Chapter 10 chapter Ten

Caro neither smoked nor played sports, and had no hobbies to soothe his high-strung nerves. McGarry hadn't realized that it was this stiff look on the other side that made him feel so uncomfortable, but when he saw Caro reach for a candy box on the desk and take out a dragee, Only then did he understand. This was originally a trivial matter, but the sheriff's small eyes sparkled, as if he had discovered the seam on the opponent's breastplate.Caro doesn't smoke, doesn't drink, doesn't go for sex, and only eats some sweets. He has a sugar-coated almond in his mouth, and he tosses it from side to side in his mouth.

"I can say that we are all veterans," McGregor finally spoke again. "As an expert, I will tell you why you have to be arrested." The dragee squirmed even more in Caro's mouth. "Take the first murder. I mean the first murder in this case, because there may be other murders on your credit. The attorney for whom you were the first clerk, no Was it poisoned to death?" "This case has not been proven." Caro said coldly. He wondered what exactly McGregor could do to him, and the sheriff's mind was running full throttle. "Never mind! Three weeks ago you decided to get rid of Barnabert. As far as I know, Barnabert was responsible for the communication between Paris and Marseilles, that is to say, as a liaison between you and the Leventin family. They brought in the drugs by boat. I figured Barnabe wanted to keep the biggest share for himself, so he was asked to get into the car, and it was one night. Suddenly, Barnabe felt a knife go into him back, and a few minutes later, he was thrown out of the car and crushed on the pavement. Now you see your mistake?"

McGarry reached for the matchbox again to see if the log was still in its place.At the same time, he tried his best to hide his uncontrollable smile, because Ka Ruo thought about it, and he began to search for his mistakes seriously like a self-conscious elementary school student. "I'll tell you later!" McGregor promised, interrupting his thoughts. "Now, I'll go on. The police authorities just happen to be on the verge of finding Pepido's case somehow. Because the drugs are in Floria's bar and Floria is under surveillance, the situation is critical. Pepido Pido thought he was going to be arrested soon and threatened to give away his accomplices if you didn't try to save him, so you shot him dead when he thought he was alone in the bar. Come on, there's nothing wrong."

Caro looked up again, the dragee still on her tongue. "There's been nothing wrong with it so far. Do you begin to see it? But then you find a policeman hiding in the bar and you slip away, and you're eager to put the blame on the policeman. At first glance, the whole thing seems It seems very clever, but he made a mistake, this is the second mistake." McGarry did it very well this time, as long as he spoke calmly, he could be sure of winning.Caro listened and thought at the same time, and melancholy began to eat away at his peace. "The third murder: Get rid of Odia, because such an Odia, he will definitely give an answer. The police stared at him, and it is impossible to use a knife or a gun. I dare say that Odia has the habit of drinking water every night. , this time, he drank more, because he was drunk, and he lay down and never woke up again, because the water in the pot belly bottle had been poisoned. The third mistake."

McGregor is desperate, but he is full of confidence in himself!Things can only develop like this, there is no second possibility. "I'm just waiting for you to say these three mistakes!" Caro finally said, reaching for the dragee box. The sheriff's mind was now thinking of the hotel in the rue du Lepic, where musicians, dancers, and whores lived chiefly. "In Odia's case, the fault was that someone put poison in the flask!" Caro didn't seem to understand what he meant, and swallowed another dragee, and there was a faint sweetness and a strange smell of vanilla in the air.

"In order to get rid of Barnabe," continued McGregor, pouring out his drink, "you brought at least two people: Pepido and the driver, perhaps Eugène. Later, Pepido threatened to betray his comrades. " "Are you listening to me? The consequences are: Pepido must be killed. This time you killed him single-handedly. But, self-defeating, you immediately went to Odia and ordered him to bump into the plainclothes police. The inevitable result of this What is it? Eugene, Louis, the owner of the tobacconist, a 'Brot' fan called Colin, and Odia, all of them have been implicated in this case."

"Then Odia wavered, and you had to destroy him again!" "Yesterday afternoon, however, you did not go to the rue Lepic in person. You must have taken advantage of a lodger who was staying at the hotel and called him." "Another accomplice! A potential leaker!" "This time, you should understand, right?" Caro has been thinking.The sun beats down on the chrome phone earpiece.time flies.The crowd around the carts was growing, and the noise from the street carried into the suite, despite the windows being closed. "Even if you are very smart, why is Yu always entangled by useless accomplices who might betray you every time? You can easily take Barna, who is not on guard against you, anywhere. You don't need Odia in the case of the murder of Pepido. You were not under surveillance yesterday, and you could have gone to the rue Lepic by yourself. There are no porters in those hotels, and you can come and go freely. .”

Sometimes, footsteps could be heard on the stairs.McGarry tried his best to remain calm and continued to deliver his grand remarks as if nothing had happened. "At this stage, there are at least five people who can denounce you. It is absolutely impossible for five people to keep such things secret for a long time." "I didn't stab Barnabe to death." Caro said slowly, his face more gloomy than ever. McGregor immediately seized the opportunity and said with confidence: "I know!" Caro gave McGregor a surprised look, and narrowed his eyelids. "Stabbing is a thing for Italians like Pepido."

As long as he made a little more effort, he could succeed, but at this moment, the female cleaner opened the door, and McGregor thought that all previous efforts had been wasted. "It's time for me to go grocery shopping," she said, "How about some vegetables?" "As you please." "Do you have money?" Caro drew money from a sturdy, worn little purse with a metal clasp, a penny-pincher's wallet indeed.He drew out two ten-franc notes.The bottle on the table was empty, and he handed it to the maid. "Here, go and return it. The returned bottle is stuck with you."

However, Ka Ruo has lost his mind.Marthe left without closing the door, but she closed the landing door and could hear the kettle boiling on the kitchen stove. McGregor's gaze has been watching all the actions of the other party, watching so carefully that he even forgot about the telephone and the stenographer ambushing the telephone central office.His mind had opened, and he couldn't even tell when it had begun.He had already talked a great deal, and had not had time to fully consider what he had said.His off-the-cuff arguments have brought him so close to the truth. His arguments include candy bars in candy boxes, small purses, and even the word "vegetables."

"I can assert that you follow a regimen." "It's been twenty years." Ka Ruo no longer ordered him to leave, and it could even be said that he was needed now.He saw that McGregor's glass was empty and said: "I'll get you wine when Marthe comes back. There's never only one bottle of wine in the house." "I know." "How did you know that?" Because this is closely related to everything else, the reason is obvious!Because now Caro is no longer an opponent to McGregor but a person.McGarry got to know this man better every second, he felt alive, breathing, thinking, and he was terrified, but taking chances, McGarry heard the harsh sound of him chewing on the dragee. Voice. The furnishings in the room also became lively, including desks, furniture, and those sour oil paintings. "Do you know what I'm thinking, Karo?" This sentence is not empty words, but along with a train of thought. "I'm wondering if you really killed Pepido? Now, I'm almost sure you didn't." McGregor's tone of voice was no longer the same as when he spoke just now.Excited, he leaned forward a little to get a good look at Caro. "I'll tell you right away why I think so. If you could kill Pepido with a single shot, you wouldn't need someone else to kill Barnabe and Odia. The fact is that you are afraid and cowardly." Caro's mouth was parched, but he still managed to put on a sardonic smile. "Do you dare to say that you have killed a chicken or a rabbit! How dare you look at the blood and not be afraid!" McGregor has few qualms anymore.He already understood very well, so he went straight to the point. "Let's unify! You are afraid of killing with your own hands, but that does not prevent you from punishing someone! Quite the contrary! You are afraid of killing, you are afraid of death, but that makes you even more maddened to instigate others to murder. Isn't it, Caro?" ?” There was neither hatred nor pity in McGregor's voice. He studied Caro with the interest of studying human psychological activities, and the "notary" was a wonderful research object in his mind.When he was young, he served as a litigant attorney, which may only be said to be God's will. Caro had been, and still is, an ignorant man.He was alone at home all day, with his eyes closed, and he cobbled together strange schemes, schemes of every kind, financial, murderous, or pornographic. Did people really never see him mingling with women?Of course!Because it is impossible for a woman to help him realize his worsening desires: Karo seemed to be introspective, introverted in his lair, saturated with plots, dreams, and scents. Caro's gaze fell through the window to the sun-drenched street, the crowds were bustling in front of the roadside stalls, and buses full of passengers were driving back and forth on the roadway.At such moments, his thoughts were not on mingling with the lively crowd outside, but on how to play tricks and tricks on them. "You're a coward, Caro!" McGregor snapped angrily. "Like all the self-defeating cowards in the world, you traffic women, you traffic cocaine. God knows what else you do, I think you can do anything. However, you acted as the eyes and ears of the police station at the same time!" Caro's dingy eyes never left McGregor, and McGregor could no longer restrain his emotions, and continued: "You sent Pepido to murder Barnabe. I'll tell you right away who you sent to murder Pepido. There's a handsome young man in your gang, young, with everything: women, money, With credit, he is unscrupulous and shameless." "Did you say that you were not at the Fontaine on the night of the murder of Pepido! There was the proprietor, the brothel-keeper named Colin, who was meaner than you, Odia, the Maasais, and Ou Benevolence." "It was Eugène that you sent to Floria. When he came back from his murder, he told you there was a man in the bar, and you put Odia in there again." "And then?" Caro asked. "What use is all this to you?" He propped his hands on the armrests of the chair as if trying to stand up.He stretched his neck forward slightly, assuming a nonchalant attitude. "What use is all this to me? To prove to you that I must have you, that you're a coward, and that you're besieged." "I swear to you, you will never stop me." He smirked, his eyes became slits, and he added slowly: "There's never been a wise man in the police! You were talking about poisoning. Since you've been in the police, perhaps you can tell me how many cases of poisoning are detected in Paris every year?" McGregor had no time to answer. "None! Did you hear that? You are not so ignorant as to believe that some of the four million inhabitants have not died suddenly from an overdose of arsenic or strychnine?" Karo finally stood up.McGregor had been waiting for this move from him for a long time.This is a sign that the brain needs to relax after a long period of intense work, and relaxation means talking casually. "Even today, I could have wiped you out. I've thought about putting poison in the wine you're drinking and I'll send you to heaven. Please note that the bottle is no longer here, and all that remains is to wash the glass." Just wash. I don't care where you die after you get out of here..." McGarry had doubts, but they disappeared in the blink of an eye. "You're right. I didn't kill Barnabe, I didn't kill Pepido, I didn't even kill Odia, that fool!" Caro held a candy box in his hand, and his voice was very low, but his expression was very coherent.He looked ridiculous, for his short hair and uncombed hair seemed to have a strange halo around it.If it hadn't been for the phone, the sheriff would have opened the window long ago to change the depressing stuffiness in the house that had been closed for so long. "It doesn't make sense for me to tell you anything because you are no longer a sworn police officer and there are no witnesses." Caro seemed to be suspicious suddenly, looked in the corridor, and even opened his bedroom to take a look. "What you don't understand is that they will not betray me, even if they have committed more serious crimes than me! Pepido was indeed killed by Eugene, the pistol provided by Louis and Floria the key. If Odan gets to brag about it, do you know what happens? It's little Colin's turn, that deaf, stuttering, stunted guy, who's going to be at the nearest Putting poison in Eugene's wine glass one night while playing 'Brott'. It doesn't have to kill a chicken as you think." McGarry walked to the desk for his hat and matchbox, his knees trembling slightly.It's over!He achieved the desired purpose!For him now all he has to do is walk away!Plainclothes were waiting on the street with arrest warrants in their pockets.At Police Headquarters, while waiting for news, everyone must be playing a game of predicting the outcome. McGarry had been at Carrow's house for two hours.Eugene, who was wearing silk pajamas, was probably eating a late breakfast face to face with Fernand.Where was Philip's kind mother now? Someone could be heard coming up the stairs, followed by a loud knock on the door.Caro glanced at McGarry, then at the pistol still on the desk. When Caro went to answer the door, the sheriff put his hand in the pocket of his trousers where his pistol was, and stood in the middle of the room. "What's the matter?" Eugene shouted at the entrance. The two of them immediately came to the door of the office.Footsteps followed them: it was Fernand, and she looked at McGregor in surprise. "What's the matter?" Eugene repeated. Yet a taxi had rumbled up to the gate with a screech of brakes. Eugene immediately ran to the window. "I told you so!" he growled lowly. The police, who were watching Fernante's house, followed the couple, and they jumped onto the pavement. Karo stood motionless, gun in hand, thinking about something. "What are you doing here?" He was addressing Eugene, and Eugene was addressing him at the same time: "I called four times, but..." McGregor had quietly retreated to the foot of the wall, standing with his back against the wall. Hearing the word phone, Caro immediately glanced at the phone.At this moment, there was a gunshot, and a smell of burnt gunpowder filled the room, and a long thin wisp of light blue smoke curled up in the sunlight. It was McGregor who fired the shot just now.The bullet hit Caro's right hand holding the gun, and the pistol immediately fell to the floor. "Hold on!" shouted the sheriff, keeping the pistol pointed at him. Ka Ruo froze in fright.The dragee in his mouth had deformed his left cheek, and he dared not move. Someone came upstairs. "Go and open the door, Fernand." McGregor ordered. She searched Eugene's eyes, wondering whether to obey orders, but her lover kept staring at the floor.So, resignedly, she crossed the anteroom, drew off the chain, turned the key in the lock, and opened the door. Blood dripped from Karo's hand drop by drop.When each drop of blood hit the ground, there was a faint sound, and the blood spread on the carpet, and then condensed into a pool of dark brown stains. Suddenly, before McGregor rushed to block, Eugene rushed towards the window, opened the window suddenly, shattered a piece of glass, and then jumped out of the window with a diving leap. Shouts erupted in the street.Eugene fell on the roof of the taxi parked at the door, rolled and jumped to the ground, and ran towards Dam Street. At this time, two plain clothes had arrived, and they were standing in the door frame of the suite. "What happened?" they asked McGregor. "Nothing. You arrested Caro, and you have a summons for his arrest. Is there anyone downstairs?" "No." Fernant stared at the open window, tongue-tied and puzzled. "So, he has to run for a while!" As McGarry spoke, he took out the small piece of wood and stuffed it into his pocket.He felt that something was wrong with Caro, but nothing serious.Caro lost strength in her legs and rolled down on the carpet, limp all over. He fainted, probably because he saw his own blood dripping down. "Wait until he wakes up, please, and if you want to take him away now, call a doctor. The telephone works now." McGarry pushed Fernand towards the landing and let her go down the stairs in front.A large crowd of people had already gathered in front of the gate.A policeman tries to make his way through the crowd. The sheriff finally squeezed his way through the crowd and found Fernand again in front of a butcher's shop on the corner of the avenue. "Still in love with him?" he asked. He found her wearing a brand new fur coat and ran his hands lightly over the fur. "He bought it?" "Yes, this morning." "Did you know that Pepido was killed by him?" "what!" She didn't object, however.McGregor smiled. "Has he already told you?" She just fluttered her eyelashes. "when?" "This morning." Suddenly, she put on a serious face, and as Eugene's lover, she thought it was time for her to speak: "You don't want to catch him!" The situation was exactly as she said.A month later, she met Eugene in Istanbul, where Eugene opened a nightclub on the city's Bella Avenue.As for Caro, he worked as an accountant in the convict prison. "At your request," Madame Loe wrote to her sister, "I shall send you as soon as possible the six plum saplings which we plant in the garden of the little tower. It will grow very well. But you should tell your husband that he keeps too many twigs on the fruit tree, in my opinion." "Philip has been in much better health since he came home. He is a good boy, he hardly ever goes out, and his hobby in the evenings is doing crossword puzzles. But these days I see him coming to Schaefer's mansion ( Schaefer who runs the gasworks) and I think the end result must be to marry that girl." "And tell your husband one more thing. The same play we saw at the Royard was performed here last night. But it was not as good as in Paris..." McGarry, wearing rubber boots, came home with three pike catches. "Don't eat the fish!" said his wife. "Of course!" He said it so wittily that his wife looked up to see his expression, but there was no one there!He went to the warehouse to put away his fishing rods and take off his boots. "If you have to eat everything you kill, that's fine!" Along with these words, there was also a bizarre image in McGregor's mind: that was Caro, facing the corpses of Pepido and Odia, his face was livid and he was at a loss.Even that image failed to make McGregor smile. "What kind of soup do you make?" he asked loudly, sitting on a wooden box. "Tomato soup." "Very good!" He took off his boots one by one on the well-trodden dirt floor, and at the same time let out a sigh of relief.

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