Chapter 19 Chapter Nineteen

"He has a girlfriend named Prue Ladour, sister of the maid Yvette," continued Dermot, "and this is nothing new. Mademoiselle Prue insisted on expensive presents and threatened to Make him trouble in every way. He doesn't get paid much, so he decides to steal a turquoise diamond necklace from his father's collection." "I don't believe it," Elena said.Her thin gasps sounded like whimpers. Dermot thought for a moment. "Perhaps 'stolen' isn't quite the right word. He doesn't really want to hurt anyone, and he'll probably say so when he speaks. He's going to use a counterfeit necklace as a substitute so his father won't know. He just 'borrowed' the necklace to express his love to Miss Prue until he can help her pay off the debt."

Dermot returned to the examining magistrate's desk and picked up two necklaces. "He made a fake necklace..." "It was done at Bourier's on Glory Road," the police chief provided the information. "Mr. Bourier is willing to identify him as the one who asked for the necklace." Toby said nothing.He walked quickly across the office without looking at anyone.Mr. Vodour, thinking he was going to run for the door, gave the warning.But Toby didn't intend to escape.All he had to do, formally and literally, was try to bury his face in a corner.He walked up to a row of filing cabinets and leaned his back against them.

"Last night," said Dermot, picking up a necklace, "this imitation was in Miss Prue's sewing basket. I wrote a note before I left for London advising Mr. Glenn to come to Miss Prue's." Get it and try to track it down, it seems worth it. Of course, it was given to her by Toby Laws." "Quite frankly," Eva Nair said unexpectedly, "it doesn't surprise me at all." "Not surprised, ma'am?" asked Mr. Glenn. "No surprise! I asked him last night if he hadn't given her the necklace. He denied it. But he gave her a very strange look and said, 'You've got to back up what I'm saying!' as if he had made it very clear. It's gone." Eva suddenly raised her hand and wiped her eyes, her face flushed, "Prue is a realistic girl. He asked her where she got the necklace, and she supported his statement without saying anything. Why? Give this woman a fake necklace?"

"Because," replied Dermot, "there's no need to give her a real one." "Not necessary?" "No. Once Sir Morris is dead, the fine young man thinks he can always pay Miss Prue out of his father's fortune." Elena Rous screamed. This gave Mr. Glenn and Mr. Wardur such dramatic satisfaction that they almost grinned at her.But no one else is happy with that.Benjamin Phillips stood up, went behind his sister's chair, and put his hands on Irene's shoulders, stabilizing her.Dermot seemed to be holding a whip now, and the crackling of the whip could be heard.

"He didn't know that his father was almost as short of money as he was," Dermot continued. "It must have been a great shock to him. Eh?" said Mr. Glenn. "I have no doubts about it. By her own admission last night, Prue nearly had a big fight just before the murder. She's been causing trouble ever since Toby announced her engagement to Eva Nair. Nothing. Doubtless, although it is difficult for her to stand on her own, she also threatened to let them break the marriage. Besides, her sister Yvette will definitely help her with the rest: to intimidate these people with her pale and terrible face at the Hookson Bank. A gentleman. Remember, as Mr. Glenn would say, that Miss Prue was a fine girl.

"The necklace would satisfy her, Toby thought, but it had to be the real one. After all, it had to be worth a hundred thousand francs. He got a replica of the necklace, but he was still hesitant to use the substitute." "Why?" Eva asked calmly. Dermot grinned at her. "You know," Dermot replied, "he has a conscience after all." Toby still didn't speak, and didn't turn around. "Finally he made a decision. Whether it was because he happened to see a special play that night, or some other reason, we can let him tell us. Anyway, something finally made him take a crucial step.

"At one o'clock in the morning, he called his fiancée, and he convinced himself thoroughly, (Do I really understand him?) that all his future happiness depended on stealing the necklace and driving Pru Ladour away. Yes. He's sincere, almost divine. He wants the best of everything. Ladies and gentlemen, that's no irony." Dermot stopped, still standing at the examining magistrate's desk. "It was easy, his father, at least as far as he knew, would never stay up so late as he did that day. The study should be dark and empty. All he had to do was slip in and open the curio cabinet to the left of the door , swap out the fake necklace for the real one, then go back and celebrate your success.

"Then, a few minutes past one, he decided to act. In the best detective story fashion, he put on a pair of brown work gloves that half the house used. The fake necklace was already in the He had it ready in his pocket. He slid upstairs. Since he couldn't see the gap under the door, he automatically assumed that the room was dark and empty. But it wasn't dark and it wasn't empty. We listened Many times, Sir Maurice Lawes does not like dishonesty." "Relax, Irena!" grumbled Uncle Ben. Elena broke away from his grip: "Are you going to sue my son for murdering his father?"

Toby finally spoke. He crammed himself into a corner, and as the searchlight swung past, it reflected a bald white spot on the back of his head.His body trembled, as if he realized something again.He glanced around furtively, as if it suddenly occurred to him that everyone had been dazzled by these nonsense words.He looked at everyone in astonishment. "Murder?" he repeated in disbelief. "Exactly, young man," said Mr. Glenn. "I say stop exaggerating!" Toby urged, the hollow, accusatory undertones in his voice.He held out his hand as if to push them away, "You don't think I killed Dad, do you?"

"Why not?" Dermot asked. "Why not? Why not? Kill my own father?" Toby didn't even bother to worry about it.He continued, "Before last night, I'd never heard of a goddamn brown glove. Eva never mentioned it to me until last night, when she burst out at Prue's to me .That's it! "You could knock me out with a feather! I told her that last night, and I told you all today, that those brown gloves had nothing to do with his death, or anyone's. God, you know? Dad was dead when I got there!" "There it is!" said Dermot, hitting the desk hard.

The noisy voice provoked and tensed the nerves.Toby backed away in shock. "What do you mean, yes?" "Nothing. You wore gloves, then?" "Well... yes." "When you walked in to rob, you found your father dead on the chair?" Toby took another step back: "Actually, I don't call this a robbery. You said that. I don't like to say that. But how can I get what I want without doing something dishonest?" ?” "You know, Toby," Eva said, looking at him, as if in awe, "you're a good man, you really are a good man." "Suppose," said Dermot, leaning against the edge of his desk, "we don't consider moral considerations, and you just tell us what happened to you." Toby shuddered undisguisedly.If he'd been maintaining an outward bravado, he couldn't do it now.He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "There's nothing to say. You've successfully humiliated me in front of my mother and sister. So, let me tell you the rest. "Well, I did, as you said. I got up and went to the study after talking on the phone with Eva. The whole house was quiet. I had the fake necklace in my pajamas pocket I opened the door and saw the light on the table and the poor old man was sitting there with his back to me. "That's all I see. You know, I'm nearsighted, like my mother. You've probably noticed it from the way I look," he strikes again in that typical pose, covering his eyes with his hands, squinting. Stare, "Never mind! I should have glasses. I always wear them at the bank. So I can't tell he's dead either. "I immediately closed the door and ducked out. Then I thought, why don't you go in? You know what happens? You plan to do something, and then you cancel the plan, you cancel the plan. Last look Come on, if you don't act, you will go crazy. "That's why I thought, why don't you go in? The old man is kind of deaf, and was totally fascinated by the snuff bottle. The curio cabinet was by the study door, and all I had to do was reach in and change the necklace, and he and I Who's smarter? Then I can get some sleep and forget about that little devil in Harp Road. So I do. The curio cabinet is never locked or plugged, and it opens without a sound, and I pick up my necklace, and… ..." Toby stopped. The white light of the searchlight swirled back into the room again, but no one else noticed.The urgency in Toby's words made everyone watch him nervously. "I knocked the music box off the glass shelf," he added. He began to search his guts again, trying to figure out what to say. "It was a big, heavy music box, made of wood and tin, with little wheels, and it sat on a glass stand next to the necklace. I knocked it with my hand, and it fell to the floor, making a loud noise. The crash was loud enough to wake a dead man. The poor old man was quite deaf, but not so deaf that he couldn't hear the sound. "And that's not all. As soon as the music box hit the floor, it spun, as if alive, and began to play John Brown's Corpse. It was tinkling so loudly that it seemed like twenty music boxes were ringing at midnight at the same time." , and I'm standing there with the necklace in my hand. "I looked back and the poor old man still didn't move." Toby swallowed hard again. "So I went up to him and looked at him. You know what I saw. I turned on the overhead light to make sure, but it was sure. I was still holding the necklace, blood must have gotten on it at that time, But I didn't get any blood on my gloves. The old man seemed to be sleeping peacefully, but his head was smashed out. The music box was still playing "The Corpse of John Brown." "I had to turn off the music. I ran back and picked up the music box and stuffed it back in the curio cabinet. Also, I realized I couldn't change the necklace now. It would bring the police. I think a burglar did it, But if I give Prue a necklace worth a hundred thousand francs, the police will find out that the one in the antique cabinet is a fake if they hear about it. "I panicked. Who could this villain be? I checked, and there was a poker hanging quietly on the stove rack, and I went to pick it up. It was stained with blood and hair. I took the poker Put it back, that would have killed me. All I could think about was getting out of there. I put the necklace back in the curio, and it stuck to the plush backing (the one hanging straight up at an angle, remember ?), fell under the curio cabinet, and I had to leave it there. But I still remember turning off the central light before leaving. It was just looking presentable." His voice gradually decreased. The office of the examining magistrate is full of evil. Dermot Kinross sat at Mr. Wardur's desk, watching Toby with an expression that was hard to tell whether it was sarcasm or admiration. "You never mentioned this to anyone?" he asked. "No." "Why not?" "I—it might be misleading. It's impossible to believe my motives." "I see. When Eva told her story, they wouldn't believe yours if they believed her motives, would they? So, to be fair, how do you ask us to believe what you say?" "Stop it!" pleaded Toby, "how do I know what someone across the street saw through that goddamn window?" He glanced at Eva, "Eva swore she didn't see anything in the first place Yes. I beg you to believe that's all it is! Before last night, I had never heard anything about 'Brown Gloves'." "But you never said anything about your escape. If you did, then the evidence is enough to prove that your fiancée is innocent." Toby looked dazed: "I don't understand!" "Don't get it? You see, you called her at one o'clock, then went upstairs and found your father dead." "yes." "So, if she killed it, it must have been done before one o'clock? At one o'clock—she was done—and went back to her bedroom to talk to you?" "yes." "She killed someone and came back home before one o'clock. Then why did she go out again and didn't come back home covered in blood until one thirty?" Toby opened his mouth wide and closed it again. "That's impossible, you know," Dermot retorted with deceptively mild manner, "Twice too many. Yvette described it all: 'The murderer' from the crime scene at one-thirty Absconding home, unlocked front door, 'looking messy', hastily washing off blood: no. Too much to be true. You can't be half an hour after Sir Maurice Lawes died, Count on her to come out and kill again. Because, after the death of the first victim, she comes home and surely needs to tidy herself up before going out again?" Dermot slouches by the desk with his arms folded. "You agree, Monsieur Verdur?" he asked. Elena Rouss swung herself free from her brother's tight grip. "I don't understand the minutiae," she said. "I just care about my son." "Well, I don't care," Ganice interjected unexpectedly, "if Toby keeps having an affair with that Harp Lane girl, and he does what he admits to, I say the way we treat Eva It's so vicious." "Quiet, Ganice. If Toby did it, you say..." "Mom, he admitted it." "Then I daresay he has a good reason. As far as Eva is concerned, I'd only be glad if she had nothing to do with it, but that's not my concern. Dr. Kinross, is Toby telling the truth?" "Oh, yes," said Dermot. "He didn't kill poor Morris?" "of course not." "But someone killed him," Uncle Ben pointed out with wandering eyes. "Yes, someone killed him," Dermot admitted. "We're going to stop here." From beginning to end, the only person who did not speak was Eva herself.The white light swayed, casting crooked shadows of these people on the wall, moving like a light and shadow show.She just sat there, staring at the toes of her shoes.Only once, when someone else narrated something, she firmly grasped the armrest of the chair, as if remembering something.There were blurred shadows under her eyes, and her teeth showed white imprints on her lower lip.She nodded to herself, looked up, and met Dermot's eyes. "I think I remember," she told him, clearing her throat, "you want what I remember." "I owe you an explanation. And an apology." "No!" said Eva. "No, no, no! Now I know why I got into trouble when I told the truth today." "Okay, as long as you don't boo me to silence, let me say something," Ganice protested, "I don't understand. What's the answer?" "The answer," replied Dermot, "is the murderer's name." "Ah!" murmured Mr. Glenn. Eva stared at the Emperor's snuff bottle on the table next to Dermot's, shining with radiance. "I've had a nightmare for nine days," continued Eva, "a nightmare of a brown glove. I can't think of anything else. So it was Toby who wore the glove." "Thank you," whispered the gentleman. "I'm not being ironic, I'm serious. If you focus on one thing like that, you don't consciously remember anything else. Also, you swear something is true when it's not. False. You think it’s true, but it’s not. You only remember the truth when you’re too tired for your conscious mind to work.” Elena's voice rose. "Indeed, dear," she cried. "It might all have something to do with Freudian psychology, but for heaven's sake, can you tell us what the hell you're talking about?" "Snuff bottle," Eva replied. "What happened to the snuff bottle?" "It was broken up by the murderer. Right after that, the police collected all the pieces and took them away to put them back together. You know what, today is the first time in my life that I actually saw this snuff bottle." "But," Ganice said with obvious confusion. Dermot Kinross pointed. "Look at the snuff bottle," he said. "It's not very big, 2.25 inches in diameter according to the dimensions described by Sir Morris. What does it look like in the hand, even at close quarters? It does look like one." A pocket watch. In fact, when Sir Morris first showed it to the family, they all thought it was a pocket watch, didn't they?" "Yes," admitted Uncle Ben, "but..." "It's true that it can't be reminiscent of a snuff bottle anyway?" "Unthinkable." "Nor was anyone seen or described to Eva Nair before the murder?" "Obviously not." "Then how did she know it was a snuff-box when she claimed to have seen it fifty feet away?" Eva closed her eyes. Mr. Glenn and the examining magistrate exchanged glances. "That's the whole answer," Dermot continued, "that is, the power of suggestion." "The power of suggestion?" Elena screamed. "The murder was quite clever. A sublime ruse that made Eva Nair a second victim and gave the criminal an unbreakable alibi. He almost got it. You think Do you know who the murderer is?" Dermot slid away from the desk and walked towards the hall door.The white light of the searchlight circled again, and he flung open the door. "In fact, he is a megalomaniac, and despite our best efforts to stop him, he insisted on coming here and testifying for himself. Come in, my friend, you are more than welcome." Under the blue and white light, they could clearly see Ned Atwood staring at them from the door.