Chapter 13 Section 6 Maid

Permit me to re-describe the appearance of Mademoiselle Gabette Storgov (a surname common in old Russia—maybe Miss Gabette was descended from Russian immigrants, who knows?)—about the age of Around forty-five years old (the records in the archives only mention the time she worked here, not her age), iron-gray hair, and gray pupils.The skin had a bloodless pallor—which made the somewhat excessive freckles stand out on her face. This was much later on February 29th - just after dinner, I made this request to Mr. Rhodes: I don't know whether this Mr. Steward who looks like a Venetian Merchant correctly conveyed my thoughts to Miss Gabbet; or whether she was dissatisfied with my unintentional threats to Mr. Rügenmann's health several times; Are you wary of me as a police officer? Anyway, Ms. Gabbett must have participated in my current interrogation work with great reluctance—on this point, as long as someone knows how to read Anyone can easily perceive it from Miss Gabbett's attitude towards me at this time"? So, Miss Gabbett. The last time you saw Miss Eliza on March 17, 1984 When is it?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Inspector, it's been too long and I can't remember? Can you change the question?" "Miss Gabbett, can you try to recall?—According to the information, you should be the last person to see the victim on the day of the incident? Therefore, the clues you can provide are very important! Please recall carefully Come on, we have a lot of time." "Oh? My sir. I'm afraid I can't do it if I try to remember - I've been anemic for years? It's gotten worse lately. My head hurts when I think about it It's so bad, I'm dizzy, I can't recall anything at all! Look, I'm starting to have a headache right now?"

Miss Garbett rubbed her temples, with a bored and helpless expression on her face--that look was clearly pretending: she didn't want to cooperate with my work at all, and was looking for an excuse to get me out of her bedroom please get out. Let me think - how should I ask the question?Miss Garbett, who has worked in Hofer's villa for thirty-two years, undoubtedly has a deep and tacit relationship with everyone in the villa: she must love Eliza very much, even It may be a kind of maternal love: Eliza's biological mother passed away very early, and the relationship between Miss Carolina and Eliza was not very good.Well, Gabette, who sees all this in her eyes—I know she is not a heartless person: at least, I don’t think she gave me the words she gave me in the corridor on the second floor today because of her concern for Mr. Rügenmann. The kind reminder is a disguise or something (eyes can't lie, I still remember her accusing eyes), what will she do?Would she have wanted to give Eliza a love that was reserved but enough to fill the gaps and wounds in the poor child's life?

A child who grew up under his own eyes was suddenly killed—this fact, put on Miss Gabbett: how much grief would she bear?Would she also hate the murderer, and how much?We have not caught the murderer for so many years, Miss Gabbet, is she as disgusted or even disgusted by my presence as Mr. Rügenmann and Transkei? These questions, I think, most of the answers are yes.I've already figured out how to conduct our conversations—if you want to open others' hearts, at least you must open your own. "Miss Garbett, if I were in your position, I would also hate this chattering agent in front of me."

Miss Garbett went on rubbing her temples without looking at me. "What if?, I mean if - I have a daughter: even if it's not my own. She grows up beside me, from a baby to a lively and lovely girl. She's there, even if I'm far away Looking at it, I also feel extremely happy and joyful in my heart." I continued. Miss Garbett's hand dropped—I knew she was beginning to listen to what I had to say. "? One day she died—a cruel and shameless thug killed her. I must be in pain, and I really want to pierce the heart of this demon with a sharp blade, and then die with me? But, this The devil fled into hell, and we don't even know what kind of ugly face he has, and we can't even imagine it."

Miss Garbett looked up.In her gray pupils, I saw anger and sadness that seemed to have been intertwined for generations. "? They hired a hunter to hunt down the murderer. At first, they had high hopes for this hunter—of course you do too. However, that demon is so cunning that the hunter spent many years and couldn't find it. Its traces, but one after another children were killed one after another. Slowly, you no longer trust this hunter. Every time he comes to the house, you return him with indifferent and distrustful eyes, and you don’t even bother to talk to him. gone." Miss Garbett's face showed a little shame: she obviously knew the moral of my story.

"? However, this hunter still worked very hard and began to approach the demon's lair step by step. On this day, he finally came to the place where the demon was hiding—there was a door there, a door that he couldn't open no matter what. But you have the only key that belongs to this door." Miss Garbett gave me a look—she seemed about to say something, but she didn't, just looked at me that way. "? Of course there may not be only one door—even the hunter needs many keys to find the truth at the end. Then, Miss Gabbette, would you lend me this key?" Miss Garbett put her hands on her chest, took a deep breath, and let out a long breath:

"—For Ilize." She had already decided. After a slight pause, she then said to me, "Mr. Wenzel. I admit that what you said just now really sounded sincere—of course you also have your reasons. However, I agree to answer your question now, but it is entirely for Eliza: At least, what you have done so far has not been able to win the trust of anyone in this villa . " "Is this the truth? Well, Miss Gabbett, if I were in your position, I would still continue to hate this chattering detective in front of me." She smiled: "Shall we begin?" "?Ok."

"So, the question just now: On March 17, 1984, when was the last time you saw Miss Eliza?" "? At that time, our waitress had dinner, about seven o'clock at that time-then, at around eight o'clock, when I turned on the corridor light on the second floor, Eliza poked her head out of her room : Did she even smile at me?" This kind of memory is undoubtedly cruel to Miss Garbett: I don’t know how many times this scene has appeared in her mind-I don’t know if every time she recalls this scene, it is the same as this time. Similarly, the expression of her soul in her eyes changed from joy to sadness in an instant. "During dinner, was there any difference in her behavior or emotions from usual?"

"? Well, Eliza seemed to be very happy that day. I don't remember exactly? However, when I was clearing the table, I noticed that she seemed to have a particularly good appetite for the day-even the peas! I think , she must have been very happy that day?" "You were turning on the aisle lights? So, is it the same time every day?" "Huh? Open at eight o'clock and close at six o'clock in summer, and seven o'clock in winter." "Is it the same now?" "It's all automatic now?" "Are you in charge every day?" "No, I'm in charge of 246, and Pfaff is in charge of the rest."

"?According to the information, Pfaff resigned in 1985. Do you know the reason?" "Of course. He said his daughter, who lives on the shores of Lake Como in Italy (Comer See), was getting married and she asked him to move back there to live with them." "So Pfaff is Italian. Have you contacted him afterwards?" "I don't know much about this - your people seemed to be looking for him in 1988. Mr. Rhodes sent him a registered letter for this, hoping that he could return to Freewill City temporarily. The letter was returned , and it says 'No such person found'." Miss Garbett thought for a while, and added: "You don't have to worry too much about that, though—perhaps Pfaff has moved. He's only been here a little over four years, and he's a nice guy." "Can you recall—Ilize was smiling at you at that time, so, was there anything remarkable about her at that time? I mean,? In any way, emotionally? Or physically. " "? Well, of course she was very happy at that time. Did I just say? Let me think about it...Ah! By the way, she wore her hair in a bun!" "Isn't it the same as at dinner?" "Huh? Someone once asked me this question. Is there no record in your files? Oh? Well, forget it, maybe this question is not too important-Miss is used to taking a bath before dinner. Therefore, when she eats dinner, The hair is loose." This of course meant that Eliza was going out at the time—a very important clue, I must say. "So, Miss Eliza? The last black evening dress. When would she normally wear it?" "Miss seldom wears that dress. In my impression, it was only worn in the spring of 1982, on the 120th anniversary celebration of the Otto Royal Girls' School-there was a dance at the school that night! I guess, Yi Liz must be the prettiest girl of the night?" "Well, in the spring of 1983, Miss Eliza had a quarrel with Carolina--Mr. Rügenmann said that you might know what it was about." "Huh? I know, I know - the vicious slut's cat is gone. This rude woman came into Eliza's room without knocking - I would have quarreled with her Yes, I'll even pull her hair out!" said Miss Garbett bitterly. "So, you think Miss Carolina is the murderer?" "Who else but her?? She and some of her lovers—Illidza presumably saw their shameless deeds. My God! They're going to kill her for it!!? Mr. Inspector, I can't figure it out—it's so difficult to catch a pair of elopement dogs with names and surnames!" Miss Gabbett became excited, and her speech speed gradually accelerated. "You know the lover's name?" "Anyway, it's James Jr., Dochart or Donut, Jason or Tommy or who? There are so many names, I can't remember them all. Or it may not be any of these names, but It's that disgusting woman's little lover hiding in the dark! - who knows? I don't know how you let these corrupt scumbags slip away from your nose one by one!" Of the bunch of lovers that Karolina knew, none of them are still suspected by the police until today—in fact, the measures we took against this bunch of "moral scum" were also from January to March. Fence them like sheep.There was nothing we could do to let them go—they really did nothing during the nights Romeo swung his knife. "So, on the day of the incident, was there anything unusual about Karolina?" "No? Well, maybe, you know: I didn't even bother to look at this woman. She ate supper around six o'clock that day, and then went upstairs—God knows she was doing it in her room." What, maybe she's calling some lover; or there's someone hiding in her room? Ha, that's quite possible!" "Miss Eliza is usually in the villa, who do you like to talk to most?" "It should be the master—but the master was very busy at that time, and the father and daughter often didn't see each other several times a month." "Except Herr Rügenmann?" "Except for the master, I'm the only one who likes to follow me and ask questions when I was a child; however, it may be because of growing up: since she entered the girls' school, she doesn't like to talk to me very much. Chatted? Hey, girls get shy when they get older." "Then, what about Mr. Rhodes and Pfaff? And Transkei—is Miss Eliza also familiar with them?" "Miss basically doesn't talk to Mr. Rhodes and Pfaff—except for some necessary orders; and Transkei was still young at the time, and Eliza probably regarded him as her younger brother, and often gave him candy ;? As for the other servants, the lady never talks to them." "Did Miss Eliza mention to you where you were going on the day of the incident and in the days before that?" "? I don't think so. Except when she just came back from spring break and she said she wanted to work at the Adlon Nightclub and asked me if there were a lot of bad people there." "How did you answer that?" "I said 'I don't know' - because I haven't been there either. However, I advised her not to go: after all, that kind of place is not for young girls." "After Miss Eliza quarreled with Mr. Rügenmann about this matter, did she experience emotional fluctuations?" "Of course there are! Miss didn't eat that day, and locked herself in the room - I once delivered dinner to her: she ignored me and didn't open the door. However, I heard a faint sound in the room - —that seemed to be Eliza's sobbing under the covers. My poor lady?" "Please recall, or during that time, is there any special situation that needs to be added?" "A special situation? Let me think about it. Well, at that time, Raymond often forgot to close the garden gate, and Mr. Rhodes reprimanded him many times for this-this matter had a bad influence on the servants, and the master even I talked to him specifically: It can be seen how big this matter is." "Anything else?" "Well, I can't think of it now anyway—but when I do, I'll tell you right away, my Inspector." Miss Garbett smiled slightly at me. I closed my little notebook: "Okay, Miss Gabbet. That's all my questions, I think. Besides, I'd like to see Miss Eliza's room now. Can you show me the way?" "my pleasure." Miss Garbett took out a key from a drawer beside her—that must be the key to Eliza's room. I don't know if this key is also the first key to open the door to the devil's lair?