Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Opportunity and Motivation

Patrick cleared his throat more dramatically than usual. "After listening to so many sensational stories, I'm afraid the little problem I'm going to tell will make everyone feel boring." He said apologetically, "There is no blood in my story, but in my opinion, the modus operandi is clever and Interesting. Luckily, I just happen to know the answer to the question." "Isn't it the dull legal questions?" asked Joyce Raymond-Pierre, "I mean the statutes, the Barnaby and Skinner views in 1881, and all that sort of thing." .” Mr. Patrick, beaming all over his face, looked at her admiringly over the frame of his mirror.

"Oh, no, no, my dear lady, you needn't worry, the story I'm about to tell is so succinct and clear that not all of us who work in it can understand it." "It's better not to have the sophistry that lawyers are used to," said Miss Marple, pointing at him with her knitting needle. "Relax." Patrick said, "But I don't know if you're interested, but let's hear the story!" "It concerns a client of mine, whom I will call Claude, Simon Claude. He is a rather rich man, and lives in a large house not far from here. He has Two sons were sacrificed in the war, leaving behind an orphan, a little girl, whose mother died as soon as she was born. After her father died, her grandfather adopted her. The old man liked her very much, took good care of her, and regarded her as the apple of his eye. .Chris Jr. would do anything with Grandpa too.I've never seen anyone so completely addicted to a small child.Unfortunately the child contracted lung disease and died at the age of eleven.I It is impossible to describe the blow it caused him and the despair he felt.

"Poor Simon Claude is beyond grief. Recently, one of his younger brothers died in poverty. Simon Claude provides a home for his brother's children. Two nieces, one named Grace and the other named Marie, and a nephew named Georges. Although generously gave them lodgings, he did not devote all his love to them as he did to his granddaughter. Georges-Claude found a share in a nearby bank work; Grace married a bright young pharmacist named Philip Garrod; quiet and taciturn Mary stayed behind to look after her uncle. She loved her in her reserved way, I think Uncle. Everything seems to be peaceful. After the death of little Chris, Simon Claude came to me and proposed to rewrite his will. According to the new will, the lucky people are his nephews and nieces. Each can get one-third of the property on average.

"Time passed day by day like this. One day I ran into George Claude by chance, and I asked him about his uncle. I haven't seen this old man for a long time. To my surprise, George's face suddenly darkened Dense. 'I wish you could bring Uncle Simon back to his senses.' he said despondently, his honest, pretty face full of confusion and anxiety. 'This psychic trick is getting worse.' "'What spiritualism?' I asked, surprised. "George told me in detail how Monsieur Claude became interested in spiritism, and how this interest culminated in a chance encounter with an American wizard. The witch was called Eurydice." Sprague, George has no hesitation in portraying this woman as a con man through and through. She has total control over Simon Claude. In fact, she is often at his big house, messing with her Spirituality. At this time, Chris will appear in front of her doting grandpa.

"I'm not one of those people who scoffs and despises spiritism, but I only believe in what's proven, as I've said. And when we look at it from the perspective of spiritism itself in an unbiased manner When looking at the possibility of its existence, there are many things that cannot be classified as deceit in general; convinced. "On the other hand, wizards also have fakes. Judging from what Georges Claude told me about this Euridice Sprague situation, I feel that Simon Claude's situation is not good. This Sprague Mrs. G. was probably an impostor. The old gentleman was a sensitive man, and easily gullible in matters concerning his beloved granddaughter.

"The more I think about it, the worse it seems. I like these young Claude, Mary, and George. I realize that Mrs. Sprague and her influence on their uncle are bound to cause them trouble. "As soon as I could find an excuse to call on Simon Claude. I found Mrs. Sprague staying at Mr. Claude's as a respectable guest. At the sight of her a revulsion filled my mind. .She's past middle age, stocky, well dressed. 'Our dead darlings' and all that kind of jargon is on the lips all the time." "Her man, Absolon Sprague, also lived in the house. He was a tall, thin man with a brooding expression and a wicked face. At the first opportunity, I took Claude aside and mentioned spiritualism very gently. question. He immediately showed great enthusiasm—Euredis Sprague was wonderful, she passed the answer to his prayer directly to him; A wretched heart made her happy; she had a motherly feeling for little Chris, she began to think of her as her own daughter, etc. Then he went on to tell me details, such as: How he heard Little Chris’s voice, being with her parents, she felt very happy, etc. He also told me some of Chris’s behavior and performance, etc. In my memory, it doesn’t look like the words and deeds of little Chris .He also mentioned her repeated emphasis, 'Parents love dear Mrs. Sprague.'

"Of course," the old man stopped abruptly, "you'll think me a mocker.' "'No, not really. On the contrary, those who write articles on spiritism, as long as they mean what they say, I will accept it openly. And I will trust and respect the wizards they recommend, but who can vouch for this? Mrs. Prager's motives?" "Simon was infatuated with Mrs. Sprague. She was sent to him by God. He met her at a seaside resort, and for two months of that summer he was Spent there. A chance encounter with such wonderful results. "I left his house with unfulfilled apprehensions, palpable concerns, but powerless to do anything about them. After a period of careful consideration, I decided to write to Philip Garrod, the Philip Garrod Rod, the gentleman I mentioned earlier who married Grace Claude. I put the question before him, of course, with a careful wording. I pointed out in my letter that this woman controlled the old man's life. Thoughts, and the dangers involved. I suggest that, if possible, arrange for old Mr. Claude to come into contact with some reputable necromantic circle, which I do not think would be too difficult for Philip. .

"Garrod threw himself into action immediately. He realized that Simon Claude's health was a concern, which I didn't realize. Being a pragmatic man, he didn't want to let go of the inheritance that had already belonged to his wife and younger sister-in-law and brother-in-law. Taken away by others. A week later, he returned to Claude's big house and brought a guest, in fact, the famous Professor Langman. The professor is a first-class scientist, and his association with wizards has made them popular with the public. respect. Not only was he an outstanding scientist, but he was also a man of great integrity.

"The results of this visit were frustrating. During the visit, he said very little, and performed two spirit spells. I don't know under what conditions. However, he wrote a letter to Philip immediately after his return, in which he said that he could not see any fraud in Sprague, but that the whole atmosphere was not right. He also said that if he added Rhodes can show his letter to his uncle if he thinks there is nothing wrong with it. He suggested that Garold personally arrange for his uncle to contact a real wizard. "Philip forwarded the letter to his uncle, but it turned out quite unexpectedly. The old man was furious. He thought the suspicion of Mrs. Sprague a conspiracy, a slander and a frame-up on a saint; she had spoken to him of the people here. Jealousy for her; the old man points out, and the professor also writes that he sees no fraud, that Eurydice came to him in the darkest hours of his life, to give him help and comfort, and that he was ready to sponsor Her career, despite the quarrels it would cause between him and the rest of the family, was to him more than anyone else in the world about Mrs. Sprague.

"Philip Garrod left the big house with great restraint. As a result of this rage, Claude's physical condition took a sharp turn for the worse. For the last month, he could only linger on his bed and wait for death. Get him out. The day after Philippe left, someone brought a message, and I rushed over. Claude was lying in bed, breathing hard, and, as far as I was concerned, he was terribly ill. "'I'm running out of time,' said he, 'and I think, don't argue with me, Patrick, before I die, it's my duty to do something to the man who cares more about me than anyone else in the world, I want to make a new will.'

"'Of course,' said I, 'if you would tell me what you think now, I would draw up a new will for you.' "'That won't work,' said he. 'I won't survive the night. I've written my thoughts.' He groped under the pillow. 'You see if it's all right.' "He took out a piece of paper and scrawled in pencil a few lines, too simple, but very clear. He left five thousand pounds to each of his nephews and nieces, and the rest of his fortune went to Euler. Dees Sprague, for his thanks and respect. "I don't like the will, but it's done. There's no question of insanity. The old man's mind is as clear as a healthy man's. He rang the bell for two servants. Emma Gaunt, the steward, a senior A tall, middle-aged woman who had been in the house for many years and who had devoted herself to taking care of Claude during his illness. Entered with her was the cook, a vigorous, fat woman of about thirty Simon Claude looked at them both with eyes under his bushy brows. "'I want you to be witnesses to my will. Emma, ​​give me my fountain pen.' "Emma walked obediently to the desk. "'Not the one on the left, miss,' said old Simon impatiently. 'How could you have forgotten it? It's in the one on the right.' "'No, it's in the left-hand drawer, sir,' said Emma, ​​showing him the pen. "'You must have misplaced it last time,' complained the old man. 'I cannot bear the sight of things not being put in their proper places.' "While complaining, I took the pen from her hand and copied the words on another piece of paper. I corrected him and he signed it. Emma Gaunt and cook Lucy David also signed it. I folded the will and put it in a long blue envelope. Everyone knows that a will should be written on the official paper. "Just as the two servants were about to leave the room, Claude fell on the pillow panting, his face twisted. I hurriedly leaned down, and Emma Gunter ran back immediately. Finally, the old man recovered Coming over, a faint smile appeared on his face. "'It's all right, Patrick, take it easy, anyway, I can go now in peace, I've done everything I need to do.' "Emma looked at me inquiringly, as if asking if she could leave the room, and I nodded affirmatively. She started walking outside, stopping first to pick up the blue envelope that I had dropped in my haste, and put it in Handing it to me, I slipped it into my coat pocket before she left the room. "'You are offended, Monsieur Patrick,' said Simon Crowder, 'and you are as prejudiced as anyone else.' "'It's not a matter of prejudice,' said I. 'Mrs. Sprague may be as unselfish as she claims to be. I have nothing against you leaving her some property as a token of gratitude. But with all due respect, Claude, it is imprudent to leave an inheritance to a stranger and not to one's own flesh and blood.' "Having said this, I got up to leave, and I did what I could and raised my objections. "Marie-Claude came out of the drawing room and stopped me in the hall. "'Have tea before you go? This way please.' She led me into the drawing room. "There was a fire burning in the fireplace, and the light of the fire made the room cozy, and she took my coat, when her brother George came up, and he took it from her, and went to the other side of the room, and hung it up there. A chair back, and then to the fire, where we had tea. During the tea we had a question about wills - Simon Claude said he didn't want to be bothered about wills , let George take full control of his estate. George is very nervous, afraid of making mistakes. At my suggestion, after drinking tea, we went to the study together to study relevant documents that may have problems. Marie-Claude has been with us all the time . "After about a quarter of an hour, I was about to go, and remembering that my coat was still in the drawing room, I went back to get it. Mrs. Sprague was alone in the room, and she was kneeling on the edge of the chair where the clothes were kept, and she seemed to be rearranging the chair. It looked a little unnatural. When we went in, she stood up blushing. "'That set was never put on,' she complained. 'I...I put it in order.' "I picked up my clothes and put them on. As I was getting dressed, I found that the envelope containing the will had fallen out of my pocket and was lying on the floor. I put it back in my pocket. After saying goodbye to everyone, I left the place. big house. "I have to give you a detailed description of the series of actions I made. As soon as I got back to the office, I took off my coat, took out the envelope containing the will from my pocket, held it in my hand, and stood on the table. At this moment, my secretary came in and told me that there was a call for me. The extension on my desk was broken, so I had to follow him to the outside office to answer the call. The call lasted about five minutes. "As soon as I got off the phone, the secretary said to me: 'Sprague wants to see you, sir, and I took him into your office.' "I went back to my office and found Mr. Sprague sitting in a chair by the desk. He got up, greeted me in a mannered manner, and then entered into a rambling, idle conversation. To the effect that: It is very difficult for him and his wife to get a fair evaluation under these circumstances, and he is afraid that people will say something; everyone knows that his wife was a pure-hearted and well-behaved child when she was a child... ...I must confess that I was a little rude to him at the time. At last, realizing that his visit was unlikely to lead to anything, he left sadly. Then I remembered the will that lay on the table, and I took it, Seal the flap of the envelope. Mark the contents on the envelope and lock it in the safe. "Well, now comes the crux of the matter. Two months later, Monsieur Simon Claude died. There is no need for a lengthy discussion about the will, I just have to read the words on the paper. Please Please pay attention to what I am going to say next. When the envelope containing the will was opened, there was only a blank sheet of paper inside." He stopped talking, looked around at the interested faces, and smiled contentedly. "Everyone thinks it's funny, right? That letter has been locked in my safe for two months, there's no way anyone has touched it, no, not likely. From the time the will was signed until I locked it up Who has the best chance of switching envelopes with such a short time interval between entering the safe? What is the motivation? "Now let me sum it up in a nutshell. "Claude signed the will, and it was I who put it, intact, in the envelope, which I put in the pocket of my coat. Mary took the coat from me, and put it handed it to George, who hung it on the chair completely under my watch. Mrs. Euridice Sprague had ample time to draw from my coat pocket while I discussed the matter with George and Mary. The fact that the envelope was out of my pocket and dropped on the floor shows that she did. But the problem is that Mrs. Sprague, although she had the opportunity to Blank paper in an envelope, but she has no motive. The will is in her favour. If she had switched the bag, she would have lost her coveted inheritance. Mr. Sprague has a chance too, he's alone in my office There was a delay of at least two or three minutes, and the envelope containing the will was on the table, and it would do him no good to change it, either. Therefore, the problem before us is that the two men who had the opportunity to change it had no motive. , while two motivated people have no chance. Incidentally, I do not rule out the housekeeper—Emma Gaunt—as a suspect. She is loyal to her young master, hates Mrs. Sprague, and she There is also the opportunity to change the package. If she does, although she picks up the envelope from the floor and hands it to me, the possibility of changing the contents of the envelope in such a blink of an eye is extremely small. Retake It is also impossible to replace the envelope containing the will with an envelope, because I took the envelope with me, and there is no possibility that anyone there will have the same envelope." He smiled at everyone. "Well, here's what I'm going to tell you about my little problem. I hope I've made it clear, and I'd love to hear your opinion." Miss Marple burst into giggles all of a sudden, to everyone's surprise, it seemed that something struck her as very funny. "What's the matter, Aunt Jane, what is the funny thing that makes you happy like that, tell us, let us have fun too," Raymond said. "I'm reminded of little Tommy Symonds, a naughty little boy who was very sweet at times. He was one of those little kids with a face full of mischief. He asked the teacher at Sunday School last week :' (yolk of eggs is white or yolk of eggs are white?) Miss Durston explained: 'The yolks of a pile of eggs are white. (yolk of eggs are white.) The verb is plural; the yolks of eggs are white. Yes, (yolk of eggs is white.) Use singular verbs.’ That naughty little Tommy said: “Well, but I must say the yolk of eggs is yellow (I should say yolk of egg is yellow.).” What a rascal! It's an old word game, of course, and I've known it since I was a kid." "It's fun, Auntie dear," said Raymond, "but it has nothing to do with the problem Patrick told us." "Oh, no, there's a connection," said Miss Marple. "There's a trap here, and there's a trap in Mr. Patrick's story. Lawyers love traps, don't they? My dear old friend." She didn't He shook his head in favor of the lawyer. "I doubt you really know the answer." The lawyer's eyes lit up when he said this. Miss Marple wrote a few words on a piece of paper, folded it and turned it to him. Patrick opened the note, glanced at the words written on it, and looked at Miss Marple admiringly. "Dear friends, is there anything unclear to you?" "I've known the game since I was a kid," said Miss Marple, "and played it a lot." "I am puzzled," said Sir Henry. "Mr. Patrick must be playing some legal game." "Absolutely not," said Mr. Patrick. "It's a straight-forward question. Don't focus on the wordplay Miss Marple is talking about. She has her own way of seeing things." "We should have been closer to the truth," said Raymond West, exasperated. "It couldn't have been simpler. Five people touched the envelope. The Spragues may have had something to do with it. But there's no reason for them to. Then there's only three left. Think of the jugglers It’s such a mastery of how to get things out of people’s eyes, I think Georges Claude took the will out of the envelope and replaced it in the process of taking the clothes across the room.” "I think the girl did it," said Joyce. "I suppose the housekeeper went and told her what had happened, and she found a blue envelope and surreptitiously reversed it." Sir Henry shook his head. "I don't agree with either of you," he said slowly. "The method you describe can only be done by a magician, and whether it is on the stage or in a novel, in real life." Not likely to work, especially under the nose of someone like Mr. Patrick. I have an idea, but an idea. We all know that Professor Langman has been to the big house, and said very little. There is reason to speculate , the Spragues were very disturbed by the results of his interview, and if Simon Crowder had not considered them confidantes and had not disclosed the results of the interview to them, it is quite possible that they might have looked at it from another angle To see the arrival of Mr. Patrick. They believe that Clothes has made a will in favor of Eurydice Sprague, and that Professor Longman may expose them before Simon Claude. Therefore, the old man will Make a new will and knock her out. Or there is another possibility, as the lawyer you said, Philip persuaded Claude with family affection. In this case, it means that Sprague has secretly changed the will Motive, she did. But Patrick came in at the wrong time, and she didn't have time to see the will and its contents, so she threw it in the fire. Just in case the lawyers would find it again." Joyce shook his head disapprovingly. "Didn't look at it, she wouldn't burn it." "This statement is indeed a bit far-fetched." Sir Henry also admitted, "I guess...well...Mr. Patrick will not do justice for the sky himself, will he?" It was a joke, but the diminutive lawyer jumped to his feet, defending his dignity. "It's outrageous," he snapped. "Does Dr. Pender have any advice?" asked Sir Henry. "I don't have any particularly good ideas. I think either Mrs. Sprague or her husband was the one who changed the will. Probably based on the kind of motive Sir Henry just said. If she didn't have a chance to see the will before Patrick left As for the will, she was in a dilemma. She wanted to see the will, but she couldn’t let others know that she wanted to peek at it. So she simply pulled the will out of the envelope and stuffed it with a blank piece of paper. After reading After the will, I was convinced that it would be beneficial to me, so I mixed the will with Claude's documents to ensure that someone would find it after Claude's death. But I don't know why I haven't found the will. There is only one possibility, that is Emma Gaunt stumbled across the will, and out of loyalty to her master, she destroyed it." "I think Dr. Pender's theory is the best, don't you, Mr. Patrick?" said Joyce. The lawyer shook his head. "Now that I've come to finish the story, I'm dumbfounded to find a blank sheet of paper inside the envelope. Like you, I'm at a loss. I don't think I'll ever find out the truth. At the same time I have to admit, It was indeed beautifully done. "A month later, I was having dinner with Philip one day, and in our conversation after the meal he mentioned an interesting incident. "'I have something to tell you, Patrick, but keep it a secret.' "'Of course,' I answered. "'A friend of mine, who was able to inherit an inheritance from a relative of his, unfortunately found out that the relative wanted to give the inheritance to a completely unrelated person. My friend, took a Possibly an unethical approach. The friend had a housekeeper who was firmly on the side of what I call 'legal'. My friend gave her simple instructions and then gave her a stick full of If the master calls her to be a witness for the signing of the will and wants her to take the pen, put it Give him this pen, which is identical in form to the master's. That's all she has to do. My friend needs no further explanation, she is a faithful steward. She completes the young order.' "He broke off and said: "'Hope it doesn't bore you, Patrick.' "'Where's that,' said I, 'I think it's very interesting.' "Our eyes met. "'Of course you don't know this friend of mine,' said he. "'Not at all,' I replied. "'That's all right,' said Philip Garrod. "He paused for a moment, then smiled and said: 'Do you understand? That pen is filled with invisible ink, and you add a few drops of iodine to starch, and it forms a dark blue liquid that writes on paper. , and it will disappear in four or five days.'” Miss Marple laughed. "Ink that disappears," she said. "I've seen it. I played with it a lot as a kid." She smiled at the people around her, stopped what she was doing, pointed at Patrick again with a finger and said: "It's a trap after all, Patrick, you're a real lawyer."