Chapter 25 Section 25

"I looked up 'tontee' in the dictionary," said Lucy. After the pleasantries, now Lucy is wandering aimlessly around the room, fumbling here and there, now with a china dog, now with the chair-back cover, now with the woven plastic box by the window. "I thought you might look into it," said Miss Marple quietly. Lucy quoted the words in the dictionary and said slowly, "Lorenzo Tonti, an Italian banker, created a pension insurance system in 1658. If someone who participated in the insurance died, his share would be equal to Survivor share." He paused. "That's what it is, isn't it? Then it fits the facts. You thought about it even before the last two murders."

She resumed her incessant, almost aimless wandering.Miss Marple sat watching her.It was a very different figure from the Lucy Esborough she had known. "I think it's really your own fault," said Lucy. "A will like that, in the end, if there's only one person left, he'll get it all. But it's a lot of money, isn't it?" ? You will think that you can get a lot if you just divide according to the rules—" She paused, and then she stopped talking. "The thing is," said Miss Marple, "people are greedy, some people are. You know, that's often how a lot of things start. You don't kill people in the first place, you don't try to kill people, Don't even think about killing people. You're just greedy in the first place, wanting more than you want." She put her knitting on her lap and stared straight ahead. "That's how I first met Inspector Craddock. There was a case in the country, near Maddenham Springs. It started the same way, just a weak, kindly character, trying to get a lot of money." , that was money he wasn't entitled to, but it was easy to get. At the time, there was no murder, it was just a very easy, very simple thing, and it seemed almost criminal, that's how it started, but There were three murders as a result."

"Like this," said Lucy, "we got three lives; the woman who pretended to be Martin—she might get her son's money. Then Alfred, then Harold. Now only It's the next two, isn't it?" "You mean," said Miss Marple, "that there are only Cedric and Emma left?" "Not Emma, ​​Emma is not a tall, brown-haired man. No, I mean Cedric and Brian. I never thought of Brian because he was fair-haired and fair-skinned. He had blond Big beard, and blue eyes, but, you know what—the other day—” She paused. "Well, go on," said Miss Marple, "tell me there's something that bothers you, doesn't it?"

"That was just as Baroness Stoldar West was leaving, she had already said good-bye to us. But she turned to me as she was about to get into the carriage. Who's the tall brunette in the porch?'” "At first I couldn't imagine who she was referring to, because Cedric was still in bed. So I was kind of confused, 'Didn't you mean Brian Easterly?' So she said, 'Of course, it turns out That's him. Easterly Air Squadron Commander, who once hid in our hayloft during the French underground resistance in World War II. I remember him standing there, with his Shoulder form.' Then she said, 'I would have liked to see him again, but we couldn't find him.'”

Miss Marple said nothing, but waited for her to go on. "So," said Lucy, "then I looked at him . . . he was standing there with his back to me, and I saw something I should have noticed earlier. That is, even if a man's hair is blond Yes, his hair can look brown too, because he can paint it that way with ointment. Brian's hair is a medium tan, but it may look dark brown. So, you see, your friend Seeing that man on the train could be Brian, maybe..." "Yes," said Miss Marple, "I have thought so." "I think you've thought of everything," said Lucy sharply.

"But I don't see what Brian would get out of it. I mean, the money would go to Alexander, not him. They'd probably be able to live more comfortably, with a little more luxury, but, he couldn't Use the capital to complete his plans, or something of the sort." "However, Alexander encountered an accident when he was twenty-one years old. Then, since Brian is his father, he can get the money as the closest relative." Miss Marple pointed out. Lucy looked at her shudderingly. "He wouldn't do that, no father just -- just for the money." Miss Marple sighed. "People do, my dear, and it's a very sad and terrible thing. But they will."

"People do terrible things," continued Miss Marple. "I knew a woman who poisoned her three children just to get a little insurance money. There was also an old lady who, apparently, Look obviously a very nice old lady who poisoned her son when he came home for holiday. And that old Mrs. Steinway, that case was in the papers, I think you probably saw it. Her daughter died, Then there was her son, and later she said she was poisoned herself. There was poison in the porridge, but, you know, it turned out she put the poison in it herself. That's when she was planning to poison the last daughter, then Not quite for the money, she was jealous that they were younger than she, and alive. She was afraid—it was a terrible thing to say, but it was true—she was afraid that they would be happy after she died. The control of money in the family is very tight, yes, she is of course a bit strange as the rumors outside. However, I don't see how this can be a real excuse, I mean, you may be very different in many ways. Strange. Sometimes you give away all you own to others just to help others, or bill everywhere from an account that doesn't even exist. Do you understand? That shows that in Behind your strange appearance you have a very good heart. But, of course, if you are strange but hide a very bad heart behind your strange appearance, well, that's it. Now, my dear Lucy, these Did the word do you any good?"

"Good for me?" Lucy asked inexplicably. "What I told you," went on Miss Marple mildly, "was to tell you not to worry, you know. You really needn't worry. Esbeth McGillicuddy could be here any minute." "I don't know what that has to do with this." "Yes, my dear, it probably doesn't matter. But, personally, I think it matters." "I've got to be very worried," said Lucy, "you know? I'm growing concerned about this family." "I know, my dear. It's difficult for you, because you've taken a strong interest in both of them, but it's quite a different situation, isn't it?"

"What do you mean by that?" said Lucy, her voice very high. "I'm talking about the two sons there," said Miss Marple, "or, more correctly, the son and the son-in-law. Fortunately, the two obnoxious members of the family died, leaving two A lovely character. I can see that Cedric Crackenthorpe is very lovable. He is often outwardly worse than he is, and there is something endearing about him." "He annoys me sometimes, and I want to fight him," said Lucy. "Yes," said Miss Marple, "you like that, don't you? You're an energetic girl; you like to fight. Yes, I can see where that attraction is. As for Easterly Sir, he is a somewhat sad-faced man, somewhat like an unhappy child, and that is of course very touching."

"One of them is a murderer," said Lucy sternly. "Either of them may be. We have no basis for deciding which one is. Take Cedric, for instance, for his brother The death of Alfred or Harold didn't give a damn. He just sat back in his chair, looking very satisfied, and kept planning what to do with the Chateau Rosezin. He kept saying that he would do what he wanted. It takes a lot of money to develop that place. Of course, I know he's the kind of guy who likes to exaggerate his ruthlessness. But, that can be a smoke screen. I mean, everyone will say that they are better than The real situation is more ruthless, and you may be more ruthless than you seem!"

"Dear, dear Lucy! I feel really sorry about that." "Now about Brian," said Lucy, "it's very special. But Brian seems to want to live there, he thinks he and Alexander will be very happy there, and he has a plan in his head." "He always has a lot of plans, all of a sudden this and then that, doesn't he?" "Yeah, I think he did. It all sounded like a pretty good plan, but I had this uneasy feeling that it wasn't going to work. I mean, those plans weren't practical. That kind of thinking True, but I don't think he considered the difficulty of actually doing it." "Those plans, so to speak, are castles in the air, right?" "Yeah, mostly. I mean, those plans are really castles in the air. They're all air plans, and maybe a really good fighter pilot will never quite get back on the ground..." She went on: "He was very fond of Loserzin Lodge because it reminded him of the big rambling Victorian house he lived in as a child." "Oh," said Miss Marple thoughtfully, "yes, I see." Then she glanced quickly sideways at Lucy, as if suddenly seizing an opportunity to surprise her with words. "But, my dear, it's not all that, is it? There's something else." "Ah, yes, there's something else, I just didn't realize until two days ago that Brian was actually on that train." "On the 4:33 train from Paddington?" "Yes, you know? Emma thought she had to account for his actions on December 20th, so she thought about it carefully—going to a committee meeting in the morning, shopping in the afternoon, She had tea at the Sorrel Teahouse, and later she said she was going to pick up Brian at the station. I calculated the time of her tea, and I figured out that the bus she picked up was about 4:33. So I was very Asked Brian casually if it was the train and he said yes it was the train. And added that his car was wrecked and was being repaired so he had to come by train - really annoying, He said he didn't like trains. It all seemed natural to him, probably all right. But, I don't know why, I thought, if only he wasn't on that train..." "On that bus, actually," said Miss Marple thoughtfully. "That doesn't really prove anything. The worst thing is all that suspicion. It's impossible to know what's going on. Maybe we never will." "Of course we'll know, my dear," said Miss Marple hastily. "I mean, it doesn't stop there. One thing I do know about murderers is that they never think : He's all right, don't touch him. Or, perhaps we should put it this way, they never think: He's out of luck, don't touch him again. In any case," said Miss Marple decisively, "they Kill another and never let go. Don't worry too much now, Lucy, the police have done everything in their power to take care of everyone. And the best part is that Esper McGillicuddy will be back soon Already!"