Chapter 11 beach brothers
On a December day in the mid-forty-fives, Ben Snow stepped off the train in Elizabethtown to hire a horse and buggy for the rest of the trip to the Atlantic coast.
The country had finished expanding to the west, and he often felt contradicted by his gradual eastward journey.Now there are forty-five states, traversing the North American continent from east to west, and the territorial issues of Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona are also being discussed, and will soon be included in the federation.As a young man he had fought the Indians and occasionally traveled to Mexico, but now he was wandering East—Buffalo, Savannah, and New Orleans.
When he was young, rivers such as the Mississippi and the Delaware had only their names on imprecise maps.But now, he is past his age, and the era has entered the twentieth century, everything is different.The West no longer needed soldiers to fight the Indians, nor hired gunmen who drew their guns as quickly as Billy the Kid.
Ben Snow was not at all the kind of man who would be willing to be a farmhand.He had considered taking a job at Pinkerton to put his crime-solving skills to use, but the detective agency was deeply involved in strike-breaking, which wasn't to his liking.So he wandered about, doing work when he found it, and helping old friends when he could.
He had never traveled this far east to North Carolina before, and he soon noticed that, here in 1903, people were not wearing gun belts in the streets.So while he was negotiating the rent of horses and carriages, he put his own gun in the trunk as well. "Kitty Hawk," he said to the man in the stable, "how far?"
"About thirty-five miles," answered the man, "you follow this road east to Bucktown and then south along the coast. It's on a narrow promontory that goes all the way to Hytras." , but you can hire a ferry across the sea. Why would anyone go to Kitty Hawk in December? There's nothing but sand, and it's too cold to swim. Most of the time, the wind blows like a storm."
"I've got to see somebody," replied Ben. "How much for a horse and buggy?"
They haggled for a while, and then at last Ben got into the carriage and hit the road.He saw a few cars on the streets of the city—people were starting to call them that, but he didn't have the guts to try.Besides, he didn't know the condition of the road along the sandy beach.
He passed the town of Buck, went south along the coast, saw the rough Atlantic Ocean for the first time, and soon, a man approached him on horseback.The man was young, handsome, with blond curly hair, and sat on a saddle with a graceful posture. "Are you Ben Snow?" he asked as he drove to the side of the carriage.
"it is me."
He leaned forward and held out his hand, "Roderick Claymore. My brother Rudolph hired you, but he went to the state capital on business. Let me see you."
They reined in and Ben turned and got out of the carriage. "I'm more comfortable on horseback," he confessed, "but with my luggage, it's better to have a carriage."
Claymore pulled out a cigar and gave Ben another. "How much did my brother tell you?"
"Just tell me he hired me to guard a beach in Kitty Hawk next week. He wanted an out-of-towner, so he got me. He hired me in St. Louis last week."
Roderick Claymore nodded and took a deep puff on his cigar, "About three years ago, two brothers named White came here from Dayton and paraglided on the sand dunes in Kitty Hawk. They seemed to give the Weather Bureau Wrote a letter and was told that this is the best area to test gliding, because the sea wind blows continuously at more than twenty miles an hour."
"Did their gliding test bother you?"
“Last summer, they shipped in some drive components assembled on the beach. They built their own light-duty gasoline engine—four cylinders, water-cooled.”
"I don't know anything about engines," Ben admits.
"The engine is for these two eight-foot wooden propellers mounted on the back of the wing. This thing is not a hang glider. One of the Wright Brothers pilots it, and it takes off and flies by itself. That's what we need Your reason."
Ben Snow smiled slightly, "Shoot it down?"
"of course not."
"I was out west in 1896, and there was a guy who called himself a Flying Man. He strapped wings to his arms and tried to glide down the top of a mountain. He was murdered one day while performing, and I helped them solve the case. I told You guys, you know my position. When I was young, I killed many people, but none of them deserved to die. No matter what rumors you and your brother heard, I am not a hired killer anyway."
"Look, Snow, we don't want to hire killers. But if on Monday, these crazy Wright brothers bring a thousand people to their air show, I want them to stay away from us by whatever means necessary." territory."
"Okay," Ben agreed, "where do I live?"
"There's a governess who has a house on Devilslayer Hill, just a few miles from Kitty Hawk. We rented a house for you there."
"That's good."
Ben finds it ironic as he travels east to North Carolina, where he meets the fabled beautiful schoolteacher who supposedly lives in every western town.Elizabeth Boyles was a dark-haired beauty, probably past thirty, but she looked as beautiful and young as a little girl, and her smile melted even the hardest heart.She lives alone in a house across the road from where she attends classes—a one-room school.
"There aren't many children here," she admits. "Most are from old families who have lived here for generations. But they have to be taught. If I leave, they will have to be ferried to the mainland to go to school."
It was Sunday, and they walked together on the beach to see where the Wright Brothers were flying the next day.
"Do you think they're going to be successful?" he asked.
"Honestly, I don't think so. After what happened last Wednesday at Langley, I don't think so."
"Who is Langley?"
She laughed, "You don't read the papers, Mr. Snow. Samuel Langley, the inventor, was given fifty thousand dollars by the War Bureau to develop a flying machine. He spent five years, last Wednesday , he took a test flight on the roof of a dock on the Potomac River, and several ships of Washington reporters and government officials went to watch. But the front end of the wing hit the flying aid, and the aircraft fell apart in the air. Langley is Smith Secretary of the Mori Society. If he can't build a decent flying machine, then the brothers who run the bicycle shop in Dayton can't do it."
"Are there any reporters coming tomorrow?"
"The Wright Brothers didn't want a reporter there if they could. They wanted to keep it a secret until the flight. They'd send a telegram to their father and make the paper public."
"Then why is Claymore so worried?"
She hesitated before answering: "Who hired you—Roderick or Ludolph?"
"Rudolph. He's the brother, isn't he? He found me in St. Louis, asked me to come and see his beach, and promised to pay my travel expenses and a week's wages. I think he'd pay half the price." Hire a local."
"They do have a piece of land on the beach. I've seen them dig there too. I joke that they're looking for treasure in the islands. These islands off the Atlantic coast have always been about pirates."
"Why do you ask who hired me?"
"Oh," she replied nonchalantly, "I've been having a little trouble with my brother Roderick, the one who brought you over yesterday. I dated him a few times last year and he proposed to me. I said no , but he didn’t accept it. Now that I’m engaged to someone else, he’s pestering me. If I didn’t need money, I wouldn’t even charge their rent.”
"How do they make ends meet when they're not digging for treasure?"
"They have an ice business. They deliver bricks of ice to every house and store in town."
"We've never had a business like this there."
She smiled at him. "This is civilization. This is the twentieth century."
They watched the Wright brothers' flying machine from a distance, and then returned to the residence, where Ben found Ludolph Claymore waiting for him.Rudolph was taller and stronger than his brother, and Roderick rode like a horse, but Ben couldn't imagine the man riding a horse.In St. Louis, when he hired Ben, Rudolph looked like a successful businessman.Here, his hometown, he was vaguely gloomy and sinister.
"Did you see their craft?" he asked Ben.
Ben nodded. "Looks like it's upside down to me. The front is the tail. I don't know how to fly though."
"If we're lucky, they'll drop like Langley tomorrow. But if it works, people will flock here and I need you to guard our beach estate for the next week."
"Can't you hire a watchman from a town here?" Elizabeth began. "Why make Mr. Snow come all the way from St. Louis?"
"I'm looking for someone who's here today and gone tomorrow, not one of those town lads who talk a lot after a few drinks in a pub. Mr. Snow is a big name in the West. When I asked Everyone recommends him to me when looking for hire."
Claymore took Ben aside and paid him the balance of his commission, plus travel expenses. "You've got your gun, haven't you?"
"Take it," Ben assured him.
"Bring it tomorrow, but hide it under your coat."
After he was gone, Ben asked Elizabeth, "What do you think is so valuable in that piece of sand?"
"Except for pirate treasure?" she replied with a smile, "I don't know."
Ben slept restlessly that night, wondering what the morning would bring.The weather hasn't changed, but there's a lot more to come today.A cold wind was blowing from the sea, and he found it necessary to put on the wool sweaters he had brought from the Midwest.He fastened the sash under his cardigan and checked to make sure that the Colt's six rounds were fully loaded.He wondered in his mind whether there was a law in the East against concealed carrying of weapons.Maybe that's why the Craymore Brothers needed to hire people from far away.
"Mr. Snow, are you up yet?" Elizabeth asked loudly through the bedroom door.
"Of course, I'll be downstairs right away."
"Breakfast is ready. My fiancé, Mark Fryn, is here."
Fryn was a pleasant guy with brown hair and a constant smile.Like Elizabeth, he is also a teacher, but his school is on the mainland. "I skipped work today," he explained, "and neither of us are going to class. This could be a historic moment—right here in Kitty Hawk."
Ben was surprised to find that a large group of local residents had gathered on the beach. "That's Brother White," Elizabeth said, pointing to the two men in hats and jackets.They looked to be in their thirties. "Orville and Welb."
"Did you have a personal relationship with them?"
"I've spoken to them. They've been rigging the 'Flyer' here since September, that's what the thing's called. They've done over a thousand self-glides here last year. Everyone knows them now. .”
Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of a man.The man was slightly older, with thick glasses and a beard. "Oh, Professor—I want you to meet Ben Snow!" Elizabeth Boyles introduced, as if they had been friends with her for years, "Ben, this is a student from a university in Raleigh." Professor Mander."
Ben shook hands with him, then asked, "Did you come here specially for today's air show?"
"Not exactly," replied the professor. "I do my research on Roanoke Island just south of town. You may recall that it was Sir Walter Raleigh's lost colony."
Ben nodded, turning up his collar to keep out the cold wind. "I hope they start soon, it's cold out here."
The Flyer had been pulled from storage by the White Brothers and five assistants.Ben heard someone in the crowd say the craft weighed more than six hundred pounds.Devil Killing Mountain is a sand dune more than 100 meters high. They parked the aircraft on a flat sandy land under the mountain.Then the brothers tossed a coin, and Welb won.The flyer is pushed onto a low, greased chute sixty feet long, then he climbs up and lays face down in a cradle-shaped cabin on the lower wing for the last Physically check the wings and directional controls one at a time.
The crowd was tense, and Ben looked around, looking for the Claymore brothers.There were a few people on the beach in the distance, but he couldn't make out who they were.The Aviator's gasoline engine roared to life, and he drew his attention back.The two propellers began to turn, and the machine slid on well-oiled tracks.Crowd commotion builds up, and cameras are ready to capture the moment of liftoff.
Then, for unknown reasons, the engine stalled on takeoff.With a muffled sound, the Aviator fell to the sand.
The onlookers sighed, and Orville hurried over and dragged his brother out of the plane. "It's over," said Elizabeth regretfully, "that thing won't fly."
"Another Langley," concluded Mark Fryn.
Welb stood up and stepped out of the cockpit, and the brothers began to inspect the damage.Ben turned to find Professor Mander sitting on the sand. "Are you over excited?" He bent down, stretched out his hand, and joked.
At this moment, he saw a dagger stuck in Mander's back and realized that the man had just been murdered.
The method of homicide investigation in the East is very different from the method in the West that our firm is familiar with.In the west, the sheriff never bothered to find clues and suspects.They seek out witnesses, or those with the greatest motives, and when justice is served, it is often swift and deadly.And on a blustery North Carolina beach, as the Wright brothers repaired their wrecked plane, the footsteps of justice were slow and heavy.Justice was represented by two state troopers, who wrote down names and addresses in notebooks, and then picked up cameras to snap pictures of the murder scene.
All the eyewitnesses at the scene agreed that the Wright brothers could not be the murderers, because all eyes were on them throughout the test flight.But this is a drop in the bucket in narrowing the range of suspects.In the eyes of the state troopers, any of the many onlookers could be the murderer, including Ben Snow.
"Civilians don't wear guns in North Carolina," one of them told him aggressively. "It's not the Wild West."
"Talk to the dead," Ben retorted.
The policeman's name was Rylance, and he looked at Ben as if he was going to lock him in his cell. "Speaking of business, what are you doing here?"
"The Craymore Brothers hired me to guard their beach. They were afraid some of the onlookers would stray in."
"Then you keep watch at this distance?"
"I can see it from here. I don't see anyone coming in."
"Is Brother Claymore here today?"
"I didn't see them."
"It's strange that they would miss such a good show," Rylance said.
Ben's eyes wandered among the onlookers, and he also had the same doubt in his heart.Some people have already left, but most of them are still reluctant to leave after leaving their names. On the one hand, they are attracted by the murder investigation, and on the other hand, the Wright brothers are doing their best to repair their aircraft.
Then Ben saw Ludolph Claymore striding towards them from the dunes.He left Rylance and walked towards his employer. "What's going on here?" asked Ludolph. "I heard there was a murder here—"
"Yes," said Ben, "the deceased was a professor named Mander."
"Mander! I know him! He works on a nearby island!"
"Someone stabbed him."
"Is my brother here?"
"I haven't seen him all morning."
"He didn't go to work today, I thought he was here. I had to transport the ice bricks alone," Ludolph scanned the windy beach, "Is our land okay?"
"No one ever came near," Ben assured him.
"Didn't Mander go there before he was killed?"
"No, unless he was here before I got here this morning. You didn't say I'd keep watch all day."
"No, you don't. I just thought you might see him wandering around there."
"I think it's about time you told me everything," Ben said. "If I had all the facts, I might be able to help the investigation."
"Okay," Claymore agreed, "come over to my house tonight. If I can find my brother, he'll be there too. Here's the address. It's in Kitty Hawk."
Elizabeth and Fryn hurried back from the damaged plane. "Orville said it would take a few days to fix, but they want to fly it again on Thursday," she said. "Will you stay until then, Mr. Snow?"
"I think so. Brother Craymore hired me for a week."
"I saw Constable Rylance talking to you. Did he ask you for help?"
"No."
"Is he a suspect?"
"I'm probably his number one suspect at the moment. He noticed I was wearing a gun belt."
"It's ridiculous! We all stand together."
"But Professor Mander was right behind us. When all eyes were on the Wright Brothers and their machines, I thought I could go around behind him and give him a knife. Someone did."
"But why? He's a lovely old man. How could anyone want to kill him?"
"What do you know about him? What is he doing here?"
"Mark knows him better than I do. He went to Roanoke Island and met him a few weeks ago."
"He's studying the remains of a so-called lost colony," Fryn explained. "You know, the colony that Sir Walter Raleigh founded on that island disappeared between 1587 and 1590."
Ben knew at best a little about the history of the early days of the colonial era, but he nodded and urged Fryn to continue.
"Well, in 1587 a ship returned to England for supplies and eighty-five men and women remained in the colony. The war between England and Spain prevented the supplies from reaching Roanoke Island until 1590 , and at this time, there was only a barren area left, and the defensive fortress was also looted. None of the people left behind disappeared. A name was engraved on a pillar-Kroutouan, which was obviously the name of an island in the south. They may have moved there, or they may have been killed by the Indians. It's still a historical mystery."
"And Professor Mander thinks he has found new evidence to unravel the mystery," interposed Elizabeth Boyles. "He has been there several times in order to continue his research."
"Interesting," Ben admitted, "but why was he killed? Why would an event that happened three hundred years ago cost a man's life?"
Unable to find an answer, they returned to the room.Later in the afternoon, Elizabeth and Fryn stayed together while Ben was on the beach again.In the distance, he saw the White brothers and their assistants busy repairing the aircraft.He saw Rylance there too, walking up and down, examining the trampled sand.
That night, Ben Snow rode his horse to the address Claymore had given him.It was one of many houses in the small village of Kitty Hawk.He stopped the carriage, and Ludolph went out on the porch to meet him. "Come in, Snow. My brother has returned."
Ben entered the house. There was not much furniture in the living room, so he found a chair and sat down.Obviously, there was no woman in the house, and he realized for the first time that the older Craymore might not be married.He shook hands with Roderick and said, "I didn't see you this morning."
"I have a problem," Roderick replied. "I heard the craft never left the ground."
"They're doing repairs. Going to do another test flight on Thursday."
Ludolph came in and sat down. "Some nearby villagers are also helping them. We have more important things on our minds."
"Tell me," Ben suggested, "tell me why your land is so valuable. Is there really any pirate treasure buried there?"
My brother smiled slightly, "According to Professor Mander, it's not much worse than that. Do you know the story of the lost colony and Roanoke Island?"
"Know a little."
"Well, historians have been speculating that if the colonists weren't killed by the Indians, they migrated south to another island. Mander went there and looked around. But he thought they came north, the little Here on the beach in Eagletown. Look at this map. You can see the abandoned Fort Riley just off the northernmost tip of Roanoke Island, less than ten miles across the sea from where we are now."
"Did Mander tell you?"
"Exactly!" said Roderick. "He has dug through our land and found evidence of colonists' settlement!"
Rudolph showed Ben a chipped bowl. "See this? It's not Indian. The colonists brought it from England."
"And you've been keeping it a secret?" Ben asked.
“It has to be kept! There are also some people who own land around the beach, especially around the village. We start buying. Such an old settlement, people will pay to visit. Then we will be rich.”
"Who knows about this?" Ben asked.
"Just the two of us and Mander. That's why I went all the way to hire a guard. We're keeping it a secret, and I don't want any of the locals to get wind of it."
"How much land did you buy?"
"About twenty thousand dollars so far. Mander agreed to act as an intermediary so that no one would know we were the buyers."
"Is that what you're digging for?" Ben asked.
Ludolf nodded, "We also unearthed some things ourselves - some accessories and a sword."
Roderick scratched his cheek, "Tomorrow morning, we'd better check the land deed. Once Mander dies, our twenty thousand dollars may be in vain."
"I have thought of it," replied his brother darkly.
Ben left the two of them to go through the records, try to estimate the maximum possible damage, and left.
On Tuesday afternoon, State Trooper Rylance arrived at Boyles' home to meet with Ben.He sat down lumberingly and opened his notebook. "There have been some unexpected turns in this case," he said. "I need to re-examine witnesses, especially those who stood by the victim."
"Miss Boyles has class today," Ben told him.
"It started with you. One of the onlookers lied about their name and address. Dick Roll of Devil's Hill. There was no such person."
"You think you let the murderer slip away?"
"Looks like that," he said sullenly. "I kind of remember him. Teddy Roosevelt beard and wool cap. Of course, the beard might be fake. You remember having this person?"
"Can't remember," Ben said truthfully, "but I wasn't paying attention to the crowd."
"Okay." Rylance closed his notebook and was about to leave.
"You just said that this case has some unexpected turns, what else?"
"Dead Mander. We found out he was an impostor too. There is no university in Raleigh connected to Professor Mander."
"Interesting," admitted Ben, "there were two impostors on the beach yesterday—one of the murderer and one of the dead."
"It seems so." Rylance nodded.
"But why did Mander use a pseudonym? Who the hell is he?"
"We will find out," Rylance vowed. "In the next few days, you will stay here, Mr. Snow?"
"At least until after the test flight on Thursday."
"That's good." Rylance said and left.
On Wednesday, Ben Snow found Ludolph Claymore on his way to deliver ice bricks.At the time, he was plowing fifty pounds of ice bricks to a small cafe on Kill Devil Hills. "I wanted to ask about your brother," he said.
"He's at the ice factory right now. You can find him there."
"He loved Elizabeth Boyles once, didn't he?"
"He's still in love with her, as far as I know. But she just fell for that teacher, Mark Fryn. It was a big blow to my brother."
"Ever heard of a Dick Roll around here?"
"No impression."
"Rylance determined that Monday (during the interrogation) was the name used by the killer."
"Never heard of it." Claymore climbed into his wagon and broke off another fifty pounds of ice bricks with an ice pick.
"It seems that this job is not easy."
Ludolph shrugged. "The means of making a living." He turned the ice pick and stacked the ice bricks next to him neatly. "Once there is a big event like the Lost Colony, you have to rely on it to make money to pay the bill."
"Then what if the Lost Colony never appeared? What if Professor Mander is a liar?"
Rudolph Claymore blinked and looked at Ben. "What are you talking about?"
"Have you and your brother looked over the deeds?"
"He checked today."
"I wish you all the best of luck," said Ben, before leaving.
"Wait!" cried Claymore, hurrying after him. "What do you want to tell me?"
"That Mander's a liar. That's not his real name, and he buried those trinkets in the sand so you could dig them up. We call that 'refilling the mine' in the West— —Bury some natural gold nuggets on the surface of the soil, and let the deceived dig them out.”
"But those estates—"
"If he's cheating on someone, it's you. He probably took your $20,000 and forged some papers and didn't buy the property at all."
"That--"
Ben left him standing beside the ice cart sweating.
There was no trace of the Claymore brother.When Ben arrived at the ice factory, he had already left, so he had to search the nearby pubs until he found Roderick's horse tied up outside the communal stables.Inside he found the young man, repairing his stirrups.
"I had a talk with your brother this morning," Ben said to him. "May I go outside with you?"
Roderick shrugged. "I suppose so. Will you be guarding the beach tomorrow?"
"I'll go. But by the time you've heard what I have to say, you might decide you don't need me anymore." Ben succinctly told his brother about Mander's fake identity and everything that might have been a hoax. Things were told to him.Roderick didn't react as violently as his brother, but he was clearly upset.
"I've always been suspicious of that guy. He doesn't look like a professor."
"Have you checked those deeds?"
"I'm going."
"There's something else," said Ben.
"What is it?"
"The police believe Mander's murderer was a man named Dick Roll."
The color faded from Roderick's face.
"That's you, right? Dick Roll is a simple transposition of Roderick."
"I don't understand you."
"You were on the beach Monday morning, wearing a woolen hat and a fake mustache. You killed Professor Mander."
"I didn't! You're talking nonsense!"
"Then why did you show up on the beach in disguise?"
"None of your business. We hired you to guard the beach, not to snoop."
"If you don't answer my questions, you'll have to answer the police's questions."
He stared, and was about to walk away, but thought carefully, "Well—if you must know. I want to see Elizabeth!"
"Meet her?"
"With him. With that Fryn. I want to hear what they're talking about."
"You disguised yourself to spy on Elizabeth Boyles?"
"Yes," he trailed off, avoiding Ben's gaze, "I love her."
"You can't accept the fact that she is happy with another man?"
"I just wanted to hear what they were saying, to see for myself if she cared about him. That's all. I didn't even notice Mander was there."
"Well," said Ben, not sure whether to believe him, "are you going tomorrow morning?"
"Go." Roderick replied.
"In disguise?"
"There's no need for that now, is there?"
Thursday morning was sunny but bitterly cold.When Ben arrived on the beach in Kitty Hawk with Mark Fryn and Elizabeth, they said the sea breeze was blowing at twenty-seven miles an hour.Scattered spectators wrapped themselves up to keep out the cold wind, and some couldn't help but wonder if the Wright Brothers would still try to fly.
But just after nine o'clock, Welb and Orville, surrounded by five assistants, pulled the machine out of the warehouse again.The plane was lifted onto the pulley at the bottom of Demon Killing Mountain.
In addition to the two teachers who missed class again, Elizabeth and Fryn, the two brothers Claymore were also present.Ben saw Rylance pacing not far away.The characters are all there.
Rudolph walked up to Ben, "What did you say to my brother yesterday? Whatever you said, he was upset about it. Today he doesn't even want to come."
"I noticed he was far from Elizabeth Boyles."
"Well, they were together. I think he was jealous of her friend."
It seems that the Wright Brothers will never be able to finish debugging the Flyer, and the cold wind has blown away some less determined guys.Orville was busy setting up the camera's tripod, and then pointed the lens at the end of the flying track.If the plane flies into the sky, he will take pictures of this historic moment.
Finally, at half past ten, they were ready.
This time it was young Orville's turn to drive, and he looked around for someone to press the shutter.He called a villager who had helped them, and asked him to take a photo if the plane took off.Then he climbed aboard the Aviator and strapped himself down securely.Wibble tugged his hat down to make it more comfortable, then gripped the nose of the biplane's lower right wing.
The engines start and the propellers start turning.The Flyer moves on slide rails.Welb firmly held the front of the wing, and ran alongside.
"He didn't play that on Monday," Ludolph Claymore noticed.
At this moment, Orville opened the throttle and turned the engine to full power.The time is ten thirty-five.
"Yes, he didn't," agreed Ben Snow, "but if you weren't here that day, how did you know?"
The flyer left the slide rail and took off into the air.Welb let go of the wings, and the camera clicked.There was a burst of cheers from the sporadic audience.
The plane wobbled and swooped down, the chute hitting the sand.The flight lasted only twelve seconds, and the altitude was less than ten feet above the ground, but it moved a hundred and twenty meters.
People run forward.Rudolph was about to run, but Ben stopped him, "You know what happened here on Monday because you were there. Because you came here to kill the man who lied to you."
"You think I'm that Dick Roll?"
"No, that's your brother, and he's watching Elizabeth."
"But all the onlookers at that time were recorded!"
"You're not in the crowd at all, Rudolf. You're hiding behind a dune. At the critical moment, all attention is on Brother White. You sneak up on Mander. When you're close enough, you shoot at his head." Throw that dagger in the back like you did yesterday when you drove an ice pick into a big ice block. You've been fifteen or twenty feet above him and the sand is so trampled it's hard to make a footprint. No People see you because we were all looking in opposite directions at the time."
"But I didn't know he was a liar until you told me yesterday!" Ludolf argued.
"You did a good job, but I think you know. When your brother came to pick me up, he said you were in the state capital on business. That's Raleigh, where Mander claims to teach. You investigated him there and found out he was a Liar. Come back and kill him at the first chance."
Rylance had been listening to their conversation. At this moment, he took a step forward, "Do you have anything else to say, Mr. Claymore?"
Rudolph stopped trying to quibble, "just wanted to say he lied to us, and he deserved to die. No jury is going to convict me."
Early the next morning, Ben Snow left the town.Claymore's land no longer needed a guard, and he hadn't heard the jury's verdict.As for the White brothers, Ben heard their names again a few years later.On December 17th they made four successful flights in Kitty Hawk, and their father published the news, but only two newspapers in the country carried the news the next day.
No audience flocked to Kitty Hawk.The Claymore brothers also don't need Ben Snow anymore.
Notes:
Notes: