Chapter 34 Chapter Ten Intrigue

There are countless dilemmas in the world, and Hans stealing the medicine is one of them-the principle of balance between punishment and conscience.And here's another: a drunkard who hadn't closed his eyes for three days and was as weak as a swinging telephone pole: a fever of forty degrees, a pulse of one hundred and forty-five per minute, accompanied by severe Dehydrated and taken to the hospital.However, the drunkard regarded the hospital as a Japanese concentration camp and tried his best to escape from it.So what should people do?Should he be allowed to run out of the hospital and into the street until he dies of convulsions, dehydration?Or disregarding his personal wishes, force him to be hospitalized, give him a lot of sedatives, and finally heal the disease?

Speed's point is clear that the latter option should be adopted.Because, although the person concerned did not think he was sick, and did not accept the doctor's diagnosis, his serious condition was in fact certain.People know that not being able to see the truth clearly and denying one's illness is a kind of pathology in itself. Similarly, this problem can be generalized-this is what Speed ​​wants to express-the inability to recognize one's personality disorder and impure purpose is also a major characteristic of villains. The villain refuses to acknowledge the status quo of his own guilt, and also refuses to admit the pain of his own guilt; thus, in the way of projection and finding someone to replace him, he transfers the pain to others. The bad guys pull down the water, so the wicked create a sick environment.

Many people are reluctant to think of evil as a disease on the grounds that evil has no cure.Such a view ignores the fact that multiple sclerosis and mental deficits (Seth Waller takes care of both) are called diseases even though they are incurable.Speed ​​has now found a third disease for his friend - and that is evil!And, as the differences between the two continued to intensify, the argument turned into quarrels and accusations, which subsequently led to their parting ways. These contents are summed up by the overtime workers in the laboratory next door after hearing the two people in the laboratory getting louder and louder.Yank Ralph was thoroughly bewildered by the remarks.He couldn't imagine why Seth and Speed, who were so close and had already formed a tacit understanding, got "broken and bloody" because of a suspected "evil" concept issue, and finally broke up unhappy.

In a rage, Speed ​​rushed to the airport that night and bought a ticket back to Miami; while Seth sank into the sofa blankly, thinking for a whole night... The cause of the incident needs to be traced back to that afternoon, when Speed ​​tested the hidden "death mask" in the pillow, thus confirming Seth's insistence that Hancock was murdered. So Seth smiled excitedly at Speed: "Listen, er, old man, I've always had a suspicion, come and see if it makes sense." "Come on," Speed ​​waved his hands with a playful smile. "Don't come here. When people say this, it's usually because he has already made up his mind, and he just wants to find someone to echo him."

Both of them laughed for a while, but the conjecture was temporarily shelved. The reason was that the two had been notified by Yang Ke about the discovery of the scars on Vincent's fingerprints.As a result, Speed ​​received a new inspection job—the re-examination of the fingerprints on the murder weapon; and Seth, keenly aware of the political problems that may be caused by this, he did not want the young Yang Ke to be promoted to the chief detective. He also inherited Hancock's fault and became a scapegoat.He found Vincent's lawyer Hera Ken non-stop, and persuaded him to give up the idea of ​​prosecuting the police station for missing evidence.

When Seth came back, it was already past nine o'clock in the evening.Speed ​​finished his assay work and was taking a nap on the sofa. Speed ​​was a light sleeper, so he woke up as soon as Seth entered the room. "Tell me your guess." He made two cups of coffee and placed them on the small coffee table beside the sofa. Seth took a few seconds to sort out the logic of the language: "Before I met Mrs. Fima, I had already begun to suspect something. All the evidence points to Vincent without a doubt, right?" "Yeah, what's the matter?" "You may not know Vincent, but he and I have been classmates for many years, and Vincent is not stupid. So, regardless of the first victim, at least he shouldn't kill Margaret immediately after sleeping with her , even if it was necessary for him to do so, he shouldn't be so stupid as to leave so many traces of himself in the hotel. It's unreasonable."

"Yes, it's like the Hancock case, except for a smeared lip kiss—it may have been Hancock picking up the cup and forcing it down for the murderer, so the murderer had to do so in order not to arouse the victim's suspicion, but Before she left, she wiped the quilt." "Yes, so we only found the ingredients of the lipstick, but we couldn't restore the lip print," Seth took out a lipstick from his pocket, shook it, and put it back in his pocket, "I bought it on the way back. Then said Well, at least Vincent shouldn't be so stupid as to leave the hotel without dealing with the marks he left behind. Maybe an impulsive criminal would be so negligent, but not a planned murder."

"Yes. There are also fingerprints found on the murder weapon, which are too clear and obvious, which contradicts the two bombs placed in the room." "Well, so, from the very beginning, I doubted the possibility of Vincent being the murderer. Since Vincent was not responsible, someone must have set the blame. But this kind of blame is a bit too complicated. In addition, in the dead body There is something wrong with the handling." "This is very interesting, let's talk about it." "If it were you and I who wanted to blame someone, what would I do?"

"Well, that's a problem." Speed ​​smiled sheepishly. "When many people are young, they will have an impulse to be dissatisfied with someone or something. So, even though they won't implement it, they will I have some evil thoughts." "Yes." "Well, if it were me, I think I'd follow up." "A little more detail." "I will track the person I want to frame and figure out who he has the closest relationship with - and this intimate relationship is well known. The best time to attack should be when he disappears with that intimate person It is enough to kill the victim behind the scenes of everyone, and at the same time, to ensure that the person I want to blame during this time period lacks witnesses who can prove that he is not at the scene."

"Yes, most people think about it in this way. This creates a problem, why the corpses of the victims in this case have been disposed of—of course, the first victim was not, but she was discarded in a secret place until it rotted It was discovered only after being unrecognizable. Such an approach, if Vincent was the murderer, would make sense; but if it was blamed, it would be a bit strange. It is difficult for the police station to identify the victim, and it took too long Even if the two victims have relatives, they may not be able to remember who the victim was with in the end, and the exact time is hard to confirm."

"Yes, that's a problem." "So I have a bold guess. Since the murderer did this, there must be a reason for him to do so—the murderer may just want to confuse this point in time." "how do I say this?" "In order to make it easier for him to mix himself into the team of witnesses." Speed ​​was therefore silent, and the witness team... "Yes, the witness team. These two victims have completely opposite interpersonal relationships. One is reclusive; the other is promiscuous. There are only two things in common between the two. First, they have no particularly close relatives or friends. second, they all had a relationship with Vincent. And because of Hancock's arbitrariness in the case, we don't know who the potential witness is, but recall, when we first arrived in Plymouth on the first day, who Came to the police station for Hancock?" "Reynold Bryan?!" Speed ​​was moved. "Indeed, Reynolds is the only one we know. However, at the time, I hadn't considered these issues. My opinion was formed after meeting Mrs. Fimar." "Well, go ahead." "You know, a person's criminal philosophy, and their footprints, can often be traced in their childhood and adolescence. For example, the childhood of a sadistic murderer may be cultivated in an environment of domestic violence by an abusive father. Unhealthy personality. I once noticed a case where the murderer was responsible for more than 50 murders. But it is strange that among the more than 50 people he killed, there was only one woman, and he still gave her Came a bliss', unlike the other male victims, who suffered multiple tortures - many, after being bled, were eaten alive by rats! I looked at his family background and concluded that he was in The conclusion of revenge for being abused by his father, and his kindness to women is due to the fact that his mother often suffered from his father's abuse in order to protect him when he was young. In other words, she and him are 'standing in the same boat'." "Well, this is your field, I know a thing or two." "The methods used in this case are extremely complicated, unreasonably complicated. There is no need for the murderer to do so many ritual things, such as cutting off the thigh. But we don't know the identity of the murderer, so we have to check from Vincent's past. First , I have never heard Vincent talk about his parents, and secondly, Mrs. Filler foreshadowed this disaster a few years ago. It can be said that Mrs. Filler has a secret from the past. Next, we all know, Sean, Levard, and Gene's triangle." "Yes, but what does that have to do with Leonard?" "Sean was imprisoned in 1970. Vincent and I were born one after the other. Of course, I am in China, and Vincent is in the United States. He is the child of Sean and Jean. In 1970, as the first year, we began to write backwards, so a major event happened in the fifth year—Sean died because of being implicated in the prison disaster. We checked his grave, and the illogical prison uniform was given to My new suspicion is that Sean is not dead yet. And in the sixth year, Vincent's biological mother died." "Yes, but we checked and she didn't die of poisoning." "Yes, there are no traces of poisoning, but this still does not mean that she died normally. The hospital is unable to find out what kind of disease Jean is suffering from. It is very unusual to continue to cough up blood and lose weight without a diagnosis. What's more , her death followed Sean's 'death'. We have therefore checked how many prisoners were released from the prison after the riot, and this number is up to Jean's death." "About eighty people." "Indeed, there are more than 80 people. None of these people has a name we are familiar with, but one has signs that we are familiar with." "Disabled fingers?!" "Yes, a disabled finger, just like Professor Leonard Bryan. Therefore, I opened the prison's records on Sean again, and there is no disability record there." "Wait, you mean, the identity has been changed?" "Yes, there is a certain authority that intervened in the investigation of the prison riot. That is the Ministry of War. Of course, it is also possible that the supervisors were instructed to do so. They want to release Leonard, and the riot is the most appropriate time. They searched for the prisoner who was about to be released on parole among the dead in the riot, and switched identities with Sean. Therefore, the poor man was treated as Sean. In order to avoid careful people from finding out, after his death, his body was immediately transported back to Shawn. Grace's hometown, which is here - Plymouth, was hastily buried." "Bold speculation." Speed ​​took a breath. "This explains the fact that the body of the so-called 'Sean' didn't even change his prison uniform, but the real Sean was released from prison with a brand new identity, and he was arranged as a brand new person. The Man Who Doesn't Exist - Leonard Bryan, Professor of History." "Why are you sure it's Leonard?" "Not sure, I'm still not sure about this matter. However, a very interesting discovery has aroused my suspicion. Sean Alfred's identity, all his identities in prison, have been switched. So, The body fits the file. But, they forgot one thing about aftermath." Seth pulled out a photocopy. "Look at this." "These two fingerprints... I don't understand." "Think about it, old chap, Sean, what's the evidence for a trial?" "He shot two security guards and a nurse ... the gun ..." "By the way, the fingerprints on the left belong to the gun that killed the man, that is, the fingerprints of the real Sean. And the fingerprints on the right are the fingerprints of 'Sean' in the prison file. They do not match. In other words, Sean still Alive, in the crowd. Maybe the manipulator behind the scenes forgot this detail, maybe he wasn't worried that someone would find out." "Dude," Speed ​​frowned, "you did this without telling me." "I'm sorry, I was too hasty. After the real Sean was released from prison, what he wanted to do was revenge. So, less than half a year after he was released from prison, he first killed the woman who betrayed him—Jin, with a A method that we have not yet tested. Then, according to the household registration, he planned to deal with the child of Jean and Levard—that is, Vincent. But this is also a bit strange, Sean found Vincent from the household registration It won't cost tens of dollars, and it shouldn't take twenty-five years. There is only one reason for delaying it for so long..." "Set blame..." Speed ​​was taken aback by the word that suddenly popped out of his mouth. "Yes, blame it. Just like Xiao En himself was betrayed and blamed back then, he wants to see the grown-up enemy's son, just like himself back then, sentenced to life imprisonment for being blamed! " "Sean suffered inhuman torture in prison," Seth paused. "Anyone can imagine the tragedy of a scholar who was wrongly imprisoned. Life is hopeless for him. Killing three Personal charges ensured that he would not be released on bail for twenty years. I bet his fingers were also broken mercilessly in prison for contradicting the guards. He had to die and rot inside. Prison is In the environment of personal cannibalism, if you are eaten early, it can be said to be lucky, if you fall into the hands of a group of rapists, it is really terrible. Therefore, the betrayal of the fiancée-though it should be, But in his soul distorted by prison life, it is an unforgivable sin. Similarly, the enemy's child is also unforgivable." "Then why didn't he deal with Levard?" "That's too direct and lacks fun." Seth's eyes produced a chilling horror, "It's too direct, he has to ask Vincent to go to prison, so that Levard, whose wife and children are separated, can live with him." Experience the feeling of his own betrayal back then." Speed ​​fell silent, and Seth continued on his own: "But at that time, I only vaguely suspected Leonard's identity, and I wasn't completely sure. Until that day, you and I returned to Plymouth, and we When he saw him cutting the steak, it dawned on him. Looking back at the evidence that framed Vincent—the bone knife with fingerprints on the handle, human bone is not easy to cut, at least much harder than the tough steak for dinner. Seth made a horrible joke, "I noticed everyone's knife gestures. Most people, when cutting steak, put their thumbs on the front side of the knife handle and hold the handle with their palms. This is a Incomplete leverage, with the thumb as the fulcrum, as the difficulty of cutting increases, the thumb will gradually stretch forward, which is equivalent to extending the fulcrum forward, thus increasing the moment length and making cutting relatively easier. Most people do this, but Leonard is an exception. Because his fingers are disabled, the grip is very small, so he can't form a lever, so I watched him carefully-the thumb is pinched in the middle of the handle, The index finger and middle finger rest firmly on the other side of the handle to create pressure so that the knife will not fall out of the hand, and then use the pressure of the arm to cut the steak. It is more appropriate to say that he does not cut in one stroke. , but in a small cut! "This observation is very interesting. The murderer cut the victim's leg because, of course, he knew how he did it. Then, when framing Vincent, he would use the same method and position. The bone cutter is very sharp , the normal way is to cut the knife into the flesh, touch the bone, and chop once or twice - it is a knife after all, not an axe. So there should be two thumbprints on the handle, but only one This is where Leonard did it, and so, to tie it all together, Leonard carefully selected the victim, the first victim, who was related to Vincent—perhaps he fabricated that the woman was actually related to Leonard. The relationship with Vincent is not clear, but he managed to escape the relationship and suspicion. The second victim was killed directly after having a relationship with Vincent-the police got Vincent without any effort. A reasonable suspect. And then, Reynolds surfaced. Transformed into a witness, as a participant, as an accuser, attended Vincent's trial and participated in the conviction, which is different from being a bystander. are different." Speed ​​still didn't speak, he thought of something mysterious. "Despite my suspicions, they were useless. I couldn't make a statement like this in court and drag the jury back thirty years. Even if we could find evidence of poisoning on Jean's body, it would be impossible Couldn't prove Leonard, Sean was involved. The prosecutor won't let me finish, so..." "Therefore," Speed ​​finally couldn't help interrupting him, "you put a strong dose of medicine on the dining table!" "Yes," Seth seemed unaware of the sarcasm in the other party's tone, "The reason for everything is that since Leonard wants to blame Vincent, he never knows that Vincent is actually his own." My own son. So, I told him this fact in a circumstantial manner. The shocked Leonard would definitely verify it. The question is how would he verify it? Mrs. Fimar and I, just a few hours after that, called myself Shaw Ern Alfred's people called her. Everything was under control, but it wasn't enough..." "Isn't that enough?!" Speed ​​roared angrily, "You have to wait until Hancock is killed before everything starts to develop on the track you are satisfied with? I finally understand why you are seeing Hancock die Before the scene, it was suspected that he was killed." "Hey, Speed, I didn't mean that, Hancock was killed by a woman." "Don't call me by my name! Come on, put away your tricks! I will do your tricks too. And I know exactly what you mean now! Your suspicions about Reynolds are unprovable, so, You just tell him that you put the blame on the wrong person, Vincent is your own son, then Leonard, oh no, Sean, what should he do? He put the blame on the wrong person, this It's disgusting! He's going to have to figure something out, but Hancock isn't going to let his only witness let go. So Hancock is the biggest nail in the coffin. He's got to take him down! Everybody knows Hancock The lust in Cork's bones can be easily handled by a woman. Of course, he has to spend some time getting her to serve him well, pour him some wine, let Hancock fall into a deep sleep, and then he will finish the matter Hmm, I remembered, no wonder you asked me that question, 'What would you do if a beautiful girl came over to say hello and invite you to spend the night?' Well, yes, everything went according to your plan !" Speed ​​jumped up from the sofa, "The plan to kill two birds with one stone is perfect. Hancock died, and Yang Ke climbed up, so you got a chance to retry Vincent's case. Hancock Dead, you can't wait to let me find out that he was murdered. Not bad, now that you have evidence, you can investigate Leonard in a grand manner. By the way, there are women, don't you also Got it? Clarice Hancock, a good candidate. I can do your tricks too, why, am I surprised?! Let me just go on and on, Leonard has the ability to have a fight with the first victim Legs, then he knows Clarice well, and he's an attractive old guy, and he used Clarice to get rid of her husband--and she's willing to do it, so she can wait a few days, worthy of the name It's his. Now everything is going according to your expectations, Vincent is innocent, yes, he was innocent! Leonard and Clarice were caught by you pigtails, now, go get it Kill them, and complete your trial!" He angrily opened the trap door of the laboratory, "Now, you have everything you need, do it yourself, the evidence is thrown there, I want back home." "Hey, Speed, listen to me. I didn't know that Leonard would kill Hancock, I just wanted to tell you that there was indeed a change in his account, and he withdrew $20,000..." "Listen," Speed ​​turned around and pointed at Seth, "Listen, your suspicion of Leonard and Vincent's defense, now I can understand, even, I also believe that Leonard may be Potential killer. That's all right! But, Seth, I've always considered you a friend, and your past integrity and kindness have always infected me. I don't care if your inferences are bold or unfounded, I always I support you silently. However, until today, I didn't find out that you used me, at least in this case. You never told me your conjectures in advance, and you didn't tell Yang Ke. We played around. Even if Leonard was the real culprit, you used him to kill Hancock and remove the stumbling block. At the same time, you also made Leonard lose to you because of this mistake. I can understand You are in the mood to overturn the case for Vincent, but you shouldn’t be so unscrupulous. I also understand that Hancock has many disadvantages, is domineering, and does shady things in private, but he is not guilty of death. Besides, it shouldn’t be You come to sentence him to death." "Spider, I didn't..." Seth's face changed, and he wanted to make a final defense for himself. "Yes, you didn't. You just used some hints and cleverly asked Leonard to do the work for you. Did you learn this way of killing people with a knife at the Ministry of War? Or do you think this is your only way?" You know, the man who discovered the secret of Vincent's fingerprints, Yanke. Not you, he didn't play any tricks, and he did the same to clear the innocent man. Seth Waller, you know the story, the drunk man was killed Sent to the hospital, according to my opinion, he should be treated forcibly. But, Seth Waller, my former friend, you are different, you refuse to admit your evil tricks, but there is nothing I can do about it. Just do it yourself... After Speed ​​finished speaking, he slammed the door and left Seth Waller stunned... For the new detective chief Yanke Ralph, the real culprit of Vincent's case seems to be far away, and there is no clue for the time being; Trouble at hand.On the one hand, he was confused because of the suddenness of this incident; on the other hand, he also had to find ways to comfort Seth who stayed behind, which was not his forte. So in the early morning of the next day, Yang Ke, who had a general understanding of what was going on but was even more confused, ran to knock on the door of the laboratory. Seth Waller responded lightly, and Yanke walked in, and found Seth leaning on the sofa, scribbling on a piece of cardboard. "Now we have two cases," Yanke said, taking this as consolation, trying to divert his attention from unpleasant things, "the real murderer of Vincent's case and the mystery of Hancock's death .” "Yes." Seth nodded, still focusing on the work in his hand. "What are you doing?" Yang Ke asked curiously, impatiently. "Drawing." Seth finally raised his head and forced a smile. Yang Ke leaned over, and there was roughly the outline of a human face on the paper, which was very scribbled, other than that, there were not many details to be seen. "Can you sketch?" "Not to mention, I have learned a little bit." "So, what are you drawing?" "Impressionism," Seth explained, "is a portrait that exists in memory." ... Speed ​​stood up from the large and soft chair, looking very disappointed, and walked forward slowly. He began to regret a little, and part of Seth Waller's refutation was about his own impulse. Since the two met, they have been close.In addition to the fact that the two share similar interests and are leaders in their respective fields, race relations are also self-evident.Seth is of yellow race, and Speed ​​is of Cuban descent. They are both minorities in this country—even though white people are not indigenous residents of this continent, they still occupy it substantially.As a minority, as a disadvantaged race here, they are more or less closely connected by fate.Speed ​​has spent more than 30 years in Miami, and it is these 30 years that have endowed him with a stubborn and tenacious character.As a technologist and as a person of color, he has a heavy burden on his shoulders, which has always allowed him to successfully protect his investigators from some unreasonable and biased. accused. Scientific investigators and police officers are two different things—they both eat in the same "trough", but they have their own minds—behind the apparent cooperation in each case, there is a seemingly incongruous disdain for each other. Speed ​​was a smart guy, so he made friends with some policemen, who thought he and his investigators could be trusted; and he spared the policeman's general skepticism about scientific investigation. He enjoys dealing with the police—they're relatively simple, though there are a few tricks in the police station from time to time.He loathes the top, like the FBI -- the CIA. Did Speed's dissatisfaction with Seth begin when he learned that he was working for the War Department?In this regard, Speed ​​himself did not know clearly.Maybe Seth wasn't using himself in his bones?Maybe he was just in a hurry to investigate and ignored other people's feelings?Speed ​​couldn't figure it out either.He simply stopped thinking about it.He walked out of the airport slowly, intending to go home and take a hot bath, forgetting about Vincent's case. Unfortunately, things backfired. Before he got home, he received two calls. The first call was from his investigator—the man responsible for proving the cause of Gene's death. "I found something very interesting," said the other person on the phone. "Jean's remains escaped all toxicology inspections, but when I gave them to another friend, the latter was shocked." Called: 'This thing is radioactive!' Boss, guess what it is, C-12 (carbon 12), isotope! Our poisoner is very cunning, he mixes radioactive liquid in the food of the dead, such as Said, use a needle to pierce a small hole in the orange juice drink bottle, and then inject it, no one will suspect... This statement scared me half to death, I hurried to do a radiation test, fortunately, the intake was minimal .But poor Gene, the amount of radiation contained in the skeleton proves that she will die within a week or two from internal decay. In a word, she is a walking corpse." Isotope poisoning...Speed's ups and downs, this was also what Seth said... The second call was from Rick, Speed's police officer friend. "I heard you came back from Plymouth," said Rick, who was a few years older than Speed, and his police industry habits were obvious. According to his subordinates, Vincent ruled out the suspicion, so, have you found the little girl who stole the book?" "The little girl who stole the book? How do you say that?!" Speed ​​had never heard of this matter, and after Yang Ke learned the news from Vincent, he didn't have time to tell him. "Why, you don't know?" Rick laughed loudly, "Don't pretend to be confused, since you hurried back to Miami, you must be investigating this conjoined twin case!" "What conjoined case?" Speed ​​was completely dazed. Rick was silent on the phone for a while: "You really don't know? Well, let's meet at nine o'clock, and I will bring you some information." Vincent's manuscript was stolen?Siamese case?Speed ​​is rekindled, and his feud with Seth is temporarily put aside.He rushes to the appointment happily, but how many secrets are hidden behind this case?