Chapter 21 Chapter 21

One of my regrets at a time like this is that Josephine wasn't there.She would be very happy if she was there. She recovered quickly and could be discharged from the hospital at any time, but no matter what, she still missed another big event. One morning I was in the rock garden with Sophia and Brenda when a car pulled up to the gate.Taverner and Sergeant Lamb got out of the car, they stepped onto the platform and went into the house. Brenda stood there, staring at the car. "It's those two," she said. "Here they come again, I thought they had given up -- I thought it was all over."

I saw her tremble. She came over to join us about ten minutes ago, wrapped in her chinchilla fur coat, and said, "If I don't get out and get some exercise and get some air, I'm going to go nuts. If I walk out of the big iron gate, there's always a reporter there." There waiting to ask me questions. It's like being under siege. Is this going to keep going?" Sophia said she thought reporters would probably get tired of it before long. "You can go out by car," she added. "I told you I wanted to exercise." Then she said suddenly: "You fired Lawrence, Sophia. Why?"

Sophia replied calmly: "We're making other arrangements for Eustace, and Josephine is going to Switzerland." "Oh, you upset Lawrence very much. He feels that you don't trust him." Sophia didn't answer, and at this moment, Taverner's car arrived. Brenda stood there, shivering in the damp autumn air, and murmured, "What are they doing? Why are they here?" I think I know why they come.I didn't tell Sophia about the letters I found by the sink, but I knew they had reached the prosecutor. Taverner came out of the house, and he came across the drive and lawn towards us.Brenda trembled even more.

"What does he want?" she repeated nervously. "What does he want to do?" Then Taverner came to us.He said briefly, in official tone, in official language: "I have a warrant for your arrest—you are charged with poisoning Aristide Leonides with eserin on September 19. I must warn you that everything you say is May be used as evidence in court." Then Brenda broke down.She screamed, she held me tight, and she yelled, "No, no, no, it's not true! Charlie, tell them it's not true! I didn't do it. I don't know anything, it's all a Conspiracy. Don't let them take me away. It's not true, I tell you...it's not true...I didn't do anything..."

Terrible - too scary.I tried to reassure her, I took her fingers off my arm.I told her I was going to get her a lawyer - told her to keep calm - told her the lawyer would take care of everything... Taverner gently grabbed her elbow. "Come along, Mrs Leonides," said he. "You don't need a hat, do you? No? Let's go, then." She pulled back and stared at him with big cat-like eyes. "Lawrence," she said. "What have you done to Lawrence?" "Mr. Laurence Brown was likewise arrested," said Taverner. She looked downcast.Her body seemed to have shrunk and was about to collapse, tears gushed out and covered her entire face.She quietly followed Taverner across the lawn towards the car.I saw Lawrence Brown and Sergeant Lamb come out of the house, and they all got into the car... and it drove away.

I took a deep breath and turned to Sophia.She was very pale and had a troubled expression on her face. "Terrible, Charlie," she said. "Pretty scary." "I know." "You've got to get her a really first-class lawyer—the best lawyer. She—she's got to get all the help she can get." "It's incomprehensible," I said, "what a thing like that is. I've never seen anyone arrested before." "I know. It's confusing." We both fell silent.I thought of the look of hopeless terror on Brenda's face.That expression seemed familiar to me, and suddenly I knew why.That was the look on Magda Leonides' face when she was talking about that Edith Thompson play on my first day in the Freak House.

"Again," she said, "it's sheer terror, don't you think?" Total terror—that was the look on Brenda's face.Brenda was not a strong fighter, and I doubt she had the guts to murder.But maybe she didn't.Maybe it was Lawrence Brown, with his paranoia of persecution, his erratic personality, who poured the contents of one vial into another--an easy move--to get the woman he loved. free body. "This way, it's all over," said Sophia. She sighed deeply, and then asked: "But why arrest them now? I don't think the evidence is enough."

"Some evidence has come up, letter." "You mean a love letter between them?" "yes." "What a fool who preserves such a thing!" Yes, it is indeed stupid, the kind of stupid who doesn't know how to learn from other people's experience and lessons.You don't open a newspaper a day without seeing this silly example of the passion to save a written "Vow of Love." "This is pretty nasty, Sophia," I said. "But it's no good to dwell on it. After all, that's what we've been hoping for, isn't it? It's what you said the first night you and I met at Mario's. You said that if it's the right person Killed your grandfather, and that's all right. Brenda's the right one, isn't she? Brenda or Lawrence?"

"Stop it, Charlie, you're making me feel bad." "But we must be sensible. We can marry now, Sophia, and you must not delay any longer. The Leonides family is out of the way." She stared at me, and I never knew her eyes were so vivid and blue. "Yes," she said. "I think we're probably off by now, we're all off the hook, aren't we? Are you sure?" "Yes dear girl, none of you really have the slightest motive." Her face suddenly turned pale. "Except for me, Charlie, I have a motive." "Yes, of course—" I was taken aback. "But it's not. You know, you didn't know about the will."

"But I know, Charlie," she whispered. "What?" I stared at her with wide eyes, and I suddenly felt chills all over my body. "I always knew my grandfather left me his fortune." "But how do you know?" "He told me. About two weeks before he was killed, he said to me rather abruptly, 'I left you all my money, Sofia. You're going to take care of this family when I'm gone.' '" I was dumbfounded. "You never told me." "No. You know, when they were all talking about the will and his signature, I thought maybe he was mistaken--maybe he was just imagining he left me the property. Or, if He made a will and left me the property, so that will is lost and it will never come back. I don't want it to come out - I'm afraid."

"Afraid? Why?" "I think—probably because of murder." I thought of the look of terror on Brenda's face -- the unexplainable panic.I thought of the utter panic Magda had put on when she imagined playing a murderess.That would not create panic in Sophia's mind, but she was a practical person, and she could see clearly that Leonides' will would make her a suspect.I understand better now (or so I think) why she refused to marry me, insisting that I have to find out the truth.The real truth, she had said, and the truth alone was good for her.I remembered her excited and eager look when she said this. We had turned and walked towards the house, and at a certain point I suddenly remembered some other things she had said. She had said that she thought she might be able to murder someone, but if so, she added, it would have to be for something really worthwhile.