Longreads Best of 2015: Crime Reporting
We asked a few writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in specific categories.
我们要求一些作家和编辑在特定类别中选择一些他们今年最喜欢的故事。
Here, the best in crime reporting.
这里有最好的犯罪报道。
* * *
** **
Chris VogelArticles Editor at Boston magazine.
克里斯·沃格尔 (Chris Vogel) 波士顿杂志文章编辑。
## The Great Cocaine Treasure Hunt (Daniel Riley, GQ)
## 可卡因寻宝大行动（丹尼尔·莱利，GQ）
This is easily one of my favorite stories of the year, regardless of genre.
无论类型如何，这无疑都是我今年最喜欢的故事之一。
Sure it has buried treasure, 70 pounds of cocaine, and a questionable undercover sting in the Caribbean, but it’s also a tale about the power of story and good story telling.
当然，它埋藏着宝藏、70 磅可卡因，以及在加勒比海进行的一次可疑的秘密刺杀，但这也是一个关于故事的力量和好的故事讲述的故事。
I’m pretty sure I emailed Riley’s opener to more people this year than any other, which starts like the seductive thrum of a GTO:
我很确定今年我通过电子邮件将 Riley 的开场白发送给了比以往任何时候都多的人，它的开头就像 GTO 的诱人节奏：
Good Goddamn, the way Julian told that story.
天哪，朱利安讲那个故事的方式。
It was the sort of story that imbued the mind with possibility.
这种故事能让人的头脑充满可能性。
That lingered like campfire smoke in a sweater.But it wasn’t just the particulars of the story—Julian burying the million-dollar stash of coral-white cocaine he’d found washed up on the beach in Culebra—that captured Rodney Hyden’s imagination.
那种感觉就像毛衣里的篝火烟雾一样挥之不去。但激发罗德尼·海登想象力的不仅仅是故事的细节——朱利安埋葬了他在库莱布拉海滩上发现的价值数百万美元的珊瑚白色可卡因。
It was the sounds of the story—the slithering South Carolina accent, the whistly snicker at parts that weren’t funny to anyone but Julian.
这是故事的声音——带着滑溜溜的南卡罗来纳口音，在除了朱利安以外的任何人都觉得不好笑的部分中发出尖声的窃笑。
And the picture of the storyteller, too.
还有讲故事的人的照片。
The silver hair down around Julian’s shoulders, the big Gandalf beard distracting from his slight frame, the bare feet, and always that Mason jar of wine that kept bottoming out and filling right back up again.
朱利安的银发垂落在肩上，甘道夫的大胡子分散了他瘦弱的身躯的注意力，光着脚，还有梅森罐子里的酒总是不断地降到最低点，然后又重新装满。
Good Goddamn, the way Julian told that story.
天哪，朱利安讲那个故事的方式。
It was the sort of story that imbued the mind with possibility.
这种故事能让人的头脑充满可能性。
That lingered like campfire smoke in a sweater.
就像毛衣里篝火的烟雾一样挥之不去。
But it wasn’t just the particulars of the story—Julian burying the million-dollar stash of coral-white cocaine he’d found washed up on the beach in Culebra—that captured Rodney Hyden’s imagination.
但激发罗德尼·海登想象力的不仅仅是这个故事的细节——朱利安埋葬了他在库莱布拉海滩上发现的价值数百万美元的珊瑚白色可卡因。
It was the sounds of the story—the slithering South Carolina accent, the whistly snicker at parts that weren’t funny to anyone but Julian.
这是故事的声音——带着滑溜溜的南卡罗来纳口音，在除了朱利安以外的任何人都觉得不好笑的部分中发出尖声的窃笑。
And the picture of the storyteller, too.
还有讲故事的人的照片。
The silver hair down around Julian’s shoulders, the big Gandalf beard distracting from his slight frame, the bare feet, and always that Mason jar of wine that kept bottoming out and filling right back up again.
朱利安的银发垂落在肩上，甘道夫的大胡子分散了他瘦弱的身躯的注意力，光着脚，还有梅森罐子里的酒总是不断地降到最低点，然后又重新装满。
I mean, c’mon.
我的意思是，来吧。
## What Happened After My Kidnapping (Bradford Pearson, Philadelphia magazine)
## 我被绑架后发生了什么（布拉德福德·皮尔森，费城杂志）
What ever happened to the gunmen who kidnapped and threatened to kill me?
绑架并威胁要杀死我的枪手后来怎么样了？
Pearson has the balls to find out in his deeply personal quest to make peace with the night three teenagers from West Philly robbed him at gunpoint and took him hostage.
当晚，来自西费城的三名青少年用枪威胁他并劫持了他作为人质，皮尔逊有勇气在他个人的内心深处寻求和平的追求中找到答案。
Using long stretches of forceful dialogue, Pearson summons blunt details that resonated with me—I once was mugged in a Philadelphia parking lot and Pearson’s depiction of the assault made my hairs stand on end.
皮尔森通过长篇有力的对话，唤起了引起我共鸣的直率细节——我曾经在费城的一个停车场被抢劫，皮尔森对这次袭击的描述让我毛骨悚然。
But I never expected such a wallop of heart and humanity when Pearson finally comes face to face with his attackers nearly a decade later.
但我没想到，近十年后，当皮尔逊终于与攻击他的人面对面时，内心和人性会受到如此大的冲击。
This is a story that sticks.
这是一个流传已久的故事。
Erika HayasakiFreelance journalist and former LA Times national correspondent who teaches literary journalism at UC Irvine.
早崎艾里卡 (Erika Hayasaki) 自由撰稿人、前《洛杉矶时报》国家记者，在加州大学欧文分校教授文学新闻学。
## The Untold Story of the Silk Road (Joshuah Bearman, Wired)
## 丝绸之路不为人知的故事（约书亚·贝尔曼，《连线》）
When it comes to nonfiction narrative technique and style, this story has it all—multidimensional characters, intimate reporting, twists and turns.
当谈到非小说类叙事技巧和风格时，这个故事拥有一切——多维人物、亲密的报道、曲折。
That’s why I assigned it to my UC Irvine students for our class, “Narratives in the Digital Age.” Many said it was their favorite story on the syllabus.
这就是为什么我把它分配给加州大学欧文分校的学生“数字时代的叙事”。许多人说这是他们在教学大纲上最喜欢的故事。
Here are some of their responses explaining why:
以下是他们的一些回应，解释了原因：
— “…a fantastic tale of libertarianism, corruption, revolution, cybercrime, duality of self and challenging the very construct of control vs. freedom.”— “The raw fact-by-fact retelling of the story, along with the incredibly detailed descriptions of both places and people, gave the story a ton of life and made it easy to picture…it was poetic, and it definitely left me thinking about what had just happened once I finished reading.”— “The narrative plays out much like a movie and is very cinematic and grandiose in the exposition of its plot.
—“……一个关于自由主义、腐败、革命、网络犯罪、自我二元性的奇妙故事，挑战了控制与自由的结构。”—“这个故事的原始事实复述，加上对地点和人物的令人难以置信的详细描述，赋予了这个故事大量的生命力，并且很容易想象……它很有诗意，它绝对让我在读完后思考刚刚发生的事情。”—“故事的情节就像一部电影一样，其情节的阐述非常电影化和宏大。
It is more than just an interesting story; it is an insight into the mind of Ross Ulbricht’s greatest accomplishment and libertarian social experiment.”
这不仅仅是一个有趣的故事；这是对罗斯·乌布利希最伟大成就和自由主义社会实验思想的洞察。”
## This Is What They Did for Fun (Albert Samaha, Buzzfeed)
## 这就是他们为了好玩而做的事（Albert Samaha，Buzzfeed）
It was modern-day lynching that made new headlines, but Buzzfeed crime writer Albert Samaha recognized a deeper story had yet to be told.
现代私刑成为了新的头条新闻，但 Buzzfeed 犯罪作家艾伯特·萨马哈 (Albert Samaha) 认识到，还有更深层次的故事有待讲述。
He focused his reporting on the partner of the victim, and the aftermath of the horrific murder.
他的报道重点是受害者的伴侣以及这起可怕谋杀案的后果。
This approach elevated the piece from tragic crime story to emotionally resonant character-driven narrative.
这种方法将这部作品从悲惨的犯罪故事提升为情感共鸣的人物驱动叙事。
It is an important and compelling read about one couple and the events that ripped them apart.
这是一本重要且引人入胜的读物，讲述了一对夫妇以及导致他们分手的事件。
It is also an important history lesson on racism in today’s America.
这也是关于当今美国种族主义的重要历史教训。
Steve KandellExecutive Editor, Features at BuzzFeed, where he’s worked since 2012 overseeing longform feature assignments.
Steve Kandell BuzzFeed 专题执行编辑，自 2012 年以来一直在该公司工作，负责监督长篇专题任务。
## The Strange Case Of Anna Stubblefield (Daniel Engber, New York Times Magazine)
## 安娜·斯图布尔菲尔德的奇案（丹尼尔·恩格伯，纽约时报杂志）
Most anyone who works on stories like this for a living will attest that the true gauge of success is, traffic aside, the degree to which it seems like people are talking about them.
大多数以撰写此类故事为生的人都会证明，除了流量之外，成功的真正衡量标准是人们谈论它们的程度。
And for a few days this fall, everyone I knew wanted to talk about this story and better, to argue about it: Could Anna, a married researcher truly have fallen in love with her subject, DJ, who has severe cerebral palsy and, according to the state, the mental capacity of a toddler?
今年秋天的几天里，我认识的每个人都想谈论这个故事，甚至更好地讨论这个故事：安娜，一位已婚研究员，真的会爱上她的研究对象 DJ吗？ DJ 患有严重的脑瘫，根据州政府的说法，她的智力只有幼儿？
Or, as the story itself seeks to examine, could DJ really, as Anna insists, have fallen in love with her?
或者，正如故事本身试图检验的那样，DJ 真的会像安娜所坚持的那样爱上她吗？
Engber did not get to speak with Anna Stubblefield, who was convicted of first-degree sexual assault and could spend 40 years in prison for twice having sex with DJ, yet still masterfully recreates this impossibly complicated relationship as it unfolded during her trial.
恩格贝尔未能与安娜·斯图布尔菲尔德交谈，后者因一级性侵犯而被判犯有一级性侵犯罪，并可能因两次与 DJ 发生性关系而入狱 40 年，但她仍然巧妙地重现了审判期间所展开的这段极其复杂的关系。
Central to it all is “facilitated communication,” a polarizing means of expression for the severely disabled that blurs the line between science and wishful thinking.
这一切的核心是“便利沟通”，这是一种针对严重残疾人的两极分化的表达方式，模糊了科学与一厢情愿之间的界限。
## Online Dating Made This Woman A Pawn In A Global Crime Plot (Brendan I.
## 在线约会使这个女人成为全球犯罪阴谋中的棋子 (Brendan I.
Koerner, Wired)
科纳，连线）
One of my favorite nonfiction books of the past few years was Brendan’s The Skies Belong To Us, about the rash of hijacking in the U.S. in the late ’60s and early ’70s—not just because it brilliantly placed these dramatic crimes into cultural context, but because it treated the people involved with them as fully realized humans with complex motivations.
过去几年我最喜欢的非小说类书籍之一是布兰登的《天空属于我们》，讲述了 60 年代末和 70 年代初在美国发生的劫机事件——不仅因为它巧妙地将这些戏剧性的犯罪置于文化背景中，而且因为它将参与这些犯罪的人视为具有复杂动机的完全实现的人。
And he does all of that here.
他在这里完成了所有这一切。
Catfishing lonely, vulnerable women for profit is about as mundane a con as the internet has to offer, but by focusing closely on the case of Audrey Elrod, a West Virginia divorcee charmed and strung along by, ostensibly, a charming Scottish widower working on an oil rig named Duke (but, in actuality, scammers called “Yahoo Boys” likely based in Nigeria), the story is painful and heartwrenching to read.
为牟利而对孤独、脆弱的女性进行鲶鱼捕捞是互联网上常见的骗局，但通过密切关注奥黛丽·埃尔罗德 (Audrey Elrod) 的案例，她是一位西弗吉尼亚州的离婚者，表面上被一位在杜克石油钻井平台工作的迷人的苏格兰鳏夫所迷惑和束缚（但实际上，被称为“雅虎男孩”的骗子很可能来自尼日利亚），这个故事读起来令人痛苦和心碎。
Driven hundreds of thousands of dollars into debt, and eventually to jail, Elrod is fully and vividly rendered as the answer to the question, “Who would fall for something like this?” The perfect crime is not one that relies on common sense but, simply, the desire for something unbelievable to be true.
埃尔罗德背负了数十万美元的债务，并最终入狱，他充分而生动地回答了“谁会陷入这样的事情？”这个问题。完美的犯罪不是依赖常识，而是简单地渴望令人难以置信的事情成为现实。
Susan DominusStaff Writer, New York Times Magazine
苏珊·多米纳斯《纽约时报》杂志特约撰稿人
## Blood Ties (Nathan Heller, New Yorker)
## 血缘关系（内森·海勒，《纽约客》）
In “Blood Ties,” which ran in the New Yorker, Nathan Heller wrote a piece that starts out with the spareness of a pot-boiler, and ends up reading like a literary essay on the unreliable nature of storytelling.
在《纽约客》上刊登的《血缘关系》中，内森·海勒写了一篇文章，文章开头是锅匠的闲适，读起来就像一篇关于讲故事的不可靠本质的文学文章。
Heller’s subjects are Elizabeth Haysom and Jens Soering, students who fell in love at the University of Virginia, and were both convicted (Haysom as an accessory) in the brutal murder of Haysom’s parents.
海勒的拍摄对象是伊丽莎白·海瑟姆（Elizabeth Haysom）和延斯·索林（Jens Soering），他们是在弗吉尼亚大学坠入爱河的学生，两人都因残酷谋杀海瑟姆的父母而被定罪（海瑟姆作为同谋）。
There is a touch of Edward Albee in the dark, witty letters Haysom wrote describing her desire to do in her alcoholic parents; Soering, who went on to write several books in prison, presents himself as a romantic and tragic hero, who falsely confessed to murder to save the life of the woman he loved.
海索姆写的那些黑暗而诙谐的信中，有一丝爱德华·阿尔比的影子，这些信描述了她对酗酒父母的渴望；索林后来在监狱里写了几本书，将自己描绘成一个浪漫而悲剧的英雄，他错误地承认了谋杀罪，以拯救他所爱的女人的生命。
In the end, Heller is dissatisfied by all of the stories he hears from the convicted in their own defense.
最后，海勒对他从被定罪者那里听到的所有为自己辩护的故事感到不满意。
“We cherish characters in books and shows for seeming like real people, though our sense of what is genuine is shaped largely by what we watch and read,” he writes.
他写道：“我们珍视书籍和电视剧中的人物，因为他们看起来像真人，尽管我们对真实事物的感觉很大程度上取决于我们所观看和阅读的内容。”
“At least one of the people implicated has been hiding the truth with a writer’s mind.”
“至少有一个受牵连的人一直在用作家的头脑隐瞒真相。”
## Troll Detective (Katie J.M.
## 巨魔侦探 (Katie J.M.
Baker, BuzzFeed)
贝克、BuzzFeed）
“Troll Detective,” which Katie J.M.
凯蒂·J·M·凯蒂 (Katie J.M.) 的《巨魔侦探》
Baker wrote for Buzzfeed, is about the mysterious murder of Jessica Chambers, a young woman living in a small Mississippi town; but it is also about the way that the Internet allowed the outside world to make that particular tragedy its own.
贝克为 Buzzfeed 撰写的文章讲述了居住在密西西比州小镇的年轻女子杰西卡·钱伯斯 (Jessica Chambers) 被神秘谋杀的故事；但这也与互联网如何允许外部世界将这场特殊的悲剧变成自己的悲剧有关。
Once those outsiders claim a tragedy as its own, Baker shows in vivid detail, they have the right to demand answers, even if it means tormenting the people closest the case, or distorting the facts for the even bigger world watching from a slight remove.
贝克以生动的细节展示，一旦那些局外人声称这是一场悲剧，他们就有权要求答案，即使这意味着折磨与案件最接近的人，或者为了让更大的世界在稍远处观看而扭曲事实。
Chambers’ story is a troubling and fascinating one in its own right, but Baker brings an anthropologist’s expertise to her examination of how a modern murder plays out online.
钱伯斯的故事本身既令人不安又引人入胜，但贝克将人类学家的专业知识带入她对现代谋杀案在网上如何上演的研究中。
Longreads Editor’s Pick: Brendan O’Connor@_grendan
长读编辑推荐：Brendan O’Connor@_grendan
## Where the Bodies Are Buried (Patrick Radden Keefe, New Yorker)
## 尸体埋葬的地方（Patrick Radden Keefe，《纽约客》）
Historically-minded visitors to Belfast might feel inclined to partake in the Troubles Tour, in which cabdrivers and other longtime, knowledgeable residents who may or may not have participated in one way or another in the violence of yesteryear guide outsiders through the northern Irish city.
具有历史意识的贝尔法斯特游客可能会倾向于参加“麻烦之旅”，其中出租车司机和其他知识渊博的长期居民可能会或可能不会以某种方式参与过去的暴力活动，引导外来者游览这座北爱尔兰城市。
Enormous murals proclaiming allegiances and denouncing enemies, commemorating victories and defeats, are painted on across the sides of people’s homes.
人们房屋的两侧都画着宣誓效忠、谴责敌人、纪念胜利和失败的巨幅壁画。
Long walls topped with razor wire divide neighborhoods throughout the city—Catholic on one side, Protestant on the other.
长墙顶部布满铁丝网，将整个城市的街区分隔开来——一侧是天主教区，另一侧是新教区。
Tourists consume these places as artifacts, signifiers of a conflict that has come to rest, if not entirely resolved.
游客将这些地方视为文物，象征着冲突即使尚未完全解决，也已经平息。
Patrick Radden Keefe’s “Letter from Belfast” tells another story, one of a generational trauma with which the city’s denizens are still living.
帕特里克·拉登·基夫（Patrick Radden Keefe）的《贝尔法斯特来信》讲述了另一个故事，这是该市居民至今仍生活在的一代人创伤中。
## A Manhattan Fortuneteller Cost Him Fortune After Fortune (Michael Wilson, New York Times)
## 曼哈顿算命先生一次又一次地失去财富（迈克尔·威尔逊，《纽约时报》）
This year, beginning in June, the New York Times’ Michael Wilson wrote a series of stories in his “Crime Scene” column on New York City’s storefront psychic industry.
今年六月开始，《纽约时报》的迈克尔·威尔逊在他的“犯罪现场”专栏中撰写了一系列有关纽约市店面通灵行业的故事。
It began when one 32-year-old British consultant living in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Niall Rice, went to the police after giving 26-year-old Priscilla Kelly Delmaro and another psychic some $700,000 over just under two years.
事情的起因是，居住在布鲁克林东威廉斯堡的一位 32 岁英国顾问尼尔·赖斯 (Niall Rice) 在不到两年的时间内向 26 岁的普里西拉·凯利·德尔马罗 (Priscilla Kelly Delmaro) 和另一名通灵者提供了约 70 万美元，随后向警方报案。
Delmaro had promised him she could reunite him with the woman he loved.
德尔马罗向他保证她可以让他与他所爱的女人团聚。
In the midst of her psychic efforts, the woman died; more was required of Rice.
在她的心灵努力中，这个女人死了。对赖斯的要求还更高。
(At one point, Rice and Delmaro slept together.) In November, Delmaro took a plea deal.
（有一次，赖斯和德尔马罗睡在一起。）11 月，德尔马罗达成了认罪协议。
“She somehow said all the right things,” Rice said.
“不知怎的，她说了所有正确的话，”赖斯说。
“It sounds mad now that I’m saying it.” In a tangential story, Wilson reported on convicted psychics who have gone before parole boards and disavowed their earlier practices.
“我现在这么说听起来很生气。”在一个离题的故事中，威尔逊报道了一些被定罪的通灵者，他们在假释委员会面前否认了他们之前的做法。