Chapter 25 Section 3

Ba Tuo and Li Qi stood in the corridor of the beautifully furnished bedroom.A police officer was carefully fingerprinting the grip of a golf club on the floor in front of them—a heavy iron nine.There was blood on the iron of the club, and a gray hair or two stuck to it. La Renbi, a local police doctor, leaned over the bedside to inspect Mrs. Trixilian's body. He sighed and stood up straight "One hit. She was hit hard in the front. The bone was shattered in one blow, and she died, but the killer struck again to make sure she was dead. I won't give you any jargon—that's it, simply."

"How long has she been dead?" Li Qi asked. "I think it was between ten o'clock and midnight." "Can't you shorten the time difference a little bit?" "It's better not to. Various factors must be considered. Nowadays we don't judge by the degree of stiffness after death. Ten o'clock at the earliest, midnight at the latest." "Did she get hit by this nine-iron?" The doctor looked at the iron. "Probably. It's a good thing the killer kept it. I can't deduce from the wound that it was a nine-iron. The sharp side of the iron didn't touch the head—it must have hit her on the curved backside."

"Isn't it a bit difficult to start like this?" Li Qi asked. "If it was done on purpose, yes," agreed the doctor, "I can only assume that, by some odd coincidence, it happened." Li Qi raised his hands, instinctively trying to imitate the murderer's movements. "Awkward," he said. "Yes," the doctor said thoughtfully, "the whole thing is awkward in itself. You know, she was hit on the right temple—the person who hit it had to stand on the right side of the bed—to face the head of the person lying on the bed." There is no space on the left, and the angle from the wall is too large."

Li Qi's ears perked up. "Lefty?" he asked. "I'm not going to confirm that," said Dr. Larenbi. "Too many surprises. If you want my opinion, I'd say the simplest explanation is that the killer was left-handed—but there are others." Explain. For example, suppose the old lady turned her head slightly to the left when the man struck. Or he might have moved the bed out beforehand, stood on the left side of the bed to strike, and moved the bed back afterwards." "Unlikely—the last case." "Improbable, perhaps, but possible. I have some experience with the matter, and I can tell you, boy, that it would be rash to infer that the murderer was left-handed!"

Sergeant Jones squatted on the floor and said, "This golf club is a normal right-handed." Li Qi nodded. "However, it may not belong to the murderer. A man, I suppose, Doctor?" "Not really. If the murder weapon was the nine-iron, the woman could still deliver the killing blow." Inspector Barto said in his calm voice: "But you can't confirm that it was the murder weapon, can you, Doctor?" Dr. Larenbi glanced at him quickly with interest. "No. All I can say is that it might have been the murder weapon, and it must have been. I'll test the blood on it to make sure of the blood type—and the hair."

"Yes," Ba Tuo agreed with him, "it's always better to be thorough." Dr. Larenbi asked curiously: "Have you any doubt about that golf club yourself, Inspector?" Ba Tuo shook his head. "Oh, no, yes. I'm a simple man, and I like to believe what I see. She was hit with something heavy--the club was heavy. It had stains and hair on it, so it must have been her blood and hair." .So—that was the murder weapon." Li Qi asked: "Was she awake or asleep when she was attacked?" "Awake, as far as I can see. She had a look of astonishment on her face. I think—purely personal opinion—that she didn't expect that to happen. No sign of attempted resistance—no fear, Scared. I think either she's just woken up, groggy, and overwhelmed—or she knows the killer, and thinks he's someone who couldn't possibly want to hurt her."

"Only the bedside lamp is still on," Li Qi said thoughtfully. "Yes, there are two explanations for that, it could have been turned on when she was woken by someone who came into her room unexpectedly, or it could have been on." Sergeant Jones straightened up.He smiled with satisfaction. "Getting a good set of fingerprints off the club," he said. "It's very clear!" Li Qi sighed deeply. "That should simplify things." "Responsible fellow," said Dr. Larenby, "leaves the murder weapon--leaves fingerprints--wonderful why he doesn't just leave his business card too!"

"Probably," said Chief Inspector Bardot, "his head went out for a moment. Some people do." The doctor nodded. "That's true. Well, I have to attend to another patient of mine." "What patient?" Ba Tuo suddenly asked with interest. "The butler called me before he found out about the situation here. Mrs. Trixilian's maid was found unconscious this morning." "What's the matter with her?" "Overdosed on barbiturates. She's in bad shape, but she'll recover." "Maid?" Batu said.His bull's-eyes moved to the large bell-pull whose tassel was on the pillow at the dead man's hand.

Dr. Larenbi nodded. "True. That's the first thing Mrs. Tricilian would do when she raised her alarm—rang for the maid. She'd probably yank till she died. The maid wouldn't hear." "That's been tampered with?" Ji Tuo said, "Are you sure? She doesn't have the habit of taking sleeping pills?" "I'm sure. There is no sign of this kind of thing in her room. And I found out how she ate it. Chana leaf juice (anti-diarrheal medicine), she drank a little every night, and something was added to it." Chief Inspector Batu arrested him.

"Well," he said, "someone who knows the house very well. You know, Doctor, it's a very queer murder." "Oh," Larenby said, "that's your business." "He's a good guy, our doctor," Leech said as Larenbi left the room. Now only the two of them are left.Photographs were taken, and the location and size of the site were also recorded.Here comes the two officers who know everything there is to know about the scene. Ba Tuo nodded to his nephew.He seemed to be thinking about something that puzzled him. "Do you think it's possible for anyone to hold that club -- say, put on a glove -- without destroying the original fingerprints?"

Li Qi shook his head. "I don't think it's possible, and you don't think it's possible. There's no way you'd grab that club—I mean, not use it—and not destroy those fingerprints. They're not damaged. They're pretty clear. Yourselves I've seen it too." "Now we politely ask everyone if they would like us to take their fingerprints - of course, it is not compulsory. Then everyone will say yes - and then there are two possibilities, if those fingerprints are not If it doesn't match, it's—" "That we'll find the man we want?" "I think so. Or the woman we want, maybe." Li Qi shook his head. "No, not a woman. The fingerprints on the club belong to a man. Too big to be a woman's. Besides, it wasn't a woman's crime." "No," Barto agreed. "It's a man's crime. Brutal, masculine, a little jockish, and kind of stupid. Know anyone in this room like that?" "I don't know anyone in the house yet. They're all in the dining room right now." Ba Tuo walked towards the door. "Let's go and see them." He looked back at the bed, shook his head and said: "I don't like that bell ringer." "What's wrong with it?" "It doesn't make sense." He opened the door, and added: "Wonderful, who would want to kill her? There's a lot of old women around here who deserve to be smacked on the head. She's not like that. I think she's popular." He paused, then asked road: 'Is she rich?Who inherits her fortune? " Li Qi heard the meaning in his life: "You've found the right one! Here's the answer. That's the first thing to find out." When they walked down the stairs, Ji Tuo looked at a list in his hand. He read out: "Miss Odin, Mr. Lloyd, Mr. Springi, Mrs. Springi, Mrs. Audrey Springi. Well, it seems that Chunji has a lot of people." "Those are his two wives, I know." Ba Tuo raised his eyebrows and murmured: "Is he a green bearded man (a man who marries wives and concubines randomly)?" The whole family gathers at the dinner table and pretends to be eating. Chief Inspector Barto scanned the faces that turned to look at him with piercing eyes.He was looking at them in his own peculiar way.It might surprise them if they knew what he thought of them.His vision is biased.No matter how much the law pretends to say that anyone is innocent until proven guilty, Inspector Bartow always regards anyone connected to a murder as a potential murderer. He saw Mary Odin, sitting upright in the head seat, Thomas Lloyd, beside her filling a pipe; he saw Audrey sitting with the seat back, holding a tray of coffee cups in her right hand , holding a long cigarette in his left hand; seeing Neville, who was bewildered and trying to light a cigarette with trembling hands; seeing Kay, whose elbows were resting on the table, pale through makeup. The Inspector General of Bardo's thoughts are as follows: Let's say it's Miss Odin, cool--able woman, I think so.It was not easy to disarm her.The man next to her is unpredictable-has a weak arm-a "poker" face-maybe has an "inferiority complex".It was one of the two ladies I thought—she was frightened to death—well, she was frightened, yes.The coffee cup in that hand is strange.That was Shi Chunji, I had seen him somewhere before.He was terrified—a nervous breakdown.Red-haired girls are shrews—with devilish tempers and brains. Inspector Leech was making a stiff little speech as he looked at them in this way.Mary Odin called everyone present by name. She concluded: "It's a terrible scare for us, of course, but we're eager to help you in any way we can." "First of all," Li Qi said and grabbed the club, "Does anyone know this golf club?" Kay yelped, said, "How horrible isn't this—" and stopped. Neville.Shi Chunji stood up, walked around the table and walked towards Inspector Li Qi. "Looks like mine. May I have a look?" "There's nothing wrong with it now," Inspector Leech said. "You can take it and have a look." The meaningful "now" he spoke of seemed to have little effect on the onlookers, and Neville inspected the club. "I think it's an iron out of my club bag," he said. "I'll prove it to you later. Come with me." They followed him to a large cupboard under the stairs.He opened the cupboard door, and there seemed to be a pile of tennis rackets inside, which made Batu's eyes dazzled.Then he remembered where he had seen Neville Springer, and he said quickly: "I saw you play at Wimbledon, sir." Neville half turned his head. "Oh, is it?" He was pushing away some tennis rackets, and there were two bags of golf clubs in the closet, leaning against the fishing gear. "Only my wife and I can play golf," Neville said, "and it was a man's club, um, yes - mine." He has moved out of his club bag, which contains at least fourteen clubs. Inspector Li Qi thought to himself: "These athletes are pretty similar. I don't want to be his caddy." Neville is saying: "This is one of the Walter Harder pig-iron heads from St. Espert. "Thank you, Mr. Shi Chunji. This solves a problem." Neville said: "What I can't figure out is that nothing is missing. And the house doesn't seem to have been damaged?" His voice was puzzled—frightened at the same time. Ba Tuo thought in his heart: "They're thinking, each of them..." "The servants are so honest," said Neville. "I'll talk to Miss Odin about the servants," Inspector Leech said calmly. "I wonder if you could tell me who Mrs. Tricilian's lawyer is?" "Askerworth Trerony," replied Neville quickly, "in Saint-Loup." "Thank you, Mr. Shi Chunji. We have to find them and find out everything about Mrs. Cui Xilian's estate." "You mean," asked Neville, "who will inherit her estate?" "Yes, sir. Her will, etc." "I don't know of her will," Neville said. "As far as I know, she doesn't have much to bequeath herself. I can tell you about most of her estate." "How is it, Mr. Shi Chunji?" "According to the will of Marceau Trixilian, it belongs to me and my wife. Mrs. Trixilian can only enjoy the benefits while she is alive." "Really, is that so?" Li Qi looked at Neville with interest, as if a pet collector had taken a fancy to something that might be worth collecting.His gaze made Neville cringe nervously.Inspector Li Qi continued, his voice was surprisingly kind, "You don't know the number, Mr. Shi Chunji?" "I can't tell you the exact amount at the moment. I believe it's somewhere around a hundred thousand pounds." "T-y. You each get that amount?" "No, we will share it equally." "That's how it is, a very considerable amount." Neville smiled.He calmly said: "My own money is enough to live on, you know, I don't need to take advantage of the dead." Inspector Leech looked a little taken aback at the idea. They went back to the restaurant, and Richie delivered his second little chat.This time the theme is fingerprints - a routine - to sift through the fingerprints that family members leave in the chamber of the dead. Everyone expressed their willingness—almost eagerly—to have their fingerprints taken. They flocked like sheep into the study, where Inspector Jones waited to be fingerprinted. Ba Tuo and Li Qi began to talk to the servants. Not much can be learned from them.Hustow explained the custom of locking the door, and swore that no one had touched it in the morning.There was no sign of any break-ins.He said the front door was locked but not bolted, meaning it could be opened from the outside with a key.Because Mr. Neviyu was going to Dongtouwan and would be back late, he didn't lock the bar from the house. "Do you know when he will be back?" "Yes, sir, I think it was about half-past two. Someone came back with him, I think. I heard their voices, and then a car drove away, and then I heard doors closing and Mr. Neville going upstairs." sound." "What time did he leave here for Dongtouwan last night?" "About twenty past ten, I heard the door closing." Li Qi nodded.For the time being, there seemed to be nothing more to ask Hustow.He interviews the other servants.They all looked tense and scared, which was the most natural thing to do under the circumstances. After the somewhat hysterical kitchen maid left, Li Qi looked at his uncle inquiringly. Baduo said, "Call back that maid—not the one with the protruding eyes—the one who is tall and thin like a vinegar bottle. She knows something." Emma Wells was visibly fidgeting.This time, it was the middle-aged man with a well-balanced and burly figure who asked her personally, which made her alert. "I just wanted to give you a piece of advice, Miss Wells," he said kindly. "You know, it's not okay to know anything and not tell the police. It will make you look bad at you, and if you you know what I mean--" Emma Wells protested indignantly, but with trepidation: "I'm sure I never—" "Come on, come on." Ba Tuo raised his huge palm to stop her. "What did you see or hear—what was it?" "I didn't hear it—I mean I didn't mean to—and Mr. Hurstow did. And I don't think it has anything to do with the murder." "Maybe it's okay, maybe it's okay. You just tell us what you heard." "Oh, I'm just going to bed. It's just after ten o'clock—I'll put the hot water bottle on Miss Odin's bed first. She uses it, summer or winter, so of course I have to pass the lady's door." "Go on," Barto said. "I heard her and Mr. Neville arguing very loudly. He was yelling. Oh, what a veritable quarrel!" "Remember exactly what they were arguing about?" "Oh, I wasn't really listening." "Mrs. said she wouldn't allow anything in her house, and Mr. Neville said, 'Don't you say anything against her.' He was all in a temper." Ba Tuo, who was expressionless, tried again, but couldn't ask any more questions.Finally he sent the woman away. He and James looked at each other.After a minute or two, Li Qi said: "Jones will be able to tell us the results of the fingerprinting by now." Bato asked: "Who's checking the room?" "Williams, he's all right. Nothing escapes him." "Everyone is not allowed to enter the room, right?" "Yes, until Williams is over." At this moment the door opened and young Williams poked his head in. "There's something to show you. It's in Mr. Neville Schunkie's room." They stood up and followed him to the suite in the west wing. Williams pointed to a pile of things on the floor, a dark blue coat, pants and vest. Li Qi said sharply: "Where did you find these?" "Stuck in the bottom of the closet. Look at this, sir." He picked up his coat, showing the dark blue sleeves. "See those dark stains? It's blood, sir, it's unmistakable. And, look here, it's all down the sleeve." "Well," said Bardo, evading his nephew's eager glance, "seems to be against young Neville, I must say. Are there any other clothes in the room?" "A dark gray pinstriped dress was hanging on a chair. There was water on the floor by the sink." "It seems that he hastily washed off the blood on his body? Yes. Although the sink is near the window, a lot of rain has poured in." "Not so much as to make those puddles on the floor, sir. It hasn't been done yet." Ba Tuo remained silent, and a scene appeared in front of his eyes. A man with blood on his hands and sleeves hurriedly took off his clothes, stuffed the blood-stained clothes into the closet, and hurriedly rinsed his hands with water. and arm. He looked at a door in the other wall, Williams answered without waiting for him to speak. "That's Mrs. Schunji's room, sir. The door is locked." "Locked? From here?" "No, from the other side." "From her, eh?" Ba Tuo thought for a minute or two.Finally, he said: "Let's go see the old master and servant again." Hastor was nervous.Li Qi went straight to the point, he said: "Hustow, why didn't you tell us that you heard Mr. Shi Chunji and Mrs. Trixilian arguing last night?" The old man blinked. "I really haven't given it any more thought, sir. I don't think it was what you call a quarrel--just a disagreement and an amicable communication." Li Qi restrained himself from saying: "See you big-headed ghost, why don't you communicate in a friendly manner!" He continued: "What did Mr. Shi Chunji wear at dinner last night?" Hastor hesitated.Ji Tuo calmed him down and said: "Navy blue or gray pinstriped suit? If you don't remember, maybe someone else can tell us." Hastor broke the silence. "I remember now, sir. It was his dark blue suit." He went on: "It's not customary for the family to change into evening dress in the summer. They often go out after supper—sometimes in the garden." , sometimes to the pier." Barto nodded.Hastor left.He passed Jones in the aisle.Jones entered the door with a look of excitement on his face. He said: "Easy job, sir. I've checked it out. Only one fingerprint matches. Of course I only have time for a cursory comparison, but I bet you can't be wrong." "How is it?" Batu said. "The fingerprints on that iron belong to Mr. Neville Schunk, sir." Ba Tuo lay back on the back of the chair. "Well," he said, "that seems to be settled, doesn't it?"