Chapter 9 Chapter 9 The Four Suspects

The conversation kept going on about crimes that went undiscovered and went unpunished, and everyone took turns to give their opinion, Colonel Bantry, his fat and affable Mrs. Jenny Hellier, Dr. Lloyd, and the elderly Miss Marple, the person who has not yet spoken is none other than Sir Henry Clithering, formerly of the Metropolitan Police, who is believed to have the most say on the occasion. Director, he sat there quietly, twirling his beard, to be more precise, holding his beard, smiling half-smile, as if he was thinking about something interesting. "Sir Henry," said Mrs. Bantry at last, "if you say nothing, I would protest to you that many crimes go unpunished, or not at all?"

"You seem to recall newspaper headlines, Mrs. Bantry, 'Scotland Yard Lost Smell Again,' followed by a series of unsolved mysteries." "I suppose these cases are, after all, rare," said Dr. Lloyd. "Yes, exactly. Hundreds of cases uncovered, punished criminals seldom get featured in the media, but that's not the point, is it? When we're talking about crimes that go undetected and go unpunished When it comes to criminals, it involves two different concepts. Undetected crimes are crimes that the Metropolitan Police do not know about, that is, crimes that are not reported."

"I don't think there are many such cases," said Mrs. Bantry. "yes?" "I don't think," said Miss Marple thoughtfully, "that there will be a lot." The dear old lady, in her outmoded language, made her conclusions sound quite certain. "My dear Miss Marple," said Colonel Bantry. "Obviously," said Miss Marple, "most people are not smart enough to be found out no matter what they do, but there are also some smart people who, unless you are born with a very good mental quality, think otherwise You shudder at anything they might do."

"Yes, there are plenty of people who are not at all stupid. Most crimes are solved by a little clumsiness, and every time the criminals say to themselves, if it wasn't for the slightest mistake, who would know?" ?” "That's serious, Clithering," said Colonel Bantry. "Really serious." "yes?" "What do you mean? Of course yes, it is very serious." "You say that you are not punished. From the legal point of view, it may be so, but there is karma outside the law. Although it is a cliché to say that those who spread crimes will eventually reap evil results, in my opinion, nothing is more correct than this gone."

"Maybe, maybe," said Colonel Bantry, "but that doesn't change the seriousness, er... seriousness of the problem." He paused, out of breath.Sir Henry Clithering smiled, and said: "Ninety-nine people out of a hundred undoubtedly think the same as you do, and yet, you know? It's not who's guilty, it's who's innocent, and few people realize that." "I don't understand," said Jenny Hellier. "I understand," said Miss Marple, "that when Mrs. Trent found two and a half shillings missing from her purse, the most suspicious thing was the woman who cleaned every day, Mrs. Arthur. The Lunts naturally think she took the money, but the family is very kind, and Mrs Arthur has a large family to support, and a husband who is alcoholic. So they don't want to make it big, but they don't treat her like they used to They stopped letting her run the house when they weren't home, which was really out of the ordinary for her, and other people started to notice the change. Suddenly one day it turned out that the governess did it, especially Mrs Lunt saw her slip into the room, it was pure coincidence, I call it providence. I think that's what Sir Henry meant. Most people are only interested in who stole the money, and they get caught It's often people people don't think about, like in detective stories, and Mrs. Arthur, who puts fame first in his life, does nothing. That's what you mean, right? Henry Sergeant."

"Yes, you interpreted exactly what I meant. The handyman you mentioned was lucky enough to be found innocent, while some people have to live with unfounded suspicions." "Does this remind you of some case, Sir Henry?" asked Mrs. Bantry at once. "I do think of a case, Mrs. Bantry, a very unsolved case. We all know who the murderer is, but there is no evidence." "Poison, I suppose," gasped Jenny, "leaves no trace." Dr. Lloyd kept moving, and Sir Henry shook his head. "No, my dear lady, it's not one of those mysterious poison arrows of the American South Indians, I hope so. We've got far more common problems than that, too common to convict a criminal. An old man fell down the stairs. , broke his neck, unfortunate accidents like this happen every day."

"What the hell is going on?" "Who knows?" Sir Henry shrugged. "Maybe someone pushed him down from behind, or maybe there was a rope in the stairwell or something and it was carefully put away afterwards. We'll never know." .” "So you don't think that...it was an accident, do you: but why?" asked the doctor. "It's a long story, but... yes, we're sure it wasn't an accident. As I said, there's no way anyone can be held accountable for it. All the evidence is flimsy. But there's another side to this. That's what I'm going to say next. There are four people involved, only one of whom is guilty, and the other three are innocent, and unless the truth comes to light, these three will live their lives under terrible suspicion. in the shadows."

"I think," said Mrs. Bantry, "you'd better tell us what's going on." "To make a long story short," continued Sir Henry, "the opening paragraph is omitted because it concerns a secret society in Germany - the Mafia, an organization behind the Front, which is usually regarded as something like the Camorra. .They were organized to practice extortion and terror. After the war, many of these groups appeared seemingly overnight and spread at an alarming rate. Countless people fell victim to them. The official crackdown had little effect , because the secrets within the organization are strictly guarded, and it is almost impossible to find anyone who dares to betray."

"In England very little was known about the organisation, but in Germany people were petrified, and yet the organization eventually fell apart due to the tireless efforts of one man. That man was Dr Rosen, He had been a promising secret worker. He broke into the organization, became one of them, infiltrated their core members, and played an important role in dismantling the organization. "It turned out that he became a prominent figure. The most sensible thing to do was to get him out of Germany, at least for a while. So he came to England and we had a letter from Berlin. We had a private meeting .His attitude is calm and peaceful, he knows what is waiting for him.

"They will find me, Sir Henry,' said he, 'and I have no doubt of it.' He is tall, clear-headed, and has a deep voice, but that little guttural note will tell you his nationality.' That It's inevitable, it doesn't matter anymore. I'm prepared, accepting the errand is a risk in itself, the mission has been accomplished, the organization can no longer be established, but many members of the organization are still at large, and they will take their only It's just a matter of time. I just want it to be longer. You know I'm compiling some very interesting material - the crystallization of my life. I think, if possible , to do the job.'

"He spoke clearly, with a solemn tone, and I could only admire it. I told him that we would take strict precautions, but he dismissed my words. "'They will find me someday,' he repeated, 'and when that day comes, you need not reproach yourself. I am sure you have done your best.' "Then he spoke of his plan, which could not have been more simple, to live undisturbed in the country, and to carry on with his work. He chose a little village in Somerset called Kingsgnaton, There was a railway station seven miles from there, but otherwise it was isolated from the world. He bought a charming house which, after a great deal of improvement, he lived in with great satisfaction. Living with him in the Also in the house is his niece Greta, a secretary, a German maid who has been with him faithfully for nearly forty years, and a local man who works as a gardener and odd job.” "Four suspects," said Dr. Lloyd softly. "Exactly. All four are suspects. Needless to say. After five months of quiet life, the disaster finally happened. One morning, Dr. Rosen fell down the stairs and was found half an hour later. Mrs. Gertrude was in the kitchen with the door closed when the accident happened, and she heard nothing, so she said; Florein Greta was planting some Bulbs, she said herself; Dobbs the gardener was drinking his morning tea in the garden shed, so he said; the secretary went for a walk, also said himself. Nobody At the scene of the accident, no one can be an alibi witness. But one thing is certain, outsiders will not get it. In a small village like Kings Gnaton, strangers must be found. The front and back doors were locked, and each member of the family had their own set of keys. So it was narrowed down to these four. Everyone was beyond suspicion—Greta, his own brother's daughter; Gert Rood, the faithful servant of forty years; Dobbs, the man who never left Kingsgnaton; and Charles Templeton, the secretary..." "By the way," said Colonel Bantry, "is it possible that he is? He's the most suspicious person in my head. Do you know him?": "It was because I knew him that I excluded him from suspicion, at least at the time," said Sir Henry in a low voice. "Charles Templeton is one of us." "Oh!" said Colonel Bantry, somewhat surprised. "Yes, I want to send someone to protect Dr. Rosen, but it should not be too conspicuous. Rosen does need a secretary. I asked Templeton to take up the job. He is a gentleman and speaks German fluently. He's a very capable person." "Who do you suspect, then?" asked Mrs. Bantry, bewildered. "Everyone seems . . . impossible." "Yes, on the face of it, but you can also look at it from another angle. Florein Greta is his niece, and she is very lovely. But the war has shown us countless times Example of brother and sister, father and son against each other. Those lovely weak girls do things you can't even think about, and the same applies to Gertrude, who knows what caused her to turn against her master What was the cause of the enmity? A quarrel, perhaps. Forty years of loyal feud, old women of that class sometimes have a staggering amount of resentment. What about Dobbs? To exclude him without a connection? Money works, in a sense he's the most accessible and bribed." "One thing is certain, that is, a message or order came from outside. Otherwise, how could there be five months of immunity? The members of this organization have not stopped their activities for a moment, they just haven't fully confirmed whether it is true or not. Rosen betrayed them, and they waited until all possible doubts were proved to be his betrayal, and everything became clear. So they gave the undercover personnel under the door an order—'kill'." "It's too sinister!" Jenny Helier said, shuddering. "But how did this secret order come in? I'm trying to find out, and that's the only hope of solving my problem. Someone must be connected to the outside world in some way among these four people. I know their rules very well, and the order Once it comes, it cannot be delayed and must be implemented immediately. This is the practice of the Mafia. "I began to make a thorough investigation. The method of investigation may seem ridiculous to you. I did not pass anyone who was in the house that morning. Here is the list." He took an envelope from his pocket, and drew a sheet of paper from the envelope.The butcher sent some mutton neck.No problem after investigation. The grocer's delivery boy brought a bag of cornmeal, two pounds of sugar, a pound of butter, and a pound of coffee.After investigation, no problem. The postman brought two notices to Frollein; a letter from Gertrude from this country; three letters from Dr. Rosen, one of which was stamped with a foreign postmark; One also had a foreign postmark. Sir Henry stopped, and drew a sheaf of papers from the envelope. "You'd be interested to see these things for yourself, I was handed them over, some of them were found in wastebaskets. Needless to say, I've had an expert check out if invisible ink was used, etc. Nope Something like that exciting exists." Everyone gathered around to read these letters.The two notices came from a seedling grower and a well-known fur company in London.Two of Rosen's three letters were bills, one was for buying flowers and tree seeds locally, and the other was for buying toys in London.The foreign postmarked letter reads: Dear Rosen: I just got back from Helmers Spath's.I ran into Edgar Jackson the other day, just back from Tsingtau with Amos Perry.Honestly, I'm kind of jealous of them.I told him about you.I've told you before, be wary of someone, and you know who I mean, even if you disagree. ' Sincerely, Georgine "One of Templeton's two letters is also a bill, as you have seen, from his tailor. The other is from a friend in Germany," continued Sir Henry. "Unfortunately. Yes, he opened it while he was out for a walk, and tore it up and threw it away after reading it. Finally, we come to Gertrude's letter." Dear Mrs. Swartz: I hope you are eager to come to the Friday party.The pastor said that you are very welcome, alone or with family.The ham you sent me is very good, thank you very much, I hope you are well.Reminder again, see you Friday. emma green Lloyd thought the letter was funny, and Mrs Bantry felt the same way. (Because the person who wrote the letter is not well-educated, there are many grammatical errors between the lines.) "I think this last letter can be ruled out," said Dr. Lloyd. "I thought so too," said Sir Henry, "but just in case, I checked to see if there was a Mrs. Green and a church party. Had to be careful." "Our friend Miss Marple often says that," said Dr. Lloyd with a smile. "You've lost your mind, Miss Marple. What are you thinking about?" "I'm really useless, I've been wondering, in that letter to Rosen..." "Why should the H of the word 'real' in 'Honesty' be capitalized?" Mrs. Bantry took up the conversation. "Indeed it is, oh!" "My dear," said Miss Marple, "I thought you might have noticed that." "There was some hint of warning in that letter signed by George," said Colonel Bantry, "that caught my attention at first, and I also noticed that George was warning him against someone who Who is it?" "There is something strange about this letter," said Sir Henry. "According to Templeton, Dr. Rosen opened the letter at breakfast, read it, and threw it to Templeton across the table. I don’t even know what this lesser looks like.” "But it's not less than anything," said Jenny Hellier. "The final signature is Georgina!" "Not necessarily, maybe Georgey (Georgey), but it does look like Georgina, and I get the impression it's a man's handwriting anyway," said Dr Lloyd. "Look, this is interesting." Colonel Bantry said, "Rosen threw the letter from one end of the table to Templeton on the other, pretending not to know, in order to see the expressions of these people, Whose expression is it? A woman's? A man's?" "Perhaps I just wanted to see the look on the cook's face," said Mrs. Bantry. "She might have been serving breakfast in the dining room that morning, but what I don't understand is...it's so weird." She looked He frowned at the letter.Miss Marple sat beside her, holding out her hand and talking softly with Mrs. Bantry, holding the letter. "Why did Templeton tear up that letter of his?" asked Miss Jenny Hellier suddenly, "as if... oh! I don't know... seems unusual. How could he have come from Germany?" What about the letter? Of course, he is not the object of suspicion, you have said before that he is one of your people." "But Sir Henry didn't say he couldn't be suspected." Miss Marple said immediately, stopped talking with Mrs. Bantry, looked up, "He said, there are four suspects, including Temple Is that so, Mr. Ton, Sir Henry?" "Yes, Miss Marple. Years of experience have taught me never to say that someone is not suspicious. I just told you that only three of these four people may be guilty, but in fact this kind of thinking is unreliable. At that time, I Treating Templeton differently from the other three, but by reflecting on the rule I just said, I included him among the suspects, and I have to admit the fact that, whether in the military or in the police force , there will always be a certain amount of rebels within, as much as they hate to admit it. So I set out to investigate Charles Templeton without any emotion. "I asked myself the same question that Miss Helier asked just now. Why is he the only one in this family who can't show that letter? Also, the postmark of that letter is from Germany. Why did he have the letter from What about letters from Germany? "This last question is indeed a little naive. When I asked him, his answer could not have been simpler. His mother's sister married a German, and the letter was sent by a German cousin. Now, I understand that before Unbeknownst to me, Charles Templeton had connections with the Germans. That put him on the list of suspects, and that's what it was. He was my man, a lad I liked and trusted. To be fair, I had to Admittedly, he is the most suspect." "But the facts are facts after all. I don't know, I don't know... In all likelihood, I will never know the truth. This is not just a question of punishing a criminal. To me, this is a hundred times more important than punishing a criminal. Maybe ruining the future of an honest young man... just because of doubts, the kind of doubts I have to face." Miss Marple coughed a few times and said softly: "Then, Sir Henry, if I understand you correctly, it was Templeton who had been in your mind, hadn't he?" "In a sense, yes. In theory, all four are equally suspect, but in fact there is a difference. For example, Dobbs, I suspect him too, and it doesn't stop him from going on. As his gardener, everyone in the village thought that Rosen's death was an accident. Gertrude would not be affected in any way, at most it would only change Florein Rosen's attitude towards her. It's no big deal to her." "As for Florine Greta Rosen... Now, we have come to the crux of the case. Greta is a very sweet girl and Templeton is a handsome young man. Five months, Thrown together into this secluded place with little entertainment, they inevitably fell in love, though they didn't say it. "And then disaster struck. The first or second day after I returned to London, about three months from now, Greta Rosen came to visit me. She was dealing with her uncle's affairs, sold the house, Planning to go back to Germany. I was retired at the time, she knew, and she was visiting me on a personal matter. She was a little evasive at first, but then she made it clear. She wanted to hear my opinion. The letter The letter with the German postmark and torn up by Templeton haunted her again and again. Could it have nothing to do with it? If only she knew, so that she could be sure that he had something to do with it." "See? It's the same as I feel, wanting to believe, but the terrible underlying doubt knocks that trust to the back, and yet it's tenacious. I told the truth, I asked her if she really liked Charles, and Charles liked her too. "'I think so,' she said, 'oh yes, I know we both like each other. We are so happy together, we have such a good time every day. We know, we both know, with Don't worry, it will be a long time, one day he will tell me that he loves me, and I will tell him that I love him. You can guess everything, but now everything has changed, there is a shadow between us, The relationship became tense. When we were alone together, we didn't know what to say, and I think he felt the same way, and we said to each other, if only I could be sure that the other person was innocent. That's what I've come to I your cause, please say to me: please believe whoever killed your uncle, it was never Charles Templeton. Say, oh: tell me, please, please! " "Damn it," said Sir Henry, slamming his fist on the table, "I can't tell her that, they're growing apart, they're suspicious of each other, and that suspicion drifts between them like a ghost." time, can never be dispelled." He fell on the back of the chair, his face was ashen, very tired, and he shook his head in frustration. "There's nothing we can do...unless..." He sat up again, a whimsical smile flitting across his face, "Unless Miss Marple can help us, you won't say no, Miss Marple? I have a feeling, Surely you can see something in the letter that mentions the church party. Does this letter also remind you of someone or something that will bring this case to light? Can you help these two Unhappy young men? They are so desperate for happiness." Beneath his whimsical smile was a sincere pleading for help, his appreciation of the effeminate old-fashioned spinster's mind growing, his expectation looked at her. Miss Marple coughed and straightened her lace. "It reminds me of Anne Poulteney," she admitted. "Of course, that letter was all too clear to me and Mrs. Bantry, and I don't mean the church party letter, It's another one. You've been living in London and never talked about gardening. I don't know if you've noticed, Sir Henry..." "Huh?" said Sir Henry. "Notice anything?" Mrs. Bantry opened the list of flowers and began to read it with interest. "Dr.Helmuth Spatll, a wonderful pure lilac with long stems, especially for garden decorations and cut flowers, very beautiful. "Edgar Jackson, a beautiful plant with chrysanthemum-like flowers that are brick red. "AmosPerry, the flower is very red, the best flower for decoration. "Tsingtau has wonderful orange-red flowers, the most dazzling of garden flowers and the best variety for cutting. "Honesty..." "Remember that word begins with a capital letter?" whispered Miss Marple. "Honesty, a perfectly formed flower in rose and various whites." Mrs. Bantry dropped the flower catalogue, and said emphatically: "Dahlias!" "The initials of these flower names spell 'DEATH'," explained Miss Marple. "But the letter is for Dr. Rosen himself!" retorted Mr. Henry. "That's the brilliant part of the whole thing," said Miss Marple, "that's where the alarm comes in, and what's he going to do when he gets a letter from a stranger, full of names he can't figure out? Just pass the letter to his secretary." "Then, anyway..." "Oh, no," said Miss Marple, "not the secretary, if you think of it, if the secretary did it, we'd never get the letter, and that's not the only way he did it. How could he put Let this letter stay, and tear up another letter with a German postmark? His innocence is--if you will allow me to use the word--unquestionable." "Then who did it?" "There's only one necessity, like many in the world, that there was another person at breakfast, and she must--a natural thing in the circumstances--reached out to take the letter. That's the way it is, Remember when she also received a list of seedlings that same day?" "Greta Rosen," said Sir Henry in a pause, "then her visit to me..." "Gentlemen never see through such things," said Miss Marple, "and I'm afraid they often think that we old women are... all cats. We see things in our way, but the fact That's it: people of the same sex know their own kind best. I've never thought there was a difference in understanding between the sexes, and young Templeton developed an inexplicable distaste for Greta Rosen, who suspected She, just by intuition, can't hide this suspicion. I think the lady visiting you is purely malicious. She is completely safe, and she came to you specifically to plant your suspicion on the tank. Pulton's head, and you won't know if he did it until she comes to you." "I'm sure she didn't say that..." said Sir Henry. "Gentlemen will never see through these women's tricks," said Miss Marple quietly. "That girl," he paused, "committed murder but was not arrested by the police." "No! No, Sir Henry," said Miss Marple. "She will not escape, you and I are convinced of that. Remember what you said earlier? No, Greta Rosen will not escape First of all, she must be associated with a group of dubious people. These people specialize in extortion and terrorism, and they will never end well in their company, and the end result will be even more miserable. As you said, people are the best Don't think of a crime. We should be concerned about that innocent Mr. Templeton, who, I dare say, is getting ready to marry his German cousin. He tore up the letter she gave him, and it was worth it' Doubt', we've been using that word tonight, but it has an entirely different meaning here. It looks like he's the uncle and the other girl will see it or ask him to read it. I have no doubts that there is something between them. There was a romance. Now let's turn to Dobbs, who, I dare say, had very little to do with the matter. The only thing he thought about was morning tea at eleven o'clock. And about poor old Gertrude She reminds me of Anne Poulteney, ma'am, poor Anne, fifty years of loyalty paid for by the suspicion that she stole Miss Lamb's will, though baseless, the heart of that loyalty is broken After she died, the will was found in a tea box in a secret drawer, where Mrs Lamb had kept it herself for safety, but it meant nothing to Anne gone." "It is for this reason that I am particularly concerned about the old German lady, who is especially vulnerable when one is old. I feel more sorry for her than for Templeton, who was young and pretty, and won the hearts of women." Favor. You're going to write to her, won't you, Mr. Henry? Tell her that her innocence has been proven, that the master is dead, and that she'll consider herself a suspect too. Oh, I can't bear to think about it any further. " "I'll definitely write to her, Miss Marple," said Sir Henry, looking at her with a strange look. "You know, I never quite got to know you. Your appearance is not what I imagined." "My appearance, I must say, must be out of date," said Miss Marple. "I never left St. Mary Mead." "But you have solved a mystery that can be called transnational." Mr. Henry said, "I am completely convinced by you." Miss Marple blushed, but only for a moment. "In our time, we had an orthodox education. My sister and I had a German teacher named Florein, a sentimental creature. She taught us a lot of flower words, which I have forgotten all about." , very charming. For example, yellow tulips represent hopeless love, asters represent that I died at your feet because of jealousy, etc. The letter was signed by Georgine, and in German it is Dahlia. Know this The meaning of the word, the whole thing will be clear. If only I could remember the meaning of the word, hey, why can’t I remember it? My memory is not as good as before. " "Whatever it is, it's certainly not 'death.'" "No, it's terrible, isn't it, there are a lot of miserable things in this world." "Well," said Mrs. Bantry, with a sigh, "we are lucky to have flowers and friends." "Did you notice? She put us friends behind the flowers," said Dr. Lloyd. "There is a man who brings me purple orchids to the theater every night," Jenny said dreamily. "It means 'I await your favor,'" said Miss Marple cheerfully. Sir Henry let out a peculiar cough, and turned his head away. Miss Marple exclaimed suddenly: "Come to think of it, Dahlias means 'treacherous, perverted.'" "Exactly," said Sir Henry, "exactly." He heaved a long sigh.