Chapter 3 Chapter 3 Gold Bars

"I can't guarantee that the story I'm going to tell will meet everyone's requirements," said Raymond West, "because I don't know the ending. However, what happened is so interesting and bizarre, I thought, Put such an unanswered question on everyone's ears, and maybe some of us will find a logical explanation." "It happened two years ago when I was in Cornwall at Whitsun with a guy named John Newman." "Cornwall?" Joyce asked eagerly. "Yes, what's the matter?" "It's nothing, it's just a little strange. The story I'm going to tell also happened in Cornwall, a small fishing village called Latour. Could it be that what you're talking about happened in this place too?"

"No, what I'm about to tell happened in a village called Polperroe, which is a desolate, rocky country in the west of Cornwall. Just a few weeks before my departure, someone took me to Introduced to this man named Newman. I found him to be very interesting, intelligent, and with a great personality, full of romantic ideas. He has recently become obsessed with salvage shipwrecks, for which he rented a wave house. In the Elizabethan era, he He used to be an expert. He told me about the defeat of the Spanish fleet vividly and with such devotion that you thought he had witnessed that scene with his own eyes. I wonder if the souls of those heroic spirits have descended on him Inside, I really doubt it."

"Dear Raymond, you are so romantic," said Miss Marple, looking at him kindly. "Romantic is the thing I lack the most," said Raymond West, somewhat displeased. "But Newman is a fellow full of romance. What interests me about him is that he seems like a survivor from a bygone era. It is said that a ship belonging to the Spanish fleet crashed on the famous Devil's Ledge off the coast of Cornwall. It sank to the bottom of the sea, carrying a lot of gold from the Spanish fleet. Newman told me that for many years, people have been trying to salvage the ship and find the gold. Stories like this have long been told. It's just that this ship is special. Big, big enough to believe it must be a gold ship. Someone started a salvage company for it, but it went bankrupt. Newman bought the thing, call it whatever you want. No proof Shows that there is gold, except for one lyric that mentions it. And yet he pours a lot of enthusiasm into it, as far as he's concerned, it's just a matter of modern technology and new machinery, the gold is still there, he never Doubt what else was fished out."

"Listening to his account, it seemed to me that it was the way it was. Rich men like Newman, it was so easy for them to get something done. Therefore, the discovery of wealth probably meant nothing to them, or meant anything. Very small. I must admit that his enthusiasm infected me. I have seen Spanish galleons approaching the shore, tossed in the storm, smashed to pieces by the black reef. The word Spanish galleon alone reads Romantic as it sounds, 'Spanish Gold,' thrills not only schoolchildren but grown-ups as well. Plus I'm working on a novel in which some of the scenes take place in the sixteenth century, and I hope to draw from Some valuable local customs were collected locally.

"I left Paddington that Friday morning with great enthusiasm and embarked on this long-awaited journey. The carriage was empty except for me and another person, who sat in the corner opposite me. Here, he was tall, like a soldier. I always thought I saw him somewhere before, but I couldn't remember for a while. At last, I remembered that my traveling companion was Badgerworth. Inspector. I met him by chance while I was writing about Everson's disappearance. "I told him who I was, where we had met and so on. Soon we were talking very positively. When I told him I was going to Polperro, he said it was an amazing coincidence. , because he was going there too. I didn't want to come across as inquisitive, so I tried not to ask him why he was going. Instead, I talked about my keen interest in the place, about the shipwreck. It made me feel Surprisingly, he knew a lot about the ship. 'That would be Juan Fernandez,' he said. 'Your friend isn't the first person to throw money into the water to make a fortune out of it, it's just Just a romantic saga.'

"'Maybe it's just a myth,' I said, 'there's no wreck there at all. ' "'No, that ship did go down there,' said the Inspector. 'It's a good thing there are a lot of other ships that went down there, too, and you'd be surprised if you knew how many reefs there are on the bottom of the sea. Fact Why, that's why I went there, where the Otranto was wrecked six months ago.' "'I've seen this reported.' I said, 'Nobody was killed, right?' "'Yes,' said the inspector, 'but there is something else missing, which the general public does not know, that the Otranto contained gold bars.'

"'Really?' I asked curiously. "'Indeed, we have divers working on the salvage, but the bullion is missing, Mr. West.' "'Missing?' I said, staring at him with wide eyes. 'How is that possible?' "'That's the problem,' said the Superintendent. 'The reef knocked a hole in the ship's safe, and the divers could easily get into it, but they found it empty. That's the problem, Were the bars stolen before the ship sank? Or after? Or was there never any gold in the vault.' "'It appears to be a curious case,' said I.

"'When you consider that it was gold bars that were lost, it was indeed a strange case. Even a diamond necklace is not easy to pocket. Let alone those heavy gold bars? Anyhow Well, the whole thing seems so unbelievable that someone must have tampered with the ship before it set sail. If not, it was removed in the six months since the sinking. I'm here to investigate. ' "I found Newman meeting me at the station. He was sorry he hadn't been able to come with his car, which had been sent in for repairs, but he came to pick me up in a farm van. "I climbed into the car and sat next to him. We walked in and out along the narrow streets of this small fishing village, went up a slope, walked along the winding alley for a while, and turned into The gate of his wave house, the gate post is built of granite.

"It's a charming place, it's on a high cliff with the best view of the sea. The main body of the house is three or four hundred years old, and the more modern houses on the side were added later. The back It was a farm, six or seven acres in size, extending into the island. "'Welcome to the Wave House,' said Newman. 'Welcome to the Spanish Treasure Ship,' he said, pointing to the front door, where hung a replica of the Spanish galleon, complete with all the nautical gear. "I had a very good and rewarding first night. My master showed me old manuscripts relating to Juan Fernández, opened the nautical charts for me, indicated the location with dotted lines, and told me he was going to make new The plan to salvage the equipment, so to speak, I was completely smitten with him.

"I told him I'd met Inspector Badgerworth in the car and he was interested. "'There are always all sorts of people here,' he said thoughtfully. 'They're all about shipwrecks and smuggling, and when they hear of shipwrecks in this area, they think they're getting rich. Here's your chance, and see it as a legitimate thing to do. I'd like to introduce you to a man here who is a very interesting survivor.' "At dawn the next day, on a clear day, the owner drove me into town and introduced me to his divers. His name was Higgins, and he was a man of few words, and throughout the conversation, he uttered only monosyllabic words. After they talked about high-tech issues for a while, we went to the Three Anchor Hotel, which is a place where people's tongues can't keep their secrets.

"'The detectives from London are here,' he muttered. 'They say that...the ship that sank here last November...had gold bars in it. I said it wasn't the first ship here. The ship that sinks, and it won't be the last.' "'Heard? Heard?' repeated the hotel keeper monotonously. 'You're right, Bill Higgins.' "'I expected it, Mr. Kelvin,' said Higgins. "I looked at the hotel owner curiously. He looked strange, with oily skin, very broad shoulders, bloodshot eyes, and avoided other people's eyes in a strange sneaky way. I suspected that he was the one Newman mentioned. The funny survivor. "'We don't want to mess with any foreigners here,' he said, in a combative tone. "'You mean the police?' Newman asked, laughing. "'It means the police, and others,' said Kelvin deliberately. 'Can't you forget, sir?' "'You know what, Newman. I hear him threatening you,' I said on the way back. "My friend laughed and said, 'Bullshit! I'm not hurting anyone.' "I shook my head suspiciously, I think Kelvin is a bit brutal, his way of thinking is very strange and confusing. "I think that's when I started to get a little nervous, and the first night I slept well, the second night my sleep was choppy. When dawn came on Sunday, it was overcast and the sky Clouds and thunder. I'm not good at hiding my emotions at all, and Newman saw the change in me. "'What's the matter with you, West? You seem nervous.' "'I don't know why.' I admit, I always felt like something was going to happen.' "'It's the weather.' "'Maybe.' "I won't say anything else. In the afternoon we took Newman's motorboat out to sea, but it was pouring rain, and I was happy to go back to shore and change into dry clothes. "My nervousness continued unabated that night. The wind howled, and by ten o'clock the storm died down. Newman looked out the window. "'Well now, if the weather isn't so bad for the next half hour, I'd like to go for a walk.' "I yawned. 'I'm sleepy,' and I said, 'I got so little sleep last night, I want to go to bed early tonight.' "I went upstairs to bed. I slept very deeply that night because I slept so little the night before, but my mind didn't seem to rest. I was troubled by that foreboding, and I had some very terrible dreams. Dreams Seeing the abyss, the big trap, I just need to take one step forward, and I will definitely die. When I woke up, the pointer on the watch had pointed to eight o'clock. My headache was terrible, and the scenes of the dream were still in front of my eyes shaking. "In a trance, I went to the window, opened the window, and immediately fell into a new fear. The first thing I saw or my first thought was that someone was digging a grave outside. "It took me a while to separate what I saw from what I saw in my dream. Then I recognized that the man who dug the grave was Newman's gardener, and that the so-called 'grave pit' was actually lying in the grass for planting. prepared for the three rose trees. "The gardener looked up and saw me, and saluted me by touching his hat. "'Good morning, sir. What a fine morning.' "'Perhaps,' I said nonchalantly, still not shaking off my pent-up emotions. "Actually, what the gardener said was true. The weather was fine, the sun was shining, the sky was high and the clouds were light. I went downstairs to have breakfast humming a tune. The Newmans had no servants, and his two middle-aged sisters came every day. Taking care of him, they lived on a nearby farm. As soon as I went in, one of them put the coffee pot on the table. "'Good morning, Elizabeth,' said I, 'is Newman down yet?' "'He must have been out early in the morning, sir,' she answered; 'he was not in the house when we came.' "I immediately became nervous again. Newman was late for dinner the other two mornings. I never thought he was a morning person, but driven by that sense of foreboding, I ran upstairs to his bedroom. I ran. After rummaging through the room, I found that if Newman had gone out for a walk, he must be in evening dress. For there was no such suit in the room. "Now I'm sure my foreboding was confirmed. Newman was out, as he said last night, he was going for a walk. For some reason he didn't come back. What was it? Something happened? Or fell off a cliff ? Must go out and find someone right away. "After a few minutes I assembled a large party. We searched in every direction below and among the rocks without success. At last we were disappointed. I called Inspector Badgerworth. He Listen, his face turned ashen. "'It seems to me that there's a lot of bad luck in the neighborhood. Have you seen Kevin? The proprietor of the Three Anchor Inn.' "I told him that I had seen this man. "'Did you know he was in jail four years ago? Fighting.' "'I'm not surprised at all,' I said. "'Here they say your friend is too prying about things that don't concern him, and I hope nothing happens to him.' "The search was redoubled, and it was not until late that afternoon that our labors paid off. We found him in a deep ditch in a corner of his property. His hands and feet were firmly tied with ropes. Tied up, with a towel stuffed in his mouth, unable to scream. "He was exhausted and in pain, and after stretching his arms and legs and taking a swig of whiskey, he recovered and told us what had happened. "After last night's heavy rain subsided, about eleven o'clock, he wanted to go out for a walk. He casually followed the cliff to a place called 'Pirate's Cove', which was full of caves. He saw some people Something was being unloaded ashore from a small boat. He slipped down quietly to see what was going on. Whatever they were carrying was heavy anyway, and it was carried into a cave at the farthest end of the bay. "Although there is nothing wrong with this, Newman still felt a little strange. He crept forward and got closer. Suddenly someone shouted. He was found. Two armed sailors immediately attacked him and beat him to death. Lost consciousness. When he woke up, he found himself in a wagon, bumping and bumping, which he figured was going from the sea to the village. However, to his surprise, the wagon turned into the He passed the gate to his house, and after some muttering, the men pulled him from the wagon and threw him into a deep ditch that seemed to have been discovered only weeks ago. The car drove away, he thought. , the car came out by the other door, which was nearly a quarter of the way to the village. As for his attackers, he knew nothing about them, except that they were sailors and spoke with a Cornish accent. Don't know anymore." "Badgerworth showed great interest. "'There's no question that's where the gold bars are,' he said. The next step is to search further afield. They are obviously transferring the gold bars to a cave that we have already searched and will not search again. However, they will need at least eighteen hours to go Dispose of the heavy gold bars. They found Newman last night, and I think we may find some clues there now."' "The inspector searched at once, and all the signs he found confirmed his suspicions. The gold bars had been hidden there once, but they had been removed again. As to the new hiding place, there was no clue. "The next morning, however, the inspector pointed to me what might be the only lead. "'Very few cars go this way,' said he, 'and in one or two places the wheel marks are quite clear, and one tire has a three-cornered flaky scar on the outside. Therefore, it remains on the ground The traces of the car will not be confused with the traces of other cars. From these traces on the ground, it can be seen that the car entered through the gate and exited through the other door. There is no doubt that this is the car we are looking for. Why do these people want to How about driving the car through the gate closest to the village? Obviously, the truck came out of the village. Not many people in the village now have such trucks, no more than three. Kelvin, the owner of the Three Anchor Hotel There is one.' "'What was Kelvin doing earlier?' Newman asked. "'You should ask such a question, Mr. Newman, who was a professional diver in his youth.' "Newman and I looked at each other. All the doubts seemed to be connected bit by bit. "'Don't you know that Kelvin is something on this island?' asked the inspector. ' Newman shook his head. "'I'm afraid I can't say anything about the man,' said he, regrettably. 'I really haven't had time to know him.' The inspector kindly invited me to go with him to the Three Anchor Hotel. The garage was on the side of the street, and the gate was closed, but we walked up an alley along the street, and we found a small door leading to the garage. in.The wicket was open and the inspector immediately checked the tires and found that it was the car he was looking for, with an indelible mark on the left tire of the car, well, Kelvin, you've never been more cunning this time Can't get away. " Raymond West stopped suddenly. "That's it?" Joyce asked. "I don't see anything unsolved about the case until now, unless they didn't find the gold bars at all." "Of course they didn't find gold bullion," Raymond said, "and they couldn't arrest Kelvin. Kelvin was too cunning for them to catch him. What's inexplicable is how a smart guy like him Will it leave those obvious wheel marks on the ground? Not only that, but there is also a strange thing, just opposite the garage door, there is a small villa rented by a female painter to escape the summer.” "Oh, these women painters!" Joyce said, laughing. "As you say—'Oh! these women painters!'—this very particular painter has been ill for several weeks, and has been attended by two hospital nurses. The nurse on duty that day put a sitting She was pushed to the window in a wheelchair, the curtains were open, and the nurse declared that if the truck on the opposite side left the garage, it could not escape her sight, and she swore that the truck never left the room that night. garage." "I don't think that's a problem," Joyce said. "The nurse may have fallen asleep, as they often do." "That's... um... possible." Patrick said cautiously. "It would be unwise to believe the evidence without careful examination. Before accepting the nurse's testimony, we should examine how credible she is. The alibi testimonial is questionable." "The woman painter also testified," Raymond said. "She said she was in such terrible pain that she didn't sleep all night. That old car was making such a noise that it was impossible for her not to hear it drive away. To the sound. Besides, the night after the storm is extraordinarily quiet." "Well," said the chaplain, "that is indeed a circumstantial evidence. Is there any alibi for Mr. Kelvin?" "He claimed he had been sleeping at home since ten o'clock, but there were no witnesses to confirm this." "The nurse was asleep," said Joyce, "and so was the painter. Patients always think they've been awake all night." Raymond looked at Dr. Pender questioningly. "Do you know? I'm really sorry for Kelvin. It's really a bad reputation that will never be washed away. Kelvin has a criminal record, but in this case, except for the wheel with a particularly obvious mark , there is little evidence against him." "What do you think, Sir Henry?" Sir Henry shook his head. "As it happens," he said, laughing, "I know something about this case, and if I tell it, the answer will come out, so I don't want to tell it now." "So, Aunt Jane, do you have anything to say?" "Wait a minute, dear," said Miss Marple, "I think I counted the stitches wrong, two stitches back, three stitches straight, slipped a stitch, oh yes, what did you say just now, dear? " "What's your opinion?" "You won't like it, my dear. Young people won't like my opinion. I've noticed that it's best not to say anything." "Don't be so secretive. Auntie, tell me quickly." "Well, dear Raymond," said Miss Marple, putting down the fabric in her hands, and staring at her nephew. "I really think you should pick your friends carefully. You're too gullible, too gullible. I think writers are like that, too imaginative. If you're my age, with so much life experience, listen to Stories like these about Spanish galleons put a person who had just met a few weeks ago on the alert." Sir Henry interrupted Miss Marple with a sudden burst of laughter. "Raymond, you're going to be pissed now," he said. "Miss Marple, you're out of the question. Young man, your friend Newman has another name, several aliases actually. At the moment, he's not in Concord." Wallshire and in Devonshire, Dartmoor, or more accurately, in Princeton Gaol. We caught him not only for stealing gold bars from gold ships, but also for robbing a London bank vault. We were in The investigation found that he had buried some of the stolen gold bars in the garden of the Wave House. What a brilliant plan: stories of treasure-hunting shipwrecks can be heard all over the coast of Cornwall. The divers, moving the gold bars, etc. were all pre-planned All right. That's not enough, he needs a scapegoat, and Kelvin is the perfect man. Newman plays his part very well. Our famous writer is directed as a scapegoat. An eyewitness that would not arouse any suspicion." "And what about the marks on the wheels?" Joyce asked. "Oh, I found that out pretty quickly, my dear, though I don't know much about cars," said Miss Marple. Tires, come out of the little door in the garage, go through the alley, put the tires on Newman's car, go out one door, go to the sea, load the gold bars, go up the other door, and then they put the tires back on On Kelvin's car, I guess, the others tied up Newman and threw him in the ditch. Of course it was hard to be tied up, and it didn't occur to him that they pulled him out of the ditch so late. Yes. It seems that the man who claimed to be the gardener must have participated in this business." "Calling yourself a gardener? What does that mean? Aunt Jane." Raymond asked curiously. "You probably never hired a real gardener, did you?" said Miss Marple. "It's well known that gardeners don't work on Whit Monday." Smiling, she picked up her fabric again. "It was really this doubt that put my thinking on the right track." She said.Looking at Raymond on the opposite side, "One day you will be your own home and have your own gardener, and you will know these routines."