Chapter 4 April Emperor's Dice

The Roman emperor Caligula was the grandson of Tiberius. He had many strange behaviors during his reign, so he was considered mentally ill by historians.After Caligula had Tiberius' adopted son Lucius murdered, he ordered all those who displeased him to enter the arena, while he used the profits left by Tiberius at the emperor's gambling table. Shi Guoku plays dice with others.These are all historical facts, but do these facts ensure that the historian's conclusions are correct? Lucius, by Tiberius' will, was Caligula's co-heir; an emperor who murdered his co-heir before he could murder him could be thought of as restless temper or excessive prudence, but he certainly Not irrational.It is politics, not psychosis, to make one's enemies into gladiators, to satisfy both private interests and public taste.As for filling the dice, while it is morally inexcusable, there is no denying the fact that in practice it does reduce the opponent's chances of winning.To make a long story short, Caligula was far from being a madman, he was a very unusual person.

Now we move over nineteen centuries. It was still early spring, the vernal equinox had just passed, it was the last day of March, a night of unlucky premonitions, with storms, lightning and thunder.Mark Haggard was engrossed in driving a battered pickup truck down Connecticut roads, cursing loudly about the bad weather as he drove.Quinn and his son and Nikki Potter could only hug each other and shrink in the leaky carriage. Ellery never imagined spending a weekend with someone he didn't know.He was thinking of drinking or playing canasta.But Officer Quinn seemed emotional about the trip.

"I haven't seen Mark, Tracy, and Malvina for ten years. I haven't had contact with them since the death of their father Jim." The police officer said before coming out. "Before that, we didn't have much contact. I just remember them being small. If they looked like Jim or Cora..." "They're so little alike," Ellery had said impatiently. "Mark Haggard didn't get me in anyway, did he?" "Jim Haggard was in police school with me, son. I was his best man when he married Cora Maloney—yes, 1911, exactly forty years past. Well," said the sergeant, "I can still remember that guy very well now, big tall guy in his uniform standing in front of the priest... Cora let Jim take that uniform off when he buried him, Ellery .”

"Has he put on some weight? I just don't understand why you—" "Ellery is too arrogant to hang out with normal people, officer," Nicky interjected softly, "and he's too smart, you know. And he knows I can't go unless he goes himself of--" "Okay, I'll go!" Ellery yelled.So they came here together, which Ellery hoped would be completely satisfactory to both of them. It didn't go well at the beginning. First, the train was late. After getting off at the station, they found that there was no taxi service at the whistle stop. They waited in the mud for an hour before the owner came to find them. Even the police officer It also started to look a little regretful.Haggard was conspicuous, hadn't shaved in about a week, drove like a lunatic, spoke gruffly, and laughed heartily.

"Don't mention how happy I am to hear from you, Mark," said the old gentleman, dancing with joy, his mouth closed with joy, "I feel so disgraced that I haven't taken care of your mother for so long. Goodbye How nice it would be to go to Cora." "She's gone," cried Mark Haggard, as the car drove over a patch of ice from the previous snowfall. "What did you say, Mark?" "My mother died!" "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," said the officer, puzzled. "I mean, when did she—?" "Two years ago." "But she shouldn't be so soon," the officer murmured. "Corra won't."

Mark Haggard smiled. "You don't know her. You don't know us." "Yes, people change," the officer sighed.Then he tried to gossip again, "I remember when your father got out of the army, Mark, your mother objected. But he got a lot of money, up to his neck I guess." "Do you think there was anything wrong with him before, Officer? He's crazy. We're all crazy now, too!" Ellery thought it was an absolutely clever confession. "Is it still far, Mark?" asked the old gentleman very eagerly. "Yeah, I'm all wet," Nicky said cheerfully.

"He spends money like water," said Mark Haggard angrily. "He doesn't know who he is. He thinks he's a great collector!" "Is he writing a book?" Ellery asked, cheered up. "My father? He can barely read. He's collecting games! Old roulette wheels, medieval playing cards, ancient dice—the gun room is full of this kind of junk." Mark then said to Nicky, "Once This is the way to go, you—” "Sounds like a—really harmless—hobby," Nikki said, shivering.Mark passed another car that was driving this tearful night.Lightning flashed across Haggard's face.Nikki closed her eyes.

"Harmless?" Mark laughed. "There's nothing harmless in our house. Including that heirloom chip Dad got from Uncle Jonas." "I suppose," Nicky said, eyes still closed, "that your house is probably haunted a lot. Isn't that right, Mr. Haggard?" "You're right!" said Mark Haggard cheerfully. Nicky screamed, but only because another drop of ice water hit her neck. "Do I know that ghost?" the officer asked playfully. "The ghost of an unsolved murder mystery." "Murder!" "No bust?" Ellery said.

"There is a family of five living in this house," their driver said with a smile, "father, mother and their three grown children. The two sons are very keen on hunting and they have a special bullet room. One night , they found their father's body in the bullet room. He had been shot. It did not appear to be a suicide, and judging from the circumstances of the scene, it was not a murderer who came in from outside. The servant was away that night, and there was only the mother and three adult children in the house. It should be It's an internal rebellion, don't you think?"

Ellery was agitated. "Tick him!" Nicky whispered. "Mark, you went all out to talk about this just now," Police Officer Quinn said with some concern, "Mark, I'm already soaked. Are you lost?" Haggard laughed again, cursing and driving the van past the other sedan.Ellery, too, was trembling: "The main thing is, no one suspects that Dad was murdered. Not even the police." "Come on, Mark, it's all bullshit, you know?" said the inspector, with some glee. "Go on," Ellery said, "how the murder was covered up?" "It's the easiest thing. Of the two sons, one is a doctor and the other is an undertaker. The doctor's son issued a fake death certificate, and the undertaker's son made a pre-burial inspection of the body. Deal with it. That's it." Haggard's laughter mingled with the sound of rain and thunder, "so that the murder is not exposed, and never will be, unless someone can solve the three clues in the case."

"Oh, there's a clue!" said Ellery. "You're going too far, Mark," snapped the sergeant. "You're sure you're not pulling us around in circles?" He peeked through a window, but they were probably going through hell. "What lead, Mark?" "Ellery!" Nikki moaned. "The bullet that killed my father came from a thirty-eight-millimeter revolver. There were two of them in the magazine. So the two pistols are the clues—" "A ballistic check could be done," the officer muttered. "Oh no, after the murder, both of those guns got wiped," laughed Mark Haggard, "and the bullet just went through the body and broke the bricks on the fireplace." "What about the third clue?" "There is one more thing that the sons found out from their father's hands." "Oh? What is it?" "A set of dice. A very famous set of bone dice, be damned." Haggard said and laughed again. After a while, Ellery asked again, "When do you say this all happened, Mark?" "I haven't said yet. It was ten years ago." "Ten—!" The police officer seemed to want to say something. "Would you like to see those two pistols and that set of dice?" "do you have?" "Oh, yes," said Mark, "in a wooden box at home." "It's getting too far now!" growled the officer. "Mark, either stop this stupid game or turn around and send us back to the train station!" Mark Haggard laughed again.Lightning flashed, and they saw his dull eyes and hands tightly gripping the steering wheel. Ellery heard Nicky's teeth chattering. "Mr—sir Haggard," she said tremblingly, "what do you and your brother do—do for a living?" "Tracey's the doctor," Haggard exclaimed, "I'm the undertaker." The van stopped suddenly, the door opened, and the rain poured down like a waterfall.Mark Haggard jumped into the darkness, and they heard him outside cheering, "Come out, come out. We're here!" He gave orders like a devil smugly. This was the beginning of this historic night.Nothing was recognizable except for the crunching underfoot as they walked across the hallway.There was a sudden noise that startled Nikki, and she instinctively grabbed Ellery's arm.He could feel the revulsion in her.Mark Haggard was slamming his right fist on an invisible door. "Bastard, Malvina, open the door! What are you locking the door for?" The door opened, and a woman in white casual clothes stood at the door, holding a black candlestick with a candle burning in her left hand.Seeing this scene, Nicky couldn't help laughing, saying that she looked like a left-handed Statue of Liberty.The woman's face behind the candle was whiter than her gown, only her eyes were still alive, showing a gaze. "I'm so glad you're back, Mark," she said in a perfect tone, without showing any signs of anger. "When the lights go out, the light always follows me. I get burned everywhere I go, too. It's hot, Mark, it's burning me. Why did it turn off the lights?" "What did you say was too hot?" the police officer asked in a low voice. Haggard tried a switch on the wall: "No power—!" "It's hot, Mark," said his sister. "Malvina, these are our guests. Give me that candle! I'll get some flashlights." Mark Haggard walked away with the candle holder in his right hand, and the room became dark. A woman in a white robe was with them. "Malvina, do you remember me, child?" The police officer may have tried to coax her with sweet words that he was not comfortable with before, "Your father's friend? Richard Quinn?" "No." That was all she said, in a very curt, monotonous tone.After hearing her words, no one said a word.Still shivering in the dark, they waited dully for Mark Haggard to return.The room was freezing cold, and there was a damp smell like LSD. Mark returned again emotionally, very angry: "No light, no fire, no meal prepared. Tracy was out to see a doctor, and the servant went somewhere—Malvina! Bessie and Connor Where have they all gone?" "They're gone. They're trying to kill me. I chase them with a kitchen knife and they run away. Tracy's gone too. He's the doctor, or my brother, and the heat burns me, and he doesn't care ..." They heard a frightening sob and knew that it was Malvina who was crying. Mark shoves one flashlight into Ellery's hand and slams the other on the floor, the furniture, and his crying sister: "Don't cry or I'm going to smack you— She cramped up again, curled up on the floor, crying and wriggling like a ghost, "If Tracy didn't—no! Let me fix her. You go back to the house— —Your rooms are upstairs. Look in the kitchen, there may be some bread and tinned sardines—” "I can't eat anything," Officer Quinn complained, "my clothes are all wet...how can I sleep..." But Haggard ran, leaving the room with his sister in his arms, her clothes trailing on the floor.The officer said curtly, "We'd better dry our clothes, rest for a while, and get out of here." "Now what?" Nicky said, "I like to get wet sometimes, I don't feel tired at all. I'm sure we can call a cab—" "There's a murder that's been here for ten years that hasn't been solved, how can we leave when someone needs help?" Ellery looked up into the black hole in the stairs, sticking out his chin, "I want Spend the weekend here." Lie sprawled on a cold double bed, Officer Quinn heard Nikki sobbing in the distant bedroom—she had promised to yell hysterically as soon as the communication door was closed, just to be on the safe side.Suddenly, the door was opened and light streamed in from another room.Nikki yelled, and the officer jumped up towards the ceiling.Ellery also came running with a shoe on. But there was only Mark Haggard, with a bared grin, a flashlight in one hand and a battered wooden box the size of a cigar humidor in the other. "Murder clue," he said, laughing, "Old Mark Elefant!" He flung the box down on the tall chest of drawers nearest the door. Haggard kept looking at Ellery, smiling with his mouth open.The police officer hurriedly got out of bed, and ran over wearing only a pajamas.Ellery slowly opened the box. Inside the case were two rusty revolvers, Colt six-round magazines, 38mm, with a little square box that looked like gold. "Dice," said Mark Haggard, smiling, "turn it on." "Hold that light up," Ellery said.His father craned his neck over his shoulder to watch. Two crystal red dice trimmed with gold shone on a purple velvet cushion. "They look like jewelry," the officer exclaimed. "Original jewels," Mark said, "square-cut rubies embedded with dots of solid gold. These dice are almost as old as the Christian era. They are said to have been personally owned by the Roman emperor Caligula. We gave them to Dad as his gambling collection." "There's still an inscription in the box?" Ellery said with a sideways glance. "Mark, hold that torch up higher. It says: Gift for Papa's Fortieth Wedding Anniversary Gemstone Wedding Anniversary. Mark, Malvina And Tracy. How could these dice, Mark, be a clue?" But Haggard had entered the terribly cold hall. The police officer heard the noise first.He walked across the space between their beds and touched Ellery on the shoulder.It was a little past three.Ellery woke up immediately. "Ellery, listen." It was still raining outside, like thousands of drums beating jungle music.A gust of wind knocked violently against one of the shutters of the house.In the next room, the box spring on which Nikki slept creaked. Then Ellery heard a noise on the floor just as a flash of lightning caught sight of a man by the tall chest of drawers, who was reaching with his right hand for the box that Mark Haggard had put on it hours before. .Ellery jumped up from the bed and lunged at the man with a yell, bumping his shoulder into the man's knee.With a yelp the man fell and hit his head on the chest of drawers. Ellery was on top of him. "Tracey Haggard!" Officer Quinn recognized the man by illuminating him with his flashlight. Nicky yelled from the other room, "What's going on? What's going on?" Dr. Haggard was short and well-proportioned, with graying hair, and a face which, at first glance, seemed intelligent, but when he looked at his eyes, they were dull and glazed. "Ah, it's been so many years, it's so interesting to meet you in this way, Tracy," the officer complained. "How do you play the part of sneaking in your own house?" "Mark's box clue, Dad," Ellery whispered, "apparently Tracy Haggard came home and heard that his brother had told us about the murder ten years ago and put the clue on Here it is. He's trying to find a way to destroy the evidence before we learn more about the case." "I don't know why I didn't destroy the gun and the dice years ago," Dr. Tracy Haggard said quietly. "Oh, Ellery—you're Ellery, aren't you?— Can you move your ass out of my esophagus? You are not easy." "So you did it." Ellery didn't move. "But I went to Jim's funeral and never suspected it," said Sergeant Quinn bitterly. "Tracy, which of the two of you shot your father? For God's sake, why?" "I can't answer both of your questions, officer. This place is hell...the four of us have lived here all these years, and know that this thing was done by someone inside us...Mother is pissed off to death ’” Tracy Haggard said, pumping her abs a few times, trying to stand up, but couldn’t, “I’m glad she died and got out of this. I think you also noticed that Malvina and Mark. Mark has been going a little crazy since it happened, and Malvina, who had a bright future in the theatre, has gone mad too." "What the hell is going on here?" Nicky asked aloud. "Dr. Haggard, your brother was outspoken about your father's murder," Ellery said. "Does he want the truth to come out?" "When mother died," said Tracy Haggard dryly, "the three of us inherited a large trust fund. According to the will, the three of us divided equally, and if there were only two left, each of us got There will be more shares. Mark is a big gambler and always broke. Does that answer your question?" "Why aren't you talking?" Nicky yelled, "I don't understand!" "That's why he called us here, isn't it?" the officer exclaimed. "Blame Jim's death on you or Malvina. Mark must feel safe..." "We're going to help your brother as much as we can, doctor." Ellery let go of the host and went to get the box containing the clues. Dr. Haggard stood up and said nothing. "Dad, put on your clothes and throw me mine too... By the way, doctor, can you take us to the room where your father was shot?" They went downstairs together with flashlights on, Ellery clung to the box, Nicky insisting on following them, saying she would die if she was left alone in it.Tracy Haggard stopped before a heavy door at the back of the hall. "We haven't been here for a long time. Nothing here has been touched since the night of the crime." Dr. Haggard unlocked, opened the door, and stood aside. "I might add," he said Baba said, "Neither Mark nor I have ever hunted with any of the weapons here." Shotguns, rifles, and small arms hung on the wall on the side of the bullet room entrance.On the other wall hung James Haggard's basket of gambling equipment, and there were many large gambling equipment piled up in the room, covered with a dust cloth. "Where was your father's body found?" Ellery asked quietly. "He's sitting behind the desk." It was a table of rather well-crafted inlaid wood, with gun-stock-shaped legs covered with gunmetal.A matching trimmed leather chair sits behind the desk. "Is he facing the door, Dr. Haggard?" "Is exactly." "That's the only door, you see," Sergeant Quinn snapped. "The criminal was probably standing there when he fired. Was it just one shot, Tracy?" "Just one shot." Ellery opened Mark's case and took out the two rusted revolvers: "I see the number on the rack. Doc, which rack were these two guns in the past?" "This one used to be on the shelf to the right of the door." "To the right of the door, doctor? Are you sure?" "Yes, this shelf is number one. The other is on the shelf to the left of the door. Right here, shelf number six." "Gun A, on the right side of the door, on shelf number one. Gun B, on the left side of the door, on shelf number six." Ellery said, frowning. "Mark said that the criminal used one of these two pistols to commit crimes... Doctor, do you think these ruby ​​dice have anything to do with the murder?" "Caligula's dice? We found them in Papa's hand." "In his hands?" cried Jiki. "I don't really believe your brother, but he said—" "His body that I examined showed that Papa had a few minutes left before he died. You see, the closet behind the chair is open and empty. That's where the emperor's dice were kept, as Papa used to call them ...and when the murderer was gone, he managed to open the closet and get out the ruby ​​dice. And then he died." "But why would he do that?" Nicky asked. "Papa is trained as a police officer. He was leaving a clue to identify the murderer. This dice was a gift from the three of us. But we don't know who the dice refers to." "Looks like a weird anniversary gift for my parents," Nicky said very dryly. "The dice are for Dad. We gave Mom a ruby ​​pendant." "Well, I don't understand," said the Inspector irritably. "Clues, ruby ​​dice, Emperor! Ellery, what can you make out of this jumble of clues?" "I hope he doesn't," said Dr. Haggard, "I'll kill Mark for it—" "The way you killed your father, Dr. Haggard?" Nicky asked. Tracy Haggard smiled: "It can be seen that Mark's little publicity has worked." He shrugged and disappeared into the darkness. The police officer and Nicky were still staring at the darkness, but Ellery suddenly said, "You and Nicky go back to your room and sleep." "What are you going to do?" asked the father. "Stay here," Ellery said, rolling the historic set of dice in his hand, "until I roll the best number." From outside the bullet house came the intermittent screaming of Malvina Haggard and the angry altercations of her two brothers.Ellery rattled the dice, as if he were playing a game of dice with the ghost of the emperor from two thousand years ago.The sound didn't stop until dawn.Ellery went upstairs and woke everyone up.Let everyone - including the deranged woman - come to the bullet room and watch the crime scene here.Malvina also became quiet when she saw him like this, and floated down the stairs with the others docilely. They come to this dusty bullet house and stand around the table, Mark looking savage, Malvina fast asleep, Tracy alert, officers Nicky and Quinn trying to control their inner emotions excited. "The case," Ellery announced, "has been solved." Mark laughed. "You scoundrel, Mark!" swore his brother. Malvina hummed a mournful tune with a smile on her face. "I've been rolling these dice for hours," continued Ellery, "with the most astonishing results." He shook the dice vigorously a few times in his cupped right hand, and throw them on the table. "Nine," said Tracy Haggard, "what's so amazing about the dice?" "Not just nine, Dr. Haggard. A three and a six." "That's right, it's nine!" "Calm down, Tracy," Mark laughed.Ellery tossed again. "Eleven. That's amazing!" "Not just elevens, Dr. Haggard--a five and a six." Ellery rolled a third time. "It's seven—a one and a six. Can't be wrong every time." "What can't go wrong?" Nicky asked. "That six, boy. I've rolled it hundreds of times while you were sleeping upstairs, and when one of the dice kept changing, the other was always a six." "It's evil! It's filled with lead!" Officer Quinn said. "Who do you think these dice belonged to in the past?" "According to Mark, it belonged to Gaius Caesar, better known as Caligula, Roman emperor from A.D. 37 to A.D. 41. This may be true, since Caligula is the historical One of the world's most famous dice tricksters." "What does all this mean to you, Ellery?" asked Mark Haggard softly. "Your father left these dice as a clue that one of you two shot him. There are two dice here, and there are two 38mm revolvers. Theoretically: your father used the dice The two pistols were referring to. But we now find that one of the dice is 'charged' and the other is not. Conclusion: Jim Haggard, what your father meant was that the murderer loaded one of the pistols. bullet." "Brilliant," said Mark Haggard. "Absurd," said Tracy Haggard, "of course one of the guns was loaded! But which one?" Malvina continued to hum a ditty with a smile, gesticulating with her thin white fingers to pass the time. "A leaded dice," Ellery explained, "that always rolls a six may indicate that one of the pistols came from a number six rack. This would infer that it was the one the murderer 'loaded'... …in other words, the one he used to kill Jim Haggard." "It will do you a lot of good," sneered Tracy Haggard, "but how can you tell which of the two of us killed Dad just by knowing which gun killed him?" "Which way is rack number six by the door?" Ellery asked. "That's the one to the left of the door," said the officer slowly, "on the left..." "The murderer opened the door, and to his left and right stood a 38mm revolver. We now know that he chose the left one. Who, when he could choose either side at will, Automatically picks something on the left? Left-handed, of course. That puts the blame for murder on..." Ellery paused. "It's a wonder," said the inspector triumphantly, "how did he figure it out, my boy! Oh, Nikki?" "Not bad once!" Nicky said adoringly. "Then who did he blame for the crime, son?" the old gentleman asked, rubbing his palms. "It should be blamed on Malvina," said Ellery, "who prominently held a candle in her left hand when she greeted us—as Miss Nicky Porter remarked. And Mark and Trey Much of the behavior of the West this evening suggests that they are not left-handed. Unfortunately, gentlemen and ladies, my inferences will disappoint you. Not to mention that there are many improbable things in these plots, and one of them is very Big mistake." "Plot? Mistake?" Officer Quinn said angrily. Brothers Mark and Tracy looked at each other.Malvina also showed surprise on her face. "I've been told," whispered Ellery, "that the set of ruby ​​dice was given to Jim Haggard on Mr. and Mrs. Haggard's jewel wedding anniversary—" "Indeed, Ellery," said the Inspector, "you saw the inscriptions in that box yourself!" "You also told me, Papa, that you were best man at your old friend Jim Haggard's wedding forty years ago. You even mentioned that it was in 1911." "Yes, but I don't see—" said his father doubtfully. "Didn't you? When was Jim Haggard murdered?" "Ten years ago, Ellery," Nikki said, "that's what they said." "Married 40 years ago, died 10 years ago - so Jim Haggard was married less than 30 years ago when he died. But how many years is the jewel wedding anniversary? Take it easy - the jewel wedding anniversary is Forty years. So I have to ask." Ellery said politely, "If Mr. Haggard had only been married for thirty years when he died, how did Mr. and Mrs. What about the gift of the year? That's impossible. I must first do the math to point out the error about Mr. Haggard's 'death'. Dear children, your parents are supposed to be celebrating their wedding anniversaries this year. So I Happy to announce - as if you didn't know - that your parents are not dead, they are alive. Friends, the whole incident turned out to be a hoax! You lied Mark. You lied too, Tracy. Mulvey Na, your performance of Ophelia fully proves Mark's judgment is correct, and you should have a bright future on stage." "And you, my good father." - Officer Quinn looked surprised. "Didn't you tell me emotionally that you went to Jim Haggard's funeral ten years ago? So you were with them too... and you too, Nicky, with your screaming and complaining, etc. In a dramatic way, I also specifically pointed out an important fact to me, that Malvina is left-handed." Jim Haggard's Bullet House is very quiet. "All of this," Ellery said passionately, "this bad night out, the insanity of these people, and the artistic lighting, and the gun-house dust and all, was designed by my own father. He conspired with some of his good friends, they were the Haggards! The purpose of doing this was obviously to make me make a wrong inference from these clues that Malvina killed her father. Then, Jim Haggard and his dear Cora would come out of their hiding closet or something and tell me I was probably the most gullible fool. And my own father! Not to mention my A faithful secretary." Ellery opened his mouth and smiled. "Yesterday was the last day of March. So today is," Ellery touched the tip of his nose, "April Fool's Day!"