Chapter 3 no man's land

Daulding was a tall man who sat like a rough stone statue.The icy gaze came out of his eyes, like the frozen ground in Alaska, full of chill.Anyone who has known him for less than a month can hardly see any obvious expression on his face.Up to this moment, his indifferent face still clearly showed distrust.He leaned over the table, fixed his eyes on me, and said, "What did you just say?" "If your wife died suddenly," I repeated each word, "would you be happy?" He looked around warily, as if to make sure that the walls had ears.In fact, he was overthinking.Because the bar in this hot spring country club is very deserted, except for the two of us, there are only three elderly people chatting at a table far away from us.

After confirming that there was no one around, Doulding turned his cold gaze back to me, lowered his voice and asked, "Karl, what do you mean by this?" "I'm just making a hypothesis." "What does your assumption matter to me? I don't care." "You don't care?" I said. "If your wife dies, you can inherit all her property, and besides, you can end your secret affair with Rila and marry her legally." Doulding was dumbfounded. "Didn't think so. I know all about your relationship with Rilla," I said. "She's cute and sexy, isn't she? Mrs. Doulding is so fragile and prim by comparison."

He was silent, stared at me for a while, then suddenly picked up the glass and drank most of the brandy - he wanted to hide his excitement.It looks like I've got his life in my hands, and I'll make good use of it. "You know, a woman of your wife's age, who is infirm and infirm, can die from any number of factors," I said, "such as accidents, heart attacks, or suicide, and so on. There are ways." Hearing what I said, Daulding's breathing became short of breath.He took a breath and asked, "Who the hell are you, Carl? Is your real identity a financial expert? Did you really just bump into me and chat with me that night four weeks ago?"

"You're right." I smiled. "Impossible! Then how do you know so much? Who are you?" He asked. I shrugged and said disapprovingly, "My other identity doesn't matter, but I can help people solve all kinds of troubles." "Are you a killer?" said Daulding. "A professional killer?" There was obvious horror in his tone, but it also contained other meanings, as if he had developed a strong interest in me.I know, he has been led by the nose by me. "That particular word you're talking about is just a label," I said, "but, you're right, that word is a measure of my profession."

"Then why are you here? You can't be a member of the Hot Springs Country Club." I smiled slightly: "Although I am not a member, I have a friend who is a member here. Doulding, don't treat people like us too mysteriously, our lives are just like ordinary people." "So," Doulding hesitated, "are you offering me your professional services?" "yes." We looked at each other for a while, and then Daulding said, "You know what I want to do right now?" "I don't know, what do you want to do?" "Take you to the police station."

"You can't do that kind of thing, can you?" "No." He stared at me. "I don't think so," I said. "Of course, I'm not afraid even if you testify against me in front of the police. I can deny what I just said to you. You have no evidence. The police will be surprised if they investigate me." I found out that I was still a law-abiding and good citizen in my hometown." Now it was Doulding's turn to smile, but his eyes remained icy--it made his expression look weird. "You must have investigated me, Carl," he said. "um, yes."

"Then how did you find out my name?" "As I said just now, I have many friends here." "Your eyeliner?" "Basically, call them whatever you want." He slowly took out a cigar from his pocket, skillfully cut off the end of the cigar with a pair of golden scissors, and then gracefully lit it with a gold-cased lighter.He took a deep breath, exhaled the smoke, and said through the smoke, "How much do you offer?" "That's refreshing!" I said, "10,000 yuan, half of it will be paid first, and the other half will be paid after the work is done."

"Let me think about it," Doulding said.After a short period of excitement, he has now returned to his usual calm, confident, and scheming state. "I don't like to act hastily." "It's not urgent." I said. "Tomorrow night, we will meet again at nine o'clock." "Okay," I said, "if you have made up your mind, bring five thousand yuan in cash tomorrow, and it must be in small denominations. By the way, draw me a floor plan of your house." Doulding nodded, stood up and said, "Okay, see you tomorrow." After speaking, he quickly left the bar.

At exactly nine o'clock the next night, at the same place, Daulding came as promised. "You are very punctual." I said happily. "This is my principle of life." "Good character." "I also believe in one thing," Doulding said, "to solve the problem with courage." After speaking, he fished out a thick brown paper envelope from his pocket and handed it to me. "It's five thousand dollars." "Okay," I took the envelope, stuffed it into my pocket without counting, and asked, "Did you draw a plan?" "Here," he spread out a piece of paper on the table, and after five minutes explaining to me what was on it, he asked, "When are you going to do it?"

"Listen to you." "How about midnight on Thursday?" said Daulding. "I'll leave my wife alone and try to get the servants away." "Where's the dog?" I asked. He raised his eyebrows: "You know all this?" "certainly." "I'll put a chain on them, don't worry, it won't affect your 'doing'." "Okay. By the way, you will close the gate that day, but open the door through which the servants come and go." "Listen to you," Doulding said after thinking for a while, "Carl, what are you going to do?"

"You really want to hear it?" "Well, you just give me an idea," he replied. "Your wife had an accident at home on Thursday night..." I replied, "Did you know that one out of five domestic accidents results in death?" Daulding smiled coldly: "I would like to borrow your good words." "Really?" I raised my glass. "I propose to you, Mr. Doulding, and Rilla." "Rilla?" he said, and his cold eyes seemed to soften. I smiled and drank the wine in my glass. On Thursday night, I drove near the Doulding house and parked in a secluded spot.Then walk to the outside of the high walls of the Doulding house.I walked along the mossy fence, through a laurel undergrowth, until I found an easy place to climb and stopped.I put on a pair of thin gloves, quickly climbed over the fence, and jumped into the yard. The Douldings' yard was large, and I walked cautiously through the bushes.There was silence, and the dog didn't bark—Daulding had put the dog on a leash beforehand. I was soon outside his house, and found the door by which the servants came and went without much trouble.I pushed lightly and the door opened.I hastily slipped in.After closing the door, I stood there and listened, but nothing happened.Then, I took out my pocket flashlight and flipped the switch. I was already familiar with the floor plan that Doulding had drawn for me. With my left hand, I slightly shaded the light of the flashlight, and with the help of the faint light from between my fingers, I walked through the back room and found a corridor with a circular entrance. I stood on the decorative banister and listened for a moment to the heavy snoring of Doulding's wife from the upstairs bedroom, and the pendulum of a grandfather clock. Mrs. Doulding, I thought with pleasure, I wish you a pleasant dream.Then I flashed into Mr. Doulding's study. The study is not big, but it took me a full eleven minutes to find his safe—it was concealed in the wall.It was a square old-fashioned safe with a combination dial.But it didn't bother me, and I fiddled with it without much effort.There were two thousand dollars in cash, a diamond necklace, two sets of earrings, and bonds of no less than fifteen thousand dollars. Three minutes later, the contents of the safe had changed owners.I hurried back the way I came.On the way back, I was still imagining Mr. Doulding's face when he came back from outside the next day to find his wife was still alive, but the safe was empty. Because from the very beginning, I hated this person's indifference and ruthlessness.