Chapter 12 Chapter Twelve

Driving from Sacramento to Reno... over the top of the rugged Sierra Nevada, down through passes, around lakes.This section of road can be said to be the bottleneck of the highway and a nightmare for drivers.But it takes 30 minutes to arrive by plane. I flew from Bergfield to Sacramento and from Sacramento to Reno by Airbus.I took the company car back, ate something, and called Hu Haiwei from Bergfeld. "I'm Lydono," I said. "What's going on with the Gaiamo case?" "Gaiamo has a lawyer." "Ji Gaowen?" "yes." "What did Ji Gaowen say?"

"Say nothing." "What did his client say?" "Say nothing." "How about Ai Tangmu?" "You've given me a problem. You see, Gaiamo refuses to speak, and we know why. As long as he speaks, he can't justify himself. But, one day, he must speak. His lawyer will put all the evidence together I've seen it, I've studied it, and when there's no reason at last, maybe he'll say it's the female hitchhiker trying to kill both of the men." "How do you know it's not?" I asked. Hu Haiwei said: "We don't know. But we know that someone cashed a traveler's check from Permakai in Reno, and it was a man."

"Okay," I said, "we're talking about Edwin." "But Ai Tangmu, there is no reason for him not to speak up. He didn't get involved in the murder...at least he shouldn't get involved. We think he didn't get involved, and we don't want him to be involved." "Are you sure?" I asked. Hu Haiwei said: "Although we can't be 100 percent, it's about the same. You see, we already know about Ai Tangmu's bad deeds, so why doesn't he speak up? He escaped during the bail period and works under a false name. Nevada is determined to extradite him Go back. But he won't cooperate and talk. I can't figure it out."

"Don't you want to talk about anything?" I asked. "Just didn't talk. He didn't ask for a lawyer, he just said 'no comment,'" he said. "Where's the blonde waitress, did you find it?" "It'll be found," he said. "There's no escape. Four western states. Full warrant. We've got the state police to look at every new restaurant waitress." I said, "Maybe she's decided to change. Maybe she's just a hotel girl now." "Don't think we didn't think of this trick. All possibilities have been calculated. We will find her, it's just a matter of time."

"How did she leave, do you know that?" "We couldn't find out at all. She told the old man that this is a vacuum time and there will be no more guests. She asked the old man to say hello and left like that." "Then?" "There is no future, she will disappear." "It's easy for a woman like her to get a ride." "Yes, you can hitchhike, but you have to show up!" "How about her name, have you checked it, driver's license? Identification card?" Hu Haiwei said: "Although we don't bother to waste time looking for such a name, she is a scumbag who changes her name when she changes her job, but we still checked. We checked Qiao Aidi. Not only Qiao Aidi, but also all the people whose name is Aidi. Someone whose name doesn't match her age and height. You know, the waitresses are weird, they change their names and don't change their names, they change their names dozens of times, but the names are always the same."

"There is such a thing." I agreed. "Coincidentally, we found your tail in Renault, Tang Nuo." "what happened?" "It seems that you have checked the travel expenses of Permargay in Renault." "Yes, it's me." Hu Haiwei said, "We have been brainstorming for a long time. After checking the body shape, we found that it is most likely you." "Of course, I have been chasing the whereabouts of Bai Makai, I told you." "But you didn't tell us that the murderer ever cashed a check." I said, "At that time, I thought it was the checks that Pomakai had changed himself."

Hu Haiwei said: "Okay! Tang Nuo. Don't confuse yourself in it. There are no new discoveries here. Oh, have you read the newspaper? ︰ Tribune ︰ is good, we have dug up a lot of things. To Gaiamo There's a big break in status. It's like when he turns thirty-five, if he doesn't get a felony conviction, he'll get a lot of money. An inheritance." "When will you be thirty-five?" "Less than two weeks." "Can he survive these two weeks without being sentenced?" Hu Haiwei laughed and said, "Do you think we will let him succeed? There are more than a dozen charitable organizations, and each unit costs 30,000 yuan. They all hope that he can be convicted before the age of 35. If you are the district attorney, you How do you deal with this situation?"

I said, "I might make a quick decision, prosecute, try, convict, and then ask all units to contribute to the next campaign fund." Hu Haiwei said: "You will be re-elected. Anyway, even if this guy is not sentenced to death, he won't need money in prison." "That's not necessarily the case," I said, "money can make a mill." "It can be. But people will pay special attention to him. Others are in, and the money is out." "Okay," I told him, "we'll meet again anyway, and we'll talk when we meet." I hung up the phone, got out and sat in the company car, thinking carefully.

Blonde waitress.It's not long before the police.The police took this matter as a major event and were pursuing him comprehensively, but there was no clue at all. There is only one explanation for a situation like this, and we were headed in the wrong direction in the first place.Because we came down from Rome, everyone thought that this woman would go further down the mountain, passing through the town of Cavan... Smartest, why not turn straight to Bergfeld? I'd wager that despite all the urgency of the general arrest warrant, the police at Bergfell probably didn't do a single thing in the inner city of Bergfell...but still not right.Every newspaper in Bergfeld must have covered it.

I started thinking again, what if I were this blonde waitress?After thinking about it, I always think that it is much better to hitchhike towards Bergfield than towards Cavan Town... When we arrive at Bergfeld, what then? I have several paths from which to start reasoning.Maybe she knew Ai Tangmu in the first place.She knew he was well aware.Knowing that Ai Tangmu would rather offend the police in order to protect her, he would not say a word at the police station. Why? That's because Ai Tang Dingmu has to protect himself.Or was she some special relative to him? Suppose, she is his special relative.

I'm concentrating on this point. Ai Tangmu served time in the state prison in Carson City.If the blond waitress had been one of his, she would have been near him. If you have money or not, Renault is the best place to live. If you have money, it is more convenient. If you have no money, there are many job opportunities here. A dead horse is a living horse doctor.I'm on United Airlines. "I'm a detective. I'd like to meet the stewardess on the flight from Los Angeles to Sacramento and then to Reno this morning. I want to ask her if there is any outstanding lady on this flight." The man shook his head and said with a smile: "I'm afraid it will be difficult. Maybe I can arrange it for you...we have a passenger list here, maybe I can help you." He opened a drawer, took out a list from it, turned it over so that the side with the words was facing me, and handed it to me. I shook my head and said, "It's no use at all. She might use..." I stopped talking abruptly, and Joydie's name was clearly on the list.She came to Reno early this morning from Los Angeles via Sacramento. He said: "The stewardesses may not remember everyone. If you really want to try, I can arrange for you." "Thank you." I said, "Since you said that, I'll think of another way first." I walked to the taxi exit of the airport, kept asking questions, and finally found the taxi that took the blonde girl away when the flight arrived in the morning...a blonde beauty, got off the plane alone, with no luggage, only a leather bag.She had no luggage, and she had already come out while others were still waiting for luggage. Maybe she was the first passenger to leave the airport gate. I gave the cab driver five bucks and he gave me an address. I drove to that address.It's a nice apartment.I looked at the nameplate of the apartment to see if there was any resident named Aidi. The big name is on the mailbox: Qiao Aidi. For comparison, I went to the phone booth and looked in the phone book. There was Qiao Aidi with the right address.The phone number is also on it.who knows? I want to make a call.If you don't think well, go to her apartment and ring the doorbell. The bell rang inside, and I waited a minute and rang again. The door was opened a crack, and the chain was still hanging. Qiao Aidi looked at me with wide eyes. I said, "Ms. Joe, hello. I must talk to you...." "I have nothing to talk to you about," she said.Ready to close. The chains prevent me from entering.I put a foot in so she couldn't close the door. "Take the foot off," she said, "or else I..." "How else... how about you?" I asked. "Take the iron and iron your toes," she said.After thinking about it again, I added, "Use the pointed end to burn it." I said, "Don't do this. I'm here to tell you some news." I deliberately seemed to think about it, and added: "Before the police come." "Police!" she said. "Of course, what else do you expect?" "I have nothing to say to the police." "You have nothing to say, but they have a lot to say to you!" "What do you want to say?" "It's absolutely beneficial and harmless to you." "Who the hell are you? I think you're always haunted," she asked. I took out my P.E. ID and let her see through the slightly opened door. "Private Eye Latano. Ma'am," I said. "detective." "private detective." "what are you doing?" "Now I want to talk to you." She said: "You can say that you have worked hard. Take your feet away, and the chain cannot be removed if the door cannot be closed." "You're not going to change your mind now that the door is closed?" I asked. "Look, I'll do it if I promise someone else. I'll do it when I'm at a loss. And it's the beginning and the end." "Good habit." I said.Get your feet out of the door. She closed the door and I heard her take the chain off and she opened the door. "Come in," she said. It's a nice apartment.Apparently it was rented out even furnished.There are many small signs inside, and it can be seen that she has lived here for a long time. I looked around, thinking.In Reno, women come and live for six weeks for divorces.Apartments for rent furnished are everywhere.There are also motels, which are priced by the week, but the prices are more expensive than other cities. "In Reno," I said, "it's expensive to maintain a residence like this." She said, "It's up to you. Please sit down. What would you like to drink?" I shake my head. "Say, what should I know before the police come?" I said: "In principle, I shouldn't tell you, so I don't want you to tell others, okay?" "Yes. As long as you are fair to me, I will be fair to you." "Ai Tangmu." I said. "how is he?" "He didn't say anything. The police put all kinds of pressure on him, but he just refused to say a word. The police are looking for you like heaven and earth. Tangmu is very stable." "As long as he's stable," she said, "the police will never find me." "How do you think I found you?" I asked. "Didn't Tangmu tell you?" "I haven't seen him since the last time the police took a polygraph and found out that he was lying when he said he didn't know you." She said, "Whoa! So the police will be here." "possible." "That would be bad," she said. "Why? For the murder?" "What murder." "You do not know?" She shook her head. I have clippings of Bergfeld with me.I took it out and let her watch it slowly. She leaned back in her chair, crossed her legs, and read the clipping.She didn't have time to pull the hem of the skirt to show her dignity.She let me in, she trusted me, she was very open when I was a friend.I look at her legs, she reads the newspaper. She finished reading the newspaper, leaned forward, and handed it back to me. "It's getting very complicated, isn't it?" she said. I say yes." "I don't know anything about it." "Fleeing is itself a piece of evidence of a crime." "I'm not here for any murder case. I...I'm afraid that they will accuse me of being an accomplice who violated the bail regulations. I'm afraid that they will impose a few crimes of violating discipline and other crimes on me...Tang Nuo, I'm telling the truth, I Don't lie." I said, "I trust you so far. How will you behave in the future?" She said: "Tang Mu is not a bad guy. He is impulsive and emotional... From a woman's point of view, he loves each other when he sees one. I think this is his habit and he can't control it, but he is a man. Women are different. A woman has only one man in her life. This man is her life's happiness. "Tang Mu is not a man who is loyal to a woman. He tries to be loyal, but as long as the woman is willing to give her color, he doesn't know how much he will lose." "Is this what you've been fighting for?" I asked. "That's what I've been dealing with." "tell me." She said: "Tangmu and I got engaged. We were going to get married. But he was an active guy. I was married, but somehow I slipped away with him. We lived together as husband and wife. Then he Drunk and getting himself into trouble. Raynor wasn't a good place for him. He won three hundred dollars one night. We really got rich that night. He kept saying that he hadn't found such a good way to make money before." "So he gambled again the next day and lost all his money?" I asked. She nodded. "He loses every penny and writes a bad check. That's the biggest mistake he ever made. The casinos control this city, and the casinos hate bad checks." "So Tangmu went to jail, but what do you do?" "Stay here and wait for him to get out of prison." "How do you make ends meet?" She wanted to say something, changed her mind, looked at me and said, "Tangmu doesn't know. I have money myself." "How much money?" "Quite a lot. I don't want Tangmu to know. Tangmu is very strange. If he knew that women had money to provide for him, he would not bear it and run away. "Tangmu doesn't want me to be a waitress. I'm friendly, easy to make friends, and men like my figure. Beautiful women as waiters are treated differently." "Go on," I said. "So," she said, "when I'm with him, I have to satisfy his chauvinism and let him support me. Tangmu is a very good auto mechanic. He can make a good life if he works hard. If he is stable Come down, he'll be a good husband too. But he's wild, he's active...that's what it is. He goes to jail in Carson City, and I'll wait. Then he gets out on bail. "One of the conditions of bail is that he cannot leave the state. But there are legal casinos in Nevada, and legal casinos and churches must not coexist. He knows it, and I know it too. "Another condition of bail is that you can't go to places that sell alcohol. Tangmu has difficulties. On the first day after bail, he drank alcohol and won 85 yuan at the dice table. "He came home and told me. I knew what it meant. He woke up and he knew what it meant. We thought there was only one way to go to California, get a job and start a new life." "You always called him Tangmu?" I asked. "Tangmu was originally his name. His surname was not Ai." "What's your last name?" "wore." "But you kept the apartment all along?" "I keep this apartment, but Tangmu still doesn't know that I have this apartment." "why?" "All my things are here. Tangmu doesn't know this apartment at all. When he was in prison, he thought I was working as a waiter in the restaurant. He doesn't need to know about it, and I won't tell him." "Do you have enough money yourself to maintain the apartment?" "I have enough money to maintain this apartment." "Okay," I told her, "now let's talk about what really happened on the night of the fifth and the morning of the sixth." "Actually nothing major happened. Tangmu didn't know I had this apartment here, and Tangmu and I rented a crappy apartment in Rome to live together. He worked nights at the depot at night, and he could only find this job. I'm at seven o'clock every day. Come to him halfway, wait for him to get off work, go to have breakfast together. Then go back to the crappy apartment, he sleeps. I put everything down for two or three hours, and he sleeps enough. Sometimes the night is not too busy, he doesn't even need so much Long. "He is on the night shift. It is stipulated that the door closes at nine o'clock, but he can only go to bed at twelve o'clock, so he always sits and watches TV. After going to bed, he will be woken up many times. Mostly to buy gasoline. A lot of driving Some people don’t want to refuel in big towns, or refuel during the day because they have to wait, and there are usually 24-hour gas stations along the way to refuel at night. When they arrived in Luomili, they saw that there were only two gas stations, and they were all closed. Panic, hurry to knock on a family to refuel." "Go on." I told her. "There's not much to talk about," she said. "On the morning of the 6th, at a quarter past seven, I walked into the garage to pick up the parlor...he didn't expect me to be a little earlier." "You said there was another woman in there?" "Another woman was in there," she said. "How do you know?" "Several signs." "Can you tell me?" She thought for a moment and said, "You can say something." "Which ones?" I asked. "He didn't wash the coffee cups in time," she said, "and one of them still had lipstick on the rim. "There is a washbasin there, and hot water is also available. Tangmu usually washes his face and shaves at a quarter past seven, so that he can go to breakfast with me neatly. This time there is lipstick on the small shaving mirror." "How?" I asked. "She puts on her makeup in front of the little shaving mirror," she said, "and puts the lipstick on." "How did lipstick get on the little shaving mirror?" "You know how a girl puts on lipstick. She puts it on her mouth and then uses her little finger to paint it into the shape she wants." "Go on," I said. "Of course her pinky finger is full of lipstick. She took Tangmu's shaving mirror to see if she was satisfied, so the lipstick on her little finger was printed on the back of the mirror." "Interesting," I said, "where is the mirror now?" "I keep it." I thought about it and asked, "Where is it?" She stood up, walked to the side of the room, opened a drawer, took out a leather bag, and took out the cheapest mirror from the bag and handed it to me... plastic side, round, with a normal mirror on one side and a convex mirror on the other. The mirror can magnify the image, and there is a wire shelf that can be hung or placed on the table. "She uses the enlarged side." Aidi said, "You can see the print of her little finger on the flat side." I carefully observe this mirror.Not only is there a good little finger print with lipstick on it, but there is also a neat half-finger swirl in one place, and another fingerprint that is not clear, but can still be used for identification. I said, "Do you have cellophane here?" "Have." "Use it for me." She handed me a roll and said, "What are you doing here?" "I'll show you." I said. I cut a few pieces of clear tape and stuck it over the fingerprint on the mirror. "What's this for?" she asked. "Sign your name on this," I said, "and the date." She did. "It will protect your fingerprints from being smeared," I said. "It's not a mess in the purse. Why did you keep this mirror?" She said: "Tang Mu didn't know that I left it. I scolded him for bringing a woman in to accompany him. He lied to me and said no, and then he argued that he didn't let her in. Said that the woman was there when he was getting dressed. Waiting outside the door, said that the woman saw that he had made coffee and asked for a cup, and said that he gave her a cup to drink outside the door. After drinking, he brought the coffee cup in without washing it. When he was talking, I saw the mirror, and I I didn’t tell him, I just put the mirror in my leather bag. I told him that he would come to me again when he was willing to tell the truth, and I walked out, and I told him that it was time for us to break up, and we really wanted to break up at that time.” "Then what do you do?" "Hitch a ride to Zhongxi River and go in for breakfast. Ren Shanshan is working as a waitress herself. She is in a hurry. She has no rest all night, and many fishermen are on this road. The old man is unwilling to cook and receive guests at the same time. It's not even possible." "So what?" "So I came to be a maid. I believe that the news will reach Tangmu immediately, saying that I am a maid in Zhongxihe, and he will come to find me. Luo Mili is too close, he will come to find me It's easy for me...if he repents, I'll go back with him. It's nothing new between the two of us. He's a lot of flirting, sometimes I know it, sometimes I don't. Usually I know...a woman's intuition." "Does he often lie to you about things like this?" "A regular thing." "Will you leave him as soon as this happens?" "I've left him before. We fought and I threatened to leave him. We made up. He vowed never to do it again. Women are always weak. I know it, and he knows it too. Dogi is too wild, too emotional. He hasn't yet He can settle down, but he is a good person in his heart...Mr. Lai, this guy is my deadly enemy, and I can't get rid of him." I stood up and said, "Here is my card. This is the safest place for you right now. You forgot that I came here, and I forgot to see you. Whatever happens, don't leave here. Don't Let anything scare you out and run. Stay here no matter what you hear." "Will it be better if I..." I told her, "It would be much, much worse. Escaping itself is part of the incriminating evidence, which is California law. Besides, you don't know what they are going to charge you with. As long as you stay here, you are not fleeing at all. You just Angry at your boyfriend for leaving the restaurant where you work...how did you get here? Hitchhiking?" She said: "I followed you up the mountain. I started five minutes after you left. I asked the old man to say hello temporarily, and I went out and gave a thumbs up to catch a car. When you entered Luo Mili, I happened to be with you Behind the car." "You didn't stop in Rome." "The car I got took me all the way to Bergfield. Got gas there and he took me to Los Angeles." "You were with him all the way." She said: "I've been with him all the way. It's been a real ordeal. He strikes up with questions and I'm trying to trick him. I tell him there's a boyfriend waiting for me in Los Angeles, but I I found that he was more interesting to me. I told him, if I get down in Los Angeles, I will find a way to get rid of that boyfriend and come back to him to accompany him... He may still be waiting for me now." "Then?" "I took a taxi to the airport, got on the first United flight, and here I am." I said, "It proves that one honest truth is more powerful than a thousand cunning falsehoods." "You think so, Mr. Lai?" "I really think you've proven it to me." "I think you're a good guy, too." I said, "You're a good man yourself. Go to a lawyer first thing in the morning. Tell him you have an exhibit for him to keep. Convince him that this is a divorce case. Tell him you haven't decided to talk to him about the case yet." , but ask him to preserve this piece of evidence first. Show him this is a mirror with preserved lipstick fingerprints on it. Ask him to also sign his name and date on the transparent tape next to your signature. He put it in an envelope, sealed it, and put it in his safe." "And after that?" she asked. I said: "After that, come back here to live your original life again. Are you sure Tangmu doesn't know everything about this apartment?" She shook her head: "He's never been here. I never said a word." "You had this apartment while he was in prison?" "almost." "You let him think you work in a restaurant?" She nodded. "So what if he's out on bail?" "Let him find a job, find us a place to live, and support me." "What kind of place is it?" "Small little place, dirty environment. But it's a home," she said. "Do you often sneak back here to let yourself have a day or two of peace?" She said: "I never leave him secretly. Tang Nuo, that humble hut is my real home, and he is my man. I will marry a chicken and follow a chicken. I will try my best to be a good woman." I told her: "You are a good woman. Remember the advice I gave you and do it tomorrow morning." She walks me to the door.She was going to hand me her hand first, and suddenly she turned her face away on a sudden impulse, letting me kiss her lightly, and she said, "You are so kind, Lai." "You're a good person yourself," I told her. I went back into my company car.Started the long drive to Bergfeld.