Chapter 32 Chapter 30 Mr. Jerry Lane's Answer

The Inspector was not a reserved man, his feelings were raw and straightforward, like squeezed lemon juice.He plays the role of father with a complex psychology of fear, joy, and anxiety.The more he looked at his daughter, the happier he was, and the less he understood her.She often confuses Monk Zhang Er and understands her emotions.No matter how hard she tried, the poor fellow could never predict her next mood, or make sense of her last one. In his ups and downs of agony, he was glad to hand over the young woman, who was hysterical for no reason, to Mr. Lowe.Before Mr. Gordon Lowe came to this point in life, his cognition of love was only on paper, and now he also painfully understands what it means to love a woman.

Patience remains a mystery, neither elusive nor decipherable.When her tears opened the floodgates, she dried them with the handkerchief in the young man's breast pocket, smiled at him, and went back to the room.No matter how threatened or lured, she remained indifferent.She advised Gordon Lowe to leave.No, she doesn't want to see a doctor.Yes, she's not sick at all, just a little headache.No matter how much the inspector begged, she didn't utter a single word. Mr. Lowe and his future father-in-law smiled wryly at each other, and then Mr. Lowe left—he had already begun to obey orders.

Patience was not present at dinner.She choked up and said good night, but the door didn't open.At night, the inspector found that the old man's heart was beating strangely, so he got out of bed and went to her room.He heard the sound of crying bitterly, and reached out his hand to knock on the door, but he put it down helplessly.He went back to bed, and for the rest of the night, he could barely stare at the dark wall in pain. He peeped at her room in the morning, she was still sleeping, her cheeks were stained with tears, her honey-colored hair was scattered on the pillow, tossing and turning restlessly, sighing in her sleep.

He had a lonely breakfast alone, and then went to the office. He follows the day's schedule restlessly.Patience did not go to the office.At four o'clock, he spat out a bad word, grabbed his hat, told Miss Blanche to pack up and leave work, and went back to the apartment by himself. He called anxiously at the door: "Petty!" He heard movement in her room and walked quickly across the living room.She stood, pale and eccentric, in front of the closed door, in a serious suit, with a dark turban tied around her hair. "Going out?" He kissed her. "Yes, Dad."

"Why did you close the door?" "I—" she bit her lip, "I'm packing, Dad." His jaw dropped: "Petty! Honey! What's the matter? Where are you going?" She opened the door slowly.The inspector walked through the fog and saw a full suitcase lying on the bed. "I'm going away for a few days," her voice trembled, "I...it's very important." "but why?" "Stop asking, Dad." She snapped the case shut and fastened the belt. "Please don't ask me where I'm going or why. Please. Just a few days. I, I'm going to..."

The inspector sank down on a chair in the living room and stared at her.She grabbed the suitcase and ran across the room, then held back tears, put the suit down, ran back, threw her hands on his neck, and kissed him.When he regained his sanity from the astonishment, she had disappeared. He sat limp in his empty apartment, a dead cigar in his mouth, his hat still on his head.The sound of the apartment door slamming shut still rings in my ears.After he calmed down, he began to slowly and carefully think about things over and over again, the more he thought about it, the more disturbed he became.He has dealt with crime and the police all his life, which gave him some incisive insights into human nature.When he forgot that Patience was his own, he was more able to appreciate the peculiar side of her behavior.His daughter is a level-headed, mature woman.She wasn't throwing a temper tantrum, but why was she behaving strangely... He sat in the darkened living room for hours without moving.At midnight, he got out of bed, turned on the light, made himself a cup of strong coffee, and then trudged back to bed.

Two days passed, and the time passed at an excruciatingly slow pace.Life for Gordon Lowe was miserable.The young man either called or showed up at the office at odd hours, and he clung to the inspector like a stubborn leech.Sam's sombre explanation that Patience was away for a few days to "rest" was by no means brimming with satisfaction. "Then why didn't she call me? Or leave me a note? Or something?" The inspector shrugged. "I don't want to hurt your feelings, boy, but who the hell are you?" Luo Wei blushed: "She loves me! What could be more proud than this!"

"Looks right, doesn't it?" But six days passed without a word from Patience.The inspector gave up.He no longer pretended to be indifferent, and for the first time in his life he experienced real fear.Forgetting to assume an air of innocence while he worked, he paced the office floor with heavy, hesitant steps; finally, on the sixth day, unable to bear the torture any longer, he took up his hat and left the building.Patience did not drive her sports car, which was parked in the public parking lot near Sam's house, which is where she usually parks.The inspector got into the car wearily and turned the car in the direction of Westchester.

He found Jerry Lane sitting in the sun in a small verdant garden in Hamlet Heights. As soon as he got out of the car, the inspector was so frightened by the old gentleman's appearance that he forgot his pain.In less than a week, Ryan had aged impossibly.His skin was sallow, like scorched fish scales, and he was wrapped in an Indian blanket. Although the sun was shining brightly, he seemed to be unbearably cold.His body seemed to shrink.Sam recalled that only a few days ago, this person had shown amazing vitality and super vitality, and he shuddered himself, looked away and sat down. "Okay, Inspector." Ren's voice was weak, almost hoarse, "It's good of you to come... I guess you must be frightened by my appearance?"

"Oh, no, no," said the inspector insincerely, "you look fine." Ryan smiled, "Old man, you can't lie. I look like ninety and feel like a hundred. You're freaking out. Do you remember Cyrano sitting under a tree in scene five? How many times have I played that role, an old shepherd boy who is about to die, under my old armor, the heart still has the power of youth to jump! But now..." He closed his eyes, "Martini is obviously worried The medics! They won't admit that old age is—to use Seneca's phrase—an incurable disease!" He opened his eyes and raised his voice, "Sam! What's the matter? What's the matter? ?”

The inspector put his hands on his face.When he took his hand away, his eyes were like wet marbles: "Yes—it's Patty. She's gone—Ren, for God's sake, you must help me find her!" The old gentleman's pale face became even paler, and he said slowly, "She...is missing?" "Yes, I mean no. She went on her own." The story spilled like quicksilver.When Ren's firm eyes looked at the inspector's lips, there were a few waves, "I don't know what to do, it's all my fault. I know something must have happened." Sam shouted, "She got a clue, It's been a bad idea to get her around. It might be dangerous, Rain. It's been almost a week. Maybe..." He broke off, unable to describe the horror and uneasiness in his heart. Ren murmured: "Then you think she's about to reveal the truth. She's out chasing that third party, the murderer. He might be bad for her..." The inspector nodded blankly, beating the chair regularly with his furious fists. The two were silent for a long time.A robin sat on a nearby branch and sang.Sam heard Quesy's old, rambling voice arguing with the gardener behind him.But Lane, deaf, couldn't hear, and sat looking at the grass at his feet.At last he sighed, and the veined old hand was on Sam's, who looked at him with painful hope. "Poor old friend, I am beyond description. Patience... Shakespeare once said something marvelous. He said: Oh, most delicate villain! Can't you understand a woman? You are too honest, friend, are you Men who are too primitive can't understand the psychological journey that Pacings went through. Women have inexhaustible abilities to create small tortures for the men around them, but they often don't know it." - Sam's haggard eyes engulfed His face—"Do you have a pen and paper with you?" "Pen?... Yes, yes." The inspector fumbled in his pockets frantically, and finally took out the item Ryan requested. He looked anxiously at his friend.Ren wrote steadily. After he finished writing, he raised his head. "Inspector, put this in the personal newsletters of all the New York papers. Maybe . . . who knows? Maybe it will help." Sam took the paper in a daze. "Let me know as soon as you have any news." "Of course." His voice broke, "Thank you, Ren." For a moment, a painful and distorted look appeared on the old gentleman's face, which was very weird, and then his lips arched into a weird smile: "This should be all right." He extended his hand to Sam, "Goodbye." "Goodbye," Sam murmured.Their hands touch.The inspector walked abruptly to his car.Before starting the engine, he read Ryan's note: Relieved, he smiled, put the engine down, waved, and disappeared into the smoke rising from the gravel road.Ren stood watching the car disappear with a very weird smile on his face.Then he sat down trembling, wrapping the blanket tighter. The next afternoon, two men sat facing each other, one old and one young, looking haggard and biting their nails.The apartment is cool and quiet.The ashtrays at their respective elbows were filled with cigarette butts.The floor between them was littered with morning papers. "Do you think she would..." Luo Wei asked hoarsely for the twelfth time. "Son, I don't know." Then they heard the front door key being turned in the lock.They all jumped up and rushed to the hall.The door opened, and it was Patience!She let out an "ah" and threw herself into the inspector's arms.Lowe waited quietly.No one spoke.The inspector muttered something meaningless, and Patience began to cry.She seemed tortured, exhausted, pale and distorted, as if she had returned from a catastrophe.The suitcase was jammed against the door frame, and the door remained open. Patience raised his head, his eyes lit up: "Gordon!" "Petty." The inspector turned and walked into the living room. "Petty, I never knew—" "I understand, Gordon." "I love you, Darling. I can't stand--" "Oh, Gordon." She put her hand on his shoulder. "You're a sweet boy. What I did was stupid." He suddenly grabbed her and held her tightly, and she could hear his heart beating against hers.They stood like that for a while, then kissed. Without saying a word, they walked into the living room. The inspector seemed to be a different person.He was grinning from ear to ear, smoking from a new cigar.He chuckled and said, "That's fine, that's fine. Congratulations, Gordon, son. Well, damn it, we can have a good time!" "Daddy!" Patience whispered.He stopped talking, and all expressions of joy disappeared from his face.Luo Wei grabbed her weak hand, and she squeezed it back gently. "He knows everything? Really?" "Everything? Who? Oh, Rain! That's what he said, Petty." He came over, wrapping his long, ape-like arms around her. "What the hell difference does it make? It's important that you come back , for me, that's enough." She gently pushed him away: "No, there are some things..." Sam frowned: "He told me to let him know as soon as you come back. I'd better make a call..." "Really?"—Patiens' haggard look faded away, and her eyes suddenly became wild.The two men stare at her, thinking she's crazy - "No, I'll tell you. Better we tell him ourselves. Oh, I'm such a stupid, rambunctious, disgusting idiot!" She stands up and bites hard Pursing her lower lip, she rushed toward the hall. "He could be in great danger," she yelled. "Let's go!" "But, Petty..." Lowe protested. "I said go. I knew... oh, we might be too late!" She turned and ran out of the apartment.Lowe and Sam looked at each other with some uneasiness on their faces, then grabbed their hats and rushed out after her. They piled into the sports car and drove away.Young Lowe drives; if under the lights he's a gentle bookworm, behind the wheel he's a dragon.For a while—until they got out of the city traffic—they didn't speak, Lowe focused on walking, Patience pale with strange, dazed eyes, and Sam on guard like a watchdog. When the city was far behind and the wide road stretched out like a white ribbon, the inspector broke the silence: "Petty, tell us! Clearly Wren is in trouble. I don't know you at all, you should have tell me." "Yeah!" she said hoarsely. "It's all my fault... Dad, it's not fair that you don't know. And you, Gordon. It's important that you both know. Gordon , drive faster! Let me tell you, there is bloody disaster ahead!" Luo Wei's lips tightened, and the sports car rushed forward like a hare. "At the end..." began Patience, nose quivering, "but you saw it too. We came to the conclusion that the victim and the murderer were the Sedra brothers. We think one of them killed the other in the house." But then things changed. Last week - in the museum - things changed. We found out that the dead in the ruins was Hannie, the survivor was his brother William, and William couldn't possibly be the two who entered the house on the night of the murder. One of the individuals. You remember how I proved it - with a key. So that means our theory is broken, we know the victim was Hannah Sedra, but we don't know who was the first one that night The man who entered the house, the man who kidnapped Maxwell, the man with the axe... When I think about this, I recall some forgotten things, some things I didn't fully understand when they happened or when I saw them. But then it was like . . . as clear and frightening as a bolt of lightning." She cast her eyes on the road ahead: "The crux of the whole problem is to find the first person to enter the house. What happened at that time? After this person tied up Maxwell and gagged him, He took Maxwell's duplicate key and returned to the house. The door closed behind him naturally because of the spring lock. He took out a small ax from the wooden box in the kitchen and attacked the study. Obviously, in theory, the study is the most powerful The place where the papers he was looking for might be hidden. He had no idea where the papers might be hidden in the study; he chopped everything up mercilessly, and that was the evidence. First he might have gone through all the books and guessed that the papers might be in the In one of the books. Couldn't find it, so he hacked away the furniture with the axe - the paneled walls, the floor, etc. At midnight we knew from the hands of the clock that he had broken the clock, and I guess he thought the inside Possibly hiding documents. But he has absolutely no clue, he can't find it in the study. And he can't find it anywhere else on the first floor. So he goes upstairs to William Sedra's bedroom, because that's the second most likely A place to hide things." "We all know that, Petty." Sam looked at her strangely. "Dad, please... from the broken bedroom clock, we know he was in the bedroom at 12:24. Well, according to Hannie's watch, he was killed in the house at 12:26— Just two minutes after the hacker broke the clock in the upstairs bedroom. The question is: what time did Hannie enter the house? He had to open the door, go into the study, see the chaos, walk to the hollow wall above the bookshelves, Take out the documents, climb down the ladder, maybe check the documents, then meet the murderer, struggle and die. Obviously this whole process takes more than two minutes! So when Hanne entered the house, the axeman was still in the house." "So?" The inspector's voice sank. "I'm going to get there." Patience said calmly, "William Sedra's last testimony said that Hanne wanted to destroy the documents. Once Hanne got the documents in the study, he would What should I do? Destroy it immediately. What method should I use to destroy it? Fire is the quickest and most convenient way. He must have lit a match, held the document in his hand, and began to put the paper on the flame." She sighed "Of course this is just a theory, it doesn't help the matter, but it clears up a doubt. This explains the ax marks on Hannie's wrist and watch! Because if Hannie was just about to put the match to the file, it happened to be killed by a knife The ax hand held it squarely—he wanted to save the document, not destroy it—and in his desperation naturally attacked Hanne to save the document from being destroyed by fire. So he swung his ax like lightning The ax slashed at Hannie's hand, slashing at his wrist and watch, forcing the vandals to let go of the documents and matches. Undoubtedly, Hannie also stood up to resist. During the struggle, the axeman shot him. The whole struggle Probably started from the study, where the axeman put down the axe, and slowly moved to the corridor, where we found Hannie's monocle lens, where Hanne might have been shot... The axeman took Hanne's body dragged down the cellar, not knowing the bomb was there, and then, if the papers hadn't been destroyed before he slashed Hannie's wrist, he picked up the papers and left the house. The point of all these slashings and struggles is that the knife Axeman will stop at nothing - even physical confrontation, murder - to preserve that document." Hamlet House is located on the top of the cliff, and Lowe is concentrating on walking on the steep road. When he wrestled with the winding and narrow road skillfully, Patience was silent.Suddenly, the manor loomed in front of us, across the quirky little bridge, the tires singing along the gravel road. Luo Wei frowned and asked: "Even if these are the truth, wear it, I still don't understand what the result is. The trace of the murderer is still as far away as before." "Do you think so?" cried Patience.She closed her eyes and flinched, like a child swallowing bitter medicine. "It's all clear, as clear as—Original Sin! The character of the man—his character, Gordon. What happened in the house Things exposed his identity!" The two men looked at her puzzled.They passed through the gate now, and drove slowly down the winding drive.The tiny figure of Quesy, with its wrinkled head on its shoulders emerging from the lilac bushes, squinted, then broke into a thousand-wrinkled smile, beckoned, and bounded to the road. Lowe stopped the car. "Quissy!" Patience's voice was stiff, and he stood up slightly between the two men, "How is Mr. Wren?" "Hello, Miss Sam." Quesy looked happy, "He is much better today, thank you, he is much better. Inspector, I am going to send you this letter!" "Letter?" Sam asked suspiciously. "That's strange. Then give it to me!" Quasi handed him a square envelope, and he tore the edge. "A letter?" Patience was also at a loss, and sat between the two men again, staring at the blue sky, and she said again: "Thank God, he is fine." The inspector was originally reading the letter quietly, then a deep groove was drawn between his brows, and he read aloud: The inspector squirmed and flattened his nose: "I don't understand." Lowe looked around quickly, and the clock towers of the peaceful Hamlet House shone peacefully under the treetops. Patience couldn't breathe: "Quisy, where is Mr. Wren?" Kuisi's little frog's eyes lit up: "Basking in the sun in the West Garden, Miss Sam. I dare say he must be surprised to see you. I know he is not waiting for guests today." The two men jumped out of the sports car, and Patience stepped stiffly onto the gravel road.Walking between the two of them, with Quesy quietly following behind, Patience began to walk across the lush grass towards the West Garden. "You know..." Her voice was so small that they had to prick up their ears, "The axeman exposed his identity. He didn't make a mistake. But in fact he didn't know that he made a mistake-fate for him Mistakes made, fate turned into a cheap alarm clock." "Alarm clock?" muttered the inspector. "While we were searching the study, we saw Maxwell's alarm clock on the mantelpiece. The alarm clock was still set. What does this mean? The alarm clock went off at the appointed hour—twelve midnight. (Because We checked the morning after Maxwell set it, just before twelve noon.) You remember when we searched, the timer lever on the alarm clock was pointing 'on'. If we saw the timer lever set to "On", then the alarm clock must have sounded. What is the meaning of whether the alarm clock rings or not? If it has sounded, we can see that the timer stem is still in the "on" position, which means that it must ring until it stops. If it rings, If it is turned off by someone, the timing lever is not in the 'on' position, but in the 'off' position. Therefore, the alarm clock has not been turned off. The alarm clock rings and rings until the spring inside is loosened, and the timing lever is still Put it in the 'on' position..." "But what does that mean, Petty?" Lowe called. "That says everything. We know that Axe was in the room at midnight, so he must have been there when the alarm started going off. We know from two things that Maxwell said he always kept the house The same time as the clock here, and it happened to be twelve o'clock when the old grandfather clock was hacked." Luo Wei took a step back, silent and extremely pale. "Well, I'm listening," growled the inspector uneasily, "but why didn't your axeman turn off the alarm clock when it went off? He must have been shocked! Anybody in someone else's house If you're sneaking around in something, you're bound to jump up and turn it off, whether anyone's overheard or not." They stopped under an old oak tree, and Patience felt blindly at the rough bark. He went to turn off the alarm clock, but he didn't do anything." Sam muttered, "I don't understand. Come on, Gordon." He walked past the tree.The others followed slowly.Not far away, there was a row of dwarf wax trees, and they saw Leith's quietly curled figure sitting on a log bench, with his back to them. Patience let out a sad choked sound, and the inspector quickly turned around. Lowe, with his eyes glazed over, rushed forward and put his arms around her waist. "What's the matter?" said the inspector slowly. "Papa, wait a minute," Patience cried, "wait a minute. You don't understand, you still don't understand. Why didn't you hear the ticking time bomb when the axeman dragged the body of Viny Sedra into the cellar? Why did he have to cut the wall of the study? He was obviously looking for a hollow. What is the normal way to look for a hollow? Tap! Tap! Dad! Why didn't he How about knocking on some siding?" Sam looked at Patience and Gordon, startled and uneasy: "Why?" Patience rested his trembling hand on his big one: "Please. Look at him before you. The axeman threw the alarm clock off, he didn't investigate the ticking of the bomb in the cellar, he didn't tap the wall Banyi Dad, the reasons are the same. Oh, do you understand? I thought so hard, and suddenly realized, what a terrible realization, I was like a child. I ran away blindly. I want to run away, anywhere is fine... he He can't hear the alarm clock, he can't hear the bombs ticking, he can't hear the hollow sound even when he slaps the wallboard. He's deaf!" The small valley was silent.The inspector's jaw dropped like the iron floor of a guillotine; his eyes were filled with conscious terror.Lowe stood stone-like, his arms stiffly clasped around Patience's trembling body.Kuixi, who was walking behind, suddenly let out a suppressed scream, and fell on the grass like a dead person. The inspector raised his trembling feet and walked forward, touching Ryan's quiet shoulder.Patience turned his head, buried his face in Roham's coat, and wept as if heartbroken. The old gentleman's head dropped to his chest, responding to Sam's touch.The inspector's size and weight did not hinder his agility. He rushed to the chair and grabbed Ryan's hand. His hands were already cold, and a small empty glass tube slipped from his white fingers onto the green grass.