Chapter 26 epilogue
"Hello!" Carruther said. "It's almost dawn."
In the large room surrounded by bookcases, the windows are all gray, and the electric light above the table is both harsh and unreal.Although the fuel was continuously added, the firewood in the huge stone hearth under the mantelpiece was once again extinguished and reduced to a large pile of embers.The people around the table looked a little listless, their sight was obscured by the turbid smoke, and the arrival of dawn made all the people creak and move their bodies in slight surprise.The room was cold and lifeless.The Assistant Commissioner of Police opened his eyes.
"That's a very foolish idea," growled Sir Herb Armstrong, still irascible to this hour. "Stayed up all night. Bah!" He reached into his pocket, then checked his pocket journal in dizzying fashion. "Today is the 17th Sunday after Trinity Sunday. Sunrise is 6:20 in the morning. We have heard one thing several times in the nest here last night: You may also be able to see the mystery of this case. I can also tell you that your Michaelmas fire insurance - if you have one - will be terminated tomorrow. Any of you lazy bums going to church? Carruther, you should feel Ashamed. 'If you ever saw that handsome young officer—'"
"Sorry, sir," Carruther replied humbly. "I said nothing. The Chief Inspector—"
Only Hadley seemed energetic and calm.He puffed on his dead pipe.
"I brought that up," he explained with suspicious earnestness, "in order to bring the story to a happy conclusion. The point now is that we spent another night revisiting the case, and the oracle would have What's the point? What's Phil going to do with the whole case in the end—dammit, he's asleep! Phil!"
The eminent Dr. Phil - he sat in the largest, most comfortable, and at the same time the most worn leather chair - was slumped in the chair; his spectacles were hanging on his chest, and his hands were pressing Eye.At this moment, an irritable eyeball was protruding from between his fingers.
"I'm not asleep," he replied pompously. "Your words made me astonished and heartbroken. Hmph!" He gasped for a moment, and massaged his temples with his hands up and down.At this moment, he doesn't look like a giant phantom who will give Christmas presents, but looks tired and old. "I'm just asking myself," the doctor continued, clearing his throat, "at the end of every case, I always ask myself the same question: what is justice? Just like making fun of Jesus, time is Won't linger for an answer. Well, never mind. At this hour of the morning, what you people need is a fairly strong black tea, even better with a little brandy in it. Wait."
He braced himself up, gasping for breath, then leaned on two crutches and walked clumsily towards the fireplace.On a little table over there, a ring gas stove was covered behind a stack of folded papers.Dr. Phil pulled out a jug and shook it to make sure it contained water.He lit the gas, and the bright blue-yellow flame made a low hissing sound. In this dim room, this flame was the only light.At that moment, Dr. Phil, who was bending over the flames, looked like an alchemist in medieval legends.The light drove the darkness away, illuminating his flabby jaw, tousled gray hair, bandit mustache, and dumb glasses with black ribbons dangling.
Then he suddenly shook his head.
"First of all, Hadley," he muttered thoughtfully, "I want to congratulate you on a very beautiful case. The original pattern, after you track down the doubts one by one and find out the connection, will inevitably become produce a complete portrait."
"Come on," Hadley said suspiciously. "The question is, do you agree with me? Do you think my conclusions are correct?"
Dr. Phil nodded.
"Yes," said he, "yes, I think that, as it stands, your conclusion is quite correct."
Sir Herb Armstrong put down his journal and sat up in surprise.
"As things stand?" he growled. "Don't tell me there's a mystery in this case! I can't stand it. Enough is enough! We found a quiz box with mysterious characters painted on it. We opened it, and there was another quiz box inside. Opened it up, and—see, the magician had already fired, and the pigeon had finally flown out. So there's nothing in the box, right?"
"Sir, wait a minute," said the meticulous Hadley, as usual. "Phil, let's hear what you have to say. Don't make a goddamn joke at this juncture! What do you mean?"
The doctor's shoulders shrugged, like a slow earthquake.He sat down in a large chair by the gas stove and produced his pipe.For a moment he just squinted at it, and there was no sound except for the faint roar coming from under the kettle.At this moment he suddenly said:
"According to my own rough idea, you have absolutely no way of proving that Gregory Mannhlernin committed murder, and you have no way of proving that old Jay Wade was perjured. The only way to comfort you, I believe, is Put the fear of God on Old Jay all the way so you can defeat him; that seems to be the strength you need. But as to whether it's wise to do it—"
He massaged his hands around the temples again.
"Yes, Headley, you've done a good job. There's an old English proverb that's very apt to describe me, and that proverb literally means 'a man who's flustered and restless.' These Ancient wisdom, really everywhere. I am like a cross-eyed hunter, every field is shot by my bullets, leaving no chance for others. I am an old asthmatic There are too many examples of people who are diligently looking for a shilling coin left in Regent Street just because Piccadilly is brighter there. Better to go to a place where you know there is no clue. Look for clues. That way, you'll see things you never noticed.
"Guys, you have set yourself a problem and then rushed to define it. You have done a great job, but you have found a complete answer to your problem without understanding the essence of the problem. I I think you're missing a part of the problem: I'll call it the 'unnecessary alibi puzzle.' I'm pretty sure in my mind that Mannlerning's alibi was fabricated. Old Jay Wade, Earl of Dushan, intimidated or bribed thirteen witnesses in order to keep the legend of Manlering's heroism out of stigma. Twelve of these witnesses were indeed necessary; that is, their testimony was absolutely Indispensable, even if it is not necessary to get so many people to make the same statement. However, the 13th witness seems out of place. Generally speaking, the statement of the 13th person is not even consistent with the fabricated testimony; He wasn't from the restaurant, and Jay must have had a lot of trouble on his hands in order to get his false statement—if we agree with all of Hadley's analysis, then Jay has no reason to do so.
"Now, let me state my own opinion. I think Headley has reconstructed the whole case quite accurately, except for one small detail, which may not have been important. And this small detail is: In fact, Gregory Mann Lenin did not kill Pendroux.
"It seems to me that the real murderer is young Jerry Wade; but I doubt you will be able to find enough definite evidence to arrest him."
"I'm afraid I've frightened you."
After a long silence—during which only Hadley uttered a nasty expletive—Dr. Fell continued.The doctor leaned back in his chair, and in the dim atmosphere, only the sparks from the gas stove reflected his cheeks.He gasped thoughtfully, then nodded.
"Before I state my thoughts, in order to emphasize something, I have to take a detour and start at the end of the case. And, let me illustrate by analogy.
"Let's start by assuming that Carruther is accused of killing his grandmother in Islington between 11 and midnight. You, Headley, Sir Herb, and I helped him invent 11 o'clock. Alibi for the hour to 12 o'clock. We took control of the head of the Dorchester restaurant (the heinous guy was bought by us), and his companions; we got 7 servants, 3 The guests who dined there at that time (they were also people who took their money and took orders). These three guests, we will call them Lloyd-George, Baldwin and Chamberlain. These people all testified under oath. I stayed in the restaurant all the time and didn't leave until 12 o'clock.
"In this way, Carruther is completely cleared of suspicion. It is conceivable that since he could not kill his grandmother later, no one cares about his whereabouts after 12 o'clock; besides, It took a long time to travel from Park Lane to Islington, so by the time he arrived in Islington, it was well after midnight, which made his alibi all the more convincing. Therefore, We don't have to take the huge risk of buying another witness to prove that Carruther visited the Savoy at 12:15 and had a chat with the hotel manager. The testimonials were overly cautious. If we insist on including this testimony, there must be a very important reason for it.
"In this case, the same is the case with Manlering. Old Master testified that Manlerin did not leave the Greco-Persian restaurant until 10:45, just as the impostor in disguise stepped into the Wade Museum. This testimony That's more than enough. If that's the case, why would Manlering take Aquino Popolos' car to Prince Regent Lane, meet the apartment manager, and then go up the back stairs? The answer lies in my It echoed loudly in his head: because Mannlerin's statement—that he had been at the Holmes apartment on the night of the murder—had to be proven.
"However, why is this so necessary? Heidley said that as long as it can be proved that Mannröning did not enter the apartment through the main entrance at 10:40, as for whether he has been there, you people don't even bother to go No matter. You didn't even go after the matter; it was you, Headley, who brought it up when you questioned him at Wade's mansion. Still, one thing must be to you To be clear—and to Manhlerning too—the statement that he went to the apartment at some point must be very, very important, otherwise he wouldn't have tried to convince you of it.
"One of the things that struck us about his demeanor was his relentless, almost desperate insistence that he had been to the apartment. From what he said to Carruther at the beginning, to the time he When witnesses were removed from Sir Earl's office, he would bring it up before you even if you were no longer in doubt. He certainly hoped that his story would be corroborated in all respects, but in a certain and Paranoid about something unrelated to the murder, that's arousing suspicion. Well, what on earth was he doing in Prince Regent Lane, according to his confession? He went upstairs and found that Holmes' flat was empty. Lock, went in and looked around, then picked up a creased note from the fireplace floor, and the person who wrote the unfinished note was Jerry Wade...
"Here is the whole secret, gentlemen. He picked up a note from the hearth-floor that had fallen out of someone's pocket (so he claimed). When he found the note falling out of his own pocket, he had to excuse, and he had to find an excuse to evade it.
"We now know that Mannlöning was lying; we know he never went to Prince Regent Lane. If so, where on earth did he get that note? And why, on his part, insists so sternly that it was in the apartment Is it so important to find it? When we see that one side of the note is dirty and covered in soot, we can understand that he must have picked it up at the crime scene. In order to explain the presence of soot, Manhlerning commits a heavenly crime. Big mistake: He said he found the note on the hearth floor of the Holmes apartment. Carruther had been to that apartment and both rooms; Or charcoal. You all know that the kind of apartments that provide services or meals are only equipped with those log-shaped electric heaters that are called the shame of modern civilization.
"The little note that said 'Dear G, there must be a dead body—a real dead body' probably didn't get much attention simply because it involved a hoax. As a prank, the existence of the note was explained and forgotten. The point, however, was not what it was about - though I could see no significant meaning in it - but where it had gone. Jerry · It didn't matter whether Wade had written to a medical student requesting a body. What mattered was whether the note had been dropped by the non-existent coal stove in Holmes's apartment, or on the Next to the dead body in the cellar of the Wade Museum? That question can explain a lot of obscurity. It explains why old Jay Wade took such pains to clear the name of Mannlerin; in fact he was clearing his son. I think Now, the intention of the £20,000 check for Manlering's daring expedition to the Eastern countries without worrying about food and clothing can also be explained.
"Headley said that I am very stubborn and awkward, so I will stubbornly tell you the ending first. However, in the process of listening to your narration, I seem to be very sure that Jerry Wade must have killed Pandro.
"You have discussed several obviously suspicious characters. You have always stated that since Miriam was absolutely the only person who had ever descended into the cellar, and since there was no other way down than the cellar door, the murderer had not been honey. Liane, it must be someone who came through the window. The thing is, there's another way to get down to the cellar: the giant elevator. Maybe it's just my nature to dislike elevators. It was built for fires. No matter which direction you look in this case, you always come across clues related to fires. So that elevator rattled in my head. Not to mention what I heard about The first thing that happens to the elevator, is that it malfunctions.
"On the night when the incident happened, Carruther first heard about the elevator failure from Poon. At that time, he walked into the elevator to find clues for Illingworth to escape from there. By the way, at that moment, Poon still Said something that should come to your attention (like some of his other statements). Poon said that Jay concluded that the elevator must have been vandalized because Jay himself used it quite often inadvertently, resulting in several Almost beheaded by the elevator.
"I was thinking, who's going to break that thing? Well, according to Jerry's statement to Armstrong, Jerry Wade is an electrical engineer...
"I want you to take a good look at that elevator, and the Friday night narrative about it. Illingworth has inspired us quite a bit in this regard. I think the first time I noticed Jerry was from It started when Illingworth walked into the museum. The time was 10:35, and it was also the moment when Miriam just came up from the cellar. (She went down the cellar for the second time and found that there was no one below, guessing that Pandro had left, so Upstairs again.) Illingworth passed her and turned to the curator's office when the door flew open; De, strode out. He said to Illingworth that he shouldn't waste his time poor Hara over there; meaning to accuse Illingworth of why he was hanging around and chatting, that's what Jerry Wade said.
"There's a small place up here, which again doesn't attract much attention. From Illingworth, we've got a lot of information about the curator's office, the elevator, etc. The door is sheet steel—we've heard about it. It has been said several times—no sound from outside the door will get in. The elevator doors are thick, so while Illingworth is locked inside, Jerry and Holmes cannot hear the conversation in the curator's office. And Any conversation in the lobby can only be heard when the elevator doors are open - agree? Thanks to the large vents, you can hear the voices outside, otherwise you can't hear a word.
"When Illingworth walked into the museum, he was talking to Poon at the far end of the hall, and then a few feet away to Beckett. So how did Jerry Wade hear his voice? Fact Now, if Jerry Wade is in a room that can't see the outside and has a soundproof effect, how does he know that someone has come in? There is a not-so-surprising answer. : He must have been in the elevator at the time. There was no other way to do it. He must have been in the elevator, standing on the box and looking out.
"It struck me as very odd at first. Because when Illingworth walked into the curator's office, he noticed—he said he observed something because he was thinking of ways to escape. —the elevator doors are firmly shut, and there is a sign on the door that says 'Failure'. If Jerry has been in an elevator, why does he go to such trouble to hide it? But, my God, everyone, he That's not the only thing that was concealed. Let's go to the second day of the murder, when the fingerprint team said they wanted to confirm whether Illingworth had actually been in the elevator. The answer was yes; they found Illing Worth's fingerprints. That's not surprising. What's really strange is that they found no other fingerprints at all.
"No other fingerprints. Huh. Since Jerry must have been in the elevator, his hands must have touched some places, but there are no other traces of fingerprints found in the entire elevator. There is only one possibility: those fingerprints were all carefully Wipe it off, why do you have to wipe off your fingerprints? Why hide the fact that he was in the elevator? You can probably find the problem from the note that he left in the cellar when he killed Pandro and began with 'Dear G' answer.
"As you can see, I'm not happy with Jerry's behavior on the night of the murder. I'm also not happy with how easily he believed Illingworth was an actor sent by the agency. I'm not happy with myself. Said: There is probably no living person in the world who, after talking with Illingworth for half an hour, really believes that he is sent by the casting agency. Jerry Wade is not such a gullible person. To help himself, Of course he'd better go with the flow and pretend to believe that Illingworth is the actor, so he'll do what he can and put on a great show in order to live up to Illingworth's expectations. Speaking of which, I shouldn't have to imply that you guys Jerry know the real actor Lie in the cellar. I can even tell you that Jerry, an amateur actor, put on a good show for Illingworth after he murdered a professional actor.
"Hydley, put your idea of the murder on mine, and you'll find that the two sets of theories merge together like a template. I'll try to describe it—with my own haphazard We have another notable clue on our hands, hidden in a little conversation you overheard on Monday afternoon, when old Jay Wade hadn't wiped his fingerprints off the mirror while he was talking to Illingworth. S went down to the cellar..."
Hadley sat up stiffly in his chair, looking across the table.He pointed to Dr. Phil and said:
"You mean," he said, "Illingworth repeating what the old ghost said? Illingworth seemed to say, 'If some bastard really stole the glove from your table,' and old Jay Answer: 'And my screwdriver.'
Dr. Phil nodded.
Humph.Exactly right, bro.Someone stole the gloves and screwdriver from Lao Jie's office desk on the first floor.What does this matter mean?Our wandering minds can now go back to the elevator that claims it's broken, maybe someone fixed it...
"From the time Miriam and Harriet left him at 10:18 until 10:35, Jerry Wade was alone in the curator's office. There was more than a 15-minute gap He did a few things by himself during the day. He hid his beard, which didn't take much time, for Harriet said she and Miriam were almost done with the dressing when they left. Miriam walked out In the room, she said to help him get--what? In order to make Jerry's outfit perfect, she went to the cellar and brought up-an old Jack's jacket. Headley, I can tell you that Jerry was What to think: 'It's great that Pop isn't here. That way he won't get killed by that elevator. Guys upstairs are trying to get that big lead coffin downstairs right now ;Since the coffin is going to be moved in here, I'll save them some trouble. Let me fix the elevator—it won't take a few seconds, because I was the one who broke it.' He said from the old Jay picked up a screwdriver from the desk and a pair of gloves to keep his hands from getting greasy. Then he entered the elevator. 'Got it! It's so easy. Let it work. Where should I go? Hey, who cares Yeah, just let the elevator go down to the cellar, and help me get Dad's jacket for myself.'
"He went down to the cellar, stepped out of the elevator covered by a partition, and he was now in Jay's studio. At this moment, he heard voices.
"Millian, who was holding a dagger and sideburns, was going to come down to meet Manlerin, but ended up meeting Bodlow instead. But Jerry, who was standing in the dark, heard the whole truth..."
"Hydley, you've seen that young man take off his cynical mask; you've seen it several times. We know they laughed at his incompetence, and the tone was repeated and stinging: 'Shut up, you overgrown Dwarf.' We know he's mocking himself, and torturing himself behind his back, because he's just a 'good old Jerry' who doesn't even have the guts to say pooh to a goose. However, when you say you won't When Miriam gave birth, you also saw his expression in your office. That kind-hearted elf can also become an evil spirit jumping out of the darkness. Moreover, he did jump out of the darkness—— Pounce on Pandro...
"Miriam yelled at Pandro to leave, and then rushed upstairs. Pandro, somewhat complacent, hesitated for a moment and thought about how to respond. At this time, Jerry came out from the other side of the partition quickly. .Under the flickering electric light, I could see the whole scene. The dagger was lying flat on the ground. In this mortal entanglement, the incompetent big brother may have just said "Go to hell" and flew quickly. Go ahead—his reflexes are as fast as he was later on with Illingworth's faux pas for an alibi. He can strike through a heart with a dagger, either by chance or otherwise. It was he who learned some knife skills from his friend Randall; a blind cat met a dead mouse, I guess. Still, Pandro fell dead like Harun Rashid.' The body must be moved Go, lest anyone come down and meet him. Drag it to--to the coal store.' Don't you think he has the strength? If he can drag a man of Illingworth's size into the elevator, he will Have the strength. 'What time is it? Exactly 10:35. Gotta get out of here...'"
"He walked back to the studio and hid the gloves and the screwdriver. 'Got to get back up there quickly, the elevator has to be set up like it hasn't been repaired.' He took the elevator back to the ground floor and started wiping the dirt off the inside of the elevator. Fingerprints, and confirm that no fish slipped through the net. He must do this matter without leaks, without flaws, and must let the elevator malfunction again. When he was doing these things, he heard a sound coming from the lobby. Remove the boxes in the elevator Standing against the wall, he can see outside. Illingworth? Who is this guy? He can't tell who is coming, but it's better to treat the guy as an actor sent by the agency. He closes the elevator door again , come out, and meet this Illingworth at the door in a minute or two with cool composure."
Dr. Fell was puffing on his dead pipe.
"But what about the basement? Through the window, Manlering sees everything. He sees Miriam go down the cellar a second time, after Jerry goes up; then sees her turn and go upstairs and leave."
"What did Manning think? You see! The eldest brother killed someone, and the younger sister will probably be suspected of being the murderer. We have heard your interpretation of Manning's motives, but now listen to my explanation. In Heroes In an all-or-nothing gamble, Mannhlerning staged a daring parody that night that was dangerous and self-inflicted, and forced the older brother who had ridiculed him to owe him a favor: if it weren't for Manhlerning's tact and Audacity, the brother and sister are going to stand trial for murder. That's what Mannlöning does with his irrepressible vanity. Treat what they say as fart? Swallow it all! Then he'd say to Miriam, 'Thanks. I've shown you. Goodbye.' Remember the lad who jumped into the lion ring and picked up the lady's gloves, just for the sake of hindsight The story of throwing the glove in her face? With surprising personality traits, Mannlöning seemed to hear the trumpet of self-importance and ignorance, and then found himself in the situation of the above story. He therefore Proud. He did—what you accused him of, he did. He's still on the floor in the coal storage room, and he found that note that fell out of Jerry's pocket, and that damn note was Jerry The final evidence of Wade's murder.
"Of course, Manlöning was worried afterwards. That's why Jay came forward to support him. I think it has nothing to do with Manlöning's contribution to explain why his grateful father took out £20,000. It is a great relationship. After all this is said, there is still one unsolved mystery in the end. Although it is purely motivated and spurred by vanity, is Mannlenin a heroic and noble-minded knight after all? Or An out-and-out villain like Pandro? I don't know the answer. I doubt Mannröning may have to wait until the day comes when he climbs the highest peak in the Himalayas or swims with sharks in the Herapound Strait , he will understand who he is. He is a wise man who has been telling us who Mannlaening is; but even if we solve the final mystery, his actual true color will still be unknown .”
The sky outside the window is brightening up.Dr. Fell got up in utter silence, walked with difficulty to open one of the windows, and breathed in the cool morning air.
"But we don't have any evidence—" Hadley said suddenly.
"Of course there is no evidence now," agreed Dr. Phil readily. "Otherwise I wouldn't have told you all. I don't want you to arrest the young man. There's been enough commotion about this case. If you want to give old Jay Wade a surprise , let the dove fly out of the box at the sound of the magician's gun and return with an olive branch (this metaphor makes me sick), and throw it on your conscience."
Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, and then Hadley started laughing out loud.
"Just what I like," said Sir Herb, scratching the back of his head. "I'll keep my mouth shut."
"For God's sake, so do I, sir," Carruther agreed.
Dr. Fell smiled beamingly, turned and staggered back to the gas ring by the fireplace.
"You'll always wonder whether I'm right," he said to them. "I tell you, privately, that I myself do the same. The kettle has been boiling for a long time."
He turns off the gas.There was a sudden snap, and the hissing of the kettle stopped.Then all, with a whetted appetite, were ready to enjoy breakfast.
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