评论
打印
"I was convinced it would never be claimed," says Mary Neubauer, the Iowa Lottery's vice president of external relations, of the jackpot.
“爱荷华州彩票机构负责对外关系的副总裁玛丽·纽鲍尔在谈到这个头奖时说：“我当时确信它永远不会被认领。”
And it wasn't, until exactly a year after the drawing—less than two hours before the 4 p.m. deadline—
它确实没有被认领，直到开奖后整整一年——离下午四点的截止时间不到两个小时的时候——
when representatives from a Des Moines law firm showed up at lottery head-quarters with the winning ticket.
得梅因市的一家律师事务所的代表们拿着中奖彩票出现在彩票总部。
The firm was claiming the prize on behalf of a trust whose beneficiary was a corporation in Belize.
该公司代表一个信托基金来领取奖金，该信托基金的受益人是伯利兹的一家公司。
Its president was Philip Johnston—the same man who said he'd worn a sports coat to buy the ticket.
该公司的总裁是菲利普·约翰斯顿-就是声称穿了运动外套来买彩票的那名男子。
"It just absolutely stank all over the place," says Terry Rich, chief executive of the Iowa Lottery.
爱荷华州彩票机构的首席执行官特里·里奇表示，“这是个充满着肮脏的地方。”
So they held on to the jackpot while the attorney general's office opened an investigation. But it went nowhere.
因此，当司法部长办公室展开调查时，他们仍然坚持中了头奖。但调查不了了之。
Two years later, a baby-faced district attorney named Rob Sand inherited the languishing lottery file.
两年后，一个长着娃娃脸、名叫罗布·桑德的地区检察官接手了这份日渐衰落的彩票文件。
In college, Sand had studied computer coding before going to law school, where his specialty was white-collar crime.
在大学里，桑德在进入法学院之前学过计算机编码，他的专业是白领犯罪。
Still, this case stumped him. His best evidence was that grainy video of a man in a hoodie,
尽管如此，这个案子还是难倒了他。他最有力的证据是一个穿着连帽衫的男人的模糊视频，
so he decided to release the footage to the media, hoping it might spark leads—and it did.
因此，他决定将这段录像公诸于媒体，希望能找到一些线索-而后确实找到了。
The first came from an employee of the Maine Lottery who recognized the distinct voice in the video as that of a man who had conducted a security audit in their offices.
第一个线索来自缅因州彩票机构的一名员工，他认出视频中男子独特的声音，这名男子在他们的办公室做过安全审计。
A web developer at the Iowa Lottery also recognized the voice: It belonged to a man she had worked alongside for years, Eddie Tipton.
爱荷华州彩票公司的一名网络开发人员也认出了这个声音：这个声音属于她共事多年的同事埃迪·蒂普顿。
Eddie was the information-security director for the Multi-State Lottery Association, based in Des Moines.
埃迪是位于得梅因市的多州乐透协会的信息安全主管。
Among the games the association ran: the Hot Lotto. Eddie cut a big figure around the lottery office.
协会经营的彩票项目包括：热乐透。埃迪在彩票公司赚了大钱。
He wrote software, handled network firewalls, and reviewed security for games in nearly three dozen states.
他编写软件，处理网络防火墙问题，并审查了近36个州的彩票安全。
His life revolved around his job; he sometimes stayed at his desk until 11 p.m. When a coworker was in a bad mood,
他的生活围绕着他的工作转；他有时在办公桌前呆到晚上11点。
one colleague said, Eddie would pat him on the shoulder and say, "I just want you to know I'm your friend."
一位同事说，当某个同事心情不好时，艾迪会拍拍他的肩膀说，“我只想让你知道我是你的朋友。”
But he was also a paranoid sort. He rarely paid with credit cards, worried about people tracing his identity.
但他也是一个偏执的人。他很少用信用卡支付，担心人们追查他的身份。
In private moments, Eddie told friends he was lonely and wanted a family more than anything.
私下里，艾迪对朋友们说，他很孤独，最想要的是一个家庭。
He built a 4,800-square-foot, $540,000 house in the cornfields south of Des Moines, complete with five bedrooms and a stadium-style home theater.
他在得梅因市以南的玉米地建造了一栋面积4800平方英尺、价值54万美元的房子，包括五间卧室和一个体育场风格的家庭影院。
Friends wondered why a single man needed such a big house and how he could afford it on his salary.
他的朋友们好奇为什么一个单身汉需要一个这么大的房子，凭他的薪水怎么负担得起。
Eddie told them he had poured his savings into the house in hopes of filling it with a wife and children.
艾迪告诉他们，他把积蓄都投进了房子里，希望能有个老婆和孩子。
But the right partner never came along.
但是对的人却从未出现。
