Chapter 8 Sealed wine bottle poisoning incident
"This time I'm going to tell you about the strange things that happened in North Hills the night Prohibition was repealed." Old Dr. Sam Hawthorne poured a full glass of brandy for the visitor. Repeal. Nowhere else, I think, has it been so dramatic as in North Hills."
It was Tuesday, November 5, 1933, and Franklin D.Roosevelt had just entered the White House.Thirty-three states had ratified a constitutional amendment repealing Prohibition, and Utah insisted on being the last state to ratify the amendment, so its state charter waited for Pennsylvania and Ohio to ratify the amendment before voting.The time was approaching minute by minute, and at 5:32 East Coast time, the news that Utah had passed the vote finally came.Just an hour later, President Roosevelt officially signed the government proclamation repealing Prohibition.
Every society has its own way of celebrating.In North Hills, a few of us were invited to Molly's Café to drink legally for the first time in fourteen years.Molly's Cafe is newly opened, rebuilt on the site of the old coffee shop.That's fine for the newly legalized drinking pleasure.Because in the past few years, most of us have secretly had a drink or two in the old coffee shop.
Molly Franklin was a cheerful woman in her early forties.She and her husband, Garth, had only moved to this town a few years ago.They used to live in Boston, where Molly's father owned a plating shop.Garth opened a small cigarette shop next to the North Hill Town Hall.They looked like a happy couple.Later, Garth Franklin surprised the whole town by hanging in his garage while Molly was returning to her parents' home in Boston.It took Molly months to recover from the blow.She decided to stay in this town and develop her own business.She bought the coffee shop with Garth's insurance money and money from the sale of the cigarette shop and remodeled it.She decided to open on the day Prohibition was repealed, and not even the incessant rain could dampen her good spirits.
I attended the opening ceremony that night with my nurse Aibo.Molly greeted guests at the door in high spirits as always. "Come in, Sam—and you, Abby. We're waiting for the radio to announce that drinking is legal again." She was a good-sized, heavy-boned man with short blond hair blown carefully.She was wearing a gorgeous gown, which sparkled in the lights.
I took off my wet raincoat and took Aibo's coat. "The weather isn't great." I said, trying to find a place to hang my clothes.
"Think about the good--it will snow if the temperature drops ten degrees. Here, doctor, we have a special cloakroom where we can hang clothes. This is a high-end place." She said, taking the clothes in my hand.
I have to admit that compared with the old store, this place has really undergone earth-shaking changes.The store is dimly lit and quite atmospheric.The entire mirror wall makes the interior space appear to be twice as large.I see Dr. Wayne is there too.And the mayor, Mr. Chrisson, and his wife, Susan.The old friend Sergeant Lansi also came, playing with an empty port glass, as if he couldn't wait.
"How are you, Sheriff?"
"Not bad, doctor. It's a big time tonight."
"Indeed." I agreed.
"Molly hasn't gotten in yet, though. Phil Yancey's going into a wholesale liquor business—legal this time—and he won't be able to ship until Roosevelt signs the government proclamation."
"Well, we've all waited so long, it's okay to wait any longer."
I go to the bar.Molly was chatting with Town Councilman John Finnegan.Finnegan was about fifty and bald.I've seen a lot of little problems for him. "Doctor, why didn't I know you drank too." He said after seeing me approaching.
"I'm here mainly for everyone's benefit. On such a grand celebration occasion, in case someone drinks too much, you will know my usefulness."
"Well, Dr. Wayne is here, we have double protection."
"I don't see a need for a doctor," Molly Franklin said sullenly. "Phil Yancey just called to say there was news from the Boston warehouse that the announcement was too late. rum for him. So all he can offer me is a case of port and a case of sherry."
"Damn," grunted Finnegan, "I'm counting on some good Scotch."
"It's not just us," Molly said, with a tone of double-whammy. "New York City too. There's no shortage of stock there, but most of the warehouses are closed. I heard that only two liquor stores have stock. Only one percent of the restaurants and bars that have a license to sell alcohol have received the goods. As for other stores, if they don’t want to be convicted of illegal alcohol sales, they can only wait until tomorrow morning to open again.”
Before long, the door opened suddenly, and Phil Yancey came in with a suitcase on his shoulder.There was a round of cheers from the twenty or so people waiting at the bar.Like a big friendly dog, he shakes off the rain and puts the box on the bar. "Here's the port you wanted. I'll get the sherry right away. It's raining hard outside."
"How much will a drink cost us, Molly?" Mayor Collison asked from across the bar.He was a nice fellow, a successful realtor as well as a dutiful mayor.He's been mayor for less than a year, but everyone likes him.
"I'll treat you to the first glass of wine." Molly announced, and there was a burst of cheers in the cafe. "After that, the price is 3.5 cents a glass, the same price as in New York City. Scotch whiskey is 45 cents a glass."
Probably everyone except Molly has a problem with being as expensive as New York.But now, everyone is too excited to question it.Dr. Wayne was even more eager to open the box, as if to show us that there was indeed wine in it.Yang Xi carried the sherry back to the shop again, and put the box next to the port wine.
Molly rummaged through the box and looked carefully at the sign.After everyone got close, she opened the wine box.
"Who's going first?" Finnegan asked.
"I think it should be Mayor Krissen." Molly announced, and no one objected. "What would you like to drink, Mayor? Potter or Sherry?"
Krissen looked at the two just-opened boxes and hesitated: "Let's have some Porter. No, no, let's have Sherry. I haven't had Sherry for a long time, and I can hardly remember the taste."
"Choose a bottle yourself."
This time, he didn't hesitate, he reached out to the upper left corner of the box and pulled out the wine bottle.After the bottle seal was broken, Molly inserted the corkscrew in the cork ostentatiously and handed it to the mayor.The mayor smiled like a little boy when he pulled the cork.The crowd couldn't help cheering again.He selected a port glass from the bar shelf, held it to his right, and filled it with sherry.
"For everyone's health," he said to the crowd, "to the future of Beishan Town, cheers!"
Adelman Finnegan held up his glass to be filled, when something strange happened.The mayor held the sherry bottle in his left hand, and after drinking it all in one gulp, he suddenly said with a strange expression: "This wine tastes—"
Before the words fell, he fell down.I rushed forward to support him.Susan Collison screamed behind me.
The mayor was still clutching the sherry bottle with his left hand, but he had almost stopped breathing.I lower his body slowly, spilling some sherry on the floor.I tried to help him regain his breath when I caught the familiar smell of bitter almonds.I grabbed the bottle and sniffed it, sure enough.
"He's been poisoned," I said, "probably cyanide."
"Can you save him?" his wife cried.
"I'm sorry, Susan. He's dead..."
Later, the body was removed.At this moment, Sergeant Lan Si said, "Doctor, you have to help me."
"I can oversee the autopsy if you want. Also, I'll send the bottle for analysis, although I'm pretty sure it's cyanide—probably potassium cyanide."
"You know what I mean. I mean, help me solve this case."
"It's been over a year since I last shot a shot," I told him. "Sheriff, I've been preoccupied with seeing people these days. Playing amateur detective is a thing of the past for me."
"This is the mayor, doctor. If I don't close the case quickly, they'll eat me alive. And, I don't have a clue! We've been watching, and no one has touched the bottle or the glass except Collison."
Molly invited everyone out and was now staring at the spilled pool of sherry where the body had just been. "Maybe he committed suicide," she said. "Whatever the reason, my new store opening was ruined."
"The only explanation I can think of is that the entire case of wine has been poisoned in the winery or bottling workshop." I walked over and picked up a bottle of wine at random, "See if I'm right."
I used the opener to uncap the bottle, but this time there was no bitter almond flavor.
"This bottle is probably not poisonous. However, I will send it for testing, just in case."
"You'd better send the whole box, doctor," said Sergeant Lens.
"Good idea. We have the equipment we need in the hospital lab." I looked at Molly. "I'm sorry this happened."
"Go ahead," she waved her hand, "I think the sooner the cause of death is found out, the better it will be for my business. It will save me from being clouded by suspicion."
Early the next morning, I learned a little more about Mayor Krissen's death.The bottle he opened did contain potassium cyanide in such a large dose that it killed him almost instantly.However, the rest of the wine in the box was not poisoned, just good sherry, nothing else.In this way, there is only one explanation left. In a winery far away in France, a depressed worker poisoned a certain bottle of wine. The mayor drank it and died of poisoning.
However, I am not at all convinced of this explanation.
I drove to the prison to inform Sergeant Lens of this discovery, and he was in a bad mood. "Adelman Finnegan has asked the state troopers to take over the investigation," he told me. "He said I'm not up to the task. Can you imagine? I was the one who caught the kids who broke into his house last summer. He actually said I was incompetent!"
"Sheriff, it's useless for you to be angry. We must calm down and think about it."
His face was relieved: "So, you promised to help me?"
"I can only say that I am willing to help you point out the direction of the investigation. At present, what information do we have?"
"A bottle of poisoned sherry, a dead mayor." The sheriff said sullenly. "And, the dead man chose the bottle himself. He opened the wine and poured it for himself."
"I know. He even chose the glass himself. Besides, the glass itself isn't poisonous. The poison is in the bottle."
"Unless someone took advantage of the chaos when he fell and sneaked it into the bottle."
I shook my head: "He kept holding on to the wine bottle until I brought it over. Moreover, when I just brought it over, the poison had already been put in. That is to say, before the mayor opened the cork, the wine bottle Already toxic."
"Maybe... the poison was put on the corkscrew?" Sergeant Lan Si asked.Anyone with a discerning eye can tell at a glance, but he himself doesn't quite believe it.
"Impossible, the dose of poison is huge. Also, I used the same corkscrew to open the second bottle of wine."
"The poison must have been placed before. The suspicion clearly points to the person who delivered the goods——Phil Yangxi."
"Even if it was Yang Xi's poison, how did he know that Mayor Krissen would choose that bottle of wine?"
"He couldn't have known. But maybe he was killing indiscriminately. Whoever it was killed would ruin the reputation of Molly's Café and maybe smear open drinking. Maybe he was a secret teetotaler."
"Phil Yancey?" I laughed. "He's been bootlegging since the day I got to North Hills."
"Then maybe he brewed the wine himself, imitating other people's trademarks. After so many years of prohibition, no one can tell the real from the fake."
"The wine is real. Dr. Wayne's a connoisseur of wine. He's sure it's real." I had a chat with him this morning before leaving the hospital.
"Can you do me a favor, doctor? Go and question Phil Yancey about the transport? I gotta stay and wait for the state troopers."
I thought, at least I can help with this.And it cannot be denied that the case did pique my interest.It's been a long time since I helped Sergeant Lansi solve a murder case last time.Also, now that I don't have an inpatient, I just need to do some routine work every day. "Okay," I agreed, "I'll go talk to him..."
When I found Yangxi, he was working with three workers in a warehouse outside the town.A large truck has just arrived in Boston, and Yang Xi is counting the number and directing the workers to move to his own small truck to facilitate delivery. "Doctor, today is my busiest day, and you actually came here to ask questions. Come on, please forgive me."
"Just a few minutes for you," I assured him. "I wanted to ask you about the Port wine that was delivered to Molly's last night."
"Oh—port wine! What's the matter?"
"Based on the test results, one of the vials must have been poisoned. We are investigating how that happened."
"I can only tell you that it was not poisoned in my hands."
"It doesn't seem to me like it was in Molly's either. Where's the rest? You mean it was poisoned before it got to you?"
Yang Xi remained silent for a while, carefully writing down Molly's name and store address on the label of a case of port wine.He put down his fountain pen and said, "Doctor, you've chosen the wrong direction. Why don't you ask Mayor Collison about what happened at his hunting lodge near Cape Sean?"
"what do you mean?"
"You'll know," Yangxi said, "I have to get back to work."
He walks away, yelling at a workman who nearly smashed a case of gin.Seeing that I couldn't get anything out of him, I drove back to town.After passing the Saints Memorial Hospital where the clinic is located, drive along the northern road to the mayor's house.At first glance, there seemed to be no one in the house, but I noticed that the corner of the curtain moved, and someone must be peeping.I parked the car and walked to the door.Before I could knock, the door opened and Susan Collison appeared in front of me.
"What do you want, doctor?"
I never thought the mayor's wife pretty, but there was something strangely touching about her in the present sad mood. "I'm helping the sheriff investigate your husband's death."
"You mean murder," she said.
"Well, maybe. But we can't be sure. It could be some kind of unfortunate accident."
"You really think so?"
"At the moment, it's hard to say. Can I come in and ask a few questions?"
"I'm going to the funeral home in ten minutes to make arrangements for the funeral. Can Edmund's body be brought back?"
"Yes, the autopsy has been done."
She led me into the living room.The furniture in the living room is a mixture of colonial and modern styles, which is surprising.
"The cause of death was poisoning?"
I nodded, "The poison was in the wine bottle. Mrs. Collison, who wants to kill your husband?"
"No one. He is very popular and was elected mayor with a high number of votes."
"I hear he has a hunting lodge near Cape Sean?"
"That's right, he often goes with a few friends." She picked up a bunch of keys and put them in her bag. "I haven't been there often, usually only men go."
"Which friends?" I asked.
"Oh, Dr. Wayne and Adelman Finnegan, and Phil Yancey. Garth Franklin was there a few times before he died. They weren't hunting at all, I think it was mostly card games and drinks. "
"Can I go and see that hut? There may be a clue that your husband was killed."
"Why do you think so?"
"I've heard rumors. Is there a key to the cabin in that bunch of keys?"
"No. These are the keys to the house and the car. I don't know where he put the keys to the cabin, and I don't have time to look for them now." She was clearly in a hurry to leave.
"As far as I know, he's very organized. I'm sure you know where he keeps his keys."
She sighed and led me into the study.A handmade key holder hangs on one wall.She picked up a labeled key and handed it to me: "Yeah, he's very organized. When he was picking in Molly's box, I knew he'd pick the bottle. He picks everything like a book or a newspaper." , starting in the upper left corner first."
"Are many people aware of his habit?"
"Anyway, that's how he eats square cakes and minceloaves, always cuts top left corner first. Anyone who knew him must have noticed. Adelman Finnegan even made fun of him about it."
I put the key in my pocket. "I'll pay you back as soon as I use it up." I said.
I also don't know what to find in the hut.But Yangxi asked me to check what happened in the hut.I think it's best to go and see first.The hut is a wooden house, which is quite big.There are four bedrooms on the second floor.Although the furniture is not gorgeous, it is adequate.After a quick scan, I decided to do a closer look.
There were ashes in the fireplace, which meant that someone had been to the cabin this fall.Maybe in the hunting season that just ended.As meticulous as Mayor Christen was, there was no way the ashes of last winter would remain in the fireplace.I searched closets and bedrooms, but to no avail.Thirty minutes later, I was about to give up, when a small leather bag in the drawer caught my attention.Inside the purse were several slimy black balls.
Suddenly, there was the sound of the door opening downstairs, and I was stunned. I quickly fastened the belt of my leather bag, put it back in the drawer, and rushed out of the bedroom to meet the intruder.We met on the stairs.It's Dr. Wayne. "Ah, Hawthorne!" he greeted me as if we'd met in a hospital corridor. "I was wondering whose car it was out there. How do you have the cabin key?"
Wayne was older than me, in his late fifties, and his sideburns were starting to gray.Every time I see him, he seems to be busy.But this is also normal, he is a famous doctor and works very long hours.He kept yawning during hospital meetings, but I couldn't blame him for that. "The key Mrs. Collison gave me," I said, "and I'm investigating for Sheriff Lens."
"Back to old detective work, eh?" he laughed narrowly, and my power as a detective seemed like a joke to him. "I'm sure it had something to do with the teetotalers. Now that drinking is legal, they have to Find another way to dissuade people."
"What are you doing here?"
Wayne was blocked by me, waiting for me to get out of the way.
"The last time I came hunting, I left some clothes here - come and pick them up when you have time."
"You have the key yourself?"
"Of course." He showed me the key. "We used to come here a few weekends, casually. Edmund was very generous and hospitable, and we enjoyed coming. But I think that's all past tense. "
"Who did you come with?"
"Adelman Finnegan, and Phil Yancey. Usually just the four of us."
I nodded: "I'll go downstairs for a walk."
A few minutes later, Wayne came downstairs with a hunting suit and a shotgun in a holster. "I'm going to miss these parties," he said.
"Did Mrs. Collison come here with her husband?" I asked.
"Didn't come while we were here." He walked out the door. "See you at the hospital, Sam."
I watched him drive away, then went back upstairs to rummage through the drawers I had just checked.The small purse was gone.
After returning to Beishan Town, I first reported to Aibo and asked if there were any emergency patients.She said everything was as usual, so I rushed to the prison to find Sergeant Lansi.The deputy said he was at Molly's Cafe and I drove over there again.
Molly was in the cloakroom, putting the last coat of paint on the walls. "I didn't have time to finish it yesterday," she said. "After that happened, I don't think any guests will come to the door. I just had time to finish it."
"Perhaps people would like to see the place where the mayor was killed. Did Yangxi send you any other orders?"
"Here it is, on a truck. Where's the case of sherry that you and the sheriff took away last night?"
"They've opened bottle by bottle and they're not poisonous. Maybe we should check the port again, just to be on the safe side."
"You can take a bottle. I can't afford to lose a whole case."
"Where's the sheriff?"
"Inside." She waved her paint-stained fingers. "Talking to Adelman Finnegan."
Adelman looked up as I entered.I noticed a bottle of scotch and a wine glass in front of him.Once the alcohol ban was lifted, he didn't waste a moment. "A drink or two, doctor?" he asked.
"Now? It's too early for me." I waved to the sheriff, and we went to the kitchen to say a few words in private.
"Find anything?" he asked.
I told him there was no poison in the other bottles.Then talk about the conversation with Yangxi, and the investigation of the hunting lodge afterwards. "I'm sure there's something to the murder," I said, "just don't know how."
"It's very kind of you to help. I asked Adelman if there was any trouble at the town council and he said everything was fine."
"I think, as far as the town is concerned, it's all right. It's what happened at the hunting lodge that's causing the trouble. I'm going to ask Phil Yancey again. But first I have to go to Molly and ask for a bottle." Port wine."
When I came to Yangxi's warehouse again, the busy scene in the morning was gone.Only one worker is unloading.I asked him where the boss was.
"Yangsi?" he said. "Inside. I haven't seen him for a few hours since I got back from lunch."
I called his name and walked into the warehouse.As soon as I entered the door, I was taken aback by the whiskey boxes all over the floor.Boxes are stacked from the unloading area to the office door.I don't think the county will be out of wine for a long time. "Yangsi!" I called again. "Where are you? I'm Sam Hawthorne!"
It was only when I got to the office that I noticed something wet on the floor, coming from the back of the box.I went over to look, and there was Phil Yancey lying on the ground, shot in the back at close range.People are dead.
Sergeant Lan Si stood up after examining the body, "Doctor, how long do you think he's been dead?"
"A few hours, I guess. Charlie, the workman outside, says he hasn't seen much of him since lunch. Maybe he'll be dead by the time Charlie gets back from lunch."
"Do you think this has something to do with the poisoning of Mayor Krissen?"
"Very likely. Maybe someone paid him to put potassium cyanide in the bottle on the delivery."
"Then how did he seal the wine bottle after he poisoned it?"
"That's the puzzle we have to solve. I'm starting to wonder if there are temperance activists behind it. Maybe they're drugging on a large scale across the country in a last-ditch effort to discourage people from drinking alcohol."
"That's crazy too, doctor."
"That's right, it's crazy. However, if they really hired Yang Xi to poison them, it's only natural to silence them afterwards."
"However, there may be other motives for Yangxi's killing." The sheriff pointed out, "You said he asked you to check the mayor's hunting lodge. Perhaps it was because he knew what happened there that he was silenced. "
"It's possible," I agreed. "I ask you, have you been at Molly's with Adelman Finnegan this afternoon?"
"Hell, of course not. I was only a little earlier than you. Finnegan wasn't much earlier."
"Well," I said, "I've got to go back to the hospital. An autopsy as soon as possible. I don't think there'll be any new findings, though. It's immediately clear that the cause of death was a small-caliber pistol wound."
"What did an acquaintance do?"
"He has his back to the murderer," I said. "Maybe someone sneaked up from behind."
Sergeant Lan Si shook his head with sad eyes: "All this is really uncomfortable, doctor. Sometimes, I feel that I am too old to handle this."
Back at the hospital, I checked the port wine Molly had given me.There is no poison in it.In other words, among the twenty-four bottles of wine available, Collison happened to choose the only poisonous bottle.Was it an accident or murder?I remembered what his wife said about his unique habit of choosing.
The case of sherry still sits on my desk, and I scrutinize the address label on the case.I recognized Phil Yancey's handwriting, in fountain pen with sharp edges.I recall seeing him this morning, he was addressing other boxes.He was so alive just a few hours ago.With Prohibition lifted, he was excited to be able to do business legally.
Looking at the label, it dawned on me.I know who killed Mayor Krissen, and how he did it.
It was late in the afternoon when I got to Molly's Cafe.There are no other customers in the shop. "Adelman finally back?" I asked.
She raised her eyes from the newspaper: "Someone came and talked about Yang Xi, and he ran out with his ass on fire, as if he saw a ghost."
"If you think about it, you'll see that his panic was justified." I sat down at the bar and said to her, "Five people went to the mayor's hunting lodge, and now three of them are dead."
"Three?"
"Chrissen, Yangxi, and your husband Garth."
Molly picked up a bottle of wine from behind the bar: "Have a drink, Sam, I'm treating you."
"You killed it, didn't you?" I asked in a low voice.
"What are you talking about? I was in Boston when Garth killed himself."
"I'm not talking about Garth. I'm talking about the other two—Collison and Yangsi."
She carefully poured an ounce of bourbon into the glass, added water and ice cubes, and put it in front of me: "If you really think so, you probably think this glass of wine is also poisoned."
I didn't even look at the glass. "Your motive for killing the mayor was because of Garth. Because of what happened at the hunting lodge."
"Oh, what's that?" she asked indifferently.
"You know it as well as I do, Molly. They smoked opium there. Addiction drove your husband to suicide. That's why you killed the mayor for revenge."
"You can think wildly, Sam! Tell me, how do you get these crazy ideas in your head?"
"Happily obedient. I went to the cottage today and found some slimy black balls--that is, raw opium--that could be smoked in a pipe. Dr. Wayne appeared and took the opium. I presume that the man who supplied it He was the man. He was always yawning in staff meetings when I should have thought of it. One of the obvious signs of opiate addiction is uncontrollable yawning."
"Okay," Molly said, "then tell me, how do I poison a sealed wine bottle for the mayor to drink?"
I look away from the bourbon, which sits untouched on the bar. "You pierce the cover and the cork with a syringe. The syringe is probably the one your husband used to inject some other drug. No one will notice the small hole in the cover. Even if it's obvious, you can cover it with a drop of wax. As for potassium cyanide, you got it from your mother's electroplating shop in Boston, and that stuff is common in electroplating shops."
"You forgot one thing, doctor. Everyone saw Yangxi deliver the goods. Until Chrissen opened the bottle, the bottle never left everyone's sight."
"We thought we saw Yangxi deliver the goods. In fact, the box of wine has been in your store, probably hidden in the door of the cloakroom, covered with newspapers or clothes. It rained heavily last night, and he was still shaking when he entered the door The rain fell off his body. Yangxi carried the wine on his shoulders, but the writing on the label was not blurred by the rain. This is impossible, unless the case of wine has long been in the house. I think he has delivered the goods Here you come. You poisoned yourself, put the wine in the cloakroom, and asked Yang Xi to do it again after Prohibition was officially repealed, pretending it was just delivered. You told him it was for dramatic effect. He complied, of course He didn't expect you to poison one of the bottles. Today, he threatened you, intending to say that the shipment was delivered early, and you had to shoot him. Sergeant Lens told me that this afternoon he Neither Adelman nor Adelman were in your store long. That is to say, you have time to drive to the warehouse during your lunch break and kill Yangxi."
"You're very clever, doctor. I always knew you were very clever."
"The mayor's habit is known to all his friends. You may have seen it with your own eyes, or your husband may have mentioned it. In short, you know that he will choose the bottle in the upper left corner. You put a case of wine in front of him. Yes You let the mayor choose a bottle and drink the first glass. If he happens to choose another bottle, that's all right. You can try it another time."
There was a wry smile on her face, as if she had made up her mind: "This is not the first time. When I first found out that Garth committed suicide because of the mayor's damn opium party, I tried it, but I messed it up. This time It finally worked."
"What if he chooses port over sherry?"
"I poisoned one of the vials in the corner, too. Not the one you examined, of course."
I pointed to the bourbon. "Is this glass poisoned too, Molly? Just in case I find out the truth, so I can kill me?"
"No, you can drink with confidence."
"I think it's better not to drink."
She shrugged. "Whatever you want. But I don't want to waste a good bourbon." She picked up the glass and drank it down before I could stop it.
"They buried Molly and her two victims on the same day." Dr. Sam finished his brandy, and the story was over, "I think of her often, and how nearly I was her third victim .The next time you come, you can listen to the story of the summer of 1933. That summer, there was a circus in town."
Notes:
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