Chapter 38 Chapter Eighteen Fragoso

So came the order, and, as Judge Jarrigates expected, it was an order for the immediate execution of Joam D'Acosta.If no evidence is produced, the original verdict must be upheld. Therefore, the prisoner will be hanged on the gallows at 9:00 am on August 31 the next day. In Brazil, as long as the death penalty is not black, the death penalty can usually be commuted; but this time the death penalty was executed against a white person. Such was the criminal sentence in the case of the diamond mines, for the protection of the public interest the law admits of no leniency. Therefore, there was nothing to save Joam D'Acosta.Not only would he lose his life, but his reputation would also be ruined.

However, early in the morning on August 31, a man galloped to Manao.Because of running so fast, the brave steed fell to the ground when it was half a mile from the city. The knight didn't even try to raise his mount.Apparently it was because he was urging the horse to work harder, and the horse was overtired.Although he himself was very tired, he dismounted and ran towards the city. The riders came from the eastern provinces along the left bank of the river.He bought the horse with all his money, because it was faster to go up the Amazon in a canoe than to go up the Amazon in a canoe, and it had just brought him back to Manao.

This man was Fragoso. Has the brave lad accomplished what he has kept from telling anyone?Did he find the guard where Torres used to be?Had he discovered any other secret that could save Joam D'Acosta. Nor did he know; but, at any rate, he was on his way impatiently to report to Judge Jarrigates what he had learned during his outing. That's what happened: Fragoso was not wrong when he recognized Torres as a forest captain of the Guards operating in the provinces along the Madeira River. So he set out and came to the mouth of this tributary, and found out that the chief of the "Guardian District" was nearby.

Fragoso, without delay for a moment, set out to look for the man, and after much trouble found him. Fragoso asked some questions to the captain of the guard, and he answered them without hesitation.The question is very simple, and he has nothing to do with it, so there is no need to keep it secret. Fragoso only asked him the following three questions: "Did Forest Captain Torres belong to your team a few months ago?" "belong." "In the meantime, did he have a close friend, also your companion, who died not so long ago?" "There is such a person."

"What's this man's name?..." "Ottoga." This was all that Fragoso had heard. Could it change Joam D'Acosta's situation?It's really hard to imagine. Fragoso was well aware of this, and so he kept asking the officer if he knew Ortga, could he tell him where he came from, could he provide him with some the past of the person.These circumstances may be important because, according to Torres, Ortega was the real killer in the Tijuca case. It's a pity, unfortunately, that the captain of the guard can't provide any clues about this. What is certain is that Ottoga has been a member of the Forest Guard for many years. He and Torres are close friends, and the two are inseparable.When Ortega was dying, Torres stayed by his side.

In this regard, the chief of the forest guards only knew this, and could not say more.Fragoso had to be content with these details, and set off at once to return. But even though this loyal young man had not obtained evidence in this operation to prove that Ortega was the murderer in the case of Tijuka, at least such a conclusion could be drawn?That is to say, Torres said that one of his comrades in the Forest Guard died, and he put this man to death, these are all true. As for the hypothesis that Ortega handed him the relevant document, it seems to be established now. Therefore, it is entirely possible that this document is related to the murder. Ortega may be the real murderer. Perhaps he is in the document. He provided his own indictment and explained the history of the crime, all of which made people unbelievable.

In this way, if the documents can be read out, if the clues of the documents can be found, if the password numbers are known, then the truth of the case will undoubtedly be revealed! But Fragoso knew nothing about this number!There are a few more assumptions, and it is almost certain that Torres is not inventing anything, and there are circumstances that prove that the secret of the case is written in the papers, and that is all the honest lad got from the forest guard officer where Torres used to be. Condition. But in spite of the meager circumstances, he was anxious to tell Judge Jarrigates all about it.He knew it was too late, and that was why he was half a mile from Manao around eight o'clock that morning, exhausted and exhausted.

Fragoso was in town in just a few minutes.He was driven forward by a premonition so strong that he almost felt that Joam Dacosta's life was in his hands. Suddenly, Fragoso stopped, as if his feet had taken root in the ground. He came to the entrance of the small square, where there was a city gate. In the small square, a group of people was densely surrounded, and in the middle stood a gallows more than 20 feet high, with a rope hanging from it. Fragoso just felt powerless and collapsed to the ground.He closed his eyes involuntarily, he didn't want to see this scene, and murmured:

"It's too late! It's too late! . . . " But he stood up again with amazing perseverance.No!It's not too late!Joam D'Acosta's body was not yet swinging on this rope! "Judge Jarry Gates! Judge Jarry Gates!" Fragoso yelled desperately. Angrily, he rushed to the city gate, stepped onto the main avenue of Manao, and finally fell down at the door of the judge's house, dying. The door was closed, and Fragoso knocked with the last of his strength. One of the judge's servants came and opened the door.His master is unwilling to receive anyone. Fragoso refused to listen to dissuasion, pushed away the servants blocking the door, and rushed to the judge's study.

"I come from the province where Torres is the captain of the forest!" he said. "Mr. Judge, Torres is telling the truth! . . . Delay... Delay the execution!" "Have you found the Forest Guard?" "yes!" "You brought me the number of the file? . . . " Fragoso did not answer. "Then, please go! Let's go!" Judge Jarrigates roared, grabbed the documents and tore them up. Fragoso took his hands and stopped him: "The truth of the matter is above!" "I know," replied Judge Jarry Gates, "but what is the truth until it is revealed to the world!"

"The truth will come to light! . . . It must be brought to light! . . . Definitely!" "I'll ask again! Have you found the number?" "No!" replied Fragoso, "but I repeat, Torres is not lying! . . . A partner with whom he was very close died a few months ago, and it is this man who undoubtedly gave Torres the documents, Torres is coming to sell it to Joam da Costa!" "Yes!" said Judge Jarry Gates, "yes! To us there is no doubt about it...but not for those who have the power over the life and death of the prisoner! . . . Will you please leave here!" Fragoso was robbed, but still refused to move.He fell on his knees, approached the judge, and cried: "Joam D'Acosta is innocent! You can't let him die! He didn't do the Tijuca case! It's Torres' friend, who wrote the papers! It's Ortega!" Judge Jarry Gates jumped at the name.Then, when his confused mind had returned to calm, he took out the paper again with trembling hands, spread it out on the table, sat down, rubbed his eyes and said: "That name! . . . Ortega! . . . Let's try!" So he worked out the new name Fragoso had found, in the same way as he had done with the other names before, only in vain.He wrote the six letters of the name on top of the six letters at the beginning of the last paragraph, resulting in the following formula: ortega Phyjsl "It doesn't mean anything," he said, "it doesn't make any sense!" Indeed, h under r cannot be represented by a number, because h comes before r in the alphabet. Only pyj under ote can get the numbers 1, 4, and 5. As for the letters s and l at the end of the word, there are 12 letters between them and the letters g and a, and they cannot be represented by a one-digit number.So these two letters don't match up with g and a. At this moment there were terrible shouts in the street.It was a cry of despair. Fragoso ran to the window and opened it, but the judge did not have time to stop him. The streets were crowded with people.When it was time to get the prisoner out of the prison, the crowd moved straight for the square of the gallows. Judge Jarrigates looked horrifying. He stared intently at the words on the document and murmured: "Last letters! Try these last letters again!" This is the last hope. His hands were shaking so badly that he could hardly write, and at last he wrote each letter of Ortga's name on the last six letters, just as he had written them on the first six. He exclaimed.He first discovered that these six letters are in alphabetical order, after the six letters that make up Ottoga's name, so they can be numbered to form a number. Sure enough, he subtracted the letter of the file password from the letter written on it, and he got the following formula: Ortega 432513 Suvjhd The number thus composed is 432513. But is this number the exact one used to write out the file?Will it be the same as the letters tried before, and also fake? And now the shouts grew louder, a cry of sympathy from the crowd.There are still a few minutes, and the prisoner only has a few minutes to live. Fragoso, maddened with pain, rushed out of the room! ... He wants to see his benefactor for the last time!He wanted to rush to the front of this ghastly and terrifying escort, stop them, and shout loudly: "Please don't kill this honest man! Don't kill him!  …" And Jarry Gates has arranged the number words obtained on the first few letters of the paragraph, repeating this number word over and over again until there are enough, the method is as follows: 432513432513432513432513 phyjslyddqfdzxgasgzzqqch Then working out the actual letters in alphabetical order, he read: Le veritable auteur du vol de... (the person who actually steals...) He cried out with joy! 432513, this number is the number that I have been looking for for so long but have not been able to get!Ortga's name led him to find out the number!He had at last found a clue to the papers which would irrefutably exonerate Joam D'Acosta, and there was no need to read any further, and he rushed out of his study, and then ran into the street, shouting: "Stop! Stop!" The judge cut his way through the crowd, and in a few moments was at the prison gate.At this time, the prisoner was about to leave the prison, and his wife and children clung to him in despair. He came up to Joam D'Acosta, but could not speak, waved the document in his hand, and at last the words came out of his mouth. "Not guilty! Not guilty!"