Chapter 19 Chapter Nineteen

All of a sudden, all my pity and sympathy for Brenda Leonides disappeared without a trace after discovering her letter, her letter to Laurence Brown, which in retrospect , makes me feel weird.Was it because my vanity made it impossible for me to bear the revelation that she loved Laurence Brown and was deliberately deceiving me?I have no idea.I am not a psychologist.I'd rather believe it was because the thought of Josephine's child being brutally knocked out, laying hands on a young child in defense of herself, dries up my sympathy. "That stupid trap fits Brown, if you ask me," said Taverner, "and it says something that baffles me."

"What puzzles you?" "Oh, what a fool to do that. Listen, let's say the boy has these letters--damn letters! The first thing to do is try to get them back (after all, if the boy talks about them , but can't show the letters to others, then it will be regarded as pure fiction)--but you can't get them back because you can't find them. Then the only way is to get rid of the child. You Now that a murder has been committed, it's no big deal to do it again. You know she likes to play swinging doors in abandoned yards, the ideal way is to hide behind the door and wait, with an iron rod , a pair of pokers, or a stiff piece of water hose, and give her a good slap as she goes by. These things are readily available. Why bother, put a marble lion-shaped doorstop on the upper edge of the door, so that Likely to miss her, or even to hit her; likely to miss (which is what it actually turned out to be)? I ask you—why?"

"That," I said, "what's the answer?" "I thought at first it was for someone's alibi. Someone's alibi when Josephine got knocked out. But it doesn't make sense because number one, it doesn't look like anyone has any alibi .Second, someone is bound to look for the kid at lunchtime, and they'll find the trick, and the marble doorstop, and the whole thing is pretty easy to see. Of course, if the murderer locks the door before the kid is found If the block is removed, then we will not be able to figure it out." He spread his hands. "So what's your current explanation?"

"Personal factors, personal idiosyncrasies, Lawrence Brown idiosyncrasies. He didn't like violence -- he couldn't force himself to do any physical violence. He couldn't really hide behind a door and punch that kid on the head. He But you can lay a stupid trap, people walk away, don't see what happens, you don't see it." "Yes, I understand," I said slowly. "It's that weird thing about the insulin bottle again?" "Exactly." "You think he did it without Brenda knowing?" "That explains why she didn't throw away the insulin vial. Of course, they may have conspired - or maybe the whole poisoning scheme was her own idea - a simple way to kill her tired old husband. Good idea, and the best way to get the best of both worlds! But I bet she didn't set the stupid price tag. Women don't have the slightest confidence that something mechanical like that works. And they're right. Personally Thought it was weird that she had the idea, but she let her stupid love slave do it. She's the kind of person who generally avoids doing anything uncertain by herself

He pauses, then continues: "With these letters, I think the prosecutors are going to say we have a case. They've got something to explain! And then, if the kid does something, then it's all beautiful." He glanced at me. "Just marrying a millionaire bride, how does it feel?" I wince.In the busyness of the past few hours, I had forgotten about the new development of the will. "Sophia doesn't know yet," I said. "Do you want me to tell her?" "As far as I know, Gaskill will announce the bad (or good) news after the investigative court tomorrow." Taverner paused, looking at me thoughtfully.

"I wonder," he said, "how the family will react?"