Chapter 26 Chapter Twenty Six

Half an hour later, Reynolds, the police medical officer, replaced Lydia, who was constantly shouting and talking nonsense.Keats administered a dose of morphine so that she could be returned to the police station without indignity. Grant and Williams stood inside the door, watching the departing ambulance, not knowing what to say. "Okay," Grant finally pulled himself together and said after a long time, "I think it's about time I went to see Chance." “The man who made the laws of this country deserves to be shot,” Williams said, with hatred out of nowhere. Grant was taken aback. "Do you mean the death penalty?"

"No. Closing time." "Oh, I see. I've got another bottle in the cupboard. Take it if you want." "Thank you, sir. Don't get excited, miss!" The latter was addressed to the sobbing maid behind him: "Things are unpredictable, so be careful." "The hostess was really nice to me," she said. "It hurts to see her like this." "Here's the coat for you, Williams," said Grant, and they went down the path, and got into the car sent to fetch them, and left the place with inexpressible relief. "Tell me, sir, with so many suspects, how did you find out that this woman did it?"

Grant produced the pages of the magazine which he had torn out. "I found it in a magazine at Ocean's Barber's. See for yourself." The article was written by some gossip reporter from the Midwest while she was on vacation in New York.New York is full of movie stars, and Lydia.Miss Keats.What impressed the female reporter the most was not shaking hands with big stars, but Lydia.Keats' prophecies of success.She made three very startling prophecies.She prophesied Lin.Derek is going to have a serious accident in three months; and everyone knows Lin.Derek is still in bed.She said Millard within a month.Robinson would have lost a lot in the fire; we all know how those freshly finished million-dollar master tapes went up in flames as a result.

And her third prediction was that a certain first-line actress would die by drowning. As for the name of the actress, of course she said it, but of course the gossip female reporter would not disclose it. "If this third prophecy, which is so detailed and ambiguous, can still be realized, Miss Keats will undoubtedly become the most incredible superpower possessor in the world. All human beings will flock to her But I would warn the lovely fair-haired actress not to go swimming with Miss Keats! Perhaps the temptation is too much for her!" "Unexpected." After Williams finished speaking, he was silent all the way until Grant let him out of the car in front of the police station.

"Tell the Chief Inspector that I will be right back after my meeting with Lord Edward," Grant said, and then drove to Regent's Park. He waited half an hour, surrounded by marble hearths and sheepskin rugs, before Chance returned home. "How are you, Inspector? I heard from Binns that you were waiting for me. Sorry to make you spend so much unnecessary time with the furniture. Would you like some tea? If not, there is what my uncle called 'nectar' .much more elegant than the word 'wine,' don't you think? Any news for me?" "Yes, sir. I'm sorry to interrupt you when you just got back from your trip."

"It couldn't have been worse than yesterday's speech in my aunt's living room. I was going purely because of her old man, only to find out later that she thought I should cancel. That would be 'proper' Much. Then tell me the bad news." Grant recounted the matter, and he listened gravely, his uncharacteristic indiscretion gone. "Is she insane?" he asked after Grant had finished speaking. "Yes. Reynolds thinks so. Maybe hysteria, but he thinks it's insanity. The delusion of a great man, you know." "Poor thing. But how does she know where my wife is?"

"Owen Hughes wrote her a letter from Hollywood, it said. He forgot for a moment that it was a secret that she lived on his farm.He even mentioned the morning swim. ""It turned out to be that simple.I see...then she must be very familiar with speedboats? " "She basically grew up on speedboats, it seems. The river is being used all day long.No one thought to ask her what she was doing when she came and went.She might have made more than one run on the river at night before the opportunity she was looking for came along.Strange to say, but no one ever considered that the river would be a thoroughfare to any purpose.Naturally we considered the possibility of a speedboat, but did not expect a speedboat from London.But even if you think about it, it won't help much.That men's overcoat she's wearing gives us a lot of misleading.Plenty of women go out on yachts in men's oilskin coats, I just don't think I would have thought of that. "There was a short silence.

In each of their minds, the two men watched the boat pass across the misty river, out of the lit estuary and along the lit shore.After passing town after town, from the dazzling lights of the shipyard to the flickering decorative lights of the cliffside villas, the lights along the way accompanied the speedboat along the way. But afterward it must have been dark, for the water was in utter darkness and silence under the thick mist of the summer night.What was going through her mind during that waiting time?She was alone, with only time for contemplation and reflection.No star could remind her of her own greatness.Or had her madness made her hesitate even then?What happened next—the two men saw it too.Surprising encounter.Kind regards.

Christine's green swimming cap bobbed up and down the gray side of the boat—the cap had never been found.The woman in the boat stooped to talk to her.And then—Grant thought of the broken nails on Christine's hands.So it shouldn't be easy to get it. "So the case is closed, sir, but I have come to you for something else. Another case, so to speak." "Yes? Tea, please. Binns, you can leave the service. Sugar, Inspector?" "I wonder where you took Limnik." Chance's hand holding the sugar was hanging in mid-air.The expression was surprised and mischievous, and - somehow - admiring.

"He lives with a friend of Hamer's, near Donbridge Springs." "Can you give me the address?" Chance gave the address and also served Grant the tea. "Why are you looking for Limnik?" "Because he's in England without a passport - thanks to you!" "He didn't have one. But the authorities gave him entry clearance this morning. It took a lot of talking—Britain loves justice, protects the persecuted, shelters the righteous who don't have a place to go: high-profile stuff like that— But it worked. Government officials still have their chests up, you know? After listening to me, they all look like puff-breasted pigeons."

He looked at the inspector's disapproving face. "I don't know that this little thing has worried you for so long." "Worry!" Grant finally broke out: "This almost ruined the whole case. You and Harmer have been hiding what you did that night-" He suddenly found himself touching a sensitive topic, and restrained his emotions. But Chance can understand. "I am very sorry, Inspector. Are you going to arrest me? With all due respect, is the grounds for arrest retroactive?" "Probably not. I'll have to ask. It would be a great pleasure if I could." Grant regained his composure. "Okay. We'll talk about the arrest later. But tell me how you found out, please? I think we've done a brilliant job." performance, I may never find out." "I must see Remel." "He found out that you and Hamer had met that night and were worried about customs." "Yes. Limnik hid in a locker in my cabin. It was a thrilling half hour. But customs and port authorities are human, after all." Grant interpreted this to mean that they had knocked off Chance's moorings, but hadn't the guts to pry his deck. "At that time, I felt that if I could remember what you said before you deliberately made me confused when you arrived in Dover, I could find the key to everything. I really remembered it! You mentioned Galeria's only hope is Limnik, and once Limnik's party is ready, he will make a comeback. But the real obstacle is finding out your relationship with Hammer. Because it's so easy and too obvious So much so that I didn't see it. You hit it off right away after your wife introduced you to each other. I must say he did a beautiful job of putting those smoke screens and putting on those hideous and low-brow scenes before my eyes. I really should think more deeply about what I know about you..." "What do you know?" "Your deviant." They both laughed. "Once the difficulties were figured out, the rest was easy. The Political Security Service knew everything about Limnik's disappearance, the refusal of his passport application, and the fact that he was not allowed to enter the UK. They even knew that he should have been Arrived in England, just couldn't be verified. So your speedboat docked again later?" "You mean that night? Yes. Harmer drove us to his friend's house. He was very brave, I think he was petrified, but he kept going. I heard Tistor showed up now." When Grant got up to go, Chance said, "It must be a big relief to you. Is he sick?" "No. He's cold and tired, of course. But I don't think there's anything serious about him." "I read the afternoon paper I bought in Yorkshire today, and it described his sufferings very tragically. I have long recognized the virtue of the media, so I firmly believe that nothing written in the newspaper is true." "Not a word of truth. Jimmy Hopkins is just like that." "Who is Jimmy Hopkins?" "Who is—" Grant suddenly felt at a loss for words.He looked at Chance enviously and said, "Now I know why people go to places where birds don't lay eggs!"