Chapter 51 invisible Man

On a cold night, the sky is blue and cloudless.On the corner of two streets in Camden Town, a lighted confectionary shop was lit.To be more precise, it is a firework, gilded and colorful sugar wrappers wrapped in various candies and snacks, and countless shiny small lenses flashing under the lights.These colorful windows were put together by a group of kids on the street.The shop is a big draw for kids as young as 10 or 12, and even some adults.A young man of about 24 years old stared intently at the window.To him, the confectionary shop was a dazzling marvel, but it wasn't the chocolate that attracted him, although he loved it too.

The young man was tall and strong, with reddish-brown hair and a firm but somewhat indifferent expression on his face.Under his arm he carried a paper clip containing a number of drawings which he had pre-sold to publishers for a modest price.Although he had made a report against socialist economic theory, his uncle, who had been an admiral, still deprived him of his inheritance rights on the grounds of sympathy for socialism.The young man's name was John Trimble Engus. He went into the confectionery shop and walked towards the coffee room, raising his hat slightly as he greeted the young waitress.The waiter was wearing a black dress, with a dark face, a slender figure, and quick movements.The girl, with rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes, waited for his guest to sit down, and approached him to ask him for some food.

"Halfpenny white bread and a cup of coffee without sugar, please," he said.Before the girl left, he added, "Besides, I propose to you." The black-faced beauty cast a haughty glance at him and said, "I don't like such jokes!" The red-haired youth looked at her with rare seriousness: "I swear to you, this is not a joke," he said, "it is as certain as halfpenny white bread." Doubt. It will never be cheaper than bread, and there will be a price for it..." The dark-faced beauty stared at him for a long time with dark eyes, trying to understand what he said.Finally, a smile finally crossed her face, and she sat down in a chair.

"Don't you think," said Engus freely, "that it is a dull thing to eat these halfpenny loaves? They will soon be worth a penny, and as soon as we are married I shall Throw away this emotionless rascal." The girl stood up and went to the window.It could be seen that she was deep in thought, but she had no ill feeling towards this young man.However, when she finally turned around, she was very surprised to find that Engus had brought all the things in the window to the table and rearranged them.Now, on the table was a triangular heap of beautifully wrapped sweets, a few sandwiches, and two bottles of port and Villes.After arranging these things, he brought the most important display in the window—a big white cream cake to the center of the table.

"What are you doing?" she asked. "Do what you have to do, Raula dear..." he began. "Oh, God, wait a minute!" she cried, "please don't speak to me in that tone. I ask you, what is this for?" "It's a grand dinner, Miss Horn." "What is this?" she asked, pointing to the mountains of snow-white snacks. "This is the wedding cake, Mrs. Engus." The girl went to the table.Pick up the cake and put it back in the window.Then she returned to the table.Leaning his elbows on the table, he stared at the young man in front of him with admiration but regret.

"You don't even give me time to think about it," she said. "I'm not stupid," he replied, "I have my own ideas about religion." She looked at him intently, and although she was smiling, her expression became more and more serious. "Mr. Engus," she said quietly, "before you get silly again, I should talk to you briefly about my Own." "I am honored." Engus replied earnestly, "but in this case, let's talk about me by the way." "Don't interrupt, and listen," she said, "I have nothing to be ashamed of, and I have nothing to regret. But if you knew what happened to me, you would change your mind. It is not disturbing. , but it stayed with me like a nightmare."

"If that's the case," he replied earnestly, "then it's time to bring the cake back." "Listen here," insisted Raoula, "to begin with, my father owns a hotel in Radbury called the Goldfish, and I work in the bar, at the counter." "I guessed it," he put in, "that's why you have a devoutly Christian air in this confectionery." (Fish was a sacred symbol of early Christian devotion.) "Radberry is a lifeless, overgrown A wild oriental remote county. Most of the people who come and go to the Goldfish Hotel are out-of-town salesmen, or some annoying tourists you can't imagine. I'm talking about some scumbags. They don't do anything serious in the bar, or play katydids. At the same time, they all dress poorly and pretend to be poor. Of course, the poorest poor people are more respectable than them. However, even these young bums It's rare to visit our hotel, but there are two travelers who come more often than others, and are worse than these people in every way. They both have money, but what annoys me is their perpetual boredom and vulgarity. The way they dress. Still, I pity them because I somehow get the feeling that the reason they patronize a bar where nobody comes to is because they're all handicapped and even bumpkins make fun of them. It's not really They were more defects than traits. One of them was of unusually small size, almost a dwarf, not taller than the groom in any case. But he had nothing in common with the groom, he had a round head with black hair , with a well-trimmed beard, eyes like a shining bird, money clinking in his pocket as he walks, a heavy gold watch chain, and trying to dress like a real gentleman. However, you also You can't call this bored man a fool, because he is a rare expert in playing various boring games. One moment he will show you magic tricks, and the next he will light fifteen matches one by one to make a A little firework show, or little bananas carved into little dancing people. His name is Izidore Smajs. Just now, I saw him as a little dark-skinned ugly, He went to the counter and fashioned a jumping kangaroo out of five cigars.

"The second man was quieter and more simply dressed, but for some reason he frightened me more than that poor little Smails. He was tall, dry and thin, with a pair of hawks Hooked nose. Although he looks a bit like a ghost, I don't think he is ugly, but his eyes are very squinted. I have never seen a person like him. He often looks at something while looking at the other side. Just where he was looking, you couldn't tell. It seemed that his physical ugliness made his situation more pitiful and embarrassing. Unlike that Smays who played games at any time, James Wilkin (everyone That's what the squint-eyed man is called) just sipped a few dull drinks in our bar, and then walked up and down the dull surrounding alone. I think Smays is also troubled by his short stature, don't look at him Putting on an air of competence. They both surprised me once, and made me very sad, because they both proposed to me on about the same day.

"Now I understand that I was stupid at the time. Because in a way, these two ugly people were my friends, I was afraid that they would realize that my rejection of the marriage proposal was because they were too ugly. In order to divert Sight, I said to them, I can only marry a man who has reached a considerable position by his own ability. I said, this is my opinion, I will not live on the inheritance of others. I said it with my best wishes The day after these words, the misfortune began. At first, I heard that they set off to seek happiness in foreign lands, like some wild fairy tale.

"I haven't seen them since. I've only had two letters from Smails, and they're interesting." "Have you heard nothing about the other man?" asked Engus. "No, he didn't write me a single letter." The girl replied with a little hesitation. "In the first letter, Smails just told me that he and Wilkin walked to London together, but Wilkin King was able to walk very well, and the little Smays couldn't keep up with him, so he had to sit on the side of the road to rest. It happened that a circus that performed everywhere took him in, maybe because he was almost a dwarf, maybe because he Flexible. It didn't take long before he was well regarded and accepted by the Aquarium Troupe to perform magic tricks. That's what the first letter was about. The second letter was received last week and was even more impressive Accident."

Engus finished his coffee and looked at the girl gently and patiently.She went on, with a wry smile on her face. "You must have seen that very eye-catching ad on the fence? It said 'The Dumb Servant of Smays'. If you didn't, then you must be the only one who didn't see it." People. I don't know much about these things, maybe this is regarded as a lively machine. Listen: 'Please press the button and I will send you a butler who doesn't like drinking' , 'Twist the joystick, and there will be a decent waiter in front of you'. You may have seen the ad. Whatever the machine is, it's a cash cow! It's all about the guy I was at Lad Bailey Money from a nimble little man I know. Naturally I'm glad, because the poor man got lucky. But at the same time, I'm very disturbed, because maybe sometime he will come here and tell me that he has achieved a considerable amount of money by his skills. status, this will be an undeniable truth.” "And what about the second person?" Engus asked calmly after him. Raula Horn stood up abruptly. "My friend," she said, "you seem to be a real wizard who can read my innermost thoughts. What can I do, you are right. I have not received a single piece of paper from the second person, Where he is now, what happened to me, I have no idea. It is he that I am afraid of. His shadow has never left me, he makes me uneasy. I feel that he is close to me. I seem to hear him Talking, though none of it is true." "Well, my dear," said Engus cheerfully, "even if he were a devil, he would be speechless when you talked about him. The devil can only threaten when you are alone. What do you think?" When did you seem to see this squint-eyed friend and hear him speak?" "I can hear James Wilkin's laughter as clearly as I can hear you now," replied the girl calmly. "That was his voice, because there was no one else around. In front of the store, I can see the situation of two streets at once. I can't remember his laugh anymore, but his laugh is as distinctive as his squinting eyes. I forgot about him for almost a year Yes, I assure all the gods, it was only a few moments before I received the first letter from his rival." "Did you hear what this ghostly thing said?" Engus asked curiously. Raoula was startled, then calmed down, and said calmly: "I heard you. Izidore Smails wrote me a second letter saying he's successful in his career. I just finished reading it, I heard Wilkin's voice right next to my ear: "Anyway, you won't fall into his hands." The words sounded so clear, as if he was right next to him, in the room. It's terrible! I'm afraid I'm out of my mind! " "If you're really out of your mind," said the young man, "you'll never admit it. But then again, there's something queer about this invisible man. As the saying goes, a man has a lot of wisdom. If you promise I, the faithful and practical man, took the wedding cake from the window..." Before he could finish speaking, there was the rattling sound of metal in the street, and a miniature car drove towards the candy shop at a very fast speed.A small man wearing a shiny tall hat came out of the car. He stood by the threshold, switching his left and right feet anxiously. Engus didn't want to spoil his interest until now, he looked casual, however, he still couldn't restrain his excitement at this moment, stood up, and walked towards the unexpected visitor at the door.Just one look was enough to prove that I was right: well-dressed, short, with an ugly beard, bright eyes, and well-kept hands that trembled with excitement.Yes, this is the same Izidore Smails whom the girl mentioned just now.Now he was making a fortune with a butler who didn't drink and a servant of good character.After a while, both sides felt great jealousy intuitively. They looked at each other for a while, but both sides showed a kind of cold tolerance in their eyes. Mr. Smails said nothing of his hostility, but asked with great interest: "Did Miss Haws see what was posted in the window?" "In the window?" Engus asked again in bewilderment. "I'll tell you later, I'm not free right now." The little rich man said to him unceremoniously, "There's a troublesome thing happening here, and I need to sort it out." He pointed to the window that Mr. Engus had just emptied with his civilized stick. Engus was very surprised to see that there was a long note pasted on the window glass facing the street. When he took something from the window to celebrate, There is no note yet.Following Smails, who was walking resolutely and confidently, into the street, he found very neatly pasted to the window-pane a piece of printed paper, about a yard and a half long, with a line written in bold strokes: "If If you marry Smayis, he won't survive." "Raula," said Engus, turning his head towards the confectionery shop. "Don't worry, you're very sane." "It was obvious at once that it was the work of that wretch Wilkin," murmured Smails. "I haven't seen him for years, but he's been trying to pester me. The last two Five times a week he came to my house and dropped letters threatening me. I don't know who would bring letters here but Wilkin himself. The concierge swore he didn't see a suspicious Man. Look, now this guy puts something like a sacrificial rite in the window, and you sit in the candy store and don't see anything..." "Exactly," Engus interjected. "We sat in the shop and drank tea quietly. I admire your quick thinking, sir, and you quickly grasped the real problems. We can come back to other things. Talk. This guy can't go far, the last time I looked in the window was a quarter of an hour ago, and I can guarantee there was no paper. We can't catch him, though, because we don't know where he slipped off Yes. Mr. Smails, please take my advice and entrust this matter at once to a competent detective, preferably a private detective. I know a clever and able man who will take your car to his The office is only five minutes away. His name is Flambo, and though he had a restless youth, he is now very honest and very witty. He lives in Lucknow Munshensstrasse, Helmstets .” "Coincidentally," said the little man, raising his eyebrows happily, "I live near there, on the corner of Rue Jimalay Menshins. You won't refuse to come with me, will you? I'll go home." Get those letters from Wilkin, and you fetch your detective friend." "It's very good of you to think so," said Engus politely. "Let's go, the sooner the better." They were moved by each other's broad-mindedness, saluted each other politely, and then quickly got into the car.Not long after Smays stepped up the accelerator and opened the door, Engus saw a large banner of "Smays' Dumb Servant", on which was a big iron doll without a head, holding a pot in its hand, and below It was a line: "The cook who never nags." "I use it myself at home," the little man with the black beard smiled. "It's partly for advertising and partly for my own convenience. Believe me, my lively doll will light the fireplace and deliver Liquor, or train timetables, are far more nimble than any living servant. Just don't get the buttons wrong. Of course, I admit, the robot servant has its faults." "What do you say?" said Engus. "Can't they do everything?" "No," said Smails calmly, "they can't tell me who slipped these letters into my house." Like the metal valet, the small, fast car befitting the small man was his own invention.They sat in this pocket car and galloped down the street with many white houses on both sides of the steep road.On the street near night, you can still see the surrounding things clearly.They took a lot of turns, and it became more and more obvious that the car was small, fast, and cute.After a while, the detours became dizzyingly steeper, and they literally climbed in a spiral.The car drove to a high place in London, where the streets are as steep as Edinburgh, and the buildings are as gorgeous as it.There are stepped houses one after the other, and the mansion they are going to sits on top of other buildings, like an Egyptian pyramid in the sunset.When they turned the corner into the half-moon-curved Guimara-Munsons Street, the scene in front of them changed, as if a large window opened in front of them: a multi-storey building stood in Highville, London, at the foot of the hill. Rows of green roofs undulate like waves.Opposite the mansion, on the other side of the gravel half-moon, was a clump of bushes, and beneath it glistened a body of water, probably a man-dug aqueduct, used as a defensive ditch around the mansion.They raced along the curved road, cars passing chestnut vendors on street corners.On the other side of the curved road, Engus could vaguely make out a policeman in a blue uniform walking back and forth.In addition, there is no one around.Somehow it seemed to Engus that these passers-by represented the idyllic and serene landscape of London, that they were the protagonists of a novel. The little Smails drove close to the house, jumped out of the car quickly, and the first thing he did was to ask the big doorman embroidered with gold and silver trim and the short man in charge of the housekeeper in a suit vest, if anyone had come to see him. .The porter and warden told him that no one had been there since his last careful inquiry.So, together with the somewhat embarrassed Engus, he quickly took the elevator to the top floor. "Come in and stay here for a while," Smails said, panting. "I'll show you the letter from Wilkin. Then you can turn the corner and look for your friend." Then he pressed the Press the secret button on the wall and the door will open automatically. Behind the door is a long and wide front hall. There are only some mechanical puppets in the hall, which look like people from a distance. They stand on both sides, like wooden models of clothing in a tailor's shop.Like the wooden mannequins, they were headless, with broad shoulders and full breasts.They have no hands, but they all have two big hooks to hook the tray. In order to distinguish them, they are painted grayish yellow, bright red or black respectively.Others are no different from ordinary automatic devices, and it is not worth looking at them carefully.Between the two rows of wooden mannequins there was something more interesting than any machine in the world, and that was a piece of white paper on the floor, on which some words were scrawled in red ink.The clever Smayis saw the paper as soon as he entered the door, and gave it to Engus.The red ink on the paper was still wet, and there were these words written on it: "If you have a tryst with her today, I will kill you." For a while, everyone was silent.Afterwards Izidore Smails asked softly: "Would you like some whiskey? I should really like some just now." "Thank you. But I'd rather have Flambeau come here sooner," replied Engus sullenly. "I feel that the situation is serious now, and I'll go to him right away." "You're right," said Smails appreciatively. "Bring him here, please." When the door was closing, Engus saw Smayis press the button.A robot started to move, moving slowly along the grooves on the floor, holding a long-necked glass bottle and a siphon bottle in the tray in its hand.Ungu felt a little uncomfortable thinking that he had left the little man alone among the puppets. Six steps down from Smails' residence, the steward was busy filling buckets with water.Engus held back and tipped him well, asking him to promise not to leave the house until Engus and the detective arrived, and to keep an eye out for any strangers coming up the stairs.Then he ran down the stairs quickly and told the porter to keep the gate.The porter told him that there was no shop here, so it was easy to do.Not only that, but he also found a policeman and asked him to pay attention to the movement by the gate.At last, after some further delay, he bought some chestnuts for a penny, and asked the stall owner how long he was going to stay.The distinguished merchant in the high-necked coat told him he would be leaving soon, as snow was expected.It was indeed getting colder and darker, and it took a lot of talk for Engus to persuade him to agree to stay where he was for a while longer. "Keep yourself warm by the chestnut-roasting fire," said he, "and I will pay for the rest of the chestnuts you have left. Take the pound, and tell me when I come back, will you?" Someone has entered the house guarded by the porter, no matter men, women, old or young, as long as there is someone, please tell me." After speaking, he ran away and glanced at the bunker-like house. "Well, he's surrounded by people around the house," he thought. "It's unlikely that all four will be Mr. Wilkin's accomplices." Lucknow Menshens Street is at the foot of the hill.Flambeau's private office is located on the first floor.In terms of luxurious furnishings, the office was in stark contrast to Smayisna's uncomfortable residence.Engus found Flambeau in the reception room at the back of the office.The reception room is luxuriously furnished, and the furniture is in the popular Locke style. There are sabers, arquebuses, all kinds of oriental treasures, Italian wine, clay pots from primitive times, fluffy Persian cats, and an ugly, dusty Christian priest.Here and now the priest looks a little funny. "This is my friend Father Brown," said Flambeau. "I've wanted to introduce you a long time ago. The weather is fine today, but it's a bit cold for me, a southerner." "Yeah, the sky will be cloudless for the next few days," agrees Engús, sitting down on a Turkish sofa with lavender stripes. "No," retorted the priest in a low voice, "it's snowing now." Just as the chestnut seller predicted, snowflakes were already falling outside the window. "Well," said Engus thoughtfully, "I'm sorry, but I'm here on business, and it's a very bad business. Well, Flambeau, there's a gentleman who lives not far from you. , he needs your help very much. There is an invisible man invisible to any naked eye, and this villain is watching him all the time and constantly threatening him." So Engus told them about Smaes and Wilkin in detail, starting with Raura's worries, and finally talking about the laughter he saw on the two deserted streets. ghosts and strange noises in the empty room.The more he went on, the more seriously Flambeau listened, but the priest sat aside as if nothing had happened, as if all this had nothing to do with him.When Engus spoke of an odd note pasted in the window, Flambeau stood up, his broad shoulders making the room seem narrow. "I think," he said, "that it would be best if you finished your account of the strange thing that happened on the way. We must hurry." "Excellent," said Engus, standing up too. "He's relatively safe at the moment, with four people watching the only entrance to his house." Together they came out into the street, the priest trotting after them like a docile puppy.He just said something enthusiastically: "It's snowing so hard." Engus walked down the steep street decorated with jade and silver, and finished talking about the strange thing that had just happened.As they approached the crooked half-moon street, he had already asked several people who had been commissioned to keep an eye on the house.The chestnut seller, swearing to the gods, looked at the house intently, but saw no one.The policeman was more certain, saying that he had dealt with all kinds of crooks, whether he wore a silk cylinder cap or was shabby.He was a man of the world, knew that not all suspicious-looking people had a suspicious look, and if someone passed him, he would definitely see it.He stared and watched, but God knows no one had come.When the three approached the gatekeeper, who was still smiling and standing by the gate with embroidered gold and silver trimmings, he said more clearly: "I have the right to question anyone who wants to enter this house, whether he is the Duke or not." Garbage man," said the tall, good-natured man, glittering with gold and silver trim. "I swear, since this gentleman left, I have no one to ask." At this time, the honest and honest Father Brown standing behind, with drooping eyes cautiously, summoned up his courage to ask: "So, no one has gone up this staircase since it snowed? When we were all at the Flambeau's, the snow It started to go down." "Sir, no one has ever entered or exited, please rest assured." The gatekeeper replied very positively. "In that case, where did this come from?" asked the priest, staring at the ground with expressionless eyes. Everyone followed his gaze, and Flambeau waved his hands and cursed like a real Frenchman.It was obvious: right in the middle of the steps guarded by the sturdy doorman, between his proudly spread feet, there was a line of dirty gray footprints in the snow. "Damn it!" Engus blurted out. "The Invisible Man!" He turned and walked upstairs, and Flambeau went up after him.Father Brown remained below in the snow.He stood there, looking around, no longer interested in the answers to his questions. Flambeau wanted to knock the door open with his broad shoulders, but Engus the Scot looked carefully at the wall next to the door with his unique wisdom. He felt the secret button, and the door slowly opened. What appeared in front of me was the outer hall, with wooden models of clothing lined up on both sides. Although the sunset glowed in one corner, the models were darker, and some headless models were moved away for unknown reasons.The room was half-lit and half-dark, and the red and golden colors on the models' bodies were no longer clearly distinguishable, and their dim bodies looked more like people.Among the models, where the note with red letters was found not long ago, there is something like red ink poured out of a small medicine bottle, but it is not ink. Flambeau, with French quickness and practicality, said only once: "Murder!" and rushed into the house, and in less than five minutes he inspected all the corners and storerooms. over again.However, he did not find the body.Izidore Smails was not in the house, and his life and death are unknown.Engus and Flambeau searched everything in the room, looked at each other, and kept wiping the sweat from their brows. "My friend," said Flambeau, anxious to speak French, "the murderer is not only invisible himself, but he also has the ability to make the man he kills invisible." As Engus surveyed the half-dark antechamber filled with wooden mannequins, the Scotsman was frightened.There was a puddle of blood at the feet of one of the big models, and maybe Smails wanted to play with him the moment before he died.The iron hooks on the tall shoulders were slightly upturned, and Engus suddenly thought with horror that this poor Smayis died at the hands of the steel child of his own design.Even so, where did they get him? "They swallowed him?" A horrible thought flashed through his mind, and he imagined the headless mannequin tearing, grinding, and devouring the corpse, and his head swelled.Engus managed to calm himself down with great effort: "Really," he said to Flambeau, "our poor friend has vanished into thin air, leaving nothing but a bloodstain on the ground. This is a supernatural force. thing." "Anyway," said Flambeau, "natural or supernatural, I must go down now and talk to my friend." They descended the stairs, past the steward with the bucket in his hand.The steward again swore to them that no stranger passed him by.The gate-keeper and the peddler who had not left also vouched again, saying that they had been keeping an eye on the gate.When Engus searched for the fourth watchman and failed to see him, he asked uneasily, "Where did the police go?" "Excuse me," said Father Brown, "but it was my fault. I asked him to do something in the street just now, and I had a certain suspicion." "Okay, I just hope he will come back soon." Engus said hastily, "Not only was someone killed upstairs, but the poor dead man disappeared without a trace." "What's the matter?" asked the priest. "My lord," said Flambeau after a moment's silence, "if I'm wrong, I'll go to hell, but I'm sure it's not my business, it's yours. Friends or enemies Well, no one has ever entered the house, and Smays has disappeared, as if stolen by a ghost. If there is no supernatural power involved here..." At this time, their conversation was interrupted, and a tall policeman in a light blue uniform appeared from the side.He quickly approached Father Brown: "Sir, you are right," he said in a low voice, "Mr. Smays' body has just been recovered from the ditch beside the road." Engus grabbed his hair in horror and asked, "What's the matter? He ran there and fell into the water?" "I can swear that he didn't leave the house," said the policeman. "In any case, he didn't drown, but was stabbed in the heart with a needle." "Didn't you say that no one entered the house while you were standing here?" asked Flambeau sharply. "Let's go to the canal," said the priest. They came round the bend, when the priest exclaimed: "How stupid I am! I forgot to ask the police an important question. I wonder if they found a beige bag?" "What light brown bag?" Engus asked strangely. "If it's any other color, you'll have to start over," said Father Brown. "But if it's beige, then it's over." "That sounds so pleasing," whispered Engus, with obvious sarcasm, "but I thought it was just the beginning." "You must explain everything to us," Flambeau asked, with the innocent curiosity of a child. The three of them couldn't help but quicken their pace and walked down the long bow-shaped street.Father Brown walked ahead and said nothing. In the end, he said with a somewhat shy expression: "I am afraid that everything I have said will lack poetry in your eyes. We always like to start thinking from abstract reasoning. In this matter, we can only start from reasoning." . "You may have noticed a situation where people don't answer people's questions directly. They answer what they have heard or intend to hear. For example, a lady at another lady's estate As a guest, she would ask: 'Is anyone living here?' The hostess would never answer: 'Yes, there is a butler, three servants and a maid' or something like that, although the maid might be at the moment The room is busy with work, and the housekeeper may be standing behind her chair. The hostess will surely say, 'There is no one else staying.' She means someone you want to know. However, if in the middle of an epidemic, the doctor Ask her: 'Who else lives in your house?' She will not forget to mention the housekeeper, the maid, and whoever. That's how people tend to talk. They won't answer your substantive questions. These four All the honest people just now affirmed that no one was in the house, but they never said that no one really got in. What they mean is that none of the people you want to inquire about went. In fact, Someone was in and out of the house, but they didn't care." "So he's really invisible?" Engus asked, raising his eyebrows. "Yes, psychologically he is subtly disguised as an invisible man," said Father Brown. After a while, he said again in the same calm tone: "Naturally, you never doubt a person when you haven't given him serious thought. That's what he expects from you. Well."古思先生讲的话中有两三个细节引起了我的思考。第一点就是，威尔金具有不知疲倦连续步行的本事。其次，就是橱窗玻璃上那个长长的印花纸带。但最主要的还是糖果点心店那位姑娘提到的两件事，那不可能是真实情况。请您别生气。”他看到苏格兰人嗔怪地摇头，便急忙补充说，“她自己倒满以为说的是真实情况。可是，在收到信件前的瞬间，谁也不可能单独一人待在街上。当她开始读刚收到的信的时候，街上也不可能没有别人。肯定有人站在一旁，只不过心理上他扮成一个隐身人罢了。” “为什么非得有人站在一旁？”恩古思问。 “因为这信不可能是信鸽送来的。”布朗神父回答。 “您是不是想说，”弗拉姆博加入了谈话，“威尔金把自己情敌的信带给了姑娘？” “不错，”布朗神父说，“威尔金把自己情敌的信带给了姑娘，他非这么做不可。” “我看，够了！”弗拉姆博生气地说，“这个人是谁？他是什么样子？这些心理上的隐身人穿什么衣服？” “他穿得很漂亮，穿红的和浅蓝色的衣服，绣有金边。”神父既快又准地回答，“他穿这身鲜艳的引人注目的衣服在四个人眼皮底下大摇大摆来到这里，残忍地杀了斯马伊士，然后又扛着他的尸体走到了大街上……” “布朗神父！”恩古思大声叫起来，愣在一旁，“我们俩谁神经不正常了，您还是我？” “没有，您没有精神失常。”布朗神父说，“只不过您的观察力欠佳。比方说，您没有发觉像他这一类的人物。”说完，他快步朝前迈了三步，将一只手搭在树荫下正准备从他们身旁溜走的一个普通邮差的肩上。 “为什么谁也不注意邮差。”他沉思地说，“他们也同别的人一样有七情六欲，而且，他们送邮件的袋子很肥大，很轻易地就可装下一个矮人的尸体。” 邮差没有转过身来，他闪到一旁，不想一头撞在花园的篱笆上。这是个相貌平常、形象枯瘦、留一口浅色胡子的男子，他朝他们转过惊恐的脸，于是，三个人吃惊地看清了他的斜眼。 弗拉姆博回到他那挂有马刀、铺紫红色地毯和养了一只波斯猫的事务所，他还有不少事要处理。约翰·特利布尔·恩古思又到糖果点心店去会那位姑娘，这位无忧无虑的小伙子和她在一起过得挺愉快。布朗神父在星光照耀的陡峭的雪地里和那个杀人犯久久地转悠，他们两人谈些什么，谁也无从知道。