Chapter 12 Chapter Twelve

In her spotless bedroom, Kirsty Lindstrom braids her grizzled blonde hair into two mismatched braids for bed. She was worried and scared. The police don't like foreigners.She had been in England so long that she didn't feel like a foreigner herself.But the police couldn't possibly know that. That Dr. Calgary - why did he have to come here and treat her like this? Justice has been served.She thought of Jack—repeating to herself that justice had been done. She thought of him she had known when he was a child. Always, yes, always lying and cheating!But so charming, so cute.Always try to shield him from punishment as much as possible.

He lied so well.This is the terrible truth.He lied so well that people believed him--one couldn't help believing him.Evil, cruel Jack. Dr. Calgary probably thought he knew what he was talking about!But Dr. Calgary was wrong.Time, place, alibi, really!This sort of thing could easily have been arranged by Jack.No one really knew Jack like she did. Would any of them believe her if she told them what Jack really was?And now—tomorrow, what will happen?The police will come.And everyone is so unhappy, so suspicious.Looking at each other...not sure what to believe. And she loved them so much...deeply.She knows them better than anyone else.Much better than Mrs. Argyle.Because Mrs. Argyle was blinded by her intense maternal possessiveness, they were her children—she always saw them as something that belonged to her.But Kirsty saw them as individuals—as themselves—with flaws and strengths.If she had children of her own, she might become possessive of them too, she thought.But she was not a remarkably maternal woman.Her chief love would be for the husband she never had.

She was incomprehensible to a woman like Mrs. Argyle.Crazy about a bunch of kids who weren't her own, and treating her husband like he didn't even exist! And he is a good man, no other man is better than him.Neglected and pushed aside, Mrs. Argyle was too absorbed in her own business to notice what was happening right before her eyes.The secret - a good-looking girl, every inch of her body is feminine.All right.It's not too late for Leo - or is it too late now?Now the murder case buried in the grave has raised its head again? , Do those two people dare to reunite? Kirsty sighed unhappily.What will happen to all of them?

Michael, who harbored a deep, almost pathological grudge against his adoptive mother.Hester, so unsure, so wild, will find safe, serene Hester in the honest young doctor.Leo and Gwenda, they must all understand that they have a motive and an opportunity to kill, and they have to face the reality.Tina, that little girl who is as smart and smooth as a cat.Selfish and cold until she married Mary who never showed affection to anyone. Kirsty thought that she herself had been full of affection and admiration for her employer.She couldn't remember exactly when she started to dislike her, when she started to judge her and found her lacking, so confident, kind, but tyrannical and domineering-everything a mother knows best, a living female tyrant.And it wasn't even the mother!If she had a baby of her own, she might be humbled.

But why do I always think of Rachel Argyle, Rachel?Argyle is dead. She had to think about herself—and other people. Also, what might happen tomorrow. Mary Durant woke up with a start. She had been dreaming—dreaming that she was a child and was back in New York. How strange.She didn't think about that time again for years. It was a surprise to her that she remembered all that clearly.How old was she then, five years old?six years old? She dreamed that she was being taken from the hotel to the cheap rented apartment.The Argyles boarded the ship back to England without her.For a moment she was furious until she realized it was only a dream.

How wonderful.He was taken into the car, walked into the elevator of the hotel and went up to the eighteenth floor.Huge suites, fabulous bathrooms; first time seeing what's out there in the world - if you have the money to live!If she could stay, if she could keep it all - forever... In fact, there is no difficulty at all.It was never easy for her to just show affection, because she was not naturally enthusiastic, but she managed it anyway.And just like that, her life was built!A rich father and mother, clothes, cars.ship, plane.Her servants, expensive dolls and toys.Fairy tales come true...

It's a pity that there are some other children.That's because of the war, of course.Or something that would have happened anyway?Unsatisfied maternal love!Really unnatural, so animalistic. She has always felt contemptuous of her adoptive mother, Weihui.She was foolishly selected, and these selected children were children from families with poor social status and economic conditions! A child with criminal tendencies is like Jack, and he is unbalanced like Hester.Savage as Michael.And Tina, a biracial: no wonder they all turned out to be bad.Though she couldn't really blame them for rebellion.She herself rebelled.She remembered how she had known Philip, a dashing young pilot.Her mother disapproved. "It's not good to rush into marriage. Wait until the war is over." But she didn't want to wait.She is as strong-willed as her mother, and her father supports her.They got married, and the war ended not long after.

She wanted Philip all to herself—out of her mother's shadow. Fate had beaten her, not her mother.First there was the failure of Philip's financial plan, and then that terrible blow - polio.They came to Sunny Point as soon as Philip was discharged from the hospital.It seemed inevitable that they would have to call this home their home. Philip himself seemed to think it inevitable.His money was all gone and she wasn't getting enough stipend from the trust fund.She had asked for too much, but had been told that perhaps it would be wiser to live in Sunny Point for a while.But she wanted Philip to be hers, all to herself, and she didn't want him to be the last "child" of Rachel Argyle.She didn't want a child herself--all she wanted was Philip.

But Philip seemed quite agreeable to come to Sunny Point. "It's easier for you," he said. "And it's less boring when there's always people coming and going. Besides, I've always found your father a good company." Why doesn't he want to be only with her like she only wants to be with him?Why long for others to accompany him--her father, Hester? Mary felt a wave of helpless anger rush over her heart.Her mother, as usual, will have her way. But she didn't succeed...she was dead. And now everything will be provoked again.Why, oh why? And why was Philip so obnoxious about all this?Asking questions, trying to find out, getting involved in trivial matters that have nothing to do with him, setting up traps...

What kind of pie? Leo Argyle watched the dawn gradually fill the room with its dim gray light. He had thought everything out very carefully. It was clear to him—what exactly they were up against, he and Gwenda. He lay in bed and looked at the whole thing with Inspector Hush's eyes.Rachel comes in and tells them about Jack - his roughness and his threats.Gwenda tactfully went to the next room while he tried to reassure Rachel, telling her that she was absolutely right to stand her ground, that it would do no good to help Jack in the past—that for better or worse, he had to deal with it himself. .And she left with peace of mind.

Then Gwenda went back to her room, gathered up the mail for post, and asked if there was anything else she could do, her tone saying more than her words.And he thanked her and said it was all right.And she said good night and walked out the door.Down the aisle and down the stairs, then past the room where Rachel was sitting at her desk, then out the front door no one saw her... And he sat alone in the study, and no one could check whether he had left the study and gone downstairs to Rachel's room. That's it--they both have a chance to kill. And motive, because by then he had fallen in love with Gwenda and she had fallen in love with him. And no one can prove their innocence or guilt. A quarter mile away.Gwenda lay awake with dry eyes. Her hands were clasped, and she was thinking how much she hated Rachel. And in the dark, Rachel Argyle was saying, "You think you'll have my husband once I die, but you won't—you won't. You'll never have my husband." Hester is dreaming.She dreamed that she was with Donald Craig and Candle suddenly left her on the edge of the abyss.She cried out in terror, and then, on the other side of the abyss, she saw Arthur Calgary standing holding out his hands to her. She scolded him loudly. "Why did you treat me like this?" and he replied: "But I'm here to help you..." Lying quietly on the small bed in the guest room, Tina's breathing was normal and gentle, but she couldn't fall asleep. She thought of Mrs. Argyle without gratitude or resentment--only love.It was because of Mrs. Argyle that she had food and drink and warmth and toys and comforts; she loved Mrs. Argyle.she died she was sad... But it's not quite that simple. It didn't matter at all, when the murderer was Jack... But what about today?