On a Saturday morning in November 1969, the 55,000-ton luxury ship "SS Bretagne" was ready to set sail from New York Harbor.At this time, a series of weird and unexpected things happened on board. Claude De Sar is the chief purser of the "Bretagne".He is a careful and capable person.He was, as he himself liked to boast, an "indestructible ship."He had been on the Bretagne for fifteen years.There had never been a situation in these fifteen years that he could not deal with effectively and thoughtfully.Given that the "Bretagne" was a French ship, this was no small contribution from him.However, on this special day, it seems that a thousand devils are conspiring against him.Later, the US-French joint investigation agency of Interpol and the security forces on this route conducted a lot of investigations and studies on this giant ship, and did not make reasonable explanations for the unusual events that happened on this day. For Claude Desa, a sensitive Gaul, it hurt his pride and self-esteem a bit.

Because the people involved in this incident were all famous figures, major newspapers all over the world rushed to report it with headlines, but people have never been able to solve the mystery. As for Claude De Sar, he retired from the transatlantic shipping company and opened a small café in Nice.There he never tires of repeating that strange and haunting incident to his customers. According to Desar's recollection, it started when the President of the United States sent a bouquet of flowers. An hour before sailing, a black official limousine with a special permit issued by the government pulled into Pier 92 on the Lower Hudson River.A man in charcoal gray got out of the car, holding a large bouquet of thirty-six sterling silver roses, and walked towards the gangway of the steamer.After he had a few words with Allen Safford, the duty officer of the "Brittany", he politely handed over the bouquet to the junior deck staff, Jian Ning.Jianning followed his instructions, forwarded the bouquet, and then found Claude Desa.

"I thought, you might want to know," reported Kenning, "that this bouquet of sterling silver roses was given to Mrs. Temple by the President." Jill Temple.Last year Jill Temple's picture appeared on the front pages of newspapers from New York to Bangkok, from Paris to Leningrad, and on the covers of magazines.According to Claude Desar's recollection, he read from the newspaper that in the most recent poll of the most respected woman in the world, she was far ahead in the number of votes.For this reason, many newborn girls are named "Jill."America has always had its heroines; Jill Temple has rightly been an American heroine now.But now, her courage, her victories in great battles, are ironically undone.This incident shocked the hearts of people all over the world.It's a great love story, but it's much more than that, and it has all the elements of ancient Greek drama and tragedy.

Claude De Sar doesn't like Americans, but here he's happy to make an exception.He had great admiration for Mrs. Temple.She was a lady—that was the highest compliment De Sar could have given.He decided to make Mrs. Temple's trip on his ship the trip of a lifetime. The purser no longer thought of Jill Temple.He concentrated on one last look at the registration forms of all the passengers.The registry is actually what Americans call a roster of great people—a kind of list alphabetized by surname.De Sar didn't like the term "big shot."Especially since Americans have an almost brutish notion of what it means to be a "big guy."Now he notices that the wife of a wealthy entrepreneur is traveling alone this time.He smiled knowingly again, because in his passenger list, he found a man named Matt Ellis-a famous football star.He spotted the figures, nodded, and looked contented.In addition, De Sar noticed with great interest that the famous senator and his girlfriend Karina Roca, a South American stripper, lived in the adjacent cockpit.The names of these two men have been frequently featured in recent newspaper "trivia".Then, he looked down the table...

David Kennevan.This person symbolizes great wealth.He had also flown on the Bretagne before.De Sza remembered him as a handsome, tanned man.He was lanky and athletic, yet very quiet.All in all an unforgettable man.De Sar wrote CT after David Kenevenin's name to indicate he would be using the captain's table. Clifton Lawrence - A passenger who boarded the ship in an emergency.The chief purser frowned slightly.Oh, the years of shipping had given him a special sensitivity.What was to be done with this Mr. Lawrence?This issue was not considered at all before.He was a well-known agent in the drama industry back then, and he had acted for many stars in the entertainment industry.Then, of course, he would be invited to sit at the captain's table.He'll also entertain everyone with stories everyone will love to hear.Sadly, Mr Lawrence's better days are over.In the past, the theatrical agent had always insisted on booking luxurious, prince-style suites, but on this trip, he only booked a single room on the lower deck.First class of course.But always... But Claude Desar decided not to be busy making conclusions, and wait until the other people's situation is clarified.

There was also a member of the royal family of a small country on board, a famous opera singer.In addition, there is a novelist from Russia who refused to accept the Nobel Prize for Literature. A knock on the door interrupted Desa's thoughts.The waiter Antona came in. "Well, what's the matter?" Claude Desa asked. Antona looked at him with wet eyes, and then murmured, "Did you order the theater to be locked?" Desa frowned and said, "What are you talking about?" "I guess that must be you. Who else would do that? A few minutes ago, I went to check again just to make sure everything was in order. The door of the theater was locked. But it seems that there are people in it, and a movie is playing .”

"We never show movies in the port," De Sar said firmly, "and the doors to the theater are never locked. I'll check it out later." Usually, Claude De Sar would immediately start looking into the matter.But now, there are more than a dozen urgent matters that need to be dealt with before sailing at twelve o'clock at noon: the wrong amount of dollars was delivered to him; Room—the captain must be furious.Desa stopped in his tracks.He listened to the familiar sound of four huge turbines starting up.He knew that the "Brittany" had started, had slipped out of the port, and was beginning to enter the channel.So De Sza once again turned his attention to the pile of work in front of him.

Half an hour passed, and Leon, the deck corridor service monitor, walked in.Desa raised his head and asked impatiently, "Well, Leon, what's the matter?" "I'm sorry to bother you, but I think you should know..." "Huh?" Desa half-listened, all his mind was on the matter that should be solved immediately.Make a list of who will sit at the captain's table each night of the voyage.Know that the captain is not a social person.Which passengers to invite to have dinner with the captain every night is nothing more than an intellectual test for Desar.Of course, it is also his bounden duty to arrange everyone properly.

"About Mrs. Temple..." Leon began. Desa immediately put down the pencil in his hand and looked up, his small black eyes became alert. "Ok?" "I was passing her cabin just a few minutes ago. I heard loud talking and a scream. It was hard to hear through the door but it sounded like she was saying 'you killed me, you killed me' .I feel that it is inconvenient for me to intervene, so I come to report to you." Desa nodded: "You did the right thing. I'll go over and see what happened to her." Desa watched the deck steward leave.It was inconceivable that anyone should harm a woman like Mrs. Temple.In Desana's Gallic knightly consciousness, this was nothing short of atrocity.He put on his uniform hat, glanced at the wall mirror, and made for the door.The phone rang.The chief purser hesitated for a moment, then picked up the earphones. "I'm Desa."

"Claude—" was the voice of the ship's third mate, "for God's sake, send a man to the theater at once with a mop. There's blood all over here." Desa's heart suddenly sank. "I'll go right away," Desa promised.He put down what he was doing, arranged for an attendant, and then called the doctor on board. "Andre? I'm Desa," he tried to make his words casual. "I don't know if anyone has come to ask for your medical attention... No, no, I don't mean seasickness pills, but, there are No one is bleeding, maybe pretty badly ... got it, thank you."

Desa hung up the phone, feeling more and more uneasy.He left his office and went to Jill Temple's apartment.He was just walking halfway when the second strange thing happened.When Desa stepped onto the deck, he found that the speed of the ship was not right.He looked out to sea and saw that they had reached Ambrus Lighthouse.Here, the leading tugboat has completed its mission, it will return to the port, and the giant ship will ride the wind and waves to sail to the sea.But this time something unusual happened: the giant ship "Brittany" came to a slow stop. Desa hurried to the railing to look out.In the sea below, the pilot tug was leaning against the hatch of the Brittany, and two sailors were loading luggage from the giant ship into the tug.While Desa was watching, a passenger was walking out of the cabin door and boarding the tugboat.Desa could only see the back of this person, but he was sure that he must have identified the wrong person, because it was simply impossible.Besides, it was so rare for passengers to leave the ship in this way that the chief purser trembled with fright.He turned and hurried to Jill Temple's apartment.He knocked on the door, but there was no response.He knocked again.This time it was a little louder. "Mrs. Temple... I am Chief Purser Claude Dessa, and I would like to know, what can I do for you?" No one answered.At this time, Desa really became alert.He knew instinctively that something terrible had happened, and had a presentiment that it seemed to center on the woman.A series of possible savage, cruel atrocities came to his mind at once—she was murdered, kidnapped, or—he tried to turn the doorknob.The door didn't lock.Desa slowly pushed the door open.Jill Temple was standing on the far side of the room, looking out the window, her back to Dessa.Desa was about to speak, but seeing how stiff her body was, he hesitated to speak.He stood there in embarrassment for a moment, considering whether he should be wiser, and backed out quietly.Suddenly the room was filled with a terrible scream, like the maddened wailing of a wounded animal.In the face of such a deep private pain, De Sar was at a loss.He backed out, closing the door carefully. Dessa stood outside the door for a moment, listening to the wordless shouts inside.Impressed, he turned and headed for the theater on the main deck.An attendant wipes the blood with a mop in front of the theater. My God, Desa was thinking, what should I do next?He tried to open the theater door, which was unlocked.De Sar stepped into the huge, modern hall that could seat six hundred passengers.The hall was empty.In a moment of inspiration, he headed for the small screening room.The screening room door is locked.Only two people have the key to the door, he and the projectionist.Desa opened the door with his own key and walked in.Everything seemed to be going well, and he approached the two Century 35mm projectors and put his hands on them. One of the two machines is hot. De Sar found the projectionist in the crew room on D deck.Then the projectionist told DeSar that he knew nothing about anyone using a projector in the theater. On his way back to his office, De Sar took a shortcut and just passed the kitchen.The cook stopped him and said to him very unhappy, "Look at this, which bastard did this? What on earth is he going to do?" On a marble mixing table stood a beautiful six-tiered wedding cake with marshmallows made of two dainty figures—the bride and groom. But I don't know who crushed the whole head of the "bride". "At that moment," De Sar told rapturous customers in his small café, "I had a premonition that something terrible was going to happen."

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