Chapter 17 Chapter 17 Mr. Rummel's Return

Beau trudged back to his apartment, stripped off all his clothes, set his ninety-eight-cent alarm clock, and threw himself on the bed. The alarm clock rang just before noon.He groaned and opened his eyes. "It does feel like a drunken headache," he muttered, "only worse." He climbed out of bed, hopped in a cold shower, shaved, dressed, and headed out the door. Just before nine o'clock, Kelly awoke exhausted from her sleep. Vi was tossing and turning in the other bed, and Kelly climbed out of bed and peered into the living room.Constable Willie was gone, and another detective was reading the morning paper in an armchair.He quickly hides the headline when he sees her.She shivered and closed the door.

It was noon when Wei woke up.Kelly sat fully dressed by one of the bedroom windows, looking out at the yard, her hands in her lap. Vi said something, but Kelly didn't answer.The blond girl yawned, then grimaced, and came to Kelly by the window. "Kelly!" Kelly looked up in surprise. "Oh, you're up. What did you just say?" "Didn't you see those spectators?" "what?" All the windows facing them on the opposite side of the courtyard were crowded with people.Women, men, and at least two wide-eyed children; at one window, an enterprising reporter was yelling questions across the yard, leaning out in spite of the danger.

"I didn't see them," Kelly said dryly. Vee yanked the curtains down; a moment later, as if she had just become aware of the reporter's shouts, Kelly closed the window behind her. The day was surprisingly calm.Occasionally, when a detective comes in, the door leading to the corridor from the living room will open and close.People come and go all day. There was also some activity in room 1726, and Wei looked out the window and saw some men busy inside. But no one came into the bedroom, except a detective, and he only came in because Vi complained that they were starving, and she tried to order food through the operator, but the phone couldn't get through.

"All right," said the detective. "Why not earlier?" "want!" "If you don't ask, you won't get it." He went out. "They cut the line," Vi said, panic in his voice. Kelly said nothing. Fifteen minutes later, the detective pushed a table with food on it, and went out immediately. "Come on, honey, we'd better get some fuel." "Yes." Kelly said. She sat down at the table and worked with a slice of toast.She looked very calm, but there was an air of absent-mindedness, and the two lines from the nose to the corners of the mouth were deepened, and it was only from this that any unusual feelings in her heart could be seen.

Vi saw it, so she whispered, "Kelly, you have to eat something. You haven't eaten—" "I'm not hungry, V." Kelly went back to the window. Vi sighed.She finished her breakfast, then, after a moment's hesitation, finished Kelly's.She showered, borrowed Kelly's clean underwear and socks, and got dressed.Then the two of them sat still and didn't talk, and passed a long afternoon like this. At nine o'clock in the evening, Wei almost wanted to scream.Any sound—a cough, a yelp, a cry—could give her some relief.But Kelly just sat there, fingers crossed in her lap, like a stone Buddha.

At this moment, there was a commotion outside, the sound of many people talking, and at least a moment of fighting.Vi jumped up.Even Kelly turned her head. The bedroom door opened, and there stood Sergeant Willie, accompanied by several strangers.The officer held a folded piece of paper in his hand. Kelly stood up, pale. "I have a warrant here," said the officer in a flat voice, "for Kelly Sean. Miss Sean, please prepare." After that, things get a little chaotic, like a movie out of control.First a cameraman managed to break through the cordon outside, then flashes went off, then detectives yelled, then reporters scrambled their way in, then it was almost a melee.In the confusion, Wei put on a hat and a light camel hair coat for Kelly, and then police officer Willie said that Wei could not go with him, and then Wei held Kelly tightly with tears until Kelly severely Say, "Don't be like a child, Vi!" and kiss her goodbye; after a while, Vi finds herself almost alone in room 1724, standing among the clutter: flashing bulbs, newspapers, and Kay Things in the wardrobe.She sat on the floor and began to cry, which helped the two female reporters who had been deliberately left behind.

When Wei got enough strength to stand up and started to pack Kelly's things into the box, the female reporters even helped her pack, asking all kinds of questions, like two chirping birds, Until Vi opened his mouth to curse at them and threatened to bang their two fashionable heads together with tears in his eyes. Finally, with the help of a policeman, she managed to escape with Kelly's bag.One of the female reporters said bitterly: "Crazy!" Then they followed the group and went south to Central Street. Vi went back to the hotel where he was staying, his hat pulled low over one ear.

As she walked through the lobby, she felt two men staring at her suspiciously.She locked herself in the room. Then the phone started ringing non-stop.After half an hour she told the operator not to put her through any more calls.So someone started knocking on her door again.She called the hotel operator again and threatened to call the police if the nasty guys didn't stop knocking on the door. The operator said, "Yes, ma'am—just a moment, please," and then, "I'm sorry, ma'am—it's the police that's knocking." Vee opened the door, and one of the two men who were staring at her suspiciously Say to her, "Don't play any tricks, just stay still, girls, understand?"

"Stay still?" Vi screamed. "You want to put that charge on my neck too? You white-eyed cop?" "We didn't say anything," said the other, "just a small, friendly suggestion, understand, blonde?" Wei slammed the door shut and locked it tightly. After that, her phone didn't ring again, and no one knocked on the door.She stood still. Beau burst into Sergeant Quinn's office at police headquarters like the wind, yelling frantically. "Why the hell, Dad! Why arrest me?" Then he saw Kelly, and asked slowly, "What's going on?"

Kelly looked at him, tears of pain in her eyes. "I want to talk to you," Officer Quinn said.His thin and tired body seemed to have shrunk a bit. "As for Miss Xiao En, we decided to arrest her for—well, legally speaking, it's called evidence collection. But in fact, we all know what it is for." There were three other people present.Beau recognized the three men, a stenographer and two assistants to District Attorney Sampson. "She's innocent," Beau said. "What she told you was true. The real murderer was in Room 1726. He shot Margo from the window across the corner of the yard and threw the gun in. Kay Li picked up the gun, she was scared out of her wits."

"Have you finished?" said the inspector in a curious tone. "Aren't the facts enough for you?" Beau said angrily. "Wait a minute." Kelly's voice was calm and low, "Officer Quinn, you accused me of murdering my cousin, and I admit that the circumstances at that time—" "Don't admit anything!" Beau yelled, "Let me handle—" "I beg you." She looked at him, and he turned his head. "I admit that the situation was not good for me. But if I shot Margo, I must have a motive. What is my motive?" "We know your motives," the officer said. "I can't possibly have any motive! Are you saying that I hate her, that I - envy her because of...my husband? But if so, shouldn't I kill her before we get married? I don't have any jealousy Reason, officer, we're married. Should I wait until we're married before killing her?" The officer didn't answer.The stenographer silently recorded the conversation while the two men from the D.A.'s office listened nervously and quietly. "Or you could say," Carrie went on, "that I'd like to get Margot out of sight in order to gain financially, but that's not possible either. You see, because of my marriage, I'm getting rid of Uncle Cadmus I have no way of inheriting Margot's share; in fact, I even forfeited my own. So, don't you see how silly this accusation is? I There is no reason in this world to want to kill Margot!" "But you have," said the inspector flatly. "What would that be?" "Something like $2,500 a week for life." "But I told you just now," said Kelly, puzzled, "that Mr. Goosens—Mr. De Carlos will attest—that the will—" "Yeah," Beau complained, "what's the matter with you, Dad?" "Indeed," said the officer's weary voice, "if she was married at the time of the murder, the girl has no profit motive." He paused, then repeated, "if she was married." Kelly jumped up: "What do you mean?" "Pretentiousness will do you no good at all," replied the old man roughly. "Ellery!" Kelly ran to Beau, shaking him. "What's your father talking about? Tell me!" Beau said nothing, but Kelly caught his eye and let him go.She stood still, and the last bit of blood faded from her face. "I have received a telegram this afternoon," said the inspector, "from an anonymous person. We have not been able to identify the informer, because the contents were sent to the Telegraph Office by a public telephone in the city. It is much more important who the latter is. We immediately launched an investigation based on this. Miss Shawn—" "Miss Sean?" Kelly whispered. "Miss Sean, you were not married last night. The wedding was a sham. The purpose was nothing more than a clever smoke bomb to make it appear that you had no motive to murder your cousin Margo. You will still be entitled to your uncle's estate." , you can still inherit Margot's income. What else can you say now?" "Didn't get married last night. . . Why, it's not--it's not true at all! We were married. In Connecticut. Near Greenwich. Isn't it? Ellery, isn't it?" She felt a sudden frenzy.She grabbed Beau's arm and shook him, her eyes widening wildly with terror. "And that's not all!" cried the officer suddenly, flushing. "This man is not my son—his name is not Ellery! He's not even Quinn! His name is Beau Rumel, and he It's my son's partner, in a bloody private detective agency!" "Beau-Rummel?" Kelly whispered.She stumbled back to her chair and sat down, fumbling in her bag for her handkerchief.She just sat like that the whole time, her eyes fixed on her bag, her fingers rummaging aimlessly inside. "For God's sake, Dad," Beau whispered. "It's no use, Beau! There's no record of a marriage license. And no record of the justice of the peace who married you. If there is—let's see. Bring him! Then please show us yours." Marriage license and marriage certificate! Ah, even the address is false - it's a house that's only rented for one night! Other than that it's been unoccupied for many years!" Scenes flashed through Kelly's mind...the crumbling house, the weeds, the dust, the weird Mr. Johnston... Beau said bitterly, "Well, it's true, we're not married. It's all fake. But Callie doesn't know anything about it, Dad! She doesn't think it's adulterated. The whole thing is I did it myself, let me tell you!" She should know, if she wasn't such a gullible fool... Marriage certificate.She didn't sign that. "Let's go." He said that.He didn't show her the marriage certificate.In that house, the "judge" was going to marry them without a second witness—marriage!The whole thing, the whole disgusting... Kelly's stomach churned and her mouth twisted. "Really?" said the officer curtly. "You've got to believe me, Dad! Now this whole mess. Margo Cole tried to kill Kelly three times. She hates Kelly because she—well, she likes me herself. And her expenses Well beyond the income, she wanted Kelly's share. She told me that herself! I'll say the same on the stand! I'll do it, thinking it's the best way to protect Kelly; we didn't catch No evidence of Margo, so there's no need to let the police know. Ellery knows all about it. He'll stand by me." "Don't bring Ellery into this!" growled the officer. "I have to, Dad. Even if I don't bring him in, he'll defend me himself—" "Did he know these things himself?" the old man asked quickly. "No, I told him. But it's the truth, I tell you! I planned this sham marriage because, if Callie was obviously married, Margo would get Kelly's share temporarily, or Expecting to get it soon, half of her motivation for dealing with Kelly is satisfied. The other half—well,” Beau puffed up his chest defiantly, “I made a deal with her. I pretended to be her My accomplice to Carrie said I married Carrie to add to Margo's income so that she and I could share. I told her I loved her and I didn't love Carrie—and that being married was nothing at all. She believed Yes. Last night, in her usual diabolical way, she couldn't help but gloat over Kelly's loss, which she thought was irreparable." "You think I'll believe this girl here doesn't know it's a sham marriage?" "You thought she was the kind of—" Beau started, and then he made a gesture of futility, "I didn't actually marry her because I didn't want to see her lose that inheritance. I didn't tell her it was Fake marriage because, if I told her, she wouldn't want to do that. You don't know her, I tell you!" The two assistant district attorneys whispered for a while.Then one of them nodded to the officer, and the three of them chatted again in low tones.Finally the officer turned pale and said to Beau, "Where the hell were you last night? After you checked in and left this girl in the hotel room?" Hearing this sentence, Kelly also raised her head, with pain and gloom in her tearful eyes. "First of all, I'm not a villain!" Beau raged, "I'm in an awkward position where she thinks we're married and I know we're not... I make a lame excuse that I'll be back later , and ran off. When I got out, I remembered something. Two people had to be informed that the marriage was not real—they were trustees of Cole's estate. “I went back to my office in Times Square and wrote two letters — one to Goossens and one to De Carlos. They were identical. It stated that the marriage was a sham and that I had informed They did this because they considered that it would involve the legal issue of transferring Kelly's income to Margot, and I didn't want Kelly to lose even a week of income. I said that Margot wanted Kelly's life, and that I Wanted them to play the scene with me, stalled it for a while until I could get the hard evidence that Margot tried to murder Kelly. Then I sealed the envelope, put a special delivery stamp on it, and dropped them in the lobby The mailbox was sent away. The night watchman in the building opened the door for me to go in and out of the office building. Then I went back to the Villanoy Hotel." "Of course we will check these." The police officer turned away expressionlessly. Beau ran to Kelly: "Kerry, I want you to believe me! I want you to know that I love you, and that everything I've done so far has been about—damn, Kelly, I'd rather put my Even if my right arm is cut off, I wouldn't be willing to deceive you so despicably!" The police officer and the two lawyers were talking in whispers again, the lawyers were questioning them, and the police officer was vehemently contradicting them. "I think I know who killed Margo," Beau whispered to Kelly. "I've just had the idea—since last night, no, this morning. All I need is a little time, darling. Kelly, talk. At least tell me you don't think I'm a vile murderer!" Hearing this, she moved slowly, raised her eyes, and stared into his eyes.Her blurred tearful eyes full of pain, like a searchlight of anxiety, explored in the dark.Then suddenly she hugged him and pulled him towards her.He closed his eyes gratefully.He felt the tight embrace of her arms and the beating of her heart. A man tapped her on the shoulder and pushed Beau aside.Beau didn't protest. He watched as they led her away—to Tumbuis Prison, which, as far as he knew, had to go through a whole set of unpleasant and terrifying procedures: registration, fingerprinting, locking in the cell... She seemed to be in a dream Walk, blind to everything. Beau glanced at the officer, who waved him. "Don't leave this city." Officer Quinn's voice was cold.He sat at the table without looking up, busy tinkering with some documents and papers. "No problem, Dad," Beau said gently, "and—thank you." The officer was taken aback, and then buried himself in the pile of papers. Beau left quickly.He knew he would be followed.The strange look on the officer's face, and the way the two men in the D.A.'s office looked at him, made Beau think that it was very likely that within twenty-four hours he would be in Tumbs Prison for conspiracy, with Kelly. Together. In fact, he was sure, the two lawyers kept him from being arrested on the spot only because of the police officer's protests. In the middle of the night, Beau was walking the streets of downtown New York.He analyzed his case over and over, relentlessly finding faults, faults, and loopholes.At last he gave a grunt of satisfaction and said to himself, "It's all set," and he sent Ellery a telegram to meet him at the office at nine o'clock in the morning. When they met at nine o'clock, Mr. Quinn looked haggard, suggesting that he had heard the news of Kelly's arrest, and had not slept since he learned of it. Beau told him exactly how it happened, and Ellery listened sullenly and in silence. "Well," he said at last, "we've got some time—this kind of thing goes slowly, and we need to have the whole situation. Did you investigate De Carlos yesterday?" “I found some old people in the neighborhood who still remembered him. They all thought that De Carlos was a coward, high-minded, but anticlimactic. Cole was behind the scenes manipulating him, making plans, and De Carlos put the plan into action. De Carlos It's useless to be your own mastermind. In fact, he was in business after Cole died—did you know that? He lost his life." Ellery mused. "Besides, he's been spending the million that Cole left him like water. If he loses money on Wall Street. He must be broke." "He's very poor. Any clue as to whether he was ever married?" "Who do you think I am, magician? As far as I can find out, no." "Well, I've done some research myself. I've been doing it for a while. There are other possibilities, but it seems pretty certain, and from the reports I've gotten, we can assume that De Carlos never Married. So, what about Cole's personal effects?" "Looked up. There's quite a bit of bric-a-brac, bits and pieces of jewellery--some very valuable, I'd say, watches, rings, buckles--and a bundle of personal papers. But nothing of interest to us." "Did you find a pen?" "No, I didn't find a mechanical pencil either." "denture?" "No." Miss Penny brought in a telegram.Beau tore it open and jumped into a jig, waving the yellow note. "I don't know what you have," he cried, "but I have plenty!" "You're such a nuisance sometimes," said Mr. Quinn. "What's that?" "A telegram from the man we sent to the sea. He found Captain Angus!" "what?" "It's absolutely true. And he's coming here with him tonight. That's done, well done! That's all I need to close this case!" "Oh," Mr. Quin said slowly, "you have a theory?" "Reasoning? Bah! I've got the answer!" And Beau began to explain, talking fast and machine-gun.Mr. Quinn listened in silence, nodding gloomily now and then. "What's going on? You don't seem happy after hearing that!" "All indications point in that direction, I admit," said Mr. Ellery, "and I cannot overturn your reasoning—in fact, there are things I can add to make it more tenable to a great extent. .There's just one thing bothering me, Beau." "What is it?" Mr. Ellery waved his hand: "It's a small loophole. It's too small. It's not a big deal right now." "To hell with it, then! What do you think—shall we take a closer look?" Mr. Quinn sighed: "I think we'd better do it this way." Head to head, they mull over Beau's case.Check, check, and work out every detail of the plan in detail.Some of Mr. Quinn's suggestions made Beau's eyes light up, his mood gradually improved, and for the first time in months he looked happy. Then the telephone rang, and Miss Penny said, "It's your father, Mr. Quinn." Beau sat down and the smile disappeared. "Hello, Dad?" Ellery said. He listened to the phone and was stunned when he listened.When he finally put down the receiver, he laughed, "Guess what?" "What's the matter? Say it, you cheeky monkey!" "The ending is about to begin, Beau." Mr. Quinn stood up, shaking his body slightly, just like athletes do before going out to face their opponents, "Dad just gave me some information. Margot Cole - sit tight now - is not Hunter and Nadine Cole's daughter. She is not Cadmus Cole's niece or Kelly's cousin. In fact, she is not Margot Cole." Beau's mouth fell open. "She's not—then who is she?" "One of the greatest imposters of all time!" Mr Quinn then pushed his stunned partner out of the office, down the stairs, into a taxi and on to police headquarters.