Chapter 22 Chapter 21 Carl's case reappears

"So, ladies and gentlemen, we have been delayed for a long time for some unnecessary reasons." Karl hurriedly glanced at everyone present, but deliberately did not look at Wenzel, "I——Carl Nona Detective Chief, I am now trying to present the full truth to you." "That's the best, I hope I can catch the last train?" Esther muttered. "Looking forward to your performance, Inspector." Ms. Emma stood closest to the door, leaning her back against the door, leaving it open.She raised her glass to Carl: "Let's leave the door open!" said the half-drunk lady, "so that the blood-smelling air can be diluted?"

The black detective nodded in agreement, and then officially began his speech: "Okay? Most of us already know what August Donado was like. He was never responsible for Sears, as evidenced by Mr. Heiner's testimony. It can be seen - he has a job as a postman, but let his young brother work in a place like a bar; Sears is still worried about changing clothes when he is sixteen years old, and the only coat is given by the bar owner His: all the money he earns is transferred to his brother's account—this Grandet-like brother, who only regards his brother as a machine that can add value to the numbers on the deposit book!"

Karl's provocative words caused everyone to nod frequently, and Heiner even took out a handkerchief from his coat pocket. "? It's already such a relationship, and with Sears going to Germany for so many years, there is no need to talk about family relationships—the relationship between August and Sears, even between ordinary friends. No more. Mr. Heiner and Mr. Bytom, what they have done for Sears is a hundred times better than August, the only relative!" Heiner was already in tears, but when he heard this, he forced a smile, wiped the corners of his eyes with a handkerchief, and said:

"Inspector Karl, it's better not to mention those old things." The black detective nodded: "Okay? Lots of people have heard the legend of the threatening letter from the villa, the deliverer - who said he was going to 'kill them both on an important day': which of course refers to our two poor victims today. The prophecy, the hosts of the party, John Baines and Sears Donado, did die on a fateful day? The prophecy was perfectly fulfilled, and who was the prophet? It was Auguste Donado. Nadeau, the postman—Mr. Geiger can attest to whether this rumor is true."

Everyone turned their attention to the butler, he nodded and said: "It was indeed Mr. August who was caught at the time. His mailbag was full of typed threatening letters-almost everyone in the villa knew it? This is the same as the rumors. Originally, when the owner was still alive, Tell us not to tell it? But now that the parties involved are dead, and then concealing these things? It should be regarded as disrespect to the deceased." "It's unnecessary?" Emma muttered, taking a sip of the wine in her hand. "While they were alive, they hadn't gotten much respect?"

No one reacted to this, and Carl went on: "Then what happened tonight—" He glanced at Wenzel, "Anyone who has questions can ask them anytime." Wenzel smiled at him: "Yes, Mr. Lawyer." This was of course an indirect displeasure at his use of inflammatory statements to gain the support of the "jury members" present - Karl nodded with embarrassment, and went on: "According to the clues of time to unfold this incident - around 8:20, Wenzel came out of this room: it was because August's entry interrupted their conversation. We need to figure out how August Tet's psychology at the time—why did he go to Mr. John? According to Wenzel's testimony, he heard August say to the host of the reception, "That thing? I still have to talk to you"—he was very Hastily entered the room, and he was also very concerned about whether anyone was there? What do these facts indicate?"

"The blackmail was all in the dark?" Pressman said, "and this is the obvious blackmail - I saw the check, and the police found the check: John was trying to get rid of his lover's brother. , I have to use money to stop his mouth!" "But that's not the case - let's think about it, is there any reason for the blackmailer to kill his source of wealth? August has a lot of time, he can take his time, why did he choose to kill him at today's reception?" What about Dead John? Since he has already grasped the handle of the other party, why does he need to rush to find the host of the reception in a hurry? Besides, it sounds like the tone is full of timidity, isn't it, Wenzel Detective?" he asked Wenzel.

Our detective said nothing, just nodded. "He just wants to execute the trial according to what he said in the threatening letter! That pervert!" Jenny said a little excitedly, "John should have sent him to the police long ago! Temporary tolerance killed him?" "Exactly not, my dear lady," said Carl, laughing. "Obviously, no premeditated murderer would spread his name all over the place—then everyone would think it was him, wouldn't they?" "But didn't he do that?" Jenny asked in amazement, "Isn't he the murderer?" "I never said that! Miss? I just want to say that maybe the beginning of this tragedy was not premeditated?"

"But those threatening letters?" Amy was obviously very puzzled by such a statement. "If August is not caught—in fact, at most he just wants to use these letters to blackmail the host of the reception, and vent his dissatisfaction by the way. Based on my years of experience as a detective, I know very well— ——Most of the effects of threatening letters are just intimidating: most of the weak words are just bluffing?" "But he is a devout Catholic?" Taphne said, "Maybe he will die for the teachings—even if everyone knows that he is a murderer, he is determined to kill today."

"Not really." Carl shook his head. "A miser doesn't die for lofty beliefs, they only die for money. I can't see his devotion to the Father from the whole thing— —He is only trying to get rid of his postman status. We can see from all his actions: Auguste Donado has no martyr's consciousness." "Then how should we explain it?" Captain Harlem couldn't listen anymore. "We might as well think about it the other way around, what if John is the blackmailer and August is the blackmailed?" Karl explained with a smile, and handed everyone the evidence photo of the check.

There was a burst of exclamation from everyone—except Wenzel: he knew it a long time ago. "August plans to give John 100,000 euros?" The old man Heiner couldn't believe his eyes—he wiped his eyes with a handkerchief, and after reading for a long time, he was sure that the signature was August's. ,"What the hell does this happen?" "Oh, it's very simple. John caught August, John put away his mailbag full of threatening letters, John has a lot of witnesses - no one wants to go to jail, it's that simple!", Carl smiled explained. "But John is clearly not short of money?" Amy muttered, "Look at the scene of the reception—he is obviously not a person who is stingy and money-gathering." "Mothers keep their pocket money when they discipline their children?" said Miss Emma, ​​"but mothers don't really need that kind of money. Don't they, Inspector Karl?" "You're one of the smartest ladies I've ever met." Carl praised, "John certainly doesn't lack the money, he just wants to teach August a lesson, let him learn to behave, and stop interfering with him with Sears." "Isn't it? John wants more than this amount?" Taphne guessed, "So August needs to discuss with John—he can't come up with the amount John asks for, and John's deadline is coming soon: He didn't want to be sent to prison, so he first managed to raise a hundred thousand euros to get John to put the matter on hold for a while." "That's right!", Carl snapped his fingers, "John may want two hundred thousand euros, or three hundred thousand euros-this money may not be enough to hold a reception like today, but for the poor postman John , but it is already a huge sum of money. A number John casually gave has already pushed Auguste Donado into a corner." "Prison bars or bankruptcy summons, that's the question." Ms. Emma posed in a Shakespeare pose - which drew a burst of laughter from the crowd. "The dilemma caused August to lose control? During the conversation, John may not let go at all—his intention may just be to scare his lover's brother, but no one knows what the other party's bottom line is: this dangerous The game had its comeuppance - August walked out of the room after the fiasco of the first negotiation. Pressman saw him come out, so, as evidenced by his appearance, he may have looked pissed off ——Of course. He was so angry that he even forgot to put away the check he took out right away, and only found a chance to hide it under his insole when someone saw it.” Pressman nodded, agreeing with Carl's statement. "? The more he thought about it, the more angry he became, and the anger finally made him lose his mind-he returned to the room again, pretending to continue talking with John. Then, taking advantage of the lack of vigilance of the host of the reception, Augustus Te picked up the paper knife that was on the bar worktop, leaned in front of John Baines, and drove it deep into his stomach!" Everyone glanced at the white outline of the human figure in unison—the bloodstains were still there. Thinking of the terrible scene, they almost all gasped. "I don't know how many times he was stabbed: maybe the abdomen of the host of the reception is full of wounds, maybe it was fatal? August completely lost his mind in those few seconds: until he saw John on the ground Trembling, watching the blood gushing from the wound, he just came back to his senses—he took a tissue from the metal tissue box on the wall, wiped the handle of the paper knife, and then ran away?" "Won't he get blood on his hands?" Esther asked suspiciously, "when he stabbed." "August should thank the host of the reception for the exquisite shirts and dresses worn today - several layers of delicate fabrics prevent the blood from splashing, so that the prisoners don't have to worry about the blood on their hands." Carl explained. "And what about that bloody letter?" Khamis asked. "Is that exactly what I'm going to explain?" The black detective went to the owner's wine cabinet and easily picked out a bottle from it—it was a bottle of tequila and other gift wines In comparison, the wine bottle does not look very high-end, even a little rough: the golden-tone label paper seems to be printed on a yellowish page: "I have already sent someone to take fingerprints, so you can take a look at it," Carl handed the bottle of wine to everyone, "From the price point of view, this is not a very expensive bottle of wine—compared to the sea wine. Mr. Inner's Bourbon." He took out another card from his pocket, and read out the contents in front of everyone: "'Dedicated to the Honorable Mr. John Baines'—this is what is written on the card that comes with this bottle of wine.", He smiled, "We will soon know how much such a message is. hypocritical?" "What the hell does this mean?" Jenny was obviously a little annoyed, "I've had enough of this drinking party! Why do I still need to pick up a wine bottle at this time? And read the message dedicated to the dead on the card?" "Don't get excited, my lady, let's think about it... When a man is dying—his will gradually loses his will, his body begins to lose strength: at this time, should he choose something that he is most familiar with? To leave your own death code?" "That's true," said Captain Harling, taking the bottle of tequila from Miss Esther. "So, what is the most familiar thing in John Baines' life?" "Of course it's wine!" Pressman replied without thinking. "Where is his most proud collection?" Carl directed everyone's attention to the owner's large wine cabinet. "Tequila!!", everyone almost exclaimed - Captain Harlem almost crushed the wine bottle in his hand. "That's right!" said our black inspector proudly, "that bloody word is not 'SOLL' at all, let's look at it in reverse: it is the number that the Germans are used to write - that number is '1105' !!" Carl went on to explain: "The position where the deceased's finger fell misleads us - John may have moved his finger before he died, and put the bloody fingertip on the top pen of the first number '1', which makes us take it for granted that, This is an unknown letter code 'SOLL', but it is not the case. Germans are used to writing the number '1' like an inverted 'L' in handwriting, but the last stroke is closer? Before he died, he wrote with his left hand again, which is similar to an inverted 'L', which is not a strange thing." (Author's Note: From this we can also infer that the writing direction of the number '1105' found at the two murder scenes is basically parallel to the direction of the corpse. If the writing direction is perpendicular to the corpse, the number of The front is clearly the direction from head to toe of the body--you can easily confirm this by trying to lie down yourself. The trick as to whether the numbers are reversed can only be used in the reasoning of the murder scene: as Haring As the captain said, according to the direction of writing and the sequence of strokes, handwriting experts can easily judge the pros and cons of the written characters; Was it written by the deceased himself, or was it written by someone else)"? Same as Wenzel said: According to my orders, Ince did not confirm the handwriting on the guest list, I just let Ince pass John those Numbers and dates on unsent letters confirmed—John is indeed accustomed to handwritten numbers in German, and the similarity of numbers in blood to those he usually writes is enough. Apart from that In addition, I also asked the housekeeper for some phone numbers written by John himself-but it would have been too obvious if Ince had shown these directly to everyone. Therefore, he only showed you those few Letter, intending to keep the surprise in the present." "To the master of creating a suspenseful atmosphere--Inspector Carl Nona!" Emma raised her glass again. Rot laughed twice, but when he realized that the atmosphere was not right, he put away his laugh in embarrassment. "Even if it's the number 1105, what does that have to do with this bottle of wine?" Miss Esther asked. "Isn't that what you should have said?" Karl shook his head regretfully, "Mr. Captain, please look at the upper right corner of the label on that bottle of wine—if I remember correctly, the two three There should be a number between the white initials of the letters." "'NOM-1105 CRT' - '1105', oh my god!", the captain read the number. Esther patted herself on the head heavily: "I really can't forgive myself for being stupid!", she blamed herself, "the distillery registration number-that's equivalent to the ID card of tequila!" "If you are willing," Karl gestured "please continue" to the wine taster from Mel, "please explain the content of this line of small print in detail." "I'm so happy." Esther nodded modestly, and then, holding up her non-existent glasses (this should be a habitual action), she began her knowledge explanation: "In order, 'NOM' is the abbreviation of 'Normas Oficial Mexicana' in Spanish, which means 'Official Mexican Standard'. Each legally registered tequila distillery has a unique number, and these numbers are currently about There are more than seventy kinds?" "Does that mean there are more than seventy different distilleries in Mexico?" Taphne asked. "That's right—they produce nearly a thousand different brands of tequila, and this is one of the bottles." She pointed to the bottle of Catador in the captain's hand, "1105 corresponds to the factory where this bottle was produced— — and 'CRT' is the abbreviation of '', the so-called 'Tequila Regulatory Commission', which is an official body certification, indicating that the wine is produced in compliance with the relevant Mexican legal requirements.", she saluted Carl , jokingly said: "The explanation is over!" "Who sent this bottle of wine? Is it August?" Heiner immediately raised this question after hearing this passage.Everyone also started talking. "According to the record on the gift list, it is." Carl handed the list to Amy standing in front of him - the place where "Catador/1105" was written, and the recorded name was "August Do Nadeau”: That line has been highlighted with red pen. "Except for Auguste, no other guests gave '1105'. There are still a few bottles of other tequila numbers, but there is no need to list them here.", Karl explained— —he thought for a moment, and then said: "According to Wenzel's testimony, John is very fond of the pile of gift wine - he obviously knows who gave which bottle. Like Mr. Heiner's good bourbon, Mr. Yule's hawala Club'?" He pointed to the bottle of wine on the work surface beside him, "Of course he has seen the gift list: he knows how many bottles of wine are registered on it, and he also knows who sent which bottle-he can look at the wine Don't forget, this is his professional habit." He glanced at the dozens of bottles of wine on the big wine cabinet, and shook his head meaningfully. "He also knows who sent this bottle of '1105'," Wenzel, who has not said much, added, "He once read the contents of that card in front of me, and he is still speaking Showing his distaste for the giver - if no one uses the exact same toast?”, he also moved his gaze to the pile of gift wine. "You never told me that!" Carl sneered. Wenzel shrugged, too lazy to argue about it. "There is no doubt that August assassinated Mr. John?" Jenny said angrily, "That terrible devil—fortunately, he got what he deserved." "Did he die badly enough?" murmured Mr. Khamis, remembering the scene of the car accident he only briefly glanced at. "It was horrible!" "Back to the topic?" Carl's face was slightly displeased when he heard someone talking about the accident, "Let's refer to those times again—at eight forty-five, someone saw August Douglas Nadeau came to the hall from the side hall door, and then hurried towards the bathroom." The black detective frowned, "At this point in time, Mr. John is probably dead, or dying— ——Let's imagine: there are more than ten minutes before fifty-five minutes, and Mr. John wrote down the number '1105' with his last strength? He probably didn't have the strength to write down August's name: that first name and last name It’s not as simple and easy to write as numbers. Moreover, when writing a surname, you have to consider excluding Sears—perhaps, as Captain Harlem said, the left hand can’t write too troublesome words. Except for the numbers? Except for the distilled spirits he is quite familiar with Besides the factory number, he has no choice?" "Why not initials?", Taphne asked, "'A' and 'D' seem to be easier to write than '1105'?" This question was answered by the detective sitting nearby: "People with repeated initials—the initials of their first and last names match 'A' and 'D', including August, there are three people in total, and one of them is a woman.", he will The data book was closed, "We considered this possibility at the beginning of the inquiry, so we made some basic statistics?" "Exactly—that's the best explanation?" Carl nodded to the detective, "John didn't know who was in the side hall at the time—since he went in with Wenzel, he Didn't come out of this room again? So he couldn't make a mistake in the death code that might confuse the murderer? And '1105' is unique." "However, no one can prove that he hasn't left this room after Wenzel left?" Taphni thought for a while and raised a new question, "Maybe he opened the door by chance , came out and saw who was outside, but no one noticed him?" "Detectives never make a fuss about 'coincidents'," Wenzel interrupted Taphne's question, "unless it's a 'coincident' Already confirmed by a lot of evidence - 'John happened to go out': This is not a reason for us to reject this hypothesis, unless someone saw him happen to go out. ", Wenzel turned to the crowd and asked, "Did anyone see Mr. John 'happening to go out' between 8:30 and 54?" " No one answered, everyone just shook their heads. "Therefore, my dear Taphne." Wenzel said to his assistant with a smile, "You cannot use a hypothesis that is completely unprovable to negate another hypothesis that is only partially proved." Taphne let out an "oh" and stopped asking. "Okay? According to the testimony we have as to the time," continued Carl, "Sears also went out into the hall at about eight fifty-one by the same door his brother had just walked through—three hours later. witnesses. There was a six-minute interval in between, what did Sears do during that time?" "He saw August come out of John's room in a panic, and he was suspicious, so he also went into that room to have a look?" Amy speculated. "Isn't the fingerprints on these doorknobs clear?" Jenny muttered, "There's no need to guess here and there." "The doorknob's fingerprint report came out first," Carl sighed, and glanced at Amy - Amy lowered her head, "There are only Amy's fingerprints on the outside, and only Amy's fingerprints on the inside? I know, you were walking in the front. When you entered the door, you were anxious and turned the doorknob twice before opening it. After entering, you accidentally saw the murder scene. Because of your nervousness, you turned around and immediately grabbed the inner doorknob as well. It's a pity that we didn't have time to stop you." Speaking of "we", he glanced at Wenzel habitually, but quickly looked away. Amy said "excuse me" to Carl in a very small voice. "Otherwise, at least we can know whether the last person to leave is the murderer or the first witness who may have died." Carl sighed, "According to the known clues, before the murder, the last person to enter the room was O. Gust. According to his height and the habit of ordinary people to open the door, when he came out at around 8:30, there should be only his fingerprints and palm prints on the door.If he deliberately wiped off those fingerprints with a tissue when he left-we know that if he wraps the doorknob with a tissue to open the door, he can easily wipe off the fingerprints on the inside doorknob; Just swirl it with a paper towel again: there was no trace of blood being wiped on the murder weapon at the first scene-fortunately, there was no blood on the paper towel.So, he could use the same tissue for all these things? If this assumption is true, when August goes out of this room for the second time, John is lying in a pool of blood, and there should be no fingerprints on the doorknob at this time . " "Then, if Sears goes in too—he might see John lying there as soon as he opens the door, and knowing what's happened, he turns around and goes out without going into the room: so the outside doorknob It is also possible that after Sears went in, he walked to John's side, saw the blood written by him, and hurried out after being sad: so that he would be left on both sides of the doorknob. Fingerprints? Anyway, the door will leave the fingerprints of the last person who entered and exited and some possible surviving clues—it’s a matter of luck.” He glanced at Amy again, “Obviously, our luck is not good enough?” "As for the fingerprint report in the bathroom?" Wenzel shrugged, "I don't need to mention it, but I also know it - that high-incidence area for spectators. There is no need to mention the outside because of breaking the door, but the inside?" "The fingerprints inside are mine." Miss Emma raised her hand. "I wanted to find a place for the armrest? It's nothing—any lady would do that." "So," said Carl resignedly to Miss Jenny, "it's a good idea—if only it were that simple." "Let's get back to the point!" Miss Esther began to urge again, "It's best not to expand every detail." "Huh? We already know the possible reasons why they're going to the bathroom—washing their faces to cool down, or a pre-arrangement between brothers? A chance encounter is definitely not going to work—because the murder weapon is not in the bathroom. I It is more inclined to believe that the brothers made an appointment in advance: because August killed someone and knew that Sears would definitely identify himself as the murderer, he planned to kill Sears as well—' Just let the contents of that threatening letter become a fact', he probably thought in his hot head at the time." "It's also possible that someone pre-planted the murder weapon in the bathroom—perhaps for some seemingly innocuous reason," Wenzel offered some pointed comments on this. "For example, maybe a drunk guest had the whim to split a whole blueberry cake in half, found the right tool in the kitchen, and accidentally left it in the bathroom? Pity Well, the young man in the kitchen had no idea when he lost the knife—he only remembered the murder weapon when he was about to slice an orange?" "Isn't this also using a completely unprovable assumption?" Taphne muttered. "Just implying that there are other possibilities?" "No need to complicate things anymore!" Carl smiled contemptuously, and continued, "No matter how the murder weapon came to August, just six minutes later, the brothers met in the bathroom ——August used the same method to kill Sears again? Then, knowing that he was guilty, he tried to escape when our defenses were negligent, but he was accidentally hit by that Volvo?", he Said with great certainty, "That was just an accident!" "? Sears knew which bottle August sent - as I said before, he may have seen John's blood writing when he entered this room: He also stayed in Germany For so many years, he is also a person who knows a lot about wine. Besides, he may have expected that the one who killed the host of the reception could only be his own brother—so, he could easily guess the meaning of the bloody words left by John. .He also left the same blood in the bathroom, which is just a hint-the murderer is actually the same person: that is, the dead Mr. Auguste Donado." After Carl finished speaking, Amy, Rott, and Captain Harlem even applauded symbolically. Captain Harling said: "This is indeed an irrefutable reasoning," he praised, "very reasonable—it can basically fully explain what happened in this villa tonight." "Don't be too busy, do you still need a summary?" He glanced at Wenzel and said with a smile, "The most important clue is the bloody word - '1105' and the bottle of tequila that August sent The absolute correspondence between the crimes makes this case no longer have any other possibility. The criminal’s motives, action path, murder weapon, modus operandi and even his emotions during the crime are all completely reproduced in front of you through reasoning.”, The black detective said quite proudly, "But? The detective in front of me said that this reasoning is 'totally wrong'——I would like to hear your high-level argument, Mr. Wenzel." Carl made a "please start" gesture to Wenzel. Our detective was not at all flustered. He straightened his coat collar and said unhurriedly: "Unfortunately, the basis of this reasoning is already wrong—at least, it is not complete?" His words haven't officially started yet!But at this moment, Ms. Emma, ​​who had been standing by the door, suddenly yelled, and the wine glass slipped from her fingers and fell to the ground, and Cuba Libre spilled all over the floor. She must have seen something frightening: but we can't see her now—she ran out of the master room, she ran toward the unknown happening.It was hard to believe that she could run so fast—a lady who was already a little drunk and still wearing high heels? The door was slowly trying to close without the support of her body. Captain Harling stepped forward quickly and held the door, preventing it from closing.The rest of the people saw that the enclosed space was not yet closed, so they all walked towards the door quickly. A few men who were impatient and far away from the door even ran up, everyone wanted to know what happened outside. Only Carl didn't move, his expression froze on his face - a bad premonition didn't require any reasoning. That's human instinct.