Chapter 17 Chapter Sixteen

Inspector Spence looked thoughtfully at Beatrix Lippincott, who sat on the seat opposite him in the office with pursed lips. "Thank you, Miss Lippincott," he said, "that's all you remember? When it's done, I'll ask you to read it again, and if you don't mind signing..." "Oh my God, I hope I don't testify in court." Inspector Spence smiled reassuringly at her. "And we hope it doesn't get to that point," he said insincerely. "It could be suicide, too," Beatrice said expectantly. Spence thought there would be no poker marks on the back of a suicidal man's head.But he kept the words to himself, and said with the same ease: "It's no use jumping to conclusions too early. Thank you, Miss Lippincott, it's very kind of you to report to the police so soon."

After she left, he quickly recalled her words in his mind.He knew Beatrice Lippincott well enough to know what she had to say.He thought: the conversation she claims she heard must be authentic and quite correct.It's a bit embellishing, but it's human nature to be excited, and it's because someone was murdered in room five.But once you remove that bit of glamor, the rest is pretty worthwhile. Inspector Spence looked at the table in front of him. On the table was a watch with a broken case, a small gold lighter with his initials engraved on it, a lipstick in a gold case, and a pair of heavy steel pokers with the heads still Dark brown marks.

Inspector Graves poked his head in and said Rowley Cloade was waiting outside.Spence nodded, and the inspector led Rowley into the office. Inspector Spence knew Rowley Cloade as well as Beatrix Leehucourt.He knew that since Rowley Cloade was at the station he must have something very definite, solid, practical to say, and certainly worth hearing.Rowley, however, was a slow man, and it took time to listen to him, and he must not be urged.Otherwise, it will make him nervous, and it will take twice as long to speak clearly. "Morning, Mr. Cloade. Nice to see you. Do you have any valuable advice on the subject? I mean the murder of a man at the Stag."

Unexpectedly, Rowley asked a question first, which somewhat surprised Spence. Luo Li suddenly asked, "Have you found out who the deceased is?" "No," said Inspector Spence slowly, "it can't be counted. He's registered as Enago Arden, but there's nothing on him to prove that he's Enoch Arden. " Rowley frowned. "Isn't that...a bit weird?" It was a little strange indeed, but Inspector Spence did not intend to discuss the point with Rowley Cloade, but said cheerfully: "Well, Mr. Cloade, I should be the one to ask. You went to see the dead last night, Right? May I ask why?"

"You know Beatrice Lippincott, Inspector. She's the proprietress of the Stag Inn." "Oh, of course I do," said the Inspector flatly. "I've heard her story. She told me." Rowley seemed more at ease. "Well, I'm afraid she doesn't want to deal with the police. Businessmen are a little funny in that way sometimes." The Inspector nodded, and Rowley went on: "Well, Beatrice, tell me what she heard, I think... dunno if you feel the same way... suspicious. I mean... well, it's about us." The inspector nodded again. He was very interested in the news of Gordon Cloade's death, and he also believed that Gordon's family had been treated unfairly.He admitted as much as anyone else that Mrs. Gordon Cloade was "not a lady," and that her brother was one of those scrappy commandos, useful in war, but hardly worthy of respect in peacetime.

"I don't think I need to explain much—if Mrs. Gordon's ex-husband had been alive, our family situation would be very different-I believe you will understand. After hearing the news of Beatrice, I heard the news for the first time. Thinking that this might actually be the case. I hadn't even dreamed about it before, so it was a real shock at first, and it took a while to realize what it was. You know, it's kind of unbelievable." Bans nodded again, and he could picture Rowley chewing over the news over and over again. "Sir, I think it would be best to go to my uncle—the lawyer."

"Mr Jeremy Cloade?" "Yes, so I went. It was about eight o'clock at that time, and they were still having dinner. I sat in old Jeremy's study and waited for him, thinking about this matter over and over in my heart." "Ok?" "In the end I decided to do a little more work on my own before going to him. Inspector, I found that lawyers are all the same: very slow, very careful, and have to be 100% sure to act. But my information can be said to be surreptitious." Come on - Jeremy probably won't make a move, so I decided to go back to the Steiger and find the man myself."

"In the end you really went?" "Well, I'm going straight back to Stag..." "What time was it?" Rowley thought for a moment. "Let's see, when I got to Jeremy's it must have been around eight twenty, or maybe five minutes... well, I can't really put the exact time, but maybe eight thirty... or eight At forty, Spence." "And then? Mr. Cloade." "Beatrice mentioned his room number, and I knew where it was, so I went up and knocked on the door, and he said, 'Come in.' I went in." Rowley paused, and then said:

"I don't think I've handled this very well. When I first walked in, I thought I was the one who had the upper hand, but that guy is pretty smart? I couldn't get anything out of him. I thought it was just a hint. He's blackmailing people, he must be scared, but he just seems to think it's fun. And he asked me - what a cheek - if I'm trying to buy his information? 'Your dirty tricks don't work on me ,' I said, 'I have nothing to hide.' He said with a dirty expression that he didn't mean that, the question is: He has very valuable information, do I want to buy it or not?' What does this mean? I asked him. He said, 'How much would you—or all of you—will pay to prove that Robert Underhay, who is said to be dead in Africa, is in fact alive?' I asked. He, why should we pay? He laughed and said, 'Because I have another guest tonight who will definitely pay me a lot of money to prove that Robert Underhay is really dead.' Then... and then I said Get angry and tell him that we Cloades will never do such dirty things. I said that if Underhay is really alive, it should be easy to prove. After I finished speaking, I was going to go, but he used He said in a very strange tone: "I think, without my cooperation? I'm afraid you can't do it." That kind of tone is really strange!"

"and after?" "Oh, to be honest, I went home quite uneasy, feeling like I screwed things up. I wish I wasn't so reckless and just handed things over to Jeremy. I mean, a lawyer should be pretty good at it. Dealing with dodgy clients." "When did you leave Staig?" "I don't know. Well, wait a minute, I think it's almost nine o'clock, because I was walking in the village when I heard the chime for the nine o'clock news—from a window on the road." "Did Arden say who his 'guest' was?" "No, I thought it must be David Hunter, or who else would it be?"

"He didn't seem worried about what you said?" "As I said, the guy looked smug and condescending." Spence pointed to the poker. "Did you notice this on the mantel, Mr. Cloade?" "This? No—I don't think so. There's no fire in the fireplace," he frowned, trying to recall the scene. "I'm sure there was a fire in the fireplace, but I can't tell what it was?" he said. that is……" Spence nodded. "The murderer smashed his head with this." Rowley frowned. "It's strange that Hunter isn't big—but Arden is big and powerful." The Inspector commented, "The medical examiner said he was struck from behind, and the poker wound was from above." Luo Li pondered and said: "Of course, he is very confident - but even so, you shouldn't turn your back on him in the room and plan to blackmail someone who has been on the battlefield." "If he was careful enough, he might still be alive now." The inspector said coldly. "I wish he was still alive," said Rowley enthusiastically. "I made a mess of it. If I wasn't so self-assertive, I might have some useful information from him. I should pretend to buy his information, But this is ridiculous. Who are we, and how can we compete with Rosalind and David? They have plenty of cash, but none of us can afford five hundred pounds." The inspector picked up the gold lighter. "Have you seen this before?" Rowley frowned slowly, and said, "I seem to have seen it somewhere, yes, but I can't remember where. Not long ago, oh... I don't remember." Spence dropped the lighter from Rowley's outstretched hand, put it back on the table, picked up another lipstick, and uncapped it. "what about this?" Rowley grinned and said: "Really, I'm no good at these things, Inspector." Spence daubed some lipstick on the back of his hand thoughtfully, and tilted his head to look. "Light black, I suppose," he said. "It's funny what you police know." Rowley said, standing up. "You really... don't know who the dead man is?" "You know, Mr. Cloade." "I'm just guessing," Luo Li said slowly, "I mean... this person is the only clue we have to track down An Dehai. Now that he's dead, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack if we try to find An Dehai again." .” "Don't forget that the matter will be reported sooner or later, Mr. Cloade," said Spence. "If it is true that Underhay is not dead, and if he sees it in the papers, he may appear himself." "Well," said Rowley doubtfully, "perhaps." "You disagree?" "I just think..." said Rowley Cloade, "David Hunter won the first round." "It's hard to say," Spence said. After Rowley left, Spence picked up the lighter, looked at the initials "D.H." on it, and said to Inspector Graves: "The handwork is expensive. It is not an ordinary mass-produced thing. It must be easy to identify, you Take it to those shops on Bond Street and ask!" "Yes, sir." Then the Inspector looked at the watch—the case was broken, and it said ten past nine. He looked at the inspector. "Have you got the watch inspection report, Graves?" "Get it, the mainspring is broken." "What about the pointer mechanism?" "no problem." "What do you think this watch represents?" Graves said sharply, "It looks like it indicates the time of the crime." "Well," said Spence, "if you've been in the police as long as I've been, you'd be suspicious of little things, even a broken watch like this. Yes, on the surface may be real - but it may also be an old trick that many people know: a murderer can make a good alibi by setting the dial to the time that suits him and smashing it. But you know That's not how you catch birds. I have a very open view on this case, and according to the forensic doctor's judgment, the time of death was between 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. Inspector Graves cleared his throat. "Edward, the second gardener at Fullaban, says he saw David Hunter go out the side door about half past seven. The maid didn't know he had been back, and thought he was in London with Mrs. Gordon Cloade. But You can still tell he was around." "Yes," said Spence, "I should like to hear Hunt's own account." "The case seems obvious," Graves said, looking at the initials on the lighter. "Well," said the Inspector, "but there is this." He points to lipstick. "It's rolled in the corner of the drawer, Inspector, and has probably been there for some time." "I've checked," said Spence, "that the last time there was a woman in that room was three weeks ago. I know hotels have poor service these days--but I believe that during the three weeks the service The doctor at least wiped the furniture down with a rag. Generally speaking, the Steiger is neat and tidy." "It seems that there is no relationship between any woman and Enako and Arden." "I know," said the Inspector, "that's why I think the origin of this lipstick is suspicious." Inspector Graves held back the words in his stomach - "a beauty is a disaster".He had a nice French accent, but he knew better not to annoy Inspector Spence with it. Inspector Graves is a very quick-witted young man.