Chapter 6 Chapter 6 St. Peter's Thumbprint

"Now, Aunt Jane, it's your turn," said Raymond West. "Yes, Aunt Jane, we are all waiting for you to tell us something really interesting," echoed Joyce Raymond-Pierre. "Dear friends, you are laughing at me. The reason why you think so must be that I have been living in a remote town and I won't have any interesting experiences." Miss Marple said calmly. "If I thought country life was peaceful, God would not grant it. And you have deduced the answers to so many mysteries from your experience. Compared with St. Mary Mead, all places in the world seem peaceful. , the place of peace."

"Indeed, my dear," said Miss Marple, "human nature is the same everywhere. Of course, living in the country gives you a better view of human nature." "You are very different, Aunt Jane," said Joyce. "I hope you don't mind if I call you Aunt Jane?" She added, "I don't know why I should want to call you that." "Really? My dear," said Miss Marple. She looked up at Joyce with a questioning look in her eyes, and in just a moment a blush rose across the girl's cheeks.Raymond West couldn't sit still, and cleared his throat unnaturally.

Miss Marple watched them both, smiling again, before returning to her knitting. "I've been living an ordinary life, it's true, but I have experience solving some small problems, and some problems are indeed very brain-intensive, but there is no need to tell you, because it is just a trivial matter, you will not have Interesting. Like who cut Mrs. Jones' net bag, why Mrs. Simmons's new fur coat has only been worn once, etc. It may be interesting for students who are just beginning to study human nature, and for you It doesn't mean much. There is one incident in my life which I still remember well, which may interest you a little, concerning the husband of my poor niece Mabel."

"About ten or fifteen years ago. Thankfully, it was over and over with a happy ending. Everyone forgot about it. Human memory is so short sometimes, I thought that might be a good thing." Miss Marple stopped and said to herself: "I have to count this row, and the subtraction stitches in this row are a bit troublesome. One stitch, two stitches, three stitches, four stitches, five stitches, and then three stitches back, and that's it. Where did I go?" Huh? Oh, about poor Mabel. "Mabel was my niece, a very nice girl, a really nice girl, but a little silly, and she would exaggerate whenever she got upset. At twenty-two she married a Mr. Denman. It is hardly a happy marriage, and I had hoped that it would not be complicated. For Mr. Denman is a very violent man, and he will not have the patience to put up with Mabel's little Small eccentricity. I also learned that the Denman family had a history of mental illness. However, the girls were just as stubborn then as they are now, and girls to come will be no less. Mabel married Denman anyway. Mr. Mann.

"After we got married, I rarely saw her. She probably lived here once or twice. They invited me to live with them several times, but in fact, I didn't like living in a stranger's house, so I made some excuses to decline. Yes. They had been married for ten years when Mr. Denman died suddenly. They had no children and he left all his money to Mabel. I wrote Mabel. Tell her if she needs me , I can go over any time. She sent me a very sensible letter back, to the effect that she was not overwhelmed by grief. I think this is normal, because I know it has been a while since they didn't get along, but three months Then Mabel sent me a very neurotic letter begging me to come to her and saying things were getting worse. She couldn't take it anymore."

"So," Miss Marple continued, "I paid Clara, sent her aboard, and sent the family's plates, Prince Charles' wine glass and other valuables to the bank for safekeeping. After that, I set off immediately. Arrived After there, I found Mabel very nervous. The house was called Vine Valley and it was a large house, comfortably furnished. There was a cook, a parlor maid, and a nurse who took care of Mabel's husband's father. Old Mr. Denman. The old man was quiet and well-mannered, but obviously eccentric, of the type people call 'out of the head.' As I said, there was a history of mental illness in their family.

"I was really surprised to see the change in Mabel. She was extremely nervous and shaking. I couldn't get her to tell me what happened after all my efforts, so I had to take a detour All right. That's what most people do in situations like this. I mentioned to her some of her friends whom she used to name in her letters to me, such as the Gallaghers. Let me not The solution was, she said she hadn't seen them at all lately. I mentioned a few others by name, same result, and I told her how silly it was to shut myself off from her friends... and then she finally said got the truth.

"It wasn't me who did it, it was they who shut me off from the outside world. No one talks to me in this place now, and when I'm walking on Henkel Street, they all walk around and avoid me, so as not to talk to me." Say hello as if I were a leper. It's too bad, I can't take it anymore. I'm going to sell the house and go away. Why am I being kicked out like this? I didn't do anything! ' "I felt as if I had knocked over a five-flavored bottle. At that time, I was knitting a scarf for Mrs. Hay, and I was so disturbed that I didn't realize that I missed two stitches. I didn't realize the two missing stitches until a long time later.

"'Dear Mabel,' said I, 'you astonish me, how did it all happen?' "'As a child, Mabel had difficulty with words. I had a hard time getting her to answer my questions directly. The slander from villains, and those who impose their views on others. "'To be clear,' I said, 'there are stories about you. Do you know what people gossip about? You have to tell me.' "'That's vicious,' moaned Mabel. "'Malicious, of course,' I echoed tartly, 'whatever you tell me about what these people do doesn't surprise me. Well, now you can simply tell me that these people say did something happen?'

"Finally, everything was poured out. "Jeffrey Denman's death seemed sudden and unexpected, and rumors arose. Simply put, she was said to have poisoned her husband. "You all know that there is nothing scarier than rumors, and you can't fight back at all. People accuse you behind your back, and you can't refute, let alone deny. In this way, rumors continue to spread and grow bigger, and no one can stop them. There is one thing I Surely Mabel is incapable of poisoning anyone. Is life throwing her out just because she does some little foolish thing? "'There is no such thing as a storm,' said I. 'Now tell me, Mabel, what makes people gossip. There must be some reason for them to gossip.'

"Mabel spoke incoherently, and kept stating that nothing was wrong, nothing at all, except of course the sudden death of Geoffrey Denman. He was all well at dinner that night, and suddenly became very ill during the night. Dr. He was invited, but he died within a few minutes after the doctor came. The cause of death was eating poisonous mushrooms by mistake. "'Yes,' said I, 'of course sudden deaths are subject to criticism, and gossip isn't entirely fabricated, and there is no smokeless fire. Have you ever had a fight with Geoffrey or anything like that? ?' "She admitted that she had had a row with Geoffrey at breakfast the previous morning. "'The servants heard that, I suppose, didn't they?' I asked. "None of them were in the dining room at the time. "'Oh, dear,' said I, 'they must be listening right outside the door.' "I know Mabel's exaggerated pitch intensity all too well, and Geoffrey Denman, who is also incredibly loud when he gets angry. "'What are you arguing about?' I asked. "'Well, it's the little things, it's like that every time, a little bit of a fight. Then Geoffrey gets out of hand. Says things that make people angry. And then I tell him I'm What do you think of him.' "'Do you guys always fight like this?' I asked her. "'It was my fault……' "'My child,' said I, 'whose fault is irrelevant; I had a big fight with my husband, and he died suddenly that night, and the death was a bit ambiguous. Is that all? Or is there something else?' "'What do you mean?' said Mabel sullenly. "'My dear, if you've done anything stupid, for God's sake don't keep it from me, I'm just trying to help you as much as I can.' "'No one can help me,' said Mabel angrily, 'except death.' "'Trust God, He can help you, dear.' I said, 'Tell me, I know you still have something to say.' "Ever since I was a kid, I knew when she wasn't saying all she had to say. It used to take me a long time to get her to tell the truth. She went to the pharmacy that morning and bought some arsenic trioxide , commonly known as arsenic. Naturally, her signature was on the prescription. There is no doubt that the owner of the pharmacy told the story. "'Who is your doctor?' I asked. "'Big Rawlinson.' "I've seen this man, Mabel pointed it out to me once in the distance, an old man who staggered a bit. In my life, countless times in my life, I have told me that I can't trust these doctors. Some of them are wise. , and some not so much. Half the time even those smart doctors don't know what's wrong with you. I don't have much experience with them and their medicines myself. "I think that's what happened. I put on my hat, and went at once to see Dr. Rawlinson. He was just what I imagined him to be, a good old man, kind, dead-faced, and sympathetically short-sighted, Deaf, but very sensitive. When I mentioned Jeffrey Denman's death, he looked very complacent. We talked for a while about various mushrooms and other questions. He asked the cook , she also felt that there were two fungi that were not quite right, but she thought that since the store sold these fungi, it should be fine. Later, the more she thought about it, the more she felt that the two fungi were not right. "Of course she feels that way. At first the fungi look the same, but after cooking, they turn orange-yellow with some purple spots. With a little effort, people like them I can't remember anything. "I also learned that Denman left no words and that when the doctors arrived he could not swallow and died a few minutes later. Dr. Rawlinson appreciated his conclusions, but I dare not say that in his conclusions How much is stubborn and how much is true. "I went back to Mabel and asked her straight up why she bought the arsenic. "'You must have some idea.' "Mabel burst into tears, 'I want to kill myself,' she cried, 'I'm so unlucky, I want to get rid of everything.' "'Is the arsenic still there?' I asked. "'It's gone. I threw it away.' "I sat there thinking about it. "'What did he do when he got sick? Did he call you?' "'No,' she shook her head; Seeing Denman's appearance, Dorothy was shocked immediately. He was unconscious and spoke intermittently. She left the cook and ran to my room to wake me up. I got out of bed and ran over with her. He was very ill, and unfortunately, Brewster, the nurse who took care of old Denman was away that night, so no one knew what to do, and I sent Dorothy to fetch the doctor, and I stayed with the cook He. But after a few minutes, I couldn't bear the miserable scene and ran back to my room and locked the door.' "'You're so selfish and heartless,' said I, 'you ought to know how you reap what you sow. The cook will tell it all over and over again. Well, look what you've done !' "Next, I found the two servants. The cook wanted to talk to me about the fungus, but I stopped her. I didn't want to talk about the fungus at all. I just asked about their master's situation that night in detail. They both said that that night Mr. Denman was in such agony that he could hardly swallow, and could only speak in a voice that seemed to be choked up, and uttered only broken words without complete meaning. "'And what was he talking about incoherently?' I asked curiously. "'It seems to be about some fish, isn't it?' asked the cook, turning to Dorothy. "Dorothy agreed, and added: "'A lot of fish, and some nonsense like that. As soon as I saw him, I realized he was out of his wits, poor master.' "None of this matters, and as a last hope, I went up to Brewster, a woman in her fifties with a haggard face. "'Unfortunately, I wasn't there that night,' she said. 'There was nothing anyone could do until the doctor came.' "'I think he was in a coma,' I said skeptically, 'but it's not a sign of cadaverine poisoning (food poisoning), is it?' "'It depends,' said Brewster. "I asked about Denman Sr.'s condition. "She shook her head and said: 'Not very good.' "'weak?' "'Oh, no, he's in good health, but his eyesight is terribly impaired, and he'll outlive us all physically, but his brain's aging fast. I've spoken to the young Denmans about the severity of the problem. sex, suggested sending him to the hospital for treatment, but they just wouldn't listen.' "'I never doubted that Mabel was a good-natured man.' "The matter has come to this point. I have considered all aspects of the problem. There is only one thing to do. Faced with the rumors, I had to open the coffin for an autopsy. Only the autopsy report can stop these people. At first, Mabel didn't Agreed to do it, a little sentimental, she thought it would disturb the peace of the dead in the grave, etc., but I was firm. "I will not go into details. After obtaining permission, the coffin was opened for an autopsy, but the results were not satisfactory. There was no trace of arsenic, which is of course the strongest proof, but the autopsy report said: 'There was no sign Show what his cause of death was.' "Well, now you see, we're not out of trouble at all, people are still talking about it, saying that small amounts of poison can't be detected and all that nonsense. I went to the pathologist who did the post-mortem report and asked some advice. question, he did his best to answer it. I learned from his answer that he thought germs were not the likely cause of Mr. Denman's death. An idea slowly formed in my mind. I asked him if He gave me a long list of explanations as to what kind of poison would have caused Mr Denman's symptoms before he died. , the cause of death may be caused by a strong vegetable alkaloid. "My thought was, if Jeffrey Denman was poisoned, why didn't he clean it up himself? He had studied medicine for a while, and he should have a wealth of knowledge about poisons and the reactions to poisoning. "I know it's far-fetched, but that's all I can think of. Speaking of which, you modern young people will laugh at me, but when I'm in big trouble, I say my prayers, whether it's walking down the street I still buy things in the supermarket, and I always get an answer. There are some trivial details that seem to have nothing to do with the incident, but they are not. When I was a little girl, I would put such a sentence Nailed on the wall above the bed - 'Pray, you will get an answer.' That morning, I walked on Henkel Street, closed my eyes, and prayed over and over again. When I opened my eyes, guess what Guess what I saw first?" Five faces turned to Miss Marple with varying degrees of interest. It was an easy question, and none got it right. "I saw..." said Miss Marple excitedly, "the window of the fish shop. There's only one thing in it—a live haddock." She looked around triumphantly. "Oh, God!" said Raymond West, "the answer to prayer—a haddock, eh?" "Yes, Raymond," said Miss Marple solemnly, "there is no reason to desecrate it, the hand of God's mercy is everywhere. The first thing I saw was the black spot on the fish - they called it a holy Peter's thumbprint, of course, that's just legend, but that's what made it clear to me. I needed faith, especially faith in St. Peter. I linked two things, faith—the fish." Sir Henry rubbed his nose hastily, while Joyce bit his lips tightly. "Well, what does this remind me of? Mr. Denman's dying words, of course. The cook and the parlormaid both say that Mr. Denman said fish off and on. I believe, fully believe, that in these Mysteries are found in broken words. I went back to the Denmans determined to find out." She paused, then continued. "Have you ever wondered to what extent we need context to make sense of a word? There's a place on Dartmoor called Gray Weller... Likewise, if you're talking about that little stone town, an outsider If he hears your conversation halfway, he will think you are talking about the weather. So whenever someone wants to repeat Gray Weller, it has become an unwritten rule not to repeat verbatim These words are replaced by another word with the same meaning. "I spoke to the cook and to Dorothy separately. I asked her if she was sure her master had indeed mentioned something like 'a pile of fish' and she said she was sure. "'Is that all he said?' I asked her. 'Did he name any other fish?' "'Yes,' said the cook, 'some kind of fish, but I can't remember what it is now. A bunch of . . . what kind of fish? Not the usual table fish. Perch or pike (pike) No, it doesn’t seem to start with P.” "Dorothy also recalled that his master had mentioned some kind of fish 'a strange fish,' she said, 'a pile of... what?'" "'Did he say heap or pile?' I asked. "'I think he meant something, but I'm not entirely sure, it's not that simple to recall what he said verbatim, are you right, Miss Marple? Especially when the words don't express any coherence. Ah! I finally remembered, and I'm 100% sure he was talking about heaps, and the fish starts with a c, but not code or crayfish.' "The following story is the part I am most proud of. Although I don't know much about those medicinal materials that I think are dangerous and smelly, I know an old recipe, left by my grandmother, about the preparation of chrysanthemum tea. The medicinal material 'chrysanthemum' referred to here is unlimited, and it doesn't matter if there is more or less. I have several medical books at home, one of which is about the purpose of medicine. My guess is that Jeffrey has some kind of Poison, he wanted to say the name. "So, I searched for words starting with H, but I couldn't find words with similar pronunciation. Then I searched for words starting with P. I found it quickly. Guess what it is?" She stopped talking triumphantly and looked around. "Now it's not difficult for everyone to understand how difficult it is for a person who can barely speak. Of course, the cook has never heard this word, so it seems to be 'a pile of carp' carp) impression." "Ah!" Sir Henry agreed. "I would never have thought about that," Pender said. "It's very interesting," said Mr. Patrick. "It's very interesting." "I immediately looked at the explanation of this entry. It introduced the effect of pilocarpine on the eyes and other things that seemed to be irrelevant to this case. Finally, I finally found a sentence that made my heart beat: 'This drug is clinically Validated to be successful as an antidote for atropine poisoning.' "I can't describe the sense of enlightenment I felt at the time. I never believed that Jeffrey Denman committed suicide. This new discovery, I believe, is the only correct explanation for the whole thing. Because all the clues are strung together. So logical." "I don't want to guess," said Raymond. "Go on, Aunt Jane, and tell us, what did you suddenly understand?" "It's true that I don't know medicine," said Miss Marple, "but I happen to know this medicine. I was once blinded and the doctor gave me a few drops of atropine with sulphates in it. I went upstairs straight to old Denman Walking to his room, I didn't follow him around and got straight to the point. "'Mr. Denman,' said I, 'I know all about it. Why did you poison your own son?' "He stared at me for a minute or two, handsome for his age, and then he burst out laughing. It was the most wicked laugh I've ever heard and it gave me the chills. I've heard it before Had a similar laugh when Mrs. Jones was insane. "'Yes,' said he, 'I'm trying to settle with Geoffrey. I'm a lot smarter than Geoffrey. Want to get rid of me, huh? Want to put me in a madhouse, huh? I've heard them talk about it One thing. Mabel was a good boy, she defended me, but what's the use? She couldn't beat Geoffrey, in the end, he had the final say, always. But I got rid of him, got rid of my Kind and lovely son! Haha! At night, I quietly went downstairs, which is not difficult at all, Brewster is not there. My lovely son is sleeping soundly, and there is a glass of water next to his bed, and he wakes up in the middle of the night to drink a glass of water I poured some water out, ha, ha! Poured a bottle of eye drops in. When he woke up, he drank it without thinking. The eye drops were only a tablespoon, but More than enough. They came to my room in the morning and told me the news of his death very gently, so as not to hurt me, ha! ha! ha! . . . '" "Well, that's the end of the story," said Miss Marple. "Of course, the poor old man was sent to a madhouse, and he really couldn't take responsibility for his actions. The truth came out. Everyone apologized to Mabel and did their best." May make up for the injustice they have done to her. But if Jeffrey hadn't found out he was poisoned and wanted someone to find an antidote as soon as possible, the case would always be a mystery. Atropine, a drug that dilates the pupils It must be obvious, but as I said before, Dr. Rawlinson's eyesight was too poor, poor old man, so he never found out the real cause of death. What's more interesting is that the medicine books also say that the symptoms of food poisoning are the same as the symptoms of atropine poisoning. The symptoms are completely different. But I assure you that every time I see haddock, I can't help but think of St Peter's thumbprint." There was a long silence. "Dear friends," said Mr. Patrick, "my dearest friends, you are indeed struck by this story." "Miss Marple, I shall recommend you as a consultant to the Metropolitan Police," said Sir Henry. "However, Aunt Jane, there is one thing you don't know," said Raymond. "Oh, yes, no one told me, dear," said Miss Marple. "It happened just before dinner, didn't it? You took Joyce out to watch the sunset. That's a nice place to watch it, Jasmine Bush Beside, that's where the milkman proposed to Anne." "Stop, stop, Aunt Jane," said Raymond, "you spoil such a poetic romance, Joyce and I are not Milkman and Anne." "That's where you're wrong, dear," said Miss Marple. "People are all the same, really, but luckily most people probably don't realize that yet."