Chapter 16 Chapter Sixteen The Toothless Mouth

Cadmus Cole's pen!How could it be in the hands of De Carlos? Ellery raised an eyebrow at Bo, and they slipped to a corner of the office.And now De Carlos is at the table, struggling to keep his fingers under control. "Are you sure it's the same pen?" Bo whispered. "Indeed, though we'd better compare those micrographs." "Cole's pen!" Beau muttered under his breath. "It's the same pen he used when he first hired us to write us that check for fifteen thousand dollars. A simple explanation might be that, Well, De Carlos stole the pen after Cole died."

Ellery shrugged. "There's a way to find out. De Carlos is too drunk to let his guard down. If we ask him, he might tell the truth. Let me handle it." He walked back to the table, put his hands on it, and smiled at the man who was writing. "Okay!" said De Carlos, with a guttural sigh, "twenty-five thousand dollars, Mr. Rummel." He leaned back limply in his swivel chair, waving the check like a flag, so that to dry the ink, "Hey! How do I know you'll keep your word, gentlemen?" "You wouldn't know," Ellery replied with a smile.

"You lied to me," De Carlos raged, staggering to his feet, "I'm going to—I'm going to—" Ellery gracefully pulled the check from the man's weak fingers: "Isn't that very friendly? We are a firm of trust, Mr. DeCarlos. We will do what we say. Yes, twenty-five thousand Thousands of dollars, signed Edmund de Carlos—yes, Mr. De Carlos, thank you!" "It's nothing," De Carlos said, forgetting his doubts and trying to bow, which nearly knocked him face down.Beau grabbed him and straightened him up, not so softly. "Thanks, Mr. Quinn. The weather is really shaking today. Now I have to go."

He put the black pen in his pocket.Beau watched the pen disappear with the expression of a fox watching a rabbit disappear into a hole. Ellery grabbed De Carlos' other arm, and he and Beau began leading De Carlos toward the door. "By the way, Mr. De Carlos," said Ellery respectfully, "you happen to be the one who can help me." De Carlos stopped suddenly, shaking. "Really?" he said, blinking at Ellery. "Mr. De Carlos, I have a hobby—you know, a hobby? I collect little memorabilia of famous people. Not valuable things, you know—the more mundane and personal, the more I like them."

“I love collecting ladies, God bless them,” de Carlos chuckled, “blonde, brunette—anything, I say, as long as they’re beautiful.” "Everybody has his quirks," replied Ellery, laughing, "well, I've often thought that a collection like mine would be incomplete without a memento of Mr. Cadmus Cole. " "I think so, too," said De Carlos sympathetically. "Great man, Mr. Cole. Great man. Gentlemen, here you are, Mr. Cole!" "I was going to ask him for a little thing when he hired us a few months ago, but he was in a hurry, so I figured I'd wait for a more appropriate time. But then," Ellery sighed, " He passed away and I missed my chance. Do you think you could do me a favor, Mr. De Carlos? I mean, you might be his closest friend."

"Only friend," De Carlos said, "I promise you, his only friend in the world. Let me see, let's see, personal—" "What happened to his personal effects after his death, Mr. Deschulos?—his clothes, pocket watch, collar buttons, that sort of thing? Anything of that nature, you see—" "Oh, they were all put in a few boxes, and then I shipped them back from Cuba," De Carlos said, waving his hands. "They're at the house in Tarry City, Mr. Rumel. I Let's see if we can find anything—" "I don't want you to go to all that trouble. Did he give you anything when he died? Or maybe you took something from his belongings to remember him—his watch, his ring, his pen, something like that?"

"Nothing," said Mr. de Carlos sadly. "Honest servants—that's Edmond de Carlos, gentlemen. Not even a pin, I assure you!" "Oh, don't say that," protested Mr. Quinn. "You must have taken something, Mr. De Carlos. Something small, his pen, for instance. Didn't you take that?" "What did you say?" De Carlos said, offended. "Not his pen, nothing!" "Such rare honesty," Mr. Quinn said, with a twinkle in his eye, "deserves a big prize." He took off Mr. De Carlos's glasses abruptly, leaving the man blinking.

"Mr. Rumel..." De Carlos said with a giggle. Ellery waved his silver-rimmed glasses at Beau. "An award to this gentleman." "Huh?" Beau said. "Mr. Quinn," said Mr. Quinn, "this venue is entrusted to you. I suggest that you stretch out Mr. Edmond de Carlos here." Beau was tongue-tied. "That's a bit of a bully, isn't it? He's going to fall apart." De Carlos stood there, gaping from one man to the other. "That," said Mr. Quin, "is the purpose." Beau stared at him and started giggling. "Come and collect your award," he told De Carlos.

The bearded man backed away from Ellery. Beau's hand gripped De Carlos' neck from behind. Mr. Quinn stood back to watch, detached and seemingly interested in research. De Carlos screamed and gesticulated at Beau with both hands like an excited crab.Beau grinned and started shaking him up and down, side to side, like De Carlos was a cocktail shaker.De Carlos's head was bobbing back and forth, his eyes bulging out, and his gleaming teeth rattled with a distinctive mechanical sound.Hearing this voice, another light flashed in Mr. Quinn's eyes. Suddenly, something unexpected happened, Mr. De Carlos's teeth, that shiny, ivory row of teeth, that perfect string of pearly teeth, stretched entirely from Mr. De Carlos' open mouth. It fell out of the mouth, flew halfway across the room, and landed at Mr. Quinn's feet.

De Carlos began to slur his words, his cheeks magically sunken in, his gums bared sadly. Beau exclaimed, "So it is!" Then he grabbed the man's beard with his other hand and yanked it down viciously, all the while cheering, as if he had never suspected that beards were as fake as dentures.But De Carlos just howled—the beard refused to leave his cheek. Beau let it go, cursing, and ran his fingers through Mr. De Carlos' hair again.This time he did not fail.Mr. De Carlos's black hair fell out of his head reluctantly, unbelievably, in its entirety, leaving a dome that was almost bald—not completely bald, as he also had a thinning ring around it. His gray-black hair was in the shape of a horseshoe.

At this time, Mr. De Carlos stopped howling and struggled. He touched the top of his head, and when his fingers touched the bare scalp, he immediately went limp. "Stop," said Mr. Quinn. Mr. Rumel paused, dazzled by the unexpected results of his efforts.Mr. De Carlos immediately got down on his stomach and groped around on the carpet.He happened to find the wig and hastily put it back at an angle on his pink head with rings of gray hair.Then he started looking for his teeth. Mr. Quinn stooped to pick them up. "You can stand up now," he said gravely. "We found it," examining the dentures curiously as Mr. De Carlos hurried to his feet. .They were set neatly in pink holders - extremely straight teeth in an extremely neat arrangement... so perfect, so neat, Mr. Quinn told himself he should be ashamed that he hadn't suspected that they were false teeth before. .And he did feel ashamed. He returned the dentures and glasses to their owner, who, with astonishing majesty, swallowed the former in his mouth, put the latter on his nose, walked to the table, and reached for the phone. Mr. Quinn sighed. "I beg your pardon," he said, "but apparently the effects of my partner's whiskey and his shock therapy haven't worn off, Mr. De Carlos. It's late, and if I I have seen the dawn, if I am not mistaken, that you will not be able to cancel that check you have just written for a few hours." De Carlos put the phone back, tried to escape, thought again, then put his hat on his crooked wig, and walked calmly to the door. "Mr. Quin," said Mr. Quin, "send this gentleman out." "But—" Beau said gruffly. Mr. Quinn shook his head vigorously at his partner.Beau shrugged and let Mr. de Carlos slip out into the friendlier world outside. When Bo came back, he said sharply, "Why did you let him go?" "We have enough time, enough time," Ellery said.He was scrutinizing the twenty-five thousand dollar check written by De Carlos—his concentration on the check puzzled Beau. "That's easy for you to say," said Beau resentfully. "What about Kelly? Hey!"—Ellery looked up—"You weren't even listening to me. What's the point of that check I'd better tear it up. He'll go and cancel it as soon as the bank opens tomorrow morning." "This check," said Mr. Quinn, "is worth more to us than money can measure. It is so valuable, I don't think, that I dare put it in the office safe." .I plan to carry it with me, just like I always carry these pictures.” "Do you think someone will come here to break the door and steal?" Beau asked, clenching both fists. "Not impossible." "I'd like to see who dares! I say, why don't you take the pen from him too?" "There's no rush, and we don't want to startle the snake too early." "It's all messed up," Beau grumbled, throwing himself on the leather couch. "How on earth did De Carlos get this pen, if Cole didn't give it to him? He must have said something about it." Lied. And if he has Cole's pen..." Bo suddenly sat up on the sofa, "if he has Cole's pen, why can't he also have Cole's mechanical pencil?" Ellery fumbled absently in his pocket to see if the pencil was still there.Still, he carefully stowed De Carlos' check in his wallet. "It's important to check what De Carlos said about the whereabouts of Cole's personal belongings. He said they were in boxes at Cole's house in Tarry City. We'd better investigate whether De Carlos Tell the truth." "Yes, but the pencil! I tell you—" Ellery frowned. "I have a feeling that we shouldn't jump to conclusions, Beau. There are many things that need to be carefully weighed, scrutinized, and considered. In the meantime, I want you to look into De Carlos Ask the old folks in the neighbourhood, gather as much information as you can about him. There's bound to be someone who remembers his past—in 1919, 1920, or whatever—and De Carlos called Cole business until Cole retired to live on a yacht." "But why?" "Never mind why," said Mr. Quin, "just do it. And, oh, yes, there's one more thing—perhaps the most important one." "What's the matter?" "Find out if De Carlos was never married." "Find out if De Carlos has never been married? What's the point of giving me such a bizarre task?" "This may be the key." "I really don't understand you. Tell me! Cole's will clearly states that De Carlos is single. Ah, that's the answer you're looking for." "I'd rather get an answer from a more objective source," muttered Mr. Quinn. "Go and find out." "I wish you'd taken the pen out of his hand!" "By the way, that pen," Mr. Quinn said in a dejected tone.Something about that pen seemed to be bothering him.Then he shrugged, "Let's not think too far ahead, let's discuss the matter at hand. After I broke up with you at the hotel tonight, what happened?" Beau told him. Ellery started pacing back and forth: "There's one thing I don't like. I don't like the situation my dad got into when you took my name. He's done a good job of hiding the truth. Too much. The press will find out and throw my dad off the investigation. Beau, we have to tell the truth before then." "Damn reporter!" Beau shouted, jumping to his feet.Then he sat down again, looking silly, "My situation has gotten too complicated. You're right. We have to be bold. Kelly—" "You've got to tell her, Beau. And there's that other thing to tell her—" "No!" Beau glared. "That's the thing I won't tell her. And you have to keep your mouth shut. Can't you see what it means to tell her that? Send the electric chair!" Ellery bit her lower lip. "You mean my dad is convinced her statement was fabricated?" "Yes. It's unbelievable from his point of view, it has to be admitted." They were all silent. Finally Ellery said, "Well, gotta clear up the name thing. I'm going home to catch up on my sleep, and I urge you to do the same, because you've got a pretty busy day." "Okay," Beau muttered.He stared at the floor as if he saw something strange there. Beau faces the new day with a sad face.Times Square at dawn is not a pleasant place to be. The place suited his mood just fine.However, as he watched Ellery's taxi drive away from the business district, there was another feeling mixed in with him, a certain smugness.While still upstairs in his office, Beau had an idea.And the idea was growing stronger and stronger in his mind very quickly.The idea was so startling that he decided not to let anyone know about it.If Ellery could be mysterious, why couldn't he? He weighed the idea in his mind, musing over it with a cigarette dangling from his mouth on the deserted sidewalk of Times Square in the cool of the early morning.But the more he thought about it, the more he felt that the idea made him hesitate. If so... By the way, we can wait until later.He could take it out and show it off anytime.Right now, there are still a lot of messy things to sort out.The fake name thing, and the Kelly thing.How should he tell her? He walked east, in the direction of the Villanoy Hotel, his footsteps echoing on the empty sidewalk. The first thing to do is avoid the reporters.They had camped all night in the halls of Villenoy.From what he knew of the reporter, if he guessed correctly, they were still there, lying on the couch surrounded by discarded cigarette butts and sandwich scraps. He entered the hotel through the staff entrance, woke up a night shift worker, stuffed a banknote into his hand, and then the man sneaked him to the seventeenth floor. Constable Quinn's subordinate, a detective named Piggott, was perched on a chair leaning against the wall by the door of Room 1724.The man had known Beau from an early age, when he would often visit his father at headquarters in shorts, with his scarred knees exposed.Piggott opened one eye and said gravely, "Hello, Mr. Quin." Beau grinned and shoved a cigarette into the detective's mouth.He walked into room 1724 without knocking. Sergeant Willie was taking a nap in the armchair by the window.At this moment he woke up immediately, like a cat. "Oh, it's you." Willie sat back and closed his eyes again. Beau opened the bedroom door.The curtains were drawn, and Kelly was curled up in a bed under a blanket.He could hear her deep, rhythmic breathing.Wei Yi lay on the other bed puzzled, she raised her head in surprise. When she saw Shi Bo, she quietly got out of bed and tiptoed to the living room to join him.She gently closed the bedroom door behind her. Her eye circles were red, and Bai Zhe's skin looked pale and loose.She said to him: "I've come to visit your wife, why don't I just relax?" "How is she?" "She's fine, but it's not your fault. The doctor gave her some medicine, and she fell asleep after a while." "Great. Great." Beau was a little nervous, and he started pacing back and forth. Wei looked at him: "if you want to go in, I can't stop you, you are her husband." "No, no, let her sleep. Good for her. You can do it, V. We can't thank you enough." "Cut the bullshit," said Vee, "you're a first-rate scum, you know that?" "Hey." Beau turned around slowly, "What do you mean by that?" "You know pretty damn well." Vi sat down on the edge of a chair and looked him up and down with deliberately condescending eyes, "You let the poor kid take the blame for you, and while she did You don't even know how to stay with her!" "What's wrong?" Bo's face turned red. Vee glanced at the burly body of Officer Willie lying motionless in the chair. "Leave him alone! What did you mean by that sentence?" "I don't think you would want the big man to hear what I have to say." "Don't worry—he's listening! Come on, Vee, stop pretending." Willie opened his eyes. "Say it now! What's going on in that pure head of yours?" "That's what you told me to say," Vi said quietly, but his face turned pale. "I mean, you were in that corner room. I mean, you shot that surname through the window." Cole's woman. I say, you threw that pistol into this room. That's what I'm talking about!" She froze suddenly because Beau was looking down at her with such a menacing expression that her lower lip began to tremble.She cast a quick, panicked glance at Inspector Willie. The officer stood up. "Listen to me, boy—" "You don't meddle in this, Willie. You think I killed Margo and put the blame on Kelly, don't you?" said Beau very quietly, standing tall and over her, his arms slack. "Yes!" The voice broke out from Wei's lips, provocative in fear. "And I guess you've pumped that into Kelly's head, haven't you?" "I don't need to instill it, that idea is already in her mind." "You—rumour-mongering liar! Ask her," Vi said, with hatred in her eyes, but she flinched. "It's all too coincidental. You left her like that, and she has to realize it." One point. She realizes it! She fights the idea, but she realizes it. She loves you—God only knows why. She should curse the day she first laid eyes on you!" "Go on," said Beau hoarsely. "You have a very close relationship with this Margo. That's how I see it... Police officer!" Wei Fei also seemed to get out of the chair, escaped from Beau, and grabbed the police officer's thick arm.Behind him, she continued defiantly, "You're Margot's accomplice. You're trying to kill Kelly and keep her out of your way, the two of you, you and Margot. When it works, you plan to marry Kelly and make her lose her inheritance. Then you share—” "I don't want to hear your nasty take on this," Beau roared. "I want to know what Kelly thinks!" "Then Margot came here yesterday in a daze, intending to reveal that you were an accomplice to her. You were afraid of revealing the truth, so you followed her, and, just before she spoke, you killed her." "I said I wanted to know what Kelly thought." "She thinks the same as I do! It's just that she won't admit it to me or herself. A part of her still thinks you're a good person. And she's been taking the blame for you! Don't you feel proud? " Bo took a deep breath: "Get out of here." Vi stared back at him. Beau strode towards her while she screamed and hid completely behind the officer's body for protection. "Take it easy, kid," Willie said in a low voice. "I said get out." "You can't force me!" "I say fuck off, you viper with a forked tongue!" "Kelly needs me!" "You might as well say she needs a hole in her head. Are you going to get out of here yourself, or do you want me to throw you out?" Now he was talking to her over the police officer's shoulder, his voice was low but clear, completely ignoring the mountain-like body between the two of them. "Leave you with her?" Vee screamed hysterically, "so you can murder her too?" "If you were a man," Beau muttered contemptuously, "I'd break your neck for that." "Stop, stop, I say," Willie interjected, and grabbed Beau's arm. They heard a click and all turned to look. Kelly stood in the doorway of the bedroom—in thin pajamas, her hair disheveled around her face, which was as white as the walls. Beau's neck was red.He opened his mouth to say something, but Kelly backed away and slammed the bedroom door shut.Wei screamed and chased after her, and the door slammed again. Beau wanted to follow in. Officer Willie was even faster than he was, blocking the door with his broad shoulders. "You'd better rest yourself, Beau," he said softly. "I've got to talk to Kelly! I can't make her think—" "Isn't her situation bad enough? You want to make it worse? Go home and close your eyes for a while, and you'll feel better by the afternoon." "But I've got to tell her--who I am, Willy! I've got to clear up about the false name--I've got to clear her of that crazy idea--she thinks I did the murder and put the blame on her-- " "She'll certainly be more convinced of it," said the Inspector coldly, "if she learns that you've been using an alias since she'd known you, and that you've married her under a bogus title—" At the word "married," Beau shut his mouth and backed away, as if Officer Willie had poked him with a stick. He turned and staggered away without a word.