Chapter 25 Chapter 24: The Actions of Julius

In his suite at the Claridge Hotel, Kramenin reclined on the sofa dictating to his secretary in his indistinct Russian. The phone next to the secretary beeped and beeped. The secretary picked up the receiver, spoke into it for a minute or two, and then turned to her boss. "Someone wants to see you downstairs." "who is it?" "He said he was Mr. Julius Hersheimmer." "Hersheimer," Kramerin repeated thoughtfully, "I seem to have heard that name before." "His father was an American steel magnate," explained the secretary.As expected of a secretary, she knows a lot.

"This young man is a millionaire, even a billionaire." The boss narrowed his eyes appreciatively. "Ivan, you'd better go down and have a look to find out why he came." Following the boss's order, the secretary stood up and walked out of the room, closing the door quietly.A few minutes later, he came back. "He refused to say what the purpose of his trip was, saying it was purely personal and insisted on seeing you in person." "A millionaire, even a billionaire," murmured Kramenin, "bring him up, dear Ivan." The secretary left the room again and brought Julius in after a while.

"Mr. Kramenen?" asked Julius unexpectedly. The Russian boss looked at the visitor carefully with his vicious eyes almost full of whites, and nodded. "Nice to meet you," Julius said, "I have some very important business to discuss with you, if I can see you alone." He said, looking at the secretary sharply. "My secretary, Mr. Gleber, there are no secrets between us." "Perhaps so, but it's my secret," said Julius deadpan, "and I'd appreciate it if you told him to go away." "Ivan," said the Russian softly, "maybe you wouldn't mind going to the next room—"

"Neighboring room not," interrupted Julius, "I know the suites these dukes live in, and I want this apartment to remain absolutely deserted, except you and me, and tell him to get some peanuts at a store a little further away." .” Although Kramenen disliked the American's unrestrained and casual way of speaking, he was still full of curiosity. "Is your business taking a long time to negotiate?" "Maybe one night, if all goes well." "Very well, Ivan, I won't call you tonight, go to the theater and let you have a night off." "Thank you, Your Excellency."

The secretary bowed and left. Julius stood by the door, watching him go.Then he let out a long breath of satisfaction.Close the door casually, and return to the position where you stood just now—the center of the room. "Well, Mr. Hersheimmer, maybe you'll get right to the point, won't you?" "I don't think it'll take a minute," Julius drawled, and suddenly changed his posture. "Hands up, or I'll kill you!" For a moment Kramer stared blankly at the automatic, bewildered, and then raised his hands above his head in a panic almost comical, all that Julius had anticipated, the one he was dealing with. Man is a complete coward—the rest is easy.

"It's illegal," the Russian cried hysterically. "It's a crime. Do you want to kill me?" "No, as long as you don't yell. Don't try to run along the wall to ring that bell, it'll be better." "What do you want? Don't do anything stupid. You should know that my life is of great value to my country. I may have done bad things before—" "As far as I can see," interrupted Julius, "whoever kills you is doing a great service to mankind. But don't worry about anything, I'm not going to kill you this time, if you will cooperation."

Facing the majesty in his opponent's eyes, the Russian trembled with fright, and he stuck out his tongue to lick his dry lips. "What do you want, money?" "No, I want Jane Finn." "Jane Finn? I've never heard of it." "How dare you lie that you haven't heard of it, you know exactly who I'm talking about." "Let me tell you, I haven't heard of this girl." "I tell you too," replied Julius, "my pistol—Little Willie was just trying to spit it out." The Russians softened now. "You, you dare not—"

"Oh, you're wrong, I just happen to dare, you bastard." Kramenen must have sensed from this that Julius was a man of his word, so he said sullenly, "Well, so what if I know the man you're looking for?" "You must tell me right away, right here, where can I find her?" Kramenning shook his head. "I dare not say." "Why not?" "I dare not, your questioning is also futile." "Afraid, eh? Afraid of whom, Mr. Brown? Ah, that embarrasses you. Is there such a man? I doubt it. The mere mention of him frightens you so."

"I've seen him," said the Russian slowly, "and I've spoken to him face to face. I only found out about it later. He was the leader of the gang, and I shall never see him again. He Who is it? I don’t know. But I know that he is a chilling person.” "He won't know about today," said Julius. "He knows everything, and his revenge is so fast that even I, Kramenen, can't avoid it." "Does that mean you won't do what I tell you?" "Your questioning is really futile." "Then I'm sorry," said Julius beaming, "there's one less villain in the world 2"

As he spoke he raised his pistol. "Don't shoot," Kramenen screamed, "don't kill me." "Of course I will. I've often heard that you revolutionaries don't value your own lives very much, but it seems that when it's your turn, the situation is different. I'll give you a chance to keep your dirty skin, but You do not want." "They're going to kill me." "You figure it out, then," said Julius humorously, "but I must tell you that my little Willie is not a vegetarian. If I were you, I'd give Mr. Brown a fair fight. "

"If you kill me, you'll be hanged," the Russian murmured, with less certainty than before. "No, you are wrong. You forgot the role of money. Many lawyers will be busy for this, and they will also invite some highly skilled doctors to participate in their work. The end result is that they will claim that I I'm going to be in a sanitarium for months, and when my sanity comes back, they'll claim I'm cured, and it won't end badly for little Julius. I Will you be hanged for it? Are you deluding yourself?" The Russian believed him, he knew money, he had seen the murder trial Julius described in his novels, and he himself had bribed judges.He had to be intimidated by this masculine, slow but dignified young American in front of him. Julius continued: "Now I'm going to count to five, and if you don't cooperate if you let me count to four, you don't have to worry about Mr. Brown, maybe he will send some flowers for your funeral, but you smell No more flowers, are you ready? I'm going to start counting! One—two—three—four—" The Russian shrieked and interrupted Julius, who was counting. "Don't shoot, I'll do as you say." Julius lowered his gun. "It seems that you are not too confused. Tell me, where is that girl?" "At Gatehouse in Kent. The place is called Astley Priors." "Is it held there as a prisoner?" "She's not allowed to leave that house—though it's really safe, unfortunately the little girl has lost her memory." "That annoys you and your friends all the time, I think. Where's the other girl? The one you seduced a week ago." "She's there too," said the Russian darkly. "Great, look, isn't this a happy ending? The weather is fine tonight, we have to go out for a walk." "Go shopping?" Kramenen asked, staring at Julius. "To Gatehouse. I hope you'll enjoy the ride, won't you?" "What do you mean? I'm not going." "Don't dream, you should be clear, I won't keep you here. I know that the first thing you do is to call your friends," when he said this, he saw that the other person's face turned dark . "You know, of course, that you will arrange everything. No, sir, don't make your wishful thinking. You must come with me. Is your bedroom next door? Go in! Put on a heavy coat, yes, that's it.OK, we're ready to go.Let's go downstairs, through the hall and outside, my own things are there, don't forget you can't escape my eyes, I'll shoot you through my coat pocket, even if you Not a word or a wink from the uniformed servants escaped my attention.If you want to try, well, there is definitely a strange face added to the works of Brimstone and Brimstone. " They went downstairs together and walked across the hall to the waiting car.Trembling with anger, surrounded by hotel servants, the Russian almost cried out, but at that moment his reason stopped him, the American kept his word. When they came to the car, Julius let out a long breath, relieved that the danger zone had finally passed, and the fear had terrified the man beside him. "Go in!" he ordered.When he saw the Russian squinting at the driver, he said, "Don't dream, the driver won't help you with anything, he's a navy man, and he was working on a submarine when your revolution broke out." , the submarine is in Russia. One of his brothers was killed by your men, George." "Well, sir, what's the matter?" The driver turned around. "This gentleman is a Bolshevik in Russia. We don't want to kill him, but if necessary, we will, you understand?" "Understood, sir." "I want to go to Gatehouse in Kent. Do you know the way?" "Yes, it's about an hour and a half away." "Get there in an hour, I'm in a hurry." "I'll do my best, sir." The car was driving like lightning. Julius found a comfortable position and sat beside his captive, his hands kept in the pockets of his overcoat, but without losing his presence. "I killed a man once in Arizona--" he began with gusto. At the end of an hour, Kramenin was not so much alive as dead.Julius talked about his past all the way, and before this one in Arizona, he had taken down a villain in San Francisco.In addition, he also mentioned a small episode of the Los Angeles mountains.His narrative style, if not quite accurate, is very vivid. The car slowed and the driver turned around and told them they were about to enter Gatehouse.Julius ordered the Russians to show them the way, and his plan was to drive directly to the house.When he got there, he told Kramenin to call out the two girls.Julius admonished Kramenen: "I hit every shot with Little Willie." Kramenning, a guy who has long been under the control of others, is now even more frightened after hearing Julius' horrible description along the way.He thought he was done this time. The car ramped up the gas, pulled up the driveway to the house, stopped in front of the porch, and the driver turned around to wait for the next command. "Turn the car over first, George. Then ring the bell, come back here, don't let the motor die, and wait for my orders at any time, get out of here quickly." "I see, sir." The butler opened the front door, and Kramenen felt the bulging pistol against his ribs. "Be honest with me, and be careful with what you say," Julius said in a low voice. Kramenin nodded, his lips were pale, and his voice was trembling. "It's me—Kremenen, bring the girl right away, there's no time." By this time Whittington had come down the steps, and when he saw Kramenin, he uttered an exclamation: "It's you! Where did you come from, you know the plan—" "We have been betrayed. The original plan is not working. We have to save our lives. Our current hope is this girl." Whittington hesitated, but not for long. "You were ordered—on his orders?" "Of course, otherwise, what am I doing here? Hurry up,—there's no time, and the other little fool had better be brought along." Whittington turned and ran quickly into the house, and the tense atmosphere was tense as the minutes passed.Not long after, two disheveled figures in cloaks approached the steps and were forcibly pushed into the car.The small girl is a little weak and needs support.Whittington shoved her roughly into the car.Julius leaned forward, and now the light from the open door shone in his face, and another man behind Whittington cried out, exposing him. "Drive, George!" Julius yelled. The driver immediately took his foot off the pedal and the car whizzed away. The man on the steps cursed and put his hand into his pocket, only to hear the rain of gunshots, breaking the tranquility of the night, and the extremely bright bullet light in the night. The dense bullets shot at the tall girl. "Get down, Jane!" Julius yelled, pushing Jane forward as he stood up looking for a target to shoot. "Did you hit it?" asked Tuppence eagerly. "Hits," replied Julius, "but misses, and a villain like that won't solve the problem at once. How are you, Tuppence?" "I'm fine, where is Tommy? Who is this?" She pointed to the shivering Kramenning and asked. "Tommy went to get the Argentinian. I think he thinks you're dead. Open the gate slowly, George, yes, that's it. It'll take at least five minutes for them to get busy after we leave .I think they will call. Be careful on the road ahead. Don't walk in a straight line. Who is this man you asked just now, Tuppence? Let me introduce you. This is Mr. Kramenning. I persuade He's taking a short trip with us for his health." The Russian said nothing, his face still blue from embarrassment. "Why did they let us go?" asked Tuppence, puzzled. "I think this Mr. Kramenen's voice is too high for them to resist." This made the Russian furious, and he yelled frantically: "Damn you, they already know that I betrayed them. In this country, I can't live for more than an hour." "Yes," agreed Julius, "I advise you to return to Russia at once." "In that case, let me get out of the car, I've done what you asked me to do, why don't you let me go?" "I won't let you go because of your company. Of course you can leave now if you want to, but I think you should let me drive you back to London." "You're not going to London," he growled, "get me out of the car now!" "Of course, stop, George. The gentleman doesn't want to go back, and if I ever have the honor to go to Russia, Mr. Kramenin, I'd like to see a grand welcome and—" Before Julius could finish speaking and the car came to a complete stop, the Russian got out of the car and quickly disappeared into the dark night. "So impatient," said Julius humorously.The car was on the road again. "Not to say good-bye to the ladies, it's rude. You may sit up, Jane." Jane just started talking: "How did you 'convince' him?" Julius clapped the pistol. "To little Willie's credit." "It's amazing," the girl praised, flushing and looking at Julius admiringly. "Annette and I don't know what's going to happen," said Tuppence. "Old fellow Whittington is urging us to hurry up, and we're going to be slaughtering lambs like butchers." "Annette, is that what you call her?" Julius struggled to adjust to the new name in his head. "That's her name," said Tuppence, with wide-eyed eyes. "Nothing," said Julius. "She may have thought it was her own name, for she has lost her memory, unfortunately. But this one before us is indeed Jane Fence." "What—?" cried Tuppence in disbelief. Her surprise was interrupted when a bullet struck the upper part of the car right behind her. "Get down," said Julius loudly, "we're ambushed, and these fellows move fast. Drive faster, George." The car drove forward like lightning, and three or four bullets passed by. Fortunately, the marksmanship was not very good.Julius stood up and leaned over the back of the car. "No target to hit," he said despondently, "but, I suppose, there's going to be a little picnic again soon, ah:" He held up his hand. "Are you hurt?" Annette said quickly. "Just scratched the skin a little bit." Jane jumped up suddenly: "Let me get off, let me get off, I said, stop, they are chasing me, I am the one they are chasing, you can't die for me, let me get off." , searching for the doorknob in the dark. Julius took her by both arms and looked at her in surprise, there was not the slightest foreign accent in her words. "Sit down, boy," he said gently, "I guess your memory is perfectly normal and you've been lying to them, haven't you?" The girl looked at him and nodded, suddenly couldn't control her emotions anymore, and burst into tears.Julius stroked her shoulder to comfort her. "Sit down, we won't let you go." She sobbed and asked: "You are from the same country, I heard it from your accent, and it aroused my homesickness." "I am your fellow countryman. I am your cousin—Julius Hersheimer. I made a special trip to Europe to find you. You made me look for it so hard!" At this time, the car slowed down, and George turned his face and asked, "The intersection is here, sir. I don't know which way to go." The car stopped slowly, and the moment the car stopped, a figure suddenly rushed up. "I'm sorry, everyone," he said, sitting down. What greeted him was everyone's screams and all kinds of inquiries, so he had to answer their questions one by one. "I've been waiting for you in the bushes, always behind you, all I can do is wait. Now, girls, get out of the car." "get off?" "Yes, there is a station on the other side of the road. The train will arrive in three minutes. Hurry up and catch up." "What the hell are you doing?" Julius was also confused. "You think you can fool them by leaving the car here?" "If we don't get off the bus, the girls will get off." "You're crazy, my Mr. Beresford, you're utterly crazy 2 How can you leave them two girls alone, and if you get your way it'll all be in vain."' Tommy turned to Tuppence "Get off at once, Tuppence, and take her, and do as I tell you, and no one will do you any harm, and you are perfectly safe. Take that train to London, and go straight to Sir James Peel Edgerton .Mr. Carter is out of town, but find him and you'll be safe." "Damn it," Julius cursed, "you madman. Jane sit still:" Suddenly Tommy snatched Julius' gun with a very quick movement and held it up at Julius. "Now you should know I'm not joking. Get out of the car, you two do as I say, otherwise, I'm going to shoot." Tuppence jumped up suddenly, and dragged the reluctant Jane out of the car, "Come on, it's all right, if Tommy says it's all right, then it's all right. Come on! We're going to miss the train." They started to run. Julius's pent-up anger finally exploded. "What the hell are you—" Tommy interrupted him: "Shut up, I have something to tell you, Mr. Julius Hersheimmer."