Chapter 14 Chapter Thirteen

With great reluctance I set about seeing Mrs. Tuckerton's work.Despite Jin Joo's encouragement, I still don't see any benefit in doing that.First of all, I felt that I was not suitable for this job. I doubted whether I could properly express the reaction I should have, and I always felt like acting in my heart. Jin Qiao, with the most astonishing efficiency she can show, instructed me on the phone: "It's very simple. It's a Nash-style house, not quite the same as his usual style. It's one of his almost Gothic fantasies." "Then why should I want to see it?"

"Because you're going to write an essay on the effects of a change in the style of an architect." "Sounds fake," I said. "Nonsense," Jin Qiao said energetically. "When it comes to academic topics, you must put forward the most unbelievable theory, and it must be written by the most unlikely person with the most serious attitude. I can quote A lot of nonsense for you." "So it's more appropriate for you to go than for me to go." "You're wrong," said King Joe. "Mrs. Tuckerton can look up your name in the 'Dictionary of Names,' and make a good impression, but she can't look up me there."

I still don't quite believe it, but I'm short of words for a while, and I don't think it's right. After my interview with Mr. Bradley, Joe Kim and I met to discuss it.I thought this meeting was incredible, but Jin Qiao didn't.In fact, she felt quite satisfied. "That way, we can be sure that we're not just thinking about it," she points out. "Now we do know that there is an organization that specializes in removing thorns in people's eyes." "Get rid of it with supernatural power!" "You're so stubborn in your mind that it's all those fake charms that Sybil wears. You wouldn't believe Mr. Bradley if he was a fake astrologer. But since he's a mean and real Little legal crook—at least that's how you describe him—"

"It's pretty much the same thing," I said. "Then the whole thing has a clue. No matter how unbelievable it sounds, the three women of 'White Horse' did grasp something." "If you're so sure, why should I go to Mrs. Tuckerton?" "Just in case," Kim Joo said, "we know what Sesha Gray 'claims' she is, that it has to do with money, and that we know the names of the three victims, and what we want to know now is that More about their dealings with customers." "What if Mrs. Tuckerton doesn't look like their customer at all?"

"Then we have to investigate from other aspects." "But I might screw things up," I said sadly. Jin Qiao said I shouldn't think so badly of myself. So, that's how I came to the front gate of Calloway Park.From the outside it looked nothing like the Nash house I had imagined, and in many ways it looked like a small castle.Jin Qiao had promised to find me a recent book on Nash-style architecture, but he hadn't brought it yet, so I had to come here with insufficient equipment. I rang the bell, and a man in an alpaca coat who seemed not in good spirits opened the door.

"You are Mr. Easterbrook?" he said. "Mrs. Tuckerton is expecting you." He led me into a living room that was richly furnished, but gave me a sense of incongruity.Everything is expensive, but it doesn't look stylish.There are one or two good pictures on the wall, but there are also many bad pictures.There was a lot of yellow tapestry, and just then Mrs. Tuckerton came and I turned my attention to her. I didn't know what to expect when I came, but I felt a completely different emotion.There's no sinister atmosphere here, and Mrs. Tuckerton is just a very ordinary, middle-aged woman, not particularly funny, and not all that nice, I suppose.Although the lips are covered with thick lipstick, it can be seen that the lips are thin and have a bad temper.The jaw was slightly receded, and the eyes were light blue and seemed to judge the value of all things.She was the kind of woman who hated to tip porters and cloakroom attendants too much.There are many such women in the world, but most of them are not as beautifully dressed as she is.

"Mr. Easterbrook?" She was obviously very pleased with my visit, and she seemed a little gusty. "It's 'so' nice to meet you, I didn't expect you to be interested in this house! Of course I know it is Built by John Nash, because my husband told me, but I didn't expect a big man like 'you' to be interested in it!" "Oh, you know, Mrs. Tuckerton, the house is not quite his usual style, so I—er—" She saved me the trouble of going on. "I'm really a layman in architecture, I hope you don't mind me being too ignorant"

Of course I don't mind, and I even wish for it. "That's all very interesting," said Mrs. Tuckerton. I said that in fact, we experts are very bored and not interested in the subjects we study. Mrs. Tuckerton said she didn't believe it was true, and asked if I would like to have my tea first or to see the house first. I said maybe it would be better to look at the house first. She showed me around, chatting happily most of the time, which spared me much to say about the architecture. I came just in time, she said, as the house was about to sell—“It’s too big for me to live alone now that my husband is dead”—though she had only registered with the broker for a week, but she believed There is already a buyer.

"If it's empty, I don't really want you to come and see it. I think to really appreciate a house, you have to live in it to show it. Don't you, Mr. Easterbrook?" .” Honestly, I'd rather it be an unoccupied, undecorated house, but of course I can't say that.I asked her if she still lived nearby in the future. "Haven't decided yet, but I'm going to travel abroad for a while and enjoy the sun, I hate the gloomy weather. I think I'll probably spend the winter in Egypt, I went there two years ago, it's amazing , but I believe 'you' must know very well."

I don't know much about Egypt, to be honest. "I think you must be too polite," she said cheerfully. "This is the dining room, and it's octagonal, isn't it?" I said she was right, and complimented the well-proportioned room.After seeing the house, we went back to the drawing-room, and Mrs. Tuckerton rang for the servant to bring tea.It was the lackey footman who brought the refreshments.A large Victorian teapot on the tea tray looks like it needs a good scrub. Mrs. Tuckerton sighed as she watched him leave the room. "The servants these days really can't do anything about them," she said. "After my husband passed away, the servant couple who had served him for nearly twenty years insisted on leaving, saying that they were going to retire, but I heard later that they I found another job, and the pay was very high. I thought it was ridiculous to pay the servants that much, considering how much it would cost them just to eat and live—not to mention their clothes.”

Yes, I thought, it was mean, those eyes, and the thin lips—greed indeed. There was no difficulty in getting Mrs. Tuckerton to talk, for not only did she love to talk, but she especially liked to talk about herself.It didn't take me long to get to know her quite well. I know she married widower Thomas Tuckerton five years ago, and she is "much, much younger" than him.She had met him at a big hotel by the sea, where she was mistress of a bridge game.He has a daughter who goes to school nearby—"It's so hard for a man to get things right with his daughter. Poor Don Mars, so lonely... He's missed his ex-wife so much since she died a few years ago." she." Mrs. Tuckerton went on to talk about herself—a graceful, kindly woman who felt compassion for this aging and lonely man.His health was getting worse day by day, but she was always loyal to him. "But of course, by the time he got really sick, I couldn't have any friends myself." I couldn't help thinking, I don't know if she has some friends of the opposite sex who are not popular with Thomas Tuckerton?That's why he made such a will. Jin Qiao checked the clauses in his will for me. In addition to leaving an inheritance to the old servant and a pair of grandchildren, his wife also had a share, of course- plenty, but not too much: there was a trust fund, enough for her life.As for his six-figure real estate, it is inherited entirely by his daughter Donmarcina Ann when she is twenty-one or married.In case she dies before the age of twenty-one, her share of the estate is left to her stepmother.It seems that he has no other family members. I think this is a great temptation.Mrs. Tuckerton was a woman of money . . . she was thinking about the big money.I believe I must have been out of money until she married the old widower.Later, maybe she thought that instead of staying with a crippled and old husband for a long time, it would be better to hope that he died early, and she could still enjoy youth and great wealth. But after seeing the will, she may be quite disappointed. What she is looking forward to is not just a mediocre and fixed income. She hopes to have a lot of money to travel, buy beautiful clothes, jewelry...or simply enjoy the pleasure of being rich—— Let money pile up in the bank. However, in the end, the girl inherited all the money!The girl became a wealthy heiress who probably disliked her stepmother and, being young, was desperate to show it.She will inherit that huge fortune...unless... unless?Is this reason enough?Do I really believe that brunette, beautiful woman, who speaks platitudes so calmly, would turn to the "white horse" and let a young girl die? No, I can't believe it... However, I still had to do my work, so I suddenly said: "I seem to have met your stepdaughter once." She looked at me a little surprised, but not interested. "Don Marcina? Is that so?" "Yes, in Charles." "Oh, Charles! Yes, it's possible..." She sighed: "Girls these days are so hard to control! It seems that no one can control them. Her father was very worried when he was alive, and of course I couldn't help it. She didn't Don't listen to me," she sighed again, "you know, when we got married, she was kind of grown up and a stepmother—" She shook her head. "It's not easy to be a stepmother." I said sympathetically. "I give her pocket money - do everything in my power to be nice to her." "I believe." "But it's useless at all. Tang Masi forbids her to be rude to me, but she has always been self-willed, and it is really difficult to live with her, so when she insisted on moving out, I was somewhat relieved, but I know how Don Mars feels. She's stuck with a bunch of bad people." "I—sort of can tell," I said. "Poor Don Masina!" said Mrs. Tuckerton, smoothing out a lock of her brown hair, and looking at me. "Oh, by the way, you probably don't know, she died a month ago of encephalitis--so suddenly. .I think young people are more likely to get that kind of disease, it's—it's really sad." "I know she's dead," I said, standing up. "Thank you, Mrs. Tuckerton, for allowing me to visit your house so graciously." We shake hands. I took a step, then turned around and said: "By the way, I guess you probably know 'White Horse'? Don't you?" There was no doubt about her reaction—panic, pure panic, not only from the look in her eyes, but also her face under heavy makeup immediately turned pale and frightened. She said sharply, "'White horse'? What 'white horse' do you mean? I have no idea." I deliberately showed surprise and said: "Oh, sorry, I was mistaken, it was a very interesting old hotel in Diping Village, Ma District. I went there with friends the other day, it has been remodeled, but the atmosphere is still good enough. I 'like' remember someone Mentioned you—but it could also be your stepdaughter, or someone with the same surname.” I paused, “That place—is famous.” I'm very pleased with myself for this last passage, I see in a mirror on the wall, Mrs Tuckerton is looking after me, she looks very, very frightened, I can see how she looks in years - isn't that A pleasing face.