Chapter 24 Chapter 23 Wenzel's case reappears

"I'm basically thinking the same as my friend," said our detective, "except that I've spotted one or two little doubts that he hasn't noticed--and, you know, add those suspicions to the whole case. The process becomes very different.” "Looks like I'm going to have to spend the night in this dead man's villa tonight," sighed Esther, "the last train leaves in five minutes—unless I can fly to the main station and I'm still curious to know how the case turned out: Surely it will take more than five minutes?" "Then go to my house," her new friend Jenny said to her kindly. "I drove here alone-you can sit in my passenger seat later? I'll do it for you." Get some comfy pajamas, open a nice bottle of wine, and get on with our conversation."

"Long live friendship!" Ms. Emma raised her glass again, "Now that we have such a grand and touching opening speech, let's start quickly—my dear Mr. Leave more time for private topics?", she smiled at Wenzel - it seems that she has fully recovered. Our detective responded with a smile too: "Happy? Well, start with the first blood. For 'SOLL' it's actually '1105', and that number is the distillery number that corresponds to the bottle of tequila that August sent. I don’t have any objection to the reasoning of wine. My doubt is——” Wenzel raised his left hand, “John is not left-handed, why does he have to use his left hand to write? We only consider that the deceased wrote Wrote, but did not consider the possibility of him doing this thing. I carefully examined the body - his right hand was neither crushed under his body, nor stabbed by a paper knife: what did he do Is there any reason to choose to write that number with your non-dominant left hand, risking that the message of death may not be recognized?"

"Maybe his right hand is sprained, or? dislocated or something," said Amy. "He can't use his right hand, so he has to use his left." "That's the first point we need to confirm - that won't be known until the specific forensic report comes out. But in my assumption, his right hand is uninjured - even, that number is not by John Bain Written by S!" Everyone was surprised by this hypothesis and began to discuss it in whispers. Carl said suddenly: "You mean? The killer used that number to frame August?" "That's right!" Wenzel nodded, "Therefore, he chose to write the scarlet letter on John's left hand—he was smart enough to know that the handwriting of his dominant hand is easy to identify, so he thought of such a handwriting on the spur of the moment. Little ruse."

"So, the murderer knows what wine August sent?" Taphne asked. "For a guest who came to the reception early in the morning, it is quite easy to know who gave what gift." Wenzel explained, "If he is not concentrating on any conversation and happens to be standing in the hall A suitable location? Of course, if he has some kind of intimate relationship with the owner of the wine and knows in advance what kind of wine it is, it will be easier—even, please allow me to make such a hypothesis: O In order to buy this bottle of wine, Gust once specifically asked the murderer for advice, asking him to name a bottle of wine that is not too expensive and can please the host of the reception—you know, for the postman In terms of Mr.'s recent situation: at least he will think that whether this gift can make John happy is very, very important."

"Who else could the murderer be except Sears?" Carl sighed, "I'm so stupid?" "But isn't Sears the second deceased?" Amy was obviously puzzled by this, "Could it be that he committed suicide? And?" He glanced at Wenzel, hesitant to speak. "There's no reason to commit suicide after framing someone else," Taphne muttered, "Is this too strange?" "Unless he has another purpose?" Emma took a sip of her wine.She walked to the wine cabinet, drew the floor-to-ceiling curtains there, and opened the window—then, the darkness outside the window was invaded by a small part of the brightness inside: a little moonlight and lights separated the darkness and tree shadows , some originally blurred colors showed many new levels in an instant.

"I'd like to blow some air," said Emma, ​​"I hope you don't mind?" No one objected to this, and everyone even moved closer to the window—the air in this room was indeed not very good, and even made people feel a little suffocated. "Everyone, is this something that I was very puzzled at first?" Wenzel took out something from his dress pocket, put it in his palm, and showed it to everyone. "There is nothing!" Khamis glanced at it hastily, and then said as if he was deceived. "Look carefully!" cried Amy from the side. "It's contact lenses—one of them is mine!"

Everyone gasped again.Karl was also quite surprised. He asked Wenzel: "That's why you went into the utility room at that time?" "Thank you Amy for your generous help!" Our detective carefully put away the two lenses, "When I was examining John's body, I found the lens that was left beside him—it was a rather hidden lens. It's so close that you can't find it if you stand very close without the help of a suitable reflector." "You think it was dropped by the murderer." Carl analyzed, "You know that Amy also wears contact lenses, so you immediately borrowed a lens from her. You plan to make a clever exchange to lure the real murderer."

"Exactly—I asked Amy in the utility room," he glanced at Amy, "that contact lenses are the easiest to get off when you rub your eyes: from what I heard from Carl The rumors, as well as Sears' two previous abnormal behaviors, I was the first to suspect him - my original thought was that maybe Sears would pretend to be uncontrollable when he saw the old lover's body Own emotions, very excited to rush up to hug him?" "In fact, he is taking the opportunity to find his contact lenses?" Taphne said, "You deliberately put Amy's lens in a more conspicuous position, and the guests may not know what it is , and misunderstood it as part of the owner’s clothes, or something that was accidentally hung on it? Just ignore it—but the person who lost his glasses knew it at a glance: this is really a cunning trap!”

“But Sears didn’t show up until the EMTs came?” Carl recalled. “You thought something was wrong, and you pretended to fix John’s clothes and took the decoy lens back.” "Besides, I haven't returned it to me all the time! He also reminded me not to make a fuss—you know, the feeling of only wearing half of the lens is very painful!" Amy complained pretending to be angry, "It made me want to put The other one was also quietly removed? My current vision is exactly the same as that of Miss Esther!" Everyone laughed.Miss Esther adjusted her nonexistent glasses again: "It seems that not wearing contact lenses seems to be a wise choice?", she whispered.

"Did you know the wine code back then?" Carl asked. "There is such a guess—but I don't know anything about the number of the distillery." Wenzel shrugged, "I just think of the title of 'Tequila Master' of the host of the reception, and guess whether this password is related to Tequila It is related to a certain characteristic of wine-so, during the discussion, I said to you: 'There is one more question to be confirmed'? Of course, it is known now.", He smiled, "Thanks to Ms. Esther's explanation." Carl also smiled self-deprecatingly:

"It seems that I was slightly ahead of you at that time?" Wenzel went on to say: "Then, after learning that Sears had been murdered in a similar manner. For a while, I wavered from this guess—I made a new judgment that the murderer was indeed August However, Sears had been to this room shortly after the incident, and was very surprised to see the body of his former lover: he may have walked to the side of the body, looking at the person he was so familiar with, The corners of his eyes were sour, as if he wanted to shed tears? At this moment, he saw the blood written by John—he might not be able to see clearly," Wenzel stroked his eyes, "You know, maybe it's because Tears in his eyes. He rubbed his own eyes, of course?" "He lost his contact lenses!" Inspector Roth yelled like a poet finding inspiration: It's a pity that everyone didn't respond—it's too easy to think of. "Oh, your reaction is really fast!" Emma laughed at the inspector again, "Can you catch up with the average level of the police in this city?" Roth smiled awkwardly. Thankfully our detective got right back on topic: "In this way, even if Sears is not the murderer, he can have a plausible reason for leaving a piece of his contact lens at the first scene. Combined with the testimony of the time witness in the hall, this is also easy to prove - 8.4 At fifteen minutes August came to the lobby from the side hall, heading for the bathroom? At 8:51 Sears came to the hall from the side hall, heading for the bathroom—see how this fits with this hypothesis! " "He looks like he just cried!", Emma emphasized again, "Have I said that many times?" "So, Wenzel, how did you disprove this hypothesis?" Karl asked. "Because of the cherries," said the detective with a laugh, "while investigating the kitchen, Nicholas tried to prove that no one had ever entered or exited through the garden door on the kitchen side by the fact that the freshly fallen cherries on the garden path had not been stepped on at all. ——In other words, it is impossible for the murderer to come to the bathroom through a route other than the hall. This is equivalent to restricting the path of the murderer’s actions: or to be more specific, according to the time testimony just mentioned—restricting the death of August Stuart Donado is the only murderer in the case." "It's also impossible to come down from above the kitchen garden door?" Taphne added, "That part is a small neo-gothic roof. Probably because of the size, there is no rainwater setting like the roof of the hall and side hall. I can't find any place to climb, and with the cover of a large tree branch - it is undoubtedly very difficult to get down from the top without leaving any clues?" "What was strange to me at the time?" Our detective went on to say, "The cherries that were picked in the afternoon have all been swept aside—then why did they fall again after only a few hours? How many?" "That is to say, the murderer took the cherries in the kitchen and took a moment to scatter them around the door and under a few cherry trees, pretending that no one was passing by on the garden road!", the black detective recalled, "That's why Mr. Steward found it in that hidden corner of the side hall? That." Of course Carl had already thought of the plastic bowl. "That's right, it's the plastic bowl!" Wenzel nodded to Carl, "When I checked the cherry tree with a flashlight, I found that there were a lot of cherries near the door, but fewer cherries farther away. It's pathetic - just one or two under the furthest tree? It's as if someone deliberately scattered cherries around the door." "It's also possible that more cherries around the door just happen to fall?" Amy retorted. "You know: where the fruit falls? Like winning the lottery. It's all a matter of probability." "I never succumbed to the theory of probability?" our detective laughed. "Let us imagine how the fruit growers pick cherries—they collect handfuls of overripe cherries into a big basket, Then move a few of these baskets to the truck and transport them back to their workshop. Then the skilled female workers will wash them clean, and after drying them, they will start to pack them?" "You mean, those cherries on the ground have been washed!" Carl suddenly realized, and he immediately gave an order to Inspector Roth: "Send someone to check those cherries immediately, and deal with them according to the evidence!" Our detective hastily stopped Rot - he was even walking towards the door: "Don't worry, Mr. Inspector, it's not too late to listen to me before I finish the part about the cherry?" He gave a reason to reassure the two Inspectors, "After investigating the kitchen, I I have already ordered a security guard of the villa to guard the garden gate and prevent anyone from destroying that important scene." "Of course you would?" Carl praised, "You are as strict as the field rules." "Thank you for the compliment?" Wenzel continued the topic of cherries, "After Nicholas and the others finished picking the cherries, of course the kitchen workers were responsible for cleaning and packing them—these confused young people were in a hurry , I don’t even remember that the washed cherries and red bayberries were stored in a few bowls. Thanks to the reception host’s high requirements for the kitchen: those cherries seemed to be specially dried after washing—you know, at the end This step is often omitted in fancy restaurant kitchens but I see those late Rainier cherries in clear plastic bowls in the kitchen - they're all clean, fresh and beautiful!", he's like Conjuring one of these cherries out of the pocket of his dress and handing it to Miss Jenny standing beside him - which of course was used by the detective as a surrogate weapon during the interrogation in the kitchen and during live reenactments the one. "Is this thanks to the strict requirements all along?" Mr. Geiger accepted Wenzel's praise, "However, it will be helpful to the investigation, which we never thought of." "Let's recall for the last time those late Rainier cherries - like the one Miss Jenny is holding now: they are the most perfect shape, large fruit, clean and silky after being washed and dried especially the purplish red peel - it often reminds me of the special rubbing paper I often use when taking fingerprints!" Everyone gasped again.Our detective pushed Inspector Roth, who was in a daze, and said: "Now you may go, my dear Inspector—of course you know what we want." Rot left the master room. "The prisoner remembers to wipe off the fingerprints on the plastic bowl, but it is impossible to wipe every cherry one by one." Wenzel laughed, "It is impossible for him to take a heavy plastic bowl full of cherries and spill it randomly—we Don't forget that he needs to give the illusion that the cherries are falling from the tree. So he should be holding the bowl in one hand and taking a handful of cherries out of the bowl with the other hand a little bit here and there so they can appear More natural? Perhaps, when necessary, he will carefully take out a cherry with his thumb and forefinger, and place it in this or that position to modify those places that seem a little out of place." "Is the prisoner a very careful man?" said Amy. "It can only be said that it is a last resort!" Ms. Emma commented, "In order to avoid being suspected, at such a time, a blind person will also have a way to put a thin thread into the pinhole." "So we have evidence that is likely to be able to take fingerprints - this is the most likely link in my hypothesis: from where the plastic bowl ended up, one possible path is - from The side hall goes to the kitchen through the garden road, get the murder weapon on the kitchen countertop, do the murder in the bathroom, go back to the kitchen to get the cherries, use the cherries to make a trap on the garden road, go back to the side hall from the garden road, and hide in the side hall plastic bowl?" "And August came into the hall through the side hall door and went to the bathroom." Carl analyzed, "and came back through the same door-he has no reason to carry out this trick? You use this to deny me Is it reasoning?" "Not necessarily, because the person who executed the trick may not be the murderer—if we only stop at this link, we can still get many different explanations." Wenzel replied, "It's just that, according to the description of Mr. Nicholas' assistant, then The handle knife is placed in a place where it can be seen at a glance after entering from the garden door-it cannot be seen from the other side into the kitchen: For this reason, I also made a special reenactment-this undoubtedly increased the chips of the reasoning of 'the murderer is the one who enters and exits through the garden gate'. " "So, in your hypothesis, what is the specific process of the whole case?" Miss Esther asked, "The ones just now seem to be explaining some small details-although they are quite exciting." "Is that what I'm going to say next?" Wenzel patiently explained, "Tackling out the troublesome details first will make our progress much faster later on." "Get started!" Captain Harling urged. "Okay? According to the chronological order, at about 8:30, the negotiation between August and the host of the reception broke down. He went out from this room, holding the check in his hand, and happened to be seen by Mr. Pressman? This He was fretful at the time, trying to solve the problem but unable to do so. He hesitated outside the door for a moment—at this time, perhaps, when Mr. Pressman went to the other side of the wing to get a drink, Seale Si entered the master room." “Could it be August begging Sears to intercede with John on his behalf?” Taphne asked. “Is that a regular occurrence in the series?” "Isn't the relationship between the three of them not good?" Amy expressed doubts about her friend's statement, "especially between the two brothers." “There might be something like this—combined with one of my previous hypotheses: What if August had consulted Sears about the reception gift? Maybe August was interested in reconciling with his brother, but West Sears was only doing superficial work—of course, this is only a possible hypothesis, and the reality may be quite different. In short, Sears entered the master room: it may be that August asked him to go; As my assistant just said—he was stopped by his brother before he went in and asked him to intercede with the host of the reception; but there is another most reasonable possibility: the two brothers never met—O Gust may be busy hiding the check just now in his leather shoe midlayer!" "Why do you have to hide the check in your leather shoes?" Esther was puzzled by this small detail, "If Mr. August hadn't been the murderer, he wouldn't have been able to predict the murder—in this case Isn't it weird to put a check in such a troublesome place?" "It's nothing more than the mentality of poor people." Emma said with a smile, "It's not to avoid body searches, but to be afraid of losing it-think about it, if I also carry my life savings with me, will I put it away? Put it in your coat pocket?" "That? Why is 'August and Sears did not meet' the most reasonable?" Before Wenzel could comment on Emma's explanation, Taphne asked a new question . "If they had met—obviously, August would have guessed easily that Sears was John's murderer. Think back to the situation at that time—August was emotional and eager to get rid of the crime; at this time, no one in the master room knew that Sears was the next victim?" At this point, our detective looked at Carl The inspector took a look, then said: "And when Mr. Klue revealed his identity, in connection with the previous threatening letter incident, Auguste Donado's situation was already quite unfavorable?" "Even so, he still didn't say Sears' name." Taphne nodded, "I see—August didn't know who the murderer was, so the two of them didn't meet .” Hearing this, Carl sighed: "Wenzel, you don't need to defend my dogma at all-you are just trying to comfort me by explaining it like this? Think about it, if August had consulted Sears about the gift, he How could it be possible not to be impressed by the number '1105'? Such a conspicuous blood letter? In fact, as early as when you greeted him into the master room, he already knew that the murderer was Sears—whether they met or not, the result was Same." He paused, then continued: "No matter how bad the relationship is, we are brothers after all: the reason why August didn't tell the truth, was he just trying to get rid of his own brother?" His voice became lower and lower, "But I still Blindly believe that he is the murderer. After hearing the news of Sears' death, he almost despaired, but I also imposed the death of the person he wanted to protect on him? I killed him. The fact lies in In front of my eyes, but I can't see at all?" "Don't think too much, my friend, the truth may not be so emotional?" Wenzel comforted Karl in this way, trying to divert the topic from this sensitive place, "In any case, after re-collecting the check Afterwards, the Mr. Postman intends to ease his mood: Attention! In my hypothesis, he did not kill - he may not need to wash his face with cold water to control his emotions, he may just go to some guest lounge Went to sit quietly for a while. And the room he stayed in happened to be empty—no one had drunk too much before the toasting ceremony began, and they wouldn't think of going to the lounge." "My dear husband, doesn't he go to the lounge even when he's drunk?" Ms. Emma complained. There's a lot of trouble coming." "In the first half of a reception like today, there are usually no people going to those two rooms?" Butler Geiger also confirmed. "Therefore, at this time we need a key person, a key person who leads the second murder case." Our detective continued, "Now I can only guess, using known clues to speculate-according to what I just decided The path of action, as well as those known guests who have been confirmed to have stayed in the side hall during the appropriate time period." Wenzel looked at the people present meaningfully, "Before considering the motive Now, the murderer can even be everyone in the side hall!" "You mean, it's the same as the plot in that novel?" Amy said in surprise, "as long as everyone perjures—at least one person can come from the side hall through the garden road smoothly. Bathroom, kill Sears and come back here graciously??" (Author's Note: Of course, this novel refers to Miss Agatha Christie's famous "Murder on the Orient Express") "Maybe it is a small group that is chatting?" Ms. Emma laughed, " For example, Heiner and the three of them, or Khamis and the captain—of course, Jenny and Esther are also possible: as long as one person does it, the rest will be responsible for covering... Ha, this is really an interesting conjecture!" "It's completely nonsense!", Pressman was quite angry at such speculation, "How could we do such a thing??" "Yes, yes!!" Jenny anxiously defended, as if she had really committed a crime, "Besides——Mr. Lucius should have been on the other side of Garden Road at that time. If we want to go out through the window over there , he will definitely see it too!" After saying this, even Jenny herself was taken aback.Everyone turned their attention to Ms. Emma in unison: "Hey! You don't think that my drunken husband is the murderer, do you?" Madam Emma sneered, "If he dares to kill someone, all the red wine produced in France this year will be turned into vinegar in oak barrels!" Everyone was silent, and an atmosphere of distrust quietly grew in the silence. Fortunately, our sleuth won't let the bad feeling last long: "It seems that everyone seems to have forgotten someone?" Wenzel said-he glanced at Captain Harlem. This reminded the soldier, who immediately replied loudly: "Arwen Blanche - the 'woman with the long red curly hair'!" "Exactly!" Wenzel nodded, "Everyone ignored this poor lady—although everyone present, as well as Mr. Lucius lying outside, have serious suspicions that cannot be cleared yet, but Considering the complex relationship between the deceased, Ms. Arwen has some deducible and wonderful motives: Therefore, I selected her into my hypothesis and made her the protagonist of the second half of the reasoning?" Only then did everyone breathe a sigh of relief. "As Miss Jenny just said, if Mr. Lucius hadn't taken a nap at that time - he might have seen Miss Arwen go out from the French window, so he may be a very important witness.", Wen Ze Earl continued, "I'm going to make a specific time assumption: I assume that Sears entered the master room at 8:35 - I was chatting with Mr. Lucius by the French window at that time, and I didn't have time to pay attention What happened in the hall; Mr. Pressman, who was the only one who could see the entrance to the master's room, also left his standing position at about this time, and went to the wine counter on the other side of the side hall to pick a drink New wine; Auguste Donado--busy, as I said, hiding that check under the insole of his shoe... I didn't get it from Mr. Lucius until about eight-forty. Escape: It may be more accurate to assume that - 8:38: At that time, thanks to the help of my friend Karl, I was able to leave the wing. Soon Mr. Heiner and others also left the original position - we Let's say it was 8:40. Mr. Captain had chatted with Miss Arwen before - she was single at the time, so Sears didn't choose to stay with her. And she was rumored to have 'West And he came to this reception with him as his girlfriend'. Arwen and Sears came to this point—whether it was from the news heard from Mr. Pressman, or from the signatures of the guests and the On the gift list, it can be confirmed: Even Yawen's signature was signed by Sears—even I, a layman in handwriting identification, can easily confirm this from the guest list. " "The people who come here are usually male and female friends!", Amy gave Taphne a look with a half-smile - the detective assistant blushed from embarrassment, and quickly reached out to hug her talkative friend. covered his mouth. In order to avoid embarrassment, Wenzel immediately continued: "Obviously, Ya Wen didn't join any of the chats—she was probably waiting for Sears to come over? Sears might have promised her something, or there might be something deeper in it? But, we can only assume that, Let's assume Arwen doesn't know about the relationship between Sears and John. She may have just heard some rumors - but these rumors make her feel uneasy. She may hope that Sears can give her a good explanation, or Simply being nice to her: But he obviously didn't do it. While she was standing in a corner of the side hall, waiting patiently, she unexpectedly saw her boyfriend walk into the master room——she was surprised by what happened inside. Something felt intensely curious? At last, at eight forty: perhaps at this moment Mr. Lucius was looking down for his brandy—Sears had been in for a good five minutes, a sense of foreboding, passed The intuition unique to women was conveyed to her mind: she really wanted to know what was going on inside. So, she walked out through the French window and came outside this window—” Wenzel pointed The floor-to-ceiling windows next to the big wine cabinet, "She peeked through the gaps in the curtains? But it seemed that the scene she didn't want to see happened at that time, and her world collapsed in an instant?" "Let me guess—" Miss Emma interrupted the detective, "she may have seen Sears and John kissing first, and then Sears suddenly took the paper knife and stabbed it into a hole. John with a surprised face? My God, if it was me, I would scream loudly—this is like a live stage play!" "Maybe that's the case-maybe Sears is planning to make up with John, and John is planning to break up with Sears completely: What the host of the reception said to me inadvertently in this room before seems to have given A certain degree of hint - he once mentioned the word 'get rid of'? Anyway, Sears killed his old lover in agitation - in order to clear up the suspicion, he thought of August in desperation The bottle of tequila that Sturt sent. So he took a tissue from the metal tissue box, carefully wiped any fingerprints he might have left on the paper knife, and then took John's left index finger , and wrote down the number '1105' at the right place. Because Sears has been in Germany for many years, it is difficult to determine whether the German-style handwriting of the number is intentional or unintentional. After writing, he used a tissue Wipe the place where the finger may have been stained with fingerprints - it should be at this time that he put the position of the finger on the initial number, so as to give us the illusion of 'SOLL' afterwards." "? After doing all this, looking at the corpse, he may have thought of the good times he had experienced with the person in front of him. Tears welled up unknowingly, so he rubbed his eyes——his contact lenses It fell at this moment. He may have searched for a while, but he couldn't find it? He began to get impatient, and his emotions were pulled back to reality, afraid that someone would break in suddenly. He took a last look at the corpse, and picked up the A used tissue, wrap it around the doorknob—open, close. Then scurry off to the bathroom." "I want to wash my face and calm down, and I want to flush that paper towel down the toilet—" Amy nodded, "Of course!" "That's right? But the worst thing is-all of this was seen by Miss Arwen outside the window." Wenzel said, "We can only imagine now-how frustrated and angry she would be at that time: My boyfriend has been lying to me and killed his gay boyfriend in front of her eyes - what an absurd and ironic reality!" "I would want to kill him if I change it?" Miss Esther murmured—it seemed that she felt that her statement was a bit too much, she adjusted her non-existent glasses, a little embarrassed explained: "I don't have a boyfriend yet, so I can't seem to understand that feeling well!" "No? I might do that too.", Jenny said to her friend, "At least, when I was innocent?" She also fell into her own memories. "Romantic tragedy!", Ms. Emma commented, "I have completely forgotten the hurt feelings - this is the reason for the existence of wine!", the lady raised the glass again. "In this way, she had a murderous intention-maybe it didn't start at the beginning, she guessed that Sears would go to the bathroom, so she went to the bathroom from the garden road: although she didn't know what she was going to do in the past. There were many guests in the wing and hall, but the garden path was deserted: it is probable, therefore, that Arwen came to the door of the bathroom before Sears—when she opened the garden door she saw the knife, the wicked Thoughts overwhelmed her in an instant? She quietly took the knife and waited for Sears to arrive." "Then, she probably followed Sears into the bathroom under the pretext of 'wanting to have a good talk with him. , and didn’t pay attention to the murder weapon she had hastily hidden? They went into the bathroom together—maybe Sears had just turned on the faucet, and Ya Wen had already stabbed the dagger into his abdomen.” "? This smart lady didn't intend to be buried with love at that time—she wiped away possible fingerprints, washed away the tissue that Sears had used, and then, imitating Sears' way of setting the blame just now, Wrote the blurred blood." Amy continued the story. "Perhaps, this is an emergency mechanism that humans spontaneously complete in times of emergency—according to Ya Wen's emotions at the time, it may be difficult for her to carefully consider what happened in front of her emotionally." Our detective said, "She Might as well have wrapped a tissue around the doorknob - open, close. In case someone finds the body prematurely, she finds a coin or something? It's probably in the cracks in the outside turnlock of the tested doorknob I won’t know until after the remnants of it,” he glanced at Taphne, “I hope she used a coin with a different value from the one in your hand—I don’t know if such a coin can be found among her relics.”刮掉了少许金属碎屑的硬币：或许就在她的衣服口袋里。但我猜，以她当时想到使用樱桃来制造不在场证明的才智，她会将那个硬币也给藏起来。”，文泽尔思考了片刻，接着说道，“如果我是她的话，我还会将匕首给拔出来，小心洗掉上面的血迹。然后，在回厨房取樱桃的时候，顺便将那柄凶器放回原位——这样，我们面对的困难就会再次增大了。” “任何案子都做不到完美的，”，半天没说话的卡尔略显沮丧说道，“特别是这种依靠临场发挥的情况——经常是我们再回头考虑的时候，错误就已经犯下了。” “是啊，错误就已经犯下了?”，我们的侦探感叹道，“完成了樱桃诡计之后，她回到了侧厅，将塑料碗藏到落地窗旁的窗帘下面——路修斯先生或许会是一位重要的证人，虽然雅玟也可能曾在花园道上一个绝佳的角度观察着他，等到他的视线因为某种原因离开那扇开着的落地窗之后，她才悄悄地溜进来。” “这样就没有证人了?”，埃丝特说。 “那第三起案子又是怎么一回事呢？”，艾米问，“西尔斯杀死了约翰，雅玟杀死了西尔斯，谁又杀死了雅玟呢？这简直就和连环套一样。” “纠缠在这复杂关系中的四个人全都死了，”，我们的侦探解释道，“最后死的那位，虽然有一柄军刀放在那儿，却已经找不到人来拿起它。” “?你是说，雅玟是自杀的？？”，艾米对这样的假设相当吃惊。 “不可能！”，埃玛女士似乎是对这轻率的猜想感到生气，“如果这样的话，那个血字又是怎么一回事？”，她指着一旁的哈林上尉，“我和上尉都看到过那个血字的！虽然它现在不存在了，可您却不能忽视它！” “这可要问您了，我的第一目击证人。”，文泽尔微笑着说。 众人的目光都投向了埃玛女士——她对侦探这样的说法感到相当不满： “这么说，您倒以为那最后的血字是我写下的了？哈，那可实在是荒谬极了！” “我当然有我的解释，”，这位侦探不紧不慢地说道，“前两个血字都有它们存在的理由，但这个血字却没有任何理由——该死的人都已经死去，雅玟在死前也承受了极大的痛苦，她完全没有必要再写下一个陷害用的血字?让我们想想看，在她回到大厅之后，她开始思考这一切：她意识到自己亲手杀死了自己最爱的人，又深知那最爱的人根本就不爱自己，该犯的错误也都已经犯下，就连复仇都已经完成——她忽然就发觉到，自己的生命已经完全失去了意义。”，他看了埃玛女士一眼，“这样的一位可怜小姐，她为什么还要留下一个那样的血字呢？埃玛女士，让我们回想一下当时：你第一个看到雅玟从高处落下，你最先走到她的身边——你还做了些什么呢？她的手垂到地上，你将她的双手交叉放回到她的胸前——你当时有没有想到过，那个姿势是根本写不了字的呢？”，文泽尔做了一个那种手向下垂的姿势——他尝试着移动食指，试图完成某个数字的书写，却只能让一堆手指胡乱地在空中挥动，“一个正常人做到这点尚且不容易，何况是一个身体多处受到重创、承受着不可想象的痛苦、生命垂危的将死者呢？” 埃玛小姐叹了口气，又喝了一口手中的酒： “当时我真是鬼迷了心窍！我就想着再出现一个这样的奇妙字样，你们还能够怎样解决——噢，我该是自由古巴喝得太多了罢?” “这么说，当时你那样子都是装的了？？”，听完这些，哈林上尉满脸的不可置信。他看了一眼自己身上那件被埃玛擦得血迹斑斑的银色西服，生气地叫道： “你这个疯女人！！” 这位军人控制着自己的情绪，没有发作，只是将那件西服脱下，狠狠地甩到一边。 “这可太不应该了！”，珍妮有些幸灾乐祸地说，“埃玛女士从那场景恢复得太快——我一早就看出有些问题了?”，她十分得意地说，脸上满是报复的快感。 “你那漂亮脸蛋后面的大脑可做不到这些。”，埃玛女士不气不恼地回应道，“我只是不想让这个有趣的酒会过早结束而已，”，她平静地对文泽尔说道，“可能我确实喝得有些多了。”，她将酒杯放到一旁。 珍妮赌气地“哼”了一声，也不管在场众人的反应，转身打算离开这里。埃丝特小姐赶紧过去，将这位朋友给拉住。这位漂亮的模特就这样给自己下了台阶，留了下来——她当然也想听完这整个案子的。 “这并不是什么大问题，”，文泽尔接着说，“既然不可能是死者本人写下，那就是第一目击证人写下——事情就是这么简单。”，我们的侦探看了一眼窗边的埃玛女士，“证人的反应太过夸张，给我的第一感觉就像是在表演。对比在前两个现场里、埃玛女士的表现，很容易就可以看出问题来。她甚至故意将血字写在马上就将消失不见的位置，还选好时间让上尉先生作为目击证人——这是一道聪明的饭后甜点。”，他对埃玛女士点了点头。 “微不足道的小菜！”，她砸了咂嘴，有些泄气地说道，“亲爱的侦探先生，您可以继续了。” “好的?回到雅玟小姐的主线上——她悄悄离开了侧厅?可能她觉得这别墅里到处的人都太多了，乱乱的，让她本就不好的心情变得更糟。既然她已决定要离开这世界，她当然也想要找一个稍微安静点的地方——于是，她想到了屋顶。” “那柄军刀是怎么回事？”，埃丝特小姐问。 “可能她想选择和西尔斯同样的方式。”，文泽尔答道，“从盖格先生的证词里，我们知道那柄刀是放在这别墅中唯一一道狭长楼梯旁的组合书柜中、一个显眼的小型刀架上的——雅玟取下了它，为了防止被其他人看到，她可能用什么东西包住了它：现在她并不担心留下指纹—— 一个将死的人唯一在乎的，是不允许有人破坏他的死亡计划。” “也就是说，那柄军刀上可能也没有雅玟的指纹？”，哈林上尉问。 “没错?她先来到露台，然后，如所有胆大的轻生者一般，沿着屋顶边缘的石砌雨道走动，一直走到侧厅靠近主人房间这边：差不多是雨道的尽头了。她停步，看着楼下那些漂亮的灯饰，坐在那里想了很久。她可能也在犹豫——担心用刀刺下却不会致命，反而会因为疼痛而发出声音，引来其他人的注意。最后她放弃了用刀的方案，选择了从高处落下：她看着那些灯饰，看到那些致命的铁钩——于是她就放心了。” “这些可怜的孩子?”，一直默默听着的海因纳先生再也承受不住，一下子倒在了地上。 普雷斯曼和克卢赶紧扶起他，两个人一道，搀扶着老者坐到一张椅子上。 “我没事的，没事?”，老者的声音哽咽，强打起精神坐在那里，努力不让周围人看出他的哀伤来。两位朋友各执着他的一只手，紧紧地握着，希望能够给他一些支撑的力量。 “多么悲惨的故事！”，哈林上尉搓搓手，拿起自己刚刚丢下的外套，“现在我们可以走了吧。” 这时罗特探长也回来了，他带来了些新的消息： “我们的人在樱桃上找到了指纹，具体的报告明天就会出来！”，他兴奋地向文泽尔报告。 “军刀上的指纹呢？”，文泽尔问。 “刚刚出来的结果——只有约翰的指纹留在上面。”，罗特回答道，“案子的经过是不是已经解说完毕了？” 他这回总算是察觉到了现场的气氛——真是一大进步！ “没错！”，文泽尔微笑着点头，“只是，我现在还有最后的一个疑惑。” “是什么呢？”，本来打算要离开的众人，听到这话也都停下来，异口同声地问了这个问题——哈林上尉甚至已经都走出这房间了，现在也折返了回来。 “雅玟是如何处理指纹问题的——想想看，如果是纸巾的话：她用纸巾擦去刀柄和西尔斯手指上的指纹，用纸巾开门关门两次，用纸巾擦拭那个空的塑料碗，用纸巾包住那柄军刀，然后来到屋顶??一张薄薄的纸巾能用这么长时间么？如果她拿了好几张的话，不会有些奇怪么？”，文泽尔说道，“这可能是一个没有太大意义的疑虑——也可能一张质量优秀的纸巾真的可以做这么多事情，但我们到现在还没有找到它?”，这位侦探皱了皱眉头，“我也曾考虑到，她可能会选择用随身的衣物来做这些事情——那当然比纸巾要方便许多。但她的那件漂亮上装显然不适合用来取代纸巾的地位?” 就像是受到了什么启发一样，塔芙妮拉了拉文泽尔的衣袖，有些没把握地说道： “这个，我可能知道答案?” “那正好由你来解答——”，我们的侦探笑道，“我最得力的助手。” 塔芙妮不好意思地点了点头： “我留意了雅玟小姐所穿的衣服——那是一套精心设计好的晚会套装?” “《InStyle》！”，艾米也叫了起来，“本期《InStyle》上面的推荐——你一说我就想起来了。” “这么说那确实是的?”，珍妮也点了点头。 “什么《InStyle》？”，上尉被这帮女士们弄得莫名其妙，有些不耐烦地问道，“那和纸巾有什么关系？” “一本时尚杂志，上面会介绍一些省事的时装搭配，以方便那些没有配装经验的女士们使用。”，塔芙妮开始回忆起雅玟尸体上的穿着，“白色的Max Mara上装，Strenesse Blue的黑色百褶裙——下摆上的那条细小白线是设计上的亮点。” “还有Unisa Fiesta的黑色磨砂皮鞋——高跟和鞋内侧都是漂亮的红色！”，珍妮也兴奋地说道。 “是啊是啊，甚至还有NK Company的莲花形银坠和Thomas Sabo的'三银环'——那对耳环可漂亮极了。”，艾米回应道。 “这些小配件都是齐全的，我看得最清楚?”，埃玛女士证实道，“我偶尔也会看看那种女孩专用的杂志。” “但却唯独少了MEXX的黑色真丝围巾！”，塔芙妮提醒道，“我没在尸体上看到那条围巾！要知道，连小配件都如此讲究的话，围巾也一定不会漏掉的。” “典型的德国人作风?”，罗特探长嘀咕道。 “那么，上尉先生，您在和死者交谈的时候，是否看到她戴了这样的一条黑色围巾呢？” 文泽尔问哈林上尉。 “我十分确定——”，哈林上尉回答道，“她戴了。” “因此她用这围巾代替了纸巾，”，塔芙妮总结道，“就是这么回事。” “那这围巾现在到哪儿去了呢？”，埃玛女士问道。 晚间的风总是突如其来——此刻的这阵风就是这样：它从开着的那扇窗户溜进这房间来，引得大家都向窗口看了一眼。 那里，几片法国梧桐的树叶被吹了进来，飘落在约翰的酒柜上、海因纳送的那瓶波本旁边。 似乎是快要下雨了。 埃玛正打算将窗户关上——这时，一条黑色的围巾，也被风卷着，从虚无的漆黑中来到这个热闹的房间里。它毫不理会在场众人对它的热情惊呼，就那样在房间的上空转了一圈之后，或许是有些疲累，开始缓缓地落下，落下直落到墙边上——那圈白色的人形轮廓线旁边。 调皮的黑色围巾遮住了那个血字。 在那里，除了一片黑色，我们现在什么都看不到了。 就好像，一切都不曾发生过一样