Chapter 18 Chapter Seventeen Aladdin's Cellar

That night, the schoolgirl went to bed more quietly than usual.One of the reasons is that the number of female students has decreased significantly.At least thirty of them had gone home, and the rest reacted differently according to their temperaments.Some were excited, some panicked, some giggled purely out of nervousness, while others remained calm and thoughtful. Julia Upjohn came quietly up the stairs with the first crowd. She went back to her room and closed the door.She stood there, listening to the silent whispers, giggles, footsteps, and voices saying goodnight to each other.Then everything was silent—or nearly silent.Only faint sounds echoed in the distance, and footsteps in and out of the bathroom.

There was no lock on the door.Julie Kie pulled the chair against the door, pinning the upper end of the chair back under the doorknob.In this way, if someone pushes the door and comes in, she will be aware of it in time.However, it is unlikely that anyone will come in.The girls were strictly forbidden to enter each other's rooms, and the teacher who pushed into the girls' rooms was Miss Johnson.This is only when someone is sick or unwell. Julia went to her bed, lifted the mattress, groped under it, took out the tennis racket, held it in her hand, and stood for a while.She had decided to check it out now rather than later.A gleam of light peeking out from under the door of her room, when all lights should be extinguished, must have attracted attention.But at this time, the lights are normal, because you can change clothes with the lights on before half past ten, and you can read in bed if you want.

She stood, staring down at the tennis racket.How is it possible to hide something in a tennis racket? "But there must be something hidden," Julia said to herself. "There must be. The burglary at Jennifer's house, the woman who came to school and made up a stupid story about the new racket..." "Only Jennifer would believe that," Julia thought contemptuously. No, it's "new light for old light", as in the Aladdin story, which means there must be something wrong with this tennis racket.Jennifer and Giulini never mentioned to anyone that they had exchanged tennis rackets—or at least, she never did.

So in fact this is the racquet everyone is looking for in the gym. Now it's up to her to discover why.She examined it carefully, and saw nothing unusual about it.This is a good quality racquet with some wear and tear but still perfectly functional after restringing.Jennifer had complained that the beats were off balance. The only place a tennis racket can hide is the handle.She thought that the handle could be hollowed out to make a hiding place.It sounds far-fetched, but it's possible.If the handle has been gouged, it may affect the balance of the racket. There was a ring of leather on the handle, and the letters were printed on it, and the letters were almost polished.The circle of leather is of course glued on.What if the leather is torn apart?Giulini sat at the dresser, picked up a drama pen knife and began to fiddle with it, finally managing to pull the leather away.The inner layer is a circle of thin wood, it looks uneven, and a cork is stuffed inside.Giulini stuck the pencil sharpener in, and it snapped.Nail clippers work better.Finally she finally pried it open.A patch of red and blue mottled was exposed inside.Julie made a dumb move, and suddenly understood in her heart.Make modeling clay!But there is usually no clay in a tennis racket, right?She gripped the nail clippers firmly to dig out the clumps of clay.There is something in the clay.Something that feels like a button or a pebble.

She dug hard into the clay. Something rolled onto the table—and then something rolled out.It ended up being a huge pile. Julia leaned back, out of breath. She stared intently, staring at... Like a flowing fire, red, green, dark blue and dazzling white... At this moment, Julia suddenly grew up.She is no longer a child.She became a woman.A woman contemplating jewels... All kinds of fanciful thoughts flashed through her mind.Aladdin Cellar... (They were taken to Covent Garden last week to see the opera Faust.) . Wearing a dazzling necklace around the neck... She sat there, staring, dreaming sweet dreams.She held the gems on her fingers, and let them fall through them on the table like a stream of fire, like sparkling streams of wonder and joy.

Then, perhaps by hearing some slight sounds, she was awakened from her reverie. She sat in meditation, trying to rely on her common sense to decide what to do.The faint sound alerted her.She pushed the jewels together, took them to the washstand, dropped them into the sponge pocket, and stuffed the sponge and nailbrush on top.Then she turned back and approached the tennis racket, stuffed the oil into the handle, and put the cork back on.Next, she wanted to glue the leather to the handle end.However the leather keeps curling up.Then she managed to use a few strips of glue paper with the wrong side up and press the leather down so that it stuck.

The racket returned to its original shape.It looks and feels the same as before, and its weight has barely changed.She looked at it, then tossed it carelessly on a chair. She looked again at her bed, which was neatly made and seemed waiting for her to go to sleep, but she did not undress.Instead, she sat and listened for footsteps outside. She suddenly became frightened.Two people have been killed.If anyone knew what she had found, she would be killed. There was a heavy oak wardrobe in the room.She managed to drag it to the door, and as she remembered that it was the law of the Meadows to keep the key in the lock, she went to the window and drew the upper casement and barred it.There were no trees near the windows, and no vines climbing the walls.She doubted that someone could climb in through the window, but she wasn't going to risk it.

She looked at her little clock.half past ten.She took a deep breath and turned off the light.Nothing out of the ordinary should be noticed.She opened the curtains a little.There was a full moon in the sky, and she could see the door clearly.Then she sat on the edge of the bed, her largest shoe in her hand. "Anyone trying to come in," said Julie hoarsely to herself, "Mary King's next door, will wake her up. I'll yell at the top of my voice. If there's a lot of people coming, I'll call it a dream." Sleepy. Anyone could have a nightmare after all the things that have happened here."

As she sat there, time passed.Suddenly she heard something - light footsteps along the passage.She heard footsteps stop outside her door, and then she saw the door handle turning slowly. Should she cry out?Not yet. The door was pushed—only a crack, but the wardrobe held against it.This must have confused those outside the door. After a while, there was a knock on the door, a soft knock on the door. Julina held her breath.After a pause, the knocking came again—still a slightly muffled sound. "I'm fast asleep," Julina said to herself, "I haven't heard anything."

Who came knocking at her door in the middle of the night?If it is someone who has the right to knock on the door, they will shout loudly, turn the handle of the door, and make a noise.But this man dared not make a sound... Julie sat there for a while.The knock on the door was no longer heard, and the handle was no longer turned.But Julie still sat there anxiously. For a long time she sat like this.She didn't know how long it was before she was trapped by the Sandman.The school bell finally woke her up, and she found herself curled up uncomfortably on the edge of her bed all night. After breakfast the girls went upstairs to make their beds, then went down to the hall to say their prayers, and finally dispersed to the various classrooms.

Just at this moment, as the girls hurried forward in different directions, Julia entered one classroom, came out another door, joined a group of people hurrying round the teaching building, and then turned sharply again. After reaching behind a bush of rhododendrons, and then making such a clever turn a few times, I finally came to the foot of the schoolyard wall.There was a sorrel tree with branches almost dragging to the ground.Giulini has been climbing trees all her life, and she climbed the tree very lightly.The leafy branches hid her completely.She sat down and looked at her watch from time to time.She was pretty sure her absence would go unnoticed for a while.Order has been disrupted at the school, two teachers have been killed and more than half the girls have gone home.This meant that all the classes had to be redone, and it was impossible for anyone to notice that Julia Upjohn wasn't at school until lunchtime, and by then... Julini looked at her watch again, and she easily climbed from the tree to the top of the wall, rode on the wall, and jumped neatly to the other side of the wall.There was a bus stop a hundred yards away, and a bus should arrive in a few minutes.Soon a car arrived.She greeted her, jumped into the car, then pulled out a felt hat from her cotton jacket, and put it on her slightly disheveled hair.She got off the bus at the station and got on the train for London.On the washstand in her room she left a note addressed to Miss Bulstrode: Dear Miss Bulstrode: I have not been kidnapped, nor have I escaped, please do not worry. I will be back as soon as possible. your very faithful Julienne Upjohn At 28 White House, Hercule Poirot's competent valet, Georges, opened the door and stared with some surprise at a girl with a dirty face. "Excuse me, may I see M. Hercule Poirot?" George took a little longer than usual to answer.He found that the visitor was an unexpected guest. "There is no appointment, and M. Poirot does not see any guests," he said. "I'm afraid I don't have time to wait for the appointment. In fact, I must see him now. It's urgent. It's about several murders and a kidnapping or something." "I'm going to ask Mr. Pourge if he would like to see you," said George. He left her in the hall, and retreated himself to consult with his master. "Sir, there is a young lady who is anxious to see you." "I dare say," said Hercule Poirot, "that things are not so conveniently arranged." "That's what I told her, sir." "What kind of young lady?" "Well, sir, she's more like a little girl." "Little girl? Young lady? What do you mean, George? They are not the same." "I'm afraid, sir, that you miss me at all. I will say that she is a little girl--that is, of school age. Although her blouse is a bit dirty and torn, she is basically a young lady." "A social term. I get it." "She wants to see you about a couple of murders and a kidnapping." Poirot raised his eyebrows. "A couple of murders, a kidnapping. Very original. Let this little girl—young lady—come in." Julina walked into the room, only slightly shy.She spoke politely and very naturally. 'Good day, M. Poirot.I'm Julia Upjohn.I thought you knew my mother's dear friend, Mrs. Summerhays.We lived with her last summer and she talked a lot about you. " "Mrs. Summerhays..." Poirot's thoughts went back to a small village on the hillside and a house on the top of the hill.He recalled a charming face with freckles, a sofa with broken springs, many dogs, and other pleasant and unpleasant things. "Maureen Summerhays," he said, "ah, yes." "I call her Aunt Maureen, but she's not actually my aunt at all. She tells us how amazing you are, that you saved a man who was in jail for murder. When I don't know what to do, I go to When someone is there, I think of you." "I am honored," said Poirot gravely. He pulled out a chair for her. "Tell me now," she said. "My servant George told me that you wish to consult with me about a kidnapping and several murders—that is, more than one murder?" "Yes," said Julia, "Miss Springer and Miss Vansittart. There was kidnapping, of course—but I remembered that it was none of my business." "You puzzle me," said Poirot. "Where do these exciting things take place?" "In our school—the Green Grass." "Meadows!" cried Poirot.He reached out to the place where the neatly folded newspapers were placed, then took out a newspaper, opened it, glanced at the first page, and nodded. "I'm beginning to understand," he said. "Now tell me, Julia, tell me everything from the beginning." Sister Julie told him.It's a long story, and it's exhaustive—but she tells it methodically, interrupting only occasionally when she goes back to add some missing plot. She told the story up to the moment she checked the tennis racquet in the dormitory last night. "Look, I think it's like Aladdin—a new lamp for an old one—there must be something about that tennis racket." "Anything?"' "Yes." Without pretending to be dignified, Julia pulled up her skirt and rolled up her trousers almost to her thighs, revealing what looked like a large plaster stuck to the upper thigh with adhesive plaster. She ripped apart the rubber notes, and with a painful "ouch," she removed what looked like a large patch of plaster, which Poirot now saw clearly was a bird in a plastic sponge bag. packet.Julie opened the bag and dumped the pile of sparkling gems on the table without saying hello. "My God, that's amazing!" Poirot exclaimed in a low voice. He picked up the gems and let them slip through his fingers. "Amazing! But they're real. The real thing." Julie Ji nodded. "I suppose they must be. Otherwise people wouldn't kill for them, would they? But I know people will kill for these gems!" Suddenly, as had been the night before, there was a woman's gaze from the child's eyes. Poirot looked at her eagerly and nodded. "Yes—you know—you feel that twist. They can't be just pretty colorful playthings to you—it's a pity." "They're jewels!" said Julina, in a trance. "You said you found them in a tennis racket?" Sister Julie finished her story. "Have you told me everything now?" "I think so. Maybe, I might be exaggerating in some places. Sometimes I am exaggerating. But my good friend Jennifer is the opposite of me. She can make the most exciting things dull." She Staring at the shiny pile again, "Mr. Bourges, who do they belong to?" "It's very hard to say. But they are neither yours nor mine. We now have to decide what to do next." Julian looked at him expectantly. "You leave everything in my care? All right." Hercule Poirot closed his eyes. He suddenly opened his eyes and became animated. "Different people, with different purposes, represent different interests - all of these converge in Fangcaodi. So I'm going to Fangcaodi too. As for you—~Where is your mother?" "Mom went to Anatoya by bus." "Ah, your mother has gone to Anatolia by bus, that's all I need (Original in French)! I can see why she's a friend of Mrs. Summerhays! Tell me, your summer visit Didn't Mrs. Summerhays have a good time?" "Oh yes, fun. She has some lovely dogs." "The dogs, yes, I remember them well." "The dogs were jumping in and out of the windows like in a fairy tale." "You're right. And the food? How do you like the food?" "Sniff, sometimes it's a little special," Julia admitted. "Extremely. Yes, indeed." "But Aunt Maureen makes an excellent omelet." "She can make a very good omelet," said Poirot cheerfully.Then he sighed. "So Hercule Poirot's work was not in vain," he said. "I taught your Aunt Maureen how to make omelets." He picked up the telephone. "We will tell your good headmaster to rest assured of your safety, and tell her that I will go with you to the Meadows." "She knew I was fine. I left a note saying I wasn't kidnapped." "However, reassure her that she will welcome." A short time later the call was connected, and it was said that Miss Bulstrode was answering. "Hi, is that Miss Bulstrode? My name is Hercule Poirot. I am here with your pupil, Julia Upjohn. I propose to drive to you with her at once. One A package of valuables has been safely deposited in the bank for the information of the police officer in charge of the case." He hung up the phone and looked at Giulini. "A glass of syrup?" he suggested. "Corn syrup?" Julie Niu was a little suspicious. "No, fruit syrup. Rye, wood onions?" Julia ordered jujube juice. "But the jewelry isn't in the bank yet," she pointed out. "It will be in the bank very soon," said Poirot, "but in order to let the people on the telephone, the wiretap, or the people who have heard it mentioned in the Meadow think that the jewels are already in the bank, and are no longer in your hands." Wonderful. It will take time and manpower to get the jewels out of the bank. I would very much like nothing to happen to you, my boy. I will confess that I have high regard for your courage and resourcefulness." Julia was delighted to hear that.But a little embarrassing.

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