Chapter 21 Chapter 21 The Truth Comes Out

"And then?" Hadley urged, as Dr. Fell interrupted the narration, frowning. "Of course, the three witnesses didn't see Grimaud," Dr. Phil panted, and said after a long pause, "because he never stepped out of the front door, nor stepped out of the steps in front of the door, and he died in a desolate place just a short distance away." The man in the middle of the snow was at least twenty feet away. Foyle was already injured, and the convulsions caused by the excitement made the wound spurt blood even more. Therefore, all inferences about the wound are in vain. Of course there were no fingerprints on the murder weapon, for it fell to the ground and the snow wiped away the fingerprints."

"Exactly!" said Hadley, in a calm tone that seemed to be making a statement. "It fits all the circumstances. It never occurred to me. . . . Come on, what happened to Grimaud?" "Grimaud was hiding behind the door. He knew he had been shot in the chest, but he didn't think his injuries were serious. He could have survived a situation worse than a gunshot wound. Now this is nothing, let alone there are more important things in front of him. . "Anyway, it's all the same, he was going to inflict a wound on himself; he ought to have cheered that such a good thing had happened. But he just felt that his plans were all ruined! (How did he know, jewels The shop clock ticking too fast? He doesn't even know that Foyle, who just walked down the street and shot him, is now dead. When he thinks his luck is gone from him, he never knows luck - Jewelry The gift of the shop clock—right beside him, but how could he know all this?) All he knew was that Foyle would not have been found in the cubicle upstairs and that his death would not have been a suicide. Foyle— —maybe dying, but he could still talk—out there in the street, with the policemen coming. Grimaud is walking towards the gallows step by step, and unless he can stay calm in the face of danger, he can survive from desperation.

"In the instant after the gunshot, all these strange thoughts came to his mind. He can't be in this dark corridor. He'd better check the wound and make sure there is no blood. Where should I go?" Upstairs in Burnaby's apartment, of course. He climbed up, opened the door, and turned on the light. He still had the rope wrapped around him... It's useless. Now that Foyle is dealing with the police, trying to disguise It was unlikely that Foyle had visited him. He untied the rope and dropped it. "Then there was a gunshot wound. The inside of the yellow tweed coat was stained with blood. Even the clothes under the coat were stained with blood. But the wound didn't affect much. He had hand towels and bandages. He could stop the bleeding by himself, just like in the bullring. Caloris Grimaud was unkillable, and he even had the leisure to chuckle at his wounds. He was in a determined mood and as energetic as ever. He healed himself (Burnaby Apartments the bathroom in the bathroom, hence the blood) and tried to concentrate. What time is it? My God! He's been too late, it's 9:45. He has to get out of here before they catch him He was rushing home...he just walked away and left the lights on. We don't know when the shilling ran out that night and when the lights went out. Anyway, forty-five minutes later, Ro Seth saw that the lights were still on.

"But I guess Grimaud's head was clear as he drove along. Will he be arrested? It seems inevitable. Is there any loophole, even the slightest chance? You see, it doesn't matter what Grimaud said. What a guy Limo is, he's a fighter for sure. He's cunning, he's dramatic, he's imaginative, he's a stand-out, he's a big villain who understands human things, but don't forget, he's still a fighter. You know, he's absolutely Not a perpetual villain. Yes, he killed his own brother, but I doubt he was able to kill his friends and the woman he loved. Anyway, is there really nothing to do? Actually, there is a way, but it is very feasible Low, almost useless, but the only way. That was to follow the original plan and pretend that Foyle had visited him and sent him a shot at his house. The gun was still in Foyle's hand And besides, Grimaud himself and his family can testify that he didn't go out all night! And they can swear they saw Foyle really come to him--whether it's true or not, let the damned police check it out Well! Why not? But the snow? The snow has stopped falling, Foyle can't leave footprints, and the rope to plant Foyle has long been lost. However, he still has a half chance of winning, even if a A desperate bet is also the last resort...

"It was around nine-forty when Foyle shot him. So it must have been nine-forty-five when he got home, or a little later. How do you go inside without leaving a footprint? Simple." It’s hard to trouble this man who is as strong as a bull and has insignificant gunshot wounds on his body. (By the way, I believe that he was not seriously injured. If he hadn’t insisted on doing something, he must be alive and well now. Waiting for the hanging; you will understand later.) His original plan was to go through the stairs in front of the basement to the alcove passage, and then enter the house through the passage door. How to do this? Connect the alcove to the ground The stairs to the basement are naturally covered with a layer of snow. However, the stairs leading to the alcove are next to the house next door, right? The basement door at the bottom of the stairs will not accumulate snow, because there is a protruding design on it—— The steps in front of the gate are suspended. That way there will be no snow in front of the passage door in the basement. If he can go down without leaving a trail...

"He could. He could approach the house from the other direction, act as if he was going to the next door, and jump straight down the top of the stairs, landing on both feet in the little clearing where the snow wouldn't accumulate. I remember a certain Did anyone say they heard a thud like someone falling before the doorbell rang?" "If that's the case, he won't be able to ring the doorbell!" "Oh, yes, he pressed it—only from inside the house. After he entered the house through the basement door, he went upstairs to meet Ernestine Dumer who was waiting for him. Then the two were ready to start changing magic."

"Good," Hadley said, "finally the magic part. How does it change? How do you know how it changes?" Dr. Phil sat back in his chair and lightly touched his fingertips, as if he was sorting out his thoughts. "How do I know? Well, the first inspiration came from the weight of the oil painting." He pointed lazily at the large scratched oil painting leaning against the wall. "Yes, the weight of that painting. Thought it didn't matter until I remembered..." "The weight of the painting? Oh, that painting," growled Hadley, "I forgot. What has it got to do with this bad business? What does Grimaud want to do with it?"

"Huh, ha, yes, you know, that's what puzzles me." "But the weight of that painting, my God! It's not heavy. You can lift it with just one hand, and even flip it in the air." Dr. Phil stood up and sat up. "Exactly. You're right. I lifted it with one hand, and I spun it around. . . Then why were two strong men—a coachman and a helper—needed to carry it? Where does it go upstairs?" "what?" "That's right, you know. When Grimaud took the painting from his work in Burnaby, he carried it downstairs with ease. However, in the afternoon, when he came back here with the same painting , but it took two people to carry it upstairs. Why did the painting suddenly become heavier? The oil painting was not framed in glass—you have seen it yourself. In the morning Grimaud bought the painting, and in the afternoon he brought it Where was the other person in the middle of the painting? It brought back a monster that wasn't just for fun. Otherwise, why did Grimaud insist on packing the painting?"

"It's not far-fetched to say that he used the painting as a cover to carry something upstairs. There is a lot of content in the wrapping paper. This thing is very big, seven feet wide and four feet long... umm ..." "There can't be something hidden in there," retorted Hadley, "otherwise we'd find it in this study, wouldn't we? And, anyway, it's bound to be almost perfectly flat, otherwise it'd be hidden in the wrapping paper." It will definitely be noticed. What kind of object can be as large as seven feet wide and four feet long, but so thin that it cannot be found in the oil painting wrapping paper? What can be as large as the oil painting, but also Can you make it disappear at will?"

"Mirror," Dr. Fell said. Everyone was shocked and speechless for a long time.Then Hadley got up abruptly, and Dr. Fell continued wearily: "Just shove it up the flue into a wide chimney - haven't we all stuck our fists in it - and put the corner of the mirror against the ledge in the chimney's inner bend and you can steal it away .You don't need magic at all, you just need a strong arm to do it." "You mean," Hadley hissed, "that's a damn stage trick..." "A whole new stage trick," said Dr. Phil, "and it's as good as it gets, if you try it. Now, you look around this room. See the door? On the wall directly opposite the door, you see what?"

"Nothing," said Hadley. "I mean, on that wall Grimaud removed part of the bookcase. Now the space is empty, nothing but paneled walls. " "Exactly. Also, do you see any furniture in the straight line from the door to the wall?" "No, it's all cleared up." "So, it seems that if you stand in the outer corridor and look into the study, you will not see the furniture, but only the black carpet, and a row of unhung oak paneled walls behind?" "yes." "So, Ted, open the door and look into the corridor," Dr. Phil said. "How do the walls and carpet look outside?" Of course Rimbaud was aware of the scene outside, but he still pretended to have a look. "It's the same," said he, "the parapet floor is covered with a carpet of the same monochromatic color as the study carpet, and the corridor has the same paneled walls." "Exactly! Hadley," Dr. Phil's voice was still weak, "the mirror is behind the bookcase over there, you can pull it out. After Dreyman found it in the chimney at noon yesterday, It has been placed behind the bookcase. Dreyman will have a sudden stroke, all because he struggled to lift the high mirror down. Let's do an experiment. People in the room should not come up to disturb us, even if someone wants to go upstairs Come on, we can also stop it in time. Hadley, you move out the mirror and put it in the door - the position is almost when you open the door (to enter the study from the corridor, the door is turned to the right of the room), When the outermost edge of the door frame is rotated inward, there is still a few inches of space from the mirror." The criminal director took a lot of trouble to push out the things behind the bookcase.It was larger than a swinging mirror used in clothing stores; in fact, it was several inches longer and wider than the door.Its base is laid flat on the carpet, and when facing it, there is a large swivel base on the right side, which supports the whole mirror upright.Hadley studied it curiously. "Put it in the door?" "Yes. You only need to open the door a little distance later, and at most you can see a gap a few feet wide... Try it!" "I see, but if you do this... Well, the person sitting in the room at the other end of the corridor, which is Mills, can see his own reflection in the center of the mirror unbiased." "Invisible. This angle won't work--close the door a little more, and that's enough; don't be mad, try my way first--I don't want the door tilted at that angle. You'll see. You two go to Mill Si's room is in place, and I'll adjust the mirror. Look here again after you hear my shout." Hadley grumbled and complained about the stupidity of the matter, but he followed Rimbaud with interest nonetheless.Their eyes kept avoiding the study room, and they didn't turn around until they heard the doctor's greeting. The corridor was dark and high, with a dark carpet as far as the eye could see, extending straight to the closed door at the end.Dr. Phil stood outside the door, his posture was like a big fat chairman holding a statue unveiling ceremony.He was standing slightly to the right of the door, with his back against the wall, and one hand stretched out to touch the doorknob. "She's on her way!" he yelled, opening the door quickly—pause—and closing it again. "How? What do you see?" "I saw the inside of the room," replied Hadley, "or so I thought. There was the carpet, and the wall behind it. The room seemed large." "Not at all," said Dr. Phil. "In fact, what you see in the mirror is the whole paneled wall and carpet running off to the right of your door. That's why the room seems so large, you see the reflection twice as long. As you know, the area of ​​the mirror is larger than the door, and since the door opens to the right side of the room, you cannot see the reflection of the door. If you look carefully, You will see a line of parallel lines like a shadow on the top edge of the door frame. That is because the top edge of the door frame is an inch lower than the mirror, so it is inevitably reflected in the mirror. But your attention will be concentrated on all On the object you see...do you see me clearly?" "No, you're standing too far. You put your hand on the doorknob and your back is to us." "That's right. That's how Dumo stood. Before explaining the whole mechanism, let's do a final test. Ted, you sit in the chair behind the table, which is where Mills was sitting. Although you I'm still taller than him, but that doesn't detract from the statement. I'll be standing outside the door, and the door will open, and I'll be looking at myself in the mirror. You can't see it from the front or the back. I admit my mistake; however, I will immediately produce a noticeable change. Anyway, just tell what you saw." In the ghostly dim light, the door was ajar, and the atmosphere was eerie and eerie.A Dr. Phil standing inside the door was actually staring at each other face-to-face with another Dr. Phil standing at the door—the figure was still frozen, but the expression was astonished. "You see, I missed the door," said a deep voice.Judging by the blurred mouth movement in the reflection, Rimbaud would probably swear that it was Dr. Phil in the room who was speaking.The mirror is like a sounding board, resonating the sound back. "Someone opened and closed the door for me. This person stood on my right. I never touched the door, or my reflection would do the same. Tell me, what do you notice?" "Why - one of you, you seem particularly tall?" Rimbaud asked while looking at the image in front of him. "Which one is it?" "It's you, the one standing in the corridor." "Exactly. Partly because of the considerable distance between you and me, but above all because of the way you sit. I look like a giant to a man of Mills' stature, Eh? Hum, ha. Yes. Now, if I dodge through the door very quickly (assuming I have such agility), and at the same time my assistant on the right cooperates with me and closes the door quickly, then, In this dizzying hallucination, the figure inside the door seemed to be—" "Jump in front of you to stop it." "That's right. If Hadley is beyond doubt, please come and see other evidence, both of you." The two of them returned to the study again, Hadley moving the tilted mirror back, and Dr. Fell plunging into the chair, panting and sighing. "Gentlemen, I'm sorry. I should have seen the truth long ago in Mr. Mills' careful, methodical, and precise testimony. Let me see if I can repeat his precise account. Hadley, Check it for me." With a sullen face, he tapped his head with his knuckles. "It seems like this— She (Dumo) was about to knock on the door when I was shocked to see a tall man follow her directly upstairs.She turned and saw him immediately.She said something right away... the tall man ignored it.He walked straight to the door, unhurriedly turned down the collar of his coat, took off his hat and put it in the coat pocket... "Everyone, do you understand? He has to do this, because if he wants to show his indoor figure, he must be wearing a nightgown, so the reflection should not wear a hat, and the collar cannot be turned up. I am really curious, he Since your actions are so orderly, why didn’t you take off your mask—” "By the way, where's the mask? Mills said he never—" "Mills didn't see him take off his mask. We're going to follow Mills' testimony and I'll tell you why later. Mrs. Dummer yelled, flinched back against the wall, and opened the door quickly.At this moment, Professor Grimaud appeared at the door—— "Here it is! That's how his magic works. Our well-thought-out witness is embarrassingly right. And Dumo? Here's her first opening. A panic A bewildered woman, though faced with a frightening stranger, can be protected by the man in the room in front of her. She cannot shrink back against the wall in fright; she should rush to the door for shelter. Anyway, let's look at Mills' testimony again. He said Grimaud didn't wear glasses (with a mask, of course he can't wear glasses). But I think it's normal for people in the room to wear glasses at this moment Grimaud—according to Mills—was completely still during this time; he acted like an outsider, with his hands in his pockets throughout. The testimony that followed could leave the suspect speechless. Mills said: I had the impression that Mrs Dumo, though trembling against the wall, closed the door after the stranger entered.I still remember her hand on the knob. "This is so abnormal! She denied it at the time, but Mills was right." Dr. Phil gestured. "Let's stop here, and it's useless to say more. Here, I encountered a difficult problem: if Grimaud was alone in the room and walked straight into the study, where did his clothes go? The long black coat the brown hat, and even the mask? They weren't in the study. Then I remembered that Ernestine made costumes for ballets by trade; The story Rocky told; and then it dawned on me—” "what?" "Grimaud burned them all," said Dr. Phil, "and he didn't take long to burn them because they were all paper, like the disappearing body of the equestrian figure in the magic Orloch described. He couldn't risk the time and trouble of burning real clothes in the fireplace; he had to do it quickly. They had to be able to shred or burn. The white letter paper—all white letter paper—was to hide the tinted film underneath. What a deadly document! Oh, my God, I should kill myself for drawing such inferences!" He waved Fist, "How did he walk to the desk drawer where the confidential documents are kept without shaking a drop of blood! There is another reason, he has to burn the paper...he has to remove the debris that made the 'gunshot'." "Gunshots?" "Don't forget, it's believed that there was a shooting in this room. Of course, what the witness heard was the loud noise of firecrackers. You know, Drayman had some in stock for Guy Fawkes night. The thing, the professor stole it from here. Dreyman found the missing Thunderbolt Cannon; I guess, at this moment he suddenly realized, no wonder he has been muttering 'fireworks'. This is good, after the explosion Firecracker fragments would all fly away. The fragments were all thick, hard cardboard. Extremely hard to burn, but they had to be burned in the fireplace, or mixed in with those piles of paper. Later, I did find some of them. Actually, we should have figured it out There is no trickery of bullet firing. Modern cartridges, like that Colt revolver, are filled with non-smoking powder. You can smell it, but you can't see it. Yet on the night of the crime, even the windows It has been opened, but there is still light smoke in the study (leftover from firecrackers). "Ah, well, let's recap! The black overcoat Grimaud was wearing was made of crepe paper. It was as black as a nightgown, and as long as it was cut, especially when the collar was turned down. The front lapels become polished and look more like nightgowns. Also, the beanie hat is also made of paper, and a mask is attached to it-so as long as the movement of removing the hat is clean, it can be easily Fold the hat and the mask together and stuff them into your pockets (by the way, when Grimaud is going out to kill Frey, the real nightgown is ready in the study). And this black 'uniform', Earlier that night, it had been flippantly hung in a wardrobe downstairs. "Unfortunately, that black coat was caught by Mangen. The vigilant Dumo learned of this, and as soon as Mangen left, she followed up, quickly removed the coat from the closet, and sent it to a safe place for storage So, she never saw the yellow tweed coat hanging there at all. At that time, the yellow coat was upstairs with Grimaud, ready to go on an expedition with the master later. However, because the yellow coat was stolen yesterday afternoon Found hanging in the closet, Dumo of course has to argue that it's always been there. That's where the chameleon coat comes in. "Saturday night, Grimaud killed Foyle, took a shot himself, and then rushed home. You should all know what happened after that. As soon as the Magic started, he and his assistants ran into big trouble. Grimaud was late, you know. He was supposed to be back before nine-thirty, and he didn't come back until nine-forty-five. The longer he delayed, the closer the minutes were to him. Tell Mangan the time of the guest's visit. Mangan must be waiting for the visitor at this moment. The crisis is on the verge of breaking out. I can imagine that even the calm Grimaud is on the verge of madness at this time. He wears Go through the basement, meet up with the insider waiting for him, and sprint up. The blood-stained tweed coat is put in the hall closet to be cleaned later—but never, because he's dead Dumo opened the door slowly, stretched out his hand to ring the doorbell, and then came to 'answer the door', Grimaud used the time to dress. "However, they procrastinated for too long. Mangan still greeted him. When Grimaud panicked, his brain did not turn around properly. In order to avoid showing his feet, he made self-defeating mistakes and made big mistakes. Up to then, the process had been It went well, and he didn't want to be spoiled by the poor boy's meddling. So he said he was Pettis, and locked the living room door, (Did you notice, only Pettis's voice, As low as Grimaud?) Yes, it was a spur-of-the-moment mistake, but he was like a rugby player, all he wanted to do was cut sideways into the finish line and dodge the imminent swooping arm. "The trick is done; he's alone in his study. His coat may have blood on it, but Dumo will take care of it anyway; there was a shirt under his uniform coat, so he unbuttoned it and bandaged the wound. He just had to lock it up again." Doors, wearing real nightgowns, destroying paper uniforms, and pushing mirrors up the chimney... "But, I repeat, this is the end, too. The blood was pouring out again. No ordinary man, wounded, could bear the strain he was going through. Foyle's bullet didn't kill him. But when he tried— In fact, he did it with superhuman powers—his lungs were torn apart like a broken rubber boot by himself as he lifted the mirror into his hideout. At that moment, he knew his His life was about to come to an end. Then he began to vomit blood, and the blood spilled from his mouth, as if an artery had been severed; he stumbled over the sofa, overturned the chair, and with the last of his strength, staggered but smoothly lit the firecrackers. After grievances, anonymity, and conspiracy plans, the world in front of him no longer revolved, but slowly turned into a dark sky. He tried to scream, but couldn't because blood was gushing from his throat It was at that moment that Charles Grimaud suddenly realized that in his difficult life, he never believed that he had the opportunity to perform perfectly the mirror trick that was the most powerful and the finale.  … ..." "what?" "He knew he couldn't do anything about it," said Dr. Fell, "but, strangely enough, he was quite happy." Snow fell on the street lamps, causing them to dim again.The cold air in the study made Dr. Phil's voice sound very strange.Suddenly, they saw the door open, and a woman with a horrific look was blocking the door.A horrible face, dressed in black, but wrapped around her shoulders is still the red and yellow scarf in remembrance of her lover. "You see, he confessed," said Phil squatting, still low and monotonous, "he tried to tell us the truth: he killed Foyle, and then Foyle killed him. We misunderstood, until I never The clock got an idea, and I figured out what happened in Calgary Straw Street, so I understood what he meant. Do you understand, man? Think of his last words before he died: 'My brother did it. I didn't expect it He'll shoot. God only knows how he left the room—'" "You mean that the room Grimaud was talking about was Foyle's residence in Cagliestre Street? The room where he left Foyle to fend for himself?" asked Hadley. . "Yes. Later, when Grimaud opened the door under the street lamp, he experienced a sudden shock. You will recall, "One moment he is still there, the next moment he is not there...I will tell you who my brother is, lest you think I am talking nonsense..." It is inevitable that he will say this, because he thinks that no one recognizes the Buddha. thunder.From this point of view, examining his ominous and confusing words-he also heard the doctor's statement of hopelessness at the time-his intention was to explain the whole mystery to us. "First, he tried to tell us about the Howarth brothers and the salt mines. Then he talked about Foyle's death, and what Foyle did to him. 'It wasn't suicide,' meaning he saw Foyle in the street, So the wishful thinking of faking Foyle's suicide failed. 'He didn't use the rope', Foyle did not use it, and that rope was thrown by Grimaud later. 'Roof', Grimaud was not referring to his own house the roof; but the roof he passed through when he left Foyle's room. 'Snow', the snow stopped and ruined his plans. 'Too much light', Hadley, was the key! As he looked down the street, But found the light from the street lamp too bright; so Foyle recognized him, and shot. 'Have a gun', let alone, of course Foyle had a gun in his hand. 'Fox' means mask, the one he put on Guy Fawkes mask. At the end is 'Don't blame poor—', not Dreyman, he meant Dreyman, I guess, it's his last apology for being ashamed of something: he No fraud before. 'Don't blame poor Pettis; I have no intention of implicating him.'" For a long time, everyone was silent. "That's right," Hadley agreed listlessly. "That's right. Now there's one more question. What happened to the knife mark on the painting? Where did the knife go?" "As for the knife mark on the painting, I think it's just a decoration to make the trick look more realistic; the painting was made by Grimaud—that's my guess. As for the knife, I don't know, to be honest. .Maybe Grimaud used it up and put it in the chimney with the mirror, so we thought the phantom man had a knife and a gun. But it's not on the boss of the chimney now, I guess yesterday de When Ryman found it, he took it—" "This," said a voice, "you are wrong." Ernestine Dumo stayed at the door, with her arms crossed across the scarf on her chest, but her face was full of smiles. "I've heard all your reasoning," she went on, "maybe you'll hang me, maybe not. It doesn't matter anymore. All I've learned over the years is that without Charles there's no point in living. . . . the knife is mine, gentlemen, and I have another use for it." She was still smiling, her eyes bright with pride.Rimbaud noticed that she hid her hands.He saw her suddenly staggering, and was about to reach out to help her, but he was a step too late, and he could only watch her fall face-to-face.Dr. Phil left the table awkwardly and looked at her with dull eyes, his expression was as pale and bloodless as the woman on the ground. "I've sinned again, Hadley," he said, "and once again I've told the truth." -(Finish)-