Chapter 9 4. The past reappears

Allen Rock thought for a long time and came to the following conclusions: "I see only one opening to solve the mystery. How did Anita, the peasant woman, know about this, and why did she find it so important? She mentioned Adjutant Boniface by name. Can we assume that Boniface Was it an accomplice who had an assistant locally, and it was this accomplice who confided in her?" With the step-by-step inference, Alan Rock himself felt the logic and reliability of it.In particular, he asked: "How is life for the widow Anita? Do you know who she is in contact with?" "She has a lot of relationships," Pascaela replied.

"At that time, what about the months before she died? Think about it." She replied: "At that time there were some gossip, saying that two or three times, she saw a person rushing to her house in the middle of the night. She met this person in the village and never greeted him... a Greek with a bad reputation. , whose name is Chafferos." "What are you doing?" "Do a little bit of everything, write letters on behalf of others, help people see doctors, treat teeth, but mainly as a tour guide. He lives in a small hut on the way to the temple, where he attracts foreign tourists." Alan Rock nodded .

"Guide! . . . Lieutenant Boniface wants to get close to Mr. Manoelson, and this is exactly what he needs! Just the assistant who can help him kidnap your sister. Does Boniface know him?" "I think... I know... I know... I remember, he knew him..." Allen Rock seemed satisfied.Events correlate with each other, proving his hypothesis correct.Chafellows, Anita's lover, almost betrayed by her... Chafellows, Boniface's friend and lackey...all of this goes hand in hand. "This Chafferos, how is his life?" "On the surface, he is very regular. He is always wandering around the house, waiting for customers or travelers. In the evening, he goes to the small hotel to eat, and then smokes until midnight."

Natalie shuddered when she thought of the person who attacked her last night, and asked, "This person is dark-skinned, with a clean shaven beard, waxed hair with a split in the middle, and slippery to the scalp, isn't that right? ?” "Exactly." "Have you met him?" Alan Rock asked Natalie. "Yes, when I first arrived yesterday, I was registering my name, and he was there watching me." "You signed it? Can he get the register?" "I think it's ok...the landlady took it out of the sideboard and put it back when she was done using it."

"So this person knows your name?" "He can do it. But does it matter to you? . . . " "What does it matter? You know it well. Only you can explain it to us. What happened? Why do you seem so panicked when this man is mentioned?" Without hesitation, she answered the question in a few words. "Last night, someone climbed into my room through the window facing the hotel patio. He grabbed me by the neck, took my things and ran away." "You didn't tell anyone?" Allen Rock asked, looking nervous. "No, I want to talk about it after seeing you, so I came here in such a panic. This strange robbery made me feel at a loss..."

"Stolen what?" "An old, cheap piece of jewelry that my father sent me by registered mail from Palermo two days before his death. It was a large medallion, or reliquary, which I always wore, That's what my father asked for in his cover letter...and this is the last letter he wrote to me." Alan Rock said in a low voice: "Miss, this Chafferos is obviously the one who robbed you last night. He is an accomplice of Boniface and knows the whole story. Last night, he knew that Mr. Manoelson's daughter When he came, he wanted to monopolize the benefits and do it alone. As for his role in the past, the reason why he did this today, the significance of this robbery, the value of jewelry, etc., he needs to explain clearly to us .”

"What is the solution?" "I'm going to force him to do it. The point is not to put him off guard, not to let him run away." Alan Rock is getting more and more energetic.On the road to revealing the truth, he completed another stage. The time for action was approaching, and for him the action itself contained a part of confidence, and made him smug with hope. He was giving instructions to Nathalie and Pascaela when suddenly the bell in the corner rang and Pascaela's mother and sister returned from their walk. Alan Rock and Natalie were standing on the path leading to the fence.First came into the garden an old lady in rags, with a stern face reminiscent of Pascaela, and then a young woman in a large straw hat with a wide brim, who, as soon as she saw a stranger, tapped her fingers with her forefinger and thumb. He lifted the hem of the skirt and performed a few wonderful dance steps.She is the crazy girl.

She smiled kindly.The expression was not as serious as that of the mother and sister, on the contrary, it was a happy, lively, innocent and beautiful face, and she hummed a nursery rhyme, and then she remained motionless and closed her eyes. Alan Rock watches her in amazement, the way we watch someone we've met before, stunned to meet again.He had evidently spotted some of Pascaela's features. "Letticia, say hello to the guest," said the mother. She curtseyed, at this time, Alan Rock had already walked towards her, looking at her carefully at a place very close to her, she opened her eyes, and looked at him, suddenly, her face The smile on his face disappeared, and he stretched out his hands to push him away, showing a panicked look, followed by a 180-degree change, and smiled at him again, but the smile was full of resentment and pain, which made people see Distressed.The lively and happy mood disappeared, and she was so tired that she seemed to be unable to bear it, and she rested her head on Alan Rock's shoulder.

After a few seconds like this, she twisted shyly in his arms a few times.Finally, she danced lightly again and sang the original song softly. "Are you Letticia?" Alan Rock asked excitedly. She waved her handkerchief in front of Alan Rock.He grabbed the handkerchief and inhaled deeply the scent emanating from it.But she took his hand and drew him to the garden wall, where there was a gap in the wall, and the barbed wire was pulled at random.She pointed to the gap, as if to say, "That's where they come in." Returning, she pointed to a ladder hanging from a pole in the hayloft, probably the same ladder they had used to climb into her room.As she spoke, she fell down on a steep slope by the side of the road and lost consciousness.

Pascaella cried out in distress: "Poor sister..." Aunt Taorsey muttered to herself, gnashing her teeth with hatred: "If I didn't think that there would always be a day of revenge, I would rather die." Alan Rock never took his eyes off the poor woman, and Natalie thought of the way he looked at her that night in the light, when he said: "I've seen you...you're my life a part of." Had he actually met Natalie?at what time?under what conditions?He stared at it for a long time, and then he left without saying a word or looking back. Alan Rock was very happy to see that Chaferos did not escape.From the small square overlooking the Segeste plain from the village, at his questioning, someone pointed out to him the small hut that Pascaela had mentioned, and also pointed him to a man who was accompanying two tourists to visit the temple.

He stared at it.Chafferos then accompanied another tourist, and then, in the evening, returned to the village, wandering around the inn to watch Nathalie's activities, and later went to the garden of the Tulsi's house to observe Pascaela's activities. The movement, her return this time and Natalie's arrival, the coincidence of the two in time made him worry.Chafellows had dinner at the hotel and left very late.Alan Rock wanted to deal with him in front of Natalie and Pascaela, so he didn't contact him right away.The next morning, he came to the Tulsi's house and asked Pascaela to come and take Tully.He went to the temple himself first, and asked the two of them to go quietly to Mount Barbaro via the path and stay near the ruins of the ancient theater.He will take the Greeks there to join them. So did what happened afterwards.At nine o'clock Alan Rock crossed the dry creek to the caretaker's house, and walked towards the Segeste Temple. He walks with intense concentration.Barren mountains and wild ridges formed a huge basin. Looking at this magnificent scenery from a distance, the annoyance he felt around the crazy girl surged into his heart again. The colors of the scenery, the beautiful sky divided by the bright lines of the buildings, he is trying to find the memories that some details may trigger.Before he found the other party, Chafferos had appeared in front of him and offered to work for him. He was a short, lithe, rather young, well-proportioned man in light-coloured clothes, linen gloves, and a straw hat.Before Alan Roque could answer, he had already begun to introduce the temple in a spout, in the style of Cicero's speech: "It is one of the most magnificent achievements of Doric architecture. How solemn! It There are thirty-six pillars, each nine meters high..." Aaron Rock let him talk.After confirming that the Greeks had no doubts, he asked a few technical questions, which the other party couldn't wait to answer, and they walked around the temple like this. After that, Chafferos actively recommended guests to visit the ancient theater.They therefore walked back to the caretaker's house, and then climbed Monte Barbaro.It was deserted all around.There are no tourists.Alan Rock had inquired and knew that the train from Palermo would arrive later. "At our feet is Mount Barbaro," said the Greek, "four hundred meters above sea level. Take a look at the panorama, which is considered one of the most beautiful in the world by experts in the world of travel. The diameter of the theater is sixty-three meters , there are about twenty rows of stepped seats..." He suddenly stopped talking.Alan Rock waved his hand and was already waiting there. Natalie and Pascaela, who were hiding aside, walked forward.Chafferos turned his head and saw that they were only three steps away from him.There was no one around them, not even outside the ruins.He took a step back, feeling that danger was coming.Alan Rock put a gun to his temple and said, "Shut up, Chafellows. You're surrounded, you're cornered, it's impossible to resist. Especially since you can't escape. Besides, what's the point of running?" What to use? It’s not my gun pointing at you that won’t let you run away, it’s your situation that won’t let you run away. If you run away, I’ll report you.” The Greek was confused, not understanding what was going on, with a panicked look and empty eyes.He muttered, "What's the matter? What are you trying to do? What have I done wrong?" Alan Rock put the gun back in his pocket.Once Chafellows is open to dialogue, forcing him to back down is out of the question. "What did you do wrong?" He listed them one by one: "First of all, you are one of the people who kidnapped Leticia, therefore, you are responsible for her insanity. Second, you are one of the people who followed Mr. Manoelson, therefore, you must Responsible for what happened to him later... I won’t say so much. You have seen it, and I have all the information related to you, and it is good for you to cooperate with me.” The Greeks don't seem to believe in any good.On the contrary, he seemed to feel that the danger was not as great as he thought.Therefore, he decided to listen to what the other party said to him, and did not rule out making an appropriate response when necessary. He sat down in his theater seat, crossed his legs, and said nonchalantly: "I found myself in a trap, and, Pascaela Torsi, you are in it. Tell me."