Chapter 23 Chapter 22: The Disappeared Americans

"Where are we going?" Sergeant Quinn asked.Panting, he followed the striding Ellery across Broadway, west. "Big stadium... no, it's like a myth... now I understand it all!" Officer Quinn followed Ellery almost at a trot all the way, and he couldn't get up the atmosphere, and he didn't care about Ellery's tricks at all. There are two reasons for the stadium's current closure - a routine Sunday closure, and a police closure.But despite this, there seemed to be a lot of life on the field. Although the guards are heavily guarded, they have not received orders to prevent anyone from entering or leaving.

As soon as Quinn and his son arrived at the scene, they found that the men and horses of the cavalry regiment were still stationed in the sports field.Cowboys can be seen leisurely moving and walking everywhere on the field.Grant himself had come nearly an hour earlier.Ellery dragged his father all the way down to the basement. The auditorium was empty. They made a tour of the basement powder room area, where the cowboys gathered quietly, mostly smoking and chatting to pass the time.Ellery Quinn finds Hank (Danu) Boone sitting in a dressing room, puffing and reeking of alcohol. "Boone!" Ellery called from the door. "I was looking for you."

"Aha?" said the little cowboy in a rough voice, with wandering eyes, "oh, yes—it's the Sheriff, that's scary. Come in, Mr. Sheriff. Would you like a drink?" "Come with 'em, Danu," said a cowboy roughly, "don't go on drinking mad." So Boone staggered to his feet, and staggered toward the door: "Your Majesty, my Majesty," he muttered vaguely, "Is there—something important?" "Maybe," Ellery said, laughing. "Come with me, Boone. There's a couple of things I want to ask you." Boon shook his head and followed Ellery sluggishly.Officer Quinn was waiting for them at the corner of the passage.

Ellery asked softly, "Do you remember the night Buck Horn was murdered?" "My God!" cried Boon, "why bring that up again? My lord, I'll never forget it!" "Oh, you remember a month's enough for me. Now listen, do you remember Officer Quinn telling you to keep the horses in check after the accident--keep 'em on one side of the show?" "Remember." Boone woke up vigilantly, his small bloodshot eyes flicked at Officer Quinn and Ellery, looking at a loss. "Do you remember exactly what happened?" Boon wiped his dangling chin with a dirty hand. "Something," he muttered, "putting Mara to drink, and...and..."

"What else?" "Oh, just to drink horses." "Isn't it?" Ellery said with a smile. "There are other things." "Is there?" Boone scratched his chin. "Oh, yes, yes, yes! There's a horse—a rogue horse, disobedient, so damn stubborn! Won't drink water, I had to whip it." "Ah. What happened next?" "A cowboy came running and snatched my whip." "why?" "I smoked him in a hurry, too," murmured Boon. "A horse is no good, my lord. Besides, it's a fine horse—named Young Joan, and Horn rode it even for the movies. So Miller just..."

"Oh, Miller is the one who took your whip?" "Yeah, Benjamin Miller. The new guy--the guy with the scary scar on his face. He was riding Yingjun that night. Buck Horn was riding Kit's Raohai that day. I think the horse is delicate and used to it, but who has the time to coax it slowly, my lord," said Boon muffled, "I've never beaten a horse, and such a fine horse..." "Yeah, yeah," said Ellery absent-mindedly, "you must have been in a hurry, but you've been kind to them, I know that. Have the troupe horses been kept in the stables in the playground?"

"What? No. The stables here are only for temporary use before and after the show, to rest and wash up... That's it," Boone said. "After the show, take them to the big stable over on Tenth Avenue. circle around." "I see. Another question: Who is Miller? Have you seen him today?" "He's around here. I saw him an hour or two ago. I..." "Okay then, old friend. Thank you. Dad, come on." Ellery dragged his father away in a hurry, and Danu Boon stood there dumbfounded. Several cowboys from the riding regiment said they had seen Miller that day, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Quinn and his son went upstairs and walked into Crazy Bill Grant's office, and found that the old entertainer had his feet on the table and was staring blankly.Seeing them walk in, I was a little indifferent. "Hmph," he said sullenly, "what's the trouble now?" "Come to ask you something, Mr. Grant," said Ellery kindly. "Did you see that Miller just now?" Grant was taken aback for a moment, then leaned back heavily on the back of the chair, and took a sip of his cigar: "Who?" "Miller, Benjamin Miller. The one with the scar."

"Oh, him," Grant slowly stretched his thick arms, "where did you see him today," he asked absently, "what do you want him to do?" "Where do you think he is now?" Ellery asked. Grant couldn't sit still.He swung his legs, put them down from the table, and said with a frown, "Have you come up with another idea, and suddenly you are concerned about the people in my regiment, Mr. Quinn?" "Only interested in Miller, really," Ellery said, laughing. "Well, well, sir, tell me where he is?" Grant hesitated, his eyes hesitating.It took a long time before he said: "I don't know."

Ellery glanced at his father, and the old man seemed interested too. "You know," said Ellery, sitting in a chair with his legs crossed comfortably, "I've been meaning to ask you for a long time, but I just now remembered. Mr. Grant, Miller and Buck Horn Are you familiar?" "Huh?" growled Grant. "Why should I know? I've never seen him before. Buck recommended him, and that's all I can tell you." "How do you know Buck recommended him? Miller himself?" Grant laughed suddenly wildly. "Damn it, no. I'm not that stupid, man. He gave me a note from Buck, and that's why I took him."

Officer Quinn's eyes widened: "The note written by Horn!" He screamed, "For the sake of the merciful God, why didn't you tell us earlier? Hey, tell me..." "Tell you?" Grant frowned. "You didn't ask. I said he was from Buck, and I lied. You didn't mention anything about the note, did you? I ..." "Come, come," said Ellery hastily, "don't argue about it any more. Is that note still there, Mr. Grant?" "Where did I put it?" Grant fumbled in his pockets. "I know I won't lose it. . . Here! Hey, look." Pass it over there, "See if I'm hiding anything from you." The note was written on Barclay's Hotel letterhead, in bold, wild handwriting. It says: "Is this Horne's handwriting, Mr. Grant?" Inspector Quinn asked suspiciously. "Exactly." "Dare you swear?" "Go and see for yourself," said Grant coldly.Then he stood up and took out a legal document from the safe. It was a contract between Grant and Horn.Sign the names of both of them in the signature space below.Officer Quinn compared Horn's signature on the two pieces of paper, and returned the contract to Grant without a word. "Is the handwriting the same?" Ellery asked. Officer Quinn nodded. "So you don't know where Miller is at the moment, oh, Mr. Grant?" said Ellery briskly. Grant stood up and kicked the chair leg with his toe. "Who knows who's going to hell!" where?" "Oh, shh," Ellery said softly, "he's got a temper." He got up and walked out of the room. Officer Quinn comforted Grant for a while before coming out.I don't know what they were talking about, but when Officer Quinn came out the door was--for the first time that day--smiling.Ellery could still be heard in the corridor—Crazy Mr. Bill Grant was kicking Tony Mars's desk again. They asked the detective on duty that day if a scar-faced cowboy had left the field.The answer is that it seems that such a person has gone out.Miller left the field about two hours ago.The detective didn't notice which direction he was going. Quinn and his son then searched for Barclay Hotel, where the cowboys stayed. There was no sign of Miller at the hotel either.No one saw him come back to the hotel that afternoon. By this time Officer Quinn was on alert, and Ellery was restless. "It looks like this," Officer Quinn said helplessly standing in the corridor, "it seems..." Ellery whistled nervously to himself: "Yeah, yeah, I know. Miller seems to have slipped through our fingers. Strange, very strange. I'm afraid I'm going to... tell you ! Now what do you want to do, Dad?" "I'm going back to headquarters," said Sergeant Quinn grimly. "Immediately set up a manhunt. I've got to get him, if that's the last thing we can do. If he's nothing, he's gotta hide like this." Did you hide it?" "It's too early to draw conclusions. Because a man is missing for a few hours without a warrant. Maybe he's talking somewhere or watching a movie. Well, you can do what you want. I want to stay here... …No, I'm going back to the playground." At six o'clock, it was already dark.Quinn and his son met again on the sports field. "Dad, what are you doing here?" Ellery asked in surprise. "Same as you want to do." "I was just walking around... how's your luck there?" "Oh," said Sergeant Quinn gravely, "we seem to be in trouble this time." "No!" "Miller escaped." "affim?" "Looks like it is. We've looked everywhere the guy's been since he came to town—and there's no sign. The whole troupe is there, except Miller. And no one knows where he's been. He was last seen leaving the sports field at around two or three o'clock in the afternoon. He has since disappeared." "Did he take anything with him?" "I don't seem to have anything with me except the clothes I'm wearing. A warrant has been issued and a search is underway. Oh, this guy must be caught." Ellery opened his mouth, but closed it again without a sound. "I looked into Miller's past," Officer Quinn said. "You know what I found?" "What?" Ellery asked, eyes wide. "Nothing, he has no background information. A hacker. We don't know anything about this guy's past, he's so mysterious. Well, it won't be long. I think we're on the right track now ’” He smiled. “Miller! And Grant, must be complicit. Mark my words.” "I'm having a hard time remembering my own words," Ellery said.Then he smiled mysteriously, "How do you explain the angle at which the two bullets hit the victim from top to bottom?" Police Officer Quinn's laughter stopped, and his face sank: "Oh, that," he said, "I've never been able to figure that out. I have to admit..." He spread his hands helplessly, "When the boat reaches the bridge, it will be natural. Come on. I'm going back to Central Avenue."