Chapter 4 The Haunted Bandstand Mystery
"Look, I promised to tell you about that haunted bandstand, didn't I? Is this chair still comfy? Is the glass full? You can't have a story without—er—a drink Yes, that won't work!
"This was in the summer of 1924, shortly after I returned to North Hills from the wedding party that got me involved in the lobster shack case. As far as the summer was concerned, everyone was healthy that summer. Too much for me to serve. Even my nurse Aibo and I went away that day without anyone noticing, but that's probably because everyone was already busy celebrating Fourth of July.
"You know. That's when the case happened, at the bandstand, on the Fourth of July..."
The National Day of that year happened to be Friday (the old doctor continued), which was a rare and good thing for the people in Beishan Town. Of course, there were no big weekends at that time, and almost everyone had at least I work half a day, but no one works hard the day after National Day. About a week before the celebration, I met Dr. Henry Church, the local pharmacist, in the park near the town square.Dr. Qiu Erqu has always been very friendly to me, probably because most of his business is sent by me.Back then, the pharmacy hadn’t started to sell everything from perfume to picnic gear, etc. Dr. Qiu Erqu sold medicine and cigarettes, and there was a cold drink counter, but that was all. "It's going to be a lot of fun here next week, Dr. Sam, will you come to hear the band and watch the fireworks?" "I won't miss it, Henry, this is my third summer in Beishan Town, National Day is one of the important festivals." He was a smiling, medium built man of about forty who lived in the town with his wife and two children.I like Dr. Chuerqu very much, although he always jokes that I am a valuable young single nobleman. "I thought a guy like you had better things to do on summer nights than hear me play the flute in a small town band," he teased. "That's pretty important stuff," I replied with a wink. "All the young girls will be there." We walked into the park together.Walked to the very old music station.It was a tall wooden platform, weather-beaten and in need of repainting, empty on eight sides, with a roof forming a peak, and a weather vane on top.The floor is about four feet high from the ground, and it can only be reached by walking seven flights of steps from the ground. There are railings on the sides of the stairs, and railings surround the sides of the band seats, probably to prevent over-enthusiastic players from going to the ground. He fell back and fell into the crowd.The space under the bandstand is completely enclosed with a wooden lattice to prevent children from getting in. "Did Sergeant Lan Si tell you about the haunting?" Dr. Qiu Erqu asked. "Here? Here at the bandstand?" "Yes. About 1880, after the bandstand was built." "what happened?" "Two bums—a black person and his gypsy wife—come to town. He's probably a nigger his master set him free, and he's been wandering around since the Civil War, but no one really knows what. He broke into a hardware store one night and they caught him. They said he had a foot knife and almost killed the sheriff. Guess the town was merciless, they hung him with a rope Died on top of the bandstand." "Lynching?" I couldn't believe it. "Nobody lynches in New England." "It's rare, but it happens. Colonial Indians, and witches—in Cheylon, anyway, before his gypsy wife was kicked out of town. Cursed on the bandstand , they say he still comes back here sometimes, still wearing the hood and the rope around his neck." "Sounds like a country woman's tale to me." "I admit that no one has seen him in recent years." Doctor Qiu Erqu admitted. "I bet no! People are too smart to believe such nonsense these days." "I think you're right," he agreed, and we turned back. "Has Mayor Dewiggins returned from Washington?" "Just came back this morning. He came to the store to pick up his medicine. He said Washington was so hot and there were flies everywhere. That kind of place is our country's capital, huh?" "I don't think it's very comfortable there in summer. The British Foreign Office said it's a subtropical climate. Did he have a good deal with Minister New York?" The mayor of Dewiggins, who was just elected, wrote too many campaign checks.In particular, he took the train to Washington to ask Secretary of Posts and Telecommunications, Harry New, to have North Hill Township have its own post office. "Didn't even see one at all. New was out of town somewhere—fishing, maybe—and the mayor had to meet his assistant, but he thought it was promising, anyway, Devi. Mayor Kings is always hopeful." We walked to his pharmacy, and I saw Mrs. Churqu busy behind the counter. "I have to go back to see my patient, Henry." "Write more prescriptions, Dr. Sam."
During the week of Fourth of July, my clinic was a bit busy, mostly with accidental injuries or encounters with poison ivy on the farm that usually happens in summer.When there are no patients, Aibo will not let me idle, insisting that this is a good time for general cleaning of the clinic. "I'm not in that mood," I grumbled on Thursday as she emptied my wooden filing cabinet drawers and cleaned them out. "Can't we do it another day?" Her pudgy body circled around my desk. "I have a cold in winter. Everyone has a baby in spring, and now is the time to clean up." "There are babies all year round." "Looks like a little bit more spring. Anyway, you've been here two and a half years, Dr. Sam. This is the first time we've really done a housecleaning! What will the patients do if they see you wipe the cobwebs off the medical records?" What do you think?" This made me laugh out loud. "It's not that bad, Aibo." "Are you going to hear the band play and watch the fireworks tomorrow night?" "Of course, what about you?" I know she doesn't have a regular male companion, and sometimes I feel a little sorry for her. "Want to come with me?" She didn't wait for me to ask her a second time. "Of course!" "Maybe we can get something to eat at Dixie's first." Dixie's is a snack bar, the only one in town that has good food. "I'll pick you up at seven o'clock." Her eyes widened. "In your convertible?" She's been obsessed with my car since the wedding party a few weeks ago, the 1921 Arrow that my parents gave me as a graduation present. yellow convertible car. I haven't had time to answer.A bell outside indicated the arrival of a patient. "Do we have any appointments, Aibo?" "The calendar is empty for this afternoon. I'll go see who's here." She came back quickly, followed by Tom Younglove.Tom was a local real estate businessman who had been buying nearby farmland lately, and his ultimate purpose had been a source of gossip and worry. "Dr. Sam," he gasped. "I need your help." "You'd better catch your breath first, I've been advising you to reduce your waistline a little bit." "It's not my problem—it's Mayor Dewiggins, who won't see me." "Then what can I do?" "He canceled today's meeting. Said he was sick. Is that true?" "I can't give you the right answer without checking it, can you? I've been prescribing him for a heart attack, but I haven't heard anything else wrong with him. He last week Just came back from Washington over the weekend, maybe he got something over there, I heard there are a lot of bugs in the summer." "It wasn't the bugs that kept him from seeing me!" Younglove blew up. "It was my land deal. He knew I needed town board approval by Monday, and he was stalling." "What's going on with these land deals?" I asked as curiously as anyone else. But Younglove kept the matter silent, and turned the conversation to Mayor Dewiggins' health. "Can you call him and see if he is really sick?" "If he's sick, he'll call me, can't you wait until tomorrow?" "Tomorrow is a holiday." "But he will go to listen to the band performance tomorrow night. Nothing can stop him from attending the National Day celebration for the first time as the mayor of the town." "You're right," admitted Janlov. "I'm going to meet him there." That's when Aibo stepped in. "You go now, Tom, the doctor is very busy today, and I should never have let you in without an appointment." Younglove retreated a little timidly, while she continued to clean out the filing cabinets.But this episode disturbed me. "What do you think he wants to do? Aibo, buy so much land? Why does Dewiggins pretend to be sick and not see him?" "Politics are all alike," she replied, "except when they're campaigning, they hide from voters." I stood up. "Come on. I'll treat you to something to eat." In spare days, it has become a routine to invite Aibo to Dr. Chu Erqu's pharmacy for a cup of chocolate ice cream soda.His shop was on the same street, a long, narrow storefront with a checkered tile floor and a carved tin ceiling.Cigarettes are displayed in a glass display window on the left, a soda counter with six stools on the right, and Dr. Churqu waved to us from the back of the shop as we entered. "Remind me," said Abby, "I gotta get some witch hazel for my mother before we go back." I sat on a flimsy-looking high stool with tangled wire as my feet. "As usual, how about two chocolate ice cream sodas?" Dr. Churqu asked us. I shook my head. "Give me a lemonade today, Henry." "I'd like a glass of malted milk," Aibo decided. "Tom Younglove was just in my clinic," I said to Dr. Churchu, "and said the mayor was ill and wouldn't see him and lost his temper." "He heard him say he was sick." Aibo corrected me. The glass of lemonade slipped from Dr. Churqu's hands, spilling its contents on the counter. "Damn it! A week's profit is gone!" He poured another glass and set it in front of me. "What on earth is Yang Lefu buying so much land for?" "I wish I knew," I replied, "maybe we should buy land too." Before going back, I reminded Aibo to buy witch hazel for her mother...
The Friday evening was bright and crisp.The sky was bright until after eight o'clock.Our state was one of the few places in the United States that implemented daylight saving time.Most states rejected the unpopular bill in 1918 and 1919.Although the farmers near Beishan Town complained again and again, they still followed suit. So it was nearly nine o'clock.The band's performance was finally ready to begin, and the sturdy old Roy Pinkerton led his brightly uniformed musicians onto the bandstand. "I'm going to hate this evening," Roy whispered to me as we walked by, and I could see why.Mayor Dewiggins has an important role to play on tonight's show.And Roy was the opponent he defeated during the election. I guess this proves that words get far more votes than music. I waved to Dr. Churqu as he walked past with his flute, thinking he looked very good in his uniform with brass buttons.Except for him and Roy Pinkerton, I don't know the other fifteen musicians that well.None of them were my patients, and I knew, in fact, that Pinkerton had brought several of them from Xinjiao, because there weren't that many musically gifted people in the area. When the band started playing the opening number, I looked around for Aibo, who had wandered off somewhere in the crowd.I didn't see her, but I saw Tom Younglove, coming towards me with his always troubled expression. "I still haven't seen Mayor Dewiggins." "Be happy, he'll be here soon." The band was playing "March of the Star-Spangled Banner," which was a little out of tune, and I saw someone setting up fireworks in the distance.Sergeant Lan Si and two or three of his subordinates were busy keeping the children from getting too close.The afterglow of the setting sun has faded, and now the lights around the town square are on. "Have you heard the story about this bandstand?" Young Love asked next to me. "They hanged a man there?" "I heard that, is it true?" "Of course it's true, they say his soul still—" There was a cheer at the outer edge of the crowd, and we turned to see Mayor Dewiggins and his wife, Vera, passing through the throng of people who greeted him.Dewiggins was a political man after all, he kept stopping to shake everyone's hand, and while he looked like a Boston prison boss, he wasn't really a bad guy.He would very much like to be a member of Congress one day, but it was a long way from North Hills to Washington, though he had only walked it once last week. His wife, Vera, was tall and elegant, and compared with the other ladies in the town, she was a little better.Strangely, they didn't dislike her for it.Finding that I couldn't squeeze my way in front of the mayor, I reached out and touched Vera's arm as she passed. "Hello, Dr. Sam," she said. "Do you still like Washington?" "It's a dreadful place in the summer! I'm so glad to be home." Tom Younglove tried to speak to her now, but all she said was, "The music is beautiful. Isn't it?" and went away quickly up. The first half of the concert ended with loud cymbals.The musicians stood up and prepared to rest.A few went out to the crowd for a cold beer, feeling the need to stay on the flag-decorated bandstand while the mayor gave his speech.But Roy Pinkerton, always very personable, stepped forward to introduce his opponent. "Ladies and gentlemen!" he called through the microphone, "As the band rests from hard work and everyone prepares to watch the fireworks, I'm honored to have our town mayor, David Devikin Master Si!" Somewhere behind me a balloon popped and a small baby started crying, but those sounds were drowned out by a loud, visceral cheer from our elected mayor.Dewiggins and his wife walked quickly up the band steps.He shook hands with Roy Pinkerton, while Vera waved to the crowd.Then she came down the stairs.The mayor began his speech. "I'm honored to be with you on my first National Day as mayor..." His voice was strong, and he waved off Pinkerton's mic.But his face was pale, and I wondered if he was really ill.He wasn't the type to run to the doctor for the slightest ailment or pain. Dr. Chu Erqu walked past me with a glass of beer. "He'd talk for an hour, and I reckon the kids were falling asleep by the time the fireworks were about to go off." He was right, and I decided to think of a way.I pushed my way to where the children were playing in the shadows outside the crowd.Then walk across that clearing to where the fireworks are set off.I know the person responsible.It was a young farmer named Chris.I told him, "The mayor said to start the fireworks display." He looked at me uncertainly. "Now? He's still giving a speech, isn't he?" "Start now." I was just walking towards the bandstand, and halfway there, the first fireworks exploded above our heads.Mayor Diwiggins stopped in the middle of his speech, and then quickly came back to his senses and said: "It seems that the firework show has begun, everyone, I will hand over the show to my good friend, Roy Pinkerton. Give Roy and the band a big round of applause, okay?" To the dutiful applause of the crowd, the rest of the band returned to the bandstand, sat down, and picked up their instruments.Most eyes were directed toward the red, blue, and white flashes of fire in the sky.And some young men and women set off their own fireworks on the ground. It was at this time that things happened, and we couldn't believe our eyes when it happened so suddenly. A figure in a flying black cloak pushed away the musicians on the stairs and rushed towards the mayor. The figure had a hood on his head, a rope hanging around his neck, and a meat cleaver held high in his right hand.Mayor Diwiggins turned to him, feeling puzzled but not alert, and then the knife plunged deep into Diwikins' chest.The women in the crowd screamed. The hooded shadow car turned around and let the knife stick into the victim's chest.I saw Roy Pinkerton and the others rushing to catch the murderer, but at that moment there was a blinding blinding light and a puff of smoke.About ten seconds.We can't see anything.Then after the smoke cleared, I saw Pinkerton and the other musicians standing around the dead body. The murderer disappeared. I rushed forward and pushed away the musicians who were still blocking the steps of the bandstand, and now there was screaming and crying from the crowd, and there was chaos.In the night sky above our heads, the fireworks are still blooming. "What the hell is that?" Pinkerton demanded. "A ghost?" Next to him, Dr. Churqu held a dangling rope loop in his hand. "I grabbed the rope around his neck and he just disappeared!" I turned and leaned over Mayor Dewiggins and felt for his pulse, but I knew he had no heartbeat.The knife went straight into the heart. "He's gone," Pinkerton said in a tone that sounded like awe. "The man who killed him is gone." I straightened up and yelled at Sergeant Lan Si who was far below the stage: "Let the crowd disperse. Sergeant, the celebration is over!" "What's the matter?" He pushed toward the bandstand. "Mayor Dewiggins was killed, and the murderer disappeared before our eyes—in a puff of smoke."
"Fuck!" Sergeant Lens raged in his office an hour later. "A murderer doesn't disappear in a puff of smoke! A lynched man doesn't come back to life forty years later!" "Of course not," I agreed. "I'm as unconvinced as you are that the bandstand is haunted." "What happened to the murderer?" "I'll know a little more about it when I examine the bandstand in the sun tomorrow." Aibo stood at the window, looking out into the street.Although it was nearly eleven o'clock, most of the people were still outside. The adults chatted softly in small circles, while the children still occasionally set off a string of firecrackers. "I once saw a magician perform in Boston," she offered, "and he just disappeared in a puff of smoke." I nodded. "There's a secret door on the floor." Chief Lan Si snorted. "You thought there was a secret door on the bandstand?" "I'll know in the morning, it's not bright enough to do a thorough inspection right now." "What the hell is a bandstand with secret doors in the floor?" "For a scaffold," I said to him.
Dr. Chu Erqu was waiting for me outside.His band uniform with its brass buttons was burnt black, and he was still on edge over the night. "My God, Dr. Sam, have they found anything?" "Nothing," I admitted. "You tell me what you see first." "Just this--the man's wearing a hood and a black cape. Really. Dr. Sam, I'm close enough to touch him!" He waved his blackened band uniform. "Think about it. Henry, is it possible—any chance—that the figure we all see isn't real? It's just projected by some magic light?" "Are you kidding me, Dr. Sam. He's as real as you and me! Hell, he was stabbing the mayor when I caught him. I grabbed him by the noose around his neck. He When it disappeared, the rope loop was still in my hand. What's more, the projected image can't stab people with a knife, you know that." "If that image was projected, the guy standing next to the mayor could stab with a real knife and set off a smoke bomb or something." Dr. Churqu looked terrified. "Damn it, Dr. Sam, I'm not that close to him. Roy Pinkerton is much closer than I am." "I remember seeing him there," I agreed. "I also remember seeing the murderer push two band members away on the steps. Come to think of it, he had no problem being flesh and blood." "Is it possible that he took advantage of the confusion and climbed over the railing?" I shook my head. "The stairs were blocked, there were people on all sides outside the platform, and the flash and smoke combined only made us see nothing for about ten seconds. If he was a real person, he couldn't go anywhere except up or down. .” "Maybe I can help you look into this," he volunteered. "I can take pictures of the bandstand for you and Sheriff Lens." I had forgotten that Dr. Qiu Erqu was one of the few amateur photographers in Beishan Township. "I might be able to use you in that," I said. As I left him and walked down the street toward Dixie's, Abby came running up. "Wait for me," she cried, "are you going to leave me all night with Inspector Lens?" "No, but thinking about it this way, maybe the old boy's temperament can be improved. No, I want to go to Dixie. See if there are still people there." At Dixie Restaurant Here, you can put a little smuggled whiskey in your coffee mug.And I think we all might need that tonight. The first thing we saw when we entered Dixie's was Tom Younglove, sitting at a table in the front. "It's a dreadful thing," he said. "My land deal expires on Monday, and his death has ruined me." "It really ruined him." "Sorry, I seem heartless, but that's an important business." "I think the police will want to know what kind of business you're running." He wanted Aibo and I to sit at his table. "I guess I'll have to talk sooner or later. You know I've been buying farmland. I'm talking to a new car company to build a factory here." Aibo snorted. "Building a car factory in Beishan Town! It's strange how no one killed you!" "Listen to me, the day is coming when every American family will have a car, a Rattle Arrow like you have, Dr. Sam, or a Starz or a Jordan or a Packard. Factories are being built all over the country, and this is a great opportunity for Beishan to share in the beauty of future prosperity." "Detroit already has a lot." "Of course. But Jordan's made in Cleveland. The company, whose name I won't reveal, is building two plants—one in New England for the East Coast, and one in Denver for the West Coast. .” "That's why you need to speak to Mayor Dewiggins?" "Not at all. I need the town's approval to convert agricultural land to industrial use." "You may be right about the future of the car," I said, "but I don't think North Hills is the place for a car factory." Just then Roy Pinkerton walked in the door.His spotless band uniform makes him look like a general in some operetta.He stopped in front of our table and said, "What a messy night! So much going on, the youngest of the Brenandis just got hurt by another firecracker." I stood up immediately. "where is he?" "Near the bandstand. But they've bandaged him up." "I'd better go and see." I'd still have to be a doctor first and a detective second.My first duty was to see the child. Aibo followed me and we found little Brunandi sitting in the square against a tree.What caught me off guard was seeing Willa Dewiggins just bandaging his hands. "It's good of you to come, Dr. Sam," she said. "Better check my results." As gently as I could, I examined the bruised hand of the still crying little boy.She did a great job with first aid. "If Aibo retires one day, I'd like to ask you to be a nurse," I said. "Thank you." "I thought you should have gone home." "I can't face the empty house. I'm staying at a friend's house tonight, but I can't face them yet." "It's okay," I comforted the little boy, "ask your mother to call me tomorrow morning." Aibo led him away, and I turned back to Vera and said, "What about your husband?" I'm really sorry, I only know him once in a while, but I like him very much. I know you must be very sad." "He has always valued you, Dr. Sam." I pulled a piece of crumpled paper pinned to the tree for decoration. "What did he think of Tom Younglove?" "He didn't take Tom's business seriously." "Yesterday when Yang Lefu wanted to see your husband, your husband said he was sick." "He is sick. His stomach is very uncomfortable. I want him to call you, but he won't let me call." "I see. Well, what about Roy Pinkerton? Was there any feud after the election?" "Not as far as I know." I looked up at the church clock. "It's time for both of us to go to sleep. Thanks for helping to wrap the little boy." "That's nothing," she replied.
The next morning, just after sunrise, I was back in the park on the town square.There was no one there when I arrived, and the crumpled-paper decorations still hang on the trees and on the bandstand, but now they look bleak. I climbed onto the bandstand.Examine the floor where the hooded murderer had stood before disappearing, there is a bit of burnt black, and there are bits of charred paper.But there is no secret door.The wood of the floor was strong, and I stood up straight and looked at the roof above me, and there was not a trace of rope or wire on the beams that supported it. But—the ghost we saw must have gone somewhere. "Is the case solved?" a voice behind me asked.It was Sergeant Lansi who spoke.Looked like he hadn't been in bed all night. "Just checking the floor, Sheriff, no secret door." "Just ask me." "Then what happened to him?" "Do you believe in ghosts?" "I know—the man who was hanged here more than forty years ago. I've heard the story." Chief Lan Si nodded sadly. "I wish I had some other answer before the Boston reporters crowded in here." He looked around ruefully. "Who the hell ever heard that the bandstand was haunted?" "I can't figure this out," I said. "In addition to how I did it, I want to know why. Why did you commit the crime in front of the public and when you would encounter many difficulties in escaping? It was not so much easier or safer for him to kill." Before Lan Si could answer, a black Ford drove over and parked on the side of the street.In the driver's seat was Willa Dewiggins, waving to us.I ran over and the sheriff followed me. "Morning, Mrs. Dewiggins. Any questions?" "I told you that I was staying at a friend's house last night. I just got home and found that someone broke into my house while I was away, and the glass of the side door was broken." "Is there something missing?" Sergeant Lan Si asked. "There seems to be nothing missing, but—well, I'm afraid it might be the murderer who came looking for me." "I'll go and have a look," Lan Si said, mainly to comfort her. "Are you coming too, Dr. Sam?" "Well," I looked back at the bandstand, "I can't find anything else here." It was evident that someone had broken the glass, reached in and pulled the latch, and entered the late mayor's house through the side door.There was glass in the floor that had been broken by the intruder, and I stooped to look at it, then went into the kitchen to look around. "Are you sure you haven't lost anything?" I asked Vera Dewiggins. "Pretty sure, Dr. Sam." I go into the living room.It was a nice house, bigger than most in North Hills, and it was my first time here.Dewiggins was never seriously ill enough to call for a doctor's visit. seriously ill. "Can I see your bathroom?" I asked suddenly. She seemed surprised. "Of course. Up there, at the top of this staircase." The first thing I saw when I walked in was a small piece of broken glass on the tiled floor next to the claw-footed tub. "Did you come in this morning?" I asked her. "No," she replied. That little piece of broken glass told me the intruder had been in the bathroom, and that told me who killed Mayor Dewiggins.
When the sheriff and I walked into Dr. Churqu's pharmacy half an hour later, there was a little girl sitting at the drinks counter. "It's too early for ice cream," Sergeant Lens teased her, ruffling her hair as we walked by. Dr. Churqu was at the back of the store, standing on a step stool, arranging the bottles of medicine on the shelves. "Come down for a second, doctor," I asked, "we want to talk to you." He looked down at me and the sheriff, and I could see in his eyes that he knew. "There's a lot of work to do," he muttered. "You'd better talk to us, doctor," I said. "Dr. Sam has some ideas about the murder," said Inspector Lens flatly. Dr. Qiu Erqu got down from the step stool. "You think I did it, don't you?" he asked, his hands shaking. I nodded. "I know you did it, Henry, and besides that, I know when you killed him." "When?" Sergeant Lan Si repeated, with a confused expression on his face, "I killed it last night, hey, everyone saw it." "You're wrong, Sheriff," I said, keeping my eyes on Dr. Tulchu, "Mayor Dewiggins died last night, but in all seriousness Henry killed him more than a week ago." Killed him. Gave him the wrong medicine for a heart attack."
Dr. Qiu Erqu slumped into a chair weakly and buried his head in his hands. "You know! But how do you know?" "What has been bugging me since last night's murder is why the killer would go to such lengths to pretend to be a ghost and commit the murder in front of hundreds of witnesses. It's dangerous, there are so many things going on. Mistakes can go wrong, and chances of getting caught are too many. But after you find out that Dewiggins is dead because of your mistake. You have to kill him in that way in public, let his death will not be a problem. "You know, I know he came to you last week for his medicine--you told me--and then we were in your shop on Thursday, and Abby and I were talking about Dewiggins' sickness, So no Tom Younglove. The news upset you and knocked over the lemonade I ordered—remember? It upset you because you were already afraid you'd made a mistake. And My words confirm what is in your heart. "Someone broke into the Dewiggins' house last night. But apparently nothing was stolen, which got me thinking a little bit. I went upstairs to the bathroom and found a small piece of it that the intruder had brought there Broken glass. Your target is the bathroom, isn't it?—because you have to steal that vial out of the medicine cabinet." Dr. Chu Erqu looked up, and I saw that he was crying. "That was a terrible mistake I made. He was talking about his going to Washington, and I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. I used the wrong white powder to press into tablets. A few days later I saw When he got to him. He seemed pale and sick. I went back to the shop and checked and saw what I might have done wrong. I wished I was wrong to worry, but you told me on Thursday that he was ill, I knew the worst had happened. "I know he is dying, and there is no way to save him. He has been taking the wrong medicine for a week. Even if I go to him and admit the truth. It is too late to save his life. And my whole life—my family's Lives—and ruined forever. Who will bring prescription pads to a pharmacist who poisoned the mayor?" "But why did you stab him to death?" Sergeant Lan Si asked. I replied for him: "Dr. Chuerqu must have killed him in a way so strange that he would not want to do an autopsy again. There are hundreds of eyewitnesses. Who else could doubt the cause of his death? I hope every day in the future Every homicide requires a forensic autopsy, but our state has not yet reached that point. Dewiggins' death, everyone thinks it is what they saw—assassinated in front of a large audience. won't be discovered." "How did he disappear from the bandstand?" “他并没有消失——他只是除去化装，恢复他本来面目，一旦我们知道凶手是谁之后，方法几乎就不证自明了。邱尔曲大夫知道音乐台闹鬼的传说——他曾经把这件事告诉过我——就决定加以运用。他在乐队里吹长笛，他知道乐手会有中场休息的时间让狄维金斯镇长致词。我看到他在人群里喝啤酒，可是我没看到他回音乐台上。 “你一定记得那些乐队的人都正要坐回他们的位子，又在放烟火的混乱当中，凶手动的手。没有人——就连平克顿在内——能发誓说当时邱尔曲大夫究竟是不是在音乐台上。可是等过了一阵浓烟散尽之后，他就在那里了，还紧抓着那条他说是从凶手脖子上抓下来的绳圈。 “真正的状况其实很简单，我想起今天早上在音乐台上找到一些烧焦的黑色纸屑时，我就相当确定是怎么回事了。在中场休息的时候，邱尔曲大夫走到了那些树后面，路灯照不到的地方，把一件用黑色皱纸做的披风套在他的乐队制服外面。在头上罩了一个挖了眼洞的布头罩，再把一圈绳子绕在脖子上，就把鬼给扮成了。然后他跑上音乐台，用刀刺死镇长。” “那道闪光呢？还有浓烟？”蓝思警长问道。 “他在皱纸上洒了镁光粉，大概是黏上去的，要记得他是个业余的摄影家，家里一定有这些东西。等他给镁光粉点上火，不但镁光让我们什么都看不见，也把那件很薄的纸披风给烧掉了。然后他把头罩塞在他制服底下。再把绳圈拿在手上，说他本来想抓住凶手的。” “你怎么会知道的呢？”邱尔曲大夫问道，又抬起头来。 “那些烧焦的皱纸。还有你熏黑了的乐队制服。头罩保护了你的脸部，可是烧了的纸灰当然会弄黑了你的制服。我们应该会以为衣服弄黑是因为你向凶手扑过去的缘故。可是你承认说平克顿比你还靠近——然而他的制服却是干干净净的。” 蓝思警长摇着头。“像这样的计划实在是要碰运气，有太多的事情可能会出差错呢！”“他的被害人已经快死了，警长。这的确要碰运气，可是那却是他唯一的机会。” “来吧，大夫，”蓝思说，“我得把你带走了。” 那小女孩还坐在靠门口的冷饮柜台边。 “你现在一定得走了，”邱尔曲大夫对她说，“我要打烊了。” “你什么时候回来？”她问道。 他对警长看了一眼，回答道，“恐怕要好久以后了。” “这就是事情的经过。一九二四年的事了，可是我想我永远也忘不了那次国庆。”
老医生停了下来，两眼如梦似幻，像在遥远的地方。 “对了，那天早上还有一件事告诉我说我是对的。还记得那块打破的玻璃，还有闯入者带到浴室去的那一小片碎玻璃吗？呃，我们走进药房的时候，我看到邱尔曲大夫站在梯凳上，也看到另外一小片碎玻璃黏在他鞋跟上。 “来，让我再给你杯子斟满。哎，我有没有跟你讲过有回我去坐火车的事，还有在路上发生的那件不可能的窃案？”
Notes:
The National Day of that year happened to be Friday (the old doctor continued), which was a rare and good thing for the people in Beishan Town. Of course, there were no big weekends at that time, and almost everyone had at least I work half a day, but no one works hard the day after National Day. About a week before the celebration, I met Dr. Henry Church, the local pharmacist, in the park near the town square.Dr. Qiu Erqu has always been very friendly to me, probably because most of his business is sent by me.Back then, the pharmacy hadn’t started to sell everything from perfume to picnic gear, etc. Dr. Qiu Erqu sold medicine and cigarettes, and there was a cold drink counter, but that was all. "It's going to be a lot of fun here next week, Dr. Sam, will you come to hear the band and watch the fireworks?" "I won't miss it, Henry, this is my third summer in Beishan Town, National Day is one of the important festivals." He was a smiling, medium built man of about forty who lived in the town with his wife and two children.I like Dr. Chuerqu very much, although he always jokes that I am a valuable young single nobleman. "I thought a guy like you had better things to do on summer nights than hear me play the flute in a small town band," he teased. "That's pretty important stuff," I replied with a wink. "All the young girls will be there." We walked into the park together.Walked to the very old music station.It was a tall wooden platform, weather-beaten and in need of repainting, empty on eight sides, with a roof forming a peak, and a weather vane on top.The floor is about four feet high from the ground, and it can only be reached by walking seven flights of steps from the ground. There are railings on the sides of the stairs, and railings surround the sides of the band seats, probably to prevent over-enthusiastic players from going to the ground. He fell back and fell into the crowd.The space under the bandstand is completely enclosed with a wooden lattice to prevent children from getting in. "Did Sergeant Lan Si tell you about the haunting?" Dr. Qiu Erqu asked. "Here? Here at the bandstand?" "Yes. About 1880, after the bandstand was built." "what happened?" "Two bums—a black person and his gypsy wife—come to town. He's probably a nigger his master set him free, and he's been wandering around since the Civil War, but no one really knows what. He broke into a hardware store one night and they caught him. They said he had a foot knife and almost killed the sheriff. Guess the town was merciless, they hung him with a rope Died on top of the bandstand." "Lynching?" I couldn't believe it. "Nobody lynches in New England." "It's rare, but it happens. Colonial Indians, and witches—in Cheylon, anyway, before his gypsy wife was kicked out of town. Cursed on the bandstand , they say he still comes back here sometimes, still wearing the hood and the rope around his neck." "Sounds like a country woman's tale to me." "I admit that no one has seen him in recent years." Doctor Qiu Erqu admitted. "I bet no! People are too smart to believe such nonsense these days." "I think you're right," he agreed, and we turned back. "Has Mayor Dewiggins returned from Washington?" "Just came back this morning. He came to the store to pick up his medicine. He said Washington was so hot and there were flies everywhere. That kind of place is our country's capital, huh?" "I don't think it's very comfortable there in summer. The British Foreign Office said it's a subtropical climate. Did he have a good deal with Minister New York?" The mayor of Dewiggins, who was just elected, wrote too many campaign checks.In particular, he took the train to Washington to ask Secretary of Posts and Telecommunications, Harry New, to have North Hill Township have its own post office. "Didn't even see one at all. New was out of town somewhere—fishing, maybe—and the mayor had to meet his assistant, but he thought it was promising, anyway, Devi. Mayor Kings is always hopeful." We walked to his pharmacy, and I saw Mrs. Churqu busy behind the counter. "I have to go back to see my patient, Henry." "Write more prescriptions, Dr. Sam."
During the week of Fourth of July, my clinic was a bit busy, mostly with accidental injuries or encounters with poison ivy on the farm that usually happens in summer.When there are no patients, Aibo will not let me idle, insisting that this is a good time for general cleaning of the clinic. "I'm not in that mood," I grumbled on Thursday as she emptied my wooden filing cabinet drawers and cleaned them out. "Can't we do it another day?" Her pudgy body circled around my desk. "I have a cold in winter. Everyone has a baby in spring, and now is the time to clean up." "There are babies all year round." "Looks like a little bit more spring. Anyway, you've been here two and a half years, Dr. Sam. This is the first time we've really done a housecleaning! What will the patients do if they see you wipe the cobwebs off the medical records?" What do you think?" This made me laugh out loud. "It's not that bad, Aibo." "Are you going to hear the band play and watch the fireworks tomorrow night?" "Of course, what about you?" I know she doesn't have a regular male companion, and sometimes I feel a little sorry for her. "Want to come with me?" She didn't wait for me to ask her a second time. "Of course!" "Maybe we can get something to eat at Dixie's first." Dixie's is a snack bar, the only one in town that has good food. "I'll pick you up at seven o'clock." Her eyes widened. "In your convertible?" She's been obsessed with my car since the wedding party a few weeks ago, the 1921 Arrow that my parents gave me as a graduation present. yellow convertible car. I haven't had time to answer.A bell outside indicated the arrival of a patient. "Do we have any appointments, Aibo?" "The calendar is empty for this afternoon. I'll go see who's here." She came back quickly, followed by Tom Younglove.Tom was a local real estate businessman who had been buying nearby farmland lately, and his ultimate purpose had been a source of gossip and worry. "Dr. Sam," he gasped. "I need your help." "You'd better catch your breath first, I've been advising you to reduce your waistline a little bit." "It's not my problem—it's Mayor Dewiggins, who won't see me." "Then what can I do?" "He canceled today's meeting. Said he was sick. Is that true?" "I can't give you the right answer without checking it, can you? I've been prescribing him for a heart attack, but I haven't heard anything else wrong with him. He last week Just came back from Washington over the weekend, maybe he got something over there, I heard there are a lot of bugs in the summer." "It wasn't the bugs that kept him from seeing me!" Younglove blew up. "It was my land deal. He knew I needed town board approval by Monday, and he was stalling." "What's going on with these land deals?" I asked as curiously as anyone else. But Younglove kept the matter silent, and turned the conversation to Mayor Dewiggins' health. "Can you call him and see if he is really sick?" "If he's sick, he'll call me, can't you wait until tomorrow?" "Tomorrow is a holiday." "But he will go to listen to the band performance tomorrow night. Nothing can stop him from attending the National Day celebration for the first time as the mayor of the town." "You're right," admitted Janlov. "I'm going to meet him there." That's when Aibo stepped in. "You go now, Tom, the doctor is very busy today, and I should never have let you in without an appointment." Younglove retreated a little timidly, while she continued to clean out the filing cabinets.But this episode disturbed me. "What do you think he wants to do? Aibo, buy so much land? Why does Dewiggins pretend to be sick and not see him?" "Politics are all alike," she replied, "except when they're campaigning, they hide from voters." I stood up. "Come on. I'll treat you to something to eat." In spare days, it has become a routine to invite Aibo to Dr. Chu Erqu's pharmacy for a cup of chocolate ice cream soda.His shop was on the same street, a long, narrow storefront with a checkered tile floor and a carved tin ceiling.Cigarettes are displayed in a glass display window on the left, a soda counter with six stools on the right, and Dr. Churqu waved to us from the back of the shop as we entered. "Remind me," said Abby, "I gotta get some witch hazel for my mother before we go back." I sat on a flimsy-looking high stool with tangled wire as my feet. "As usual, how about two chocolate ice cream sodas?" Dr. Churqu asked us. I shook my head. "Give me a lemonade today, Henry." "I'd like a glass of malted milk," Aibo decided. "Tom Younglove was just in my clinic," I said to Dr. Churchu, "and said the mayor was ill and wouldn't see him and lost his temper." "He heard him say he was sick." Aibo corrected me. The glass of lemonade slipped from Dr. Churqu's hands, spilling its contents on the counter. "Damn it! A week's profit is gone!" He poured another glass and set it in front of me. "What on earth is Yang Lefu buying so much land for?" "I wish I knew," I replied, "maybe we should buy land too." Before going back, I reminded Aibo to buy witch hazel for her mother...
The Friday evening was bright and crisp.The sky was bright until after eight o'clock.Our state was one of the few places in the United States that implemented daylight saving time.Most states rejected the unpopular bill in 1918 and 1919.Although the farmers near Beishan Town complained again and again, they still followed suit. So it was nearly nine o'clock.The band's performance was finally ready to begin, and the sturdy old Roy Pinkerton led his brightly uniformed musicians onto the bandstand. "I'm going to hate this evening," Roy whispered to me as we walked by, and I could see why.Mayor Dewiggins has an important role to play on tonight's show.And Roy was the opponent he defeated during the election. I guess this proves that words get far more votes than music. I waved to Dr. Churqu as he walked past with his flute, thinking he looked very good in his uniform with brass buttons.Except for him and Roy Pinkerton, I don't know the other fifteen musicians that well.None of them were my patients, and I knew, in fact, that Pinkerton had brought several of them from Xinjiao, because there weren't that many musically gifted people in the area. When the band started playing the opening number, I looked around for Aibo, who had wandered off somewhere in the crowd.I didn't see her, but I saw Tom Younglove, coming towards me with his always troubled expression. "I still haven't seen Mayor Dewiggins." "Be happy, he'll be here soon." The band was playing "March of the Star-Spangled Banner," which was a little out of tune, and I saw someone setting up fireworks in the distance.Sergeant Lan Si and two or three of his subordinates were busy keeping the children from getting too close.The afterglow of the setting sun has faded, and now the lights around the town square are on. "Have you heard the story about this bandstand?" Young Love asked next to me. "They hanged a man there?" "I heard that, is it true?" "Of course it's true, they say his soul still—" There was a cheer at the outer edge of the crowd, and we turned to see Mayor Dewiggins and his wife, Vera, passing through the throng of people who greeted him.Dewiggins was a political man after all, he kept stopping to shake everyone's hand, and while he looked like a Boston prison boss, he wasn't really a bad guy.He would very much like to be a member of Congress one day, but it was a long way from North Hills to Washington, though he had only walked it once last week. His wife, Vera, was tall and elegant, and compared with the other ladies in the town, she was a little better.Strangely, they didn't dislike her for it.Finding that I couldn't squeeze my way in front of the mayor, I reached out and touched Vera's arm as she passed. "Hello, Dr. Sam," she said. "Do you still like Washington?" "It's a dreadful place in the summer! I'm so glad to be home." Tom Younglove tried to speak to her now, but all she said was, "The music is beautiful. Isn't it?" and went away quickly up. The first half of the concert ended with loud cymbals.The musicians stood up and prepared to rest.A few went out to the crowd for a cold beer, feeling the need to stay on the flag-decorated bandstand while the mayor gave his speech.But Roy Pinkerton, always very personable, stepped forward to introduce his opponent. "Ladies and gentlemen!" he called through the microphone, "As the band rests from hard work and everyone prepares to watch the fireworks, I'm honored to have our town mayor, David Devikin Master Si!" Somewhere behind me a balloon popped and a small baby started crying, but those sounds were drowned out by a loud, visceral cheer from our elected mayor.Dewiggins and his wife walked quickly up the band steps.He shook hands with Roy Pinkerton, while Vera waved to the crowd.Then she came down the stairs.The mayor began his speech. "I'm honored to be with you on my first National Day as mayor..." His voice was strong, and he waved off Pinkerton's mic.But his face was pale, and I wondered if he was really ill.He wasn't the type to run to the doctor for the slightest ailment or pain. Dr. Chu Erqu walked past me with a glass of beer. "He'd talk for an hour, and I reckon the kids were falling asleep by the time the fireworks were about to go off." He was right, and I decided to think of a way.I pushed my way to where the children were playing in the shadows outside the crowd.Then walk across that clearing to where the fireworks are set off.I know the person responsible.It was a young farmer named Chris.I told him, "The mayor said to start the fireworks display." He looked at me uncertainly. "Now? He's still giving a speech, isn't he?" "Start now." I was just walking towards the bandstand, and halfway there, the first fireworks exploded above our heads.Mayor Diwiggins stopped in the middle of his speech, and then quickly came back to his senses and said: "It seems that the firework show has begun, everyone, I will hand over the show to my good friend, Roy Pinkerton. Give Roy and the band a big round of applause, okay?" To the dutiful applause of the crowd, the rest of the band returned to the bandstand, sat down, and picked up their instruments.Most eyes were directed toward the red, blue, and white flashes of fire in the sky.And some young men and women set off their own fireworks on the ground. It was at this time that things happened, and we couldn't believe our eyes when it happened so suddenly. A figure in a flying black cloak pushed away the musicians on the stairs and rushed towards the mayor. The figure had a hood on his head, a rope hanging around his neck, and a meat cleaver held high in his right hand.Mayor Diwiggins turned to him, feeling puzzled but not alert, and then the knife plunged deep into Diwikins' chest.The women in the crowd screamed. The hooded shadow car turned around and let the knife stick into the victim's chest.I saw Roy Pinkerton and the others rushing to catch the murderer, but at that moment there was a blinding blinding light and a puff of smoke.About ten seconds.We can't see anything.Then after the smoke cleared, I saw Pinkerton and the other musicians standing around the dead body. The murderer disappeared. I rushed forward and pushed away the musicians who were still blocking the steps of the bandstand, and now there was screaming and crying from the crowd, and there was chaos.In the night sky above our heads, the fireworks are still blooming. "What the hell is that?" Pinkerton demanded. "A ghost?" Next to him, Dr. Churqu held a dangling rope loop in his hand. "I grabbed the rope around his neck and he just disappeared!" I turned and leaned over Mayor Dewiggins and felt for his pulse, but I knew he had no heartbeat.The knife went straight into the heart. "He's gone," Pinkerton said in a tone that sounded like awe. "The man who killed him is gone." I straightened up and yelled at Sergeant Lan Si who was far below the stage: "Let the crowd disperse. Sergeant, the celebration is over!" "What's the matter?" He pushed toward the bandstand. "Mayor Dewiggins was killed, and the murderer disappeared before our eyes—in a puff of smoke."
"Fuck!" Sergeant Lens raged in his office an hour later. "A murderer doesn't disappear in a puff of smoke! A lynched man doesn't come back to life forty years later!" "Of course not," I agreed. "I'm as unconvinced as you are that the bandstand is haunted." "What happened to the murderer?" "I'll know a little more about it when I examine the bandstand in the sun tomorrow." Aibo stood at the window, looking out into the street.Although it was nearly eleven o'clock, most of the people were still outside. The adults chatted softly in small circles, while the children still occasionally set off a string of firecrackers. "I once saw a magician perform in Boston," she offered, "and he just disappeared in a puff of smoke." I nodded. "There's a secret door on the floor." Chief Lan Si snorted. "You thought there was a secret door on the bandstand?" "I'll know in the morning, it's not bright enough to do a thorough inspection right now." "What the hell is a bandstand with secret doors in the floor?" "For a scaffold," I said to him.
Dr. Chu Erqu was waiting for me outside.His band uniform with its brass buttons was burnt black, and he was still on edge over the night. "My God, Dr. Sam, have they found anything?" "Nothing," I admitted. "You tell me what you see first." "Just this--the man's wearing a hood and a black cape. Really. Dr. Sam, I'm close enough to touch him!" He waved his blackened band uniform. "Think about it. Henry, is it possible—any chance—that the figure we all see isn't real? It's just projected by some magic light?" "Are you kidding me, Dr. Sam. He's as real as you and me! Hell, he was stabbing the mayor when I caught him. I grabbed him by the noose around his neck. He When it disappeared, the rope loop was still in my hand. What's more, the projected image can't stab people with a knife, you know that." "If that image was projected, the guy standing next to the mayor could stab with a real knife and set off a smoke bomb or something." Dr. Churqu looked terrified. "Damn it, Dr. Sam, I'm not that close to him. Roy Pinkerton is much closer than I am." "I remember seeing him there," I agreed. "I also remember seeing the murderer push two band members away on the steps. Come to think of it, he had no problem being flesh and blood." "Is it possible that he took advantage of the confusion and climbed over the railing?" I shook my head. "The stairs were blocked, there were people on all sides outside the platform, and the flash and smoke combined only made us see nothing for about ten seconds. If he was a real person, he couldn't go anywhere except up or down. .” "Maybe I can help you look into this," he volunteered. "I can take pictures of the bandstand for you and Sheriff Lens." I had forgotten that Dr. Qiu Erqu was one of the few amateur photographers in Beishan Township. "I might be able to use you in that," I said. As I left him and walked down the street toward Dixie's, Abby came running up. "Wait for me," she cried, "are you going to leave me all night with Inspector Lens?" "No, but thinking about it this way, maybe the old boy's temperament can be improved. No, I want to go to Dixie. See if there are still people there." At Dixie Restaurant Here, you can put a little smuggled whiskey in your coffee mug.And I think we all might need that tonight. The first thing we saw when we entered Dixie's was Tom Younglove, sitting at a table in the front. "It's a dreadful thing," he said. "My land deal expires on Monday, and his death has ruined me." "It really ruined him." "Sorry, I seem heartless, but that's an important business." "I think the police will want to know what kind of business you're running." He wanted Aibo and I to sit at his table. "I guess I'll have to talk sooner or later. You know I've been buying farmland. I'm talking to a new car company to build a factory here." Aibo snorted. "Building a car factory in Beishan Town! It's strange how no one killed you!" "Listen to me, the day is coming when every American family will have a car, a Rattle Arrow like you have, Dr. Sam, or a Starz or a Jordan or a Packard. Factories are being built all over the country, and this is a great opportunity for Beishan to share in the beauty of future prosperity." "Detroit already has a lot." "Of course. But Jordan's made in Cleveland. The company, whose name I won't reveal, is building two plants—one in New England for the East Coast, and one in Denver for the West Coast. .” "That's why you need to speak to Mayor Dewiggins?" "Not at all. I need the town's approval to convert agricultural land to industrial use." "You may be right about the future of the car," I said, "but I don't think North Hills is the place for a car factory." Just then Roy Pinkerton walked in the door.His spotless band uniform makes him look like a general in some operetta.He stopped in front of our table and said, "What a messy night! So much going on, the youngest of the Brenandis just got hurt by another firecracker." I stood up immediately. "where is he?" "Near the bandstand. But they've bandaged him up." "I'd better go and see." I'd still have to be a doctor first and a detective second.My first duty was to see the child. Aibo followed me and we found little Brunandi sitting in the square against a tree.What caught me off guard was seeing Willa Dewiggins just bandaging his hands. "It's good of you to come, Dr. Sam," she said. "Better check my results." As gently as I could, I examined the bruised hand of the still crying little boy.She did a great job with first aid. "If Aibo retires one day, I'd like to ask you to be a nurse," I said. "Thank you." "I thought you should have gone home." "I can't face the empty house. I'm staying at a friend's house tonight, but I can't face them yet." "It's okay," I comforted the little boy, "ask your mother to call me tomorrow morning." Aibo led him away, and I turned back to Vera and said, "What about your husband?" I'm really sorry, I only know him once in a while, but I like him very much. I know you must be very sad." "He has always valued you, Dr. Sam." I pulled a piece of crumpled paper pinned to the tree for decoration. "What did he think of Tom Younglove?" "He didn't take Tom's business seriously." "Yesterday when Yang Lefu wanted to see your husband, your husband said he was sick." "He is sick. His stomach is very uncomfortable. I want him to call you, but he won't let me call." "I see. Well, what about Roy Pinkerton? Was there any feud after the election?" "Not as far as I know." I looked up at the church clock. "It's time for both of us to go to sleep. Thanks for helping to wrap the little boy." "That's nothing," she replied.
The next morning, just after sunrise, I was back in the park on the town square.There was no one there when I arrived, and the crumpled-paper decorations still hang on the trees and on the bandstand, but now they look bleak. I climbed onto the bandstand.Examine the floor where the hooded murderer had stood before disappearing, there is a bit of burnt black, and there are bits of charred paper.But there is no secret door.The wood of the floor was strong, and I stood up straight and looked at the roof above me, and there was not a trace of rope or wire on the beams that supported it. But—the ghost we saw must have gone somewhere. "Is the case solved?" a voice behind me asked.It was Sergeant Lansi who spoke.Looked like he hadn't been in bed all night. "Just checking the floor, Sheriff, no secret door." "Just ask me." "Then what happened to him?" "Do you believe in ghosts?" "I know—the man who was hanged here more than forty years ago. I've heard the story." Chief Lan Si nodded sadly. "I wish I had some other answer before the Boston reporters crowded in here." He looked around ruefully. "Who the hell ever heard that the bandstand was haunted?" "I can't figure this out," I said. "In addition to how I did it, I want to know why. Why did you commit the crime in front of the public and when you would encounter many difficulties in escaping? It was not so much easier or safer for him to kill." Before Lan Si could answer, a black Ford drove over and parked on the side of the street.In the driver's seat was Willa Dewiggins, waving to us.I ran over and the sheriff followed me. "Morning, Mrs. Dewiggins. Any questions?" "I told you that I was staying at a friend's house last night. I just got home and found that someone broke into my house while I was away, and the glass of the side door was broken." "Is there something missing?" Sergeant Lan Si asked. "There seems to be nothing missing, but—well, I'm afraid it might be the murderer who came looking for me." "I'll go and have a look," Lan Si said, mainly to comfort her. "Are you coming too, Dr. Sam?" "Well," I looked back at the bandstand, "I can't find anything else here." It was evident that someone had broken the glass, reached in and pulled the latch, and entered the late mayor's house through the side door.There was glass in the floor that had been broken by the intruder, and I stooped to look at it, then went into the kitchen to look around. "Are you sure you haven't lost anything?" I asked Vera Dewiggins. "Pretty sure, Dr. Sam." I go into the living room.It was a nice house, bigger than most in North Hills, and it was my first time here.Dewiggins was never seriously ill enough to call for a doctor's visit. seriously ill. "Can I see your bathroom?" I asked suddenly. She seemed surprised. "Of course. Up there, at the top of this staircase." The first thing I saw when I walked in was a small piece of broken glass on the tiled floor next to the claw-footed tub. "Did you come in this morning?" I asked her. "No," she replied. That little piece of broken glass told me the intruder had been in the bathroom, and that told me who killed Mayor Dewiggins.
When the sheriff and I walked into Dr. Churqu's pharmacy half an hour later, there was a little girl sitting at the drinks counter. "It's too early for ice cream," Sergeant Lens teased her, ruffling her hair as we walked by. Dr. Churqu was at the back of the store, standing on a step stool, arranging the bottles of medicine on the shelves. "Come down for a second, doctor," I asked, "we want to talk to you." He looked down at me and the sheriff, and I could see in his eyes that he knew. "There's a lot of work to do," he muttered. "You'd better talk to us, doctor," I said. "Dr. Sam has some ideas about the murder," said Inspector Lens flatly. Dr. Qiu Erqu got down from the step stool. "You think I did it, don't you?" he asked, his hands shaking. I nodded. "I know you did it, Henry, and besides that, I know when you killed him." "When?" Sergeant Lan Si repeated, with a confused expression on his face, "I killed it last night, hey, everyone saw it." "You're wrong, Sheriff," I said, keeping my eyes on Dr. Tulchu, "Mayor Dewiggins died last night, but in all seriousness Henry killed him more than a week ago." Killed him. Gave him the wrong medicine for a heart attack."
Dr. Qiu Erqu slumped into a chair weakly and buried his head in his hands. "You know! But how do you know?" "What has been bugging me since last night's murder is why the killer would go to such lengths to pretend to be a ghost and commit the murder in front of hundreds of witnesses. It's dangerous, there are so many things going on. Mistakes can go wrong, and chances of getting caught are too many. But after you find out that Dewiggins is dead because of your mistake. You have to kill him in that way in public, let his death will not be a problem. "You know, I know he came to you last week for his medicine--you told me--and then we were in your shop on Thursday, and Abby and I were talking about Dewiggins' sickness, So no Tom Younglove. The news upset you and knocked over the lemonade I ordered—remember? It upset you because you were already afraid you'd made a mistake. And My words confirm what is in your heart. "Someone broke into the Dewiggins' house last night. But apparently nothing was stolen, which got me thinking a little bit. I went upstairs to the bathroom and found a small piece of it that the intruder had brought there Broken glass. Your target is the bathroom, isn't it?—because you have to steal that vial out of the medicine cabinet." Dr. Chu Erqu looked up, and I saw that he was crying. "That was a terrible mistake I made. He was talking about his going to Washington, and I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. I used the wrong white powder to press into tablets. A few days later I saw When he got to him. He seemed pale and sick. I went back to the shop and checked and saw what I might have done wrong. I wished I was wrong to worry, but you told me on Thursday that he was ill, I knew the worst had happened. "I know he is dying, and there is no way to save him. He has been taking the wrong medicine for a week. Even if I go to him and admit the truth. It is too late to save his life. And my whole life—my family's Lives—and ruined forever. Who will bring prescription pads to a pharmacist who poisoned the mayor?" "But why did you stab him to death?" Sergeant Lan Si asked. I replied for him: "Dr. Chuerqu must have killed him in a way so strange that he would not want to do an autopsy again. There are hundreds of eyewitnesses. Who else could doubt the cause of his death? I hope every day in the future Every homicide requires a forensic autopsy, but our state has not yet reached that point. Dewiggins' death, everyone thinks it is what they saw—assassinated in front of a large audience. won't be discovered." "How did he disappear from the bandstand?" “他并没有消失——他只是除去化装，恢复他本来面目，一旦我们知道凶手是谁之后，方法几乎就不证自明了。邱尔曲大夫知道音乐台闹鬼的传说——他曾经把这件事告诉过我——就决定加以运用。他在乐队里吹长笛，他知道乐手会有中场休息的时间让狄维金斯镇长致词。我看到他在人群里喝啤酒，可是我没看到他回音乐台上。 “你一定记得那些乐队的人都正要坐回他们的位子，又在放烟火的混乱当中，凶手动的手。没有人——就连平克顿在内——能发誓说当时邱尔曲大夫究竟是不是在音乐台上。可是等过了一阵浓烟散尽之后，他就在那里了，还紧抓着那条他说是从凶手脖子上抓下来的绳圈。 “真正的状况其实很简单，我想起今天早上在音乐台上找到一些烧焦的黑色纸屑时，我就相当确定是怎么回事了。在中场休息的时候，邱尔曲大夫走到了那些树后面，路灯照不到的地方，把一件用黑色皱纸做的披风套在他的乐队制服外面。在头上罩了一个挖了眼洞的布头罩，再把一圈绳子绕在脖子上，就把鬼给扮成了。然后他跑上音乐台，用刀刺死镇长。” “那道闪光呢？还有浓烟？”蓝思警长问道。 “他在皱纸上洒了镁光粉，大概是黏上去的，要记得他是个业余的摄影家，家里一定有这些东西。等他给镁光粉点上火，不但镁光让我们什么都看不见，也把那件很薄的纸披风给烧掉了。然后他把头罩塞在他制服底下。再把绳圈拿在手上，说他本来想抓住凶手的。” “你怎么会知道的呢？”邱尔曲大夫问道，又抬起头来。 “那些烧焦的皱纸。还有你熏黑了的乐队制服。头罩保护了你的脸部，可是烧了的纸灰当然会弄黑了你的制服。我们应该会以为衣服弄黑是因为你向凶手扑过去的缘故。可是你承认说平克顿比你还靠近——然而他的制服却是干干净净的。” 蓝思警长摇着头。“像这样的计划实在是要碰运气，有太多的事情可能会出差错呢！”“他的被害人已经快死了，警长。这的确要碰运气，可是那却是他唯一的机会。” “来吧，大夫，”蓝思说，“我得把你带走了。” 那小女孩还坐在靠门口的冷饮柜台边。 “你现在一定得走了，”邱尔曲大夫对她说，“我要打烊了。” “你什么时候回来？”她问道。 他对警长看了一眼，回答道，“恐怕要好久以后了。” “这就是事情的经过。一九二四年的事了，可是我想我永远也忘不了那次国庆。”
老医生停了下来，两眼如梦似幻，像在遥远的地方。 “对了，那天早上还有一件事告诉我说我是对的。还记得那块打破的玻璃，还有闯入者带到浴室去的那一小片碎玻璃吗？呃，我们走进药房的时候，我看到邱尔曲大夫站在梯凳上，也看到另外一小片碎玻璃黏在他鞋跟上。 “来，让我再给你杯子斟满。哎，我有没有跟你讲过有回我去坐火车的事，还有在路上发生的那件不可能的窃案？”
Notes: