Chapter 19 Chapter 19 The Purpose of a Shoe

Gannon Prescott came back from the water's edge a little panting (playing with children is always tiring). After a while, he and his sister felt that the beach was getting hotter, and went back to the hotel. "What nonsense," Ms. Caspialo cursed softly as they walked away. "Why is the beach so hot? Look at what she's wearing—the arms and neck are tightly wrapped. Maybe that's all right. The skin is so ugly, like a plucked chicken!" Miss Marple took a deep breath.If you don't hurry now, you won't have a chance to talk to Ms. Caspialo.Unfortunately, she didn't know what to say, and there seemed to be nothing to talk about between the two of them.

"Have you any children, ma'am?" she asked. "I have three little angels." Ms. Caspialo replied, kissing the tips of her own fingers. Miss Marple couldn't figure it out for a moment: was it a sign that her children were in heaven, or just a description of their character. A man around Ms. Caspialo said something in Spanish, and the woman threw her head back and laughed heartily. "Do you understand what he's talking about?" she asked Miss Marple. "I don't understand," Marple said with some shame. "That's all right. He's a bad man."

Then there was a din of Spanish banter. "It's unbelievable—it's pissing off," said Ms. Caspialo, abruptly switching to English. No. No. You know what happens to us in the end—murdered!" Her bodyguards wanted to comfort her. "Why, I know--but I told you, it's an unlucky place. I knew it from the beginning—the old Major, the ugly one—had a ghost eye—don't you remember?The two eyes are cross-eyed again.That is unlucky and will bring bad luck!Every time he looks at me, I make the sign of the cross on my chest. As she spoke, she gestured. "Of course, because he is cross-eyed, I don't know if he is looking at me." "

"He has an eye made of glass," said Miss Marple, explaining: "As far as I know, he had an accident when he was a child. So it can't be blamed on him." "Anyway, let me tell you, he's brought us bad luck. I think it's all because of his bad eye." She held out a hand and made a well-known Latin gesture—the index finger and little finger extended, and the middle two fingers curled in. "Anyway," she said relievedly, "he's dead anyway—I don't have to see him anymore. I don't like looking at ugly things. " Miss Marple thought it would be a cruel epitaph for Major Balgrave.

Over there on the beach, Greg Dyson stepped out of the water, and Lucky rolled over on the sand.Evelyn Hillingdon's eyes were on Lucky, and somehow Miss Marple shuddered at her eyes. "I can't be cold - under such a hot sun." She was thinking in her heart. How does that old saying go - "A goose walked by your grave and she got up and walked slowly back to her cabin. On the way, she met Mr. Raffles and Esther Walters walking towards the beach, and Mr. Raffles winked at her.Miss Marple made no reply.She had a disapproving expression on her face. She went back to the cabin and lay down on the bed.She felt old, tired and worried.

She knew very well that there was no time for her to waste--no time-to-was-was... It was getting late.The sun is about to go down—the sun—the sun needs to be made of blackened glass. Where is the blackened glass they gave her? ... No, she didn't need it anyway.There happened to be a shadow covering the sun, and it was all blocked.a shadow.The shadow of Evelyn Hillingdon - no, not the shadow of Evelyn Hillingdon - is (what?) the shadow of Death Valley, yes, that's the word.To avoid the ghost eyes—Belgrave's ghost eyes, she should—how come?By the way, it should be crossed on the chest.

Her eyelids popped open.She had been asleep.But there was a shadow—someone was peeking in through the window. The shadow moved away—Miss Marple saw who it was too, it was Jaxon. "There's no rules—peeping," she thought, and she added, "Just like Jonas Barry." She wondered again why Jaxon was peeking into her bedroom.See if she is in the room?Or knew she was in the room, but fell asleep? She got up and went into the bathroom, carefully peeking out the window. Arthur Jaxon was standing at the door of the next-door cabin, Mr. Raifel's.After seeing him glance around briefly, she slipped in.That's strange, thought Miss Marple.Why was she looking around so furtively?It was quite natural for him to go into Mr. Ryfell's house, for he himself was behind it, and besides, he was often in and out of Mr. Ryfell's service.So why look around furtively and timidly? "There's only one reason," Miss Marple asked herself and answered him. "He's going to be sure. He wants to go in and do something that no one else can see."

At this time, of course, everyone was on the beach, except those who went out for sightseeing. In about twenty minutes, Jaxson himself would go to the beach to serve Mr. Rafiel's daily soak.If he wanted to do something without letting others see it was the perfect time.He was relieved that Miss Marple was fast asleep on the bed, and he was quite relieved that no one was paying attention to his actions.Well, she was going to do everything she could to observe his behavior. Miss Marple sat on the bed, took off her neat sandals, and put on a pair of sneakers.Then, shaking his head, he took off his sneakers and found a pair of leather shoes in the suitcase. The heel of one of them was accidentally caught on a hook on the door a few days ago.

It's a little crooked now.Miss Marple found a nail-grinding iron, and deftly made the heel more crooked.Then, wearing only her stockings, she stepped alertly out of the door.Like an expert hunter aiming at a herd of antelopes oncoming, Miss Marple cautiously patrolled around Mr. Raifel's cabin for a week.She cautiously walked around to a corner of the cabin.Putting on one of the leather shoes in his hand, he twisted the broken heel severely, then squatted down slightly, and lay his head under the window.If Jaxson heard a noise and ran to the window to look out, he would find an old lady on the ground with a twisted heel.Apparently Jaxon didn't hear anything.

Miss Marple raised her head slowly and gently. The window of the wooden house was very low, and under the cover of a row of vines, she peeked inside... Jaxon was kneeling before a box, the lid of which had been lifted; Miss Mapie saw that it was a special case with small compartments for various papers.Jaxon was flipping through the documents inside, pulling out a copy from the long envelope from time to time.Miss Marple only watched the scene for a moment; all she wanted to know was what Jaxon was up to.She knows now.He is peeping.Whether he was looking for something special, or whether his natural habit had relapsed, she couldn't judge.But it had already confirmed one of her observations: Arthur Jaxon not only looked like Jonas Barry, but also had a striking resemblance in character.

The question now is how she will go back.She squatted down again, and very carefully crawled along the flowerbed from under the window.After returning to her cabin, she put away the shoe and the heel that had come off.She looked at it lovingly—it was a good prop, and she could use it again in the future if necessary.She put on her sandals and went back to the beach suspiciously. Waiting for the time for Yishu Huades to go into the water, she walked over and sat on the chair that Yishu had left. Greg Dyson and Lucky were talking and laughing with Ms. Caspialo, quite loudly. Miss Marple, not looking at Mr. Ryfell, said to him, almost breathlessly, in a very low voice: "I don't know if Jaxon has a peeping problem?" "Not at all new," said Mr. Rifle. "What? Got him?" "I watched him for a while from the window. He opened one of your trunks and was looking at your papers." "Must have got a key. Fairy fellow. Must be disappointed, though. Nothing he found that way will do him any good." "Here he is," said Miss Marple, looking across the restaurant. "It's that nasty soaking time again." He said again in a low voice: "As for yourself—don't take too much risk. The next funeral, I don't want it to be yours. Don't forget your age, be careful. There are people here who are unscrupulous."