Chapter 22 Interlude Nine: Ellery Quinn Revisits the Past

Ellery Queen put down Watson's manuscript and thought deeply.He barely heard the lock turn, the door open, or close. He picked up his head and found his father standing at the door of the study. "dad!" "Hi, son!" said the inspector with a defiant smile. "I can't stay there any longer. I'm back." "Welcome home." "Aren't you angry?" "You've been there longer than I expected." The detective entered the room, threw his hat on the sofa, and turned his head to look at his son with ease.In an instant, his expression changed to concern, and he asked, "You look annoyed, what's wrong, Ellery?"

Ellery Quinn did not answer. "How do I look?" asked the father slyly. "A hundred times stronger than when I sent you away." "Are you sure you're okay?" "I'm very good." "Don't put me off. Are you still worrying about that story?" "Oh, it's not bad, everything is not bad." But the old man was not satisfied.He sat on the sofa, crossed his legs, and said, "Tell me everything." Ellery Queen shrugged. "I'm not supposed to be a cop's son. Well, something happened. A chain reaction from past to present. An old knot loosened."

"speak English." "Grant Eames stopped by to see me." "You told me." "I got stuck in the manuscript, link to link. That's it." "I do not understand." Ellery Quinn sighed. "I think I must tell you everything." He talked for a long time. "That's the whole way it goes, Pa. The old woman believed he was perfectly innocent, and she kept that belief all her life. I guess she didn't know what to do with it until she was growing old and had a sudden inspiration to take I got dragged into this thing. A brainstorm!"

"What are you going to do?" "I was going to call on her, and you are back." "I think so too." Inspector Quinn stood up and took the manuscript from Ellery. "In my opinion, son, you have no choice at all. After all, she was the one who found you." Ellery Quinn was ready to go. "Why don't you read the manuscript while I'm away?" "That's exactly what I mean." Ellery Quinn drove north to Shusterchester and took Highway 22 to Somers.There is a wooden elephant at the main intersection passing by, telling people that the Barnum and Bailey Circus used to come here in winter.In Putnam County, he thought of those revolutionary heroes and hoped that they were all in a certain hero's paradise.

But these are thoughts that float to the surface of the mind.Deep down, he was thinking of the old man he was about to meet at the end of his journey.That thought did not please him. Finally, he pulled up at a house as delicate as a doll's house.After getting out of the car, Ellery reluctantly walked to the front door.As soon as he knocked, the door opened instantly, as if she had been waiting for his arrival.In fact, he probably wished she wasn't home. "Deborah Osborne Spahn," he looked down at her, "hello." Of course she was very old, by his calculations she must be approaching ninety.She hadn't read the manuscript when Holmes and Watson visited Shires Castle, and she may have been ninety years old, by calculation.

Like many very old women, especially petite and plump older ladies, she was like a slightly shriveled apple, with a flush still in her cheeks.Compared to her petite figure, her breasts were too plump and sagging, as if they could no longer bear the weight.Only her eyes, young, bright, straightforward, radiate light. "Come in, Mr. Quinn." "Just call me Ellery, Mrs Spann." "There are a few habits I haven't picked up yet," she said, leading him into a small cozy living room decorated in a mid-Victorian style.Ellery felt like he had stepped into nineteenth-century England. "I mean, the way Americans call each other by their first names. Well—take that easy chair, Ellery—if you will."

"Of course." He sat down and looked around. "I think you've kept your faith." She sat on a duke chair, and the whole person seemed to disappear in it. "What can an old English woman do?" she asked with a thin smile. "I know—I'm like a nasty Anglophile. But it's hard to shake off one's first memory. In fact, here I live Very comfortable. Occasional trips to New Rochelle to see Rachel's roses fill my life." "Rachel is the one who delivered the manuscript." "Oh yes, that's what I asked for." "What's the matter with you, Miss Hagrid?"

"She's my granddaughter. Would you like some tea?" "I don't need it now, Mrs Spann, if you don't mind," said Ellery. "My head is full of questions, but first—" He sat down on the edge of the chair so as not to touch the cover. "You've seen him. You've seen them both. Holmes and Watson. I envy you so much!" Deborah Osborne Spahn's eyes looked into the distance, as if stepping back in time. "It was a long time ago. But I still remember them vividly. The sharp sword-like glance of Holmes is etched in my mind. When I took his hand, I am sure he was disturbed, but he showed They were such gentlemen. Anyway, Ellery, it was important to be a gentleman in those days. Of course, I was a little girl then, and I remember them as towering giants. That's what I saw them."

"May I ask how you got the manuscript?" "When Dr. Watson was finished, the manuscript was handed over to the estate by Mr. Holmes. The lawyer of the estate took care of the manuscript very responsibly, and thanked him for protecting my interests so faithfully. When I grew up, shortly before his death, He told me of the existence of the manuscript. I begged him to send it to me. His name was Dobbs, Alfred Dobbs, and I miss him often." "Then why did you wait so long, Mrs Spann? What were you doing before then?" "Call me Grandma Deborah, everyone calls me that. Would you like to call me that?"

"Of course, Grandma Deborah." "I don't know why I waited so long," said the old woman. "The idea of ​​having an expert test my beliefs has never crossed my mind. I'm sure the idea has been around for a long time. Lately, I feel like I have to move faster. How long am I going to live? I hope to die peacefully." It was an implicit request for Ellery's help. "The way you decided to send me the manuscript was inspired by the book itself, am I right?" "Yes. Later, Mr. Ames confided in Rachel about the mission you gave him." "The search for Ames is over, although not as I expected," Ellery said with a smile.

"Bless him! Bless them both. I know he can't help you, Ellery; and I know you'll find me, as Mr. Holmes found the owner of the surgeon's box without any trouble. But I still Curious how you did it." "It's the basics, Mrs. Spann. It was clear from the start that the person who sent the package had a personal interest in the matter. So I called a friend of mine who was a genealogist, and he had no trouble Tracing your origins, you were found among the descendants of the master of Shirs Castle. As a child you were supervised by the San Francisco branch of the family. I have heard the names of four young women provided by Eames, and I am quite sure that A name will pop up. From your wedding to Barry Spann in 1906, my expert friend has tracked down your daughter's wedding. Lo and behold, your daughter is married to a young man named Hagrid .Done." Ellery's smile turned to worry, "You're too tired. We can talk about it next time." "Oh no! I'm fine!" Her eyes filled with pleading, "My father was a wonderful man, kind, gentle. He's not a monster! He's not!" "Are you sure you don't want to lie down?" "No, no, until you tell me..." "Lie in the chair, Granny, take it easy, and I'll tell you." Ellery Quinn took Deborah's withered hands and spoke to the ticking clock of her grandfather's time in the corner.The pendulum is like a mechanical finger, erasing the passing time. From time to time a small frail hand would take Ellery's hand, and slowly, it would stop, and float like an autumn leaf in the hand of Ellery's leg. After a while, there was a movement in the aisle of the small reception room, and a middle-aged woman in white home clothes walked in. "She's asleep," Ellery whispered. He carefully placed her wrinkled hand on his chest and tiptoed out of the room. The woman accompanied him to the door. "I'm Susan Bates and I'll take care of her. She's falling asleep more and more easily." Ellery Quinn nodded, left the cabin, and got into the car.On the way back to Manhattan, he felt very tired, even old.