Chapter 20 Chapter 20 Miss Russell

Miss Russell and Inspector Raglan were greatly disappointed.He, like the rest of us, was not duped by Brent's sworn lies.He complained loudly and loudly on the way home. "That would change everything, and I don't know if you realize that, M. Poirot?" "That's right, I think so, too," said Poirot. Thinking about it." Inspector Raglan, who had only had this thought a mere half an hour before, looked gloomily at Poirot, and went on talking about his new vision of the case. "The circumstantial evidence seems worthless now! It's meaningless! We'll have to start all over again and find out what everyone did after half-past nine. Half-past nine—that's the time we're going to fix, You're absolutely right about Kent - we can't let him go just yet. Let me think about it - at the Dog Whistle Bar at nine forty-five, a quarter of an hour if you run. Mr. Raymond hears It was probably he who was talking to Mr Ackroyd - he asked Mr Ackroyd for money and Mr Ackroyd refused. But one thing is clear - he was definitely not the one calling. The station was at another Half a mile in the direction—more than a mile and a half from the dog whistle. It was nine-fifty when he left the dog whistle. That damned phone call! We're stuck on the subject." "We also All the same," Poirot agreed, "this call is indeed puzzling." "There is a possibility that if Captain Paton had crawled into his stepfather's room and found him murdered, he might have made the call. He got a fright, thought he'd be accused of a murderer, and walked away. It's possible, isn't it?" "Why did he call?" "Maybe he wasn't quite sure that Is the old man really dead, thinking he should see a doctor as soon as possible, but don't want to reveal his identity. Yes, that's my opinion. What do you guys think of this analysis? Dare I say, this The analysis makes some sense." The inspector took a deep breath, and his attitude appeared very arrogant.It was obvious at a glance that he was very pleased with what he had said.It would be superfluous if we were to express our views again.

At this time the car had arrived at the door of my house, and I hurried to see my surgical patients, who had been waiting for a long time.Poirot and the inspector had to walk to the police station. After dismissing the last patient, I wandered leisurely into the small room at the back of the house, which I called my workshop--I was proud of my homemade radio.Caroline hates my workshop.I store all my tools there, and Anne is not allowed to mess around with a dustpan and a broom.The alarm clock at home is said to be inaccurate, so I want to fix it.Caroline poked her head in while I was adjusting the alarm clock movement.

"Oh! So here you are, James," she complained. "M. Poirot wants to see you." "All right," I said irritably.She came in so suddenly that I was startled, and the precision part in my hand fell to nowhere. "He wants to see me, can you tell him to come here." "Come here?" Caroline asked. "Yes, come here." Caroline snorted resentfully, and then backed out.After a minute or two she entered with Poirot, and then withdrew again, slamming the door behind her. "Aha! my friend," said Poirot, coming up rubbing his hands, "it is not easy for you to avoid me. You see, I have come to you again." "Your business with the Inspector Finished?" I asked.

"It's over for the time being. What about you? The patients are all finished?" "Yes." Poirot sat down and looked at me.His eggshell head was tilted to the side, as if savoring an evocative joke. "Wrong," he said at last, "there's another patient you haven't seen yet." "It can't be you, can it?" I said in surprise. "Ah, of course it's not me, I'm in great shape. To tell you the truth, it's a little compot (French: conspiracy) of mine to tell you that I want to meet someone - but I don't want to cause the whole village to Human curiosity—people would gossip if they saw a woman come into my house. But to you, she is your patient, who has been seen by you before." "Miss Russell! "I exclaimed.

"Precisement (French: good). I have a lot to talk to her about, and I've sent her a note to meet her in your surgery office. You won't be mad at me, will you?" "On the contrary," I said, "Can I join your conversation?" "Of course! This is your surgery room!" "You know," I put down my forceps, "the whole thing is so confusing and so tempting. Every time there is a new discovery, the situation will change drastically, just like looking at a kaleidoscope - just a little movement, and the whole pattern will change. Why are you so eager to see Miss Russell now?" Poirot raised his head. Eyebrow.

"Isn't that obvious?" he whispered. "You're doing it again," I muttered. "Everything seems obvious to you. But you keep me in the dark." Poirot shook his head very kindly. "You're laughing at me. Take the story of Flora. The Inspector was surprised—and you—you weren't." "It never occurred to me that she was a thief." I retorted. "You probably didn't think about the money theft, but I was watching your face, and you weren't as surprised and puzzled as Inspector Raglan was." I thought for a moment. "Perhaps you're right," I said at last, "I've always felt that Flora was hiding something—and thus mentally and subconsciously prepared when the truth came out. And for Inspector Raglan, He is really bewildered and overwhelmed, poor fellow." "Ah, pour ca oui (French: well said)! The poor fellow has had to readjust his thoughts. I want to force him to He agreed to some of my requests, which will help me solve the case." "What is that?" Poirot took out a note from his pocket with some words written on it.He read aloud: "Mr Ackroyd was assassinated last Friday. The police have been looking for Captain Ralph Paton, adopted son of Mr Ackroyd of Fernley Court. Arrested boarding liner to America." He folded the note again after reading it.

"My friend, you will see this news in the newspaper tomorrow morning." I stared dumbfounded at him. "But—but it can't be true! He's not in Liverpool!" Poirot smiled at me. "What a quick mind you have! No, he was not found in Liverchings. Inspector Raglan initially objected to my sending this text to the newspaper because I did not reveal my true intentions to him. But I respectfully I swore to him that as soon as the news was reported, interesting things would follow, and he conceded. But he declared that he would never accept any responsibility." I stared at Poirot, and he turned to me again. smile slightly.

"I really don't know what medicine you sell in your gourd," I said, "and what are you trying to achieve?" "You have to use your little gray cells," said Poirot gravely. He got up and walked to the bench opposite. "It can be seen that you really like mechanical devices." He carefully inspected the parts I dismantled. Everyone has their own hobbies.I immediately directed Poirot's attention to my homemade radio, and I found he admired my handiwork.Then I showed him a couple of uninvented things--insignificant gadgets, but useful. "In my opinion," said Poirot, "you ought to be an inventor, not a doctor. The doorbell has rung—it must be your patient. Let us go to the surgery." Impressed by the beauty of the housekeeper Tuen Ling, I was impressed again this morning.She was still the same as usual, dressed in plain black clothes, tall, with big black eyes, chest erect, and unrestrained.A rare blush appeared on his normally pale cheeks.It can be seen that she must have been a bewitching beauty when she was young.

"Good morning, madam," said Poirot. "Please take a seat. With Dr. Shepard's permission, we can have a brief conversation in his surgery room." Miss Russell sat down as calmly as usual. down.Even if she was anxious inside, she definitely didn't show it on the outside. "May I venture to say," she said, "that it seems a little peculiar to talk in a place like this." "Miss Russell—I want to tell you a piece of news." "That would be great!" "Charles Kent has Arrested in Liverpool." She seemed unmoved, her eyes widening just a little.she asked in a challenging tone.

"What do you mean by telling me that?" Then I suddenly realized—the mystery that had been haunting me was suddenly solved.Her defiant tone resembled that of Charles Kent.Although their voices were rough and hoarse, the other struggling to imitate a lady's accent-the timbres were unbelievably similar.It was Miss Russell whom I was reminded of of the stranger I met that night outside Fernley Court. I glanced at Poirot, suggesting to him that I had discovered something.He gave me a slight nod, which Miss Russell did not notice. He did not answer Miss Russell's question directly, but spread his hands in a very French gesture.

"I thought you might be interested, that's all," he said very gently. "I am not at all interested in what you have to say," said Miss Russell. "Who is this Charles Kent?" "The man who came to Fernley Court on the night of the crime, Miss." "Really?" "It's lucky for him to have circumstantial evidence that he was in a bar a mile away at a quarter past nine." "He's very lucky," said Miss Russell. "But we still haven't found out what he was doing at Fernley Court—whom he was meeting, for example." "I'm afraid I can't be of any help," said the housekeeper politely, "I haven't To hear anything about him. If nothing else—" She made a tentative movement as if to get up, but Poirot stopped her immediately. "It's not over yet?" he said calmly. "A new discovery has been made this morning. It now appears that Mr. Ackroyd was murdered not at a quarter past nine, but before that time. From eight fifty Between the time Dr. Shepard left and a quarter past nine." I noticed that the blush faded from the housekeeper's face, and it became deathly pale.She leaned forward, fidgeting a little. "But Miss Ackroyd has admitted she was lying. She never went to the study that night." compound, but can't tell what was done—" "I can tell you what he did there. He never touched a hair on old Ackroyd, he never came near the study, after the murder It has nothing to do with him, I can tell you clearly." She leaned forward, the iron-like self-control finally broke down, and a look of fear and despair appeared on her face. "Mr. Poirot! Mr. Poirot! Oh, please believe me." Poirot stood up, walked up to her, and patted her on the shoulder to reassure her. "Yes—yes, I believe you. My purpose is just to get you to tell the truth, do you understand?" For a split second her face was skeptical. "It's true what you say?" "It's true that Charles Kent is suspected of murder. Only you can save him, if you tell us why he came to Fernley Court." "He Came to see me," she said softly and quickly, "I went out to meet him—" "Meeting in the gazebo, I know that." "How did you know?" "Miss, the investigation is My occupation. I know you were out early that night and you left a note at the gazebo saying what time to meet there." "Yes, I did. I got a letter from him , said he was coming. I dared not let him in, so I wrote him back at the address he had given me, asking him to meet at the gazebo, and describing the location of the gazebo in detail, lest he go Wrong place. But I was worried he would get impatient, so I ran out and left a note there saying I'd be there at about ten past nine. I didn't want the servants to see me, so I went from the I slipped out the window. When I came back, I met Dr. Sheppard, who I imagined was surprised that I was out of breath from a run. I didn't expect him to I'll come to dinner tonight." She paused. "Going on," said Poirot, "you went out to see him at ten past nine. What did you say?" She said, "I must know the full facts on this matter. Nothing you tell us will ever get out of this room. Dr. Shepherd speaks very carefully, and so do I. You know, I will help you. This Charles Kent is your son, isn't it?" She nodded, her cheeks flushed. "No one knows about it yet. It was a long time—a long time ago—in Kent. I wasn't married..." "It is understandable why you took the county name as his surname. "After I found a job, I was responsible for his food and other expenses. I never told him that I was his mother. He slowly learned to be bad and started drinking and taking drugs. I bought him a ticket and let him to Canada. He hadn't heard from him for a year or two. Then somehow he knew I was his mother and wrote to me asking for money. In a recent letter he said he Going home, and said he would come and see me at Fernley Court. I dare not let him in, because I have always been respected in this house. If word of that gets out--my housekeeper's work I couldn't keep it. So I wrote to him and asked him to meet at the gazebo, and I told you the details." "You came to see Dr. Shemider in the morning?" "Yes, I don't know what to do .He wasn't a bad boy before his drug addiction." "I see," said Poirot, "go on, please. Did he come to the gazebo that evening?" "Yes, when I went he Already there waiting for me. His attitude was very rough and he was always swearing. I gave him all the money, we just talked briefly, and then he left." "What time was it when I left Clock?" "About nine-twenty to nine-twenty-five, I'm sure of that, since I was in the house not before nine-thirty." "Which way did he go? "It's the same way as before, that is, the path that joins the driveway next to the door room." Poirot nodded. "What about you? What did you do?" "I went back to the house after he left, and saw Major Brent pacing up and down on the terrace with a cigarette in his mouth, so I went around and entered through the side door." I got out of the room, and it is exactly half past nine. I have already told you about this." Poirot nodded again, and made some notes in his little notebook. "I think that's enough," he said thoughtfully. "Should I--?" She hesitated. "Should I tell Inspector Raglan all of this?" The method is step by step. Charles Kent has not been formally accused of murder. If there is new progress in the investigation of the case, there is no need to speak out about your privacy." Miss Russell stood up. "Thank you very much, M. Poirot," she said, "you are very kind. You—do you really believe me? Charles has nothing to do with this criminal murder!" It cannot be your son who is talking to Mr Ackroyd in the study. Take heart, miss.—it will all work out." Miss Russell left, while Poirot and I remained in the room. "One more thing to close," I said, "every advance has failed to exonerate Ralph Paton. How did you know that it was Miss Russell that Charles Kent was going to see? You noticed their resemblance." Is there a place?" "Before I met Kent, I had linked her to an unknown male. When I found the quill, I thought of drugs and at the same time Miss Russell visiting you You've given me the details. Then I found an article in the morning paper about cocaine, and it all came together. She found a letter from someone that morning—the man Already addicted. She saw the article in the paper and came to ask you some probing questions. She mentioned cocaine because the article was about cocaine. Then, when you were interested in cocaine , she immediately changed the subject to detective novels and hard-to-detect poisons. I guessed at the time that the addicted man might be her son, brother, or annoying relative. Ah! I should Let's go, it's time for lunch." "Stay and have lunch with us," I suggested. Poirot shook his head, his eyes twinkling. "No more food today, I don't want Miss Caroline to be vegetarian for two days in a row." It dawned on me that nothing escaped Hercule Poirot.