Chapter 12 Section 12

"Girl, you, girl, you come in." Lucy turned her head, startled to find old Mr. Crackenthorpe waving desperately to her from a door. "You want my help, Mr. Crackenthorpe?" "Don't talk too much, you come in." Lucy obeyed his commanding gestures, and old Mr. Crackenthorpe took her by the arm, drew her through the door, and closed it. "I'm going to show you something," he said. Lucy looked around and saw that they were in a small room.The room was clearly intended to be a study, but it was equally evident that it had not been used for a long time.There were stacks of dusty papers on a desk, cobwebs in the corners of the ceiling, and a damp and musty smell.

"Do you want me to clean this room?" she asked. Mr. Crackenthorpe shook his head vigorously. "No, you don't want to clean it. I always lock up this room, and Emma will rummage in it if she wants to be in it. I won't let her in, it's my room. Do you see these stones? It's a geological specimen." Lucy looked at the twelve or fourteen stones collected there.Some are polished, others are still very rough. "Lovely," she said understandingly, "very interesting." "You are right. These stones are very interesting. You are a smart girl. I will not show these things to others. I will show you some more things."

"Thank you, but I really should get on with what I'm doing. There are six people in this family who have to prepare meals for—" "Too much food to live here, and that's what they come back for, and they don't pay for it. Vampires! They're waiting for me to die. But I don't want to die yet—I won't just die, To their great joy, I am healthier than Emma imagined." "I trust you to be healthy." "I'm not too old. She always thinks I'm an old man, always treats me as an old man. You don't think I'm old, do you?" "Of course not," said Lucy.

"Smart girls, come and see this." He pointed to a large faded chart hanging on the wall.Lucy could see that it was a family tree. In some places, the characters were very small. To see clearly, you had to use a magnifying glass. Even so, the names of those distant ancestors were all written in big and magnificent regular script, and there was a Crown pattern. "From king to king," said Mr. Crackenthorpe, "and here is my mother's genealogical chart, that is, not my father's, who was a parvenu! Coarse old man! He doesn't like me. I Always one step ahead of him, in my mother's way. I was born with a taste for art and sculpture, and he didn't understand it, stupid old man! Don't remember what my mother was like, and when she died I Only two years old, she was the last of their family, they were betrayed. She later married my father. But, look at the place in the picture - that's - and - it's all there. That The time before the Norman Conquest, before the Norman Conquest—that's a big deal, isn't it?"

"Indeed it is." "Now I'll show you something else." He led her across the house to a large brown oak furniture.Lucy felt uneasy in his grip on her arm, firmly.Old Mr. Crackenthorpe did not seem in the least weakened today. "See this? It came from Luxington - it's from my mother's natal place, it's Elizabethan, and it takes four men to lift it. You don't know what I put in there , don't you? Want me to show you?" "Be sure to show me." Lucy said politely. "Curious, isn't it? Women are curious." He took out a key from his pocket and opened a door under the cupboard.From it he took out an unexpected, new-looking money-box.This, he also opened.

"Look here, my dear, do you know what this is?" He took out a small, cylindrical object wrapped in paper.He opened one end of the paper, and the gold coins leaked from the inside into his palm. "Look at these things, miss, look at them, hold them in your hand, feel them. Do you know what this is? I bet you don't. You're too young to see. It's. Than those boring The paper money is much more valuable. I have accumulated it long ago. I have other things in this box. Many things are hidden here, all ready for future use. Emma does not know, and no one knows. It's our secret, understand, girl? Do you know why I told you and showed you?"

"why?" "Because I don't want you to think I'm a worn out, sick old man, and I've got a lot of energy in my old bones. My wife is long dead, and she's against everything I do, and she doesn't like me giving my kids They gave us names—good Saxon names, and she wasn't interested in that genealogy chart. I never paid attention to what she said, though. Also, she was a weak creature, always giving in. Now , you are a fresh, very lively girl--a very good girl, really! Now I give you a word of advice: don't trust your life to a young man. Young men are fools! You have to take care of yourself. To your future. You wait—" His fingers grabbed Lucy's arm firmly, and whispered in his ear: "I will stop here, I won't say much more. Just wait and see, those little fools think I won't be long I'll die, I won't, I'll outlive them, that's no surprise, and then, whoever wins! Yes, then, whoever wins. Harald has no children Well, Cedric and Alfred are not married. Emma--Emma won't marry now, she kind of likes Kumpe, but Kumpe wouldn't think of marrying Emma. And Alexander, of course. Yes, And Alexander. But, you know what? I like Alexander, yes, embarrassingly, I like Alexander."

He paused for a moment, then frowned and said: "So, girl, how? How? Huh?" "Miss Esborough..." Emma's voice came faintly from outside the closed study door.Lucy gratefully jumped at the opportunity. "Miss Crackenthorpe is calling me. I must go. Thank you for showing me all this stuff." "Don't forget... our secret..." "I won't forget," said Lucy, and hurried out of the hall.She wasn't quite sure if he had just proposed to her conditionally. Democracy Craddock sits in his office in the new Crime Service of Scotland Yard.He was reclining calmly in the chair, holding the handset in both hands, resting his elbows on the table, and was talking on the phone.He spoke French.He's got it right.

"It's just an idea, you understand?" he said. "But it's certainly a possible idea," said the voice on the other end, from the Paris prefecture. "I've sent people to investigate in those areas. My intelligence agents have reported to me that there have been two or three months of hoped-for lines of investigation. Unless these women have a family life, or a lover, they will go elsewhere. Go, it's easy not to see them active anymore, and as a result, no one pays any attention to them. They may go on a trip, or find a new love, and no one has the right to ask. It's a pity that the photos you send are not easy to recognize. Strangled. A dead man like this will look pretty. It's impossible to think about. I'll go and study the latest report from my intelligence agent. Maybe there will be some clues. Goodbye, man!"

When Craddock said his good-bye politely, a note was placed on his desk, which read: Miss Emma Crackenthorpe See Inspector Craddock The Case of Losaijin Biezhuang. He put the phone away and said to the policeman: "Lead Miss Crackenthorpe up." While he waited, he leaned back in his chair and thought.He was not mistaken, it turned out: there was something Miss Emma Crackenthorpe knew.Maybe, not much.However, there is always a clue.Well, she had decided to tell him. When she was let in by one of his men, he stood up, shook her hand, asked her to sit down, and offered her a cigarette, but she refused.Then there was a moment of silence.She must be looking for the right words, he thought.He leaned forward and said:

"Are you here to tell me something, Miss Crackenthorpe? Want my help? You're worried about something, aren't you? A trifle, perhaps. You may think it's irrelevant to the case. But, by On the other hand, maybe it has something to do with it. You've come to tell me this, haven't you? Maybe something to do with the identification of the dead. Do you think you know who she is?" "No, no, not exactly for that. I thought it was really unlikely. But—" "But there are some possibilities, so you are worried. It's better for you to tell me, because maybe we can reassure you." Emma waited a minute or two before saying: "You have seen my three brothers. I had another brother who died in the war. He had a letter from France shortly before he died." She opened the bag and took out an old, faded letter.She read the above words: "I hope I don't startle you, Emma? But I'm getting married—to a French girl. It's all sudden, but I know you'll like Martine. , I know you will take care of her. I will tell you the details in my next letter. By that time, I will already be a married person. Will you slowly break the news to the old man? He may You will be so angry!" Inspector Craddock held out his hand, and Emma hesitated, then handed him the letter.She went on, speaking quickly. "Two days after this letter from him, we received a telegram saying that Edmond was missing, possibly killed. Later, we were officially informed that he had indeed been killed. That was before Dunkirk, in a state of confusion. According to the results of my inquiries, the military has no official record of his marriage. But, as I have said, it was a time of chaos. I have never received any information about that girl After the war, I tried to find out. But, I only know her Christian name. That place in France was occupied by the German army. Without the girl's last name, and more information about her, it is difficult to find out. .In the end, I think their wedding probably never took place, and the girl may have married someone else before the war was over. Or, perhaps, she herself was killed." Inspector Craddock nodded.Emma went on. "Just about a month ago, you can imagine my surprise when I received a letter signed by Martine Crackenthorpe." "Did you bring it?" Emma took the letter out of her bag and handed it to him.It was a slanted, French handwriting, obviously written by educated people. "Dear Miss: I hope you won't be shocked when you get this letter.i don't even To know if my brother Edmund told you about our marriage.he married us He was killed a few days later, and at the same time, the Germans occupied our village.After the war, I have decided not to write to you or communicate with you.However, Edmund called me this do so.But, by that time, I have a new life myself, so no There is that necessity.However, things have changed today.For my son, I now writing this letter.do you know?He is Brother Ling's son, and now I don't May give him the benefits he deserves.I am going to come to England in the first few days of next week.you can So tell me if I can come and see you?My correspondence is: Tenth Post North London District, No. 126, Crescent Street.Here, I repeat one more sentence: I hope that after reading the letter, I will not Shocked. I would like to think twice about this. Sincerely, Martine Crackenthorpe Craddock was silent for a minute or two.He read the letter carefully again before returning it to her. "What will you do with this letter, Miss Crackenthorpe?" "My brother-in-law, Brian Easterly, happened to be staying with us at the time. I talked to him about it. Then I called my brother Harold in London and talked to him about what to do. Do it. Harald is very suspicious of the matter and advises me to be very careful. He said we must carefully investigate this woman's papers." Emma paused, then went on: "Of course, that's just common sense, and I agree. But if this girl—this woman—is the Martine whom Edmund's letter refers to, I feel we must welcome her. I will do as she does. I wrote to her at the address on the letter, asking her to come and meet at the Chateau Loserzin. A few days later, I received a telegram from her London: "Forcibly forced by accident, I have returned to France, sorry! Martine." ’ There have been no further letters, nor any news.” "When did all this happen?" Emma frowned thinking back. "It was just a few days before Christmas. I know. Because, I wanted to suggest that she spend Christmas with us. But my father forbids me to do so anyway. So I suggested to her: It is best to spend Christmas with us. The next weekend, while the rest of the family was still here. I think the telegram saying she was going back to France came a few days before Christmas." "So, you believe that the corpse found in the sarcophagus may be Martine?" "No, of course I don't believe it. But when you say she might be a foreigner, I can't help wondering... maybe..." Her words stopped. Craddock, wanting to reassure her, said quickly: "You are quite right in telling me these circumstances. We will investigate. I think there may be no doubt that the woman who wrote to you has in fact returned to France and is still there, alive and well. On the one hand, there are some coincidences in the dates of the two events. You are very smart and have noticed this. You have heard at the interrogation meeting that according to the medical officer's certificate, the woman's death must have happened three or four times. Weeks ago. Miss Crackenthorpe, don’t worry about it now, we’ll take care of it.” He added in passing: “You’ve discussed it with Mr. Harold Crackenthorpe. So, you What about your father and two other brothers?" "Of course I had to tell my father. He was very nervous," she said with a slight smile. "He believed it must be a premeditated thing; Excited. He believes, or pretends to believe, that he is a penniless man, and therefore saves every penny. Old people, I suppose, sometimes have those thoughts that they cannot get rid of. Of course, that Not really. He has a lot of income and actually spends less than a quarter of it, so to speak, before income taxes became very high. He must have a lot of savings.” She paused, then went on Said, "I told the other two brothers too. Avery thought it was a joke on us. However, he also thought it was a hoax nine out of ten times. Cedric wasn't interested. He had a tendency to be self-centered. Ours The conclusion is: we will receive Martine, but our lawyer, Mr. Winbond, should also be invited to attend." "What does Mr. Wimbold think of the matter?" "We hadn't had time to discuss it with him. Just as we were about to do so, Martine's telegram came." "Did you take any further steps?" "Yes. I wrote a letter to the London address. 'Please forward' was written on the envelope. But no answer." "It's a rather strange thing. Hmm..." He looked at her warily. "What do you think about the matter yourself?" "I don't know what to think." "What was your reaction at the time? Do you think that letter was genuine, or did you think the same as your father and brothers? By the way, what about your brother-in-law? What did he think?" "Ah, Brian thought that letter was genuine." "how about you?" "I'm not sure." "Assuming that the girl is indeed your brother Edmund's widow, how do you feel about it?" A smile appeared on Emma's face. "I liked Edmund very much. He was my dearest brother. It seemed to me that the letter was indeed what a girl like Martine would write under the circumstances. What she wrote The situation was quite natural. At the end of the war, I think, she married again, or was with a man who could protect her and the child. Then, perhaps, the man died, or left her. So , she felt that she should ask Edmund's family to take her in, and that's what he wanted her to do. I thought the letter seemed genuine and natural. But, of course, Harold pointed out This: if it was written by a liar, it might have been written by someone who knew Martine, or someone who had all the information. That would make for a letter that seemed perfectly plausible, but, still -" She stopped suddenly. "You hope that's real?" Craddock asked mildly. She looked at him with pleasure. "Yes, I hope that is true. If Edmund keeps a son--I shall be very glad." Craddock nodded. "According to you, that letter, on the face of it, is very real. What is astonishing is the letter that follows. Martin Crackenthorpe's sudden departure from England for Paris , and you have never heard from her again since. You wrote her back very kindly, and were ready to welcome her. So, even if she had to go back to France, why didn't she write any more? That's assuming she's a real person. Of course, it's easier to explain if she's a liar. I thought you might have consulted with Mr. Wimbold. He might have started an inquiry, which alarmed the woman. You've told me that's not the case. Still, one of your brothers might do that. This Martin probably has a background that won't stand up to investigation. She probably thought she was dealing with only Edmond. A dear sister, and not a shrewd, suspicious businessman. She may hope to get some money from you for her child--not a child now, perhaps fifteen or sixteen--and Didn't ask her many questions. But she found it a very different situation to deal with. As a result, I think, some serious legal problems would have arisen from it. Had Edmund Crackenthal Pu bequeathed a son, a son by marriage, so he is one of the heirs of your father's estate, isn't he?" Emma nodded. "Not only that, but from all the facts I've heard, I know that in the future he will inherit Losaijin Villa and the surrounding land. Up to now, it's a very valuable building site." Emma looked slightly surprised. "Yes, I've thought about that." "Oh, I wouldn't worry if I were you," said Inspector Craddock. "You're quite right to tell me this. I'll look into it. But I think the woman who wrote that letter—maybe Wanting to set up a scam to make a fortune—it probably has nothing to do with the female corpse found in the sarcophagus." Emma rose with a sigh of relief. "I'm glad I told you about it. You were very kind." Craddock showed her to the door. Then he called Inspector Wesler. "Bub, I have something for you to do. You go to 126 Crescent Street, Tenth Post, North London. Take the picture of the dead woman at Loserzin Brange. You go and find out about the A woman who called herself Mrs. Crackenthorpe--Mrs. Martine Crackenthorpe--this woman lived there, or used the place as a correspondence office, from about the fifteenth of December until the end of the month. .and see what we find." "Yes, Inspector." Craddock was busy dealing with the various papers that were waiting for him on the case.In the afternoon, he went to see a theater manager who was a friend of his.He questioned him, but to no avail. Returning to his office later that day, he found a telegram from Paris on his desk. "Sections shown may be related to Anna Strovenska of the Malisky Ballet. Come and see. Dexing, county government." Craddock heaved a long sigh of relief.His brow is also stretched now.Finally there is news!Much has been said about Martin Crackenthorpe by now, he thought.He decided to take the ferry to Paris tonight.

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