Chapter 62 final evidence

Los Angeles is sunny in November. I was standing on the courthouse steps when my stepmother Norma Kruger and her lover Ruth Tyson came out of the building. In a courtroom full of spectators and reporters, the jury delivered a stunning verdict—"Not guilty!" I was so angry that I ran out of the courtroom because I knew my father was murdered by them.Although the air in Los Angeles is very polluted, the unfair judgment is even more uncomfortable. Norma, wearing a plain blue blouse with a white collar that gave her a demure look, paused on the steps.Surrounded by a group of noisy reporters and photographers running around, she took a deep breath and surveyed the city in front of her with triumphant eyes.

My father Rudolf Kruger was sixty-five when he was murdered, and Norma was thirty-six.She was slender and exuded sensuality, but, during the trial, she was always soft-spoken and ladylike, and she won the favor of the male jury. She has shiny brown hair and delicate features.Especially her lips, expressive and capable of all sorts of smiles, were the only part of her face where she smiled, for her blue eyes were always cold, and her protruding chin was like a ruthless fist. pistol. Norma turned her face away, her sweet smile was unpredictable.Then she walked quickly down the steps. Tyson followed her tamely like a pet, and he was acquitted by the same jury.

Norma paused hesitantly as she came up to me.Although we haven't spoken a word since she and Tyson were arrested, she clearly knows that I hate her.I told her this countless times with my silence, with my eyes. "Congratulations, Norma," I said coldly. She glanced quickly at the suspicious faces of the reporters.Her answer was very careful, as if choosing her words carefully. "Thanks, Carl," she replied sweetly. "It's really nice. Of course, I have great faith in our judicial system.I never doubted the outcome of the trial. " "Norma, I'm not congratulating you on the outcome of the trial. You're very smart - and so far, very lucky."

"So far?" She turned her head slightly so the reporters could only see her in profile, and she grinned quietly at me. “At the end of the game, the losers cry and the winners laugh,” she whispered to me. At that moment, I really wanted to punch her arrogantly outstretched jaw. "Mr. Kruger," a photographer called, "would you like to take a picture with your stepmother?" "Of course I would," I replied, "but I need a prop. Do you have a long, sharp knife?" After a tense silence, Norma said theatrically, "Dear Carl, you've been overstimulated and paranoid. I think that's natural in the circumstances and I don't blame you at all. ’ She paused. "Ah, honey, we'll meet again, won't we?"

"I don't think you can avoid me because unless you move out we'll be living in the same house." Norma snapped her mouth shut and turned her face away.I stared at the back of her head and could almost see the machinery in her head come to a sudden stop. "Mrs. Kruger," asked a heavy, manly female reporter, "are you planning to marry Ruth Tyson in the near future?" Norma's head turned to Tyson.She looked at him as if he were a toy that was left unfinished.Ironically, Ruth Tyson was almost my age and three years younger than Norma.He has brown hair, a fat face, brown eyes, and a big mouth like a docile puppy, grinning silly.

Norma turned to the manly female reporter and replied cautiously, "Talking about marriage would be too inappropriate under the circumstances. Sorry—no comment." After finishing speaking, she walked away triumphantly, Tyson followed her, and the reporters surrounded her. When they were leaving in separate taxis, I ran to the nearest pub to vent my anger.I drank four martinis and scrutinized the smoking ruins of my past for clues and revenge. The trial lasted more than six weeks.Tyson's guilt or innocence is key to Norma's own freedom, so she asks Maxwell Davis to defend him.No one can compare with this brilliant lawyer in returning many murderers to society.He once boasted that a man who had shot his own mother in the CID office could have been acquitted.

Norma's own lawyers are less well-known.She pays the full cost. The case was clear enough that any law student could crucify Norma and her lover to justice. Rudolf Kruger is a celebrity in the film industry.My dad was perhaps the greatest producer-director of the older generation.He was shot in the living room of his own home, apparently during the course of a burglary.The police believe the theft was deliberately planned by my stepmother and Tyson as a cover-up for the murder. The plaintiff maintains that Norma went to our cottage in Arrow Lake to prove her innocence. "While she was entertaining several of her alibi there, Tyson brutally shot my father, took his wallet, diamond ring and other valuables, deliberately knocked over tables, broke lights, messed with drawers, Then run away.

The police were confused, then suspicious.Apparently Rudolf Kruger was sitting in a chair reading. The first bullet entered the back of his head at close range and a second bullet was fired, breaking his back as he fell forward. Since it was a surprise murder, why overturn the tables, break the lights, and pretend it was a fight?A thief will not kill unless he is cornered.It's so impossible. Thieves generally do not carry guns.Besides, if he had a gun, would he be carrying a heavy, long-barreled German pistol?Judging from the bullets fired, the thief used this kind of pistol.Is it a coincidence that my father happened to own one of these pistols?The pistol is missing, is that another coincidence?

The police don't think so.After careful investigation, they dug out Tyson, and through Tyson, they found Norma.In Tyson's apartment, a torn note written by Norma to Tyson was found.The note doesn't mention anything specific, but it mentions that Norma would like to be in Arrow Lake "...at a momentous moment we've discussed." Finally, Tyson's fingerprints were taken from a table that had been overturned, and he had been seen close to the scene an hour before the murder. Maxwell Davis dismissively pointed out the holes in the police evidence.Tyson's fingerprints would of course be on the living room table.As the family's stockbroker, he was often there on business.Even if he came mainly to see Norma, that didn't mean he was the murderer.The jury should remember that the accused was not on trial for adultery.

As for the German pistol, perhaps the thief found it in a study drawer and took it away after the murder.If not, where is it?Can the police take it out?Can the police prove that my father was shot with his own gun? As for the note, Davis said it was too vague to be considered evidence of criminal planning.In any case, it doesn't suggest anything nefarious.Rudolf Kruger became increasingly suspicious.When he went to Europe, he hired a detective to keep an eye on Norma.Norma knew about it, so she wanted to go to Arrow Lake when her husband came home, because she was scared knowing that the detectives would report her and Tyson's affair.This is what she called a "big moment" in her note.

"Not guilty!" declared the jury, and released them both. It is conceivable that a lot of money was involved in this matter.If the jury finds Norma guilty, she will lose her claim to my father's estate and the money will go to me. My father left me some of his securities, half of the Beverly Hills mansion, and other properties, but I kept most of his money, and Norma got the interest on it.Only if she is convicted or dies will the money go to me. My dad made a fortune, and he was a shrewd investor who never spent money.With a total of seven million yuan, the greedy Norma "only" got one million yuan in cash. However, no matter how you look at it, the annual interest of 6 million yuan is amazing. My father didn't leave me all his money, and I shouldn't complain about it, because I've lost money in several of the businesses he's financed.However, I am his flesh and blood after all, and the money should belong to me!It's hard for me to accept that he should trust that treacherous and cruel Norma more than his own son. My mother had been dead for many years when my father married Norma.Norma had a small role in a low-budget film my father financed.She's a terrible actress, and her best performances were on the witness stand of the courtroom where she was tried. Norma is charming and very good at people-pleasing.She was good at taking chances, and she saw that my father was devastated when a new generation of film industry refused to accept him. My father was very stubborn and refused to keep up with the trends of the times. The giants of the film industry who once praised him mercilessly abandoned him. In public, Norma showed great interest in my father.In private, she pretended to adore his forgotten genius.She would sit with him for hours in his ancient mansion, watching films he had produced and directed in the past. Norma had married Rudolf Kruger for money, and he had done it because she had restored his self-confidence. My father is not a people-pleaser.He is very rigid.stiff.Although he is tall, he is not good-looking.He is bald, has protruding ears, and often has an expressionless face. He does have a lighthearted side, but that's gone as well as his reputation. He's a vengeful man who never forgets his enemies; he's also a headstrong man who wants to restore his former status at all costs.He made another movie later, but it didn't do very well at the box office, and he was forgotten again. Although Norma has been courting him, their married life has not always been peaceful. My father knew he wasn't the type of guy women liked, that Norma was half his age, so he was very jealous.He suspected her of infidelity and spent a lot of time and money trying to verify it. He would pretend to go away and then come back suddenly.Or, he would hire detectives to keep an eye on her when he was away. He once bugged the phone and once paid a beautiful unemployed actor to seduce her.But Norma had been on the alert, and all his attempts had failed.Finally, a private investigator finally found out about her date with Tyson. But before he could report to my father, my father was killed. The mansion where my father lived was eerie and nostalgic.I didn't like it so much that I rented an apartment in Brantwood, but, when my father was murdered and the two lovers were arrested, I moved back into the mansion.My main motive was to search the entire building for evidence. The odds are in my favor.My father didn't have servants, he said they liked to spread the word and deed of the master.Although I employ servants, they mainly come to work during the day. I was alone at night.I hope to find some evidence that the police did not find. Officer Winstrom was in charge of the case. He thought my idea was funny. He couldn't find it. How could I find it?However, he didn't object to my trying. What I most want to find is the German pistol, and the fingerprints on it.Winstrom told me I was wasting my time.People don't usually leave murder weapons near the scene, and the pistol may never be found. I don't know why myself, but I think the pistol must be hidden in the house. It's just a hunch.But the presentiment was so strong that as soon as I closed my eyes I could see the German pistol lying in some dark, hidden corner, waiting to be discovered. I rummaged through the mansion, came close to knocking down a wall, and found nothing, when I began to believe Winström's words—it wasn't even in the house.Nor did I find a piece of paper, a piece of cloth, a speck of blood, or a single hair that would incriminate Norma and Tyson. As the trial drew to a close, I was literally frantic, lying in bed dreaming of producing evidence that would incriminate them.Suddenly, the trial was over.They were acquitted, they escaped the law forever.I can almost hear their laughter. It was dusk when I left the bar.I've figured out a way, and it's a dangerous, desperate way, but if I succeed it will be both revenge and money. The ugly, rigid museum-like mansion sits on a hillside overlooking Sunset Boulevard.As I climbed up the hill, I could see the lights on inside the house. I was surprised to find that Norma was alone in the room.She sat behind my father's desk in the study, checking bills and signing checks.She had changed into a sky-blue bodysuit that revealed every part of her body; her hair had been restyled and her makeup applied.She looked very different now than she did in court, when she was a timid, stiff nun. "Welcome home, Norma." I walked in quietly, and she looked up in surprise, but there was no fear in her eyes.I always thought she had guts. "Calculating the spoils, Norma?" She smiled. "Sit down, Carl," she said coldly. "I knew you would come." "Knew I would come?" I sat down in a chair. "Of course. You live here, don't you?" she asked sarcastically. "Exactly," I replied. "I hope you don't think I'm in the way here." "I think you'll always hate me and think very badly of me, Carl. You're like one of those self-righteous journalists who love to play tricks. If twelve wise men find me innocent, why can't you question your own judgment? Woolen cloth?" I pointed a finger at her and said, "Because, you know, I know, you murdered my father!" "No such thing at all!" she replied lividly. "Tyson held the gun," I continued, "but I think you pulled the trigger." "Carl," she said feebly, "I—I love your father. You can't imagine—" "Don't do that to me, Norma! You don't love him any more than I do," I lied. "He's a nasty curmudgeon, a stubborn, stupid tyrant who thinks of no one else but himself. He's a little Hitler in a little kingdom. Don't fool me, Norma - we both hate him!" Some of these lies are true.I think that's roughly what Norma had in mind when she planned to murder my father. "Ah, Carl!" she exclaimed, really surprised. "I'm shocked! And I—I think you're ungrateful. Your father did you a lot." "Norma," I said, "stop being so hypocritical, okay?" I winked at her like an accomplice. A smile appeared on the corner of her lovely mouth. "I might be a little hypocritical," she admits. "One thing. It never occurred to me, Carl, though--I mean, if you dislike your father so much, you've done a good job of hiding it. You haven't said a single word of criticism to me over the years. .” "Just this once," I said, "let's be honest. We're enemies, Norma. No, not an enemy, but a competitor.If I tell you what I really think about the old man, you'll tell him right away.You will destroy me.Am i right? " Norma settled back more comfortably in her chair and lit a cigarette. "No comment," she replied, though her smile proved I was right. "You're so contradictory," she continued. "If you hate your father so much, why do you hate me so much?" "Didn't you guess why? Norma, I mean no harm to you personally. But I like money, especially money that is rightfully mine. Honestly, I wish the jury found you guilty." "Look, look, look," she said. "You are cruel." "Where is the job, but I was unlucky and failed." "You don't care that your father was murdered?" "Have you ever seen me cry? All I care about is money. Money is happiness. But, Norma, I'm going to tell you: Tyson messed things up. He's so careless and stupid. If you work with me , then there would be no jury at all, no case to be brought to a jury at all!" Her face was expressionless, but her eyes looked at me carefully. I continued: "Look, Norma, if you hadn't been smart enough to hire Maxwell Davis, Tyson would have been screwed, and he'd be screwed with you. All thanks to Davis, He's just amazing!" Norma giggled in agreement, and I laughed with her. "Ah, that old guy's an artist," I said, shaking my head in admiration. "He's a genius! He takes the evidence and turns it the way he wants you to see it. Like about the table. Tyson left his dumb paw on it and you thought he was dead. But Maxwell Davis told us his fingerprints should be on that table in the living room.Tyson was always there as a guest, so if he was sitting at a table, it was normal to have his hands on it. "I sighed." But that was stupid!Why doesn't he wear gloves? " "Ah, he did!" Norma pleaded. "But he had to take it off because—" She opened her mouth and stared at me, hoping I'd smile and shrug nonchalantly. I stood up. "Thanks, Norma," I growled. "That's what I want to know!" I walked towards her, wishing I could wrap my hands around her neck. Immediately she reached into the half-open drawer.I stared wide-eyed at the black hole of a German pistol. "I told you, Carl," she said quietly, "I knew you'd come." "My father's pistol!" "Russ was afraid to leave with it," she said. "If he gets caught and this pistol is found on him, then we're done. So he hid it in the house." "Where is it hidden? Why didn't I find it? I know this place very well." For a moment, she seemed about to giggle. "Have you looked in the refrigerator?" I nod. "It's a really smart move for two amateur killers. When I told Winström, I don't know how he would react." She sat down again, then raised the pistol. "I guess you want Officer Winstrom to come and arrest me," she said sarcastically. "But of course he couldn't." "He really can't," I agreed. "I know you can't prosecute the same case again. So what do you want to do now—shoot me?" "Don't talk nonsense, Carl. I won't take such a risk. Go away and leave me alone. I'll pay a high price if you sell me your interest in the building." "You make me think about it," I said. "I'll tell you. Now, give me the pistol. If you don't, I may have to scratch your face when I wrestle it from you." She hesitated, then handed me the gun.I put the gun in my waist and went out.My plan went very well, beyond my expectations. In the morning, I told Norma that seeing her made me sick.Then I packed my bags and moved back to Brantwood.I took two days, thought out the smallest part of my plan, and called her. "I've decided to sell my entire interest in the building," I told her. "I ask you to buy it at a high price as promised. You can afford it, Norma." "The mansion is really useless," she said slyly. "Nowadays, no one would buy an old house like this. They told me that the most I could get was seventy-five thousand. So I'm willing to be generous with you—I'm willing to pay fifty thousand for your shares." "This house is nothing," I admitted, "but there's almost an acre of land in there that would be worth a lot if put together. You should give me a hundred thousand dollars." "should?" "Yes, I should, and I want cash." I don't need cash, but I have my reasons. "Why cash?" she asked uneasily. "It's an absurd request." "You'd better hurry to the bank," I said, "because I'm coming to get the money at eight o'clock tomorrow night. Ask Tyson to bring a transfer certificate, and I will sign it.He can also serve as a witness. " "Listen, Carl, you can't direct—" "Ah, I can. Don't interrupt me, because I have something to say. Tell Tyson, bring a list of all my father's securities, as of tomorrow's close, with their valuations. You too Give me an after-tax inventory of the rest of the building." "I'm not doing it!" she yelled. "These have nothing to do with you. I don't accept your blackmail. Even if you tell the truth, I don't care. Now no one can move us." "You're wrong," I said. "They can't prosecute you for the same crime, but they can easily prosecute you for another crime. Did you know that perjury is a crime? They can give you and Tyson two years for it, I promise you, They'll be happy to do that." There was a silence. "Okay," she said quietly. "I'll do what you say. But don't think I'm doing it because I'm afraid of you, then I'd rather go to jail." "Don't worry, Norma. All I want is the $100,000 in cash." "Plus," she continued, her brain buzzing again. "I believe Maxwell Davis could easily disprove that perjury charge." I didn't speak, but I knew she was right.I met Maxwell Davis two days ago when I left the mansion for Brantwood.He came to see Norma on business and stopped on the steps of the building to shake my hand. "Don't be angry with me, lad," he said. "You have to understand that I'm only earning my share of the money." He was a tall, ebullient man with friendly wrinkles around his eyes, who spoke with a Southern accent and carried himself like an old-fashioned Southern aristocrat.I'm not that boyish so I don't hate him, he's doing a great job at his job, I shook his hand and said to him, personal feelings aside, I think he might be the best man in the world today. Most eminent defense attorney. Norma is still saying: "I don't want Tyson to come. We have decided not to meet at this time in order to avoid nasty exposure." "It's touching," I replied, "I want Tyson to sing — that's it. If you tell him to keep his mouth shut and come quietly after dark, he won't be noticed. " "Okay" she agreed. "Tell Tyson that if he doesn't want to get in trouble, he'd better be on time - not a minute later!" I hang up the phone. At 6:45 the next night, I was standing in the box office of a small movie theater talking to Dolly the conductor.I chose that movie theater because my father bought stock in it just a few months before his death. So I know the people who work here, and more importantly, they know me. The first two-screen movie starts at seven.I have already seen both films.Putting them together takes three hours and fifty-six minutes. In the hallway I saw the manager, Bill Steinmerz, flirting with a pretty girl. I walked over and chatted with him for five minutes, then went into the theater and took a seat by the emergency exit.The conductor occasionally does the job of usher, but most of the time he's out the door. When it was fifteen minutes to eight, I looked around.A small audience sits in the center, watching the film intently.No staff in sight. I slipped out quietly through the emergency exit.I took a card from my pocket and slipped it under the door so the door wouldn't close and I would be able to come in again. Norma and Ruth Tyson were waiting in the living room.Tyson was clearly upset.Every now and then he would look nervously at my face as if it were a thermometer. Norma was quiet.I signed the release certificate, and Tyson signed it as a witness.Norma handed me a handbag full of money.I didn't bother to count the money. Tyson produced a list of securities, and Norma handed me some papers, which were the statistical documents I asked for. I flipped through them roughly, folded them and put them in my coat pocket. Got these things, but I want them both to have something to do so they don't guess what I'm really up to. "Now I'm going to give you something," I said. "You can say it's a reward for your hard work." I opened a box in my lap that I had taken out of the trunk of the car before entering the house.Inside was the German pistol.I held the pistol and said to Norma, "Norma, you must be happy to get it back?" "Of course I would," she replied, standing up and smiling for the first time. I said, "Norma, when you smile, you're charming, albeit sinister." She walked towards me smiling and I turned the gun and pulled the trigger.I aimed at her and fired three times.She staggered back as if hit by an invisible giant hand. As soon as she was on the ground, I pointed the gun at Tyson. He was terrified, his eyes were wide open, and his whole body was shaking like a drowning puppy. "Tyson," I said, "take a good look at her. You don't want to die like her, do you?" His eyes dropped quickly, glancing at the corpses below.He couldn't even speak, but shook his head desperately, expressing that he didn't want to die. I said, "Tyson, if you don't do what I say, you're going to die in no time." "Anything," he whimpered, "anything you tell me to do." "Norma was the real murderer of my father," I reassure him. "You're just his tool. She's just using you, right?" "Yes," he said tremblingly. "She used me, I—I don't know what I'm doing. I can't resist her." "That's right. For this, I'm going to give you a chance. I want you to write a note admitting that you killed my father—and Norma. Then you take the hundred thousand dollars and get out of here as soon as possible with your tail between your legs .If you get caught, you're done. I'll deny your accusations and the note will prove you guilty. But at least you get a chance to survive. Fair?" He nodded vigorously. "Very fair." I lead him to the living room table and let him open the drawers and pull out my father's stationery.I turned to the other side of the table and raised the gun, the muzzle was just an inch from his temple. "Pick up that pen," I ordered. "Write word for word as I say." I dictated: "I had to punish Norma for forcing me to kill Rudolf Kruger. She had a strange power over me that I couldn't resist. Her voice whispered in my head, asking me to kill .I had to stop this voice - God bless me!" "It's a weird note," I said, "but it fits the situation. If you get caught, you can say you're insane. Sign your name now!" As soon as he signed, I put the barrel of the gun to his temple and pulled the trigger.I wiped the pistol clean and put his fingerprints on it.Then I inserted a pencil into the barrel, raised the pistol, and dropped it under his dangling right hand. I picked up the handbag with the hundred thousand dollars in it, which now contained the release certificate and the pistol box, and I walked out the gate, into my car, and drove away without the lights on. I made it back to the cinema without a hitch and no one saw me.On our way out, I chatted with Steinmotz for a few more minutes about the two films I had just seen, and took in his consolation about the loss of my father. Finally, I patted Dolly on the back and left with a smile. All these elaborate attempts to prove my absence were in vain. I was not suspected at all. A few days later, while I was still reveling in my victory, I got a call from Officer Winstrom. "You're mistaken," he said. "What do you mean by that?" I asked, feeling a chill run up my back. "When you searched your father's room, you did not find the most incredible evidence. If you had found it in time, the jury would have found them both guilty without hesitation. Of course, it doesn't matter now. But I think you will feel that That's very interesting, Mr Kruger." "What evidence, Mr Inspector?" "Look, Mr. Kruger, I don't want to tell you on the phone. You won't believe it until you see it. Do you have time to come over? " "Of course there is," I replied quickly, even though the police station was the last place I wanted to be. Winstrom looked ecstatic, as if he was about to burst out laughing, as he led me into a gloomy interrogation room with only a table and a few chairs.The curtains were drawn, and the overhead lights were blinding. On the table is a black box or case.A uniformed policeman stood patiently at the table.There was also an Inspector Stanbury from the Criminal Investigation Division in the room whom I had met before. They all looked overjoyed. After a while, Winstrom slowly suppressed his smile and started to ask some questions about my father’s career. I told him that my father started as an editor and worked as a Cinematographer, director, and finally a producer. Suddenly, he turned to me and asked me loudly: "Do you know that your father is very jealous of your stepmother?" "Yes. It's absolutely true." "He spent a lot of time and money investigating her, didn't he?" "yes." He grinned. "Okay, I'll tell you the truth: when your stepmother's lover killed your father, your father filmed it." "what!" He nodded with a smile. “We only discovered those hidden cameras yesterday, when we dug a bullet out of the living room wall and occasionally found a very cleverly hidden lens next to it. By following the clues, we found a lot of lenses. It must have cost him a lot of money to install this equipment. A lot of money. "The whole system is voice-activated, and a certain level of sound, movement, etc. in the room will activate the whole system. After three minutes of silence, the system will automatically turn off. They work continuously. When one camera runs out of film, Another camera would kick in. He had voice-activated cameras all over the house. "He had just come back from Europe when he was killed, so maybe he didn't have time to turn off the camera. The camera was running when Tyson killed him. Ah, I'll let you see for yourself. Knight, show the film to this gentleman! " I turned back and saw that the box had been removed, revealing a projector loaded with film. Officer Stanbury quickly pulls up the screen.Then the lights went off, the machine turned, and the picture appeared. I was confused at first.On the screen, Norma and Tyson stand in a living room.They seemed to be waiting restlessly.Then I heard Norma mention my name, and I saw myself walking into the room. "Fuck!" Officer Winstrom yelled. "Nate, you've misplaced the film! Ah, well, let's start with this one, then. Will you, Mr. Kruger?" I didn't answer.His voice seemed very distant, as if coming from the other side of the tunnel.I'm watching myself open the box, and I'm holding that German pistol in my hand. "Norma, you must be happy to have it back? ... Norma, when you smile, you are very charming, although a little evil." The pistol danced in my hand, and there were bursts of gunshots. Norma staggered back and fell to the ground. The electric light in the interrogation room came on, followed by a tense silence. "Ah, Mr. Kruger, what are you thinking?" Winstrom's voice sounded. "Do you have anything to say?" I thought about it for a long time. "I think I'd better call a lawyer," I replied. "Until then, I have nothing to say." "A lawyer!" Winstrom scoffed. "Listen to him! A lawyer! Save your money, Mr. Kruger. With evidence like this, you don't need a lawyer. Plead guilty and get on your knees and ask the judge for forgiveness. Think about it, a case like this , How will the judge judge you? You just pray to God." I said, "I don't want to offend you, officer, but I don't want to pray--prayers don't work for me. If you let me make a phone call, then I'll try my luck and ask Maxwell Davis for me defend." ?