Chapter 8 Chapter 5 Rebirth

“Cela me fait dräle.” (French: This makes me feel weird.) At 3:15 pm on the 8th, General Directorate Morgue, after a long wait for the autopsy. "What about the time of death?" Carl asked. "Probably around six o'clock this morning, with an error of no more than five minutes." The young coroner replied. "Is this the case with fresh cadavers?" Ziegler added.He looked at the corpse clothes on the side, and continued: "These must be Dr. Gelt's." He picked up the shirt. "The button on the cuff on the left hand must have been sewed by him himself—the stitching is different from the others."

Carl went over to look at the cuff: "Cross needles? When did you observe this?", he asked Jiegler. "Last night. Still? There is some better evidence as to whether the body is really the Doctor himself." Our bearded Inspector, still in his sick suit, approached the headless corpse, whose hands had been amputated at the elbows and feet at the knees, leaving essentially a torso, and stretched his right arm, examining him carefully. Inner arm: "There is indeed a scar here." He pointed to us - there is a very obvious triangular scar on the inside of the right arm of the corpse, "Davis? Have you checked the time of this scar?"

"Have you checked? It was probably between July and August last year. It was a stab wound with a sharp object and there were stitches." Davis, the forensic doctor, replied. "It should be true," Jiegler said. "On July 4 last year, the doctor was stabbed by a gangster trying to escape in the bureau. Carl, you also know about this, right?" Karl nodded, and said while examining the corpse evidence: "I just heard that I wasn't in the bureau at the time." "? The hospital that Jason and I took him to." Jiegler continued, "I gave him a simple bandage, and I know the location of the wound very well. Moreover, I also saw this scar last night—I Pretty sure about that."

"When did you see it?", I asked. "When the doctor took a shower and was drying his hair in the living room—he was only wrapped in a bath towel. If Willie was still alive, he should be able to be a witness." Jiegler said sadly. "We really don't need witnesses at all," interrupted Karl, who was holding something in his hand - we looked at his hand: I saw at a glance that it was very wrong with my assumption. Importantly, a doctor's certificate from the Third Hospital. "Think about it, how could our colleagues judge the true identity of a headless corpse that accidentally appeared in the corner of the flower bed of the Second Church Hospital based on the location of the stitches and scars so quickly?" Carl said slightly sarcastically, "Of course they can't—and there's absolutely no need to. This medical certificate clearly says 'Gelt Nagel'

name. " "However, Carl, don't you think things are a little strange?" Jiegler put the corpse's right arm back in its original position, "This is not Evante's usual method." "Oh, I know what you mean." Our black detective shrugged. It's not the exact words of the detective code.", Carl glanced at me, "It's true that Ifante didn't do this, but please recall Ms. Perdita's pile of fingers-it's no big deal for him to do it now. " "Oh, I don't think the lack of a head and limbs is too suspicious." I said, "Maybe it's because the corpses were thrown away separately, and the other parts haven't been found yet; maybe Evante is starting to like big collections now; Or maybe it's not Dr. Gelt's body at all?"

"Are you still thinking about your hypothesis?" Karl shook his head, walked to Jiegler's side, and continued, "Isn't this writing a detective novel?" Our black detective raised the right arm of the corpse again to have a look, then turned around and asked Davis: "Anyway, a DNA test can always tell us an accurate result, even if the murderer left only a single hair—am I right, Mister Davis?" Such a formal title clearly embarrassed the young coroner: "Actually? Hair does not belong to the standard specimen. If there is no hair root, one hair is definitely not acceptable? If two or three hairs with hair roots are used for comparative identification, there should be no problem?" Davis He seriously denied Carl's exaggerated statement that was purely for emphasis (I guess our black detective will feel dumbfounded at this moment), "However, the results of the DNA test also prove that this corpse is indeed the Dr. Walter Nagel. According to the comparison of the blood sample analysis records provided by the Second Mission Hospital, this result should be beyond doubt."

I nodded to Davis and Carl, then turned to Jiegler: "Did the doctor check his belongings when he was sent to the Third Hospital yesterday?" Jiegler shook his head: "Did you know the situation at that time? Moreover, his identity is a protected person, not a suspect?" I went back to Davis and asked: "You said that the doctor's blood sample analysis records were provided by the Second Church Hospital. Will all hospitals in this city establish DNA files for registered medical staff?" "According to the requirements of the Health Bureau and the Federation of Trade Unions," Davis replied, "since June 1999, all personnel working in medical institutions in the city must establish relevant DNA files—however, there are some specific implementation issues. Many difficulties? At least as far as I know, the Maternity and Children’s Hospital and the No. 1 Mental Sanatorium have no plans to establish; however, the No. 1 Hospital should have been established—a few of my college classmates are surgeons there. ?As for the other hospitals, I'm not sure. But, as you can see, there are Second Church hospitals—even if they're not doing so well financially?"

"Does this have anything to do with your conjecture on the medical certificate, Wenzel?" Karl handed me the medical certificate. I took this certificate, which was obviously almost identical to the current doctor's certificate of the Third Hospital held by doctor Alita that I had just seen in the ward—the certificate number was EDC199811300007.Moreover, the back of this certificate is different from the stack of certificates I saw last night, and there is no stamp related to "void": this is naturally related to the material it uses-I insist that it is A standard, well-made credit card is not too much, except that no one can expect to use it to withdraw money from a central bank ATM.

"More or less?" I replied, "You have also seen Alita's medical certificate—Carl, except for the name, position, certificate number and the difference between the old and the new, tell me, this What's the difference between this certificate and Alita's?", I shook the evidence in my hand. "There is no difference? You mean, the prisoner used this doctor's card to pretend to be the doctor on duty?" "I can't think of any other possibility?" I replied, "Last night I found a large stack of invalid documents at the doctor's house. According to the time, only this one is missing."

"Davis, where are the fingerprints on the doctor's certificate?" Jiegler suddenly asked our young forensic doctor angrily—the expression of the bearded detective in front of him seemed to have found the key clue of the whole case . "Well, the report from the evidence department may have come out? I'll check it out, please wait a moment?" "By the way, do you have the result of that paper in the morning? They know?" Karl said to him before he went out. "If it's possible?" I rushed over and grabbed Davis's sleeve when one of Davis's feet had already stepped out of the morgue, "Call the Third Hospital for me and ask if they also Created a DNA profile.", I made my request.

"No problem?" said the young forensic doctor with a smile. I let go of his sleeves, and his whole body finally stepped out of the thick door frame of the morgue, and he got rid of all the breath of death in an instant. Only then did the two cold white sliding doors of the morgue close heavily. They try to hide death, even though there are still three living people in the room. Maybe death doesn't have to stick to this small detail “Il aura fort a faire pour nous convaincre.” (French: He can't convince us so easily.) "? Even if we don't have a fingerprint report for this thing at this moment," Carl put the doctor's medical card back in its original position, "it doesn't prevent us from continuing what we just did. topic—if the prisoner pretends to be the doctor on duty, it would be really easy to get the two comatose patients out of the hospital." "Maybe it's just Taphne?", I added. "You mean that Dr. Gelt lying here could still be the murderer?" Carl laughed, "? Or he was just Evante's accomplice and was forced to get Taphni out? Then, the murderer used There may be some truth in supposing that our poor Doctor, keeping his word on the sixth death notice, brutally murdered his innocent sidekick." "We should be more sensible? Now is not the time to make subjective judgments," Jiegler shook his head, "No matter who the murderer is, no matter who the murderer's assistant is—since someone pretends to be a doctor and brings at least one hostage into the The better way to get out of the hospital is to refer to the emergency department." "? This is exactly the same as I thought!", I took Jiegler's words, "Generally, there are ready-made stretchers in the observation room, and it is easy to get the clothes of the doctor on duty—think about it, an emergency department Doctor, referring two patients at once is obviously suspicious; hiding a tall man under a stretcher is even less likely? Apart from assuming that this tall gentleman is the person pretending to be a doctor, we What more interesting hypothesis could be proposed?" "? It's a bit arbitrary to say that." Karl was not convinced by my statement. "It's the easiest thing to prove," Jiegler said, "you just need to call the emergency room of the Third Hospital and check the ambulance referrals between 2:00 and 3:00 last night. The record is enough—describe the appearance of Dr. Gelt and Taphne, and I believe many witnesses will be found." "I'm going to do it now," Carlisle replied, "to be honest, I really want to prove that this hypothesis is impossible——Wenzel, what evidence do you have to support your entire hypothesis? , but a voided medical certificate which, perhaps by accident, has been left in the poor man's pocket? I hope that all you say is not mere speculation? Famous detective?" Carl leaves the morgue. "He is a person who pays attention to full evidence and is not used to overly bold assumptions." Jiegler sighed, "Karl has also encountered a few bad cases-he has paid a lot for assumptions and arbitrariness. price?" I nodded my head in understanding. "? However, I can roughly guess the result of his trip and return," he smiled at me, "You should be right again this time?" "Oh? Did you see the emergency vehicle passing by last night?" "? Well, before I passed out in the parking lot - at about 2:30, I saw several nurses and doctors coming out of the emergency corridor: otherwise I wouldn't have thought of the emergency referral method immediately?", Ji Geler shook his head and stroked his beard, "It's a pity I didn't think of it at the time? Otherwise, at least I would check the referred patient before passing out." "One? So, there is indeed only one stretcher? You shouldn't have seen the faces of the patient and the doctor, have you? Judging from your situation at the time?" "Are you trying to say that I'm old?" Jiegler interrupted me angrily, "Forget it, don't mention this. I said, Wenzel, you insist on the assumption that Dr. Gelt is the murderer in the whole case , it shouldn’t be just based on the clue of the doctor’s certificate, right?” He glanced at me confidently, “You’ve never been such a judgmental person? Unless you admit that you are more old-fashioned than me .”, he said with a smile. "There are still some things. For example, he didn't kill Taphne, but let her back—don't you think that's strange?" "Didn't he write the same words in blood on Taphne's trench coat? 'IT is time To Die'—provocation and warning, which is a natural thing for serial killers to do." Jiegler replied. "Even if he kills Taphne, he can still write these words on the windbreaker—don't you think that would be more effective? Judging from the age of the target group, Taphne is older than Dr. Gelt. fit to be dead?" "It's hard for me to believe that Taphne can tolerate a boss like you? Alright, Wenzel, what do you think the murderer let Taphne do?" "Witness," I replied, "he needed a witness who could prove that Dr. Gelt had been killed—so he blindfolded Taphne so she could only hear the voice. Voices are easy to fake Of—from the testimony of my assistant, it can also be found that Dr. Gelt and the so-called Evante have never spoken together at the same moment!" Inspector Jiegler shook his head: "In the final analysis, this is still an assumption—you are not the murderer himself, God knows what they will want to do!? You also know that in the first half of the case, he liked to find young women, but in the second half, he took revenge Nature; sometimes the death record, blood on the wall, sometimes a death notice printed on copy paper; sometimes the victim is hung on the ceiling like a religious totem, and sometimes it is just a gentle stab of scissors on the heart—— Maybe he doesn't even know what he's doing?" Maybe he himself didn't know what he was doing. I have to say, Jiegler's words gave me the best hint-now I can finally expand some doubts that I couldn't answer just now!Of course, these are only based on assumptions: but I can be sure that these assumptions are getting closer and closer to the facts and the truth-this amazing case is coming to an end. "It's not just a hypothesis," I took out the photo I had caught in my shoe from the notepad and handed it to Jiegler, "This photo may convince you that my hypothesis is not made out of nothing." As I've said before, this is a rather dated photo - in fact, it has the date written on the back: Thursday, April 19, 2019.Not only the date, but also the following two lines on the back: 7th Libertarian University Student Poster Design Competition, 2nd Prize Film Category Geert Nagel (Faculty of Medicine), Lost Horizon The front of the photo is of course the young Gert (of course he was not a doctor at the time)-he is standing directly in front of the camera, holding a small and delicate glass trophy in his hand.A little later is a wall with a poster that looks quite large for the camera: the poster seems to have not been fully pasted, and a person who looks like a staff member is holding down a corner on the lower right of the poster , to prevent it from being rolled up by wind that might happen to blow by while the photo is being taken. The content of the poster is quite simple (I don't think that the part that Dr. Gelt happened to cover at the time is much more exciting than the part we can see) - a black and white landscape painting in the background copied in proportion to the landscape photo, deliberately strengthened with thick lines The contour lines of the film, as well as the printed, perhaps only virtual cast and crew lists and the director's signature, which is so scribbled that they can't be seen clearly? From the perspective of today's poster design, it may seem utterly simple and monotonous.But the place name "Shangrila (Shangrila)" written in a unique and interesting cursive script that appears in the upper middle third of the poster is particularly eye-catching. Or to correct it -- especially brought to my attention: "That's Blackadder ITC font, the same font as those blood characters?", I said to Jiegler. Jiegler didn't say anything - of course he knew that it was the simple cursive font he had seen that seemed relatively stiff and suitable for writing large characters. He looked at the photo several times and returned it to me: "It's not conclusive evidence," Jiegler said. "Even if it proves that the doctor was able to write that? I mean, that big cursive typeface, it doesn't prove that he is the murderer?" Jiegler's words seemed a bit lacking in confidence - of course he also knew that there were too many coincidences in it. "During the period when the doctor was the psychological consultant for this case," I asked Jiegler, "did he ever say that he would also write large Blackadder ITC cursive characters?" "It should have never happened—maybe he didn't think it was necessary? After all, being able to write in the same font as the murderer can easily attract unnecessary suspicion." "Of course, I wouldn't say it." I put the photo back into the notepad, "But there are too many coincidences in this whole thing—the doctor will write what Evante wrote. The large cursive typeface, Evante is a patient of the doctor, and Gelt happened to be selected by the police as the psychological consultant for the Evante case..." "On this point, I need to correct it." Jiegler interrupted me, "The doctor recommended himself to be the psychological consultant for this case." "Self-recommendation? Don't you find it strange at all?" "He has been in the bureau for half a year for forensic training, and the senior management believes in his ability; moreover, this case is also very helpful for a doctor of medicine as a research example of criminal psychology——Dr. He has published many academic articles on criminal psychology, which is one of his main research topics. We are too happy to have such an expert to help us deal with this headache case. How can we doubt him? " "Then that's one of the proofs too," I responded. "But you can't ignore a man with tea-colored pupils and curly blond hair," Jiegler immediately retorted. "Ms. Perdita, Ms. Aisha, and Dr. Gelt have all clearly proved the existence of this man. We have There's even a childhood photo of Ifante von Todt, taken from the French police—you know, I don't believe in computer analysis, though. I've seen it before: brown pupils, curly A nine-year-old boy with lush blond hair? This person definitely exists, and it is absolutely impossible to be fabricated!" "You're absolutely right, my old partner?" I patted our bearded detective on the shoulder, "But what if this person isn't the murderer?" My words made the excited Jiegler completely quiet—he glanced at the headless corpse in front of him, and asked with some confusion: "If, as you say, Dr. Gelt is the culprit in this whole case," he twirled his beard, "then who would be lying here? He would have one hidden in the cellar." His twin brother? His brother should not pretend to be his brother to hold a meeting in the bureau to discuss how to arrest his murderous brother one day in July last year, but was stabbed by a gangster instead Right arm?" He smiled mockingly. "In the absence of sufficient evidence," I removed my hand from Jiegler's shoulder, "everything is just a hypothesis—you know, Ms. Perdita, Ms. Aisha, and even Gelt in front of me Doctor, those who have seen the real scissorhands are all dead or missing? Isn't this also a very strange fact? It is not particularly difficult to deliberately create a scar on the right arm. Even you The scars he saw last night may also be the false appearance he deliberately let you see-the purpose is to let you be another witness of his death?" "Okay? Wenzel!" Ziegler was obviously dissatisfied with my evaluation of "death witness", "Even if everything is as you assumed—then, what is Dr. Gelt's criminal motive? You know , no evidence, no motivation, no matter how appropriate your hypothesis is in terms of the reproduction of the facts, all of this is logically unjustifiable!" "Don't spend too much time on that assumption!" Carl pushed the door in. "We now have at least five witnesses who can prove that this assumption is not true?" “Voici les nouvelles du jour.” “Des obstacles herissent la course.” (French: Report the news now. The race is full of obstacles.) "First of all, Inspector Jiegler, unfortunately, last night? Yes, it is the prisoner we want to arrest—Evante von Todt," said Karl. "So, that guy did use the trick of emergency referral—what's the specific situation?" Jiegler asked. "The recorded referral time was 2:25 - this time was entered in the referral booklet by Vigan, the trainee doctor on duty in the emergency department, who also confirmed that the ambulance started at exactly the right time. It's half past two." "This time coincides with what you said." I said to Jiegler. "Did you also see that ambulance in the parking lot last night?" Carl said to Jiegler, "Then you can be our sixth witness." He glanced at me: "Wenzel, you're not wrong about the hypothesis about the doctor's certificate, at least in terms of specific applications?" Karl paused for a while, and then said, "A woman named Marguerite The nurse testified that she happened to see the doctor's card of the referring doctor who claimed to be the referring doctor, and the name on it was indeed Geert Nagel." At this moment, our eyes are all pointing to the medical certificate in the evidence bag—Carl continued: "Moreover, Vigan, Margaret, and the other three nurses can all attest to the appearance of the referred female patient: Although she was wearing an oxygen mask, roughly from the height, hair color, Judging by the facial features and clothing—especially the Replay windbreaker that is now an important evidence, it is basically certain that it must be Miss Taphne. Our people will ask them to do an identification in Taphne's ward later to confirm this. " "? The name of the referral patient was Dilser Heras - this is of course a black humor, or a rather obvious hint: Wenzel, you would not have thought of it? By the way, in your impression What does a stretcher usually look like?", Karl asked me. "A pile of white iron pipes and a mobile bed made up of several wheels." I replied. "I know the purpose of your question." Jiegler said to Carl at this time, "I happened to observe last night that the stretcher cart in the Third Hospital is not like this - there is a coffin-like iron sheet under him The box, which is probably used to hold the patient's belongings and some related medicines, as well as first aid equipment." "Exactly!", Carl replied, "he can also be used to hold a tall medical doctor - I asked about this detail on the phone. For emergency use, the huge locker is only used Moreover, the plastic partition inside can be easily removed for the sake of mobility.” Carl glanced at me proudly, “That is to say, Wenzel? A fake emergency doctor , two patients were transferred in one stretcher trolley - the other patient was hidden under the stretcher trolley, which is not impossible: that is even the case." I don't intend to say anything more about the fact that is so certain--I ask Karl: "Are there any witnesses who saw the face of the referring doctor?" "You finally got to the point," Carl smiled, "Although the doctor wore a mask and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses symbolically, and he was flustered when he made the referral, not many people went to see him. Notice his face? But there are two things that are really exciting." Carl paused, "Everyone can attest that the doctor's hair is blond and curly. In addition, when pushing the stretcher cart in the emergency passage , A male nurse named Josh (Josh) accidentally turned his head and saw his eyes—brown pupils! The fluorescent lights in the emergency passageway are very bright, of course he can’t see it wrong.” "? Maybe other people have seen his eyes, but they haven't paid as much attention to the color of his pupils as Josh—you know, the kind of attention when you look back, it's easy to impress.", Carl added Said, "Moreover, two witnesses also noticed that under his white doctor's coat, he was wearing a shirt with thin black stripes on a white background." Karl glanced at the corpse's clothes on the side, "And this shirt here Of course it's beige - we just noticed the cross stitches on its left cuff. Apparently, from the time the doctor took his shower last night until the forensics took off his bloody clothes a few hours ago He didn't change his shirt?" Carl was speaking to me, of course. "A stretcher cart carrying two adults must be much heavier than a normal stretcher cart. Have you asked about this?" I then asked Carl. "That's exactly what I've thought about," Carl replied, "according to one of the experienced nurses, the lockers under those stretchers occasionally contain some heavy emergency equipment-it is said The stretcher was really heavy. This is what nurse Josh said: At a downhill bend in the emergency passage, the car almost tilted." "Maybe he looked back at this moment?" Jiegler said-he lowered his head for a moment and asked: "What about the destination hospital?" "The Second Hospital. However, there is no news about the ambulance that was referred - in addition to the accompanying doctor, there is also a young female nurse named Ethel Kaiser and a driver. It's probably already already?" Karl didn't go on. "Didn't the doctor say anything?" I asked. "He must have said something to the doctor in the emergency department as he pushed past the stretcher with Taphne on it—he at least decided to referral destination.” "That's right. He said to Vigan, 'Composite anesthesia accident, wrong use of ketamine? The patient has severe cardiac decompensation. The operating room has already been contacted, and the second hospital is being transferred quickly?'—God knows where he learned these professional words Yes," Carl replied. "What about the voice characteristics? Do you have a French accent?" Jiegler asked. "A word in a hurry?" Carl said helplessly, "the French accent is not so easy to hear - I have overlooked this point. Anyway, I am going to go to the Third Hospital later - we need Carry out a second on-site investigation in a targeted manner, hoping to find some practical clues?" "Of course I'd be happy to go back and change this strange outfit," Jiegler tugged at his patient outfit, "it makes me uncomfortable all over." "Of course you'll be there too, won't you, Wenzel? Of course you'd like to know more details?" Karl asked me. I just nodded and didn't answer anything - Karl might think I was looking a little depressed at the moment: it didn't matter.I'm still thinking about this case now—these new clues and witnesses may not be able to negate my previous hypothesis.However, I am more convinced that: We are dealing with a very cunning fellow indeed. I've got some new hypotheses in my head, and I need some new clues to prove them, too. Just as we were about to leave the morgue, Davis hurried back: "The results of the Evidence Department have come out," he said to Jiegler, "There are no fingerprints on the doctor's certificate—the prisoner should have carefully cleaned his own fingerprints?" "At the same time wiped away the original fingerprints left by the doctor?" Jiegler said to himself. "What about the result of the paper in the morning?" Karl asked anxiously. "I found a few fingerprints, but I'm not sure who it is?" Davis said a little nervously. "What do you mean by 'uncertainty'," Carl was very dissatisfied with this statement, "if it wasn't Dr. Gert's or Ms. Dierser's, it must belong to the murderer—who else could it be?" "Isn't that likely?" Jiegler said. I also nodded. "And," said Davis, "the evidence department doesn't have Dr. Gelt's fingerprint sample at present?" He glanced at the headless corpse in front of him, "obviously we can't get any evidence from this corpse. Fingerprints? However, they have sent someone to the doctor's house to collect evidence. There should be results tomorrow." In fact, our detective agency has ready-made samples of the doctor's fingerprints, but I don't want them to know-I'm too lazy to go back and get them.Moreover, the guys from the Evidence Division of the General Administration should be busy with some things. "What about the smudge?", I asked. "Looks like it's still being analyzed?" Davis replied, "What we know so far is that the exact same ink was used - in this case, the people on their side said? It's basically impossible to restore .Expert identification takes a lot of time, and there may not be a result?" Davis thought for a while, and then said: "In addition, the Third Hospital just started to build employee DNA files in July this year. Because of the large number of employees in their hospital, it is said that it will take nearly half a year to complete. Currently, there are emergency department, surgery, otolaryngology and hospitalization Department, other departments seem to have not started yet? These are what I heard from the phone, which may not be accurate information, but generally there should be no problem." "Thank you.", I said to Davis, "Can I have a copy of the DNA and blood typing results?", I asked him, pointing to the corpse in front of me. "Of course." Davis replied weakly - he must be exhausted after this trip. "Aimez-vous cet endroit?" "Oui, on y est bien." (French: Do you like this place? I like it. It's nice here.) "The clothes that are missing are Dr. Anthony's, and the glasses are Mr. Albert's - he left him in the changing room when he left work last night ?He does it a lot.” The person who said this was William Grammon, the doctor on duty from eight o'clock to twelve o'clock last night.I looked around the changing room we are in now, and poked my head out to look out the window—although there are two rooms between this room and the observation room where the doctor was last night, there is a fire escape through the window. , plus a little window opening skill, it is very easy to go back and forth between these two rooms.There are two changing rooms on this floor: the larger one is for the nurses only (because they have an advantage in numbers), and there is a door between the nurses' duty room.The doctor's duty room is adjacent to the nurse's duty room, but it is farther away from this changing room-about five to six observation rooms (including a large observation room with six beds), including a corner, and connected to Two elevated walkways for the inpatient and emergency rooms. In the observation room, there is only the internal phone of the hospital, and in the changing room there is a telephone that can connect to the outside line (actually it is one of the extensions of the doctor's duty room).Carl's people have tracked down the call to Troubleshooting last night from this number: But they couldn’t determine which extension it was from—there was another in the nurse’s room and another in the cleaning supplies room: the evidence unit tried to analyze the fingerprints, but found nothing. In fact, at least two pairs of new medical plastic gloves can be found in the cleaning supplies room, each observation room and duty room, and even in the storage boxes in the hallway. "It doesn't matter if the guy forgets to prepare gloves, there are plenty of them here," Jiegler said. "If you want to sneak in, the best option is the cleaning supplies room." Esther told Carl this way-he hasn't left here since arriving at the scene at two o'clock last night.He led us to the cleaning supplies room, and Dr. William was with us. Indeed: the cleaning supplies room on the second floor, the only "hidden" fire escape in the entire building is located outside the window of this room-the other two are in the nurse's duty room and an eighth door on the other side of the hall. Outside the window of the large observation room of the bed: the former is naturally excluded; while the latter also had two patients lying there last night, and their three family members in total—the room was lit all night, no stupid thief would choose that place as a breakthrough for infiltration. The cleaning supplies room was locked after the last cleaning of the entire floor at 4:30 in the afternoon: without a key, even if someone outside heard strange noises inside, the door could not be opened for a while.Moreover, there are various gadgets in this room: Gloves, medical masks, gauze, screwdrivers? Even large wrenches and needle-nose pliers - this heavenly place must not be known to the city's skilled thieves, otherwise, they are likely to take the entire building The building was quietly moved away. "That guy came up the fire escape in the cleaning supplies room and pried open this window?" Esther pointed to the poor window - the reeds on the hinges were bent and covered in glitter金属屑，“我敢打赌他自己准备了手套——因为我们没有在这里查到任何指纹，除了那两个在这里工作的清扫婆之外。” 他又看了一眼那扇窗户： “但是，窗户上原有的指纹被擦去了——那当然是昨天轮班的清扫婆在晚上关窗时留下的：他打算清理掉自己进来时的指纹，因此将这些指纹也统统擦去了?”，他指了指窗户上几处取证过的地方，“这里，这里，还有这里?如果有人想从外面进来，很难不碰到这些地方的——而这些地方都有用玻璃布擦过的痕迹。” 我们点点头，示意他继续说下去。 埃斯特对自己的解说到目前为止所获得的成功显得得意洋洋： “然后就再简单不过，根据积格勒探长和卡尔刚刚所提到的线索?”，他咳嗽了一声，“他在这里打了一个外线电话到局里的排障部门，通知他们到这边的停车场取一辆车牌号为的、意外启动不了的警车——'这里是总局的积格勒·埃佩尔小队，我们的车出了问题，但出于任务原因无法离开，请速派排障车至第三医院停车场，车牌号是FZ-P3091，重复一次，车牌号是FZ-P3091?车在入停车场左手边第三排，倒数第二个车位。谢谢?'，这样的说法可很不专业，排障车队的值班员竟然就听话地派车出来了——真是?”，他模仿着积格勒的声音说出这段经过卡尔确认的、昨晚排障部门收到的电话内容——还好他及时发现我们的大胡子探长在听到这段内容时的窘态和尴尬，立即跳过了这段： “?咳，通话的时间确认是凌晨一点四十五分左右——那家伙显然计算好了排障车到来的时间：不过，应该还是有些失误的——按照距离来计算，立即派出的话，抵达的时间应该在两点钟前后?昨晚那位小伙子司机多喝了两杯咖啡，又是个新手，晚了十多分钟才到达： 那时候我们也差不多到医院了?特警队的很多人都看到了那辆拖车，但却没人觉得有什么奇怪的。守在外面的几个伙计甚至还跟那小伙子司机打了个招呼?那个时候是两点二十分，我和积格勒探长初次见面?”，他对积格勒笑笑，但积格勒并不搭理他——我们的大胡子探长显然还对他之前的那段话有些在意。 埃斯特只好收回了自己的笑容，继续说道： “?如果我是那家伙，我就躲在停车场的哪个角落里，监视着那辆警车，等到拖车将它拖走了之后再下手——估计的事情总是会有出入的，人不能总是靠运气行事?” 最后的这句话当然是十分正确的。 “然后他再出去，由防火通道?这些'每层楼被风吹起的铁制长裙'，”，埃斯特用了一个不太恰当的比喻，“那家伙的运气不错，没有被那个大观察室里的病人发现——那时候大家应该都困得不行了，谁还在意窗外行走着的究竟是一个人还是一只猫?” 我对这个论断不太赞同，埃斯特的话立刻就前后矛盾了——观察室和凌晨的医院，这两个概念完全可以用作安静的代名词。如果说当晚守在走道上的积格勒他们听不到防火通道上的动静倒还情有可原，但要悄悄地从一个亮着灯的、现在已经确定有五个人在的大观察室窗外悄悄溜过：这件如此冒险的事情，单单相信自己的运气肯定是不行的。 但却没有人否定那个窗外可能曾有人走过——他们自己也不太确定。有着正常生物钟的自由意志市居民，如果在某个凌晨的那个时候依旧醒着的话，多半也有些精神恍惚：我们因而不能否定埃斯特的这个假设，运气和冒险的成分必须计算在内，就像概率论的客观存在一样，不可逃避。 “他来到刚刚的换衣间——他事先一定确定过这里的地形?” “不可能?博士昨晚来到第三医院纯属偶然。”，积格勒低声地说。 这是当然：凶手不太可能会为了一次可能发生的晕倒事件而特地去调查一间最近医院的观察室所在楼层地形。 埃斯特沉默了一会儿，他显然没有考虑到这个细节。 “我们可以假设他在跟踪博士到达第三医院的路上临时拟定了这个计划?”，埃斯特更改了自己的假设。 “这样的话，我们只能说他是一个'如此天才'的罪犯了。”，卡尔耸了耸肩。 这倒未见得——根据内部资料我们知道，伊凡特早在2000年6月就拜访过捷尔特博士的诊室，之后也多次找过捷尔特博士：他是第三医院的常客，想必对医院的建筑构造和作息安排都有了相当的了解。当然，这点并没有办法考证——我想说的是，看上去如此周密的作案计划（当然，我心中自然还坚持我自己的那一套假设），仅凭灵机一动是很难面面俱到的。 “他确实比南门监狱里的大部分犯人智商高?”，我这样说。 埃斯特对我们的评价不置可否，他接着说道： “无论如何?他来到刚刚的换衣间——我们知道，他将那份死亡通知送到了博士的洗手间里，那么，他肯定也有办法偷到博士过期的医师证了?” “这点说不通！”，我说，“既然他没有预先想到这个计划，为什么要取得博士的医师证？ 在博士晕倒并送往第三医院的途中，李希特街58号一直有警察把守，他也不可能在之后才进去取到这证件?” 卡尔和积格勒都沉默了——他们知道我所说的有道理，这显然是一个逻辑上的矛盾。 但是埃斯特却有他的想法： “有没有可能?博士的晕倒是伊凡特刻意安排的。你们也知道，离博士家最近的医院显然是第三医院。只要博士晕倒，肯定会在第一时间内送到第三医院；而且肯定会送到观察室——这样，这个计划的预先安排性也说得通了。” 这是个很好的设想！没想到，一直沉默的威廉医生，此刻也给了这个设想有力的支持： “昨天博士的情况，症状上并不像是因为过度紧张而昏迷，从肌张力的变化和胸式呼吸的减弱这两点来看，倒和误用吸入性麻醉剂比如麻醉乙醚后的症状类似——可惜我并没有想到要进行一次血检，否则结果会很明显?”，威廉医生叹了口气。 我很高兴出现了这个新的线索——这个线索显然对目前的这两个假设都是相当有利的： 当然，对埃斯特现在说的这个假设尤其有利（相反，对我的假设只是一个合理的补充）。 戴维斯曾提到过，尸体血检的结果中，血液中仍有部分的麻醉乙醚浓度残存；并且尸体呼吸道和肺部有粘液过量分泌的痕迹——这并不是一个奇怪的结果，塔芙妮的血检结果以及被迷倒时的描述也指向这一点。 本市诸多策划迷药绑架案件的罪犯们，在药品的选用中不考虑甲氧氟烷和笑气而多半选择麻醉乙醚，并不仅是因为容易到手这么简单——麻醉乙醚的血/气分配系数（作者注：此系数为影响吸入麻醉药恢复期快慢的重要因素之一，另外的两个因素分别为肺血流量和肺通气量）在吸入麻醉药中显得尤其大，安全系数较高，恢复期也令人满意，在实际应用上有着诸多的好处。 但这里却依旧有个疑点——倘若正如埃斯特所假设的，博士的晕倒是伊凡特的刻意安排，那么，犯人是在什么时候用迷药迷倒博士的呢？麻醉乙醚的诱导期相当长，并且还是吸入性的——那么，由昨晚在别墅初见捷尔特博士时，他的亢奋状态来看，应该并没有被人预先下药。在客厅里交谈的时候，我一直坐在博士的身边，犯人当然更没有机会使用沾有挥发性麻醉剂的湿毛巾捂住博士的嘴我回想着当时博士的一举一动——我们四个人留在客厅里，我和博士坐在一起，塔芙妮坐在侧边的单人沙发上，威利没有离开扶手椅?捷尔特博士讲述着伊凡特的童年故事，塔芙妮记录着，捷尔特博士讲到小伊凡特的祖母，然后长吁了一口气，喝了一口水那杯放在茶几上的水！ ! “卡尔！”，我立即对我们的黑人探长喊道，“你能马上联系到李希特街的现场么？” “怎么了？你想起和博士晕倒有关的线索了么？” “客厅沙发旁的茶几上，有一杯水！” 卡尔立即出去打电话了。 “医生，你早说这个就好了，”，埃斯特高兴地拍了拍威廉的肩膀，转头对我说，“这样一切也都合理了！?我现在还有很多的现场线索没来得及引用呢！” “如果我没弄错，”，积格勒则对我说，“那是个带圆形把手的白色杯子。” “一点没错。”，我回忆着这个在印象中有些模糊的杯子造型，“?杯子外壁上似乎还印有一些文字，但我当时并没有特别注意。” “印的字是'自由意志市第三医院/1996'，字的下面还有一个徽标，”，积格勒接着我的话说道，“那大概是医院的福利之一——杯子是博士专用的，和会客用的杯子不同，不会弄错?” “博士晚上回去后用过那个杯子么？——我是指，在我们到来之前。” “应该是没有?你们来按门铃的时候他才倒的那杯水。”，积格勒回忆道，“而且是直接从自来水管接的水?杯子之前一直放在冰箱的台面上，一个相当显眼的位置?” 昨天晚上博士从总局回家之前，李希特街58号并没有警察留守——这样看来，犯人提前在杯子里下药的假设目前自然也无法反驳了。 “?我可以继续了么？”，埃斯特期待着我和积格勒临时插入的对话赶快完毕——以免过长的隔断会打断他刚刚的思路：这个案子的细节确实是相当复杂。 我点了点头，积格勒则摸了摸他的大胡子。 “?好的。既然已经能够确定，他事先就安排好了这个计划，一切就好解释得多了——他来到刚刚的换衣间，比较一番这里衣服的大小之后，选择了安东尼医生的衣服。” “安东尼医生的身材如何？是否和积格勒探长差不多？”，我问威廉医生——捷尔特博士和积格勒的身型差不多，这个问题的用意十分明显。 威廉医生打量了一眼我们的大胡子探长，“安东尼要稍微矮些，”，他确定地说，“不过，医用大褂一般都设计得比较宽大，”，他扯了扯自己身上的医生服，“即使那位偷衣贼比探长的身材还要高大些，也还是能够穿下这件衣服。” “从身高上来讲，”，积格勒提醒我，“伊凡特跟博士应该差不多——已经死去的几位受害人都曾经证实过这点，即使那家伙看上去比较憔悴。” 如果伊凡特是个小个子——我这样想，这点就会是一个显然的漏洞：可惜内部资料里并没有提到关于伊凡特身高的线索，否则，我也不必问这样一个问题了。 “安东尼医生的医帽丢了没有？”，我继续向威廉医生询问。 “只丢了医生服，”，威廉说，“不过，医帽是均码的，而且换衣间有很多已经没人使用的旧医帽，所以?” 埃斯特对我们频繁的插话感到很不满意，这一次，他不再询问我们他是否可以继续了——他打断了威廉的话，接着说了下去： “所以这也不算是什么了不起的疑点?他套上了一顶医帽，并且戴上了可能是之前在清洁用品室拿的口罩。为了伪装得更像医生些，他还顺手拿了桌上放着的、阿尔博特先生的金丝眼镜。然后穿上了安东尼医生的衣服?” “这些事情显然不可能是在那时候做的。”，我无可奈何地再次打断他，“根据威利和纳夫普遇害的现场来看——威利的脖子被刺穿，喷溅的血液弄得到处都是，如果穿着那件医生服送塔芙妮去转诊，值班的护士一定会立即报警！” “这句话至少有一半是错误的?” 这时清洁用品室的门被推开了，进来的是塔芙妮，跟在她身后的是一名年轻的医生，和一位女护士。 “很高兴你醒了，我亲爱的塔芙妮——辨认已经做完了么？” “早就做完了，”，塔芙妮对我笑了笑，“证明我确实是昨晚两点二十五分被转诊到第二医院的狄尔瑟·赫拉斯小姐。” 然后，我的助手转身问那位年轻的医生： “维甘医生，昨晚要求转诊的那位医生——根据你刚刚说的，他的医生服上是否有血迹呢？” “没有，”，这位实习医生说道，“我看得很清楚——他的衣服很干净。” 埃斯特听到这话，赶紧对他的描述进行了修改： “那么，他是在杀死威利和纳夫普之后，进了博士所在的观察室才开始换装的。” “他随身带那么多东西一定很麻烦，”，我的助手说，“实际上，那个观察室的窗户开了一点点——威廉医生说过，在通风的环境下，对昏迷者的自主呼吸比较有帮助。” 威廉医生点点头，肯定了塔芙妮所描述的情况。 “好的好的?”，埃斯特只好对自己的说法再次进行更改，“他从外面的防火通道进到博士所在的观察室，将他偷来的那些东西暂时放在那里，然后?” “他带着那么多东西经过那个有五个人在的、整晚都没有关灯的大观察室也相当困难?”，在辨认做完之后，塔芙妮显然已经向特警队的人以及医院里的相关人员打听过昨晚的情形——加薪确实大大提高了我得力助手的效率和积极性。 “这个?”，面对这个难点，埃斯特一时也提不出一个合理的修改方案了。 “我刚刚询问了今天在这里轮班的波佩（Poppy）女士——她和另一位女士负责这个楼层的清洁工作。”，我的助手环视了一遍这个狭小的清洁用品室，指着靠窗左边的一个挂衣钩，接着说道： “这里也曾挂着一件医生大褂，是一位上个月调走的医生忘在这里的——波佩女士觉得丢掉可惜，就暂时挂在这里：她大概会将这件无用的衣服剪成擦窗的抹布——谁都知道玻璃布没有帆布好用。”，塔芙妮耸了耸肩，“可现在却不见了。” 我对塔芙妮的工作感到相当满意——这样一来，在之前的某个疑点上，我们就可以避开概率论了。 “我在笔录里说过，”，塔芙妮顿了一下，似乎是在寻找为她做过笔录的卡尔探长——可惜他此刻并不在这里，“在我被人迷晕之前，曾看到博士躺着的床上放着一件满是血污的医生大衣。” 我的助手在这里停住了，她大概希望有谁能够接着这句话说下去——见大家都不作声，塔芙妮只好接着说道： “这个房间里也有医帽——至少形式上是医帽：清洁人员和医生戴的是同一种白色帽子，”，塔芙妮笑了笑，“而且还有口罩，外加他先前偷到的医师证：换句话说，伊凡特在进入这个房间之后，就已经可以化装成一名医生了。” 这正是我刚刚所想到的——我赞许地对塔芙妮点了点头，示意她接着说下去。 塔芙妮得意地笑了笑： “既然他已经成为了一名医生——我们当然清楚，一名医生是不会被病人所怀疑的?” 我很期待塔芙妮自己想出的精彩推理，至少，在听到这句话的后半部分之前： “即使走在防火通道上也一样。” 塔芙妮的这句话说出来之后，整个房间先是沉默了那么几秒钟，然后，埃斯特首先大笑起来，积格勒也跟着笑了起来，几个医生和护士，也相继笑开了。 我没有笑，如果我现在不纠正塔芙妮的错误，我天真的助手只会在错误的基础上越走越远： “塔芙妮，显然大家不知道你如此爱开玩笑，”，我走到面对着一片笑声显得有些不知所措的塔芙妮身边，拍了拍她的肩膀，“?但现在显然不是开玩笑的时候——后面的情节，还是由我来帮你补充完整吧。” 我看了大家一眼——大家也知道现在的场面确实不妥，便很快收敛起了各自的笑容。 塔芙妮还想说些什么——我当然知道她还想说些什么，我用眼神悄悄向她示意了一下： 这是我们侦探社里特有的暗号，表示我期待她保持沉默。 塔芙妮听了我的话，现在，我的助手当着大家的面，对我做了一个“请开始”的手势。 这个时候却又有人推门了，是卡尔： “杯子的事别提了，”，我们的黑人探长怒气冲冲地说，“那个没点脑筋的维戈——他将那个放在茶几上、还有大半杯水的杯子用洗洁精和洗碗棉清洗得干干净净，用开水烫过之后，给自己泡了一杯咖啡：他说他以为那是会客用的杯子，我的天！！” 这时他才注意到塔芙妮也在场，他对塔芙妮点了点头，换了稍缓和些的口气： “杯子已经送交证物科了，不过，能查出什么东西来的希望很小。我们的人也开始在李希特街58号附近展开问询，如果运气好的话，可能能够找到一两个碰巧目击到那个鬼鬼祟祟潜入者的证人?” “我们的运气恐怕不会那么好?”，积格勒捻了一把自己的大胡子，自言自语道。 “快继续吧！”，埃斯特嚷道——他显然对于我的接手表示不满。 “好的?但我依旧需要你的帮忙，埃斯特队长。”，我对埃斯特说，“最好，我只解说此处这个小小的疑点——之后的部分，还是由你来完成：毕竟，这里面尚有很多我们并不清楚的细节?而且，你刚刚的解说确实十分精彩。” 听到我意外的赞扬和谦让，埃斯特反倒不好意思起来： “哪里?你还是快点开始吧。相信你会说得比我好。嗯?细节方面的东西，如果需要的话，只管问我就是。” I nodded: “他在清洁用品室打了电话，换上了这里的这件衣服?威廉医生，上周离开的这位医生的身材，是否和安东尼医生差不多呢？”，我问威廉医生。 “嗯，彼得医生：他比安东尼略高一些，但肯定是穿相同的尺码——本院的医生服总共就只有五种标准尺码。”，威廉医生答道。 我对他点点头，接着说道： “他在这里化装成了医生，然后退回到消防通道，来到隔壁的观察室，从那个观察室出去，来到走道上?” 积格勒拍了一下自己的脑门，埃斯特和塔芙妮则同时“哦”了一声。 “既然他已经化装成了医生，就没有必要还在消防通道上走动了——观察室的走道上走着一个看上去比较陌生的医生，对于一个大医院来说，应该不算是什么奇怪的事情。” 说这句话的是卡尔——现场的医护人员点点头，算是对他推理的赞同。 “没错?”，我接着说，“他就这样来到医生换医间门口——途中经过那个有五个人的大观察室，医生和护士值班室，以及许多空置的独立观察室：他当然非常小心，而且运气很好，没人在走道上碰到过他——埃斯特队长，笔录上能说明这点么？” 埃斯特点了点头： “应该说，那时候恰巧没有人在走道上经过。” “好的?从积格勒小队昨晚所处的、博士观察室外的走道上，是看不到换衣间门口的情况的——我们刚刚都去过那个换衣间，从门口也看不到昨晚的凶案现场：走道设计所选取的弧度，恰好给了我们的犯人一个最好的掩饰，让他可以顺利完成接下来的计划。” “这点我也可以证明?在拐过最后一个走道口之后，还需要走一会儿才看到?那个现场?”，塔芙妮的声音有些恍惚——她肯定又想起昨晚在这儿发生的事情了：我可怜的助手。 我拍了拍塔芙妮的肩膀，接着说道： “然后就正如埃斯特队长所说的。他拿了阿尔博特先生的金丝眼镜以及安东尼医生的衣服——在这个假设中，他很可能还额外拿了一顶医帽，以备不时之需。” “这个假设？老板?难道你现在所说的不是昨晚在这里所发生的事实么？”，塔芙妮有些不解地问我。 “可能是，也可能不是?”，我回答道，“我还有一个属于自己的假设——但在有充足的证据之前，我并不太想将它公之于众。” 卡尔听到这话时咳嗽了一声——他知道我所说的“自己的假设”所指的是什么。 “回到我们的话题——他在换衣间里给护士值班室打了一个电话：电话内容我们大家都很清楚。之后，再次回到防火通道，来到隔着两个房间之外的、博士所在的观察室。在这个假设中，博士或许还没有醒，或许已经睡着了——总之，他用麻醉乙醚将博士麻醉，然后躲在观察室里，等待机会——他应该是在这个时候准备好了担架床。” “这也是我们查不到那个所谓'来自医院正门口的电话亭'的电话的原因，”，埃斯特补充道，“分机电话是没有记录的——换句话说，昨晚的那个电话一定来自某部分机。” “除非那家伙受过通讯干扰的特工训练?”，我笑了笑，转头问埃斯特，“关于麻醉乙醚的来源，不知你查过没有？” “他难道不是预先准备好的么？”，埃斯特有些惊讶地回答，“很显然的，之前在博士家，他就已经用了一部分了——这次他只不过是使用另外的一部分。” “根据诱导时间和麻醉方式来看，”，我说，“犯人在李希特街58号使用的，应该是固体状的迷药，并非是挥发性的麻醉乙醚。” “否则塔芙妮、威利、纳夫普和文泽尔都会和博士一起倒在客厅里了。”，积格勒笑着说。 我们大胡子探长的说法，当然有些夸张了。 “他也可以预先准备两种迷药的——固体迷药和液体乙醚。”，卡尔说道。 “这是一种可能，”，我答道，“但如果麻醉乙醚能够在这里轻松弄到的话。”，我看了一眼在场的医护人员，“他也就没必要分开去买了。” 其实我这句话的逻辑性明显不足——购买非法麻醉药品的犯罪者们，即使是需要不同种类的药，也可以在一个中间商处指定。买一种药和买更多种药，除了付出钞票的多少外，并没有太大差别。我在这点上逗留的目的，主要是想为我的另一个假设寻找证据。 “药品室里当然有麻醉乙醚。”，威廉医生说，“不过，那个房间紧邻着医生值班室，而且一般都锁着门，也没有窗户——钥匙昨天轮到我管，应该不可能被人悄悄偷走。” “即使在药品室里，麻醉乙醚也和硝化甘油一起锁在药柜里，”，维甘医生补充道，“对于这些极易燃烧爆炸的药品，医院的管理一向是十分严格的。” “别的地方也还是有的?”，维甘医生身旁的那位护士小心翼翼地说。 “哦？玛格丽特，你既然知道，怎么不早点说？”，塔芙妮性急地问——我们现在知道，这位红头发的年轻护士，就是昨晚在送诊时碰巧看见医师证上名字的那位玛格丽特了。 “这个?”，她看了一眼现场的几位警官。 卡尔看出她有所顾虑，便对她说道： “你只管说出来?即使是医院在某些事情上违规，我们也不会追究的。” 积格勒瞪了卡尔一眼，但又马上将这眼光收回了——十年前的积格勒是绝对不会允许这样的事情发生的，我在心里叹了口气：如果我此刻依旧是一名探员的话，不知道我会怎样做。 玛格丽特犹豫了一下，小声地说道： “那些担架车?”，她有些胆怯地看了两位医生一眼，“下面的置物柜里就有麻醉乙醚。” “?也有硝化甘油。”，威廉医生叹了一口气，结过了玛格丽特欲言又止的话头，“一切都是出于急救时的方便考虑。这些当然是违反卫生局规定的——但也是没有办法的事情。简单的手术器械，个别的担架床下也有放置：其实每个医院的做法都差不多，这该是心照不宣的事情??”