Chapter 15 Chapter 15 Nora Speaks

At first, all the townspeople of Wright could talk about was the fact itself, the interesting fact: a dead body had turned up at Wright's house.The Wrights!The airs, swagger, "we're better than you" first family!Poison!Come to think of it, who would have thought that?And so fast.Remember their wedding? That woman, who is she?Jim Hyatt's older sister.Rosalie--Rose--Mary?No, her name is Rosemary.Well, whatever her name is, she's dead anyway.I saw her once, when she was dressing up, it made people think that there was something about her...something not so good.God, I was just talking to my husband the other day...

is murder.Rosemary Hayter, that woman who knows where, got the poison in a Manhattan cocktail meant for Nora Hayter, Frank Lloyd's paper wrote... Lloyd He was also there at the time.Drinking, partying, falling dead, foaming at the corners of the mouth.Shhh, watch out kids! ... Frank Lloyd probably didn't write the whole story ... Of course not, after all, the Wright Town Chronicle is a family daily! 460 Hill Road. "Haunted House".Do you remember?The story that ran in the Wright Town Chronicle a few years ago?First Jim Hyatt ran away from his own wedding, leaving Nora Wright foolishly... while the house was all built.Well decorated, well bought furniture!And then this gentleman from nowhere or what his name... Anyway, he was going to John F.When I bought that house, I fell down dead.And now, a murder is happening in that house!Hey, just take John F.Give me all the money in the treasury, and I will not step into that unlucky house!

Beth have you heard?they said…… For a few days, the townspeople of Wright had no interest in talking about anything other than this matter. The siege began.Mr. Ellery "Smith" Quinn stumbled upon himself as a soldier in the defense.The residents of Wright Town, like a slow-moving colony of ants, went up and down the hilly area, stopped in front of the houses of the Wright family and the Height family, picked up some fallen leaf fragments with a good smell, and brought them back to the town triumphantly.Emmeline Shepree has never been more popular - right next door!Emmeline, do you know what's going on?So Emmeline told them everything.Emmeline's porch became an employment agency.As long as there is an eyelid in a window of the two houses, it will immediately cause a restlessness and a panting.

"What the hell happened to us?" Hermione complained. "No, I'm not answering the phone!" Lola said grimly: "This house is the 'House of Horrors', and soon there will be a Mrs. Tussold to collect tickets!" Lola hadn't left since the morning of New Year's Day, and she shared a bedroom with Patricia.At night, she quietly washed her underwear and socks in Patricia's bathroom.She accepts nothing from her family and eats all three meals with Jim in this "ominous" house.During the first few days of January, Lola was the only one in the family who ever walked out the door.On January 2nd she went out and said something to Emmeline Dupre, so that Emmeline, pale as a frightened old crab, scurried back to her porch.

"We're all wax figures," Guerra said. "Jack the Ripper multiplied seven times. Look at those goddamn ghouls!" Ebeta Manaka had fled in the typical Lithuanian panic, so Lola prepared Jim's meals.Jim didn't say anything, he went to work in the bank as usual.John F．He didn't say anything, and went to work in the bank as usual.In the bank, the father-in-law and son-in-law are not talking to each other.Hermione crouched in the bedroom, wiping her slender nose with a handkerchief.Nora lay in bed with a fever most of the time, crying to see Jim when she was seriously ill, and the pillow was always soaked with tears.Carter Bradford locked himself in the office of the town court, and many people came and went, but he discussed secret matters with Director Dakin at a fixed time every day.

In the past few days, Mr. Quinn has been quiet and speechless, avoiding everyone and not disturbing them.Frank Lloyd was right, the townspeople were talking about that Smith man—who the hell was he?In addition, there are other more dangerous comments.He recorded those words in his notebook and marked them: "Mysterious stranger—suspect." But all this time he had never been far from Nora's room.On the third day of the crime, he waited for Patricia to come out and motioned for her to come with him to his upstairs room. He slammed the latch behind his back. "Patricia, I've been thinking about—"

"Hope it's good for you," said Patricia lazily. "Dr. Willoughby was here this morning. I heard him and Dakin talking. Your town's coroner, Salemson, has hurried back to town after cutting short his holiday. There will be an inquest tomorrow." "An autopsy!" "It's a legal process, dear." "You mean we have to... get out of the house?" "That's right, and I have to testify, I'm afraid it's inevitable." "Nora can't!" "Yes, Dr. Willoughby refused to let her out of bed, I heard him say so to Dakin."

"Ellery... what are they doing?" "Record the facts and find out the truth." Patricia says: "The truth?" She looked terrified. "Patricia," Ellery said gravely, "you and I are at the intersection of this maze—" "What do you mean?" Actually, she understood what he meant. "It's no longer a case of a crime being possible, but a crime being committed. A woman dies—even though she died accidentally, it doesn't make a difference because a murder was planned and it was carried out. Now the law is interfering..." Ellery said sternly, "I must say, this is very efficient law enforcement... From now on, there will be snooping, sniffing, searching, until the truth is revealed."

"You mean it like this," Patricia said with certainty, "you want to say that when we go to the police station, we have to tell them what we know...but they don't?" "We have the power to send Jim Hyatt to the electric chair." Patricia jumped up, and Ellery squeezed her hand. "It's not so clear! You're not quite sure yourself! Not even me, and I'm her sister..." she said. "We're talking about the facts, and the conclusions drawn from the facts," Ellery grumbled. "Don't get sentimental out of the way. Dakin certainly wouldn't, and Bradford certainly wouldn't. Don't you see, you and I know four things the police don't know about? Four things that could convict Jim of plotting to kill Noah. Attempt to pull."

"Four?" Patricia stammered. "Are there that many?" Ellery pacifies Patricia to sit down, and she looks up at Ellery, her forehead creased with tension. "Fact #1: The three letters written by Jim and now in the bottom of Nora's hatbox in the house next door - those three letters show that he was already planning for Nora's death even before she got sick! So obviously this is premeditated." Patricia moistened her lips. "Fact Two: Jim's desperate need for money. Because Jim is pawning Nora's jewelry and asking her for money; plus, Dakin knows that if Nora dies, Jim will inherit a large fortune—both Adding up is a powerful motivator.”

"Yep……" "Fact #3: Jim's Toxicology book, and the lines drawn in it with Jim's usual red crayon...that part is about arsenic trioxide, the poison that was later put in Nora's cocktail that nearly killed Nora pull." "Fact number four," Ellery shook his head, "it's something that only I can personally testify to, because I watched Jim every minute on New Year's Eve. I can attest that Jim alone could—or did— It was he who put the poison into that deadly cocktail. So it can be shown that Jim not only had the best chance of poisoning the drink, but was the only one who had." "And those four things don't even include the threatening things he said to Nora the other afternoon when we brought drunk Jim back from Paradise Seeker, about getting rid of her. Those things, Dakin I saw it, and Carter heard it..." "And that doesn't include," Ellery added mildly, "the fact that Nora was poisoned with arsenic the first two times—Thanksgiving and Christmas, which coincided with the dates of Jim's first two letters. These points It all adds up to a complete conclusion, Patricia. Given all these facts, who wouldn't believe that Jim planned to kill Nora?" "But you don't believe it," Patricia said. "I didn't say that," Ellery said slowly. "I mean..." He shrugged. "The point is, we have to decide now, at the trial tomorrow, do we say it, or don't we say it?" Patricia bit her nails. "Assume Jim's innocent? How can I—how can you—think I'm judge and jury and sentence someone to death? And this person is someone you know? I can't, Ellery. ’ Patricia grimaced, a distressed young woman. "Besides," she went on eagerly, "he won't do it again, Ellery. Not now—after killing his sister by mistake, and the whole thing comes out, and the police come out, he won't do it again." Done. I mean, if he really..." Ellery rubbed his hands together as if they were itching, and paced back and forth in front of Patricia, frowning. "I'll tell you what we should do," he said finally. "Let's ask Nora." Patricia's eyes widened. "She's the victim and Jim is her husband. Yes, let Nora decide. What do you think?" Patricia sat there for a while, then stood up and walked to the door. "Mum is sleeping, Dad is at the bank, Rudy is downstairs in the kitchen, Lola is next door..." "So Nora is alone now." "Ellery," Ellery unlocked the door. "Thank you for keeping it a secret—" He opened the door. "At your own risk—to be drawn into—" He gently pushed her towards the stairs. Nora curled up under the blue quilt, staring at the ceiling with a worried face.She was, Ellery thought, completely terrified. "Nora." Patricia walked quickly to the bed, holding Nora's thin hand with her own healthy complexion. "Do you feel strong enough to speak?" Norah looked from her sister to Ellery, then cowered like a frightened bird. "What's wrong? What's the matter?" Her voice was strained with pain. "Was it Jim—did they treat him—" "It's all right, Nora," Ellery said. "It's just that Ellery thinks—I think—it's time for the three of us to get to know each other," Patricia said, before calling out, "Come on, Nora, stop shutting yourself up, listen to us !" Nora pulled herself together and sat up straight on the bed.Patricia hugged her, making her look like Hermione for a split second.She tugged at the hem of Nora's bedspread.Nora watched them both. "Don't be afraid," Ellery said. Patricia put a pillow behind Nora's back, sat down on the edge of the bed, and took Nora's hand again.Ellery then told Nora in a calm voice that he and Patricia knew about it from the beginning.Nora's eyes widened. "I tried to talk to you about it once," Patricia said. "But you won't listen! Why, Nora?" Nora said in a low voice: "Because it's not true. At first I might have thought...but it's not true, not Jim. You don't know Jim. He's afraid of people, that's why he acts like a little boy. But he's like a little boy inside, and if you Just be alone with him and you'll know. And he's weak, too weak to do what you think he did. Oh, please don't..." Nora covered her face and began to cry. "I love him," she sobbed, "I'll always love Jim! I'll never believe he's trying to kill me. Never, never!" "Nora, but the fact—" Ellery said feebly. "Oh, the truth!" She let go of her hands covering her face, and her tearful eyes glowed like flames. "What facts do I care? Only women know everything. There's something terribly wrong with it that you can't figure out. I don't know who tried to poison me three times, but I do know it wasn't Jim! " "And those three letters, Nora? They're all in Jim's handwriting. What do you say about your sickness...and your death?" "That's not what he wrote!" "But, Nora dear," said Patricia, "Jim's handwriting—" "That's a fake." Nora became angry now. "Haven't you heard of forgery? Those three letters are forgery!" "But the day he got drunk, I told you, he said something threatening to you, what do you say?" Ellery asked. "He is not responsible!" Nora was crying now, she was fighting.Ellery went over the whole thing with her from start to finish, and she fought back; not with counter-evidence, but with confidence--unswerving confidence.In the end, Ellery finds out that he is arguing with two women, and he has no allies. "But you have no reason to—" He waved his hands and exploded.But then he smiled and said, "What do you want me to do? Although I am stupid, I will do what you say." "Don't tell the police these things!" "Okay, I won't say." Nora leaned back on the bed and closed her eyes.Patricia kissed her, then gestured to Ellery, who shook his head. "I know you are tired, Nora," he said gently, "but since I am also an accomplice, I am entitled to your complete confidence." "It's perfect," said Nora wearily. "Why did Jim run away the first time? That is, three years ago, when you were getting married, Jim left Wright Town suddenly." Patricia looked at her sister anxiously. "That," said Nora, surprised, "was nothing. It couldn't have anything to do with the present—" "Still, I want to know." "You have to get to know Jim first. From the time we met in love, I never knew how independent Jim is. Before Jim confessed to me, I didn't think there was anything wrong with accepting Dad's help. We had a few arguments. For hours Jim kept insisting that the two of us should live on his cashier's salary." "I remember the fights," Patricia murmured, "but I never dreamed they'd—" "I didn't take it very seriously myself. Mum told me that Dad was building and furnishing a small house as a wedding present for us. I wanted to keep it as a surprise for Jim, so I stayed until the wedding. A genius told him. But when he found out, he was very angry." "I understand." "He said he'd rented a country cottage on the other side of Wright for fifty dollars a month--that's as much as we could afford, he said, and we'd have to learn to live on his money anyway. ’” Nora sighed. "I think I lost my temper, too. We... had a big fight, and Jim ran off. That's the way it is." She lifted her eyes. "That's really it, I'm not telling my parents or anyone else. After Jim left me for something like this—" "Didn't Jim write to you?" "Never. So I thought I'd die. The whole town was talking about it... Then Jim came back and we all admitted how stupid we were. You know what happened next." So it seemed, Ellery thought, that it was about the house from the start.How strange!In this case, no matter how he turned, he always turned to the house.Haunted house... Ellery began to feel that the reporter who invented the word really had the talent to predict the future. "Also, you and Jim had a quarrel after marriage. What happened?" Nora flinched. "For money. He's been asking for money . . . jewelry and other things . . . but it's a temporary need," she said hastily. "He's been gambling at Paradise Seeker on Route 16—I guess every man goes through that stage—" "Nora, can you tell me about Rosemary?" "There's nothing to say. I know she's dead, and it's horrible to say, but... I don't like her, not at all." "Amen," Patricia said grumpily. "Don't say I'm asking for trouble," murmured Ellery, "I mean—you know what about her has anything to do with . Does the whole mystery matter?" Nora said stiffly: "Jim won't talk about her, but I know how I feel—she's not a nice person, Ellery. I don't see how she could be Jim's sister." "Well, she's his sister anyway," said Chengleli briskly. "You're tired, Nora, thank you. You do have good reasons for telling me to mind my own business about what you've said." Nora squeezed his hand. Ellery said goodbye when Patricia went to the bathroom to wet a towel to dry her sister's head. Nothing, nothing.And tomorrow is the trial!