Chapter 2 Chapter 2 Astartes Altar

"So, now, Dr. Pender, what can you tell us?" The old priest smiled politely. "My whole life has been spent in small secluded places," he said, "for a man like me who rarely experiences anything extraordinary in his life, but, as a young man, witnessed a strange, tragic sexual incident." "Oh?" said Joyce Raymond-Pierre in an encouraging tone. "I'll never forget it," the pastor went on, "it's etched in my mind, and even today, if I just open the memory floodgate a little bit, I can see the man who was stabbed to death again." Man, God couldn't help him, and that feeling of fear and trembling would hit me immediately."

"You give me the creeps, Pender," grumbled Sir Henry. Others echoed: "Yes, indeed." "Since then, I will never laugh at those who use the word 'atmosphere' every now and then. In this world, there are always places full of magic, good or evil, that people cannot avoid." "That house, the Laches's, is a really bad Feng Shui house," said Miss Marple. "In that house, the old Smiths had all their money gone, and they had to vacate. The Slack family moved in, Johnny Castlek fell down the stairs and broke his leg, and Mrs. Carslak had to go to the South of France for health reasons. Now Mr. Budden was in charge of the house, But I heard he was going to have an operation right after he moved in."

"There's always a superstitious tinge to things like this," Patrick said. "There's a lot of reputational damage and financial loss to homeowners for these unfounded assumptions." "I only know one or two of them, and they're very powerful," said Sir Henry, smiling. "Hey guys, I think we should let Dr. Pender finish his story," Raymond said. Joyce got up and turned out both lights, leaving only the flickering fire in the grate. "Atmosphere," she said, "well, now we can begin." Dr. Pender smiled at her, leaned back in the chair, took off his pince-nez, and recalled in a slow tone:

"I don't know if you guys know about Dartmoor, the story I'm going to tell is right on the edge of Dartmoor, and it's a fascinating property, even though it hasn't sold on the market for a few years. It may be a bit bleak in the winter, but it's surrounded by a fantastic natural landscape, which is still very beautiful. A Sir Richard Hayden bought the property. I knew him when I was in college. Although we hadn't seen each other for many years, our friendship was unbreakable. One day I was delighted to receive an invitation from him to visit his 'Silent Grove', as he named it .

"It was a small family gathering, Sir Hayden himself, his cousin Elliott Hayden; Lady Mannering with a pale and unremarkable daughter named Violet; Rogers The Colonel and Mrs., a very tanned pair of horses and archers, whose whole life was horses and hunting; and a young man, Dr. Symonds, and Miss Diana Ashley. About Miss Diana I have I heard that her picture was published in the social column of the newspaper, and she is a famous beauty in the social season. She is indeed very attractive, tall, black hair, creamy skin, smooth and silky, half-closed Her black eyes slanted into her face, giving her appearance a mysterious and lovely oriental color, and she also had a pleasant voice, with a low tone and melodious like a bell.

"I soon discovered that my friend Richard Hayden was completely attracted to Diana. And, I guess, the party was arranged for her, I don't know how she felt. She let her temper, Capricious. Talking to Richard one day like no one else, tomorrow adoring his cousin Elliot as if Richard didn't exist; Shy Dr Symonds. "The morning after my arrival the owner showed us around his 'grove'. The house itself was nothing special, built of Devon granite which was very strong and had withstood time and wind and rain The test is not romantic at all, but it is very comfortable. Looking out through the window, you can see the Dartmoor Plateau in a panoramic view, with continuous hills and exposed rocks washed by the years.

"On the slope closest to us, there is a piece of broken stone wall in the shape of a ring, which belongs to the remains of the late Stone Age. Recently, an ancient tomb has just been excavated on another small hill, and there are many bronzes in it. Hayden just likes cultural relics , beamed when talking about these. He said, 'This unusual place is particularly rich in ancient ruins. Neolithic inhabitants, Druids, Roman and even early Phoenician ruins can also be found here. ' "'The most interesting thing, however, is the place we now stand upon, which, as you all know, I call 'Silent Grove,' and it is not difficult to see where that name comes from.'

"Pointing, he continued: 'That part over there is all rocky, with a patch of heather and bracken, but a hundred yards from the house there is a thick grove.' "'That's from time immemorial,' said Hayden. 'Those trees were once dead, and now these are replanted, but in general they remain the same, perhaps when the Phoenicians lived here, tending through the woods.' "We all followed him. As soon as we walked into the grove, an inexplicable sense of depression hit me. The grove was deadly silent, and there seemed to be no bird's nest on the trees, full of desolation and terror. I found that Hayden was carrying A mysterious smile looked at me.

"'How do you feel about this place, Pender?' he asked. 'Is it disgust or discomfort?' "'I don't like it very much here,' I said deadpan. "'You should have the most say, this place is a stronghold of the ancient enemies of your religion, grove.' "'Astartes?' "'Astarte, or something else. I like the Phoenician name, Astarte, and I'm sure there are people in this country north of the Wailing Wall who know Astarte I cannot prove it, but I prefer to believe that this is where the real Grove of the Astartes is. It is here, in this dense grove, that the sacred ceremony took place.'

"'Sacred ceremony?' whispered Diana, looking off into the distance with a dreamy look. 'What kind of ceremony? If only I knew.' "'According to various legends, there is nothing particularly sacred, but a gathering of rough men,' said Colonel Rogers, with a meaningless, hollow laugh. "Hayden paid him no heed. "'There should be an altar in the middle of this grove. I can't prove it, but my instinct tells me there is an altar in the middle of the grove.' "At this time, we came to a small clearing in the woods. In the middle of the clearing was a stone building, obviously not a summer house. Diana looked at Hayden curiously.

"'I call it the Shrine!' he said, 'and it is the Astartes Shrine.' He led us up to the ruins, which contained an ebony pillar with an image of a woman holding Sitting on a lion with crescent-shaped hooks. "'Astartes of the Phoenicians,' said Hayden, 'the goddess of the moon.' "'Goddess of the Moon!' cried Diana. 'Ah, let us do a field sacrifice tonight, each of us in disguise, and when the moon rises we all come here for an Astartes ceremony.' "I made a very sudden movement, and Elliott Hayden, Richard Hayden's cousin, turned to me immediately and said: "'You don't like all of this, do you, Reverend?' "'Yes,' I whispered, 'I don't like it.' "He looked at me strangely, and continued: 'This is just some dream talk, how would Dick know that this is where the real altar is? It's all about imagination, he likes to play tricks, and besides, if it's... ...' "'What if it is?' "'Come on,' he smiled awkwardly, 'as a clergyman, you can't believe all his nonsense!' "'But that was a long time ago, and it's all over.' "'That may be,' I said thoughtfully. 'I am not the kind of person who is very sensitive to the surrounding environment and atmosphere, but from the moment I walked into this dense forest, I felt A strange, terrible, sinful atmosphere hangs over.'” "He looked over his own shoulder anxiously. "'Yes,' he said, 'it's kind of queer, I see what you mean. It's all our imaginations that make us feel that way, don't you, Symonds?' "After a minute or two of silence, the doctor replied slowly, 'I don't like it here, I can't tell why, but I just don't like it. "Just then, Violet Mannering came running towards me. "'I hate this place,' she cried, 'I hate this place, let's get out of here!' "We started walking back, and the others followed us, except for Diana who was lingering. I turned my head and saw her standing in front of the altar, staring intently at the image above. "It was an exceptionally hot and beautiful day, and Diana's suggestion to have a masquerade party was readily accepted. So, with laughter and whispers, preparations proceeded quietly. As we all dressed Well, going to dinner, of course, there was a loud applause. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers dressed as Neolithic hunters. No wonder the rug in front of the fireplace suddenly disappeared. Richard Hayden put He called himself a Phoenician voyager, his cousin disguised himself as the chieftain of the Green Forest, Dr Symonds as a cook, Lady Mannering as a hospital nurse, her daughter as a Circassian Slaves. I dressed myself up as a monk. Diana Ashley came down last, to our great disappointment, in a black coat with a mask and a hat, as is common at masquerade balls. "'That unknown person is me,' she said lightly, 'for God's sake, let's eat!' "After supper we all went out, and it was a lovely evening, with a warm breeze and a bright moon in the sky. "We were walking aimlessly, talking, time passed quickly, and it was about an hour before we noticed that Diana wasn't with us. "Surely she's not going to bed!" said Richard Hayden. "Violet Mannering shook her head. 'Oh, no!' she said. 'I saw her go that way a quarter of an hour ago.' She said, pointing in the direction of the dense forest. In the moonlight, The grove was shrouded in darkness, hazy. "I don't get it, what's she doing there?" said Richard Hayden. "One by one, we walked to the place where Miss Ashley had gone, trying to find out. Only I was unwilling to go into the dense forest with hidden evils. It seemed that there was some strange force pulling me, Stop me from going in. I am convinced more than ever that there must be some kind of evil in that clearing in the woods. I think others feel the same way, but they don't want to admit it. The trees in the woods are so thick that the moonlight They couldn't get through, and the sounds around them seemed to be there, like whispers, like sighs, everyone was terrified, and they instinctively leaned closer to each other. "We came to the clearing in the forest in horror. Suddenly, everyone was stunned, their feet seemed to be nailed, and there, on the threshold of the altar, stood a transparent Tightly wrapped in a tulle, two bright crescent moons rose from her black hair. "My God!" exclaimed Richard Hayden, cold sweat breaking out on his brow. "Violet Mannering screamed: 'Isn't that Diana? What's she doing? That's weird.' "The man on the threshold stepped forward with his hands uplifted, and sang a hymn in a sweet high note. "I am the Goddess of the Astartes," she sang in a low voice. "Beware, do not come near me, I hold the sword of death." "'Come on, my dear,' chided Lady Mannering. 'You're making the hairs stand on end of us, really.' "Suddenly Richard walked straight up to her. 'God, Diana!' he exclaimed, 'You're amazing!' Now that my eyes have adjusted to the moonlight, I can see her better Well, Violet is right, she does look very unusual, the oriental mystery on her face is stronger, her narrowed eyes have a fierce light, and there is a strange thing on the corner of her mouth that I have never seen before. Weird smile. "'Beware!' she warned. 'Stay away from the goddess. If anyone lays his hands on me, he will surely die.' "'You're absolutely amazing, Diana,' cried Richard Hayden, 'well, after all I... I don't like it very much.' "He crossed the grass and continued towards her, and she held out a hand, pointed at him and said: 'You stop!' she cried, 'one step closer and I will punish you with the spell of the Astartes you.' "Richard laughed, and quickened his pace. Suddenly something strange happened. He hesitated for a moment, seemed to stumble, and fell on his head. He did not get up again, and just lay on the ground as he fell. There was no movement at all. "Suddenly, Diana let out a shrill hysterical laugh, breaking the silence in the forest. "Elliot swears and runs quickly. 'I can't stand it!' he cried. 'Get up! Dick. Get up! Man.' "However, Richard Hayden lay there. Elliott came up to him, knelt down, and turned him gently. He leaned over and gazed into his face. "He stood up abruptly, shaking a bit. "'Doctor,' he cried, 'doctor, for God's sake, come here, I . . . I think he's dead?' "Symonds ran over and Elliott trudged back to our side. He looked at his hands in a way I don't quite understand. "That's when Diana screamed uncontrollably: 'I killed him! Oh God! I didn't mean to, but I killed him.' "She passed out, twisted into a ball and fell on the grass. "Mrs Rogers started crying, 'Oh, get us out of this place!' She whimpered: 'Anything can happen, it's horrible!' "Elliott grabbed me by the shoulders, 'It's impossible,' he said in a low voice, 'and I said, it's impossible, a person can't be killed like that, it's too bad.' "I tried to comfort him and calm him down as much as possible. "'There must be some explanation,' said I. 'Your cousin must have a heart condition he doesn't even know about, and the shock, the excitement...' "He interrupted me, 'You don't understand,' he said, and held up his hand to show me, and I saw a red smear on his hand. 'Dick didn't die of shock, he was stabbed, stabbed. pierced the heart without any murder weapon." "I stared at him suspiciously. That's when Symonds finished examining the body, stood up and walked towards us, pale and shaking. "'Are we all crazy?' he said. 'What the hell is this place! Could something like this happen?' "'But it happened,' I said. "He nodded. "'The wound appears to have been caused by a long, thin dagger, but there was no dagger in the body.' "We all looked at each other. "'It must be there,' cried Elliott Hayden, 'and the dagger must have fallen off him, somewhere in the grass, let us find it.' "We searched in vain on the ground, when suddenly Violet Mannering said: 'Diana was holding something in her hand that looked to me like a dagger. As she was threatening him, I saw the dagger twinkling.' "Elliott Hayden shook her head. 'He's at least three yards from her,' he retorted. "Lord Mannering bent over Diana as she lay on the ground. "'There's nothing in her hand now,' she announced, 'and there's nothing on the ground. Surely you've seen the dagger, Violet? I haven't found anything.' "Symonds came up to Diana, 'We've got to get her in the house' and he said, 'Rodgers, can you help me?' "We brought back Diana, who was unconscious, and then we moved Richard's body." Dr. Pender stopped suddenly and looked around. "Because of the popularity of detective stories, people today know better than they did before about things like this. Nowadays, even the children in the street know that the dead body should be put where it belongs, but we didn't know that back then, So we moved the body back to his room in the stone house and sent the butler to ride to the police. It's a couple of miles from the stone house to the police station. "That's when Elliott pulled me aside and said, 'I'm going back to the woods and I'm sure I'll find the murder weapon.' "'Unless there was a murder weapon,' I said suspiciously. "He grabbed my hand and shook it violently. 'You're so full of superstition that you think his death was supernatural. Well, I'll go back into the woods and see if that's the case.' "I objected to him doing it, and tried everything I could to persuade him not to go, but to no avail. The thought of that impenetrable wood made me sick. I had a premonition that disaster was about to happen. But Elio Te was a complete brain, I thought, and he was terrified himself, and he wouldn't admit it. Determined to find the answer, he went into the jungle again. "It was a horrible night, none of us could sleep or want to sleep, the police came and it was clear they didn't believe anything we said. Insistence on questioning Miss Ashley was strongly objected by Dr Symonds Miss Ashley has just come out of a coma, the doctor has given her sleeping pills, and no one can disturb her until tomorrow morning. "It wasn't until seven o'clock the next morning that Symonds suddenly asked where Elliott had gone, and people didn't think of him. I told them where Elliott was going. Symonds' gloomy face became even gloomy 'I hope he's not...too...too reckless,' he said. "'You're not implying that something is going to happen to him, are you?' "'Hope not. I think, Pender, you and I had better go and see.' "I knew he was right, but I still mustered up the courage to accept the errand. We set off together, and once again entered the wretched woods. We called twice, but there was no answer. After a minute or two, we Coming to the clearing, it looked even paler and darker in the morning light. Symonds grabbed my arm and I let out a low cry of surprise, we had seen one fall face down last night Now we have the same scene before us, Elliott Hayden lying exactly where his cousin fell the night before. "'My God!' said Symonds, 'you have taken him again!' "We ran over together. Elliott was unconscious, but still breathing weakly. The cause of the injury was clear at a glance. A long, thin bronze murder weapon was left in the wound. "'The dagger pierced him in the shoulder, not in the heart. Luckily,' said the doctor. 'My God! I don't know what to say, God forbid, he's not dead, he can tell us what's going on. ' "However, that's what Elliott failed to do. His description told nothing. He searched around for the dagger, but found nothing. Finally, he gave up and stood for a while near the altar. , at that moment, he felt that someone was staring at him from the edge of the woods, and he tried his best to dispel this idea, but he couldn't get rid of it. A strange cold wind began to blow to him, this wind did not come from the woods, but It was blown from the altar. He turned and peeped in. He saw a small goddess in a trance, and the goddess seemed to grow bigger and bigger, and suddenly he felt a blow to the temple on both sides. punch, knocking him out. As he fell, he felt his left shoulder explode. "It was determined that the dagger was confiscated from the ancient tomb on the hill. Richard Hayden bought it, but where did he keep it? In the stone house, or in the altar? No people know. "The police believe, as they usually do, that it was Miss Ashley who stabbed Richard Hayden to death, but we all proved that Ashley was three yards away from him at the time. So they couldn't charge her, In this way, the matter has been put on hold again, and it has become a mystery." There was a silence. "It seems that there is nothing to say." Joyce Raymond Pierre finally couldn't help asking, "Everything is so terrible and incredible. Do you have anything to add? Dr. Pender." The old man nodded and said, "I want to explain something, which can be regarded as an explanation. It's strange. In my mind, there has always been a speculation, but there is no way to prove it." "I've been in séances," said Joyce, "that are things that are inexplicable, and I think they can be found in hypnosis. The woman who dressed herself as the Astartes, I always felt She stabbed Richard Hayden. Perhaps she threw the dagger. Miss Mannering has seen her indeed have a dagger in her hand." "Maybe a spear," said Raymond West, "after all, the moonlight wasn't too bright, maybe she took a spear in her hand and stabbed him at a distance, and then hypnotism, I mean, You have thought from the beginning that he was struck down by a supernatural force, and therefore you have always attributed his death to this supernatural force." "I've seen a lot of good things done with knives and daggers in plays," said Sir Henry. "I suppose someone's hiding behind a wood, and from there he can throw a knife or dagger very well, of course. He must be a hitman. I admit, it's far-fetched, but not entirely impossible. Remember that other Hayden saying someone was watching him from behind a tree? Miss Mannering said Ashley had a Daggers, and others say no. I don’t find it weird at all, if you’re anything like me, five people have different perspectives on the same thing sometimes.” Patrick coughed dryly. "In all the speculation, we seem to be ignoring the basic fact that the murder weapon was the murder weapon. Ashley was standing in the middle of the clearing, and she couldn't have hidden the spear. If it was a dagger thrown by a hidden murderer, then when When the body was turned over, the dagger should have been in the wound. I think that far-fetched speculation should be discarded and back to the facts." "Then where are the facts?" "One thing is clear, no one was near him when he was struck down. The only person, then, who could have stabbed him was himself, effectively suicide." "Then why on earth did he have to kill himself?" asked Raymond West incredulously. The lawyer coughed dryly again. "Ah! It's a matter of speculation again," he said. "Let's not speculate now why he killed himself. In my opinion, the so-called supernatural powers should be excluded. I never believed in these. It just happened. Everything, there is only one explanation, he killed himself. The moment he fell, he quickly pulled the dagger from the wound and threw it into the woods. Although it is somewhat unreliable, this is the only way it happened .” "I don't think so," said Miss Marple. "It's a bewildering incident, but it happened. Last year, at one of Mrs. Sharpley's parties, the golf scorer stumbled Hit a golfer who didn't wake up for five minutes." "Yes, dear aunt," said Raymond, "but the visitor didn't kill himself, did he?" "Of course not, my dear," said Miss Marple. "That's exactly what I'm going to tell you. There's obviously only one way to stab poor Mr. Richard. If only I knew what he was giving in the first place." Just stumble, maybe a tree root. He walked straight up to Miss Ashley, keeping his eyes on her, and in the moonlight, he would trip over something if he wasn't careful." "You say there's only one way to put Richard to death, is that right, Miss Marple?" the pastor asked with curiosity on his face. "Yes, unfortunately, I don't even want to think about it. The murderer is right-handed, isn't he? I mean, the wound is on the left shoulder, which means he's right-handed. I'm really sorry for Baynes' behavior in the war. You still Remember he shot himself in the foot? Afterwards, I visited him in the hospital and he told me about it and was ashamed of what he did. Hope Elliott Hayden doesn't get it from him He has too much advantage in his crimes. May he have a constant conscience for his crimes." "Elliott Hayden!" cried Raymond. "You think he did it?" "I don't see anyone else," said Miss Marple. "I say, if we all follow Patrick's lead and pay attention to facts, we won't be fooled by appearances. I don't think that's Excellent performance. Elliott was the first one to go to Charlie, he turned him over, he turned his back to everyone, what he did no one could see, he dressed himself as a green forest The chief of the forest must have some kind of weapon around his waist. I still remember dancing with a man dressed as the chief of the green forest when I was young. He had five kinds of knives and daggers. Embarrassing and disturbing." All eyes were on Dr. Pender. "I have an answer," he said, "in the fifth year of that tragedy I received a letter from Elliott Hayden. In it he said he thought I had been doubting him, saying It's all just a momentary thought. He loves Diana Ashley so much, but he's just a struggling junior lawyer, and if Richard dies, he gets his title and legacy, outlook It would have made a great difference. He drew the dagger as he knelt down, and without a second thought, thrust it into his cousin's chest, and hastily put it back in his waist. Later he stabbed himself to eliminate others He wrote me this letter before his Antarctic expedition. Just in case, according to him, he may not come back. I don't think he will come back either, as Miss Marple said In that way, he really got nothing out of his cousin's death. 'For five years,' said he, 'I've been living in hell. I hope, at least, that I can make up for mine with a worthwhile death. Sin.'" Everyone was silent. "He died an honorable death indeed," said Sir Henry. "You have changed your name in your story, Pender, but I think I know the man." "As I said," continued the old minister, "I don't think the explanation of Elliot's motives is convincing. I've always thought there was something sinister about that forest. It was this invisible magic." Driven Elliott to kill. To this day I shudder at the thought of the Astartes shrine."