Our beach here is a very good summer resort, and many people come to play and escape the heat every summer.This is the case with George and Betty, who come here from the city almost every summer to enjoy the sun on the beach and the amazing view of the sea.The couple have different personalities. George is more reserved and introverted, while Betty is lively and beautiful.I was even thinking, how could Betty choose George?Because this is a couple that doesn't look like a good match on the outside.Of course, there is nothing surprising about this. In our real life, although there are many couples who do not seem to match well, they live a very harmonious and happy life.

Maybe you will think that George is an inferior person when you hear me say this, but don’t get me wrong, in fact, George is also a very outstanding person, especially the sincerity and credibility shown in him, No matter who it is, as long as they have a little contact with him, they can clearly feel this. Last summer, my wife and I thought the couple would come to our place again, but no, I heard they went to Spruce Beach.My wife had heard Betty say that it was at Spruce Beach that she and George got engaged, so she has fond and romantic memories of that place.When my wife said this, I still felt a little unbelievable, but my wife criticized me and said: "You are so numb, why don't you understand women's delicate feelings? It would be the same if it were me." Listening to my wife I had no choice but to smile helplessly.

However, in June this year, George and Betty came again, and this time they brought two daughters, the two little girls are very lovely, one is eight years old, the other is six years old, it should be said that they are happy family. However, I noticed a change in George this time. He is no longer as happy as before. He always seems listless and depressed. Even when he walks, he always lowers his head and puts his hands in his pockets. Looking ahead, he rarely had a smile on his face, and only when he was with the children did he become a little more active. "Did something happen?" My wife and I secretly speculated.

My wife has a cheerful personality and is good at getting along with people.Within a few days, I saw that she and Betty often whispered together, probably related to George.Later, my wife told me: "I heard from Betty that George's changes began to appear after he went to Spruce Beach last summer. Betty couldn't figure out why, because George never talked about it." I was mowing the lawn at home one day, and George came to see me, and I was so happy that I asked him to sit with me on the porch.I can see from George's expression that he seems to have something to say to me, but he opened his mouth several times but still no sound, maybe he doesn't know how to speak.

We just sat there looking at each other in silence for a few minutes, and finally he blurted out: "Please tell me, Mr. Sheriff, if a person destroys his own happiness for the sake of abstract justice, is it right?" This question was so abrupt that I didn't know how to answer it exactly, so I said: "No one can answer such a question, George, you should be more specific." "Oh, yes, you're right." I was expecting him to go on, but George just murmured the words, and then he said nothing more, and after a while he got up and went away.Looking at his receding figure, I thought to myself: "What does he mean by asking this?"

The next morning, George came again, but this time his expression was more nervous than last time, "Mr. Sheriff, if I tell you about a crime, will you report it?" He asked cautiously and tentatively. "It depends on what the crime is, serious or not, whether it's within my jurisdiction, and I may or may not report it. George, can you be more specific?" I wish he could tell me the truth. "That, that was a murder!" After finishing speaking, his face turned red and he lowered his head. I was startled, and quickly took a look at him. Looking at his appearance, I guess he guessed what I was thinking.

However, he quickly raised his head again and said loudly, "I didn't do it! No, even if, even if I want to kill someone, I don't know how!" "Oh, this George!" I couldn't help sighing.Maybe he's right that he's not the violent criminal type, but in my thirty-three years in the police force, I know it's hard to generalize, especially with someone as introverted as George. I had a premonition that he would tell the truth next. In order to create a good atmosphere for the conversation, I deliberately brought two glasses of apple juice from the kitchen and handed him one of them to moisten his throat and ease his emotions.

Sure enough, when George took a sip of the fruit juice and calmed down a bit, he told me the whole story in detail. Regarding his story, we can go back to eleven years ago.He was in high school at that time, and Betty was also in this school. They met by chance.At that time, he admired Betty very much, especially her smile and frown, which were deeply imprinted in his heart.But George is a shy big boy. Although he likes Betty very much, he dare not pursue it rashly for a long time. Once, he summoned up the courage to invite Betty out to play, but Betty refused straight away. His heart was hurt, so he kept Betty at arm's length since then.

In the summer of his twenty-two years old, he took the accountant qualification examination and passed it successfully.Filled with joy at the thought that he would be going to Boston in the autumn to work, and that it would be a good job, he decided to have a good few months before going to Boston to work.He chose Spruce Beach because his parents rented a villa there. When George came to Spruce Beach, everything here attracted him.Since this is a summer resort, there are a lot of people here in summer, some are sunbathing on the beach, some are swimming in the sea water, and some are watching the scenery under the sun umbrella.The waterfront has not only a large playground, but also a boardwalk about a mile or two long.What's more interesting is that there is also a pier that protrudes into the sea, and there are arcades and dance halls built on it. At night, the lights in the dance hall flicker, attracting men and women to go chic.George has played in these places and found it very enjoyable.

One day, George came to the beach to play again. When he got tired of playing, a person in front of him surprised him: "Betty! How could it be you?" "Hey, it's George! How are you?" Betty He also greeted him in surprise, as if he had been an old friend for many years. It turned out that Betty came to Spruce Beach with her widowed mother, and they lived in the Jaguar Hotel.Betty is not the kind of person who knows people by herself, so although she has come to Spruce Beach for a few days, she is not familiar with anyone, and sometimes she feels very lonely when she goes out to play by herself, so she met George very happy after.

Soon, people often saw two young people on the beach, George and Betty.They are together almost every day, such as swimming together, walking on the boardwalk together, going for a walk on the beach together, etc. Sometimes they also stay in the hotel, such as sitting on the balcony of the Jaguar Hotel, drinking Lemon juice, while chatting. George told himself early on that Betty was the girl of his dreams.He loves her, but his shyness makes him embarrassed to speak, even every time he wants to propose to her, he feels scared, and often swallows the words, and he also annoys himself behind his back: "What did I do?" Yes, you obviously love her, so why can’t you say it?” And kissing, every time he said goodbye to Betty, he wanted to kiss her lips, but Betty always turned her face away, so he could only kiss her once. her cheeks. Time passed day by day like this, and seeing that the day to leave Boston was not far away, George was very anxious.He loved Betty so much that he was going crazy, "No, I must get her, and I must definitely propose to her no matter what." He didn't want to watch a girl as good as Betty slip away from him.So one night, he faced Betty and said nervously: "Betty, please marry me? I, I really love you!" When he said this, he obviously felt his heart beating Pounding and kicking the sand with his toes. "George, to be honest, I like you too, but I don't want to get married, at least not now." Looking at George who was full of expectations, Betty politely rejected him. George wanted to get down on his knees and beg her to let her go, but he wasn't born that way, and he certainly couldn't do that.At that time, he and Betty spoke a few more words, which were of course irrelevant nonsense, and then turned and left, not even kissing her as usual. As the summer is coming to an end, the weather on Spruce Beach is gradually getting colder. Basically, no one comes here anymore. On the contrary, many people here are also starting to pack their bags and prepare to leave.At this time, there were few people on the beach, and all kinds of entertainment facilities were closed one after another. The bustle and bustle of the past suddenly became deserted. George and Betty are still here.Betty likes watching the stormy waves crashing on the shore at Hurricane Point. She goes there almost every night, no matter how windy the night is.George didn't object to this, although he also knew that Betty's doing so was very dangerous, because it was said that someone had been blown into the sea, but he was still very happy to be with Betty. Time passed faster and faster, and in a blink of an eye, George had been lingering on Spruce Beach for nearly three months, and he was going to work in Boston the next day, which meant that he and Betty had only one night to get together.That night, the weather was surprisingly bad, the northwest wind was whistling, and the wind pushed up the waves, which were two or three meters high.When George came to see Betty, she was wearing a beige raincoat, waiting for him on the porch. "Betty, the weather is bad today, why don't we go?" George patiently dissuaded. "It doesn't matter, George, you'd better go with me!" Betty said stubbornly. There is no way, George had to accompany Betty to Hurricane Point.At that time, the weather outside was pitch black with heavy wind and rain, and they couldn't even see the road clearly, so they could only walk along the beach with deep feet and shallow feet.But when they reached Cape Hurricane, the weather suddenly turned for the better. Not only did the rain stop, but the moon came out from behind the clouds, and the bright moonlight shone on the beach, making the sand glisten, although the waves were still The rocks were lapping, but the beach was calm by this time. Looking at Betty beside him, George thought to himself: "Tomorrow I will leave, only this one night, I must seize the opportunity to persuade Betty to agree to marry me." "Come on, Betty, we still come here Take shelter from the wind." Then, he spread his raincoat on a sheltered place under the rock, and Rabetty sat down together. At this time, George was thinking about what to say, anyway, he would try again, but, as usual, he didn't know how to speak, while Betty raised her bent knees to her chin , holding his ankles with his hands, silently staring at the waves on the sea. George also turned his gaze to the sea. At this time, he saw a young man walking towards here along the seashore in the distance. Slowly, the man was getting closer and closer, and he was wearing a hat with a cracked visor and a leather jacket , put his hands in his pockets, and whistled as he walked.From the outside, the young man was about twenty years old, and George had seen him clearly. "Who is he? Why did he come to Hurricane Point in the dark?" George wondered, "Look at his arrogant look, yes, he kept looking around, as if he was looking for something, could it be... Thinking of this, George suddenly felt that this person was very dangerous. The lad passed within a dozen yards of them, evidently missing George and Betty under the rock.His footsteps on the wet sand were so silent that George could only see his shadow moving slightly.George looked at his back, and then glanced at Betty, who was still staring at the waves on the sea, obviously she didn't realize that someone just passed in front of them. George gently put his hand on Betty's, but she didn't respond, still staring at the sea.George turned his head to look at the young man who was walking away, and he found that the young man stopped suddenly while walking, and then stopped, motionless, for a full minute or two.Suddenly, he ran like a rabbit toward a rotting wreck that had been pulled ashore, apparently trying to hide there. Immediately afterwards, George found a second person on the beach. This person came from the town. He was not tall and had a relatively fat body. Seeing him walking staggeringly, he had to stop after a few steps to straighten his body. It looked like he was probably drunk. George felt very strange, "Could he be looking for that young man?" He opened his eyes wide and stared at the wrecked ship on the shore, trying to find the young man just now, but he couldn't see any trace, because behind the wrecked ship was a secret There are dense bushes and a path, and behind it is a row of pine trees. "Probably the young man knew the dumpy man, and he didn't want him to see him, so he slipped away from the back of the boat along the path." George thought secretly. The stout man was still staggering forward, and he seemed to be singing, but George couldn't hear it because the wind and the waves were too loud.The man slowly approached the wreck, and suddenly George saw the young man from before, who had come out of nowhere, kneeling on the bow, curled up like a predator. "Look, there's metal gleaming in his hand, maybe a knife, maybe a pistol." George wasn't sure for a moment what the boy was up to.He wanted to yell loudly to remind the short and fat man, but he hesitated, and the next thing happened: the young man with the metal thing in his hand jumped up and rushed towards the short and fat man. The man, that man also seemed to hear a sound behind him, so he turned around staggeringly, stepped back a few steps, just happened to meet the young man, and saw him open his arms and rush towards the young man Suddenly, there was a "bang", and there was a gunshot. The short and fat man straightened up first, and then fell heavily to the ground, motionless, apparently dead.The young man leaned over quickly and began to rummage through his pockets. Seeing this scene, George was stunned, and he couldn't help but tightly grasped Betty's wrist. "Ouch", Betty screamed in pain, she turned her head and was about to speak, but at this moment George realized that things should be like this, Betty was not as cautious as he was naturally, she was facing the scene just now, not knowing what happened What happened, if she saw that scene with her own eyes, she would definitely run to rescue the beaten person, so George hugged her tightly with both hands, and pressed his mouth tightly against her lips to prevent her from making a sound , and pushed her down on the beach. "George, what are you going to do?" Betty struggled desperately, but George didn't relax, not only pressed his body on top of her, but also pressed harder and harder. Betty bit his lips with her teeth anxiously, and he had already tasted The blood tasted salty, but no matter how much Betty struggled, George just wouldn't let go. His thought was that Betty must be silenced at all costs, because the boy had already fired once, and he would not hesitate to fire a second shot. Yes, Betty's life, as well as his own, depended on their silence at this crucial moment, from the lad's perception.Obviously, the gunshots just now had frightened George. Betty didn't know it, and was very surprised and angry at George's behavior, so she beat him desperately, scratched his face with her nails, and pushed his chest with both hands, trying to push him away. Instead of backing away, George pressed even tighter, his weight almost suffocating Betty to death. Suddenly, he felt that Betty under him was no longer struggling. She seemed to be paralyzed. She stretched out her arms and hugged his neck tightly, and deeply grasped her fingers into his back. The lips also moved slightly closer to George, becoming elastic and docile.At this moment, George no longer had the concept of time. He didn't know whether he and Betty lay there for a minute, two minutes, or ten minutes. Slowly, he raised his head to look at the beach over there again, and saw the short and fat man lying on a mound beside the wrecked boat, still motionless, and the young man who shot had long since disappeared.The situation is finally over. George had been lying on the beach for a long time, and his legs were a little numb. He tried to use one knee to lift his body up. Just as he stood up and raised his head, he suddenly saw the young man again, and he was very close to him.George gave him a quick look, the one look George will never forget.At that time, the moonlight just shone on the young man's face, and he saw that the man's face was thin and small, like a fox, with messy hair, red color, yellow eyes, no earlobes, and the pistol , still in his hand.Betty apparently also noticed this situation. "Look, George!" whispered Betty beside her. It was probably Betty's whisper that alarmed the young man. Although the sound of the waves was very loud and they were in the downwind, the young man was still frightened. He found Betty and rushed towards her.Betty was obviously prepared. She rolled to the side and avoided it. The young man caught up with her again, grabbed Betty and fought on the wet beach. After a few rounds, Betty struggled to break free and slapped him hard. .It's hard for you to imagine how strong this girl Betty is. Just this slap made the young man stagger and throw his head back.Before he could react, Betty got up and ran away. George saw all this not far away. At this time, he also stumbled to his feet and looked around with wide-eyed eyes. The figure of the young man had disappeared, only Betty was running desperately along the seashore. George quickly picked up the raincoat and chased in the direction Betty was running.But he wasn't an athlete by nature, and besides, Betty ran first, so he lost his energy after chasing for a while, panting heavily, and his knees were weak. George gasped for a while, then continued to run, but still lagged far behind Betty.If Betty hadn't run to the porch of the Jaguar Hotel and stopped to wait for him, he would never have been able to catch up with her. "Listen, Betty, let me explain!" he gasped. "No need!" She raised her head slightly and said arrogantly. "Betty, listen to me. Actually, I don't want to hurt you." George tried to explain the situation and asked her to understand. She said nothing. "My dear, listen to me, a terrible thing happened on the beach just now, and you don't know it." George said. To George's surprise, Betty suddenly giggled, threw herself into his arms, and said softly: "Ah, George, I love you! Really! Usually you are so calm, but I didn't expect you to be so passionate today. You know? Every girl wants a man who is crazy about her, George, I know now." As she said that, she broke free from George's arms, blushed, and ran into the hotel quickly, slamming the door behind her. "What happened to Betty today?!" George stood there in a daze, he couldn't believe his good luck. At this time, George suddenly realized a more important problem: "The short and fat man is still lying on the beach. I must inform the police immediately, and I cannot let him die like that." Since there was no telephone in his residence, and all the lights in the hotel were turned off at this time, he had to walk towards the center of the town in the dark. He didn't know where the police station was, but he believed he could find out. When he came to the streets in the center of the town, it was pitch black and there was no one in sight. He looked at his watch with the light of the lighter, and it was almost two o'clock in the morning. No wonder the whole town was silent. "What should I do?" George wondered nervously.At this time, I saw a police car coming out of a small road in the town at a very fast speed. He beckoned to stop the car, but the driver ignored him and flew past him as soon as he stepped on the gas pedal. He was very disappointed. .Then, he saw two police cars roaring towards Hurricane Point, "The police car is heading for Hurricane Point, did someone also find the body of the short and fat man and report to the police? Maybe the man is not dead, maybe He was not seriously injured, and he notified the police himself?" George guessed. George was very tired by this time.But maybe it was because he felt that he had the responsibility to pay attention to this matter, maybe it was because of Betty that he forgot to be tired. He still mustered up his energy, dragged his tired legs, and ran towards the direction of the car.While running, he inadvertently wiped his face with his hands and felt a sticky stuff.It turned out that it was the blood that flowed from Betty's face when he scratched it with his nails on the beach. It had already solidified, and now he felt pain when he touched it, but before that, he didn't feel it at all. "I witnessed a crime on the beach tonight and didn't have the courage to stop it. If the police investigate and I need to go to court to testify, it will be terrible. What will people think of me and Betty lying on the beach in the middle of the night What about this matter? It will be more troublesome if the newspapers publish this matter. What will Betty think? If she doesn't understand, I may lose her just as I won her heart." George thought as he ran. with. In addition, there are some problems that make George feel uncomfortable. For example, what if the police don't believe him?Since only he and Betty were there at the time, and he was sure that Betty hadn't seen anything, there was no way to verify his statement.What if the police arrest him as a suspect and interrogate him?Because he is now disheveled, with bloodstains all over his face, and sand all over his clothes, he can be regarded as the perpetrator and be suspected.If I continue to procrastinate here, what about the job in Boston?Tomorrow is the day he will report for duty, and he must go there by car tomorrow afternoon.Thinking of these, he was very anxious. George came to Hurricane Point again, and saw several police cars parked nearby, with all the lights on, illuminating the beach brightly, and one of the police cars was screaming and leaving quickly. This scene made him feel very nervous.It has always been like this, as long as there is a car accident or murder, many people will suddenly appear from nowhere, and it is the same now, many people have gathered on the beach at Hurricane Point at some point. The onlookers were talking, and George squeezed into them. "I heard old Pat Quentin was murdered," said an elderly man regretfully. "Yes, I heard that the police have caught the murderer and found a pistol from his pocket. It's a young man, it is said that he was just released from a reformatory." A middle-aged man said with certainty Say. "Oh, I have been with old Pat for many years, he is a good man, this murderer should be severely punished!" Hearing this, George suddenly felt a lot easier.It now appears that, even without his help, someone else found the victim and helped the police catch the killer.At this time, he seemed to feel that there was no need for himself and Betty to be involved in this murder case, so he quietly left the scene and walked home alone. At nine o'clock the next morning, while he was shaving, he heard the newscaster's voice on the radio, saying that a homicide had occurred on Cape Hurricane Beach the previous night. Sixty-two-year-old Patrick Quentin had been killed. Killed with a bullet, the police caught the murderer near the crime scene. It was Richard Paine, who had just escaped from the Fremont Correctional Institute. He was just nineteen years old this year.The news also said that when Paine was arrested, the police found a pistol and Quentin's wallet from him. According to the police, the case has been fully cracked.After hearing this, George felt that he could forget about it, because everything was settled. George and Betty spent their final hours at Spruce Beach, agreeing that once George settled down in Boston, Betty would come to him and the two of them would marry. That afternoon, George and Betty left Spruce Beach. In the days that followed, George, who was working in Boston, still paid close attention to the reports of the murder, but Boston newspapers rarely published such news. It is said that according to the analysis of ballistic experts, the bullet that shot Quentin at that time was indeed fired from Paine's pistol, and the bloody fingerprints on the wallet found on him were also his.Later, more than a week later, Paine hanged himself in prison and died. Since then, the murder case has been closed. The company George worked for in Boston was called the Markham Leather Company.Thanks to George's hard work and good luck, and Betty's help, he was promoted smoothly and promoted all the way. In less than ten years, he became the deputy general manager of the company. The married life of George and Betty should be said to be very happy.Betty is also very pleased to see her husband succeed in his career. The only thing she complains about is that George is too focused on his work and often ignores her feelings and existence. Therefore, whenever she wanted to complain, she would always laugh at George and say, "George, do you remember that night at the beach? You were so passionate at that time that I was amazed, how can you become cold now?" ?” For some reason, whenever Betty said this, George would hug her tightly, not only short of breath, blood boiling, and even very afraid of losing her, which made Betty feel happy and satisfied. George knew very well that it was not a man's passion that prompted him to hug Betty tightly on the beach that day, but the horror that the murder had brought him.He had always wondered, what would Betty think if she knew the truth? Probably because George brought too many surprises to Betty that night, so she proposed to go to Spruce Beach for a vacation every summer in order to regain the good memories, but George was unwilling to do this, he didn't want to go again That beach, especially Hurricane Point, had terrified him so much that he always tried to dissuade Betty from changing her mind and still coming to our vacation. However, Betty's attitude was too firm last summer, and George had to compromise.The family went to Spruce Beach again, still staying at the Jaguar Inn.During the day, they took their two children to the beach, and the children liked it very much, especially the sidewalk paved with wooden boards, which made them enjoy it even more.They are also willing to eat all kinds of things, the favorite of which is stuffed pie.Seeing the happy appearance of the children, George and Betty were also very happy. A few days later, the two children found a food store in a small street, and they saw a man in a white chef's hat and a smart apron standing behind the glass, with pieces of white dough in his hands. It was like magic, throwing them into the air for a while, kneading them for a while, and finally putting them all into the oven. After a while, the delicious pies came out of the oven. "Dad, please take us to that little shop to eat pie." The two children begged George almost every day. One day, George came to the door of the small shop with his two children, "Dad, come quickly, look at that pie maker is really funny, he seems to be performing magic." George followed the child's finger and looked behind the glass. Going, I was stunned all of a sudden, only to see that the man had a fox face, red hair, and a pair of small ears without earlobes.George could no longer look at the man. "Could it be him?" George couldn't believe it. "Impossible. This must not be the person who killed Quentin. It was Paine who killed him ten years ago. Although this person is very similar to Paine, it may be his younger brother. Maybe twins." Although George thought it was a possibility, he knew he was deluding himself because he was so impressed with the boy on the beach that night. George looked at the man behind the glass who was busy making pies, and believed that his guess was correct. He was the boy who appeared on the beach. The next day, George began to ask around, and learned that this man was named Sam Murphy. Although he didn't look too old, he was actually quite old. He was also a troublemaker, but most of them were fighting, Alcoholism or something, nothing more serious has happened. "How can we verify whether this person is Paine from ten years ago?" George came up with a good idea.He went to the local library and found some newspapers from ten years ago. Among them, there was a picture of Paine on the first page of a newspaper.Judging from the photo, Paine is a tall, blond man with wide cheekbones and gray eyes, which is quite different from the fox-faced, red-haired, earlobe-less guy he saw on the beach back then. There is also a report under the photo, which says that Paine has always claimed his innocence. He himself saw another lad running across the beach that night and threw something on the beach. Later he went to see and found A pistol and wallet, he picked up these two things, but was caught by the police not long after.In order to prove his innocence, Paine also self-testified that he had no money on him when he was arrested, but the police disagreed with this statement, thinking that Pat might be an alcoholic and that he might have spent all his money that night On drinking.Although Paine repeatedly stated and even protested back then, it was of no avail because no one believed his words. Seeing this, George's conscience was disturbed, and he knew that Paine was telling the truth. "I should have gone to the police immediately, so Paine might still be alive, and that man named Sam Murphy would have to go to jail." Thinking of this, George felt a little regretful.But he changed his mind and thought again: "Ten years have passed. If I say it now, who can believe it? To take a step back, Pan En died ten years ago. Even if the police believe my words, Pan En cannot die." And I was resurrected. Moreover, I have to face the condemnation of public opinion and admit my cowardice. If the newspaper reports this again, it will be very detrimental to myself. I am now successful in my career, and Betty still loves me so much , what would Betty think if she found out the truth?" These were all things George worried about, especially the last one. George is in pain because he has been living a lie for ten years.He felt that Betty might forgive him too, but there might be subtle changes in their relationship, and if he hugged her again, the memory of the fake passion on the beach would definitely make them both uncomfortable. After much deliberation, George decided to do nothing.However, this incident still made him sleepless at night, tossing and turning, restless, and he secretly accused himself of being a coward and a coward in his heart.Seeing George like this, Betty knew that he must be hiding something from her. "Honey, what's wrong with you? What happened? Tell me!" she asked anxiously. "It's nothing, don't worry." George refused to utter a word. George told me that he had never told anyone about it before he told me. At this time, George let out a long sigh of relief and said, "Mr. Sheriff, what I just said is true. You are a judicial officer. Please tell me what to do. I will do what you say." "Oh, I'll have to think about it. George, you know, there are different ways to look at this." I shook my head, not rushing to answer his question. "Okay then, I'll wait for your conclusion." After speaking, he got up and left. George is gone, but his problem falls to me.According to the law, my only way is to go to Spruce Beach, rehabilitate Paine who died unjustly, and bring the real murderer named Sam Murphy to court. 但是也有些问题让我不得不想，比如：这个案子是由斯普鲁斯当地的警察承办的，如果站在他们的角度考虑，不一定会认为乔治提供的证据可靠，事情已经过去了这么多年，他完全有可能歪曲了事实；再说潘恩这个人，他是有前科的，在等待审判时他自杀了，这种情形通常是被认为承认有罪，现在仅凭乔治的一面之词，那里的警察是不会轻易重新调查此事的；乔治自己是否搞错了？虽然他认为山姆·墨菲曾是个危险人物，但是这个人这些年来并没有严重违法的记录…… 我整个下午都在反复思索乔治讲的这件事情，甚至连晚上也难以入睡。 我的表现自然瞒不过妻子的眼睛。这么多年来，她就有这个本事，如果她想打听什么事情，肯定会知道得一清二楚。果然，她第二天早晨就开始询问我，并很快从我嘴里知道了乔治的故事。 她默默地坐在那里，看了我一会儿，问道：“那你准备怎么做？” “这件事情很重大，我想，我应该开车去斯普鲁斯海滩。”我说。 “不行！你决不能那么做！”她猛地站起来，大声叫道。看着妻子的样子，我不禁有些吃惊。 “你知道吗，我听贝蒂说过，她认为乔治在那个海滩之夜为了得到她，几乎快要发疯了，如果你那样做的话，就等于打破了贝蒂的美好幻觉，她会怎么样？他们的婚姻会怎么样？他们的婚姻一定会破裂，这是一定的！那么贝蒂以后要靠什么生活？这些你都想过了吗？” “不行，我是个司法人员，必须要这样做。”我依然坚持说。 “不准胡说！”妻子走过来，一下子坐到我的怀里。她将全身的分量压在我腿上，很重，不过，我倒觉得这样似乎好受一些。 唉，我不想跟妻子争吵，因为在我们三十多年的婚姻生活中，我得出的一条经验就是，有时候你最好是闭上嘴巴，什么也不要说。 也许我没有履行司法人员的责任，也许我错了！