Chapter 6 Red Schoolhouse Elementary School Kidnapping Mystery
"Yes, we had one-room elementary schools in my day," said Dr. Sam Hawthorne. "In fact, one of the cases that perplexed me the most was in that little red schoolhouse. Kidnapping in the fall of 1925—about seven years later, Lindbergh's case made kidnapping headlines and made kidnapping a federal felony by law. Come on, let me Get you a - er - something to drink, and tell you what happened..."
It was because I was one of the few doctors in the area (Dr. Sam Hawthorne began) that I was involved in this case.I got a call from Mrs. Daisy, a widow in Fire Hills, saying her youngest son had just come home from school and looked weird.We had a few cases of polio that summer, and although I knew that the fall of frost would reduce the risk of contagion, I figured I'd go out there and see what the problem was.I told my nurse, Aibo, where I would be, packed my medical kit, and drove to Fire Hill in my yellow Arrow-shaped convertible. Huoqiu was originally called Huoji Mountain, and wild turkeys could still be seen in Beishan Town.That's always been the "back end" of the town, an area that the well-to-do would avoid.Even the agricultural land in Huoqiu was second-class. In the autumn of 1925, only three families still lived there.Mrs. Daisy worked as hard as she could on her husband's field, but the other two did not even look at farming.In one of them lived a hermit, whom no one had ever seen.The other was a French-Canadian who was suspected of making bootleg whiskey from a hidden still. She came out of the house to meet me as I turned into the rutted drive at Mrs. Daisy's farm. "I swear I don't know what's the matter with that kid, Dr. Sam. He came home from school today looking like he was scared to death of something. Whatever it was, he wouldn't tell me anyway. I don't know if he How about being sick?" Robert was her only son—a tiny nine-year-old who already suffered from a variety of childhood ailments.I found him behind the barn throwing rocks at some target I couldn't see. "Hello, Rob," I called to him, "are you feeling a little sick?" He turned away. "I'm fine." But he was pale, and he shuddered when I touched the clammy, clammy skin on his face. "Is there a problem? You're freaking out, aren't you? Did something happen on the way home from school?" I knew he was passing two other occupied houses on Fire Hill on his way home from school, maybe somewhere Something in a house scared the nine-year-old.Then, I also remembered his father's insanity before his death.Could it be that Robert has also started to think wildly? "Nothing," the kid muttered, and started throwing stones again. "Did anyone scare you? Threatened you?" "No," he hesitated, "it's about Tommy Belmont." I tried to touch him again, but he moved away and ran away, all the way into the field.I knew I would never catch him, so I turned and walked towards the farmhouse where his mother was waiting for me. "He seems to be in a great fright," I told her, "but he should be all right soon, as is the case with children of this age. We'll see how he is tomorrow morning. Call again if there are still problems." Call me." The farmer's family in Huoqiu only had a shared telephone line connected to the town the year before last, but everyone knows that the reclusive old Josh took a shotgun to keep people from the telephone company from approaching his house. "Thank you for the trip. I'm relieved to know it's nothing serious, Dr. Sam." She fumbled in her apron pocket. "How much should I pay you?" "There is no need to pay for it yet, let's make sure he's okay before we talk." Robert reappeared by the barn, presumably to see if I was gone, and I waved him goodbye and got into my car.There's nothing else to do here, but I think I should go and talk to little Tommy Belmont. The Belmont family is different from Mrs. Daisy's mother and son. They live in a relatively affluent part of Beishan Town and have a 100-acre pasture.Herb Belmont was the equivalent of a squire in the town, spending most of his time with the other ranchers and the Boston banker while the cows were fed and milked by his laborers.The Belmonds had two sons and a daughter. The elder went to school in Boston, and the younger was only four, so only Tommy attended the one-room school on the outskirts of town. Tommy was a lively ten-year-old with fiery red hair and freckles who looked as if he had run away from a Mark Twain book.When I pulled over to his house, I almost expected to see him painting a fence, but what I saw was Sheriff Lenz's familiar black police car. As I walked down the walk to the gate, the sheriff himself appeared. "What are you doing here, Dr. Sam?" he asked. "Have you been called?" "No. Is something wrong, Sheriff?" "You'd better come in quickly, maybe you can help Mrs Belmont." I went into the living room and found the lady in tears, curled up in a large chair with a flowered upholstery, her husband comforting her. "What's the matter?" I asked Herb Belmont. "What's the matter with Tommy?" The kid's father stared at me and said, "He's been kidnapped." "Kidnapping?" "He disappeared on the school playground right in front of Teacher Saya, and now someone is asking for a ransom." "Are there any blackmail letters?" "It's on the phone—a voice I've never heard before. Said they want fifty thousand dollars or Tommy's life!" His voice cracked, and Mrs. Belmont began to cry again. "Damn it!" Sergeant Lan Si roared angrily, "This kind of thing has never happened in Beishan Town!" "When will you have to pay the ransom?" I asked, hoping to calm them down by talking. "They said they would call again." I turned to the sheriff and said, "It should be fine to track down the call. Jenny is in charge of the switchboard and must know who called." He nodded in agreement. "I'll check it out." "I'll go to school and talk to Mrs. Saya," I said. "I want to know what happened to the disappearance."
Several neighbors from the neighborhood came to accompany the Belmonts.I drove my car to the school which is located on a small hill.I don't know if Mrs. Shayer is still there at four o'clock in the afternoon.But her home is not far from the school, within walking distance, I think there is always one of the two places where she can be found. Although a new middle school was built on the other side of the town after the war, the primary school students still went to the traditional red schoolhouse elementary school on a high ground not far from Fire Hill.Mrs. Shaye was a widow whose husband had been killed in France.Her teaching to thirty-eight students stuck to the realities of life in New England, teaching them what they might face when they came to Boston or even New York.She checks all the children's nails every day, and checks off the hygiene habits they must follow. She was still there when I got to school.Trying to shut a large window, the wooden window-rod was so bent it was about to break. "Come on. I'll help you," I said as I walked in the door. "Dr. Sam! You startled me." She flushed a little.Pass me the pole, and she is still a very attractive woman, although the years of widowhood are beginning to show. I closed the window and put the pole in the corner. "I've come to inquire about Tommy Belmont," I said. "Tommy! Did they find him?" "No, someone called Bemon's house and said he had been kidnapped." "Oh, it's impossible! Impossible—there won't be such a thing in Beishan Town!" She sat down on a chair beside her, "I can swear that he left my sight within a few seconds, no There might be such a thing." "Can you tell me what happened?" "Nothing happened at all--that's the problem! Tommy was out playing with the other boys during recess. They avoided the girls--you know how kids are at that age--but They seemed to be having a good time, just like they usually do during their lunch break. They bought snacks from Mr. Tilly's wagon, and then they came back to play on the swings, or chase each other around, which is what little boys do. I remember seeing Tommy on the swing, I've never seen him swing that high before, it looked like he was going to go all the way to the sky. I just looked away for a few seconds and went to ring the bell They came back into the classroom, and when I looked over again, the swing was empty, swinging gently back and forth, as if someone had just come down, waiting for them to line up to come in. Tommy wasn't in the line and couldn't be found anywhere He. Dr. Sam!" "Maybe he ran down to buy snacks again." "No, no. By that time, Mr. Tilly had been gone for a good ten minutes, and there was no one else on the road. I can see very well from here on both sides—see for yourself. Except that Not even a tree other than a big oak with two swings hanging from it." "Is anyone else on the swing?" "No, it's just Tommy. I've looked behind the trees, out of the office, and around the other side of the school. I've sent all the kids to look for him—but I can't find it anywhere." "He must have gone away." She stomped. "Impossible, Dr. Sam! I told you he was on the swing. Then he came down, a few seconds before and after. I stood at the door, and no matter where he went, it was impossible not to let me see it! As for the kidnapping, hey Who can catch him? On this hill all day long, except for me, there is no one adult, and there are no other children. No one left him, and no one came to take him away. He just - disappeared!" I went outside, looked up at the oak tree, and tugged on the two ropes tied to the ends of the swing board. "Is it possible that he climbed the tree?" "How to climb it? The nearest branch is at least fifteen feet high." "You said he swung very high." "He didn't jump from the swing to the tree or climb up the rope, so I would be able to see it and the other kids would be able to see it." "What did you do when you decided he was missing?" "He didn't come back after an hour or so, so I sent Mary Lou Phillips to the Bemont's to tell his parents. We don't have a telephone here." "How about Robert Daisy?" "The little boy? What happened to him?" "Is there anything strange about his appearance?" "I think all the little ones are very disturbed, I don't pay much attention to it." "Any strangers? Has anyone been wandering around the school lately?" "No—nobody." "Come on," I said. "I'll drive you back." Although her house was only a few yards away.She thanked me anyway and accepted.I wanted to go there for a reason because it was the closest building to this red school.I thought Tommy Belmont might be there, but I was disappointed.The place was empty when I walked her in and Tommy Belmont was still missing.
Sergeant Lens returned to Belmont's pasture before I did.I parked behind his car and hurried in. "We tracked down the call," he told me sullenly. "Jenny, who was on the switchboard, remembered it was from the Leotards—the French-Canadian man on Fire Hill. She remembered it especially because he rarely called and had never been to the Belmonds before." "Do you think that child is there?" "Where else? I don't want to venture up in broad daylight, so we'll wait two hours until it's dark. Then my men and I will go to rescue people." "Sounds easy," I agreed.But this incident makes me feel very wrong, maybe those kidnappers are stupid enough to call from their own house to ask for ransom? But the news seemed to lift the Belmonts' spirits, and for that I was grateful.In fact, I was about to leave there again when the phone rang twice in succession. Tommy's father picked up the receiver. "Hello? Hello?" Because he didn't put the receiver close to his ear.So I could hear the high, high-pitched, frightened voice of the child, and I rushed forward, out to Belmon, much faster than his wife and Sergeant Lens.But now the child's voice had changed to another hoarse tone. "It's just to let you know he's really in our hands, and unless you're ready with fifty thousand bucks soon, we're going to do to him what Robbie and Leo Potter did to Bobby Frank." "I—the bank won't open until tomorrow morning." "They'll open the door especially for you. Take the money to your house tonight and we'll call again with instructions." The phone hangs up.Bemon waited a moment, then put the receiver back. "My God!" he muttered, "They'll kill him!" "We'll try to keep them out of it. Mr. Belmont," said the Sheriff to him, "well, don't worry about it." I took a deep breath. "You still think they're keeping him in Leotard's farmhouse?" "Of course! But I'll check with Jenny again." He picked up the phone and found the operator quickly. "Jenny? Where did this last call come from?" He heard her answer, and said, "Very well, Jenny, good job." "Is it Leotard's place again?" Chief Lan Si nodded. "She listened to the phone this time. Heard the child's voice." "But did she recognize Leotard's voice?" "You heard it—his voice was disguised." "I don't know. The whole thing seems too easy." "He mentioned Robbie and Leopold. Right? And his name is Leotard, right? The kid thinks he's a killer like Leopold." "It can't be a murderer," gasped Mrs. Belmont. "No, it can't be like that!" "Sorry," Sergeant Lan Si said vaguely, "it's just a way of saying." I could see Tommy's mother was about to pass out, and I helped her into the living room, where there was a daybed, and laid her down. "I've got some sleeping pills, if you think they'll help you..." I suggested. "No, no. I have to stay awake until Tommy comes back!" "There's nothing you can do at present, Mrs Belmont." Even under all the pressure, she was a graceful woman, from whom her son had clearly inherited his fiery red hair. "If I'm unconscious, there's really nothing I can do." It's no use arguing with her. "Anyway, try to rest as much as possible. You will need your strength later, after they release Tommy." "Do you think they'll let him go? Do you think I'll ever see him again?" "No problem," I said, trying to sound as confident as possible. "Now answer me a few questions. What is Tommy wearing today?" "Brown trousers, striped shirts and ties, just like any other boy, except in the heat, and that Mrs. Sawyer insisted they wear ties." "Who is his best friend at school?" "Not particularly, but sometimes after school he plays with the Daisy kids on Fire Hill." "I see." I took her pulse again, then stood up and prepared to leave. "Don't be nervous, Mrs. Belmont, we'll get Tommy back for you, I promise you." I left the Bemonts' ranch and drove the car on some back roads for nearly half an hour until I finally saw Mr. Tilly's wagon.Tilly is a peddler who sells goods along the street, and he is already a familiar figure on the country roads.He sold household items and sweets for the children, and even did small repairs for farmwives whose husbands were busy in the fields.His horse-drawn wagon had only his name written on the side—Tillie—but everyone knew what he sold.Besides, it would be impossible to write a full list of the contents of his caravan. Tilly had a son about Tommy Belmont's age, but no one ever heard where Mrs. Tilly was.As I drove up to the wagon, I could still see the Tilly boy sitting in the seat next to his father.He saw me pull over and jumped out and ran over to see my yellow snapper, which all boys love. "Good night, Mr. Tilly," I cried, as I walked over to the wagon.It's actually not dark yet, but as soon as it's past six o'clock in Beishan Town, it's night. "How are you doing today?" "Almost." The merchant said, and climbed down from his seat, "At this time of year, every day looks almost the same." "Have you heard about the Bemont children?" He nodded. "I just went to Fire Hill, Mrs. Daisy told me. It's a terrible thing for this town. People who live here, just to avoid the crime of the big city." "Your kid goes to school with Tommy Belmont, doesn't it?" "Exactly." The peddler scratched his beard that had grown all day. "Fernanke, come and talk to this man. Did you see Tommy Belmond before he disappeared today?" "Of course I did, and you saw him too—he stopped by the caravan at lunchtime to get some sweets." "Now that I think about it, the little boy with red hair is very conspicuous in the crowd." I turned to Fernand Tilly and asked, "Are there any other redheads in the class?" "Not like Tommy, he's as red as a fire engine." "He bought you some candy?" I asked Tilly. "Not bad at all." "and then?" "He and Fernanke ran back up the hill, and I watched them for a while, saw them start swinging, and then I told old Daisy to go." "So you weren't there when he disappeared." "No, I've already left." "Did you see anyone else on the road? Or another van?" "Not a single person." "Mr. Tilly, I just went to talk to Mrs. Sawyer, my teacher. She said Tommy was swinging first, and then he disappeared. She said there's no way he's going somewhere she can't see." The grocer shrugged. "Perhaps he went to that office outside." "She's been there, she's searched all over the place, and if he runs down the hill she'll see it, she's sure." "Well, he was definitely not kidnapped by the plane." "Not bad," I agreed.I looked at the houses on Fire Hill in the twilight and thought of Sheriff Lens and his plan to raid the Leotards.Suddenly, I had an idea. "Mr. Tilly, have you seen the hermit who lives up there?" "I haven't seen him for several months. I think he probably doesn't live there." "Can we go up and take a look?" "now go?" "Going right now." I climbed into the seat next to Mr. Tilly, and Fernand Jr. opened the rear door and climbed into the back of the wagon.My car was safe there, and I knew that going up Fire Hill in Tilly's wagon would attract less attention. By the time we got to the hermit's house, it was already dark, and Tilly rang the little bell on his car, calling out, "Household goods, candy, pots and pans, sharpening knives, repairing doors and windows, electrical appliances!" That last point seemed unnecessary, since there were no wires running into the hermit's house.The hermit had a name—Old Josh, but hardly anyone called him that.He's just a hermit from North Hills, rumored to be a deserter from the Spanish-American War.Have been hiding until now. I ran to the other side of Mr. Tilly's wagon and hid in the long grass, not wanting to get shot by a shotgun sticking out of the window, whether it was the hermit there or the kidnapper I thought might be hiding there.I made a careful detour to the back door, only to find it unlocked.I slowly opened the door, and crawled in on my knees with my hands on my hands. A stench came to my nostrils, but there was no sound at all. Finding my way with the little light left, I stood up quickly.Walking through rooms littered with tattered furniture, dirty dishes, and dusty newspapers, the one I picked up was more than a year old, and it seemed the hermit on Fire Hill hadn't had any visitors lately. I opened the door to the basement stairs, and this time I could smell the stench.I've been a doctor long enough to recognize the stench of long-dead corpses.Old Josh crouched at the bottom of the stairs where he had fallen to his death months before.There are no kidnappers here—just an old man living alone, who died here alone. Outside, Tilly started ringing the bell again—as if calling me.I went out and he came running. "Something happened over at Leotard's. I thought I heard a gunshot." "Stay here," I said to him, "and I'll go and see." It was a short distance across the fields to Leotard's house.Halfway through the run, I could already see the sheriff's car parked in the rutted driveway.There was some commotion and a lot of shouting, but Sergeant Lens seemed to have the situation under control.He stood in the glare of his headlights, pointing a long-barreled revolver straight at Marciel Lyotard.The young French-Canadian stood there with his hands raised above his head. "Hello, Dr. Sam," the sheriff greeted me, "you're just in time." "Have you found the child?" "Well, no. But my men are still searching the two houses. He must be somewhere in here. We've found two or three cases of bootleg whiskey." Leotard tried to put his hand down. "Insulting! I didn't even know about the kidnapping, I didn't even know the kid was missing!" "The kidnappers were using your phone," the sheriff told him. "impossible!" "Why did you shoot me when we drove up?" "I—I thought someone was coming to steal the wine." A sheriff's men emerged from the barn, waving a lit lantern. "There's nothing there. Sheriff, just some brass pipes and a couple of big barrels. Looks like he's still making a little bootleg sometimes." Leotard took a step forward, and Lens poked him with the barrel of the gun. "Stand still if you don't want to die! We're going to take you to town for questioning." While the sheriff's men were handcuffing him, I told Lens what I had found in the hermit's house. "You think someone killed him?" asked the sheriff. "No sign of it. A man his age could have fallen down the stairs with dizziness and couldn't get up, and that's a bad way to die, all alone." "What are you doing there?" "Leotard's location is too obvious. It made me think that the kidnappers might be somewhere nearby, plugged into Leotard's phone line to send messages. The hermit's place seemed the most likely, but I was wrong. gone." Chief Lan Si snorted. "Any other good ideas?" "only one." "What?" "Maybe Jenny at the switchboard lied about where those calls came from."
Sergeant Lens sent two of his men to the hermit's house, and I got my car first, and followed him to bring Leotard back to town.The sheriff put him in a cell, promised he would be back soon, and the two of us walked to the wooden telephone switchboard on the same street to find Jenny, who was on duty. She was one of those stocky, middle-aged women with a loud voice who drank too much beer.I like her, and she will come to see me from time to time, but now I have to treat her as a suspect. "We gotta figure out those calls, Jenny," I said, "that didn't come from the Leotards." "Of course it was there!" She replied very unhappy. "I'm not saying you lied, nor did the sheriff. But maybe you're mistaken." "That's right, it's from Leotard. Look, isn't the light on again?" I looked at the switchboard in disbelief, a little red light was on above Leotard's name. "Go ahead." She plugged it in and I picked up the earphones.It was the same hoarse voice. "Help me pick up Belmont's house." "Wait a minute, please," Jenny said, taking the phone with shaking hands. All I heard was the breathing of the kidnapper, and then Herb Belmont answered the phone: "Hello?" "Did you get fifty thousand dollars?" "Yeah, I got it. Is Tommy okay? Let me talk to him." "I don't want Sergeant Lan Si to come to attack again, otherwise your son will be killed, understand?" "Understand." "Put that fifty thousand dollars—no markings on the bills—in a duffel bag or small suitcase. I want that doctor, Sam Hawthorne, to bring it up tonight at midnight. He's going to Red school building at elementary school, leave your wallet at the door and drive away, if anyone stops you. Your son will die, understand?" "Understood, but is he okay?" The kidnapper hung up the phone without answering, and Sergeant Lan Si, who was listening just now, looked at me. "I think you've been chosen, Doctor." But at this point I'm more interested in who made the call—and from where. "Jenny. Is it possible that these title lines have been switched? Could this be someone else's line?" "No, this is Leotard's phone. That's right. There is only one other phone on Fire Hill, and it's at Daisy's house." I thought of Robert Daisy.I shouldn't have forgotten him for so long. "The Daisy family..." "Where are you going?" Sheriff Lan Si asked. "We'd better go to Belmont's pasture first and tell 'em what's happened."
When we got to the Belmonts, we saw Mrs. Sawyer—the teacher—joining the anxious circle.I saw her trying to comfort the mother of the missing child, but she was also very sad herself. "I think I'm responsible," Mrs. Shaye said. "I didn't see it, I didn't pay attention to what happened there. The kidnappers got him somehow." "You can't blame yourself," I said. "But I blame myself!" "Think about it," I said, "is there anything you forgot to tell me about anything you saw Tommy on the swing at the last minute?" "No." "Was he looking at you?" "No, he's facing the other side." "Is there a basement under the school where he can hide?" "No." "Is there a cave nearby where children will play?" "Nothing of that sort, Dr. Sam—not at all!" "But the kidnapper wants to send the money back to the school. He must have a way to get the money." While we are talking.Herb Belmont had been busy packing great bundles of banknotes into a black travel bag. "I'm almost on the mend, Dr. Sam." "It's only ten o'clock, and we have two hours." "Do you have any other ideas?" Sergeant Lansi asked. "Only one—the Daisys." I drove up Fire Hill as I had done that afternoon, and parked in front of Mrs. Daisy's farmhouse.She heard the sound of the car and went to the door to see who it was. "Oh, Dr. Sam! I didn't expect you to come again tonight." "How is Robert? Is he asleep?" "I put him to bed, but he's still awake." "I would like to see him again if possible." "Doctor Sam, you don't think he's—er, crazy?" "Let's see," I followed her into the small bedroom at the back of the first floor, and Robert sat up in bed as soon as we entered. "What's the matter?" he asked. "It's just that Dr. Sam is here again, baby, and he wants to see how you are." "Leave me alone with him," I suggested, and she went back into the living room. "Am I really sick, Dr. Sam?" asked the child. "There are some things you must tell me." "I can not sleep." "Maybe if you told me about today—" "don't want!" "You said it was about Tommy Belmont, but you couldn't have known he was kidnapped by then. What's the matter with Tommy that frightened you like that?" He turned his face to the pillow. "nothing." "Did you see he was gone?" "No." "Uh, so—what is it?" "My mother always said that I was cranky, and she said that if I kept thinking wildly, I would go to the madhouse like my dad." "That's why you refuse to tell others what you saw?" He nodded.His head bobbing up and down caught the moonlight streaming in through the rear window.I took his hand and held it tightly. "I can assure you that no one will send you away for telling me what you saw, Robert. You trust me, don't you?" "I suppose so, Dr. Sam." "Then tell me, did you see that Tommy was gone?" "You won't believe me when I tell you." "Try it." I felt his hand tighten in mine. "You know, Dr. Sam, it's not that Tommy's missing or anything, it's that I see two of him." "There were two of him," I repeated. "Do you trust me, Dr. Sam?" "I trust you, Rob."
At ten minutes to twelve in the middle of the night, I parked the rattle arrow at the foot of the hill.Lifting the travel bag from the seat next to me, in the dark, I can only vaguely see the outline of the small red school building in front of me, even the moon is hidden behind a cloud, and I dare not risk using it I brought it in the car lanterns. When I got to the door of the one-room school building and put down my bag, there seemed to be no one around.I only hesitated for a moment, then turned back and walked down the mountain.And that's the point of this matter, for my careless action could endanger a child's life. I got in the car and started the engine. "How is it?" Sergeant Lansi asked in a low voice.He squatted next to me, half-hudden on the floor. "No sign of anyone." "He will come. He won't just leave fifty thousand oceans there." And then I saw -- there was movement on the hill.The moon came out from behind the clouds, bathing the earth in a pale, unnatural light. "It's a kid," I said. Lan Si sat up next to me and drew his pistol. "Damn it, it's the Belmont boy, and they sent him to get his own ransom!" "Go after him, Sheriff, but be careful." He jumped out of the car. "how about you?" "I have even bigger prey," I sped up and let the arrow rush out, bumping around a big bend on the dirt road. In front of me, what my headlights locked on to was exactly what I thought I would see. Parked outside the road where ordinary people could not see, hidden in a big willow tree was Mr. Tilly's caravan.Tillie himself jumped out of the van when he heard my car approaching, and aimed a shotgun at me. I put the pedal to the floor and charged straight at him, the sound of the shotgun blasting in front of me.Smashed my right windshield, but then the car hit him, pinning him against his own wagon. I jumped out of the car and snatched the shotgun before he had time to reload it. "Fuck!" he screamed, "You nearly ran me over with a car! My leg—" "Shut up, you should be happy that you are still alive, and I will heal your leg injury." Sergeant Lan Si came down from the hill at this moment, clutching the red-haired child tightly in one hand, and carrying the traveling bag in the other. "This is not a Belmont boy!" he cried. "I know," I said to him, "that it's Tilly's son, Franck, with a bright red wig, and unless I'm mistaken, we'll find Tommy Belmont tied up in this wagon inside."
It was already one o'clock in the middle of the night when we got back to Belmont's pasture, but for those who were there, it was no different from noon.Tommy was indeed in the caravan, roped and gagged, and given sleeping pills, and he was a little groggy, but I knew he'd recover. His father had a lot of problems with Sheriff Lens and Mrs. Sawyer.In the end, I just raised my hands and asked them to be quiet. "Be quiet now, and I'll tell you the whole thing from the beginning." "I need to know how he disappeared from my school playground," Mrs. Sawyer said, "or I'm going to lose my mind." "Tommy was actually kidnapped ten minutes before you noticed he wasn't on the swing. He was kidnapped when he and the other kids went down the hill to buy candy from Mr. Tilly's wagon. Tilly got off with him. The drug's sugar charmed him, hid him in the caravan, and then Tilly's son, Franck, pretended to be him, put on a red wig, and painted some freckles on his face." "Has no one seen these things?" "Rob, Mrs. Daisy's son, saw it, but he was afraid to tell people that there were two Tommy Belmonts in the wagon. The fake Tommy ran up the hill and started swinging, while the real Tommy was in the Tilly was taken away in the caravan." "But it's Tommy on the swing!" protested Mrs. Sawyer. I shook my head. "It was a boy dressed more or less like the rest of the boys, with bright red hair. You only saw the hair, not the face, and Tommy was your only student with bright red hair, so you assume you see到的是汤米，可是你应该早晓得有问题的。我先前和你谈话的时候，你告诉我说你从来没看过汤米把秋千荡得那么高过。为什么呢？因为那根本不是汤米。” “可是他是怎么消失不见的呢？” “用最简单的方法，等你转过头去叫小朋友们回教室的时候。佛南克·堤利确定没有人在看他，就脱下假发，塞在衣服底下，也许还用手帕擦掉了脸上的雀斑。” “好吧，”蓝思警长认可了。“可那些电话是怎么回事？” “堤利懂得修理电器，记得吧？他也懂电话，他在李奥塔德住处附近偷接他的线来打电话，他一直是在他篷车里搞这些事，而汤米就被绑着、堵住嘴，在篷车后面。他要个小男生对电话里尖叫的时候，就用他儿子来假装汤米。” “你怎么知道是堤利呢？”蓝思问道。 “每次勒赎电话打来的时候，他的篷车都在火丘一带。而且他说他看着汤米和他的儿子跑回小学校舍所在的小山上，开始一起荡秋千的时候，就让我怀疑起来，沙耶太太已经告诉我说汤米一个人在荡秋千，在这种事情上她没有理由要说谎。一旦我认定汤米想必比她发现的时间更早遭到绑架之后，堤利就是唯一的嫌疑犯了。中午的时候没有别人到学校附近，也没有别人有篷车可以把孩子运走。整个神秘失踪的把戏只不过是改变绑架时间的策略，让我们想不到是堤利，而堤利可以远离犯罪现场。” “他想怎么脱身呢？” “他勒索赎金的电话既是偷接别人的电话线来打的。他以为我们在他拿到钱之前会到处去追查，然后他会尽快在汤米能把事情发生经过告诉我们之前，远走高飞。”我没有提到堤利还有计划把汤米杀了灭口的可能。 “堤利的儿子会怎么样？”赫伯·贝蒙问道。 “那就要由法院来决定了。”我回答道。
“他们在隔壁镇上替堤利的儿子找到一个寄养家庭（山姆医生总结道），有了正常的家庭生活，他后来相当不错，他的父亲因为犯案就在李奥波特和罗比绑架案后不久，所以被判了很久的徒刑，后来死在狱中。 “我以为一九二五年有那两件罪案已经够了，可是我错了，下次你再来——走之前要不要再来点——呃，喝的？——我会跟你讲发生在镇上教堂里的怪事——而且还是在圣诞节那天哩！”
Notes:
It was because I was one of the few doctors in the area (Dr. Sam Hawthorne began) that I was involved in this case.I got a call from Mrs. Daisy, a widow in Fire Hills, saying her youngest son had just come home from school and looked weird.We had a few cases of polio that summer, and although I knew that the fall of frost would reduce the risk of contagion, I figured I'd go out there and see what the problem was.I told my nurse, Aibo, where I would be, packed my medical kit, and drove to Fire Hill in my yellow Arrow-shaped convertible. Huoqiu was originally called Huoji Mountain, and wild turkeys could still be seen in Beishan Town.That's always been the "back end" of the town, an area that the well-to-do would avoid.Even the agricultural land in Huoqiu was second-class. In the autumn of 1925, only three families still lived there.Mrs. Daisy worked as hard as she could on her husband's field, but the other two did not even look at farming.In one of them lived a hermit, whom no one had ever seen.The other was a French-Canadian who was suspected of making bootleg whiskey from a hidden still. She came out of the house to meet me as I turned into the rutted drive at Mrs. Daisy's farm. "I swear I don't know what's the matter with that kid, Dr. Sam. He came home from school today looking like he was scared to death of something. Whatever it was, he wouldn't tell me anyway. I don't know if he How about being sick?" Robert was her only son—a tiny nine-year-old who already suffered from a variety of childhood ailments.I found him behind the barn throwing rocks at some target I couldn't see. "Hello, Rob," I called to him, "are you feeling a little sick?" He turned away. "I'm fine." But he was pale, and he shuddered when I touched the clammy, clammy skin on his face. "Is there a problem? You're freaking out, aren't you? Did something happen on the way home from school?" I knew he was passing two other occupied houses on Fire Hill on his way home from school, maybe somewhere Something in a house scared the nine-year-old.Then, I also remembered his father's insanity before his death.Could it be that Robert has also started to think wildly? "Nothing," the kid muttered, and started throwing stones again. "Did anyone scare you? Threatened you?" "No," he hesitated, "it's about Tommy Belmont." I tried to touch him again, but he moved away and ran away, all the way into the field.I knew I would never catch him, so I turned and walked towards the farmhouse where his mother was waiting for me. "He seems to be in a great fright," I told her, "but he should be all right soon, as is the case with children of this age. We'll see how he is tomorrow morning. Call again if there are still problems." Call me." The farmer's family in Huoqiu only had a shared telephone line connected to the town the year before last, but everyone knows that the reclusive old Josh took a shotgun to keep people from the telephone company from approaching his house. "Thank you for the trip. I'm relieved to know it's nothing serious, Dr. Sam." She fumbled in her apron pocket. "How much should I pay you?" "There is no need to pay for it yet, let's make sure he's okay before we talk." Robert reappeared by the barn, presumably to see if I was gone, and I waved him goodbye and got into my car.There's nothing else to do here, but I think I should go and talk to little Tommy Belmont. The Belmont family is different from Mrs. Daisy's mother and son. They live in a relatively affluent part of Beishan Town and have a 100-acre pasture.Herb Belmont was the equivalent of a squire in the town, spending most of his time with the other ranchers and the Boston banker while the cows were fed and milked by his laborers.The Belmonds had two sons and a daughter. The elder went to school in Boston, and the younger was only four, so only Tommy attended the one-room school on the outskirts of town. Tommy was a lively ten-year-old with fiery red hair and freckles who looked as if he had run away from a Mark Twain book.When I pulled over to his house, I almost expected to see him painting a fence, but what I saw was Sheriff Lenz's familiar black police car. As I walked down the walk to the gate, the sheriff himself appeared. "What are you doing here, Dr. Sam?" he asked. "Have you been called?" "No. Is something wrong, Sheriff?" "You'd better come in quickly, maybe you can help Mrs Belmont." I went into the living room and found the lady in tears, curled up in a large chair with a flowered upholstery, her husband comforting her. "What's the matter?" I asked Herb Belmont. "What's the matter with Tommy?" The kid's father stared at me and said, "He's been kidnapped." "Kidnapping?" "He disappeared on the school playground right in front of Teacher Saya, and now someone is asking for a ransom." "Are there any blackmail letters?" "It's on the phone—a voice I've never heard before. Said they want fifty thousand dollars or Tommy's life!" His voice cracked, and Mrs. Belmont began to cry again. "Damn it!" Sergeant Lan Si roared angrily, "This kind of thing has never happened in Beishan Town!" "When will you have to pay the ransom?" I asked, hoping to calm them down by talking. "They said they would call again." I turned to the sheriff and said, "It should be fine to track down the call. Jenny is in charge of the switchboard and must know who called." He nodded in agreement. "I'll check it out." "I'll go to school and talk to Mrs. Saya," I said. "I want to know what happened to the disappearance."
Several neighbors from the neighborhood came to accompany the Belmonts.I drove my car to the school which is located on a small hill.I don't know if Mrs. Shayer is still there at four o'clock in the afternoon.But her home is not far from the school, within walking distance, I think there is always one of the two places where she can be found. Although a new middle school was built on the other side of the town after the war, the primary school students still went to the traditional red schoolhouse elementary school on a high ground not far from Fire Hill.Mrs. Shaye was a widow whose husband had been killed in France.Her teaching to thirty-eight students stuck to the realities of life in New England, teaching them what they might face when they came to Boston or even New York.She checks all the children's nails every day, and checks off the hygiene habits they must follow. She was still there when I got to school.Trying to shut a large window, the wooden window-rod was so bent it was about to break. "Come on. I'll help you," I said as I walked in the door. "Dr. Sam! You startled me." She flushed a little.Pass me the pole, and she is still a very attractive woman, although the years of widowhood are beginning to show. I closed the window and put the pole in the corner. "I've come to inquire about Tommy Belmont," I said. "Tommy! Did they find him?" "No, someone called Bemon's house and said he had been kidnapped." "Oh, it's impossible! Impossible—there won't be such a thing in Beishan Town!" She sat down on a chair beside her, "I can swear that he left my sight within a few seconds, no There might be such a thing." "Can you tell me what happened?" "Nothing happened at all--that's the problem! Tommy was out playing with the other boys during recess. They avoided the girls--you know how kids are at that age--but They seemed to be having a good time, just like they usually do during their lunch break. They bought snacks from Mr. Tilly's wagon, and then they came back to play on the swings, or chase each other around, which is what little boys do. I remember seeing Tommy on the swing, I've never seen him swing that high before, it looked like he was going to go all the way to the sky. I just looked away for a few seconds and went to ring the bell They came back into the classroom, and when I looked over again, the swing was empty, swinging gently back and forth, as if someone had just come down, waiting for them to line up to come in. Tommy wasn't in the line and couldn't be found anywhere He. Dr. Sam!" "Maybe he ran down to buy snacks again." "No, no. By that time, Mr. Tilly had been gone for a good ten minutes, and there was no one else on the road. I can see very well from here on both sides—see for yourself. Except that Not even a tree other than a big oak with two swings hanging from it." "Is anyone else on the swing?" "No, it's just Tommy. I've looked behind the trees, out of the office, and around the other side of the school. I've sent all the kids to look for him—but I can't find it anywhere." "He must have gone away." She stomped. "Impossible, Dr. Sam! I told you he was on the swing. Then he came down, a few seconds before and after. I stood at the door, and no matter where he went, it was impossible not to let me see it! As for the kidnapping, hey Who can catch him? On this hill all day long, except for me, there is no one adult, and there are no other children. No one left him, and no one came to take him away. He just - disappeared!" I went outside, looked up at the oak tree, and tugged on the two ropes tied to the ends of the swing board. "Is it possible that he climbed the tree?" "How to climb it? The nearest branch is at least fifteen feet high." "You said he swung very high." "He didn't jump from the swing to the tree or climb up the rope, so I would be able to see it and the other kids would be able to see it." "What did you do when you decided he was missing?" "He didn't come back after an hour or so, so I sent Mary Lou Phillips to the Bemont's to tell his parents. We don't have a telephone here." "How about Robert Daisy?" "The little boy? What happened to him?" "Is there anything strange about his appearance?" "I think all the little ones are very disturbed, I don't pay much attention to it." "Any strangers? Has anyone been wandering around the school lately?" "No—nobody." "Come on," I said. "I'll drive you back." Although her house was only a few yards away.She thanked me anyway and accepted.I wanted to go there for a reason because it was the closest building to this red school.I thought Tommy Belmont might be there, but I was disappointed.The place was empty when I walked her in and Tommy Belmont was still missing.
Sergeant Lens returned to Belmont's pasture before I did.I parked behind his car and hurried in. "We tracked down the call," he told me sullenly. "Jenny, who was on the switchboard, remembered it was from the Leotards—the French-Canadian man on Fire Hill. She remembered it especially because he rarely called and had never been to the Belmonds before." "Do you think that child is there?" "Where else? I don't want to venture up in broad daylight, so we'll wait two hours until it's dark. Then my men and I will go to rescue people." "Sounds easy," I agreed.But this incident makes me feel very wrong, maybe those kidnappers are stupid enough to call from their own house to ask for ransom? But the news seemed to lift the Belmonts' spirits, and for that I was grateful.In fact, I was about to leave there again when the phone rang twice in succession. Tommy's father picked up the receiver. "Hello? Hello?" Because he didn't put the receiver close to his ear.So I could hear the high, high-pitched, frightened voice of the child, and I rushed forward, out to Belmon, much faster than his wife and Sergeant Lens.But now the child's voice had changed to another hoarse tone. "It's just to let you know he's really in our hands, and unless you're ready with fifty thousand bucks soon, we're going to do to him what Robbie and Leo Potter did to Bobby Frank." "I—the bank won't open until tomorrow morning." "They'll open the door especially for you. Take the money to your house tonight and we'll call again with instructions." The phone hangs up.Bemon waited a moment, then put the receiver back. "My God!" he muttered, "They'll kill him!" "We'll try to keep them out of it. Mr. Belmont," said the Sheriff to him, "well, don't worry about it." I took a deep breath. "You still think they're keeping him in Leotard's farmhouse?" "Of course! But I'll check with Jenny again." He picked up the phone and found the operator quickly. "Jenny? Where did this last call come from?" He heard her answer, and said, "Very well, Jenny, good job." "Is it Leotard's place again?" Chief Lan Si nodded. "She listened to the phone this time. Heard the child's voice." "But did she recognize Leotard's voice?" "You heard it—his voice was disguised." "I don't know. The whole thing seems too easy." "He mentioned Robbie and Leopold. Right? And his name is Leotard, right? The kid thinks he's a killer like Leopold." "It can't be a murderer," gasped Mrs. Belmont. "No, it can't be like that!" "Sorry," Sergeant Lan Si said vaguely, "it's just a way of saying." I could see Tommy's mother was about to pass out, and I helped her into the living room, where there was a daybed, and laid her down. "I've got some sleeping pills, if you think they'll help you..." I suggested. "No, no. I have to stay awake until Tommy comes back!" "There's nothing you can do at present, Mrs Belmont." Even under all the pressure, she was a graceful woman, from whom her son had clearly inherited his fiery red hair. "If I'm unconscious, there's really nothing I can do." It's no use arguing with her. "Anyway, try to rest as much as possible. You will need your strength later, after they release Tommy." "Do you think they'll let him go? Do you think I'll ever see him again?" "No problem," I said, trying to sound as confident as possible. "Now answer me a few questions. What is Tommy wearing today?" "Brown trousers, striped shirts and ties, just like any other boy, except in the heat, and that Mrs. Sawyer insisted they wear ties." "Who is his best friend at school?" "Not particularly, but sometimes after school he plays with the Daisy kids on Fire Hill." "I see." I took her pulse again, then stood up and prepared to leave. "Don't be nervous, Mrs. Belmont, we'll get Tommy back for you, I promise you." I left the Bemonts' ranch and drove the car on some back roads for nearly half an hour until I finally saw Mr. Tilly's wagon.Tilly is a peddler who sells goods along the street, and he is already a familiar figure on the country roads.He sold household items and sweets for the children, and even did small repairs for farmwives whose husbands were busy in the fields.His horse-drawn wagon had only his name written on the side—Tillie—but everyone knew what he sold.Besides, it would be impossible to write a full list of the contents of his caravan. Tilly had a son about Tommy Belmont's age, but no one ever heard where Mrs. Tilly was.As I drove up to the wagon, I could still see the Tilly boy sitting in the seat next to his father.He saw me pull over and jumped out and ran over to see my yellow snapper, which all boys love. "Good night, Mr. Tilly," I cried, as I walked over to the wagon.It's actually not dark yet, but as soon as it's past six o'clock in Beishan Town, it's night. "How are you doing today?" "Almost." The merchant said, and climbed down from his seat, "At this time of year, every day looks almost the same." "Have you heard about the Bemont children?" He nodded. "I just went to Fire Hill, Mrs. Daisy told me. It's a terrible thing for this town. People who live here, just to avoid the crime of the big city." "Your kid goes to school with Tommy Belmont, doesn't it?" "Exactly." The peddler scratched his beard that had grown all day. "Fernanke, come and talk to this man. Did you see Tommy Belmond before he disappeared today?" "Of course I did, and you saw him too—he stopped by the caravan at lunchtime to get some sweets." "Now that I think about it, the little boy with red hair is very conspicuous in the crowd." I turned to Fernand Tilly and asked, "Are there any other redheads in the class?" "Not like Tommy, he's as red as a fire engine." "He bought you some candy?" I asked Tilly. "Not bad at all." "and then?" "He and Fernanke ran back up the hill, and I watched them for a while, saw them start swinging, and then I told old Daisy to go." "So you weren't there when he disappeared." "No, I've already left." "Did you see anyone else on the road? Or another van?" "Not a single person." "Mr. Tilly, I just went to talk to Mrs. Sawyer, my teacher. She said Tommy was swinging first, and then he disappeared. She said there's no way he's going somewhere she can't see." The grocer shrugged. "Perhaps he went to that office outside." "She's been there, she's searched all over the place, and if he runs down the hill she'll see it, she's sure." "Well, he was definitely not kidnapped by the plane." "Not bad," I agreed.I looked at the houses on Fire Hill in the twilight and thought of Sheriff Lens and his plan to raid the Leotards.Suddenly, I had an idea. "Mr. Tilly, have you seen the hermit who lives up there?" "I haven't seen him for several months. I think he probably doesn't live there." "Can we go up and take a look?" "now go?" "Going right now." I climbed into the seat next to Mr. Tilly, and Fernand Jr. opened the rear door and climbed into the back of the wagon.My car was safe there, and I knew that going up Fire Hill in Tilly's wagon would attract less attention. By the time we got to the hermit's house, it was already dark, and Tilly rang the little bell on his car, calling out, "Household goods, candy, pots and pans, sharpening knives, repairing doors and windows, electrical appliances!" That last point seemed unnecessary, since there were no wires running into the hermit's house.The hermit had a name—Old Josh, but hardly anyone called him that.He's just a hermit from North Hills, rumored to be a deserter from the Spanish-American War.Have been hiding until now. I ran to the other side of Mr. Tilly's wagon and hid in the long grass, not wanting to get shot by a shotgun sticking out of the window, whether it was the hermit there or the kidnapper I thought might be hiding there.I made a careful detour to the back door, only to find it unlocked.I slowly opened the door, and crawled in on my knees with my hands on my hands. A stench came to my nostrils, but there was no sound at all. Finding my way with the little light left, I stood up quickly.Walking through rooms littered with tattered furniture, dirty dishes, and dusty newspapers, the one I picked up was more than a year old, and it seemed the hermit on Fire Hill hadn't had any visitors lately. I opened the door to the basement stairs, and this time I could smell the stench.I've been a doctor long enough to recognize the stench of long-dead corpses.Old Josh crouched at the bottom of the stairs where he had fallen to his death months before.There are no kidnappers here—just an old man living alone, who died here alone. Outside, Tilly started ringing the bell again—as if calling me.I went out and he came running. "Something happened over at Leotard's. I thought I heard a gunshot." "Stay here," I said to him, "and I'll go and see." It was a short distance across the fields to Leotard's house.Halfway through the run, I could already see the sheriff's car parked in the rutted driveway.There was some commotion and a lot of shouting, but Sergeant Lens seemed to have the situation under control.He stood in the glare of his headlights, pointing a long-barreled revolver straight at Marciel Lyotard.The young French-Canadian stood there with his hands raised above his head. "Hello, Dr. Sam," the sheriff greeted me, "you're just in time." "Have you found the child?" "Well, no. But my men are still searching the two houses. He must be somewhere in here. We've found two or three cases of bootleg whiskey." Leotard tried to put his hand down. "Insulting! I didn't even know about the kidnapping, I didn't even know the kid was missing!" "The kidnappers were using your phone," the sheriff told him. "impossible!" "Why did you shoot me when we drove up?" "I—I thought someone was coming to steal the wine." A sheriff's men emerged from the barn, waving a lit lantern. "There's nothing there. Sheriff, just some brass pipes and a couple of big barrels. Looks like he's still making a little bootleg sometimes." Leotard took a step forward, and Lens poked him with the barrel of the gun. "Stand still if you don't want to die! We're going to take you to town for questioning." While the sheriff's men were handcuffing him, I told Lens what I had found in the hermit's house. "You think someone killed him?" asked the sheriff. "No sign of it. A man his age could have fallen down the stairs with dizziness and couldn't get up, and that's a bad way to die, all alone." "What are you doing there?" "Leotard's location is too obvious. It made me think that the kidnappers might be somewhere nearby, plugged into Leotard's phone line to send messages. The hermit's place seemed the most likely, but I was wrong. gone." Chief Lan Si snorted. "Any other good ideas?" "only one." "What?" "Maybe Jenny at the switchboard lied about where those calls came from."
Sergeant Lens sent two of his men to the hermit's house, and I got my car first, and followed him to bring Leotard back to town.The sheriff put him in a cell, promised he would be back soon, and the two of us walked to the wooden telephone switchboard on the same street to find Jenny, who was on duty. She was one of those stocky, middle-aged women with a loud voice who drank too much beer.I like her, and she will come to see me from time to time, but now I have to treat her as a suspect. "We gotta figure out those calls, Jenny," I said, "that didn't come from the Leotards." "Of course it was there!" She replied very unhappy. "I'm not saying you lied, nor did the sheriff. But maybe you're mistaken." "That's right, it's from Leotard. Look, isn't the light on again?" I looked at the switchboard in disbelief, a little red light was on above Leotard's name. "Go ahead." She plugged it in and I picked up the earphones.It was the same hoarse voice. "Help me pick up Belmont's house." "Wait a minute, please," Jenny said, taking the phone with shaking hands. All I heard was the breathing of the kidnapper, and then Herb Belmont answered the phone: "Hello?" "Did you get fifty thousand dollars?" "Yeah, I got it. Is Tommy okay? Let me talk to him." "I don't want Sergeant Lan Si to come to attack again, otherwise your son will be killed, understand?" "Understand." "Put that fifty thousand dollars—no markings on the bills—in a duffel bag or small suitcase. I want that doctor, Sam Hawthorne, to bring it up tonight at midnight. He's going to Red school building at elementary school, leave your wallet at the door and drive away, if anyone stops you. Your son will die, understand?" "Understood, but is he okay?" The kidnapper hung up the phone without answering, and Sergeant Lan Si, who was listening just now, looked at me. "I think you've been chosen, Doctor." But at this point I'm more interested in who made the call—and from where. "Jenny. Is it possible that these title lines have been switched? Could this be someone else's line?" "No, this is Leotard's phone. That's right. There is only one other phone on Fire Hill, and it's at Daisy's house." I thought of Robert Daisy.I shouldn't have forgotten him for so long. "The Daisy family..." "Where are you going?" Sheriff Lan Si asked. "We'd better go to Belmont's pasture first and tell 'em what's happened."
When we got to the Belmonts, we saw Mrs. Sawyer—the teacher—joining the anxious circle.I saw her trying to comfort the mother of the missing child, but she was also very sad herself. "I think I'm responsible," Mrs. Shaye said. "I didn't see it, I didn't pay attention to what happened there. The kidnappers got him somehow." "You can't blame yourself," I said. "But I blame myself!" "Think about it," I said, "is there anything you forgot to tell me about anything you saw Tommy on the swing at the last minute?" "No." "Was he looking at you?" "No, he's facing the other side." "Is there a basement under the school where he can hide?" "No." "Is there a cave nearby where children will play?" "Nothing of that sort, Dr. Sam—not at all!" "But the kidnapper wants to send the money back to the school. He must have a way to get the money." While we are talking.Herb Belmont had been busy packing great bundles of banknotes into a black travel bag. "I'm almost on the mend, Dr. Sam." "It's only ten o'clock, and we have two hours." "Do you have any other ideas?" Sergeant Lansi asked. "Only one—the Daisys." I drove up Fire Hill as I had done that afternoon, and parked in front of Mrs. Daisy's farmhouse.She heard the sound of the car and went to the door to see who it was. "Oh, Dr. Sam! I didn't expect you to come again tonight." "How is Robert? Is he asleep?" "I put him to bed, but he's still awake." "I would like to see him again if possible." "Doctor Sam, you don't think he's—er, crazy?" "Let's see," I followed her into the small bedroom at the back of the first floor, and Robert sat up in bed as soon as we entered. "What's the matter?" he asked. "It's just that Dr. Sam is here again, baby, and he wants to see how you are." "Leave me alone with him," I suggested, and she went back into the living room. "Am I really sick, Dr. Sam?" asked the child. "There are some things you must tell me." "I can not sleep." "Maybe if you told me about today—" "don't want!" "You said it was about Tommy Belmont, but you couldn't have known he was kidnapped by then. What's the matter with Tommy that frightened you like that?" He turned his face to the pillow. "nothing." "Did you see he was gone?" "No." "Uh, so—what is it?" "My mother always said that I was cranky, and she said that if I kept thinking wildly, I would go to the madhouse like my dad." "That's why you refuse to tell others what you saw?" He nodded.His head bobbing up and down caught the moonlight streaming in through the rear window.I took his hand and held it tightly. "I can assure you that no one will send you away for telling me what you saw, Robert. You trust me, don't you?" "I suppose so, Dr. Sam." "Then tell me, did you see that Tommy was gone?" "You won't believe me when I tell you." "Try it." I felt his hand tighten in mine. "You know, Dr. Sam, it's not that Tommy's missing or anything, it's that I see two of him." "There were two of him," I repeated. "Do you trust me, Dr. Sam?" "I trust you, Rob."
At ten minutes to twelve in the middle of the night, I parked the rattle arrow at the foot of the hill.Lifting the travel bag from the seat next to me, in the dark, I can only vaguely see the outline of the small red school building in front of me, even the moon is hidden behind a cloud, and I dare not risk using it I brought it in the car lanterns. When I got to the door of the one-room school building and put down my bag, there seemed to be no one around.I only hesitated for a moment, then turned back and walked down the mountain.And that's the point of this matter, for my careless action could endanger a child's life. I got in the car and started the engine. "How is it?" Sergeant Lansi asked in a low voice.He squatted next to me, half-hudden on the floor. "No sign of anyone." "He will come. He won't just leave fifty thousand oceans there." And then I saw -- there was movement on the hill.The moon came out from behind the clouds, bathing the earth in a pale, unnatural light. "It's a kid," I said. Lan Si sat up next to me and drew his pistol. "Damn it, it's the Belmont boy, and they sent him to get his own ransom!" "Go after him, Sheriff, but be careful." He jumped out of the car. "how about you?" "I have even bigger prey," I sped up and let the arrow rush out, bumping around a big bend on the dirt road. In front of me, what my headlights locked on to was exactly what I thought I would see. Parked outside the road where ordinary people could not see, hidden in a big willow tree was Mr. Tilly's caravan.Tillie himself jumped out of the van when he heard my car approaching, and aimed a shotgun at me. I put the pedal to the floor and charged straight at him, the sound of the shotgun blasting in front of me.Smashed my right windshield, but then the car hit him, pinning him against his own wagon. I jumped out of the car and snatched the shotgun before he had time to reload it. "Fuck!" he screamed, "You nearly ran me over with a car! My leg—" "Shut up, you should be happy that you are still alive, and I will heal your leg injury." Sergeant Lan Si came down from the hill at this moment, clutching the red-haired child tightly in one hand, and carrying the traveling bag in the other. "This is not a Belmont boy!" he cried. "I know," I said to him, "that it's Tilly's son, Franck, with a bright red wig, and unless I'm mistaken, we'll find Tommy Belmont tied up in this wagon inside."
It was already one o'clock in the middle of the night when we got back to Belmont's pasture, but for those who were there, it was no different from noon.Tommy was indeed in the caravan, roped and gagged, and given sleeping pills, and he was a little groggy, but I knew he'd recover. His father had a lot of problems with Sheriff Lens and Mrs. Sawyer.In the end, I just raised my hands and asked them to be quiet. "Be quiet now, and I'll tell you the whole thing from the beginning." "I need to know how he disappeared from my school playground," Mrs. Sawyer said, "or I'm going to lose my mind." "Tommy was actually kidnapped ten minutes before you noticed he wasn't on the swing. He was kidnapped when he and the other kids went down the hill to buy candy from Mr. Tilly's wagon. Tilly got off with him. The drug's sugar charmed him, hid him in the caravan, and then Tilly's son, Franck, pretended to be him, put on a red wig, and painted some freckles on his face." "Has no one seen these things?" "Rob, Mrs. Daisy's son, saw it, but he was afraid to tell people that there were two Tommy Belmonts in the wagon. The fake Tommy ran up the hill and started swinging, while the real Tommy was in the Tilly was taken away in the caravan." "But it's Tommy on the swing!" protested Mrs. Sawyer. I shook my head. "It was a boy dressed more or less like the rest of the boys, with bright red hair. You only saw the hair, not the face, and Tommy was your only student with bright red hair, so you assume you see到的是汤米，可是你应该早晓得有问题的。我先前和你谈话的时候，你告诉我说你从来没看过汤米把秋千荡得那么高过。为什么呢？因为那根本不是汤米。” “可是他是怎么消失不见的呢？” “用最简单的方法，等你转过头去叫小朋友们回教室的时候。佛南克·堤利确定没有人在看他，就脱下假发，塞在衣服底下，也许还用手帕擦掉了脸上的雀斑。” “好吧，”蓝思警长认可了。“可那些电话是怎么回事？” “堤利懂得修理电器，记得吧？他也懂电话，他在李奥塔德住处附近偷接他的线来打电话，他一直是在他篷车里搞这些事，而汤米就被绑着、堵住嘴，在篷车后面。他要个小男生对电话里尖叫的时候，就用他儿子来假装汤米。” “你怎么知道是堤利呢？”蓝思问道。 “每次勒赎电话打来的时候，他的篷车都在火丘一带。而且他说他看着汤米和他的儿子跑回小学校舍所在的小山上，开始一起荡秋千的时候，就让我怀疑起来，沙耶太太已经告诉我说汤米一个人在荡秋千，在这种事情上她没有理由要说谎。一旦我认定汤米想必比她发现的时间更早遭到绑架之后，堤利就是唯一的嫌疑犯了。中午的时候没有别人到学校附近，也没有别人有篷车可以把孩子运走。整个神秘失踪的把戏只不过是改变绑架时间的策略，让我们想不到是堤利，而堤利可以远离犯罪现场。” “他想怎么脱身呢？” “他勒索赎金的电话既是偷接别人的电话线来打的。他以为我们在他拿到钱之前会到处去追查，然后他会尽快在汤米能把事情发生经过告诉我们之前，远走高飞。”我没有提到堤利还有计划把汤米杀了灭口的可能。 “堤利的儿子会怎么样？”赫伯·贝蒙问道。 “那就要由法院来决定了。”我回答道。
“他们在隔壁镇上替堤利的儿子找到一个寄养家庭（山姆医生总结道），有了正常的家庭生活，他后来相当不错，他的父亲因为犯案就在李奥波特和罗比绑架案后不久，所以被判了很久的徒刑，后来死在狱中。 “我以为一九二五年有那两件罪案已经够了，可是我错了，下次你再来——走之前要不要再来点——呃，喝的？——我会跟你讲发生在镇上教堂里的怪事——而且还是在圣诞节那天哩！”
Notes: