Chapter 8 chapter eight

I sat in the hotel room for a full fifteen minutes, trying to put together the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle I had in hand, to see if I could make a picture of human tragedy. If Fabalon murdered Judd, I have no reason to get involved in this mess. If Judd didn't kill Fabalon, I should do my best to protect him.He is our customer, he has paid bills and will pay bills again. I am playing with fire myself.If the police find that diary and know that I took a bunch of keys from the motel body, I can't justify myself.Now, they will send me into the 18th floor of hell, and I will never be able to climb out of it for the rest of my life.

Is there any way to break out from this situation unless I know something the police don't know about. Officer Yin kicked my side of the chest, which still hurts.I pressed my finger lightly to see if my ribs were broken.It hurts more when I press it down, I really don't know if the rib is broken. My jawbone hurts too, that's where he punched me.I opened my mouth wide, knowing that my jawbone was still intact. I stood up from the chair, feeling sore and sore all over.After a full minute, you can start to move. Market Street is full of video shooter shops, cheap souvenir shops, bars, and other traps for sailors.

I hailed a taxi to come here and asked the driver to wait. I found a self-service automatic key distribution machine. I bought a lot of master keys by inserting coins and started working. I have paired two identical keys to Jade's apartment. After those two were done, I played around and made all kinds of different keys. There is also a lot of fun in making keys.I take a female key and cut it however I like.As far as I know, these keys do not lock any door in the world. I made two sets of six keys each.By the way, I bought two leather key clips at a nearby store.I put the duplicated keys of the Jarddor apartment in each of the two key clips, and put the other useless keys in the key clips respectively.

I took the two keys to the back street, soaked them in the gutter water, stepped on them, rubbed them on the ground, wiped them dry with a handkerchief, and put them back in my pocket. I go back to the hotel. The clerk said there was a phone call for me.The other party didn't leave a message, but said they would call back in fifteen minutes.It was a woman's voice. I went back to my room, put a hot towel on my bruised chin, and waited. The phone rings. Miao Luyi's voice spoke at the other end. "Hello, Tang Nuo." She said, "How are you?" "very bad."

"You left without taking the hat away." "I was knocked out and the hat was forced to stay with you." She smiled like a silver bell.She said, "You've always liked to get your words right. Take your hat back?" "if possible." "I'm completely open here." "Where are you? In the apartment?" "No, that apartment is too convenient for everyone, you can come in and out at any time." "How is your guest?" "They kept him in there." "Is my hat in there?" "No, by my side."

"Where are you?" "I'm in a big restaurant opposite your hotel. There's a pre-dinner reception room here, which is specially used for ladies to sit down and wait for the gentlemen who will come later. I sit in it dignifiedly and virtuously. This place is called Bai Yuntian. I ..." "I know where, I've seen it." "Are you coming down?" she asked. "What do you do when you get down?" I asked. "drink wine." "What else?" "Have a meal." "What more?" "Talk." She said, smiling like a silver bell, "Can't you get down?"

"Come down!" I said, and hung up the phone. I put a replica key clip in my pocket.I carefully wrapped the other key in a pile of laundry at the bottom of the duffel bag. I took the elevator down and handed my key back to the counter.I told the people who served me that no matter who came to see me, they said that I would be back very late.This hotel is a typical small hotel in San Francisco. There are only a few real tourists every day, and most of them are elderly and monthly customers.The counter attendant is also an operator, and the cashier is mostly the manager himself. The street is very sloping, I walked all the way down, and my whole body was hurting all the way.

Miao Luyi is waiting for me.She was still wearing the same black low-cut little dress, her curves were still so charming, and she smiled like her heart was full of joy. "Hello, Tang Nuo," she said, "I thought you wanted scalpers." "No, how could I be a scalper." I told her, "Where is my hat?" "Of course it's in the cloakroom." She handed me a receipt: "You'll have to pay a small fee to bring it out yourself, but the lady in the cloakroom is very pretty, with a short skirt and more beautiful legs. It's worth the price."

"Are we eating here?" I asked. "Look at your pocket to decide." "How expensive is it here?" "Very expensive." "How hungry are you?" "very hungry?" "Let's eat here." I said. "I've reserved a table in your name," she said. "The table will be available in about twenty minutes. Let's go to the bar and have two or three drinks first." She chose a quiet corner of the cocktail lounge.She first slid herself into the soft chair of the booth, reached out and picked up a potato chip and put it in her mouth, and looked at me with eyes fluttering.

"I think you're not a bad person," she said. "What else?" I asked. "Not enough?" "not enough." she laughed. A waiter came and she ordered a double Manhattan. "I want a Manhattan," I said. "Give him a double drink too." She said to the waiter, "I don't want to drink more than him." The waiter nodded and stepped back without saying a word. We fiddled with the chips and mixed nuts on the table while the waiter brought the cocktails. Both cups are double-shake. I paid for the drink and gave him a tip of one yuan.I believe he will not bother us at least temporarily.

We clink glasses with each other.Miao Luyi drank half of the Manhattan in one gulp before putting the cup back on the table. "I need to drink some," she said. I took a couple of sips, put the glass down, and picked up a potato chip.I asked, "Lu Yi, is there something wrong?" She opened her eyes wide: "Is something wrong?" "Why do you want a private eye?" "What! I don't want a private eye." "You want to find me." "That's different." "What's the difference?" "I said it's different if it's different." I don't speak. She waited for a while, and finally said: "Tang Nuo, I think you underestimate yourself. You are very attractive. Many men who think they are attractive put on airs in front of women, so it's disgusting. You won't." "You're not ugly, you dress well, you're of the right height, and best of all, you're all natural and unpretentious. You're a gentleman... Anyway, very attractive." I do not speak. "Tang Nuo, is there a woman chasing you?" "Never noticed." "Someone is chasing you, will you notice?" "have no idea." "It seems that you are still a little dazed." "Are you chasing me?" She hesitated for a moment, with a twinkle in her eyes. "Yes," she said. "Allow me to say a few words." I said. She whispered, "Whatever you say, Tang Nuo." "Okay," I said, "you have a date tonight. You're dressed for the date. This must be a man you're interested in. You've been trying to get Yin Muma out of your house." apartment so that you can make the appointment on time. You don't want him to stay in your apartment. But this appointment is so important to you. So, you finally decide that you want to leave the apartment alone, close the door, and let Officer Yin go and stay Inside, see what he can do." "What happened after I left the apartment that scared you? You dropped your appointments and started calling me. You must have something you want from me. Tell me." She twirled the cocktail glass, shaking it in the jaws of both hands.She doesn't look at me. "Why didn't you say that I was released as a pigeon?" "Will not." "Why?" "No one will scalp you in front of you. You have exactly what they want. You know it yourself." She fiddled with the cocktail glass again, and suddenly she drained the drink in one gulp. "Tang Nuo, let me have another drink, okay?" "As long as you don't force me to have a drink." "Will not." I looked from the waiter to her empty glass.The waiter looked at my glass and raised his eyebrows. I shake my head. He smiled and understood, and walked to the bartending counter by himself. Miao Luyi kept rubbing the glass until the waiter brought the second double Manhattan.I paid for the drink and the one-yuan bill. "Thank you very much, sir," he said. "I think this goes on, she is enough." I said. "It should be, sir." After the waiter left, Miao Luyi looked at me, at the table, and at me again, and let out a long sigh. "Tang Nuo," she said suddenly, "I need your help." "It's better to say it than to hide it in your stomach." "I'm in trouble." "I may not be able to help you." "why?" "I've already worked for Fabalon." "What does that have to do with helping me?" "Maybe, if there is a conflict of interest with Fei Balun, I can't help you." "I just want to talk to you. I can't be bored." "Listen with my ears. I don't have any rights or interests with Fabalun. First, I must tell you that I may not be able to help you. Moreover, I may not be able to keep what you said a secret." "Who are you going to tell?" "I may use the data you give me for my client." "do what?" "Helping my clients." "Then why should I tell you?" she said. "Maybe you won't say it, but I can say it for you." "What do you say for me?" "Say what you want to tell me." "Impossible, you can't." I said, "How long ago did you marry Judd?" "five years ago." "Jade wasn't a bad guy back then." I said, "He was a little bit stubborn, a little bit self-righteous, but he wasn't a bad guy. He had no money. I don't know why you liked him and why you married him? But you got married. Jad There's one thing about morality that ends up being a bad habit." "What?" she asked. "He insisted on keeping a diary." I said: "In the diary, he wrote down the things in his heart that he didn't easily tell others. After the honeymoon, you found out about it, and you started reading his diary. You especially like See what he thinks of you from his diary. The honeymoon period was wonderful, everything he said about you, you liked." She opened her eyes wide. "Tang Nuo, how do you know?" "And then," I said, "a year or two passed. Even the most beautiful became ordinary. You see, Judd was used to it. His grandfather died, and he got an inheritance." "Since then, Jia De has completely changed a person. He is worried, he is worried, and gradually, the original self-righteousness has changed into the whole world is a sinner, and he wants to save all mankind. It becomes impossible for you to live with him. You force After suffering for half a year, I decided to leave. "You are afraid that Jia Daode will die and refuse to divorce you. In your opinion, morality has developed into a personality that is impossible to reunite after breaking the mirror. You want to be happy and take risks. Morality must be calm and disciplined. I think you also had a period after that. Two men intruding into your life. Judd is suspicious of both of them. If there is a lawsuit, it will become a problem for your side." "Anyway, you decided you wanted some security first, so while you were away, you stole Jared's diary! The diary from some time before his grandfather died." Her face turned pale.Her eyes widened like the rim of a cocktail glass in her hand. "Tang Nuo," she said, "Who...who told you this?" "I told myself." I said: "Jade's diary clearly describes the period before his grandfather's death, and then talks about how to make the world purer and habitable for human beings for six months afterwards. Atonement or something. Since then, I haven’t remembered any more.” "It just means one thing. The diary isn't with him, and he can't keep writing in the same one. Six months after his grandfather's death, you got a divorce at Reno. Any bad detective will know that you left the diary." Time to take it away." "You, how do you know these things?" "When I'm investigating a case, I like to dig deeper." "But Tang Nuo, the police are against you, or you can say that you are against the police. They won't cooperate with you!" "I don't want them to cooperate either." She put the glass on the table and rubbed the round bottom on the table in a circle.Her lips were trembling. I said, "Six months after Jadd's grandfather died, he lost his diary. Most likely he never saw it again. However, the diary turned up in his apartment. The question is, how did the diary get to the apartment?" "How did you get back?" "There is only one possibility," I said: "You put it back." "I put it back?" "Yes, you put it back." "Tang Nuo! You are crazy. You...why should I put it back?" "Because this guy keeps trying to meddle in your private life, you're sick of it." I said, "You want the police to find the diary. You know someone will search his apartment, so you steal the diary and keep it for four years. Put it back in his apartment so the police can find it." "It's not the police," she said. "It's you. I want you to find it." "why?" "Because I'm tired of him thinking he's my patron saint. I'm an adult and I know the good and the bad. I have a life to live. I've been married and I know what to do and I'm not going to listen to my ex forever Missionary control." "Then why don't you just tell him to get out of here," I asked, "instead of using such a troublesome way?" She rubbed the bottom of the glass on the table again: "He's been giving me money all the time." "why?" "His conscience was against him. He was my husband and I had been his wife. He swore he would love me and support me." I looked at her coldly: "There is still a bit of intimidation, isn't it?" "No, Tang Nuo, not at all. He never knew that the diary was in my hands. He would never have guessed that I had any suspicions about his grandfather's death...until..." "Until when?" I asked. "Until you came to see me, until you told me he had written this dreadful letter. Until then, I didn't think I should do anything about it." "Okay, what action did you take?" She said, "I was terrified. Just when you came to see me, Judd was in the same apartment, on the same floor, on the same aisle a little further up, visiting Joe's house. I was afraid you would accidentally leak out because of me." I found him here because of the wind, and I was afraid that you would find the distinctive sports car he drove..." "I've obviously been negligent in this matter a lot." I said, "Tell me, what happened after that?" "I'll see you off," she said. "I walked down the aisle to Joe's. I told Jade I must see him alone." "He came out?" I asked. "He is obedient." She said, "I think he always wants to get back together." "What did you tell him?" "I talked a lot. I told him I knew he had written such a letter. I told him he was dreaming if he expected me to agree to such an embarrassment." "so what?" "So he said that he did this for my own good...wait a minute. I was angry, and I told him not to be the master of the world. I...I called out and said he was a murderer." "So what?" "He wanted to deny it, but he was completely deflated." "Did you tell him that the diary is in your hands?" "No, of course not. He has no idea what happened to the diary. All he knows is that it's lost." "How did you deal with the aftermath now?" I asked. "I told him that you are a very smart private detective. I said that he had committed the crime of intimidation by sending such a letter, and he would go to jail, and he also violated the federal postal law by mailing such a letter. It’s a criminal offense. I told him that once he goes to jail, the government will investigate how his grandfather died and so on.” "Is he worried?" "Scared to death." "What should he do?" "He could only do what I told him to do. I told him there was a motel I knew about in Van Leho and told him to go and hide there until you left town. I asked him, in his apartment Will there be any evidence of breaking the law. He said there is, and there are carbon copies of the two letters he wrote to the surname Fei." "Copies of both letters?" "He said so." "What happened again?" "I told him to leave as soon as he wanted to, and that you would come after him, and that his car was easy to find. I said that if you found him, he would have nothing to hide. You. I told him that for today's detectives, it is inevitable to investigate the background of the subject. I said that even if you have not investigated the cause of his grandfather's death, you will soon do so." "In other words, you frightened him by frightening him for a while?" "I was so scared that he forgot his last name. Believe me, he never knew that I had doubts about his grandfather's death. When I brought it up, he was struck by lightning and turned green. "I also reminded him that before his grandfather died, he was a good person. Since his grandfather died, because of his guilt for what he and Rowling have done, he has completely changed." "You really mentioned Rowling?" "Of course, I mentioned Rowling. She was also a part of it. Most likely she was the mastermind." "What did he do after hearing that?" "Scared to death. He gave me the keys to the apartment; he said he was going to Van Leho immediately. He said he wouldn't even risk going back to the apartment to get his toothbrush and a change of clothes, he'd buy some along the way. Walk." "He asked me to go to his apartment and find those two carbon paper copies from his writing desk. In addition, there are many copies of similar letters he sent under a false name." "Go on," I said, "what happened after that?" "He's off to his van Liho," she said. "I did as he said." "Wait a minute, you went and got a copy of the second letter and everything he said?" "yes." "so what?" "I waited until midnight. I went to Van Liho. I made sure no one was following me. I was very careful." "Well," said I, "you go to Van Liho by yourself, and you're very careful, so what?" "I knocked on the door of the house where he lived. There was no answer. The door was not closed, so I went in to have a look. I was a little surprised because Daode's car was right outside the door." "When was that?" "It was about half past one when we got there." "so what?" "Moral...you know...he's dead." "what would you do?" "I took out his key...I'm going to put it back in his pocket, I just can't touch the body. I pull up the hem of his jacket and kick the key under the coat with my toe. I...I Don't dare touch his dead body." "so what?" "I went home and used a lot of brains. Anyway, Rowling was involved in this matter, and morality is the same crime as her. I've had enough of Rowling's self-righteousness. I hate her staring at me behind me. Monitor my appearance. I thought of turning over. I went back to the moral apartment and put back some of the letters I had taken out, and put the diary back at the same time so that the police can find it.” "But you gave the key back to Morality's corpse," I said. "How do you get in? What key do you use?" "Don't you understand? Don Nuo," she said, "that apartment, when I was married to Daode, was where we lived. I left him, and I took all my keys with me. Not only do I have the keys to the door of the apartment, but I also have the keys to the desk, table, and drawers. Daode doesn’t know this, so he gave me his keys again. I believe he has completely forgotten about myself There is also a set of keys." "When did you come up with such a good method?" "Until...it was full light anyway. Early in the morning. I couldn't sleep. I had a drink or two, and I fell on the bed, and I tossed and turned, and this idea popped into my head. I could Put these things back and ask the police to find them . . . and that's what I did." "The police will find out that you have the keys to the apartment," I said, "so..." "No, they won't. I put things back and the keys are useless. I dropped them on the Bay Bridge and they'll never be seen again." "Go on," I said. "Tang Nuo, no more. I... I've been to Van Lihe. I believe no one has seen me, but I... I don't understand why the police didn't mention it..." Suddenly she stopped.She looked at me as if she had never met her before. "Tang Nuo, you bastard, it must be you." She shouted. "What must be me?" I asked. "You went into the apartment house. You took the carbon paper copies of the letters, otherwise you wouldn't have known the contents of the diary," she said. "How do I get into the apartment house?" I asked. "Tang Nuo, you've been there anyway, haven't you?" "Your idea is ridiculous," I said. She was silent for a while, then asked, "What should I do?" "Everything has been done," I said. "I mean, what should I do next?" "Lu Yi, I told you at the beginning that it might be inconvenient for me to give you any advice." "Because of Fabalon's relationship?" "yes." "But this matter has nothing to do with Fabalen. His rights have nothing to do with me." "I don't know yet. I most likely regard you as a scapegoat." "Tang Nuo, what do you mean?" "Nothing special, just an example." "You won't really treat me like this?" "When I accept a client, I only know the rights and interests of the client, even I can be a scapegoat for a while at any time." "However, I treat you as a friend, so I tell you these secrets!" "You didn't say anything, I said most of it. Besides, I warned you beforehand that I work for Fei Balun." She looked at me with angry eyes, and she said, "Tang Nuo, at least you should do one thing, tell me, what should I do now?" "Look," I said, "the waiter is here to show us to the table. Next thing, I'll do it with you, and we'll have a nice meal." I got up and took her to the restaurant. "Besides," I told her, "don't think I owe you anything, I don't owe you anything!"