Chapter 5 Chapter V Suspects and Investigators

At this time, the Makulun brothers and sisters came to visit unexpectedly.Brother Harry was still grumbling. "Mr. Mason, I saw the report of the incident in the newspaper, will our affairs change because of this?" "Of course it will change. Maybe Madam sympathizes with Harry and doesn't file a complaint with the police." Mason explained. "Unfortunately it's too late," Harry said stiffly, "I've returned all the money to Bashad. Three thousand nine hundred and forty-two dollars and sixty-three cents, hello, sister, let's go, we're all right here .”

"Wait a minute!" Mason called out to them in a stern tone, "How many hours before Bashad was killed did you pay back the money?" "Around twelve o'clock in the middle of the night." "It's cash. How did you get the money?" "None of your business," Harry protested. "I'm afraid it's related," Mason said with a smile, "Where did Bashad get the cash you returned?" "Put it in your wallet, put it in your pocket." "But when the police inspected the body, there was only 25 yuan in cash in your pocket. The police would suspect that you pretended to pay back the money, killed Bashad, took the key, opened the safe, took out the forged IOU and fled."

"Ah... Mr. Mason, do you think my brother killed someone?" Basha exclaimed. But Mason ignored her, looking intently at Harry, "I'll ask again, where did you get that money?" "I don't want to talk about it now." Harry smiled cheekily.At this time, the phone on the desk rang suddenly, and it was Detective Drake calling.Drake told him that the police identified the suicide note on the typewriter, determined that the typewriter with the suicide note was not the typewriter that typed the suicide note, and found the real typewriter that typed the suicide note.

"Whose typewriter?" Mason asked. "It was a portable typewriter in Mrs. Bashard's bedroom. And the suicide note was typed by touch—that is to say, someone who is proficient in typing does not need to look at the keyboard one by one, but types it quickly with his fingers. I said Mrs. Bashard You must have worked as a typist before marriage. Maybe the wife typed up the suicide note." Detective Drake spoke in a low, secretive voice; Mason put the receiver to his ear, thought for a moment, and said, "Hey, Mrs. Bashard hasn't been found yet?" "not yet."

Mason told him to find it quickly, and he turned to Basha Maculen and asked: "Where's the piece of paper I gave you yesterday morning with my apartment phone number on it?" "Sister, it's over if you say it." Harry hurriedly stopped her, but her elder sister, Basha, answered first: "Leave it to Harry." Harry smacked his lips angrily, and Mason turned to him again, asking sternly, "Harry, where did you get that piece of paper?" "The piece of paper fell in the corridor in front of Mrs. Bashard's bedroom. It is said that it was picked up by Secretary Kulmer."

"Huh? Kulmer... idiot! You're lying." Harry's facial muscles twitched in panic. "Did you go to Mrs. Bashard last night before paying back Bashad's money?" "No, no. Why do you keep asking about Mrs. Bashard?" "There's a portable typewriter in Madame's room, don't you. Have you used it?" "Occasionally, I was called by my wife to help her type letters. Because my wife sometimes hurts her hands." "There is also a typewriter in Bashad's manager's office. Does Bashad use that typewriter when writing documents?"

"It does. He presses letters awkwardly with two fingers." "That's because he can't touch methods. How about you?" "Of course I would. Can shoot as fast as a machine gun." Harry waved his five fingers ostentatiously, imitating typing. Mason stared at his opponent motionlessly, and then slowly said: "Bashad's suicide note was not written on his typewriter, but on the portable typewriter in Mrs. Bard's house. And the person who typed it was touch type." veteran." Hearing this, Harry jumped to the door. The elder sister Basha stood up from the chair, grabbed her younger brother's hand and stood by the door, staring at Mason: "You are a lawyer. I know that lawyers have an obligation not to disclose the client's secrets. The matter of the younger brother's embezzlement of money, Kulmer You know, if he tells the police, my brother will be suspected."

"Hmph, if that water-snake secretary talks about it..." Harry just said something, but suddenly swallowed his words, kicked the door with his foot and left. Mason sat on the chair, his body motionless as a stone, tapping the corner of the table with his fingertips.He didn't reach for the receiver until the phone rang three times.Drake's voice came from inside: "My subordinates found Mrs. Bashad's hiding place. She lives in the Amber Sada Hotel, under the pseudonym Sylbia Roton, but there are three criminal policemen watching her." "Well... I have to avoid the criminal police and meet my wife."

"It's too hard. Go now, and you'll just fall into the trap of the police." "Derek. We will go together immediately and meet at the elevator." After saying that, he moved immediately. After a while, he arrived at the hotel. Mason donned the cleaner's white uniform and held a rubber sweeper in his right hand, and Detective Drake, in the same costume, carried two buckets of water in both hands.They took the freight elevator up to the sixth floor of the Amberzada Hotel.A criminal policeman wandered the corridor, watching.They pretended nothing had happened and went straight to the door of the innermost room.Derek turned his back to the door and quietly knocked on the door with his hands behind his back.Without answering, he took out a bunch of keys from his pocket and inserted them into the keyholes one by one to test.Soon, the sound of turning the key sounded, and the two quickly sneaked into the room.

"Mrs. Bashard lives in the room on the right, Drake?" "Yes. But if the criminal police find out, you will die." "Don't worry. Where's the seat belt?" Mason took the seat belt from Drake, tied it around his waist, and rolled out the window. Drake leaned out the window and handed the bucket out.Mamason took the bucket, picked up the sponge, pretended to clean the window, and knocked on the glass.Looking across from here, in the room, a woman is resting on the bed.Startled by the knock on the window, she hurried to the window, it was Mrs. Bashard!She frowned and inspected, and Mason gestured for his wife to open the window.Madame unlatched and opened the glass window, blinking her eyes in astonishment.

Mason placed the bucket gently on the windowsill. "Ma'am, I don't have much time. Please listen to me carefully. Why do you live here under a false name?" "I'm mentally exhausted and want to rest for two or three days before the storm subsides." "If you run away now, the police will be suspicious. There are criminal police watching in the corridors, and the telephone exchange is also tapping your calls." "Ah, it's terrible, what should I do..." Mason suppressed Madam Bashard's screams and continued to ask, "What happened after I left last night?" "Officer Holcomb kept questioning me, and I feigned a hysterical fit, so the officer became frightened, and a doctor was called in, and I had an injection, and I fell asleep in my bedroom." "and after?" "My son Dick snuck me out of the back door and into this hotel." "Who did you talk to on the phone after staying here?" "Well, with Dick in the morning... Oh, if the police officer eavesdrops, I will definitely suspect that Dick killed it." "Did you know about Mr. Burnett's arrest?" "Burnet? Who is he? I don't know him." "Don't lie to the lawyer, ma'am. Is he Dick's biological father?" Mrs. Bashard's face turned pale when Mason spoke out, and Mason continued to ask, "Did Mr. Burnett go to the house last night?" "Yes, I've been here." "What time did you leave?" "Hazel left the reception room before passing out." "The false eye your husband held in his right hand when he died was Mr Burnett's." "I think maybe so." "When did Hazel Henwick marry Dick?" Mason asked quickly.His figure standing outside the window on the sixth floor may be discovered by the criminal police at any time, so he is very impatient. "Not long ago, Hazel came to greet me for the first time last night because of my husband's marriage without telling me." "And, did you see Harry Macullan last night?" "No." "Ma'am, you lie every time you change the subject!" "It's not a lie, I really didn't see Harry." Madam replied firmly. "But he said he went to your house last night. There is ample evidence." "To see my husband, then." "Hazel said there was a man, the prisoner, in the room when he knocked on your husband's door. Who was that?" "I don't know that either. If anyone was in the room, they must have entered through the back door." "That's right. Does he know about the back door?" "Well, of course. He worked in my house." "Does Mr. Peter Burnett know?" Mrs. Bashard seemed embarrassed to speak, and murmured: "He also knows. When he comes to see me, he often comes in through the back door." Mason stared at Mrs. Bashard with a sullen face, "Did Mr. Burnett stay with you in your room on the second floor last night?" "Then... no, he went out once." "Where did you go?" "The driver James is watching us. Burnett is worried, so go out and observe." "when did it happen?" "Shortly before I sent Hazel to my husband's office." "So he probably met your husband then." Madam Bashad's complexion turned pale again. When the question came to this point, Detective Drake suddenly greeted him from the next window.Mason looked down in panic to see Sergeant Holcomb looking up from the fifth-floor window below with a horrified expression on his face.Mason deliberately knocked over the bucket of water to cover himself, and the water in the bucket poured on Holcomb's face. At this moment, Mason grabbed Drake's hand and jumped to the side. Window, jump into the house. The two opened the door and went down the spare stairs.The spare stairs to the second arm is the end.When the two went down to the second floor, Officer Holko appeared on the stairs and shouted: "Stop! If you run away again, you will be arrested." The two hurriedly ran along the corridor on the second floor, opened the elevator and jumped in.Meanwhile, Holcomb was running out into the hallway.But at this critical moment, the elevator that Mason and the others took had closed the door. The two walked up to the roof garden, took off their cleaners' uniforms, and flung them softly into the shadow of the potted plants.Mason came to the corridor first and tried to knock on a door, but seeing no one answered, Drake opened the door with a key, and the two sneaked in.Finally out of danger, Mason lay down on the bed and decided to take a nap.He thought, hide from the limelight, and after a while, snoring sounded on the bed.