Chapter 23 Chapter 23 St. Ellery Slaying the Dragon
Officer Quinn and District Attorney Sampson jumped up, and Officer Willie quickly approached them from the door.But Mr Quinn waved them off.
Goossens looked up at him, then shook his head in bewilderment.Finally, he took the cigarette butt out of his mouth and smiled.
"Very amusing, Mr. Quinn. Although the humor is a little frightening, I'm a man who appreciates a joke."
But he couldn't laugh when he saw how the people around him were moving their chairs away from him as unobtrusively as possible with increasing fear.He raised his voice and shouted: "You are crazy! Do you think you can bluff people with this trick?"
"It's a dogged effort," said Mr. Quin thoughtfully.Then he sighed, "Fine, let's get on with it." But the officer, Willie, and Sampson didn't sit down, they all stared at the lawyer.
"Mr. de Carlos, if it were necessary, would you swear that the pen I just took out of Goossens's pocket is yours?"
"Yes, yes," said De Carlos excitedly, "I'll tell you what it is. When I went to Goossens' private office to deliver the will, I took out my pen and wrote the Some of the ports we were planning to call on our upcoming Western Indian Ocean voyage, then put the pen on the table. I must have taken Goossens's pen by mistake when I got up to leave, because I later recalled that when I entered the door He was writing. Neither of us noticed that I had taken the wrong pen. When your courier delivered the pen to the ship, I accepted it, knowing it wasn't mine, and guessing why. But we were sailing at sea and it was too late to send the pen back. Then I completely forgot about this little thing."
"Mr. Goossens forgot, too, I suppose," said Mr. Quin coldly.He stood leaning against a table, arms folded across his chest, "Your first mistake, Mr. Goosens: not disposing of De Carlos' pen. It was a small mistake, and yet you didn't realize you The importance of those tooth marks on my own pen, and I didn’t realize their close relationship with the tooth marks on the pencil you lost in room 1726. And since then-still your neurotic cap-biting pen Old habit—you've been torturing Mister de Carlos's pens in the same way . . . please show me your pipe."
His tone was so inattentive, his gait so leisurely, and his pipe drawn so swiftly, that the lawyer took no precautions.When he understood the meaning of Ellery's move, he stood up abruptly.
However, it was too late.At this time, Ellery was concentrating on examining the handle of his pipe, but Goossens' arms were twisted behind his back by Officer Willie's iron claws, and he couldn't move.
"The second piece of evidence," said Mr. Quinn, nodding with satisfaction, "is that if you compare the end of this pipe with the cap and pencil, father, you will find that all three bear the same, Grinding marks made by his teeth. Beau told me that he had never seen Mr. Goossens without a pipe in his hand, and I noticed it in my few encounters with him. The smoking habit A pipe smoker is so used to biting the stem of his pipe tightly with his teeth that when he is not smoking a pipe, he will subconsciously put other things in his mouth to bite instead of the pipe.Laboratory examination It will be proved that the tooth marks that Goossens left on the pipe handle are identical to those on the pen and pencil. Now, Goossens, do you have anything to say publicly?"
Goossens said calmly, "It's really all right, Officer Willie. You don't have to keep holding me down like I'm a... criminal." He laughed at his inappropriate choice of words.
Officer Willie looked at Officer Quinn, who nodded.Willy still felt his wrist with one hand, and searched him quickly with the other.After making sure his prisoner was unarmed, he stepped aside.
Goossens stretched his limbs: "Do you believe this kind of nonsense, Officer Quinn? And you, Mr. Sampson? I hope you will realize what a wonderful slander you are creating!"
"Not to mention," said Mr. Quinn, taking up the conversation slowly, "that the wrong man will be arrested. Oh, how nicely said—"
Just then, there was a quarrel in the corridor.Willie hurried over to open the door.
"Oh, that's great," said Beau Rumel cheerfully. "Willie, tell this kid I'm one of the best."
"Come in, Beau, come in!" cried Mr. Quinn. "You've come at just the right time. Too good timing, too dramatic."
Beau rushed through the door, stunned for a moment, for he saw Goossens standing pale and annoyed in the middle of the room.
"Oh," he said, "it's the third act, eh? Well, now for the epilogue!"
He gave Kelly a quick, longing look, then pulled Ellery aside and handed him a large manila envelope.Beau whispered something in Ellery's ear, and while Ellery listened, he quickly produced what appeared to be a photocopy from the envelope.Listening, watching, watching, Mr. Quinn's thin face showed an expression of extreme joy.
He walked up to Goossens, waving the photocopy in his hand.
Goossens frowned and said, "It's all dramatic, as you say, but is it legal?" He burst out laughing. "Don't forget, Mr. Quinn, I'm a lawyer. If you're stupid enough to To take this to court, I'll make you regret that you were ever born into this world - every one of you! Your so-called evidence will be flimsy. Tooth marks, pens, pencils, an old pipe... hey world There isn't a single jury in the world who would accept something like that!"
"Probably not," said Mr. Quin unhurriedly, "but we now have a third piece of evidence which the jury will accept.
"So far I have proved that you are the owner of the pencil found at the scene of the crime - which means you have the opportunity to commit the crime; I have also proved that you have the possibility of reporting the false marriage to the police - your second mistake. Now I will prove that you have a criminal motive - you, and only you, meet the third condition of Ann Bloomer's murderer!
"This third piece of evidence will involve you directly, Mr. Goossens. It will show that you are Ann Bloomer's secret associate. It will show that the conspiracy was your masterpiece from the beginning--creating a fake Ma Go Cole. In fact, I think I even know when you conceived and executed that part of the plot, Mr. Goossens!"
"Really?" the lawyer sneered.
"You first got the idea when De Carlos posed as Cole and delivered Cole's sealed will. You opened that will, Goossens, and you did it for a reason—when I publish mine When the last piece of evidence is released, everyone will understand what the reason is.
"You opened your will, scrutinized the terms, and saw your opportunity. You left the country very suddenly, claiming to be on an 'official trip' - so where did you go? To Europe , Goossens. When I called your office after De Carlos posed as Corden, your secretary told me the news himself—actually, the reason I was so impressed with it was because As soon as I put down the phone, my appendix burst. An attack of illness helped me remember an important event, Goossens! Unfortunately, I didn't realize its significance at the time.
"Then why did you go to Europe all of a sudden? Because you knew that Margot Cole lived in France. Because you knew Margot Cole's past so well that your sharp, bright, troubled mind clearly knew A woman impersonating her must also be from France. On that official trip, you met Ann Bloomer, who was exactly the type of woman you had planned. And she agreed to work with you cooperate."
Goossins bit his lip.His face was pale now.
"You have Margot Cole's identification papers. You didn't give them to the Bloomer woman in France. You were probably training her to remember Margot Cole's life, But you kept those papers to yourself until the last moment - you feared being duped, and with good reason. You waited until Margot Cole disembarked the 'Normandy' in port quarantine Give her those identifications! For it was you, and you alone, with briefcase aboard the 'Normandie', pretending to meet 'Margot Cole' and accompany her to the boat, While everyone else was waiting on the dinghy. Those Margot Cole identification papers were in your briefcase when you boarded the Normandy, but a few minutes later when you accompanied her aboard the They were in Ann Bloomer's bag by the time they got out of the boat.
"But Ann Bloomer lied to you after all. Once she established herself here as Margot Cole, she reneged on her agreement with you. Besides, she may have secretly investigated you. , with her usual cunning, and finds you in trouble, Mr. Goossins - oh, you've got a lot of trouble, what a veritable potpourri! You've been a loafer all your life - you and blood Noble wives are couples in name only; your real life is taken up with women, champagne, gambling, and whatnot. Your father left you with a considerable wealth management business, but you quickly dismissed him squandered the money...and then you started squandering the property you managed as trustee for other people.
"So you're now stuck in a vicious cycle of stealing money from one property to cover holes in another, and you're on the verge of being exposed. Unless you find a new source of funding, you won't be able to Covering up the crime of embezzlement. You were desperate, and it was from this motive that you decided to take the risk when fate placed Cole's estate in your hands.
"Anyway, I believe that Ann Bloomer found out about it all, and realized that she had a very powerful weapon in her hands against you. All she had to reveal was the slightest bit of truth she knew to make people suspect that you were managing the commission. Use deceit in giving your property and you are ruined. This is the weapon she used to blackmail you when she refused to continue sharing Margo Cole's income with you.
"You probably hid your rage quite sensibly. You saw another way out: take out this threat yourself, a female monster created by your own modern Frankenstein, and at the same time gain complete control over Kolna. An inheritance of tens of millions of dollars! This is your third, last, and most important criminal motive.
"You even took part in Margo's plot to murder Kelly, as it was in the interest of your new target. She may have also used her hand to threaten you into being her accomplice; I don't know; but It made sense for her to do this because if you were complicit, you wouldn't have exposed her murder.
"Anyway, after the failed attack, Ann came into this room to mock Kelly, and that's when you shot the woman. You did multiple things by doing this: first, you got rid of Ann for good, and you got your revenge on her. And to prevent her from divulging the identity of your partner; second, to blame Kelly Sean for the murder, thereby getting rid of her too; For charitable purposes! In that capacity, you could live happily for several years by appropriating the property. You surmise—and I think it is quite right—that you could easily persuade Edmund Deka Mr. Lowes, your co-trustee, is with you.
"Although there may be slight discrepancies in certain details, I guess I've covered the whole point, Mr. Goossens?"
Goossens stammered, "You—you said there was a proof of motive." Then he pulled himself together and forced a smile. .Where is your wonderful evidence?"
"Admirable, Goossens, admirable," Mr. Quinn applauded. "You could have been a great advocate, with a great gift for drama. You deny it," he snapped, changing his tone. " Did you ever tell Ann Bloomer to impersonate Margot Cole?"
"Of course I deny," said the lawyer in a hoarse voice, "that woman I had never seen before she appeared on the 'Normandie'. Scapegoat, Quinn! I thought she really was Margot Cole!"
"Ah," said Mr. Quinn.His sigh contained so much satisfaction that Goossens was stunned when he heard it, and then his expression became more and more rigid, "You really thought she was Margo Cole." Quinn The sir turned quickly and said, "Did you hear that, Sampson? That's the sweet spot. That's a provable lie!"
"What do you mean?" Goossens asked in a whisper.
"In this manila envelope," replied Mr. Quinn, handing the envelope to the District Attorney, "there is evidence in black and white that you are a liar. This is the third piece of evidence I have promised I will produce, and it is entirely possible. The piece of evidence that convicts you.
"This evidence explains why you were able to know everything about Margot Cole long before Cole's will was handed over to you. It also explains why you happen to have all of Margot Cole's identification documents. Want to hear me explain why these two?
"When Margot Cole's mother died in France in 1925, Margot left that country and came to America. She was broke and probably very angry with Cadmus, so she didn't go looking for He. She sailed to California and became a waitress at a restaurant in Los Angeles - Mr. Rummel has been very busy for the past eight hours, and after learning what he was looking for, he found this evidence , to unearth a lot about the circumstances of the story.
"That's where you met her, Goossens—it was in 1926, when you were going to college in Los Angeles. You were twenty-five years old, already a rascal. You got drunk one night, Margot Margot Cole! You kept the marriage a secret, not even from your father. Your wife, the real Margot, died in Los Angeles not long after. You immediately had her secretly Buried, no doubt a sigh of relief, because the deceased graciously let you escape the trap of marriage.
"Inside this manila envelope," exclaimed Mr. Quinn, "are photocopies of two documents: Margot Cole's death certificate - on which her name is registered as Margo Cole Goossens — and your 1926 marriage certificate — telexed east at the request of Mr. Rummel, who must be quite tired by now.
"Ann Bloom's accomplices must have provided her with Margot Cole's identification, which I had been certain of; but how the accomplice had obtained them himself was not clear to me at the time; But I surmise that there is a very tempting possibility, the most obvious means in the world - marriage to Margot Cole. It is on this basis that I sent Mr. Rummel on a mission Yes—he stayed up all night, scoured the Continent by telephone, telegram, and telex, and finally accomplished his mission well. Are you satisfied, Goossens?"
But Goossens didn't answer, he just slumped on the chair, as if he couldn't support the weight of his body suddenly.Then he covered his face with trembling hands.
The following story happened on a particularly beautiful day in late September.Mr. Beau Rummel said to Miss Kelly Shawn: "Well, Little Face, what shall we do next?"
"First," said Miss Shawne, "we're going to get over some of our troubles--I mean mine. You know, property, and all that nonsense business. Who's running it now, dear? Mr. De Carlos and Mr. Goossens, of course—”
"The probate court may appoint a bank to administer the property."
"It's much the same," Kelly sighed. "Once that's done, and—after the trial is over, we'll be left out, neglected, and poor as church rats."
"Poor, you are so stupid."
"Oh, didn't I tell you? We're going to get married. We'll be 'unhappily' together from now on. Beau Rumel, you need to shave!"
"Are we playing that same old wedding tune again?" Beau grumbled. "I've worked so hard to save this big sum of money for you. Kelly, I just don't want to—"
And so, after Lloyd Goossens was tried and convicted, Mr. Rummel and Miss Shawn were married and have lived "unhappily" ever since.
This time it was a real wedding ceremony, the priest was authenticated and approved, the marriage certificate was carefully checked, there were enough witnesses, and half of the reporters in the world—they were curious to take a look at this young man. Women, at such dull ages, so outrageously out of human fashion, to give up "a great fortune" "for love"--they say it with one voice.
Of course there are gifts too.Sergeant Quinn feels he's wronged Kelly and gives her a beautiful set of Swedish silver cutlery as a gift.Violet Day quietly gifted a beautiful Lalique vase.It cost all her money.The gifts from Hollywood were more underwhelming but substantial.
Oddly enough, Ellery Quinn sent nothing.Mr Rumel was hurt.
"I didn't do it for a gift," he grumbled to Kelly, "but anyway—"
"Maybe he's sick, Beau."
"Hey, I really didn't think about that!" Beau immediately looked a little terrified, "I haven't seen him for a few days—"
They took a taxi to Mr. Quinn's apartment.Mr. Quinn was out--Mr. Quinn's office at Ellery Queen & Associates.
"Office?" Beau exclaimed in surprise. "He must be sick!"
They found Mr. Quinn, however, seated in his swivel chair in perfect health.
"Ah, here comes the newlyweds," said Mr. Quinn, hastily presenting the bride with a partner's kiss. "How is married life?"
"Let's not talk about that," Beau interrupted sharply. "Where have you been hiding these days? You disappeared after the wedding—"
"I've been sitting here, in this lonely grave," grunted Ellery, "thinking. Think of the fools life makes. By the way, why don't you two stay in a nice and expensive place now?" where to spend your honeymoon?"
"Because we couldn't afford it," Kelly said, "and Atlantic City is so glamorous."
"Yeah, I still can't remember it," Beau said. "I'd like to get back to work sooner, El, but you don't know what trouble it is. Just married and asking around for houses—"
"Atlantic City—the house!" Mr. Quinn was astonished. "What are you thinking about?"
"Budget issues," Beau said, with a shy smile of a hopelessly married man, "I can't afford to have fun, Ellery. Once we're settled, I'll be back at the office and fuck myself again." The one who sells the old business, you know, the secret handling of confidential matters? Leave it to us—we never miss it. That old—”
"It won't happen," said Mr. Quin with certainty. "I've been making inquiries myself, and I'm planning to find a new partner."
"What?" Boda yelled, "Hey, what's going on? What's wrong with me?"
"My good man, you've arrived—it's over."
Beau looks like he's hit the nail on the head: "But, Ellery... God knows... I've got to support my family, don't I?"
"Not at all."
"And," Beau said angrily, "what do you mean I've arrived? And you're the only one doing this business? You're amazing. I never thought you'd—"
Kelly patted the bulge on her husband's arm softly: "Can't you see that this gentleman has some tricks up his sleeve? Be quiet and listen carefully, Beau."
"You know," said Mr. Quinn dreamily, "I've been sitting here since your wedding, and I've been thinking a lot, and the main idea is: What can I give those two fools as a wedding present?"
Kelly laughed and Beau flushed.
"Could it be," went on Mr. Quinn, "a rare first edition of Shakespeare's anthology? Or an ancient coin of British Guiana in 1856? Or the crown jewels of some famous monarch? A ten-room house in Vera, fully furnished and frescoed? No, I said to myself, too vulgar, too mediocre. My gift to Mr. and Mrs. Rummel had to be substantial, massive Yes, creme de la creme (essence), has great significance. Do you know that I thought of it?"
Kelly clapped her hands excitedly: "What's that? I know I'm going to like it!"
"I believe," murmured Mr. Quin, "that you will."
"Okay, tell me quickly, put down your annoying airs!" Bo couldn't help but roared loudly.
"I have decided," Mr. Quinn said with a smile, "to offer you a gift worthy of my status. I have decided to give it to you," Mr. Quinn said, beating around the bush as he did. Like I'm used to, "Of course I haven't figured out the exact number; you'll have to be patient with me, little sparrows, but guess, there's a total of - oh, let's be conservative, I think fourteen hundred Ten thousand U.S. dollars."
"One thousand and four—" Kelly kept blinking her eyes.
Beau said hoarsely, "Say it again?"
"That figure may not be exact," said Mr. Quinn hastily. "It may not exceed a mere thirteen million dollars."
"Oh, he was joking," Kelly moaned.
"Listen, you gorilla!" Beau roared, "what's going on?"
Mr. Quinn smiled and said: "After the wedding, my ingenuity was mainly used to figure out a way to invalidate old man Cole's will. You two are going to get married, but according to Cole's will, it means Kelly Will forever lose a very substantial $5,000-a-week income - now that Margot Cole's death has been confirmed."
"You mean you've— figured out how to break it?" Beau's tone was filled with awe.
"We are already victorious, victorious. There is a tricky issue involved, but the most favorable legal basis is on our side. You are a lawyer, or have been. Why does the law require a testator There should be witnesses present when the signature is signed?"
"Why," said Beau, scratching his freshly shaved face, "to make sure there was no fraud, I guess. To witness that the testator's signature is his legally valid signature, and that it was signed on a specific date. On the specific will. The notarization procedure for the contract documents also includes this concept - the witness signature is valid."
"Well, the statute by which we invalidate a will includes provisions for witnessing signatures. According to Captain Angus' account, he and the messenger first signed the will to witness the validity of the testator's signature, but at this time The testator had not yet signed the will. In fact, since the telegrapher did not sign it in Cole's presence, not only could he not attest to the validity of the non-existent signature, but he could not even be sure of the identity of his signature. The document was a will; and even if he was sure it was a will, he couldn't be sure it was a will made by the testator. And then even Captain Angus left the cabin before De Carlos signed it for Cole , so he cannot honestly testify when the signature was written on it.
"There are other issues, but I think the point just mentioned is sufficient. A probate court judge would probably be more than happy to seize on this statute and declare a will void - it's a very queer one." Yeah, unfair will. Anyway, once the will expires, Cole is presumed to have died as you know—intestate. Also, since Margot Cole died without children, Kelly Sean, now Mrs. Beau Rumel, is the sole surviving heir of the testator—ah, you can imagine! What do you think of my modest little gift, Mrs. Rumel?"
But Mrs. Rummel just giggled, and Beau stood there frowning and grinning like a madman.
In the days since, Mr. Quinn has received letters from Paris, Monte Carlo, Cairo, and Bali—long letters, written on luxurious paper used by wealthy Put a smile on even the dullest face.
There were even letters from a lady named Violet Day.
It appears that she has been reappointed as secretary and partner by Mrs. Rummel.The fact that the secretary seemed to spend most of his time at the ping-pong table beating Mr. Rumel out of his hands kept Mr. Rumel in perpetual rage.
But Mr. Quinn just smiled faintly and went back to work.It was another case that had him racking his brains.
Which case?
Well, that's another story.
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