Chapter 8 Chapter VII

There are obvious signs of the city's intrusion into the countryside near Wu Yin's house, which is located on the outer edge of Ellsbury: the residential area is drawn by rows of houses along the edge of the undeveloped field; The features given by the builder stand alone, giving the illusion of a massive intruder into the natural countryside.The house of Wu Yin's family was in a row of houses that bowed their heads like admitting their mistakes - a row of crumbling buildings made of red bricks, so primitive, rough, and looking so reckless that Robert couldn't help clenching his teeth.However, when he slowly drove over to check the house numbers carefully, a mood of appreciation was gradually aroused by the decorations on the outside of the buildings.The building itself is not very good, but each building has a unique and unique beauty given by the owner.The gardens are magical incarnations of small beauty, each like a confession of a poet's heart.

Robert couldn't help thinking that Neville should really come here.The speed of the driving car slowed down again for perfect discoveries one by one.It contains more natural poetry than a dozen issues of Neville's favorite magazine, The Watcher, and all the beauty he appreciates is there: form, melody, colour, gesture, design, impact. But perhaps what Neville saw was just a series of suburban gardens - just gardens with plants in the meadows and alleys in Ellesbury? The latter was likely. The front yard of No. 39 is a house surrounded by rockery and covered with green grass.The house looked rather abrupt, since there were no curtains at all from the windows.There are no white veils across the windows, no curtains to draw in on either side of the windows.The entire window facing the road is so bare, facing the sun, air outside, and the curious eyes of passers-by.This surprised Robert, and probably puzzled his neighbors as well.This seems to indicate that the family he will face is extraordinary.

He rang the bell, thinking he was here to play the role of a supplicant, a new and never-before-seen experience, and Robert only hoped sincerely that he wouldn't look like a bum. ．Mrs. Wooyin surprised him even more than the bare windows.Only now, before the real person, did he understand what kind of woman he had previously pictured to have adopted a child like Betty Kane; A broad, sensitive face; perhaps wearing an apron, or that calico smock that all housewives have.However, Mrs. Wu Yin was not what he expected at all. She was slender, elegant, young and fashionable, with black hair, pink cheeks, and quite beautiful; she had the brightest bright brown eyes that Robert had ever seen Eye.

When she saw a strange man outside the door, she was a little wary, and unconsciously closed the door she opened slightly; however, after careful examination, she seemed a little relieved.She listened quietly to Robert's self-introduction without interrupting, which won Robert's respect.Few of his clients, male or female, listen so carefully without interrupting. "You are under no obligation to talk to me," he said finally, after explaining his purpose. "But I very much hope you will not refuse. I have told Inspector Grant that I will call on you this afternoon on behalf of my client."

"Well, if the police know about this meeting, then it's okay..." She stepped back and let him into the house. "I know that as a lawyer you have to do your best for your client. We have nothing to hide. But if you want to meet Betty, I'm afraid that's not possible. We've sent her to a friend's house in the country. Lesley Well intentioned. But that's not a smart move." "Leslie?" "My son. Please sit down." She asked him to sit down in a comfortable and elegant living room. "He was furious that the police hadn't taken proper action. He'd always loved Betty. In fact, they were inseparable until he got engaged." Robert listened.This is exactly what he wanted to inquire about this time.

"got engaged? " "Yes, he just got engaged to a girl he likes just after New Years. We are all very happy for him. ""Is Betty happy?" "She's not jealous, if that's what you mean," she said, looking at him with her intelligent eyes. "I'm sure she misses the time when she was his first choice, but she accepts that fact very well. She is a kind girl, Mr. Blair.Believe me.Before I got married I was a schoolteacher - not a good job; that's why I got married and left whenever I got the chance - I kind of knew these school girls.

Betty never worried me. " "Yes, I know. Everyone says good things about her. Is your son's fiancée from her school?" "No. She's a stranger. Her family just moved here, and he met her at a dance." "Did Betty go to those dances?" "No, she's too young to go to any of those balls for grown-ups." "So she hasn't seen the fiancée?" "Neither of us met her, to be honest. He'd rather that. But we already accepted her because of him, so we didn't mind." "Is it too early for him to start a family for his age?"

"Of course, the whole thing is absurd. He's only twenty and she's only eighteen. But they're obviously very happy and sweet together. And I was married very young myself and lived happily ever after. The only regret I didn't have a daughter, and Betty filled that absence." "What is she going to do when she leaves school?" "She doesn't know yet. As far as I can see, she has no special expertise. I always thought she would marry early." "Because of her attractiveness?" "Not really, but because—" She paused, obviously changing the reason she wanted to say.

"Girls without special talents are more likely to marry." He wondered if what she was going to say might have something to do with the dark blue-gray eyes. "When Betty doesn't come home at her due time, do you think she's playing truant—even a good kid like her?" "Yeah; she's tired of school, and she's always saying—and it's true—that the first day back to school is a waste of time. So we thought she was just taking advantage of it once. Like Leslie Heard what she said when she didn't come home, give it a try." "I understand. Did she wear a school uniform during the holidays?"

Mrs. Wuyin looked at him suspiciously for the first time, not sure what the question was about. "No, no, she's in home clothes—you know when she comes back in just underwear and shoes?" Robert nodded. "It's hard for me to imagine that a woman could treat a helpless child so viciously." "Mrs. Wu Yin, if you see those women, you will find it even more unbelievable." "But all heinous criminals can look innocent, can't they?" Rob declined to comment.He wondered, when the girl came home bruised, did the beating marks look like they just happened? "Well, yes. Most of them haven't turned bruises yet."

This surprised Robert. "However, there are also some that seem to have existed a long time ago." "Even if there is, it can't be seen under the cover of newborn bruises." "What do those new ones look like? Rope whipped out?" "Um. No. She looks like she's been beaten with both hands. There's marks on her poor little face too. Red and swollen cheeks and a big bruise on one temple." "Police say she became hysterical when she heard she had to speak to police." "That was when she was still very unwell. Once we knew what was going on and gave her enough rest, there was no difficulty in getting her to speak to the police. "Mrs. Wooyin, I trust you will answer me honestly for the next question. Did you ever have any doubts about what Betty said? Even for an instant, for a fleeting moment?" "No, not at all.Why doubt? She's always been an honest kid.And even if she wasn't, how could she have made up such a long and detailed story without being detected? The police asked all the questions they wanted; " "When she first told you what happened, did she have a complete account?" "Well, no; it took a day or two; it was just a general idea at first, and then gradually filled in the details as her memory came back, such as the fact that the windows in the attic were round." "Her coma didn't cloud her memory?" "I don't think that would make a difference. I mean, Betty has a camera memory." It's easy to believe, thought Robert, with the ears erect and far apart. "When she was little, she could look at any page of a book - children's books, of course - and retell the pictures from memory. When we played memory games, she always won, so we In the end Betty had to be banned from participating. All in all, she had an amazing memory." "You mentioned that she had been an honest child—in fact, everyone said so—but she was lost in the world of her own imagination like any other child?" "Never," said Mrs. Wuyin with extraordinary certainty.The idea didn't seem to amuse or pride her at all. "She can't," she said. "Betty doesn't give a damn unless it's real. Even at the game of Doll's Tea Party, she never wants to deliver a plate of treats based on her imagination, which most kids would be happy to do; but she has to have something real. Something, like a morsel of bread. Usually, of course, something better than that is needed; expediency is a good thing sometimes, but she's always a little greedy." Robert admired her fair detachment in referring to her dear daughter. Is it the ironic attitude left over from being a school teacher? Anyway.This is much better than spoiling your child. However, it's also a pity that she's been rewarded so disproportionately for her intelligence and dedication. "I don't want to bother you for too long on a subject that doesn't please you," said Robert. "Perhaps you'd like to tell me something about her parents." "Her parents?" Mrs. Wuyin asked unexpectedly. "Yes. Do you know them well? What kind of people are they?" "I don't know them at all. We've never met." "But Betty lived with you—how long—nine months?—before her parents died unexpectedly, didn't they?" "Yes; but her mother wrote a letter shortly after Betty came to our house, saying that visiting her would only make the child sad and unhappy, and that it would be best for us all to keep her with us till the war. Until she can return to London. She also mentioned in the letter that she hoped that I could mention her at least once a day in front of Betty." Robert could not help feeling sad for the dead woman whom he had never met, who would rather bear the pain of lovesickness herself than think of her only child.What gratuitous love and care Betty Kane received! "Did she have trouble adjusting when she first arrived? Did she cry for her mother?" "She was crying, but it was because she didn't like the food. I don't remember her ever crying for her mother. She fell in love with Leslie the first night she came - even though she was only a baby - and I think her interest in him deflects any sadness she might have missed. He, four years older than her, just reached the age where he wants to protect others. He still does - which is why we have all these troubles today .” "How did the Ike-Emma tabloid thing happen? I know your son went to the paper, but did you—" "My God, no," said Mrs. Wuyin indignantly. "It was a foregone conclusion before we could do anything to stop it. My husband and I went out when Leslie and the reporter came to our house - the newspaper sent someone with him as soon as they heard the story. Back, to get first-hand information from Betty—and when..." "Would Betty have any information?" "I don't know the details of what happened. I wasn't there. My husband and I were kept in the dark until Leslie spread a copy of the Ike-Emma tabloid before our eyes this morning. He had no idea what happened. It's not a good thing to get to this point. I must let you know, Mr. Blair, that my son doesn't usually want to have anything to do with a paper like the Ike-Emma, ​​if he's not so angry... " "I get it. I totally get it. That 'tell us your troubles and we'll get you justice' tagline is vicious, but it's also quite alluring," he stood up. "Mrs. Wu Yin, you are very kind and kind, and I am very grateful." His tone was so sincere, she was a little puzzled and looked at him incomprehensibly, with a troubled expression that seemed to ask, did I say anything that would help you? He asked Betty where her parents lived in London, and she told he. "There's nothing there anymore," she said. "It's an empty lot. It's part of a building program now, but nothing has been done yet." At the exit door, he met Leslie. Leslie was a rather handsome young man, and he didn't seem to know it-a feature that softened Robert, who had been hostile to him. Robert had imagined him to be of the rough-and-tumble type; but on the contrary, he had a very graceful and kind face, shy but sincere eyes, and a head of soft, tousled hair.After his mother introduced Robert to him and explained why he came, he stared at Robert with obvious unfriendly eyes; moreover, as his mother said, there was a hint of rebellion in his eyes.Leslie was clearly angry with himself today. "No one can walk away after hurting and beating my sister," he said fiercely. "I sympathize and agree with you," said Rob, "but personally, I'd rather be beaten up every night for two weeks than have my picture posted on Ike-Emma." On the front pages of the tabloids. Especially if I'm a young girl." "If you were beaten up every night for two weeks and no one could help you afterwards, I think you'd be willing to have your picture published in any newspaper for justice." Leslie finished, flashing them into the go inside. Mrs. Wooyin turned to Robert with an apologetic smile; and Robert, taking advantage of her tender moment, said: "Mrs. Wu Yin, if at any time you feel that there is something wrong with Betty's story, I hope you will not ignore it and ignore it." "Mr. Blair, you'd better not stake your hopes on that." "Do you have the heart to let innocent people suffer?" "Well, of course no, I didn't mean that. I meant in the matter of my possible suspicion of Betty. If I believed her at the beginning, it was impossible to doubt her later." "It's hard to say. Maybe one day you suddenly realize that this piece of the puzzle doesn't fit that. You have a naturally analytical mind; Facts that didn’t feel right all of a sudden come to the fore.” She accompanied him to the garden gate, and he turned to say good-bye after his last words.At this moment, he was surprised to find something flickering in her eyes because of his words. She wasn't too sure about the truth of the whole story after all.The course of the story raised some doubts in her calm, analytical mind because of a number of factors.What was that? Then, pausing before stepping into the car, he asked, in an epiphany that he recalled in retrospect could only be explained by a sixth-sense intuition from experience, "When she came home, Does she have anything in her pocket?" "She has only one pocket on her dress." "Is there anything in there?" The muscles at the corners of her mouth tightened almost imperceptibly. "Just a lipstick," she said quietly. "A lipstick! Too young for her, isn't it?" "Ah, dear Mr. Blair, girls are now experimenting with lipstick at the age of ten. Girls' entertainment on rainy days has changed from stealing mother's clothes to playing with lipstick." "Maybe, manufacturers are the biggest beneficiaries of this change." She smiled, said goodbye to him, turned and walked back into the house after he drove away. What made her wonder about lipstick? So thought Robert, turning away from the uneven grassy side alley and turning towards the flat and dark main road that ran through Ellsbury and London.He was still muttering in his heart, is it because she had the impression that Franchise is the residence of demons, and she doesn't seem to leave lipstick for girls, which made her so confused? He was also surprised that he might be subconscious about her That reminder of doubt in it suggested that Jing would stimulate himself too! It wasn't until he heard his own questioning that he realized he was referring to the girl's pocket. Well, there was such a lipstick.And its existence puzzled Mrs. Wuyin. This is one more discovery that can be listed so far.For one, the girl has a camera memory; for one, she was caught out a month or two ago without warning - Leslie's engagement; and for one, she was tired of school life; and that she prefers reality to fantasy. The most important thing was that in that family, no one knew what Betty Kane was thinking, not even the sane Mrs. Wooyin.What is even more unbelievable is that a fifteen-year-old girl who had always been the focus of a young man's life changed completely overnight and was able to calmly not show depression. According to Mrs. Wu Yin: "She took it very well." Robert was intrigued by this discovery, and pleased that it at least proved that the straightforward youthful face might not explain the inner nature of Betty Kane.