Chapter 9 Chapter 9 The Call of the Ancients

In some people's eyes, twenty-six years old may not represent old experience.However, the accumulated life experience in it is enough to give me full self-confidence.I have a hunch that Miss Orman will definitely come to visit tonight.Facts have proved that my hunch is really good.At 6:50 in the evening, there was a hasty knock on the door of the clinic.Yes, she is here. "I happened to be passing by, so I stopped by to have a look, and listen to you tell me what's going on." She explained, and I held back my smile, thinking it couldn't be such a coincidence, right? She sat down in the patient chair, put a stack of newspapers on the table, and looked at me expectantly.

"Thank you very much, Miss Auman." I said sincerely, "It's very kind of you to come and visit me. I'm ashamed to bother you with such a thing." She anxiously tapped the table with her knuckles. "Stop saying such polite words!" she said at the top of her voice, "what do you want to ask me?" So I told her about the dinner arrangements.As she listened, a disgusted and disappointed expression gradually appeared on her face. "I really don't understand you, what's so mysterious about this kind of thing!" She said with a gloomy face.

"I didn't mean to be so mysterious, I just didn't want to make things big. Yes, I can also take all kinds of ridicule at the dinner table as fun, but after all, that is not the way we should treat guests. Especially our Poverty in life and prosperity in spirit are usually enshrined as the norm.” "This explanation is too far-fetched, but it is still pertinent." Miss Orman said. "Thank you very much. To be honest, if I entrust this matter to Mrs. Gemma, she will most likely serve out Irish stew, with a layer of fat floating on it, and there should be some hard butter pudding in it things, and she will turn this matter upside down. So, I decided to hire Gao Ming, but I hope it will not be too extravagant."

"Don't worry, they've seen the world!" said Miss Orman. "Yes, I think so too. But you know what I mean. Where do you think you should get the ingredients for dinner?" Miss Aoman thought for a while, and said: "I think you should leave the purchasing and other chores to me!" Finally, she made such a decision. I gladly accepted her offer because it was exactly what I wanted.At the moment I have no time for Mrs Gemma's feelings.Then, after a moment of humility, she reluctantly pocketed the two pounds I gave her.The action took a lot of effort—the leather bag contained, in addition to the pile of dirty and wrinkled banknotes, a mass of fabric samples, threads, buttons, hooks and eyes, and a small piece of beeswax and a small piece of Pencils that have been bitten by mice, and many unknown sundries.With great difficulty, she closed the purse that was about to burst.Then, looking at me seriously, he curled his mouth.

"Young man, you are really good!" she said. "Why do you say that?" I asked. "Flirting with pretty girls in museums in the name of work," she continued. "Work? No wonder! Yes, I did hear her tell her father about your work. It seemed to her , you have been attracted by those mummies, stuffed animals and stones and other rubbish. Huh, she doesn't understand men, men are the most hypocritical and the best at disguising!" "Miss Aoman..." I was about to speak when she interrupted me. "Stop talking, I can see very clearly, don't try to act stupid in front of me! I can imagine that you look at those glass display cases and desperately encourage her to talk, while you listen, drooling, eyes Almost fell out, even wanted to throw her to the ground, right?"

"Fall to the ground? This is too exaggerated!" I admire her imagination, "The floor there is really slippery, maybe it can be done. Yes, I am really very happy. If I have the chance, I will still do it." Would like to work with her. At least so far, I have never met a woman as bright and learned as Miss Burlingham." I know that her devotion to and admiration for Miss Bellingham is no less than mine.So, even though she wanted to refute me at that time, she couldn't do it.To hide her frustration, she grabbed the stack of newspapers on the table and spread it out.

"What is hibernation?" she asked suddenly. "Hibernation?" I repeated aloud. "Yeah, they had it on the bone they found in that pond in St. Mary's Clay, and the bone they found in Essex had it on—the same thing." hibernation 'What the hell? I really want to know." "Maybe it's eburnation?" "But the papers say 'hibernation' and they can't get it wrong! If you don't know what it is, don't be ashamed to admit it." "Okay, I don't know." "Then you read the newspaper and figure it out!" she said in a daze, and then she asked me suddenly, "Do you like murder? I like it like hell!"

"You're such a psycho!" I said. She lifted her chin at me and said: "Please speak politely. At my age, I am qualified to be your mother!" "How is that possible!" I yelled. "It's true!" Miss Aoman said with certainty. "Well," I said after a pause, "Actually, age doesn't matter. What's more, all the vacancies are full now, and there is no time for you to apply for the geriatric ward." Miss Orman threw the newspaper on the table, stood up abruptly, and said: "I think you'd better read this newspaper carefully to clear your mind!" Then she turned around immediately, and just as she was about to leave, she seemed to think of something suddenly and said, "Oh, don't forget Look at the finger part!" It seems to be enthusiastically adding, "It's quite scary!"

"Finger?" I was a little curious. "Well, they found a hand with a missing finger. The police think this is a very important clue. I don't understand what they mean, but you can read the newspaper first, and then tell me how it happened. thing." After speaking, she hurried out of the clinic.I walked her all the way to the doorstep and said good-bye to her politely.I watched her stepping briskly into Fit Lane slowly, and her petite figure gradually disappeared.When I was about to turn around and go back to the clinic, I suddenly caught a glimpse of a middle-aged man on the opposite street. He looked a little strange, tall and thin, with his head tilted, and he seemed to be wearing deep myopia. Glasses.Seeing me from afar, he immediately crossed the road and walked towards me, his chin raised, his blue eyes staring at me eagerly through the lenses.

"Could you do me a favor?" he said, bowing politely to me. "I've forgotten the address of a friend of mine. Could you please help me find it? His name is Burlingham, and he seems to live nearby. In a certain alley, but the name of the alley suddenly I can't remember. Have you just heard of this person? Doctors always have a lot of contacts." "Is that the man you speak of, Mr. Godfield Bellingham?" "Yeah, so you know him? Great, you've found the right guy. Is he your patient?" "Well, yes, and also my friend. He lives at 49 Neville Lane."

"Thank you very much. Oh, by the way, I think you may know their schedules well, you are friends! I feel like an uninvited guest, and I hope I don't disturb them. Mr. Burlingham usually eats at what time?" Dinner, I wonder if it would be inconvenient to visit him at this time?" "I usually have an evening consultation around 8 and I think they must have had dinner by then." "Ah, do you have to wait until 8 o'clock? Then I'll go shopping around first, and I'll go later. I don't want to disturb them." "Come in and have a cigarette! Or I can accompany you if you like." "Oh, you're such a nice guy," my new friend looked at me inquiringly. "Okay, I'll just go in and sit for a while. I don't think it's interesting to hang out on the street, let alone at this time when I'm back. The office at Lincoln Law School is also not appropriate." "I was wondering," I led him in, into the room Miss Orman had just left, "are you Mr. Jericho?" He didn't answer right away, he kept his glasses on, looked at me with keen eyes full of suspicion, and said slowly, "Why do you think I'm Jericho?" "Oh, because you said you lived at Lincoln Law School," I replied quickly. "Haha, so it is! Mr. Jericho lives in Lincoln Law School, and I live in Lincoln Law School, so I am Mr. Jericho. Oh, God, what a strange logic of thinking! However, your conclusion is That's right. I'm Jericho. So, how much do you know about me?" "Well, not much. As a matter of fact, all I know is that you were business associates with the late Mr. John Berlinham." "Wait, you just said 'dead'? Haha, why do you think he's passed away?" "Oh, I don't know very much about that. But as far as I understand, you seem to think so." "As far as you know? Where did you know it? Is it Godfield Bellingham? Huh, how could he know what I think? I never told him. Sir, it is very dangerous to speculate on other people's thoughts at will. !" "So you think Mr. John Berlinham is still alive?" "Huh? Who said that? I didn't say it." "However, if he is not dead, then he is still alive." "Of course, I am in complete agreement on that," said Mr. Jericho calmly. "It is indisputable." "That doesn't seem very enlightening, though," I laughed. "Yes, that's generally true of irrefutable facts," he said, "generally quite ordinary. I would say that, for a given statement, its true Sex is always proportional to its universality." "Perhaps so!" I said. "Indeed. Using your profession as an example, you may be quite sure that most of a million people under the age of twenty will die of accident or disease before they reach a certain age. However, If you pick one example from a million people, can you predict what will happen to him? There is no way to estimate, maybe he will die suddenly tomorrow, maybe he will live to be a hundred years old, maybe he will die of a cold Or cut your finger, or fell to your death from the spire of St Paul's Church. You can't predict anything for a particular instance." "Yes, you're quite right," I confessed, and then it seemed to me that our conversation seemed to be drifting further and further away from the case of John Berlinham, so I tried to get back on topic. "There's something strange about that! Oh, I'm talking about the disappearance of John Bellingham." "What's so strange?" Jericho said. "People disappear from time to time, and when they reappear, there is always a reasonable explanation." "But the circumstances at the time of the incident were still very suspicious." "Oh? How suspicious?" Jericho asked. "I mean the manner in which he disappeared from Mr. Herbert's house was suspicious." "In what way?" "Well, I don't know." "That's right, how can we be sure that it's suspicious?" "We're not even sure if he left," I added without thinking. "Yes," continued Jericho, "if he hasn't left, then he must still be there. And if he's still there, why is he missing--as it should be. Since he No disappearance at all, no surprise there, nothing suspicious." I laughed, but Jericho remained silent, still looking me up and down through his glasses.As a lawyer, his argumentativeness and prudence reached an almost ridiculous level, and his characteristic humorous temperament and his boastful restrained attitude aroused my interest in making things difficult for him with all kinds of weird questions. And the more reckless, the more enjoyable it is. "I think," said I, "that, in the present circumstances, it would be difficult for you to accept Mr. Herbert's proposal in exchange for an application for a death certificate?" "What's the current situation?" he asked. "As you have just said, you cannot be sure whether Mr. John Berlingham is dead." "Oh, sir," he said, "I don't understand you. If the man is indeed alive, we certainly cannot apply for death certification. But even if he is dead, we still cannot apply for death certification. Because for the In terms of a solid fact, there is no need to apply for any recognition. The foundation of the lawyer's profession is to look for factors of uncertainty." "However," I asked, "if you really think that he might still be alive, then I find it hard to believe that you would rashly apply for a death certificate against him and distribute his estate." "Of course I don't," Mr. Jericho said. "I don't want to take any responsibility. I'm going to do what the court decides. I don't have any choice." "But the court is likely to make a finding that he is dead when in fact he is alive." "No, if the court ruled his death, then he must be dead. Of course, it is also possible that he is actually alive. But from the point of view of legal procedure and execution of the will, he is already dead. You don’t see the difference between the two, do you?” "Well, yes, I didn't see it," I replied. "Well, it's so common in your profession that almost all doctors have a hard time being competent witnesses in court. There's a difference between a scientific point of view and a legal point of view. Scientists will always rely on their own knowledge. Observe and judge, and often ignore the importance of evidence. If a person told you that he was blind in one eye, would you believe it? Of course not. You will definitely use instruments to check his vision, and when you find him When the eyesight of both eyes is very normal, you will determine that one eye is not blind. In other words, you have rejected his testimony through your own verification.” "Isn't that just the logical way to arrive at a conclusion?" "This is true from a scientific point of view, but the law is not. In court, judges must make decisions based on evidence, and those so-called evidence are often sworn testimony. If a witness speaks black as white, If no countering testimony is presented, then the only evidence is black and white, and the court will decide accordingly. Although the judge and jury may have other ideas, even, each of them may be able to present counter-evidence , but they still have to make a judgment based on this evidence." "You mean, even if the judge made a ruling contrary to the facts, it is reasonable? He can convict a person who is clearly innocent in his opinion?" "This kind of thing happens from time to time. There was once a judge who sentenced a person to death and immediately issued a warrant, but the judge actually knew that the murderer was someone else. However, if the amendment , would be very time-consuming.” "It's a real pity," I nodded, "but let's go back to the case of John Bellingham, what if he suddenly reappears one day after the judge has ruled him dead? " "If that is the case, he can lodge an appeal and the court will make a finding that he is still alive based on the new evidence." "But what about his property? It seems to have been distributed." "Yes, it is very possible. However, the determination of death is also based on the various signs that he himself has shown. If a person's actions make others think that he is dead, then the consequences must be It is his responsibility." "It sounds reasonable." I listened and asked, "So is there any solution now?" "Oh, not yet. I just heard you say that Mr. Herbert is considering making a proposal at this time. Do you have a very reliable source of information?" Jericho has been staring steadily I, when I said this, did not even frown, as if I were a statue. I smiled wryly, and felt that asking for information from Mr. Jericho was like boxing with a porcupine, whose behavior always seemed negative and frustrating.But I decided to continue probing, just to tease him, and I didn't expect to ask anything.Thinking of this, I finally talked about the topic of "remains". "Recently, the news about human bones was published in the newspaper. Have you read it? It's scary." I asked. He didn't answer immediately, but just looked at me blankly, and after a while, he said slowly: "It seems that those bones are mainly scattered in your area, and there are not many in our area. But after hearing what you said, I would like to Wake up, I did see the report that there were a lot of bone fragments found." "Yes, those bones are dismembered human bones!" "God, it's unbelievable! I haven't read that report carefully before. Everyone has different interests. I prefer property transfer cases. As for those amazing murder cases, I believe criminal lawyers will be more interested." "I thought you might connect this news with your client's disappearance." "Oh? What is the connection between them?" "Well," I said, "according to the investigation, those human bones belong to the same man..." "It is true that my clients also include men with bones. This may be a connection, although it seems far-fetched, but maybe you have a more convincing point?" "Yes, I do," I replied, "because some of the bones were found on your client's land, and that alone should be cause for concern, in my opinion." "Is that true?" He pondered for a while, raised his head, looked at me carefully and said, "I don't understand what you mean, it seems that because those human bones were found in a certain piece of land, the people who lived there If someone or the owner of the land is suspected, he may be identified as the murderer who dumped the bones. Besides, I think the situation you mentioned is completely impossible, because it is impossible for any one person to throw away his own remains Lose." "Of course it's impossible! I don't actually mean to say that he threw away his own bones, but I just want to point out the fact that human bones have been found on his land, suggesting that they may have been related to him in some way." .” "No, I still don't get it," said Jericho, "unless you're implying that the murderer dumped the dismembered remains on the victim's own land. I don't agree with you, I I have never heard of any murderer who has such a habit. Besides, only a small number of wrecks have been found on Mr. Burlingham's land, and the other bones are scattered everywhere. Isn't that contradictory?" "Well, I admit there is some inconsistency," I replied sincerely, "but here is another fact, which you may find far more important. The wreckage was first found at Sidka, and Sidka Near Elson, where Mr. Bellingham was last seen." "Oh? What's the point? There are so many wrecks, why are you only interested in this one?" "Well," I said, annoyed by his sharp question, "by all accounts, the man who dumped the wreck may have started his operation somewhere near Eilson, that is, Bellingham. The place where Mister was last seen." Jericho shook his head and said, "You seem to have confused the order in which the wreckage was discovered and the wreckage was discarded. Is there any evidence that the wreckage found in Sidka was the first batch abandoned by the murderer?" "I'm not sure about this. I don't know if there is evidence yet." I answered frankly. "In that case," he said, "I don't understand why you keep saying that the murderer started dumping the wreckage around Elson?" "To be honest, I really lack evidence to support my idea. Well, I think we should change the subject before this debate of very different strengths is over." "I have been to the museum these days," I continued, "I see that the treasures donated by Mr. Burlingham are placed in the most prominent position in the center of the exhibition room." "Well, I'm glad they've given such a good display, and I'm sure my poor old friend will be pleased too. I wish he could, too, as I admire the treasures at the display case. See—he might still be alive after all." "I'm sure he's still alive!" I said, thinking the same thing, though perhaps the lawyer didn't realize that I meant it.For if John Bellingham were alive, it would be a great relief to the plight my friend Godfield is now in. "You're interested in Egyptology, aren't you?" I asked. "Yes, I am very interested." Jericho's answer became a little more vivid, and his stiff expression suddenly eased a lot. "Egyptian culture is extensive and profound, and studying Egyptology is also very interesting. You can go back to human children During this period, you will be surprised to find that it is still there intact like a fly in amber for our study. Everything in Egypt is so solemn and sacred, as if there is a constant and stable spirit that passes through time and space. feeling, imbuing its land, its people, and its ruins with an air of eternal mystery." I really didn't expect this serious and demanding lawyer to say such emotional words, but I like him who is full of enthusiasm, which makes people feel more humane. "But," I said, "the people must have changed a lot over the centuries." "Well, yes, that's right. Even the people who fought against the Persian king Cambysis are not the people who migrated to Egypt five thousand years ago-it's not the dynasty we saw in the early ruins. people. During the five thousand years, the ancient Egyptians gradually merged with the Hyksos, Syrians, Ethiopians, Xitais and many other peoples, but in the process, it The cultural foundation of Egypt has never changed, and it continues to this day—the new immigrants are constantly influenced by the ancient culture and gradually become Egyptians. This is really amazing! Looking back at the ancient Egyptian culture in this era, it feels like A part of geology, not just a country's history. Are you interested in that?" "Of course, although I am purely a layman, my interest in Egyptian culture can be said to have been cultivated not long ago. Recently, I feel more and more that Egyptian things are really wonderful!" "Perhaps it was after you met Miss Branham?" Jericho asked me with the calmness of an Egyptian statue. My face must have turned red. To be honest, such words are really embarrassing, but he continued to say as if nothing had happened: "I know she is very interested in this aspect and also has a lot of research, so I said that." "You are right. She does know a lot about ancient Egyptian culture. In fact, I was guided by her to visit her uncle's donation." "Oh, so it is," said Jericho. "The collection is indeed very educational, very suitable for display in a public museum, although it may seem unremarkable to connoisseurs. But the funerary furniture in it is very exquisite. , the mummy box is also quite beautiful, and the decoration on it is very gorgeous." "Well, I think so too. But can you explain why they put so much effort into the decoration and then paint it black with pitch?" "Hehe, that's a very interesting question," Jericho said. "It's very common for mummy boxes to be pitched, just like the mummy of a priestess in the exhibition room next door. Except for the gilding of her face, all other parts of her body were covered with pitch." In fact, this layer of asphalt is used to cover the inscriptions on the mummy, making it difficult for tomb robbers to identify the identity of the deceased. But when it comes to this Seberhotep mummy, there is one unique thing, only its The back and feet were covered with a thick layer of asphalt. Perhaps the craftsmen at that time changed their minds temporarily and kept the inscriptions and decorations. What they intended to conceal, they ended up only partially applying the asphalt , why is this? I am afraid it will always be a mystery. Also, the mummy does not seem to have been moved by the grave robbers, because it was found in its original tomb, which makes my poor old friend Berlin Han was very puzzled." "Speaking of asphalt," I went on, "I immediately remembered a question I had earlier. You know, the use of asphalt as a substance is very common among modern painters, and it has a very strange property that it dries for a long time. Sometimes it suddenly softens after a while and I don't know why." "Oh, I know that. Isn't there a report of a painting done in bitumen by Reynlds, the great English academic portraitist of the eighteenth century? I remember it was a painting of a lady, Then because the pitch softened, one of the ladies' eyes dropped down to her cheek, so they had to hang the painting upside down to try to get her eyes to slide back into place. So, you want to say What is..." "I was just wondering if the bitumen used by the Egyptian painters had softened over such a long period of time." "Yeah, I've heard that some asphalt coatings get slimy from softening... oh no! Just kidding with you here, it's almost 9 o'clock!" Mr. Jericho rose quickly as he spoke, and I followed him to accompany him to the Birlinghams.We hurried on our way, gradually forgetting the mysterious glory of Egypt.When we arrived at the gate of the Branham house, Jericho changed his lively and enthusiastic attitude and shook my hand with a blunt expression. He became that unsmiling, unapproachable, and even suspicious lawyer again.