Chapter 9 Chapter Eight The Second Letter

"Oh?" I asked eagerly. We sat in the first-class compartment of an express train that had just left Andover. "The case," said Poirot, "has been committed by a man of medium height, with red hair and a false cast for his left eye. He has a slight limp on his right foot and a mole under his shoulder blade." "Poirot?" I called. At that moment I was completely deceived by it, and my friend's wink woke me up again. "Poirot!" I said again, this time with resentment. "What do you think, mon ami? You gaze at me with such devotion and concentration, and demand my opinion like Sherlock Holmes! In truth, I have no idea what the murderer looked like, or where he lived. , and do not know how to apprehend him."

① French, meaning: my friend. ——Annotation. "If only he left some clues," I whispered. "Yes, clues—clues are always tempting. Pity he doesn't smoke, leaves no ash, and walks in with odd-shaded shoes. No—he wouldn't be so polite. But at least , my friend, you have the railroad guide as a clue. That ABC is the clue to the case." "Do you think he left the book by mistake?" "Of course not, he left it on purpose. The fingerprints tell us he did it on purpose." "But there's not a single fingerprint left on the book." "That's exactly what I meant. What was the weather last night? A hot June night. Would a man walk around wearing gloves on a night like this? Of course such a man would attract attention. So since the ABC book doesn't leave The fingerprints must have been carefully erased by someone. An innocent person will leave fingerprints, but a person with evil intentions will not. So our murderer left the book on purpose, but no matter what, this is the only one left A clue. It's always possible that the ABC was bought and brought by someone."

"What do you think we can learn from that approach?" "Frankly speaking, Hastings, I'm not particularly hopeful. This man, this unknown, is obviously showing off his own abilities, and he will not leave a tail that can be directly tracked." "Therefore, ABC actually did not help solve the case." "Not at all." "No help at all?" Poirot did not answer immediately, but went on slowly: "My answer is yes. We are here to encounter this unknown person. He is hiding in the dark and wants to continue lurking in the dark. But of course, he can't help but reveal himself a little bit. In a sense, we Nothing is known about him; and in another sense, we have learned a great deal. Gradually I see him taking form—a man who can write clearly on a typewriter, who buys high-quality paper, extremly I saw him as a child who might have been neglected and omitted, and I saw him grow up with an inner inferiority complex—struggling with a sense of injustice...I saw that An inner urge to express himself, to focus attention on him, grows stronger and is crushed by events and circumstances, which may accumulate in him. More humiliation. In the depths of his mind, the match was still lighting the powder wagon..."

"That's pure speculation," I objected. "It's not going to get you any real help." "You prefer matchheads, cigarette ashes, boots with hammered nails! You always do, but at least we can ask ourselves some questions, why ABC? Why Mrs. Ascher? Why Andover? " "The woman's past life seemed unremarkable," I thought, "and the interview with the two men was disappointing. We can't tell more than we know." "To be honest, I didn't expect much more on that front, but we shouldn't overlook two possible suspects."

"Of course you don't think..." "At least the killer probably lived near Andover. We're going to ask 'why Andover', and that's a possible answer. Well, here are two people who were in the store at certain times that day, and either of them All could be murderers, and there is no indication that any of them were the murderers." "That hulking brute, Riddle, probably is," I asserted. "Oh, I'd be inclined to be sure right away that Riddle is innocent. He's tense, he's full of abuse, he's obviously agitated..." "That just means—"

"The person who wrote that ABC letter was the exact opposite of that. Arrogance and self-confidence are the traits we have to look for." "Is that person going around showing off his influence?" "Probably. But there are also people who, in a state of nervousness and self-abuse, hide a great deal of fame and complacency." "You wouldn't think that little Mr. Partridge—" "He's more of a le type. There's not much to say about him. He behaves like the man who wrote the letter, and immediately goes to the police again, pushing himself straight to the front—and complacent about his position." ② French, meaning: that kind of person. ——Annotation.

"You really think—?" "No, Hastings. Personally, I think the murderer came from outside Andover, but we can't ignore any clues. Although I said 'he' throughout, we still can't rule out the possibility of a woman. .” "Of course it won't happen." "I agree, that type of attack is a man's work, but an anonymous letter could be written by a woman. We have to keep that in mind." I was silent for a few minutes, then said: "What do we do next?" "You have great energy, Hastings," said Poirot, smiling at me. "No, what are we going to do?"

"do nothing." "Do nothing?" The disappointment in my voice was palpable. "Am I a magician or a wizard? What do you want from me?" I turned my head to think about this question and found it difficult to answer.Anyway, I feel that something should be done, and the time should be taken to act. I say: "The ABC—and the pads and envelopes—" "Naturally, everything is going on in that direction, and the police are doing their best to deal with such doubts. If there is anything to be discovered in those respects, we need not worry about it. They will."

After hearing what he said, I had no choice but to let it go. In the days that followed I observed Poirot's strange avoidance of talking about the case.When I tried to reopen the subject, he would impatiently gesture it aside. In my mind, I was afraid to try to figure out Poirot's motives.In the case of Mrs. Ascher's murder, Poirot suffered a setback. ABC challenged him—and ABC had won.My friend has long been accustomed to the invincible success, so sensitive to his failure, so that he can not bear to talk about it, this may be the narrowness of a great man.But our most sober idea is to use success to make him proud.For Poirot, this process of transformation had been going on for years.The effect of this transformation is ultimately remarkable, and will be a small miracle.

When I understood all this, I began to respect my friend's weakness and never mentioned the case again.I read the newspapers for descriptions of the investigation.The newspaper reports were minimal and did not mention the anonymous ABC letter in which an unknown person made some judgments about the murder.The case received little press attention.There's nothing alluring or special about it.The murder of an old woman in the side street was soon overshadowed by more eye-catching headlines, Seriously, it's also partially fading in my mind.I suppose it was because I didn't like to think about it—it was a failure for Poirot to think about the case.On July 25, it reignited the flames.

I went to Yorkshire for the weekend and did not see Poirot for several days.I returned Monday afternoon, and at six o'clock this letter arrived in the mail.I remember Poirot's sudden, sharp gasp as he opened the special envelope. "Here it comes," he said. I stared at him, a little confused. "What is it?" "Chapter Two of the ABC Case." I looked at him incomprehensibly for a while, and the incident had indeed faded from my mind. "Read the letter," said Poirot, handing it to me. As before, the letter is still printed on high-quality paper. Dear M. Poirot: Oh how does it feel?I thought, this is my first game.The events at Andover went well, isn't it? But the game has just begun.let me draw your attention to seaside bexhill (Bexhill-on-Sea) Go. The date is the twenty-fifth of this month. What a happy day we are living through! faithful to your ABC "My God, Poirot," I cried, "does this mean that the friend is about to commit another crime?" "Certainly, Hastings. What else did you expect? Do you think the Andover affair is an isolated case? Have you forgotten that I once said, 'This is only the beginning'?" "But, it's terrible." "Yes, it's scary." "We're dealing with a murderous maniac." "Exactly." His poise was more impressive than any act of heroism.I felt a tremor and handed the letter to him. The next morning we showed up to a meeting with a group of powerful people.The Constable of Sussex, the Assistant Commissioner of the Royal Police, Inspector Glenn from Andover, Superintendent Carter of the Sussex Police, Japp, and a young Inspector named Crome, And Dr. Thompson, a famous psychiatrist, they all come together.The letter was postmarked Hampstead, but Poirot thought this irrelevant. There was a full discussion about the incident.Dr. Thompson was a cheerful middle-aged man who, despite his knowledge, spoke in a plain language, avoiding the jargon of his trade. "Undoubtedly," began the Assistant Minister, "the two letters were written by the same hand and by the same person." "Moreover, we can publicly infer that that individual was responsible for the Andover murder." "Indeed. We have now been precisely warned of a second crime. It will be on the twenty-fifth, the day after tomorrow, in Bexhill. What measures are we to take?" The Chief Constable of Sussex looked at his superintendent. "Oh, Carter, what do you think?" The superintendent shook his head gloomily. "Difficult, sir. We have no clue as to who the victim is. Frankly, frankly, what steps can we take?" "I have a suggestion," said Poirot in a low voice. All turned to him. "I think the intended victim's name would probably start with the letter B." "That makes sense," said the superintendent suspiciously. "It's an alphabetical complex," Dr. Thompson said. "I thought there was that possibility - and no more. When that unfortunate woman was murdered last month, with Ascher's name clearly written on her shop door, it popped into my head." I thought about it. When the second letter I received mentioned Bexhill, it occurred to me that both the victims and the locations were selected in alphabetical order." "It is possible," said the doctor. "On the other hand, the name Ascher may be a coincidence." "The victim this time, no matter what her name is, should be an old lady who runs a small shop. Remember, we are dealing with a lunatic. So far, he has not given us any clues of ulterior motives." "Can a madman have a motive, Doctor?" asked the superintendent suspiciously. "Of course he has a motive, sir. Deadly logic is one of the hallmarks of manias. A man may decide that he has a divine mission to kill a priest, a doctor, or an old tobacconist, while There will always be some very logical reason behind it. We must not let the Alphabet case get out of control. It may be a mere coincidence that Bexhill follows Andover." "We should at least be cautious, Carter. Pay special attention to the Bs, especially the small shops, and send a man to watch all the small cigarette sellers and newspaper buyers. I think that's all we can do." Of course, whenever possible, keep an eye out for all strangers." The superintendent let out a groan. "While schools are closed and the holidays are just starting? People are flooding the area this week." "We must do what we can!" said the chief of police sternly. Superintendent Glenn offers his opinion. "I will monitor anyone connected to the Ascher case. Those two witnesses, Partridge and Riddle, and, of course, Asher himself. As soon as they show signs of leaving Andover, they will be arrested. track." Everyone made some suggestions, and after a rambling conversation, the meeting ended. "Poirot," I said, as we walked along the river, "can this crime be prevented?" He turned to me haggardly. "The sane mind of a city against the insanity of one man? I'm frightened, Hastings, I'm very frightened. You remember the one who dismembered the devil Jack every time?" "This is horrible," I said. "Madness is a terrible thing, Hastings...I'm afraid...I'm afraid..."