Chapter 6 Chapter VI Danger must not be revealed

"Jason is back now," said Haley Preston. "Would you like to come with me, Chief Inspector, and I'll take you to his room." The half-office, half-living room that Jason Luther used was on the first floor, and it was comfortable but not luxurious.There is nothing special about this room, and there is no indication of the owner's personal preferences.Jason Luther stood up from the table to greet Dermot. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Chief Inspector, I have some errands at the studio and it's not easy to get away. Would you like something to drink?" "Not now, thank you, Mr. Luther."

The clown-like face suddenly crumpled into a funny and ironic look. "I went to see Dr. Gilkes. He told me your wife is not well enough to be interviewed," Dermot said. "Marina," said Jason Luther, "is sensitive and prone to neurosis. The murder happened in such close proximity, you have to admit, it is very prone to neurosis." "This experience is not very pleasant." Dermot agreed indifferently. "Anyway, I was wondering what my wife can tell you that you can't get from me. I was with her when it happened, but in vain I'm more sensitive than my wife."

"The first question I'd like to ask," said Dermot, "had you or your wife ever known Hit Bakerk before?" Jason Luther shook his head. "But she said she had seen your wife before?" Jason Luther nodded: "Yes, about twelve or three years ago, when we were in Bermuda, Marina held a big garden party for the Ambulance Society. Mrs. Bakerk was introduced to her At length, even though she was bedridden with a cold at that time, she got up to attend this grand event and asked her to present a photo as a souvenir." The mocking smile appeared on his face again.

"What I'm going to say is that it happens a lot and there's usually a whole bunch of people queuing up for a picture of my wife. And it's a moment I can't forget. It was a big event in their lives. Naturally, my wife is going to be among a thousand people. It's impossible to remember a fan who asked for a photo." "I can understand that," Dermot said. "Mr. Luther, I've been told that your wife seemed a bit distracted when Hitt Bakerk spoke to her. Do you think that's the case?" "Very likely," Luther said. "Marina is not well, but I didn't notice it, no, wait a minute, I remember she was speaking very slowly in answering Mrs Baecock, and I touched her elbow lightly."

"Maybe something distracted her?" Dermot said. "Possibly, but perhaps due to fatigue." Dermot was silent for a while, he looked out the window, the twilight had gradually covered the woods around Goldstein Manor, Luther's face was listening, and he couldn't tell what he was feeling inside, this is an unfathomable person, Dermot Murd felt that if he was not going to reveal anything, there was nothing you could do about it, unless you showed your trump card.Dermot was determined to do just that. "Mr. Luther, have you ever thought that Hit Baker's poisoning might be a complete accident? The real premeditated object is your wife?"

There was silence in the air.The expression on Jason Luther's face did not change.Dermot waited, and finally Jason Luther let out a sigh of relief. "Yes," he said calmly, "you are quite right, Chief Inspector, and I always thought so." "But you didn't say that, either to Inspector Cornish or at the time of the investigation." "No." "Why not, Mr. Luther?" "I can tell you, because that's just my own inference without any evidence, I don't know much about Mrs Bakerk, maybe she made enemies, so it is very strange that someone would want to use this occasion to poison. , It’s unbelievable. It is very likely that someone wants to take advantage of this chaotic situation in public places. The more strangers, the more opportunities for everyone to be suspected, and the harder it is for criminals to find. But to tell you frankly, it’s not me who keeps silent Yes, I'll tell you what it is. I don't want my wife to think she's narrowly escaped at this point."

"Thank you for the confession," Dermot said. "Don't you say I don't know the reason for your silence?" "Don't know? Maybe it's a bit difficult to explain. You should understand that Marina needs to be understood, she desperately wants happiness and security, but her personal life is deep in unhappiness. Time and time again she thinks she has found happiness, but soon feels All hope is dashed. Mr. Creeder, she's an escapist." The clown-like ugly face showed a mocking smile, which instantly turned into strange and cute. "Marriage in our film industry is often a crisis due to work. Movie stars often marry and remarry. Sometimes happy, sometimes unhappy, but rarely lasting. In this case, I should not say that Marina is too much. complained, but her character caused her to have a deep tendency in this area, and she felt deeply unfortunate. A well-known doctor advised her to adopt a child. He said that usually adopting a child can alleviate the desire to be a mother. Easy to have children. Marina has adopted more than three children, and each time she finds some happiness and peace, but that is only on the surface. You can imagine how happy she was when she found out that she was about to have children eleven years ago. At that time, she Good health turned out to be tragic, the baby boy was born a mentally retarded idiot, Marina had a complete breakdown, she was sick for years and ended up in a nursing home. We got married shortly after and she again I was interested in life and felt that maybe she could be happy. At first it was difficult for her to get a film contract, and everyone doubted whether her health could withstand the intense film life. So I had to fight for this." Jason Luther His lips were pressed together. "Oh, it worked out and we started filming again, and in the meantime we bought the house, fixed it up, and just a day or two ago Marina told me how happy she felt to finally be able to settle down. Happy family life, she doesn't have any troubles anymore. I was a little nervous because her expectations were so optimistic. Everything was going well until—" He broke off, his voice suddenly painful. "Until this happens! The woman died in--here! That in itself is horrifying enough that I cannot risk--I decided not to--let Marina know that the plot was against her. It might cause a second A degree of panic, even a fatal one, could cause another mental breakdown."

He looked deeply at Dermot. "I see what you mean," Dermot said. "But forgive me, have you not overlooked something? You tell me that the attempt was to poison your wife, don't you think the danger is still there? The poisoner did not succeed this time, and not next time." Will the trick be repeated?" "Of course I thought about it," said Jason Luther, "but with a warning, I believe I could have taken reasonable precautions, and I find it comforting that she knows nothing of any danger threatening her." "You think," said Dermot cautiously, "that she doesn't know anything?"

"Of course not, she doesn't know." "Perhaps you're right," said Dermot slowly, "but that leaves us with a few questions, so let me be frank. Whom did you suspect?" "I can't explain that to you." "Mr. Luther, sorry, do you mean you don't know or you don't want to tell me?" Jason Luther immediately went on to say: "I don't know, how impossible it is for me and her, that someone would not like her, and to the point of resentment, do such a thing. On the other hand, according to The obvious fact is, again, it was bound to happen.”

"Can you explain the facts?" "The circumstances were clear, if you like, and I scooped two tacries out of a pitcher I had prepared, one for Marina and one for Mrs Baecock. I don't know what Mrs Baecock did. I know, I think I walked away to talk to someone I knew. My wife had a drink in hand when the mayor and his wife came up and she put down the undrinked drink to welcome them. More guests came later , one of whom was an old friend we hadn't seen in years, a couple of locals, a moviegoer or two. At this point the glass with the cocktail was on the table behind us as we walked a few steps forward to the stairs At the special request of the representatives of the local newspaper, to please the locals, they took a picture or two of my wife talking to the mayor. Afterwards, I served a few drinks to the guests who arrived later. Someone must have been there at this time Putting poison in my wife's glass. Don't ask me how it's done, it's not easy to do. On the other hand, it's really surprising that anyone would dare to do it openly, without scruple, How many people would see it! You ask me who I suspect, and I can only say that any one of at least twenty is likely. The guests walk around in groups, chatting, and from time to time go to see if there are any in the house. What change, I thought and thought, my head was about to explode, and I still don't know who would do such a thing."

He stopped talking and took a deep breath. "I know," Dermot said. "Go on." "Well, as I was going to the landing, my wife was going to the table and was about to pick up the glass when Mrs Baker uttered a little cry, someone must have touched her arm, and the glass fell on the floor. Marina's dress was stained, and she was a hostess, insisting it didn't matter, and took out a handkerchief to help Mrs Bakerk wipe her dress, and gave her her own wine. I remember her saying: 'I've had too much ' the deadly poison couldn't have been added after that, because Mrs Baecock drank the drink immediately. You know, she died four or five minutes later, and I was thinking that the poisoner knew he I don't know how I feel after my plot failed..." "That's when you thought of it?" "Of course not. At that time, I naturally thought that this woman must have some kind of illness." Dermot said: "You made it very clear, you seem to believe your opinion, you said that you have no doubts about a particular person. I can't fully buy that idea." "I tell you it's true." "Let's look at it from another angle. Is there anyone out there who tried to hurt your wife? The way you put it, it's a bit of a drama, but who is her enemy?" Jason Luther made an expressive gesture. "Enemy? Enemy? Enemy is hard to define. A lot of people are jealous of what my wife and I have. They're always going to slander and spread rumours, but that doesn't mean that one of those people is a murderer, Or possibly a murderer. Do you agree?" "Yes, I agree. There must be something else behind the distaste or jealousy. Has your wife hurt anyone, I mean the past?" Jason Luther didn't refute immediately, instead he frowned. "Honestly, I don't think so," he concluded, "but I think about it a lot." "Have you ever had a relationship with any man?" "Of course there must be such things. I think Marina treats a guy very badly once in a while, but it doesn't cause any resentment, I'm sure." "What about the women? Are there any women who are very resentful of Miss Gray?" "Oh," said Jason Luther, "women are hard to tell. I can't think of any right now." "Who is the beneficiary of your wife's property after her death?" "She's going to give it to a few people, but not too much. I think she'll leave it to me as her husband and so on, and maybe to the star who replaces her in that movie. But these things Not quite sure." "Oh, let's not talk about that anymore," Dermot said. "You said Marina should never have known she might be in danger?" "We have to deal with this," Dermot said. "I must let you know that you are taking a great risk here. One thing I want you to do now is to make a list of who was upstairs at the tea party, or who was upstairs when the murder happened. As for now -- I'd love to talk to Ira Zielinski."