Chapter 6 Chapter 6 The Knife and the Shoes

At night, someone assassinated. Kelly lay on her four-poster bed.It was a bit hot, so she only covered her lower body with a silk quilt.She read Emily Dickinson, fascinated by the lovely and touching appeals of the drunken poet. Kelly's room was in the wing, just one floor above the ring terrace. The wall outside the window is covered with thick and thick vines and roses.The window was open, the curtains were quietly drawn down, insects chirped and chirped in the garden below, one after another, and a quiet and lazy sleepiness enveloped the place.From the direction of the Hudson River, from time to time, the sound of the river flowing, the paddle of the oars, the chug of the motor outside the boat, and the distant and indistinct laughter from the upstream cruise ship can be heard.

The night was getting dark.Almost two hours ago, Kelly heard Margot and Beau driving back. The two were talking and laughing intimately, reminiscing about some things they encountered in the city just now.She heard Margo invite Beau to stay and spend the night at the manor, and Beau happily accepted.They also came to the little bar on the terrace under Kelly's window, and Kelly heard them clink glasses, and then there was silence. Kelly would rather hear some noise than this silence.She got out of bed and closed the window.Then she went to open the window again—it was rather stuffy, she felt—and glanced down inadvertently, and saw that the terrace was deserted.

A moment later, she heard De Carlos return, heard his footsteps hobbled on the cobblestone drive, and yelled at the driver with a heavy drunkenness.She got out of bed again and locked the door leading to the corridor. Afterwards, the surroundings gradually sank into complete silence, and Kelly was so engrossed in the poet's chanting that she almost completely forgot all kinds of unhappiness.Later, her eyelids became heavy, and the lines of poetry in front of her eyes began to shake and become blurred.She yawned and glanced at the clock beside the bed: it was past three o'clock.She threw the book aside and turned off the bedside lamp.

But almost at the same time as the lights went out, something seemed to change, something instantaneous. Touched by this change, she couldn't help trembling all over, and immediately woke up from her half-sleep. It seems that the light that was turned on just now is a thick and bright door. When the light is turned off, it is like the door is opened suddenly, and it shows that the darkness outside the house that is thicker than the light door is already lying in wait. wearing something. Kelly lay there motionless, listening carefully.But there was no strange noise, only the screeching of the indefatigable crickets, and some kind of creaking back and forth—like the sound of shutters slowly swinging back and forth. —It's the shutters!That's right.

But there was no wind, not even a breeze. Calling herself an idiot angrily, Kelly turned to the right, curled her legs up, and pulled the quilt up, covering her nose and eyes. ——It was still the creaking sound. She sat up suddenly from the bed.In the darkness, she focused all her eyes on the window.The night is thin as if filtered through a sieve, like a thick fog. She could just dimly see the curtains. The curtains are swinging! ...No, it didn't move.look there!It's moving again! This is so funny, she thought wildly, that there must have been a sudden breeze on the river, and the breeze moved the curtains.a breeze...

Yeah, it's actually very simple to know what's going on.Just get out of bed, walk across the floor to the window, and poke your head out.that's it.very simple.After reading it, I understood, knowing that it was just a breeze, and I was just thinking wildly like a child frightened by the darkness, and then I could go back to bed and sleep. However, she just retracted her whole body into the silk quilt, curled up into a tight ball, almost unable to breathe. She heard her heart pounding, as if it were no longer in her chest, but popping out, beating near her ear.Oh, what a fool, like a child!She felt her legs and arms shaking.

What should I do?Jump out of bed, run to the door, rush out of the boudoir, to Vi's room... Her heart suddenly stopped beating and seemed to be completely still. Something—something—is in this room. Kelly felt it.She knows.This is no hallucination.She felt it plainly. She felt, followed the footsteps with feeling—the very light footsteps that were inaudible to her ears... from the window, across the hardwood floor, to the crocheted rug, and on to the rug again... Walking towards her bed, and towards her huddled under the quilt... - A roll. She rolled out of bed with a jerk; almost at the same moment, something poked into the bed where she had just been lying; there was a hissing sound like a snake.

— screaming. Kelly screamed, screamed, screamed. Wei, in rumpled pajamas and red eyes when he woke up, greeted Kelly in the boudoir. "Kelly! What the hell happened—" "V! V!" Kelly threw herself into her friend's high chest, grabbing her desperately. "There's something - someone - in my bedroom - that wants to..." "Kelly, you're having a nightmare." "I'm awake, really! Somebody's--up the vine--I think--to--knife me--" "Kelly!" "When I yelled just now, he—he jumped out of the window again—I saw the curtain shake—"

"who's that?" "I don't know. I don't know. Oh, V—" "You stay here," Vi said sternly.She grabbed a poker rod from the mantelpiece of the boudoir fireplace, went into Kelly's bedroom, and clicked on the light. The house was empty. Kelly followed to the door and looked in, her teeth still chattering. The curtain still seemed to be shaking slightly. Vi went to look at the bed, and Kelly followed.There was a foot-long knife cut on the silk quilt, and Wei lifted the quilt and saw that the sheets were cut all the way to the mattress.She went over and closed the windows.

"Run away. Kelly, you don't remember or—" "No-no. I barely see-see anything. It's too dark-dark." "Kelly. Honey. You're—" There was a rapid and soft knock on the door. The two women looked at each other. Wei walked towards the door leading to the corridor and asked, "Who is it?" "Quinn. Just now—who was calling?" "Don't let him in," Kelly whispered, "you—I'm not fully dressed..." She felt herself calm down suddenly. Wei opened the door, opened the door a small crack, and looked coldly at Bo standing outside the door. He was wearing loose pajamas and his hair was like a mess of grass.

"What's the matter?" he whispered. "Where's Kelly? It was Kelly calling, wasn't it?" "Someone crawled in on the terrace just now and tried to kill her with a knife. When she screamed, he ran away." "Knife!" Beau said.He was silent for a moment, then suddenly shouted, "Kelly!" "What are you doing?" "Are you okay?" "Very well, nothing at all." Bo muttered in relief, "Who is that man?" "I don't know. I don't see it." "With a knife, huh," muttered Beau, "look, don't tell anybody about it. I'll—I'll be very careful. Lock and shut your doors and windows at night from now on." Already!" "Okay," Kelly said. Vi then closed and locked the door.She shuffled her bare feet toward the door of the boudoir, and Kelly followed closely behind her, locking the door behind her.They then went into her bedroom and locked the door, too. "I think we're safe now, honey." "V," Kelly said softly, "are you—afraid?" "It's not really... very scary." "You don't mind if I stay with you till dawn?" "Oh Kelly!" Kelly fell asleep on Wei's bed, and she hugged Wei's strong and warm body tightly all the time.Weeze lay there, not falling asleep for a long time, staring into the deep darkness. Bo didn't go to sleep at all.He returned to his room, put on his clothes, and began to conduct a quiet investigation.He found where the intruder had climbed into Kelly's room--from the terrace directly up through the window.He crawled along the vines like a cat, and with a flashlight, he examined them bit by bit.However, apart from a few crushed branches and leaves and a broken trellis, no other traces were found. He found the night watchman.The night watchman said he saw nothing and heard nothing. He went back upstairs and slipped into Edmond de Carlos' bedroom.In the gloomy, semi-dark light, one could see the man's beard upturned, his mouth half-opened, and his slightly white teeth could be seen when he was snoring.There was a smell of alcohol around his bed.He lay there stretched out, not even taking off his coat. Beau listened carefully to his snoring while watching his motionless body.The snore was even, but it seemed too even.The body of the man lying on his back seemed a little tense, not relaxed like a sleeping man. —De Carlos is pretending to be asleep. Beau almost grabbed him by the neck and dragged him out of bed.However, he turned around and left gently.Since then, until dawn, he has been patrolling the corridor outside Kelly's apartment. The next day, De Carlos went out and did not return for three consecutive days.It was said that he had been playing wildly in some secret poker den somewhere in the city. Beau was away the morning of his return.His bearded face was livid, and he kept swearing because of the heavy losses.As soon as Kelly saw him, she was eager to leave the house immediately. She wore a female riding outfit and came to the stable with Wei.The groom saddled the "tycoon" and "the king". Tycoon is a white Arabian mare Kelly loves, and King is a tall sorrel-gray stallion ridden by Vie. The two of them rode side by side, and trotted into the shady and cool woods.The nightmare three days ago seems to have gone away, as if it just happened in a dark dream.The sunlight is as crystal clear as water, and it shines through the gaps in the branches and leaves, and the road is covered with spots of light. Kelly took a deep breath: "I haven't felt this way for a long time, and now I really feel very energetic. These trees have a scent, Wei, do you smell it? I never noticed it before. " "That's right. In fact, horses also have a scent," Wei said, wrinkling his nose and sucking. "Run, drive! You useless old horse!" "It's funny how far you're thinking! I've got to run." "Carrie! Watch out!" But Kelly had already run away. Her little white horse, with its beautiful neck held high and its beautiful hooves flying arrogantly, passed along this forest path full of light spots, and turned a corner. It's gone. Wei kicked the "big king" in the ribs, but the horse tilted its majestic head, as if gently asking its master's intentions, and trotted as usual. "Hurry up! Run hard!" The "big king" stopped completely, and its pair of big ears were still twitching. There were screams and crashes ahead. "Kelly!" Vee yelled.She kicked the stallion hard in the sides, and he sprang to his feet and charged forward. She ran quickly around the corner with a rumbling sound, and saw two figures, a man and a horse, about a hundred meters away—one was moving, the other was still.The white mare was lying on the track, writhing and kicking with three legs, but the right front leg was pressed underneath like a broken branch. Kelly lay on a pile of things by the side of the road. Wei got off his horse and jumped to Kelly's side, while the "big king" kept snorting and rubbing his nose on the "tycoon". "Kelly! Open your eyes! Oh, Kelly, please—" Kelly groaned and sat up, her eyes open in a dazed look. "Are you all right, Kelly? You don't feel - as if - something - broke..." "I'm fine," Kelly said, her voice weak. "I don't think I'm fine." "What's going on, Kelly? Tell me!" "The Tycoon threw me off. It wasn't his fault. He tripped all of a sudden when he was running fast. I flew right over his head. It's a miracle, Vi. I That is to say, usually I should have broken my neck in a situation like this. Fortunately, I happened to fall on this huge pile of leaves, so I cushioned it a bit. How is it? ... Wei!" She saw the filly still writhing in pain on the track. "Wei! Its leg is broken!" Kelly ran towards the filly, knelt down, stroked the horse's stiff neck, leaned down to look at the broken foreleg, saw the shoe hanging on the motionless forefoot, Swaying back and forth. "V," Kelly said, with fear in her voice, "look—look here." "What's the matter?" "Look at the horseshoe on this broken leg. It's--it can't be. I was in that blacksmith's shop this morning watching Jeff Crombie make it. He put a new one on it. , all four yuan have been changed, it’s only been a few hours!" "I don't understand what you're talking about," Wei said slowly. Kelly began to eagerly crawl up and down the bridle path, picking apart fallen leaves and dead branches, looking for something. "Missing four nails!" "You mean someone—" "Here it is!" Kelly sat cross-legged on the track, intently examining the two hoof nails, both bent and scratched. Kelly said grimly: "Someone used pliers to loosen these nails on the 'Big Tycoon''s shoe, and pulled out a section." Kelly sat there, staring blankly at the two nails. . "You mean someone loosened the horse's shoe," said Vi, with a startled look on her face, "so that when Tycoon gallops, the shoe dangles and Tycoon stumbles?" "If it weren't for that amazing pile of leaves, Vi, I'd be lying there with a broken neck right now. Besides, people would think it was a—accident." Kelly stroked the satin-smooth neck of the filly, where she lay more and more still, staring at Kelly with her large eyes. Kelly said sharply, "Ve, you ride to the stables and tell them to come here. I'll stay here with him." "But, Kelly, you can't! If anyone—I can't leave you here alone." "Go ahead, V. And don't talk about nails." There was such a formidable and non-negotiable meaning in Kelly's tone that Wei had to obey, she stepped on the "big king" and ran away awkwardly. After dinner that day, Kelly excused that she felt unwell after the accident, so she got up to leave and gave her girlfriend a wink before leaving. After a while, Vi came to her, and Kelly locked all the doors in her room. "Okay, Kelly? What do you think?" Kelly's face was pale: "I'm the only one riding 'Big Tycoon', and the nails on its horseshoes were loosened on purpose. Someone is going to kill me today. It must be the same person who will kill me that night." "Kelly, why don't you—call the police?" "Because it's just our suspicion, and there's no way to prove it. We have to prove that . . . someone did it—the man who did it." "Or Ellery Queen. He's the detective. He—" "No! He is... just can't. I don't want to beg for his help, Vi." Kelly sat on her bed and smoothed the sheets. "Vi, there is only one person in this world who can get more from my death." Good." Her voice trembled a little. "That's Margo! She's extravagant and extravagant. She's got her weekly checks as collateral and she's spent all her money for the next few months. That's what Mr. Goossins told me yesterday when I asked about it." Mine. She wants my share too, and if I die she'll be happy with it. And—she hates me because of... He, Vee, is Margot, yes. That night It was Margot who crawled into my room, and it was Margot who loosened the horseshoe nails this morning!" "Let's get out of here," said her friend softly. "Give it up, Kelly. You're not happy here anyway, even with the money. Let's go, Kelly." —Go back to Hollywood." She pursed her lips stubbornly: "I won't be driven away." "It's not about the money!" Vee yelled. "It's about this big, handsome Bob Taylor-looking man who loves whores! No way!" Kelly turned away. "You love him! And it's because you love him that you're going to live here and never leave - in the same building as that blond wry ass woman who's going to kill you twice and won't stop until you kill you in the house." "She's not going to drive me away," Kelly whispered.