Chapter 26 Chapter 25 The Story of Jane Finn

Tuppence took Jane by the arm and dragged her toward the station.Her keen ears heard the approaching train. "Hurry up," she urged, panting, "or we won't catch the train." The two girls came onto the platform just as the train stopped.Tuppence opened the door of a vacant first-class room, and they sprang, breathlessly, into the floppy seats. A man came up and looked at them, then turned to another car.Jane began to tense, and stared uneasily at Tuppence with wide, frightened eyes. "Tell me, does this person belong to their gang?" She asked pantingly. Tuppence shook her head. "No, no, it's okay." She shook Jane's hand and comforted, "Tommy won't ask us to do things he's not sure about."

"But I know these people better than he does," trembling Jane, "you don't know, five years! What a long five years! Sometimes just thinking about it drives me crazy. " "Don't worry about it, it's over." "Is it really over?" The train shrouded in the night gradually accelerated and moved forward.Suddenly Jane Finn jumped up. "What's that? I think I see a face looking at us from the window." "No, nothing, see," said Tuppence, going to the window and shutting it. "Are you sure?" "Very sure."

Jane felt as if she should explain: "I'm a bit of a loser, but I can't help it, if they catch me now, they'll..." Her eyes were wide open and she stared ahead. "No, lie down and forget about it," begged Tuppence. "You know Tommy wouldn't say it was safe if it wasn't safe." "My cousin doesn't see it that way, he doesn't support us doing it." "That's true," said Tuppence, looking rather embarrassed. "What are you thinking?" Jane asked suddenly. "What's wrong?" "Your voice is so—queer."

"I've been thinking of something," admitted Tuppence, "but I'm afraid to tell you just yet. I may be wrong, but I don't think so. It's just a thought that's been on my mind for a long time. Tommy knows it too." Well, I'm almost sure he knows. But don't you worry, there's plenty of time later. Maybe that's not the case at all. Now do as I say - lie down and don't think about it." "I'll give it a try." Saying that, Jane closed her eyes, her hazel eyes covered by long eyelashes. Tuppence sat upright, with an air of heightened alertness.Although she kept reassuring Jane, she herself felt nervous, and her eyes kept moving from one window to another.It wasn't that she didn't trust Tommy, but she was occasionally shaken by doubts.The opponent is so cruel and cunning, how can someone as simple and honest as Tommy compete with it.

All would be well if they made it safely to Sir James Peel Edgerton, but would they get what they wanted?Brown's silent power threatened them all, and even Tuppence's remembrance of the last time she had seen Tommy with his revolver brought her no consolation.What's more, Tommy may have lost his force now, and may have been knocked down by countless heavy blows...Tuppence is brewing her own action plan in her mind. When the train finally pulled into Charing Street, Jane Finn sat up. "Is it there? I thought it wouldn't be here." "Oh, I think we've got to go to London. Come on, get out of the cab, and get in a cab."

The two got out of the car as quickly as possible, passed through the ticket gate, and called a taxi. "King's Cross," directed Tuppence, jumping into the car as he spoke. 'As the car was starting, a man peered in through the window.She was almost certain that this was the man they met on the train, and she couldn't help but shudder, a sense of fear spreading from the bottom of her heart to her whole body. "You see," she explained to Jane, "if they think we're going to Sir James, they'll lose their lead, and now they'll imagine us going to Mr. Carter, whose country house is somewhere north of London." .”

Crossing Holborn, a roadblock was encountered and the car was forced to a halt, just as Tuppence had expected. "Quick!" she whispered, "open the door on the right!" The two girls quietly slipped out of the car and merged into the stream of vehicles and crowds.Two minutes later they were in another taxi heading in the direction they had come, this time to Carlton House Street. "Not bad?" said Tuppence, rather triumphantly, "that'll keep them busy for a while. I think I'm pretty clever, and the taxi driver will say something to us. But I made a note of him." I'll send him a money order tomorrow, and he won't lose anything because of it. Hey! How did you turn?"

Before the words were finished, with a harsh sound, another car collided with their car firmly. Tuppence quickly got out of the car and stood on the sidewalk. Seeing a policeman coming towards them, Tuppence quickly gave the driver five shillings, and then dragged Jane into the crowd. "We'll be there soon," panted Tuppence, as the accident happened in Trafalgar Square. "Do you think the crash was an accident or a conspiracy?" "I don't know, maybe both." As the two girls walked forward arm in arm, Tuppence said suddenly, "I always feel we are being followed."

"Quick," whispered Jane, "quick." When they came to the corner of Carlton House Street, they felt refreshed.At this time, a man who was drunk with yogurt blocked their way. "Good evening, ladies," he said, hiccupping, "where are you going in all this haste?" "Please let us pass," said Tuppence with a certain authority. "I'll just say a word to your friend." The drunk stretched out his wobbly hand and grabbed Jane's shoulder.Then Tuppence heard approaching footsteps behind her, and she had no time to decide whether they were friend or foe.She quickly lowered her head and pushed the drunk man with all her strength.This childishly naughty and informal practice knocked a drunk man down onto the pavement.Tuppence and Jane ran away, and the house they were looking for was not far away.When they reached the door of Sir James' room, they were both panting for breath.Tuppence pressed the doorbell, and Jane impatiently threw her fist at the door.

The footsteps following them also stopped not far away.The man hesitated for a moment, and in the instant he hesitated, the two girls staggered through the door, and Sir James came out from the study. "Hello, what's the matter?" He stepped forward quickly, reached out to support the staggering Jane, helped her into the study, and placed her on the couch.He poured a little brandy from the bar and forced Jane to drink it.With a sigh, Jane sat up, eyes still full of fear. "It's all right, my children, don't be afraid, you are safe." Jane's breathing gradually returned to normal, and the old blush began to appear on her face.

James looked at Tuppence suspiciously. "It turns out you're alive, Miss Tuppence, and that's a lot better than your friend Tommy imagined." "But young adventurers have experienced too many fatal disasters." Tuppence said with a little exaggeration. "From this point of view, I don't think it's wrong that your partnership will succeed in the end." Sir James said dryly, and then turned to Jane on the sofa, "This is Miss Jane Finn, right?" Jane sat up and replied calmly: "Yes, I am Jane Finn. I have many things to tell you." "Wait until you feel better—" "No, right now," Jane raised her voice a little, "I will feel safe only after I tell you everything." "As you please," said Sir James, sitting down in a large armchair facing the couch.Jane began to tell her story: "I was studying French until I came to Paris on the Luretania to find a job. I was very eager to do something for the war. My teacher told me A hospital in Paris was in need of staff, so I wrote to them offering to work in the hospital, and they accepted me. I was alone, and it was convenient for me to do anything. "When the Lusitania was torpedoed, a man came up to me and asked me if I was a patriotic American. I've noticed this man more than once—I've thought he was worried. Somebody or something, he told me, he had with him papers that were vital to the life and death of the Confederate States. He wanted me to keep them for him and look for his ad in the Times later. If the paper No ads appeared on the website, so I gave the file directly to the American ambassador. "What happened next still seems like a nightmare to this day. I often wake up from it...I hate to repeat it. Mr. Danvers told me to be more careful. He may have been followed from New York. Yes, but he didn't see it that way. I didn't suspect it at first, but on the boat to Holyhead I began to feel uneasy. A woman named Vandermeyer took special care of me and became my friend.At first I was very grateful for her kindness, but then, I gradually felt that there was always something about her that I didn't like.On the Irish ship, I saw her talking to some furtive-looking people, who looked as if they were talking about me. I suddenly remembered that on the Luretania, when Mr. Danvers handed me the bag, she managed to start approaching me.Before that, she had been close to Mr. Danvers, and I was beginning to feel frightened, but there was nothing I could do about it. "I had an almost crazy idea - to disembark at Holyhead and not go to London that day. However, I soon found out that this was very stupid. I just pretended I didn't find anything, God bless me .I figured they couldn't do anything to me if I was more careful. Out of caution, I tore open the oilcloth bag that contained the papers, took out the paper and replaced it with blank paper, and rewrapped it. That way, if someone snatched it, it wouldn't what relationship. "I've always been worried about what to do with that thing, which was actually two sheets of paper, and I ended up sandwiching it between two advertisements in a magazine, glued the two advertisements together, and stuffed the magazine in In my windbreaker pocket. "In Holyhead, I wanted to find a car where the passengers didn't look strange. But the strange thing is, there are always some people who are jostling around me. I feel a little bad, and I finally got on the car. But I found that Mrs. Vandermeyer was in the same carriage again. When I went to the corridor, I found that the other carriages were full of people, so I had to go back to the original place and sit down. I comforted myself by saying that there were no other people in the carriage except Mrs. Vandermeyer. There were other people. I was much more relieved that I was sitting across from a couple who seemed very loving. I leaned back in the seat and closed my eyes slightly, trying to make people think I was asleep. In fact, I am always on high alert.Just when the train was not far from London, I saw through the slits in my eyes that the man took something out of the bag and handed it to Mrs. Vandermeyer, while handing it over, he winked... "I can't describe how terrible that wink was. Well, it almost freaked me out. My only thought was to get out into the corridor as fast as I could. I stood up and tried to look as nonchalant as possible. Maybe they found something - I don't know - and heard Mrs. Vandermeyer said 'right now' suddenly, and then she quickly covered my mouth and nose with something, and I struggled so hard that I couldn't make a sound. At the same time, I felt a heavy blow in the back of my head. hit……" Jane trembled and couldn't speak, James comforted her softly and said some sympathetic words.A few minutes passed.Jane went on to say: "I don't know how long it took me to regain consciousness. I found myself lying on a very dirty bed, feeling very weak. There was a curtain around me, and through the curtain I heard two people talking, one of them One was Mrs. Vandermeyer's voice. I tried to hear what they were saying, but I couldn't hear them very clearly at first. Then, when I heard it, I was so surprised I didn't shout it. "They didn't find the papers, they found the tarpaulin bag full of blank papers and they were mad like mad. They didn't know I had swindled, maybe thought Danvers had fake papers and the real ones had been sent on another line Yes, they said," and Jane closed her eyes at this point, "I'll have to torture me to find out what happened to the document." "I didn't know what fear was, what shuddering was. I was really scared. They came to my bed once and I closed my eyes and pretended to be in a coma, but I was afraid they would hear my heart. Bang bang beating sound. Luckily they walked away after a short stay and I started to think hard about what to do.I know that if torture is used, I won't be able to support it for long. "Suddenly it occurred to me that I could fake a memory loss. The idea had fascinated me before, and I'd read wonderful episodes about memory loss. If I could pull off the role, maybe I'd be saved. I After praying silently, I let out a long breath, as if I just woke up from a coma, I opened my eyes and muttered to myself in French—like a child learning to babble. "Mrs. Vandermeyer came up, and she looked so wicked that I was terrified, but I smiled at her doubtfully, and asked her in French where I was. "I could see that I had confused her. She called to the man with whom she had just spoken, who was standing by the curtain and could not see his face hidden in the shadow. He spoke to me in French. Talking, the voice is calm and ordinary, but somehow it always scares me. I continue my performance, ask him where I am, and tell him that my mind is blank, I can't remember anything, I can't recall anything Woke up and I tried to look so miserable. He asked my name and I said I couldn't remember. "Suddenly he grabbed my wrist and twisted it hard. The pain was unbearable. I screamed, but he didn't let go and continued to twist. I screamed and screamed, but , I still didn't forget to scream in French. I don't know how long it all went on, luckily, I passed out. The last thing I heard from the man was 'It's not pretending, like her Children of this age can't pretend to be like this." I think he must have forgotten that American girls mature much earlier and are more interested in science and technology than British girls. "When I woke up, Mrs. Vandermeyer was very affectionate to me. I thought she must have followed orders, and she told me in French that I had a shock just now, and I was very ill, but I will get better soon. Yes. I pretended to be very confused and murmured that the doctor had hurt my wrist. She was relieved to hear me say that. "After a while, she walked out, completely out of the room, and I lay still on the bed for a while, still feeling guilty. Eventually, though, I got up. I walked around the room and looked around .Because I thought it was a natural thing to do in the present situation, even if someone was watching from the shadows. It's a filthy place, strangely without Zhou Zi.I figured the door must be locked, and I didn't try to open it.There are some old paintings on the walls, all depicting scenes from "Faust". " Tuppence and Sir James said "Ah" almost simultaneously, and Jane nodded. "Yes, the place is in Soho, where Beresford was imprisoned. Of course, I didn't know I was in London. There was only one thing that made me very anxious, but when I saw the trench coat It was only when the magazine was still rolled up in the pocket of the windbreaker that I hung it on the back of the chair that my hanging heart fell. "I wanted to confirm whether I was being watched, so I checked the surrounding walls carefully. There were no holes in the wall for peeping. However, my intuition told me that someone must be watching me secretly. I sat back at the table , put his face in his hands, and sobbed: 'My God, my God,' while pricking up his ears to listen to the surrounding movement. Sure enough, I clearly heard the rustling of the skirt and the slight creaking sound, Someone is indeed watching me. "I lay back on the bed again. After a while Mrs. Vandermeyer brought me my supper. She was still sweet talking to me when she was ordered. I guessed that her superiors must have asked her to gain my confidence. She pulls out her oilskin bag and asks if I still know her, watching my expression like a ravenous cat. "I took the bag, turned it over in my hand as if I was trying to remember something, and finally shook my head and said, I really can't think of it, it seems that there is something related to this bag, but just thinking about it, Before I could catch it, it slipped away again, and she told me later that I was her niece and had to call her Aunt Rita. I did, and she reassured me that my memory would come back soon, don't too worried. "It was a tough night. I was thinking about what they were going to do to me, and I was making plans in my head. While the file is safe for the time being, I wouldn't take the risk of letting it stay there.They could throw that magazine away at any moment.Tossing and turning on the bed until about two o'clock in the morning, I got up quietly, groped along the wall on the left in the dark, and found the painting "Marguerite and Her Jewelry Box".I gently removed the painting from the nail, tiptoed over to where the windbreaker was kept, took out the magazine and an envelope or two (I always keep envelopes in my pocket), tore apart the two-page advertisement stuck together, and took out Those two precious pages of documents that made me suffer.I moistened the brown paper on the back of the painting with the water from the washbasin, and it didn't take long for the layer of paper to be peeled off.I put the folder between the picture and the paper, and then reattached the brown paper to the picture with a little glue from the envelope. After all this was done, I hung the picture back and put the magazine back in the windbreaker pocket, and quietly returned to bed.I am quite satisfied with this stash, and no one would think that the picture was taken, and it would never occur to them to tear their own pictures up.I hope they finally come to the conclusion that Danvers was carrying false information, and I'll be set free. "In fact, when they first arrested me, they might have had the idea of ​​letting me go, but the situation became very dangerous to me, and the possibility of letting me go is very slim. Later, I heard that they almost wanted to get rid of me on the spot, but they The chief, their boss, advocated keeping me alive in the hope that I might have hidden the papers, and that once I regained my memory, I could tell them what happened to them. During the next few weeks, They kept me under strict surveillance and interrogated me time and time again. They are really good at torture. But no matter what, I always controlled myself, even though this kind of mental self-control was too difficult for me up. "They got me back to Ireland and never let up their watch on me, lest I hide the papers somewhere. Mrs. Vandermeyer and another woman never left me, and they said I was It was Mrs. Vandermeyer's young relative, a relative who had brain damage from the Luretania being torpedoed. I was alone all the way, and I'm sure nothing good would have happened if I had ventured to ask for help. That very rich-looking Mrs. Vandermeyer who dresses well will make people think I've been 'persecuted' with a brain injury. I feel that once they see through my lies, my long-awaited The horror of it will definitely break me completely." Sir James nodded understandingly. "Mrs. Vandermeyer is an eloquent woman, and it is because of this and her position in society that people are generally willing to listen to her, although it is difficult to believe if you have real grounds to accuse her. "It happened exactly as I imagined. They ended up sending me to a nursing home in Bournemouth. At first I couldn't tell whether it was a scam or if I was really going to be treated. There was a nurse who took care of me as a special patient. She treated me well and did not behave abnormally. Just when I decided to trust her and tell her the truth, the merciful God saved me in time and prevented me from falling into the pre-set trap. That day, my The door happened to be ajar, and I heard her talking to someone in the passage, and it turned out that she was one of them: she was sent to see me to see if I had really lost my memory. After this, I became hypersensitive and neurotic and couldn't trust anyone. "Looking back now, I was paralyzed. After a while, I almost forgot that I was the real Jane Finn. I played Janet Vandermeyer so hard that my nerves started to go wrong.I really fell ill and was in a stupor for months, and I was sure I wouldn't live long, so it didn't matter.We all know that a sane person, once sent to a madhouse, often turns out to be a madman.I think that was the case at the time.I don't care what role I play anymore. In the end, I don't know emotions, only indifference and insensitivity.In this way, several years passed. "Then things changed suddenly. Mrs. van der Meyer came from London to the nursing home. She and the doctor asked me questions and tried various treatments. Sometimes they talked about sending me to a specialist in Paris, but in the end it was Didn't take the risk. I overheard some conversation now and then that seemed to say that some other person, my friend, was prowling for me. Later I heard that the nurse who had taken care of me had gone to Paris under the guise of me to see the specialist.Experts put her through some rigorous tests.And revealed her faking memory loss.She took note of the expert's test and came back to give me the same test.Dare I say, it is very difficult to fool an expert who has been doing this research all his life, but I took the test again, luckily I did not remember that I was Jane Finn for a long time, the memory neurosis is a bit Questions make the test easier to pass. "One night they had orders to rush me to London and take me to that house in Soho. Once I left the nursing home, I didn't feel the same. It seemed that things that had been buried for many years began to revive again. "They took me to see Mr Beresford (whose name I didn't know at the time, of course). I wondered if it was another set up. But he seemed so honest I could hardly believe it. Yet , I am still very cautious about everything I say, because I know that the content of the conversation will be overheard, there is a small hole in the upper part of the wall. "On that Sunday afternoon, I don't know what news they got, which caused a commotion. While they were not paying attention, I overheard an order to kill him. I don't need to tell you what happened later, you all You know, I was going to rush out and get the papers out of the stash, but I was caught and I screamed so loud that he would run away, and I was yelling to go back to Margaret. I have purposely called the name three times. I know I must be thought to be referring to Mrs. Vandermeyer, but I hope to remind Mr. Beresford of the panel, which he took down on the first day, That's why I can't believe him." Jane Finn stopped. "So," said Sir James greedily, "the papers are still in the room behind the panel." "Yes." After speaking, Jane fell down on the sofa and ended her long and tense story wearily. Sir James stood up and looked at his watch. "What do you mean? What are you trying to deduce? Are you implying that Brown is Julius? Julius—my cousin:" "No, Miss Finn," said Sir James unexpectedly, "he Not your cousin, this man who calls himself Julius Hersheimmer has no relation to you."