Chapter 20 Chapter 20 The Psychologist's Murder

An hour later, Dr. Fell sat with them before the fire in the library, but Marjorie was not there; and, obviously, neither was Postrick and Harding.Others sat quietly by the fire.Elliott was obviously tired, but his mind was still active. Dr. Chesney spoke first.He sat with his elbows on the bridge table and his head in his hands; now he looked up: "So an outsider did it," he murmured, "My God! I thought I knew." Professor Ingram said politely: "You've also been assuring us that Harding is a good young man. At least, when you arranged for this afternoon's wedding—"

Dr. Chesney blushed. "You don't think I have to make arrangements for them? I think I have to. Harding convinced me. He said—" "He said a lot!" said Major Crowe grimly. "But when I think about what tonight means to her—" "Have you thought about it?" Professor Ingram picked up the dice and dropped them into the cup. "You've been a bad psychologist, my friend. You think she loved him? Do you think she loved him? You Think why I'm vehemently opposed to this afternoon's wedding?" He picked up the dice cup and shook it.He looked at Dr. Phil, Elliott, and Major Crowe. "But, gentlemen, we think you owe us an explanation. We want to know how you identified Harding as the murderer, how you proved him guilty, which might be helpful to you." It's clear, but we don't understand it."

Elliot looked at Dr. Phil.His pipe was lighted, and a mug of beer was at his elbow. "You explain, sir," he suggested sullenly, and Major Crowe nodded. "I'm not capable enough." Dr. Fell stared thoughtfully at the fire. "I have a lot of regrets about this," he said in a calm voice, "I have a lot of regrets because what I thought was a wild idea nearly four months ago was actually the beginning of a solution. explain to you. "On the seventeenth of June, the child was poisoned by chocolate from Mrs. Terry's shop. I explained to Inspector Elliot today that I don't think the poisoner was a stupid way of throwing a handful of poisoned cream bonbons into the open box. , I think it's likely to be changed by the spring clip bag, the spring clip bag makes it easy to change the box. I think we should look for people who carry bags into the store. People like Dr. Chesney or Mr. Emmett Carrying a bag into a store is usually not noticed or remembered.

"But," said Dr. Phil, gesturing with his pipe, "as I pointed out to the inspector, there is another possibility. Even if Dr. Chesney or Mr. Emmett would be noticed carrying a bag, there is another kind of person Mrs. Terry wouldn't notice that kind of person carrying a bag into the store." "Another kind?" asked Professor Ingram. "Tourists," Dr. Phil said. "As we know," he went on, "Sodbury Cross has a lot of tourists passing by, and its traffic is usually heavy, sometimes to the point of denseness. Tourists driving by can pick up traffic without the shopkeepers noticing. Walk in with a bag, buy a pack of cigarettes, and walk out, the owner won't remember his bag, nor his people. The owner will pay attention to locals like Chesney or Emmett, but he won't pay attention to tourists .

"But this seems mere fantasy. Why would a stranger do such a thing? A madman might do that; but I cannot say to Major Crowe, 'Find a stranger at Sodbury Cross, I cannot describe it. An out-of-towner traveling in a car with a magic bag.' I thought I was too imaginative, I put the idea aside, and now I feel insulted." "Because of what happened this morning?" "Eliott came to me, and his story stirred up bad memories. I had a letter from Marcus Chesney, and I got the outline of things from the deaf waiter; and Elliott's account made me I was taken aback. I learned from him that in Italy Miss Wells met and was engaged to George Harding, a lover with big dark eyes. Just because Harding was an outsider does not make him suspicious. But there are good reasons Suspect that someone, someone in the small group around Marcus Chesney, turned a murder plan into an elaborate magic show. So we start by examining this show.

"We knew this show was planned in advance. We knew it was a magic trick where you couldn't believe your eyes. We suspected that the fun and games might extend beyond the stage to the audience. Listen to Chesney's letter, he said Talk about witnesses: "They don't know what's going on on stage, let alone in the auditorium. Show them a black-and-white film of the performance afterwards and they'll believe you; but even then they can't properly explain what they saw. "Now, to decipher the enigma of the show, we have three points to explain. They are: "A. Why did Chesney include a totally unnecessary question on the question sheet? If he's going to ask you the height of the guy in the top hat afterwards, why does he tell you that Dr. Nemo is Wilbur Emmett ?”

"B. Why did he insist that everyone wear tuxedos that night? It's not your habit to wear tuxedos; but he asked to wear tuxedos on this special night. "C. Why did he include a tenth question in the list of questions? The tenth question was sort of ignored, but it bothered me. Remember, he asked, 'Who spoke? What was said?' He added another , said he wanted the correct answer to the above question. What is the trap here? Witnesses all agree that only Chesney spoke on stage, although there was a voice from the audience. What is the purpose of Mr. Chesney asking this question?

"Gentlemen, the answers to A and B seem clear. He tells you that Dr. Nemo is Wilbur Emmett, because Dr. Nemo is not Wilbur Emmett. Dr. Nemo is not Emmett, but some A person who wears the same dress black pants and dinner shoes as Emmett. But this person cannot be the same height as Emmett, otherwise the question 'what is the height of the person entering through the French window' would be meaningless. If this person is the same height as Emmett Mitt is the same height, six feet, and you say six feet, and you get it right anyway. So he has to trick you with someone who is a few inches shorter than Emmett, who still wears black dress pants and dinner shoes.

"Well, where to find such a man? You can find an outsider, you can find a friend of Sodburycross, but then the trick loses all point. It wouldn't be a good trick, it would be a lie, and it wouldn't Fits with 'they don't know what's going on on stage, let alone what's going on in the auditorium.' If that makes sense, it means that the person wearing the top hat is a member of the audience. "The ruse was quickly revealed. We saw that Marcus Chesney had another accomplice besides Emmett—a pure-faced accomplice. As is common in conjuring, an accomplice sitting in the audience In the twenty seconds of total darkness after the lights went out, Emmett switched places with another accomplice.

"The accomplice in the auditorium went out through the open French windows during those twenty seconds of total darkness, and Emmett came in and sat in the auditorium. It was the other accomplice, not Emmett, who played the role of Dr. Nemo, and throughout the performance That's Emmett sitting or standing in the audience. Gentlemen, that's Marcus Chesney's ruse. "But which one in the audience—Which one is Emmett playing—?" "That's an easy guess. Miss Wells couldn't, for obvious reasons. Professor Ingram couldn't, for three reasons: he was seated furthest from the French windows in the music room, which Chesney had arranged for; he had A shiny bald head; it's unlikely that Chesney would pick the man he most wanted to deceive as an accomplice. As for Harding?

"Harding is five feet nine inches tall. He and Emmett are both thin and about the same weight: Harding is 154 pounds, Emmett is 162 pounds, and both are well groomed. Smooth black hair. Harding was placed on the far left—the worst possible position for someone trying to photograph the stage, absurd in fact, but Chesney assigned it, and it was only two steps away from the window. Also Well, when Harding is operating the camera, his right hand naturally covers the right side of his face, doesn't it?" "Yes," said Professor Ingram gloomily. "Psychologically, there is nothing easier than an exchange like this. The difference in height would not have been noticed because he was standing and the other two witnesses were sitting. Furthermore, Harding said he was hunched over, It means that Emmett is bowed. If you are deceived, it is because the difference in their appearance is very easily hidden by the darkness. Harding is beautiful, Emmett is ugly, but this is in the dark, covered with hands. You can't see the face. You don't pay attention to the person, otherwise you can't see what is going on on the stage. It is a contradiction to say that you see Harding and the stage. When you say that you see Harding out of the corner of your eye, it is true Yes, because you see a vague shape. You see Harding because you think Harding is there. "Darkness also hides another trick of psychology. You say the person with the video camera speaks loudly. I don't think so. The psychological effect of darkness is to make people speak softly, and these whispers sound like normal voices, and sometimes they even It sounded like a roar. Actually it was a whisper. But people wouldn't believe it unless they heard the whisper under normal circumstances. I therefore thought that when the man said 'ah, the invisible man' he was whispering. You were Deception, because all voices sound the same when whispered. You think you hear Harding's voice because you never thought it could be someone else's. "As a matter of fact, Harding is the only suitable person for the role of another accomplice. Chesney would not have chosen you, Professor Ingram, with whom he argued for many years. Nor would he have chosen you, Dr. Chesney, he Argued with you all my life. He chose the humble, flattering Harding, Harding listened to him, flattered his vanity, believed his theories, and Harding had a camera. "So we come back to another characteristic of Harding. If there's one sentence we keep hearing in this case, it's that Harding has a lot of respect for Marcus Chesney. That respect never falters, never diminishes. Shaking in only one place. The performance was Chesney's pride, and he took it seriously, and hoped everyone would; but at the climax of the performance—Doctor Nemo enters through the French windows—Harding, After being warned to keep quiet, it seemed odd to say something as flirtatious as 'ah, the invisible man'. It could have caused laughter. It could have spoiled the show. But Harding, as everyone thinks, said it. "Now, I'm about to point out to you why that sentence alone proves Harding a crime. I thought: 'That's not Harding. That's Wilbur Emmett pretending to be Harding. And, since Emmy Both Tet and Harding didn't want to offend Chesney! I swear, that line was prearranged.' Even that line was part of the show; so we're back to the old question: 'Who spoke? What was said?' "I'm not guessing, gentlemen. I'm telling you the truth. That's what I thought when Eliot first told me the story. I didn't dare give Elliot any hope of Harding's guilt in the first place—" Dr. Chesney stared at them. "Hope?" he pressed suspiciously. "Hope of what? Why does he want Harding guilty?" Dr. Fell cleared his throat loudly. "Ahem," he said, "I slipped. Should I go on?" "Let's get down to business. Motives, ideas aside, purely on a technical level, obviously, Harding plays the role of Dr. Nemo. Look at our timeline. Two minutes between the lights going out and Chesney opening the double doors." In ten seconds of total darkness, Emmett was able to enter the music room through the floor-to-ceiling windows. He took over Harding's camera, and Harding went out through the floor-to-ceiling windows, pretending to be Doctor Nemo. It only took two or three seconds to switch positions. Even so, after Doctor Nemo entered Forty seconds pass before the study. That gives Harding almost a minute to put on the props; Professor Ingram will tell you how much you can do in a minute. "After thirty seconds in the study, Nemo goes out. Then Harding comes back. Does that fit our schedule? "I hadn't watched the film at this point, but Elliott quoted Harding's testimony to me. Harding said, 'Just after the guy in the top hat stepped out of frame, I looked up, backed up, and turned off the camera.' It's actually Wilbur Emmett's move. As soon as Dr. Nemo leaves his study, he stops filming. Why? The show isn't over yet, is it. Marcus Chesney has to fall forward and pretend Die, then stand up and close the double doors. Chesney gives them enough time to switch back. "Apparently Emmett 'backed off' immediately after Nemo left and slipped out of the music room to meet Harding. That was their plan—Marcus Chesney's plan. But Harding had other plans. He's going to give Chesney a poisoned capsule to finish off. Of course there's no second capsule, and the debate over the second capsule is unnecessary. Why would there be a second capsule if Harding was prearranged to play the role of Dr. Nemo Capsule? Only one capsule: Harding was entrusted in advance, and he desperately stuffed the capsule of cyanic acid. After giving Chesney the poisonous capsule, Harding proceeded to his next plan. "After Nemo left, Wilbur Emmett stopped filming and exited through the French windows in the music room. Harding was waiting, and it only took a few seconds for him to remove his costume. In the shadows behind the tree, was the waiting Hours of pokers. Harding - his Nemo disguise left by the study window - now waits by the tree. He beckons to Emmett and takes over the camera. He points to the house, and when Emmett turns, Harding uses the poker Pounding. Then he returned to the music room before the lights came on, fifty seconds in total, as Professor Ingram calculated." Professor Ingram is playing dice.He frowned and shook his head: "It seems reasonable, he will have enough time, but isn't this risky?" "No," said Dr. Phil, "he's not taking any chances." "But what if someone, like me or someone, turned on the light too quickly? What if it came on before he got back to the music room?" "You forgot about Chesney," Dr. Phil said sadly. "You forgot about the man who committed suicide. He wanted Harding more than anyone to get back safely before the lights came on. If Harding were caught, it would destroy the His plan, that would make him a laughing stock. That has to be prevented. As I said earlier, Chesney asked you to watch more of the show -- sit quietly at a table for a while, then fall forward -- that's obviously Impromptu, because there was no question about this part. That was to give Harding time. Apparently, Harding had pre-arranged the signal, like a cough, to let Chesney know he was back in the music room. Then Chesney closed the double doors door to end the show. Anyway, Chesney is not going to end the show until Harding comes back." "Damn it!" Joe Chesney roared suddenly, and he punched the card table, causing the board to jump up. "So he directed and acted on his own?" "That's right." "Go on," said Professor Ingram calmly. Dr. Phil sniffled: "That's the position this morning. And then, as you know, I'd love to see that film, the film that Emmett made. Harding is getting suspicious, he's a chemist, he knows To make cyanic acid, he was the only person in the case who knew how to put on and take off rubber gloves. I don’t know if you have tried putting on and taking off rubber gloves. Putting on rubber gloves is easy, as long as the inside of the glove is powdered; but taking off rubber gloves in a hurry is almost impossible. Impossible, unless you know the technique. You can't take the glove off by pulling the fingers, you have to turn it from the wrist; I showed Inspector Elliott to the amazement of him. "Before we saw the film, Harding was quite the murderer. From the conversation Elliott had with Miss Wells in Stevenson's Pharmacy, Harding was the murderer. I overheard that scene, gentlemen. talk; cum without pride or shame. There was a curtain behind the double doors in the living room and bedroom, and I was lying in ambush in the bedroom behind the curtain. "At the time, I knew nothing about Harding other than what Elliott told me. But now, all of a sudden, I'm getting to know Harding — Elliott told me that Harding met Will on a trip to the Mediterranean. I had never heard of Sodbury Cross before, but I found that he knew her long before his trip to the Mediterranean, before the poisoning at Mrs. Terry's shop, and that she often Go and meet him in London. Don't be so alarmed, gentlemen," said Dr. Fell testily, "and resist the urge to hit me. Even the maids know about it. Ask them. "But what was really valuable was my observation of the duality of Mr. George Harding. You couldn't blame him for trying to hide Marjorie's family. He knew Marjorie already. I couldn't blame him for that, after all it required careful, Gorgeous manners. But I have to blame him, and what Elliott wanted to murder him, was that he gently suggested that he needed a trip abroad and that she'd better pay for it for him. But that's not all. Gentlemen, I stand Stevenson's bedroom, I'm speechless with astonishment. I see sights, I hear voices. I think I smell Wainwright's scented hair; I think the ghost of Warren Waite sits in the rocking chair. I thought I saw Richson's charming eyes and Pritchard's big bald head, goblin-like out the window. "There's one more thing to say. George Harding is an excellent actor. I heard about the scene at Pompeii. Wait a minute, never mind how I heard it. But, if I were at Stevenson's If the overheard is true, then consider what the scene at Pompeii means! Consider hardy, male Harding standing among you and asking you to tell him about Sodburycross. Think He introduced the subject of the poisoner, and stimulated your intellect, until you told him: 'I suppose it was easy to get away with poisoning in those days.' Think of his wonder as he hastily put away the guidebook, knowing He brings up an unpleasant subject. Think! "Well, needn't stress it. But let the scene stay in your minds as a symbol of everything that went on. It forms the heart of Harding. He's both hypocritical and popular. "We're going to watch the video next, and it shows Harding off the hook. The mistakes are so bad that I think Harding is screwed. "You've all seen the film. There's one thing some of you overlooked when we first saw it. It's this. If we accept Harding, if we accept that he made the film, if we accept His alibi, that is, accepts that the film consists of Harding's vision. "You know what I mean?" Dr. Phil asked enthusiastically. "The film is what he saw, what happened in his study in his field of vision. It's as if we have the image in his mind. We can only see It was what Harding saw. "Now, based on the testimony of the other witnesses and Harding himself, what happened? Back to the beginning of the Chesney show. The odd figure in the top hat came in through the French windows. As he stepped forward, Harding Whisper, 'Ah, the invisible man!' and the man turns to look at the audience. "But what do we see in the film? We see, the moment the queer character appears in the film, he turns to look at us. It appears, he turns, and this is the first time we see Dr. Nemo; After Ding says 'ah, the invisible man', that's the only time Dr. Nemo looks at the audience. But how did Harding say that? He said it before we saw the invisible man, and neither did he. "He couldn't see the French windows at all, he stood too far to the left so we couldn't see the Invisible Man in the film. We couldn't see the Invisible Man coming in, we didn't see him until he turned to look at us. So how did Harding know what Dr. Nemo looked like ?How could he properly describe Dr. Nemo before Dr. Nemo came into view? "The answer is not complicated, the person holding the camera is an accomplice. He already knows what Dr. Nemo looks like, he is responsible for the 'ah, the invisible man' line; he sees Chesney turn his head and knows the time is up, so he is a few seconds faster Zhong said it. Others saw him, but he said his line without seeing Dr. Nemo. Since Harding later emphasized that he said this sentence, he is therefore complicit, whether he made the film or Emmett Shooting the film. It confirmed my previous idea of ​​'Emmett shooting the film and Harding playing the role of Dr. Nemo'. "When I first saw the film this afternoon, I wanted to announce it. Major Crowe said that Marcus Chesney killed himself, and I agreed. He was right, although he said something else. .but my opinion was hit at the time. "We can clearly see the doctor in the video. He's six feet tall. He's not just six feet tall, but he's identified as Wilbur Emmett because of his gait. I was hit and it took hours to recover. "This incident taught me humility. Humility is a timeless virtue. I was always convinced that I was right until we found the photo light bulb box in Miss Wells' drawer. I realized that once again we were cut. Another of Sney's tricks cheated. This was the last one, but it made Harding's trick even more solid. "We've been puzzled by one thing, and that's: Whoever the murderer is, why didn't he destroy the film? He has many opportunities to destroy the film, it's lying in a room with no one in it, anyone can destroy it in five seconds, no murderer— - even a lunatic - wanted the police to see the film of his murder, but it was left untouched. If I had known it from the beginning, I should have seen that the film fell into our hands because it was not in the official show. Captured video. "It was actually a rehearsal of Chesney, Emmett, and Harding that afternoon, with Emmett playing the role of Dr. Nemo. "Picture light bulbs give this away. I've always been curious about photographic light bulbs. What piqued my curiosity was Miss Wells' shock when she learned they had burned out. Why was she surprised? The question may Not important, but it opened a jammed door. She bought the light bulb that morning and didn't use it until evening. How long did the light last that night? "That was an easy decision. Chesney's show started around twelve-five. Then the lights came on. The bulbs stayed on until the police arrived at twelve-twenty-five. About twenty minutes. When The lights were on for another four or five minutes while the police inspected the room. The lights came on a third time, briefly, as the sergeant and camera crew arrived. After Elliott explained the spring clip bag to Major Crowe, inspected the mantel The bulb burns out after the clock ticks. About five minutes. "There was a big drop. The bulb burned out after half an hour, but Stevenson, the pharmacist, assured me the bulb would burn for over an hour. "It burned out after half an hour because someone had used it earlier in the day. The simple truth was presented to me when I discovered the cardboard box in the drawer. Miss Wells bought the light bulb that morning and put It went in a drawer. She didn't use it, because the maid told us she came to Professor Ingram's in the morning and stayed there until evening; moreover, we heard repeatedly that she never dabbled in photography. "Before Pamela was sent upstairs at 11:45 that night, someone had used that light bulb. I think so for good reason. We found the cardboard box. Now, if Pamela was told to go to Lou fetches the light bulb, while the light bulb is still sealed in the box, she would come downstairs with the light bulb and the box; but she doesn't, she only takes the light bulb. This means the box is opened, which means the light bulb is either lying in the drawer or stuffed back Inside the open box. "Obviously, Chesney, Emmett, and Harding had to have a rehearsal. The question is, when are they going to have a rehearsal? That afternoon, apparently. Chesney got the light bulb that morning. Miss Wells isn't there in the afternoon, cut Dr. Sney doesn't live here. But Harding is here, we heard from the maid. "You now understand the nature of Chesney's final ruse. He's going to lie to you after all the deceit is over. He made Harding film a pre-film--which differs in several places from the actual film--he secretly Prepare for Trump's contingency. He's like, 'Well, you've given the answer, now look at what's really going on, the camera can't lie.' But the camera can lie, and in this film, it's Emmett playing the role of Dr. Nemo , and Chesney said something completely different than in the actual performance, except for the exact same number of syllables. I secretly believe that this fraud was designed for me. You know, in a few days he will invite me to his performance. Then he will Said to me: 'Now let's see what we shot that night.' And then I'd be lied to too, and he'd say from the screen, 'I don't like you, Dr. Phil.' He'd let it out in his letter : "Show them a black-and-white film of the performance afterwards and they'll believe you; but even then they can't properly explain what they saw. " "Swapping film was one of George Harding's big mistakes. There were two cameras. He let Emmet shoot film on one camera; he gave us another camera that had film in it. I'm telling you, Postrick Another camera hidden in his room has been found, and the footage is miraculously undamaged; now the truth is revealed. "These two films provide the final answer and bring the truth to light. For a long time I wondered: Did George Harding film from the far left just because he wanted to be near the window? I found out that it was more than that. In a position where he can shoot the floor-to-ceiling windows of the study, because he dare not shoot the floor-to-ceiling windows of the study, otherwise the afternoon sun shining on the windows will be displayed. The floor-to-ceiling windows of the study are facing west, and yesterday was a sunny day, so he had to stand aside. When Ai Inspector Lowe suddenly understood the meaning of my question about the light bulb for the camera, and he suddenly remembered what we meant by the camera position on the left; and so the answer came." Elliott murmured.Dr. Phil finished his beer and smoked his cigarette: "Now let me explain what happened between George Harding and Marjorie Wells. "Harding planned a string of cold-blooded murders months ago with one motive: financial need. He wanted to show from the start that whoever the Sodbury Cross poisoner was, it couldn't have been George Harding. His methods of attack are not new, they have been tried before. You keep bringing up the case of Christina Edmonds in 1871. I told Elliot that there is a lesson in that story, but some of you have been Can't see the lesson. The lesson is not: Beware of women who pursue doctors. The lesson is: Beware of people who randomly poison innocents to show that they can't be poisoners. Random poisoning of innocents is Christina E. What Demonds did; the random poisoning of innocents is what George Harding did. "Harding's vanity is comparable to Palmer's or Pritchard's, and he thinks he can do whatever he wants with Marjorie Wells. He has reason to think so. A woman who pays your travel bill for months can be described as pampering." or doting; if he had a purpose, it was to be the lawful husband of a rich woman. "Marcus Chesney is a very rich man and Miss Wells is her heir. But Harding won't get the money until Chesney dies. He knows that and I know Chesney Also made it clear. Harding really wants to grow his electroplating business and as far as I know it would be a very good one. He thinks he's a great guy with a big business so Marcus Chesney has to be eliminated . "I suspect he's been up to no good since he met Marjorie, and has 'transplanted' a Poisoner in Sodbury Cross. He's made a visit to Mrs. Terry's under the guise of knowing where the arrangement and the box of chocolates are, Went back in a few days to change the box. He used strychnine because strychnine is one of the few poisons that chemists don't deal with. We don't know where he got it, but police investigations don't It's no surprise that it came about, they'd never heard of George Harding." "Thank you," said Major Crowe. "We don't know what the original plan was to eliminate Chesney, but he was given the opportunity to poison Chesney with Chesney's encouragement and cooperation. Also, Chesney knew about the Chocolate Box ruse, so Harding had to Get started. On the contrary, Chesney never suspected that Harding was a suspect. But he must not investigate too much, or he will find too much. Now, there is something that makes Harding quite worried. If he is going to poison Chesney , he must use a poison that kills instantly, that means cyanide; and he is working on potassium cyanide, he will be immediately suspected. "He thought of a clever way. Harding didn't get the poison from the lab. He made it here. The house, especially the first floor, smells of bitter almonds. Cyanic acid smells everywhere, but it's in the Bellegar House would go unnoticed unless someone sniffed it from an open bottle. So he made cyanic acid, and left some cyanic acid on purpose in the bathroom cupboard. He did it to show you that you have basic chemistry Anyone with knowledge can make cyanic acid, and someone is trying to get him under suspicion. He's good at making up stories." "He's really good at it," said Major Crowe. "I don't think he tried to frame Marjorie in the first place, that would be stupid and dangerous. He wanted Marjorie's money, but he didn't want Marjorie to be arrested. He only tried to borrow a pill box in Emmet's The result is that Marjorie is under suspicion, and Harding knows how to take advantage of that, since he senses Marjorie's growing coldness. "Her enthusiasm has diminished markedly in the past few weeks. She no longer looks at her lover with dazzled eyes, she may have known him; she often yells at him, and she even contemplates suicide. Jolie's enthusiasm was gone. He couldn't lose her now, or the risk would be in vain. The sooner he could lure her into marriage, the better for him. "He did it with grace and power. He killed Wilbur Emmett with a hypodermic he stole from Dr. Chesney, which he put in the bottom of the jewelry box the next day. Marjorie freaked out; Harding saw it Don't let her cling to him so no one else can trouble her. It worked. She told us herself that she married to avoid arrest. I believe Harding pointed out many things to her, such as the fact that the police may have discovered that she had visited a laboratory in London. , to obtain the poison; and if she were arrested, and they were husband and wife, he would not have to testify against Marjorie on the stand. Gentlemen, when you stop to think of such ingenuity—” Dr. Fell choked with guilt, Major Crowe hissed him, and they all stared at the fire together in anger and embarrassment—for Marjorie had entered. Elliott could not have imagined that she could look so pale, her eyes so radiant.But her hands are steady. "It's all right," said Marjorie. "Please go on. You see, I've been listening at the door for five minutes. I want to." "Oh!" Major Crow sprang up from his chair, turning around in a hurry. "Would you like to open the window? Or a cigarette? Or a brandy or something?" "Bring me a pillow," Dr. Chesney urged. "Honey, I think if you lie down!" said Professor Ingram. She smiled at them. "I'm fine," she said, "I'm not as vulnerable as you think. Dr. Phil was right, he did, he even took the chemistry books in my room and used them Come attack me. You know, I bought chemistry books to learn about his work; but he said what the police would think when they found them? Besides, he—he knew that Inspector Elliot knew, and I tried to Potassium cyanide in London—” "What?" growled Major Crowe. "Don't you know?" She glared at him, "but the inspector said—at least, he implied—"—and now the inspector's face was hot for all to see. "I see," said Major Crowe politely. "Just let it go." "He even said that they might suspect that I had something to do with the killing of Uncle Marcus. He said he knew that Uncle Marcus had written a letter to Dr. Phil saying to watch out for my behavior..." "Indeed," said Dr. Phil, "'I'll give you a hint: keep a close eye on my niece Marjorie.' That's why I didn't show the letter to Chief Inspector Postrick until I knew who was guilty. Your uncle tried to deceive me, just as he tried to deceive you by saying Dr. Nemo was Wilbur Emmett. But to Postrek—” "Wait a minute," said Marjorie, clenching her fists. "You don't have to think you're going to make me pass out by telling me the truth. When I saw George this afternoon, I mean when he thought he was shot, I felt quite Disgusting. But I wonder: Was it an accident that he was shot?" "I wish it wasn't," Dr. Chesney said from the back of his throat, "God, I hope it wasn't! I wish I'd killed him then. But it was an accident, and I swear to you I didn't know guns There are bullets in it." "But Dr. Phil said—" "I'm sorry," Dr. Phil said uncomfortably, "I will say that I did not mislead you by words, deeds, or insinuations in this case, but I had to. There are too many ears around. I mean The sharper Pamela and the sharper Lena. Lena loved that Harding might lead her to say what I said; and, if Harding heard me say it was no accident, he would think he was safe." "Thank God," said Marjorie, "I thought it might be you." "Me?" Dr. Chesney demanded. “我指的是凶手。自然，起先我以为可能是英格拉姆教授——” 英格拉姆教授温和的眼睛睁大：“这有点令人吃惊，你夸奖了，但——” “啊，那是因为你从心理学角度谈论完美谋杀。然后，当我到你家，在那里停留整个下午，问你我是否该嫁给乔治，你为我作心理分析，说我不爱他，他不适合我——啊，我不知该怎么想，但你是对的，你是对的，你是对的。” 菲尔博士眨眼：“替她作心理分析？”他追问，“那她应嫁哪种人？” 玛乔莉脸红：“我不想，”她咬牙切齿地说，“我不想再见到男人。” “我们这群人除外，我希望，”英格拉姆教授好整以暇地说，“我们不能让你得神经病，不是吗。我认为在一秩序井然的社会里，神经病能藉用在历劫归来飞行员身上的原则来治疗。为了治疗受创的神经，飞行员被立刻送往另一架飞机。你该嫁哪种人？我在考虑后认为，那个人的抑制相当于——” “啊，你说的是废话。”克罗少校说，“她喜欢的人是警察。现在，我告诉你们，等这件事弄妥当，我跟这案子再也没有关联。那是一定的，但我现在要说的是——” (Finish)