Chapter 8 Chapter 8 But, and if

That night, Fitzstephan and I were in Frau Schindler's low basement over a delicious dinner she cooked for us and a delicious beer provided by her husband.The novelist double inside Fitzstephan was busy searching for Mrs Leggett's so-called psychological motives. "She killed her sister for obvious reasons—because now we know what she was," he said, "as did her husband's murder; The decision to commit suicide on the stairs in order not to get caught can be explained. But the quiet years in between—what about that?" "What's really strange is Leggett's death," I argued, "and everything else goes together. She wanted Leggett. She planned to kill her sister—or at gunpoint, with a heart." It was hard work for him to be locked up, but the law beat the mandarin duck. There was nothing she could do about this kind of thing. She could only wait for a miracle to happen—a miracle would always happen—and hoped that he would be free one day. She still had What else could she ask for? What would it make no sense for her to wait? She could hold Gabriel hostage at leisure, waiting for the miracle she wished to happen. And there was no doubt that she could rely on his The property lived comfortably. When she heard that he escaped from prison, she came to America and started looking for him. The detective she hired found him here, and she came. He would marry her, and she asked for nothing. Well. How can the quiet life of those years not be passed? She doesn't make trouble for fun-she is not the kind of person who loves to play tricks. This woman just wants what she wants, and she will do anything to get it. Come to think of it, how much How patiently she has concealed her hatred for her niece for so many years. And she is not too demanding. She has no complicated, crazy motives. She is as simple as an animal, indiscriminate, Doesn't like to be frustrated, and becomes crazy when he falls into a trap."

Fitzstephan took a sip of beer, and then asked, "So you've reduced the curse of the Dan family to just a primitive instinct in your blood?" "It's worse than that—just a woman's angry talk." "It's people like you who can darken life." He sighed behind the smoke. "Gabrielle was used as a tool to murder her mother. Doesn't that mean that the curse is real?— At least, from a literary point of view." "Even if she is really a tool, I don't believe it, let alone whether she is a tool or not only God knows. But Leggett obviously has no doubts. His letter said a lot of old things in order to protect her. As for the fact that he saw the child Killing her mother is only one side of Mrs. Leggett's statement. From another perspective, Mrs. Leggett mentioned in front of Gabriel that Gabriel believed her father was a murderer since she was a child, So we can believe this. And unless it is to prevent her from knowing that he is guilty, he should not take the blame - although there are other possibilities. In short, based on this as a starting point, any guess about the truth may be correct Yes. Mrs. Leggett wanted him and got him. I just don't understand why she killed him anyway?"

"You're capricious!" Fitzstephan complained. "You figured out the answer in the lab, isn't that the answer? You also said she killed him because the letter looked like a suicide note." , so she decided to let him die to ensure her own safety." "That statement was fine at the time," I admitted, "but now, we have more facts to calmly refer to. She has worked so hard to get him for so many years, and he must What's the value." "But she doesn't love him, or there is no reason to infer that she loves him. He doesn't have that kind of meaning to her, it's just like a hunting trophy, and death doesn't detract from the value of the prey—generally It’s done by filling the head with embalming agent and nailing it to the wall.”

"Then why was she keeping Upton from him? Why did she kill Rupert? Why did she help him? It was he who was in danger! If he wasn't worth that much to her, she Why take it? Why did she take so many risks to keep him from knowing that the ghosts of the past have reappeared?" "I think I see what you mean," said Fitzstephan slowly, "do you think—" "Wait, there's one more thing. I've had two conversations with Mr. and Mrs. Leggetts. Neither of them had a word to each other on both occasions—although the woman did a lot of pantomime, and I'd like to think that if it wasn't for He was there and she would tell me about her daughter's disappearance."

"Where did you find Gabrielle?" "As soon as Rupert was killed, she took all her cash and jewels and ran to the Haltons. The jewels she gave to Minnie Hershey to cash. Minnie bought two of them herself—her man Gambling a fair amount of cash a night or two ago, the police checked--and then sent her man to sell others. He was caught at a pawn shop, purely for acting suspiciously." "So Gabrielle ran away from home?" he asked. "It can't be her fault—she thought her father was a murderer since she was a child, and now she sees her stepmother committing a murder with her own eyes. Who would dare to live in this kind of family?"

"Then you think Leggett and his wife are at odds? It's possible. I don't see them very often, and I'm not on good terms with them to talk about it—if it ever happened. You say Could it be that he knows some...some details about her?" "Possibly, but not serious enough to prevent him from taking the charge of Rupert's death. And what he learned has nothing to do with the recent diamond scandal, because the first time I saw him, he really thought he was murdered." thief. But—” "Oh, shut up! You've got to have two 'buts' and an 'if' every time. I don't see why Mrs. Leggett's statement is suspicious. The whole thing she It was just blurted out inadvertently. Why do you think she would lie and make things difficult for herself?"

"You mean her sister's murder? She was acquitted of that case long ago, and the French justice system is like ours, so no matter what she confesses afterwards, she can't be brought to trial again. So man , but she didn't recruit anything!" "Being so contemptuous," he said, "I reckon you need some more beer to broaden your mind."
During the Leggett/Rupert trial, I saw Gabrielle Leggett again, though I doubt she would recognize me.With her was Madison Andrew, who had been Leggett's personal attorney and was now his executor.Eric Collinson was there too, though oddly enough he was apparently not with Gabrielle.He nodded to me and said nothing else.

The newspapers found out that Mrs. Leggett's account had taken place in Paris in 1913, and they made a big fuss for two days before giving up.Halsted & Beauchamps recovered the diamond, so the Continental Detective Agency's mission was accomplished: we wrote "Case Closed" at the bottom of Leggett's file.After that, I went into the mountains to help a gold mine owner find out if his employees were fishing in troubled waters behind his back. I thought it would take at least a month on the mountain-this kind of undercover work usually takes a lot of time.But on the tenth night there, I got a long-distance call from the old man, my boss.

"I was going to send Foley over to replace you," he said. "Don't wait for him, just catch the night train. Leggett's case is back."