t you?
(The Ghost shows Lang the college picture.)
The Ghost: When McAra found this, he went to Boston to show it to Emmett, and he died on the way home, and I think he was murdered.
Adam: (pointing to the wine) I think you’ve had a few too many of those already.
The Ghost: It was McAra who believed that…that Emmett told you to go into politics in the first place.
Adam: Emmett? I barely knew the man.
The Ghost: And that story of yours about why you joined the party and Ruth and the 10)canvassing, well, the dates don’t fit.
Adam: I got the dates wrong. Big deal!
The Ghost: Then when he found this photograph, and he heard the rumors about Emmett being in the CIA...
Adam: Rumors?
The Ghost: It’s on the Internet.
Adam: I’ve never heard such utter balls in my entire life. Mike would never have believed such crap. He was too clever. Too loyal.
The Ghost: Mike betrayed you to Rycart.
Adam: How do you know that?
The Ghost: He told me.
Adam: Rycart? He’s lying.
The Ghost: This phone number on the back of the photograph, it’s Rycart’s. The handwriting, that’s McAra’s.
Adam: Mike.
The Ghost: And you knew he was disillusioned. You had a big row with him just before he died.
Adam: Yes, I know, but he never mentioned this. This is just... This is 11)grotesque. I’ve never taken orders from anyone. Whatever I did, I did because I believed it was right.
The Ghost: What, even supporting illegal kidnapping for torture?
Adam: Oh, for God’s sake, spare me the bleeding-heart bullshit!
(Lang was shot dead upon arrival. The Ghost and Amelia attend the launch party of Adam Lang’s memoir. The Ghost gives Amelia the original manuscript of the memoir.)
The Ghost: I brought you a present. I thought, seeing as you were so keen to hold onto it, you might like it as a souvenir.
Amelia: Between you and me, it wasn’t us, it was the Americans. They thought the book was a potential threat to national security.
The Ghost: But there’s nothing in it.
Amelia: Something about beginnings. I think that’s what I heard.
The Ghost: The beginning?
Amelia: No, beginnings. The beginnings.
The Ghost: Beginnings?
Amelia: You all right?
The Ghost: Do you know that man who’s speaking to Ruth?
Amelia: Paul Emmett?
The Ghost: What’s he doing here?
Amelia: Well, he was Ruth’s tutor at Harvard when she was a Fulbright Scholar. Why shouldn’t he be here?
(The Ghost gets back the manuscript.)
The Ghost: Do you mind if I have that back a second?
(Realizing the clues were hidden at the beginnings of each chapter in the manuscript, the Ghost finally reveals the hidden message.)
The Ghost: “Langs are Scottish folk…wife and child, Langs are Scottish…wife, Langs. Lang’s wife…Lang’s wife Ruth…was recruited as a…CIA agent…by Professor Paul Emmett of Harvard University.”
（写手与朗一起乘坐朗的飞机回岛上。）
亚当：你有什么想对我说的吗？
写手：我去见了艾米特。
亚当：（大笑）那个满口空话的家伙！为什么？
写手：我知道关于你和艾米特的事。
亚当：我和艾米特的事？
写手：我知道他曾是你的……
亚当：我的什么？
写手：上线，如果他们都这么称呼的话。
亚当：我的上线？
写手：是的，他是你在中情局的上线。
亚当：哦，天啊！你不是在开玩笑，对吧？
（写手把照片给朗看。）
写手：麦卡拉发现这张照片以后，去了波士顿拿给艾米特看，接着他在返程途中遇难。我认为他是被谋杀的。
亚当：（指了指酒）我想你是酒喝多了。
写手：麦卡拉认为当初就是艾米特怂恿你步入政坛的。
亚当：艾米特？我算不上认识那个人。
写手：还有你的那个故事。关于你为何入党、露丝的故事，以及上街拉选票等，时间根本对不上。
亚当：我记错日期了而已，没什么大不了的！
写手：他发现这张照片的时候，正好听说了关于艾米特隶属于中情局的传闻。
亚当：传闻？
写手：网上就能查到。
亚当：我这辈子还没听过这么不靠谱的扯淡。迈克决不会相信这种谣言，他很精明，对我很忠诚。
写手：迈克背叛了你，投奔了赖卡特。
亚当：你怎么知道？
写手：他告诉我的。
亚当：赖卡特？他在撒谎。
写手：照片后面的电话号码，就是赖卡特的。这是麦卡拉的笔迹。
亚当：迈克。
写手：你知道他已经对你大失所望了。在他死之前，你和他大吵了一架。
亚当：是的，我知道，但他从没提过这个。这个简直……简直太荒唐了。我从不受任何人摆布。无论我做过什么，都是因为我相信它是对的。
写手：什么？支持非法绑架，刑讯逼供这也是对的吗？
亚当：噢，老天，别再跟我说这些自命清高的废话！
（朗在飞机降落后被枪杀。写手与阿米莉亚一起出席朗回忆录的发布会。写手把回忆录的原始打印稿给阿米莉亚。）
写手：我给你带了一件礼物。我想，既然你以前那么在意它，也许现在会想留着当个纪念。
阿米莉亚：告诉你一个秘密，不是我们在意，是美国人在意。他们认为这本书会成为国家安全的隐患。
写手：可是书里并没有写什么。
阿米莉亚：据我所知，书的开始有点蹊跷。
写手：书的开篇吗？
阿米莉亚：不是开篇，是开始。
写手：开始……
阿米莉亚：你没事吧？
写手：你认识那个男人吗？正和露丝说话的那个。
阿米莉亚：保罗·艾米特。
写手：他怎么来了？
阿米莉亚：他是露丝在哈佛当富布莱特学者时的导师，他为什么不能来这儿？
（写手把稿子又拿了过来。）
写手：你介意把书稿给我一会儿吗？
（写手意识到线索隐藏在稿子中每一章的开头，他终于找到了答案。）
写手：“朗氏家族是苏格兰人……妻子和孩子，朗家是苏格兰人……妻子、朗家。朗的妻子……朗的妻子露丝……被哈佛的保罗·艾米特教授……吸收为……中央情报局特工。”
The End结 局
(The Ghost passes a note to Ruth of his discovery and leaves the party with the original manuscript in hand. As he crosses the street off-camera, a car accelerates in his direction, and sound effects and flying papers indicate that he has been hit.)
（写手把写着他最新发现的内容写在一张纸条上，在新书发布会上传给露丝，然后带着书稿离开了。就在他走过马路，消失在屏幕上后，一辆车加速朝着他的方向驶去，随后的声音及飞舞的纸张表明他被车撞了。）
翻译：丁一
声称一直想拍一部政治惊悚片的著名导演罗曼·波兰斯基看上了哈里斯的小说，两人一拍即合，合作编剧，并最终拍成了这部影片。电影安排得井井有条，情节发展层层递进，一步步拨开迷局，又在结尾处成功地将前面的结论全部推翻。影片最大的特点便是它的“波氏悬疑”——欲扬先抑，后发制人。影片的大部分时间都在作铺垫：零星的线索，真真假假的信息，看不透的人物，一切的一切都在为最后的高潮作准备。同一般惊悚片相比，波氏电影的成功之处在于它的精致。它的每一个情节都合情合理，每一个“故事”都像“事实”，都经得起推敲。但到了最后，结局总能让人始料不及。
【前情提要】
英 国前首相亚当·朗回忆录的写手迈克·麦卡拉神秘自杀身亡。另一名成功的英国写手接受了续写回忆录的工作，来到了美国东海岸一座岛屿上。但就在他抵达的第二天，英国前外交大臣就称朗在任期间，曾非法把恐怖分子嫌疑人交给美国中情局，并请求国际刑事法庭着手调查此事。
What Exactly Are You?你到底是什么态度？
(The Ghost is reading news on the Internet.)
“Former British Foreign Secretary Richard Rycart has asked the International Criminal Court in the Hague to investigate 1)allegations that the former British Prime Minister Adam Lang ordered the illegal handover of terrorist suspects for torture by the CIA.”
(In Adam Lang’s office.)
Amelia Bly (Adam’s Assistant): What about the media?
Ruth (Adam’s Wife): Issue a holding statement, something short.
Adam: This is when we need Mike.
Amelia: I’ll write something.
Ruth: Let him do it. He’s supposed to be the writer.
The Ghost: Hang on a minute.
Adam: I should sound confident. Not defensive, that’d be fatal. But I shouldn’t be 2)cocky. No bitterness, no anger, and don’t say I’m pleased at this opportunity to clear my name or any balls like that.
The Ghost: So, you’re not defensive, but you’re not cocky. You’re not angry, but you’re not pleased?
Adam: That’s it.
The Ghost: Then what exactly are you?
Amelia: Wait!
(On TV, a representative of the International Criminal Court makes a statement.)
“I wish to make a short statement. I won’t be taking questions. This morning, I was granted power to investigate the former British Prime Minister, Mr. Adam Peter Bennett Lang, under 3)Articles 7 and 8 of the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. I shall shortly be contacting Mr. Lang and the British government to ask for their full cooperation. Thank you.”
(The Ghost stumbles on a few items his predecessor, Mike McAra, left, including a college picture with Lang and Prof. Emmett together.)
Ruth: How’s it going?
The Ghost: The book? Well, it’s not, to be honest.
Ruth: Sit there.
The Ghost: Can I ask you something?
Ruth: Of course.
The Ghost: I find it difficult to understand certain things.
Ruth: What things?
The Ghost: Well...I can’t understand why this good-looking lad who goes to Cambridge without the slightest interest in politics and who spends his time acting and chasing girls, suddenly ends up...
Ruth: Married to me?
The Ghost: Oh, no, not that. No, not that, at all. No, what I don’t get is, is why, at 22, he’s suddenly a political activist. I mean, where does that come from?
Ruth: Didn’t you ask him?
The Ghost: He said he joined the party because of you. Told me a great story about you turning up at his place in the rain. I was gonna start the whole book with it.
Ruth: And now you’re not?
The Ghost: No, I can’t. It’s not true.
Ruth: Isn’t it?
The Ghost: Well, you know it’s not. He’d been a member for two years before he met you.
Ruth: How do you know that?
The Ghost: I’ve got a copy of his original party membership card. Mike McAra found it in the archives.
Ruth: Typical Mike, to ruin a good story with too much research. Did he find anything else?
The Ghost: Not much. Cambridge stuff mainly. You were more political than he was.
Ruth: I was certainly a change from his Cambridge girlfriends.
The Ghost: And so his marriage to you must have been pretty vital, your knowledge and your contacts in the party.
Ruth: And I thought he married me for my body.
The Ghost: Did you ever want to be a proper politician in your own right?
Ruth: Of course.
（写手正在看互联网上的一条消息。）
“英国前外交大臣理查德·赖卡特已经向位于海牙的国际刑事法院提出对英国前首相亚当·朗下令非法将恐怖分子嫌疑犯移交中情局实行酷刑一事展开调查。”
（在朗的办公室里）
阿米莉亚·布莱（朗的助手）：媒体那边怎么办？
露丝（朗的妻子）：先发表一个简短声明。
亚当：这个时候迈克在就好了。
阿米莉亚：我会写好的。
露丝：让他写吧，他可是个靠笔头吃饭的人。
写手：等一下。
亚当：声明要体现我的自信，不要有任何辩解的意思，那会是毁灭性的。但不要显得很傲慢，不能有愤懑情绪，不能怒气冲冲，也不要说我很高兴有这次机会来澄清自己名誉这一类胡言。
写手：这么说，不采取辩解，也不傲慢，既不愤懑，却也不高兴。是吗？
亚当：是的。
写手：那你到底是什么态度呢？
阿米莉亚：等等。
（在电视上，国际刑事法院的代表正在发表声明。）
“我将发表一份简短声明，但我不会接受任何提问。今天上午，我已获得授权，将根据1998年《国际刑事法院罗马规约》的第七条和第八条，对英国前首相亚当·彼得·贝内特·朗先生展开调查。我会很快与朗先生以及英国政府取得联系，要求他们全力配合。谢谢各位。”
（写手偶然发现了前任迈克·麦卡拉留下的几样东西，其中包括朗与艾米特教授上大学时的合影。）
露丝：进展如何？
写手：书吗？嗯，老实说，不太顺利。
露丝：坐那儿吧。
写手：我能问你些事情吗？
露丝：当然。
写手：有些事情我发现很难理解。
露丝：什么事情？
写手：呃……我不能理解为什么一个在剑桥上学，对政治毫不感兴趣，大部分时间用来表演和泡妞的帅哥，怎么突然就……
露丝：和我结婚了？
写手：哦，不，不，不是那个，根本不是。我不明白的是，为什么他在22岁的时候，突然就成了政治活跃份子。我是说，原因是什么？
露丝：你没问过他吗？
写手：他说，他加入政党是因为你，还给我讲了你当年冒雨出现在他家门口的感人故事。我原来还准备用这个故事作为书的开篇呢。
露丝：现在不打算用了吗？
写手：不用了，我不能用，因为这事不是真的。
露丝：不是真的吗？
写手：你应该清楚这事不是真的。事实上他在遇见你之前，就已经入党两年了。
露丝：你怎么知道的？
写手：我有一张他原始党籍证的复印件。迈克·麦卡拉在档案中找到的。
露丝：迈克就是这样，有些事情太过认真，反而毁了一个好故事。他还发现什么？
写手：没什么，主要是一些剑桥的事。你比他更有政治头脑。
露丝：我显然和他在剑桥的那些女朋友们不同。
写手：那么你们的婚姻对他来说一定很重要，你的学识，还有你在党内的人脉。
露丝：我还以为他只是看上了我的脸蛋。
写手：你曾想过以自己的能力成为一个真正的政治家吗？
露丝：当然。
This Explains Everything.这确实可以解释一切。
(The Ghost escapes an apparent chase and contacts Rycart.)
Richard Rycart: Before we go any further, I wonder if I might take a look at that book.
The Ghost: No. Before we go any further, there’s a few things I’d like to know first. Such as, why did Mike McAra have your number?
Richard: OK. Sure. He was helping me.
The Ghost: McAra? How?
Richard: Mike found the documents linking Lang to the torture flights.
The Ghost: What? It was McAra who gave you the documents?
Richard: Yeah, Mike McAra. The loyalest of the loyal.
The Ghost: But why?
Richard: He didn’t like discovering he was working for a war criminal. Would you? Oh, I forgot. You are. The book?
The Ghost: Well, don’t tell me you’re gonna read it now.
Richard: Not all of it. Just the beginning. There’s something very important about it.
The Ghost: Yeah. It’s the cure for 4)insomnia.
Richard: Mike said he’d discovered something new. It’s the last time he called me. He said it explained everything that had gone wrong when we were in government.
The Ghost: What was it?
Richard: He wouldn’t say over the phone. He just kept saying if anything happened to him, the truth was in Lang’s memoirs. “It’s all there in the beginning.”
The Ghost: The beginning? Then he means Cambridge.
(The Ghost shows Rycart the college picture.)
Richard: What the hell’s this?
The Ghost: That is Lang, and that is Paul Emmett.
Richard: Emmett? 5)The Arcadia guy. So what?
The Ghost: On the day that Mike McAra died, he drove up to see Emmett, and I think he was murdered on his way home.
Richard: What?
The Ghost: I went to see Emmett today, and two guys followed me from his house. That’s why I called you. At the time that this photograph was taken, Paul Emmett was an officer in the CIA.
Richard: Emmett?
The Ghost: Foreign Resources Division.
Richard: Oh, my God. You realize how important this is, don’t you? This explains why Lang went into politics. Everyone knows he didn’t have a political thought in his pretty little head. This is why he rose so quickly, with a little help from his friends.
The Ghost: Well, do you think it’s possible...
Richard: OK, a quiz for you. Name one decision Lang made in 10 years as Prime Minister which wasn’t in the interests of the USA. Well, come on, it’s not a trick question. Iraq, Middle East policy, Star Wars Defense, buying American nuclear missiles, support of terrorist 6)rendition. The 7)sacking of any minister Washington didn’t like, including 8)yours truly. McAra was right. This explains everything.
（写手逃过了一次疑似追捕，与赖卡特取得了联系。）
理查德·赖卡特：在我们详谈以前，我想看看那本书。
写手：不行，在我们详谈之前，有些事我得先弄明白。比如说，为什么迈克·麦卡拉会有你的电话？
理查德：好吧，没问题。他在帮我做事。
写手：麦卡拉？怎么会？
理查德：迈克发现了朗与移交犯人有关的文件。
写手：什么？是麦卡拉把文件给你的？
理查德：没错，迈克·麦卡拉，那个最忠心耿耿的人。
写手：但是，他为什么要这么做？
理查德：他不愿意到头来发现自己在为战争犯工作。你会愿意吗？哦，我忘了，你还在为他工作。书呢？
写手：别告诉我你现在就要看。
理查德：不是全部，只看开头。里面有些很重要的东西。
写手：没错，枯燥得能治好失眠症。
理查德：迈克最后一次打电话给我时，说发现了一些新东西。他说那能解释我们执政时出现的所有状况。
写手：什么发现？
理查德：他不愿意在电话上讲。他只是说如果他出了什么事，真相就在朗的回忆录里，他说，“真相就在开头。”
写手：开头？那他是指在剑桥的时候。
（写手把他找到的照片给赖卡特看。）
理查德：这他妈的是什么啊？
写手：那是朗，另一个是保罗·艾米特。
理查德：艾米特？那个运营阿卡迪亚的人。那又怎样？
写手：迈克·麦卡拉死的那一天，他开车去找过艾米特，之后就在回来的路上被谋杀了。
理查德：什么？
写手：我今天也去找艾米特了。有两个人从他家开始跟踪我，所以我才给你打电话。当时拍这张照片的时候，保罗·艾米特是中情局的官员。
理查德：艾米特？
写手：海外资源部。
理查德：哦，我的天啊。你知道这事有多重要，对吧？这解释了朗从政的原因。所有人都知道，那个小白脸是政治白痴，只有在他朋友的帮助下，他才可能崛起得这么快。
写手：你觉得有没有可能……
理查德：好了，考考你。你想想朗在任首相的十年里所做的决定中，有哪一个不是符合美国利益的？说啊，这不是脑筋急转弯。伊拉克战争、中东政策、星球大战计划、购买美国核导弹、支持引渡恐怖分子、解雇所有华府不喜欢的部长，也包括我。麦卡拉是对的，这确实可以解释一切。
This is grotesque.简直太荒唐了。
(The Ghost rides along with Lang on his plane back to the island.)
Adam: Do you have something to tell me?
The Ghost: I went to see Emmett.
Adam: (laughing) That 9)windbag! Why?
The Ghost: I know about you and Emmett.
Adam: Me and Emmett?
The Ghost: I know that he was your...
Adam: My?
The Ghost: ...handler, if that’s what they’re called.
Adam: My handler?
The Ghost: Yeah, that he was your handler in the CIA.
Adam: Oh, my God. You’re serious, aren’t you?
(The Ghost shows Lang the college picture.)
The Ghost: When McAra found this, he went to Boston to show it to Emmett, and he died on the way home, and I think he was murdered.
Adam: (pointing to the wine) I think you’ve had a few too many of those already.
The Ghost: It was McAra who believed that…that Emmett told you to go into politics in the first place.
Adam: Emmett? I barely knew the man.
The Ghost: And that story of yours about why you joined the party and Ruth and the 10)canvassing, well, the dates don’t fit.
Adam: I got the dates wrong. Big deal!
The Ghost: Then when he found this photograph, and he heard the rumors about Emmett being in the CIA...
Adam: Rumors?
The Ghost: It’s on the Internet.
Adam: I’ve never heard such utter balls in my entire life. Mike would never have believed such crap. He was too clever. Too loyal.
The Ghost: Mike betrayed you to Rycart.
Adam: How do you know that?
The Ghost: He told me.
Adam: Rycart? He’s lying.
The Ghost: This phone number on the back of the photograph, it’s Rycart’s. The handwriting, that’s McAra’s.
Adam: Mike.
The Ghost: And you knew he was disillusioned. You had a big row with him just before he died.
Adam: Yes, I know, but he never mentioned this. This is just... This is 11)grotesque. I’ve never taken orders from anyone. Whatever I did, I did because I believed it was right.
The Ghost: What, even supporting illegal kidnapping for torture?
Adam: Oh, for God’s sake, spare me the bleeding-heart bullshit!
(Lang was shot dead upon arrival. The Ghost and Amelia attend the launch party of Adam Lang’s memoir. The Ghost gives Amelia the original manuscript of the memoir.)
The Ghost: I brought you a present. I thought, seeing as you were so keen to hold onto it, you might like it as a souvenir.
Amelia: Between you and me, it wasn’t us, it was the Americans. They thought the book was a potential threat to national security.
The Ghost: But there’s nothing in it.
Amelia: Something about beginnings. I think that’s what I heard.
The Ghost: The beginning?
Amelia: No, beginnings. The beginnings.
The Ghost: Beginnings?
Amelia: You all right?
The Ghost: Do you know that man who’s speaking to Ruth?
Amelia: Paul Emmett?
The Ghost: What’s he doing here?
Amelia: Well, he was Ruth’s tutor at Harvard when she was a Fulbright Scholar. Why shouldn’t he be here?
(The Ghost gets back the manuscript.)
The Ghost: Do you mind if I have that back a second?
(Realizing the clues were hidden at the beginnings of each chapter in the manuscript, the Ghost finally reveals the hidden message.)
The Ghost: “Langs are Scottish folk…wife and child, Langs are Scottish…wife, Langs. Lang’s wife…Lang’s wife Ruth…was recruited as a…CIA agent…by Professor Paul Emmett of Harvard University.”
（写手与朗一起乘坐朗的飞机回岛上。）
亚当：你有什么想对我说的吗？
写手：我去见了艾米特。
亚当：（大笑）那个满口空话的家伙！为什么？
写手：我知道关于你和艾米特的事。
亚当：我和艾米特的事？
写手：我知道他曾是你的……
亚当：我的什么？
写手：上线，如果他们都这么称呼的话。
亚当：我的上线？
写手：是的，他是你在中情局的上线。
亚当：哦，天啊！你不是在开玩笑，对吧？
（写手把照片给朗看。）
写手：麦卡拉发现这张照片以后，去了波士顿拿给艾米特看，接着他在返程途中遇难。我认为他是被谋杀的。
亚当：（指了指酒）我想你是酒喝多了。
写手：麦卡拉认为当初就是艾米特怂恿你步入政坛的。
亚当：艾米特？我算不上认识那个人。
写手：还有你的那个故事。关于你为何入党、露丝的故事，以及上街拉选票等，时间根本对不上。
亚当：我记错日期了而已，没什么大不了的！
写手：他发现这张照片的时候，正好听说了关于艾米特隶属于中情局的传闻。
亚当：传闻？
写手：网上就能查到。
亚当：我这辈子还没听过这么不靠谱的扯淡。迈克决不会相信这种谣言，他很精明，对我很忠诚。
写手：迈克背叛了你，投奔了赖卡特。
亚当：你怎么知道？
写手：他告诉我的。
亚当：赖卡特？他在撒谎。
写手：照片后面的电话号码，就是赖卡特的。这是麦卡拉的笔迹。
亚当：迈克。
写手：你知道他已经对你大失所望了。在他死之前，你和他大吵了一架。
亚当：是的，我知道，但他从没提过这个。这个简直……简直太荒唐了。我从不受任何人摆布。无论我做过什么，都是因为我相信它是对的。
写手：什么？支持非法绑架，刑讯逼供这也是对的吗？
亚当：噢，老天，别再跟我说这些自命清高的废话！
（朗在飞机降落后被枪杀。写手与阿米莉亚一起出席朗回忆录的发布会。写手把回忆录的原始打印稿给阿米莉亚。）
写手：我给你带了一件礼物。我想，既然你以前那么在意它，也许现在会想留着当个纪念。
阿米莉亚：告诉你一个秘密，不是我们在意，是美国人在意。他们认为这本书会成为国家安全的隐患。
写手：可是书里并没有写什么。
阿米莉亚：据我所知，书的开始有点蹊跷。
写手：书的开篇吗？
阿米莉亚：不是开篇，是开始。
写手：开始……
阿米莉亚：你没事吧？
写手：你认识那个男人吗？正和露丝说话的那个。
阿米莉亚：保罗·艾米特。
写手：他怎么来了？
阿米莉亚：他是露丝在哈佛当富布莱特学者时的导师，他为什么不能来这儿？
（写手把稿子又拿了过来。）
写手：你介意把书稿给我一会儿吗？
（写手意识到线索隐藏在稿子中每一章的开头，他终于找到了答案。）
写手：“朗氏家族是苏格兰人……妻子和孩子，朗家是苏格兰人……妻子、朗家。朗的妻子……朗的妻子露丝……被哈佛的保罗·艾米特教授……吸收为……中央情报局特工。”
The End结 局
(The Ghost passes a note to Ruth of his discovery and leaves the party with the original manuscript in hand. As he crosses the street off-camera, a car accelerates in his direction, and sound effects and flying papers indicate that he has been hit.)
（写手把写着他最新发现的内容写在一张纸条上，在新书发布会上传给露丝，然后带着书稿离开了。就在他走过马路，消失在屏幕上后，一辆车加速朝着他的方向驶去，随后的声音及飞舞的纸张表明他被车撞了。）
翻译：丁一