Chapter 14 14. The Fourth Medal

Although the situation changed suddenly, it did not cause the above-mentioned witnesses to panic, nor did it cause confusion.There was one thing that took their fear away, made them speechless, made them immobile: the inconceivable process of murder.The impossible miracle of the Marquis' resurrection became the equally impossible miracle of death, and made it impossible for them to deny it, because it happened under their very eyes. To tell the truth, no one came in at that time, and it seemed to them that the god of death stepped over the threshold, walked towards the man, dealt him a fatal blow with an invisible hand in front of their faces, and then walked away, in front of them. The murder knife was left on the body.No one can enter or exit except ghosts.No one but a ghost could kill like that.

"Ellington," said Dorothei, calming down more quickly than the others. "There's no one on the stairs, is there? Daario, the window is too small for anyone to climb in, is it? Webster and Kurobelev, check the walls of the alcove carefully." She bent down and drew the dagger herself.The victim's body no longer twitched, and it really became a corpse. Examining the dagger and clothing, there were no clues. Ellington and Dario report their findings.stairs?It's empty.window?It is indeed too small. Together with the Russians, the Americans, and Dorothey, the five of them observed the wall carefully and touched it carefully with their hands. Finally, she declared very clearly, which also represented everyone's unshakable thoughts: "No Gaps. No one can get in through the walls."

"What's the matter?" stammered the notary, who had not moved from his seat on the stool, for his legs had lost all control. "That is how the matter?" He posed the question somewhat humbly, as if regretting that he had not immediately accepted Dorothy's explanation and had not promised to accept what she would give later.Dorothy reported clearly the danger threatening them, clearly spelling out every aspect of this vague incident.It seemed to him that suddenly she was a woman who was always right, never wrong, and who in turn saw her as a powerful shield to protect him from impending attacks.

As for Dorotai, she vaguely felt that the truth was cruising close at hand, and she almost saw a shapeless thing.The incident then puzzled her greatly; how had she not thought of the man in the shadows at all?She seemed afraid to think so, she seemed to have escaped danger once.She had wit enough to reveal the danger if it were not for the nature of a woman to blind her for a few minutes. In truth, she wasted a few minutes for nothing.Like a person who is in a dangerous situation and doesn't know the priorities at all, she is walking in place, saying some useless words in her mouth, blindly entangled in the superficial phenomena at that time, and perhaps hoping that a sentence or a half of them can give people some hope. inspired.

"Monsieur de la Rue, a man has died, a crime has been committed. We must report it at once. But... but, it can be postponed for a day or two..." "Postponed?" He said unequivocally, "I'll report right away. Some procedures must not be delayed." "You can't go to Periac." "why?" "Since these robbers can kill a guy who is in the way in full view, they must have already prepared and sent someone to block the road to Periak." "Are you sure? . . . Are you sure?" muttered M. de la Rue. "I'm sure it is."

Her tone of reply was a little hesitant.At this moment, she felt very uncomfortable, because for a person like her, indecision is the greatest torture.She felt deeply that an essential element was missing to unravel the truth.In this tower, there are four determined young men by her side. Although she is well protected, the right to control the incident is not in her hands.She had to obey the enemy, be oppressed by the enemy, and it can be said that she was at their will. "But it's terrible," said M. de la Rue piteously. "Okay, this is not my place to stay for a long time... The firm needs me to go back... I have a wife... and a child..."

"Come on, Monsieur de la Rue, but please leave me the supplementary will which I return to you. We will take it apart in your presence." "Do you have the right?" "Why! The letter from the Marquis is very clear: If fate really abandons me, or if you can't find me at all, please open the envelope yourself. Once you know where the gem is kept, the gem will belong to you. Very Clear, isn't it, it can't be clearer, we know that the Marquis is dead, he is dead, so we are entitled to four gems, five of us are the owners of these gems, five of us..." Dorothy couldn't go on.What she said just now can be described as wrong in the foreword.The contradiction between words—four gems...five masters, surprised a few young people, and M. de la Rue was not surprised even though his mind was not here...

"It's true, you're five. Why didn't we notice? You're five, but only four gems." Dario explained: "It's probably like this, because there are four men, so I only noticed the number four, miss, you are French, and the four foreigners are in contrast to you." "But the fact is clear," continued M. de la Rue, "that there are five of you." "What's the matter?" Webster said. "Well, there are five of you. According to the letter, the Marquis has only four sons, and he gave four medals... You heard me, four medals."

Webster objected: "He may have bequeathed four . . . and left five . . . " He looked at Dorothy.She said nothing.Can she find the answer to the mystery that slipped through the net in this accident?She said thoughtfully: "Unless someone used fraudulent means to make an additional copy of the fifth medal as it was, made it very similar, and then passed it to one of us." "Then how do you know?" "Compare everyone's medals," she said. "There may be gains in passing the inspection." Webster was the first to pull out his medal. There is nothing special about it that makes it impossible to doubt that it is one of the four medals ordered and supervised by the Marquis himself.Examining the medals of Marco Dalio, Kurobelev and Ellington, the results are exactly the same.M. de la Rue received four medals one after another, looked at them again and again, and finally reached out to Dorothy for her medal.

Dorothy took out a small pouch tied to the inside of her bodice, and untied the string on the bag, and suddenly she froze.The pouch is empty.She trembled and turned her purse inside out.It's empty. She whispered, "Mine is gone... mine is gone..." Hearing what she said, everyone was speechless in amazement, and then the notary asked her, "Did you forget where?" "No," she said, "I'm not going to lose it. If I were to lose it, I'd lose it with the pouch. Look: it's just big enough to hold the medal." "But," said the notary, "how do you explain it? . . . "

Marco Dario interrupted him unceremoniously: "Miss doesn't need to explain. Because, you don't think..." "Of course," replied M. de la Rue, "no one says that Mademoiselle has no right to be here. The point is that there are five medals, not four, and hers is missing. That's all I mean." Dorothei continued calmly: "I didn't lose it. It's not in my purse..." She wanted to say, "It's not in the purse, it must have been stolen." However, she didn't say the second half of the sentence.She felt a sudden panic in her heart, and immediately realized the meaning of this accusation.The question was clearly laid out, and there was only one grim answer: four gold medals were set before them.One of them was stolen from me.Therefore, one of these four was a thief. This undeniable fact gave her a sudden clear view of the matter, an unexpected firmness of confidence, and a subdued self-control with superhuman fortitude.She must not startle the snake before she has thought it through and faced the serious situation.Therefore, accepting the notary's assumption, she said in a low voice: "Yes, that's what it is... Monsieur de la Rue, you are right, I lost the medal... But how? I I can't tell how it was lost... When was it lost?..." She spoke in a soft, absent-minded voice.Her curly hair was combed to the sides, and her brows were frowning, which made people think that she was preoccupied.Monsieur de la Rue and the four foreigners exchanged a few insignificant words, but the girl said nothing.Then, everyone was silent and stayed quietly for a long time.The light of the flashlight went out.The light coming in from the narrow window was concentrated on Dorothei.She was so pale that she felt it herself, and she covered her face with her hands so that no one could see the violent ups and downs of her heart. She was so excited, it took so much effort to achieve the goal, and the truth suddenly came to light, can it make people not excited.She didn't collect clues from scattered words and piece together, it can be said that she got it completely at once.The clouds were cleared.Before her, before her closed eyes, she saw... she saw... Ah!How terrible. However, she remained silent and motionless, and in a few short seconds, all the questions and all the answers, all the reasons and all the evidences appeared in her mind at the same time. She remembered their caravan had nearly been engulfed in flames the previous night in the village of Periac. Who lit this fire?What is the motivation?So many firefighters suddenly came, and some of them took advantage of the chaos to sneak into the caravan, search the corner where she slept, and opened the small purse hanging on the wall. Is this assumption completely unfounded? Having seized the medal, the thief hastened back to the ruins of the castle of La Roche-Périac, and deployed his troops on the peninsula.He must have known every corner of this place like the back of his hand, and had planned carefully for the fateful 12th of July, 1921.There is no doubt that he had a general rehearsal with the role of the sleeping Marquis, and made various explanations and precautions.rewards for success.Consequences of failure. At noon, like other foreigners, he leisurely came to the wall clock, showed his medal, which was the only identity proof that needed to be shown, and then listened to the reading of the will. Then, there is the ascent of the tower and the resurrection of the Marquis.In a little more time, Dorotai will hand over the additional will, and he will be done.The grand conspiracy that d'Estréchet had concocted for so many years finally came to fruition, in the execution of the whole plan, down to the last minute, in the completely unexpected actions that had to be taken by accidental factors. With the same boldness, the same accuracy, the same boldness, and the same determination, who can turn a blind eye?Some battles must be won by the commander in person. "He must have come," thought Dorothy, with great emotion. "He escaped from prison and came here. His accomplice was about to betray him and come to us, and he killed him. Only he could do such a thing. Here he comes. He shaved off his beard, took off his glasses, He shaved his head, hung his arms with a triangular scarf, disguised himself as a Russian soldier, said nothing, changed his walking posture, and kept a certain distance from the crowd, making him unrecognizable. However, he is de E. Strechet. Now, his eyes are fixed on me. He is hesitating. He wonders if I have recognized his disguise... Will he be able to continue the trick... Or, should he Take off the mask, draw the pistol, and force us to hand over the additional will, that is, to hand over the gem." Dorothy didn't know what to do.If it was another person, a man with her personality and temperament would have solved this problem long ago, and he would rush towards the enemy without hesitation.But a woman? ... Before she could move, her two legs were no longer able to move.She is afraid.He was also worried about the other three young men, because de Estreche could easily knock them down with a shot. She put her hands down her face, and without turning around, she saw the four of them waiting there.De Estreche was with the others, staring at her... yes, staring at her... She felt his fierce eyes watching her every slightest movement, trying to guess her intentions. She moved quietly towards the door.Her purpose was to occupy the door, block the enemy's way, confront him head-on, and separate him from the three young men.Once he was cornered against a wall with no way out, three strong and determined men could hope to force him to submit. She moved another step, so small that no one else could notice it, and another.There are still three meters away from the door.She squinted and saw a big hammer full of nails beside the door. She explained, as if thinking about the loss of the medal: "I think I lost it that day...I had it on my lap...must have forgotten to put it back in my purse..." It was too late to say it, but it was soon, she exerted all her strength. But it was too late.At the moment when she was on her waist, de Estreche, who had been on guard for a long time, stepped to the door with one step, with his arms raised and two guns in his hands. He made this sudden move without saying a word at all.Moreover, there was no need to speak, the three young men had already realized that the person in front of them was the murderer of the fake Marquis.Under the threat of the opponent, they instinctively took a step back, but they immediately calmed down and pressed forward to fight back. De Estreche was about to shoot when Dorothey stopped them.She stood in front and shielded them with her body, she was sure the robber would not dare to press the trigger.However, he pointed the gun at her chest, and the young men couldn't move. He was still holding his right arm, and he was looking for the door lock behind him with the gun in his left hand. "Let us go, miss!" cried Webster, filled with righteous indignation. "If you move, he'll kill me," she replied. Without saying a word, the robber slightly opened the door behind him, pressed his body against the wall, and then quickly slipped away. The three young men rushed forward at the same time, like a pack of hounds released by a hunter, but the heavy door blocked their way.