Chapter 29 Chapter Twenty Nine

I don't know how long I sat there, I think, but only a few minutes.However, it seems like a long time has passed.At this moment, I heard the door open, and I turned my head to see Melchett enter the room. He stared at Howes, who was sleeping soundly in his chair, and then turned to me. "What's the matter, Claremont? What does it all mean?" I selected one of the two letters in my hand and handed it to him.He read it in a low voice. Dear Claremont: What I'm going to say is a very unpleasant thing.Anyway, I think it's better to write it down.We can discuss this later.The matter is related to the recent embezzlement.I regret to say that I am no doubt very pleased with my conviction as a defendant.While it pains me to accuse an ordained minister of a church, it pains me to know that my own responsibility is also evident.One must be punished as an example, and...

Melchett took a deep breath, then looked at Howes. "So that's the end of it, a man we never expected. Regret drove him to the confession." "He's been very odd lately," I said. Suddenly Melchett let out a scream and strode towards the sleeping man.He grabbed his shoulders and shook him, lightly at first, then harder and harder. "He didn't fall asleep, he took poison, what's going on?" His eyes flicked to the empty cardboard box.He picked up the cardboard box. "Could it be that he..." "I think so," I said, "he showed me these boxes one day.

Told me he was told not to overdose.That's what happened to him, poor fellow.Maybe for the best.It is not up to us to judge him. " But, first and foremost, Melchett is the county's police chief.What appealed to me had no effect on him.He had caught the murderer, and he wanted his murderer hanged. He walked right up to the phone and shook it impatiently up and down until he got an answer.He asked for Haydock's number, and there was another pause.He stood with his ear to the microphone, his eyes fixed on the limp body on the chair. "Hello—hello—hello—is that the Haydocks? Will the doctor come to the High Street at once, Mr. Howes. It's urgent... what... oh, what's your number... oh, sorry. "

He hung up the phone, feeling annoyed. "Wrong number, wrong number, always wrong number! This is related to a person's life. Hey! The number you connected to me is wrong... yes, don't waste your time, please dial 39—it's 9, not 5. " Another impatient wait, but shorter this time. "Hello, Haydock, is that you? I'm Melchett. Come to 19th Street, please, at once, please? Howes has overdosed on something. Come at once, man, life is at stake!" He hung up the phone and paced the room impatiently. "Why on earth you didn't call for the doctor at once, Claremont, I don't know. You must have been absent-minded."

Fortunately, Melchett never thought it possible for anyone to think differently about his consistent behavior.I said nothing, and he went on: "Where did you find this letter?" "On the floor, crumpled—falling out of his hand." "Brilliant, the spinster was right when she thought the note we found wasn't right. Don't know how she figured it out all of a sudden. But what an ass the guy didn't destroy it! Didn't expect to keep it Come down, it's the strongest proof you can think of!" "Human nature is always full of contradictions."

"If it weren't for this, I doubt if we would have caught the murderer. Sooner or later they will do something stupid. You look very uncomfortable, Claremont, and I think this is the most terrible and surprising thing for you? " "That's right. Like I said, Howes has been acting erratically for a while, but it never occurred to me that . . . " "Who would have thought? Hey, it sounds like there's a car coming," he said, walking up to Zuo, pushing up the window frame, and leaning out. "Yes, it is Haydock." After a while, the doctor entered the room.

Melchett briefly introduced the situation. Haydock is a man who does not show his emotions.He just raised his eyebrows, nodded, and walked up to the patient.He felt his pulse, opened his eyelids, and examined his eyes carefully. Then he turned to Melchett. "Would you like to bring him back to hang?" he asked. "He's gone too far, you know. He's close to death, anyway. I doubt if I'll be able to bring him back." "Do whatever it takes." "OK." He was busy looking for something in the medicine box he brought with him.The injection was prepared and injected subcutaneously in Howes' arm.Then, stand up.

"It would be best to send him to Much Burnham—to the hospital there. Help me get him into the car below. " We both leaned over to help him.Before Haydock sat in the driver's seat and drove, he turned his head and said something. "You know, Melchett, you can't hang him." "You mean, he won't survive?" "Maybe, maybe not. That's not what I mean. I mean, even if he comes back to life, oh, the poor devil won't be responsible for what he did. I'll give evidence and promise that." "What did he mean by that?" Melchett asked as we went upstairs again.

Howes, I explained, was a victim of sleeping sickness. "Sleeping sickness? Now, there's always some good reason for doing something dirty. Don't you agree?" "Science teaches us many things." "Damn science, I'm sorry, Claremont, but all this sentimentality bothers me. I'm a logical person. Oh, I think we'd better look into this." However, someone interrupted at this time, which was really sudden.The door opened and Miss Marple entered the room. She was flushed and a little agitated, as if she was aware of our confusion. "I'm very sorry, very sorry, to disturb your wonderful evening, Colonel Melchett. As I said, I'm very sorry, but hearing Mr. Howes was ill, I felt, I must come and see can do something."

She stopped talking.Melcher's attitude towards her seemed a little disgusted. "It's very kind of you, Miss Marple," he said dryly, "but don't bother. By the way, how did you know?" Here's the question I'm dying to get an answer to: "Telephone," explained Miss Marple, "they're being careless, aren't they? You talk to me first and think I'm Dr. Haydock. My number is thirty-five." "That's right!" I yelled. Miss Marple knew it all, and there was always a coherent, plausible explanation for it. "So," she went on, "I came over to see if I could be of any help."

"It's very kind of you," Melchett said again, more coolly this time. "But there's nothing more to do. Haydock has taken him to the hospital." "Really in the hospital? Oh, that's very reassuring, I'm so glad to hear that. He'll be safe there. You said, 'There's nothing more to do', didn't you mean Will he wake up?" "It's hard to say," I said. Miss Marple's eyes turned to the cardboard box. "I think he's overdosing, isn't he?" she said. I think Melchett is in favor of silence.In other cases, I would also agree to do so.However, I have just discussed the case with Miss Marple, and I can still vividly recall the scene, so I beg to differ.I must admit, however, that I was a little put off by her promptness and eager curiosity. "You'd better read this," I said, handing her Protheroe's unfinished letter. She took it and read it calmly. "You deduce something of the same consequence, don't you?" I asked. "Yes—yes, indeed. May I ask, Mr. Claremont, what brought you here tonight? It confuses me. It's so out of my league that you're with Colonel Melchett." Unexpected." I explained about the phone call and said I believed I could hear Howes' voice.Miss Marple nodded thoughtfully. "Interesting. Coincidental even. Yes, that brings you here just in time." "Just what are you here for?" I asked sharply. Miss Marple looked alarmed. "To save Howes' life, of course." "Don't you think," I said, "that it would be better if Howes didn't wake up? Better for him, and better for everybody. We know the truth, and—" I stopped because Miss Marple was nodding her head so strangely that it made me forget what I was saying. "Of course," she said, "of course he wants you to think that, that you know the truth, that it's best for everybody. Oh yes, it all fits, letter, overdose, poor Howie Mr. Stein's state of mind, and his confession. It all fits together, but it's not right..." I stare at her. "That's why I'm happy that Howes is safe. He's in the hospital now and no one can plot against him. If he wakes up, he'll tell you the truth." "the truth?" "Yes. The truth is, he never touched a hair of Colonel Protheroe." "But what about the phone?" I asked, "And the letter, the overdose. It's all very clear. " "That's what he wants you to think. Oh, he's very clever! Keeping the letter, and using it like that is very clever indeed." "Who do you mean by 'he'?" I asked. "I mean the murderer," said Miss Marple. She said again very calmly: "I mean Mr. Laurence Redding..."