Chapter 35 Chapter Fifteen The Final Effort

However, the judge is not alone in wasting his efforts in vain.Benito, Manoel and Mina also got together to try to uncover the secrets of this document. As for Fragoso, with Lina's help, he was unwilling to stand idly by; , but also to no avail, always can not find that number! "Find it, Fragoso!" the half-breed girl kept repeating to him: "Find it!" "I'll find it!" replied Fragoso. But he still couldn't find it. But here it should be said that Fragoso had an idea, a plan he was about to carry out, which he did not want to speak of, even from Lina, which was always in his head and could not get rid of it: he would Go to Forest Captain's Guard and find out who wrote this coded text, admitting to being the murderer of Tijuka.The area in which the guard operated was the part of the Amazonas province where Fragoso had encountered the guard a few years earlier, and the district to which it belonged was not too far from Manao.Downriver, it takes only fifty miles to reach near the mouth of the Madeira, a tributary on the right bank of the river, where you may meet the chief of the Forest Guard, with whom Torres was once an accomplice. In two days, at most three One day, Fragoso will be able to connect with the bad guy Torres' old colleagues.

"Yes, maybe, I can do this," he thought over and over again, "but then? Even if I succeed, what will happen? If it can be confirmed that one of Torres' companions has recently died, it can prove that this person is The murderer? Can it be proved that he handed over to Torres a document in which he confessed his crimes, exonerated Joam da Costa? Can the figure be calculated in the end? No! Only two people know that Numbers! Murderer and Torres! But they are both dead!" Fragoso thought this way.It couldn't have been more obvious than that his plans would come to nothing.But the idea still prevailed.An irresistible force impels him to go, although he is not even sure that he will find the Madeira Guard!Because the guards might go hunting in other parts of the province, Fragosau would have to spend more time to find the team, and the time he could control was very limited!Besides, even if we found it, what about Wen?

Sure enough, the next day, August 29, before sunrise, Fragoso quietly left the big raft without telling anyone, and came to Manao, where many small boats go down the Amazon River every day. , he got into one of the boats. No one saw Fragoso on board the boat, and it was a surprise that he hadn't been seen all day.No one, not even the half-breed girl, could explain how such a faithful servant should have disappeared at such a critical time. One even wondered—not unreasonably—that the poor lad might have thought it all his fault that he had met Torres on the frontier, and had led him aboard the raft, and that he had been so heartbroken that he had committed some short-sightedness?

But if Fragoso blames himself like this, what should Benito say?The first time, in Iquitos, he was the one who took Torres to the farm.The second time, in Tabatinga, he took Torres with him on a big raft.The third time he dueled Torres, killed him, and destroyed the only evidence in favor of the condemned man! Benito blamed everything on himself, the arrest of his father, and all the terrible consequences that might arise from it! For if Torres were still alive, Benito could have said that the soldier, out of various considerations, benevolence or profit, would eventually hand over the documents.Since Torres has nothing to do with this case, as long as he pays a high price, is it still afraid that he will not speak up?In this way, can't the document that everyone is looking for be handed over to the judge for review?yes!It may be so! ...but the only person who could possibly provide evidence was killed by Benito.

That was what the poor young man kept repeating to his mother, to Manoel, and to himself!His conscience told him that he should be responsible for the disastrous consequences. Yet courageous Yaquita remained undisturbed in front of her husband and son, staying by his side for all the required visits while his son was so heartbroken that one feared he would act. It's silly. In her we rediscover the fearless daughter of Magalaes, worthy companion of the lord of the Iquitos estate. In addition, Joam Dacosta's attitude also supported her to withstand this test.This is a good man, a serious Puritan, a simple laborer, who fought all his life and never showed weakness for a moment.

Judge Ribeiro was so convinced of his innocence that his death was a most terrible blow to him, but he was not broken.Was it not with the help of his former defense lawyer that he had hope of redressing his wrongdoing?He dismissed Torres' involvement in the case as a trivial factor.Moreover, he had no knowledge of the document when he decided to leave Iquitos and return to court in his home country.All the credentials he brought were moral proofs only.He would certainly not ignore any physical evidence that came up during the course of the case, whether it was before or after his arrest, but his position would remain the same if it were lost under regrettable circumstances, Just like the situation when he crossed the Brazilian border, at that time, he said: "This is my past, this is my present, and this is the hardworking, faithful, and upright life I brought to you! Your first This sentence is unjust! After twenty-three years of exile, here I come! Here I am! Please judge me!"

So the death of Torres, and the indecipherable documents found on him, had far less effect on Joam da Costa than on his children, friends, and servants. strong. "I believe in my innocence," he repeatedly said to Yaquita, "just like I believe in God! If God thinks my life is useful to my relatives, friends, and needs a miracle to save it, God I will, and if I don't, I'm dead! Only he is the judge!" As time went by, the inhabitants of Manao City became more and more passionate, and people talked about it with rare enthusiasm.All the mysteries attract the attention of the public, and the only talking point here is the document.By the evening of the fourth day, no one doubted that it contained evidence proving the innocence of the condemned prisoner.

And it must be said that everyone has even been mobilized to decipher this difficult document.Indeed, the "Journal of Barra" published copies of the documents, and at the request of the residents of Manao, distributed a large number of manuscripts. They refused to let go of any possibility of revealing the secret, even if it was just a fluke. It is said that this fluke is sometimes another name for God's will. In addition, a reward of one hundred Gundus was offered, and whoever could find out the number that has not been found so far and understand the document would be rewarded with this wealth.So people of all classes did not eat, drink, or sleep to study this incomprehensible document.

However, it is useless to do this, and it may even be a waste of effort for the world's smartest analyst. In addition, the residents were informed that as soon as they found the answer, they should send it to Judge Yerry Gates at the residence of Judge Shengzi Road without delay; What's the matter! In fact, of all those who have worked on this vexing conundrum, Judge Jarry Gates is one of the most sympathetic.After a series of natural inferences, he now agreed with the general opinion that the document was relevant to the case of Tijuca, had been written by the murderer, and would exonerate Joam D'Acosta.So he could only work harder to find clues.What guides him is not just art for the sake of art, but a sense of justice and sympathy for a person who has been wrongly imprisoned.If the human brain really consumes some kind of organic phosphorus in the process of thinking, then the judge has already consumed countless kilograms of organic phosphorus to mobilize his "feeling center", but in the final analysis, he got nothing, nothing!

But Judge Jarry Gates didn't want to let go just yet.If he can only rely on luck now, he hopes that this luck can help him!He wanted to use all possible and impossible methods to make mistakes!It had turned into a kind of madness in him, a kind of madness, and what was worse, it was just a kind of helpless madness! This evening, he tried countless different numbers--always random numbers--and still couldn't figure it out!well!If he had time, he would definitely dive in without hesitation and try all the millions of combinations that 10 numbers can form!He will spend his whole life on it, and he may even go crazy in less than a year!go Ape!well!Is he still sick?

So, he thought that this document might be read in reverse.So, he turned the file over, held it up to the light, and looked at it that way. Useless!The numbers he came up with were also in vain when calculated with this new method! Perhaps the document should be read in reverse, starting from the last letter and ending with the first, and rewritten—maybe the writers of the document did this to make it more difficult to understand. Useless!This new combination produces only a string of letters that is completely inexplicable! At eight o'clock in the evening, Judge Jarry Gates covered his face with his hands. He was exhausted both mentally and physically. Suddenly, there was a sound outside the door.Almost at the same time, although he had the prohibition first, the door of the room was suddenly opened. Benito and Manoel appeared in front of him. Benito's appearance was shocking. Manoel helped him. The unfortunate young man could no longer stand up. The judge jumped up: "What is it, gentlemen, what do you want from me?" he asked. "Numbers! ... Numbers! ..." cried Benito, almost mad with pain, "Numbers of documents! ..." "So you found it?" Judge Jarry Gates asked hurriedly. "No, sir," replied Manoel, "and you? . . . " "No no!" "No!" cried Benito. Benito was completely desperate, he drew the weapon from his waist and stabbed himself in the chest. The judge and Manoel pounced on him and wrested his weapon with difficulty. "Benito," said Judge Jarry Gates, trying to restore his calm voice, "now that your father will inevitably suffer for others, you have something more useful to do than commit suicide!" "What's the matter?..." asked Benito. "You should try to rescue him!" "How to save?..." "That's up to you to guess," replied the judge, "it's not for me to tell you!"