Chapter 39 Chapter 19 The Tijuca Murder

As soon as the judge arrived at the execution ground, the entire escort team stood still.The shouts that shook the sky kept ringing around him, this is the voice of everyone from the bottom of their hearts: "Not guilty! Not guilty!" Then there was silence.Everyone doesn't want to miss a word about the upcoming announcement. Judge Jarrigates sat down on a square stool, surrounded by Mina, Benito, Manoel, Fragoso, and Joam D'Acosta holding Yaquita in his arms. On the chest, the judge had previously written out the last paragraph of the document in numerals, from which the actual letters were clearly written, replaced by the cipher letters, and then broke words and sentences, and then began to read aloud.

In the silence, he read: "It was not Joam D'Acosta, who was unjustly sentenced to death, who was responsible for the theft of the diamonds and the murder of the escort on the night of January 22, 1836, but me, a small clerk in the diamond mine administration; Yes, it's me alone, here I sign my real name Ottoga." The reading did not end, and the endless cheers went straight to the sky. Indeed, nothing could be more convincing than that.The document concludes with a paragraph summarizing the whole text, categorically acquitting the owner of the Iquitos estate, who had saved from the gallows the victim of this terrible injustice!

Surrounded by his wife, children, and friends, Joam D'Acosta could not hold the hands that were extended to him.Although he has a strong character, facing this situation, he couldn't help crying with joy, and at the same time, he was full of gratitude, thanking God for miraculously saving him at the last moment of execution, and thanking God for not letting him go. Human beings have committed heinous crimes of killing innocent people by mistake. Yes, Joam D'Acosta is innocent, the evidence is beyond doubt!The real culprit of the Tijuka murder confessed to his crime and told the whole story of the crime!Judge Jarry Gates has just deciphered all the documents using cipher numbers.

The following is Ottoga's confession. This villain is a colleague of Joam Dacosta, and like him, an employee of the management office of the Tijuca Diamond Mine. This young man was assigned to accompany the escort team to Rio de Janeiro, and it was he who committed the murder. With evil thoughts, he told the smugglers the exact date when the escort team left Tijuca. When the bandits who were waiting outside Villa Rica attacked the convoy, he pretended to resist with the soldiers of the convoy, and then he fell among the dead and was carried away by his accomplices.So the only soldier who survived the massacre can be sure that Ottoga was killed in the struggle.

But the theft did not bring much to the criminal, and he was soon robbed by his fellow criminals. Ottoga had nothing to return to Tijuca, so he wandered through the northern provinces of Brazil and fled to the upper Amazon region, where the forest guards were.In order to survive, Ottoga joined this not-so-dignified team.In the ranks he was not asked who he was or where he came from, so Ottoga later became the captain of the forest and began to arrest people for a long time. During this period, the adventurer Torres cut off his livelihood and became his accomplice. He and Ortga had a close relationship.But as Torres said, the villain grew to feel guilty.The memory of the crime terrified him, and he knew that someone else had suffered in his place and was sentenced to death!He knew that this person was his colleague Joam Dacosta!And Joam Dacosta has been living a life of fear, and is in danger of being executed at any time!

However, a few months ago, during an expedition into Peru, Ortega happened to come near Iquitos, where he recognized Joam Galar as Joam Dago Sta, but Joam D'Acosta did not recognize him. Therefore, he decided to do his best to make up for the injustice suffered by his old colleagues.He wrote a document giving all the facts of Tijuca's murder; but it is known that the document was in ciphered text, because he intended to give it to the owner of the Iquitos estate, together with the deciphered numbers. His sudden death did not allow him time to complete this mission of redemption.Ottoga was seriously injured in an encounter with a black Madeira, and he felt that he was going to die.At that time, his companion Torres was by his side, and he believed that he could tell this friend the secret that had been kept in his heart for a lifetime.He gave Torres the document in his own hand, and made him swear that it would be in the hands of Joam D'Acosta.He told Torres the name and address of Joam Dacosta, and when he was dying, he said the number 432513.Without this number, this document would be absolutely incomprehensible.

Ortega is dead, and the reader knows very well how the vile Torres accomplished his task, and how he used the secret to do dirty work and profit from it. Torres failed, so he brought this secret to Hades.But Fragoso brought back the name of Ortega, which was the signature on the document, and finally helped Judge Jarry Gates decipher the code with amazing insight. yes!This is the physical evidence that everyone is looking for in every possible way, this is the conclusive evidence that proves Joam Dacosta's innocence, and finally allows him to save his life and restore his reputation! When the esteemed judge read aloud the appalling story recorded in the document, the cheers became even more deafening.

From this moment on, Judge Jarry Gates had solid evidence in his hands, and with the consent of the Chief of Police, he wanted to temporarily treat his apartment as Joam D'Acosta's until Rio de Janeiro's order was issued. cell. There was no trouble, Joam D'Acosta, accompanied by his family, was brought to the judge's house more like a victor than by the inhabitants of Manao. The same was carried to the judge's house. The upright owner of the Iquitos manor has suffered a lot in his long-term fugitive life, and now he finally has the sweetness of his bitterness.If he is very happy because of this, it is mostly for his family rather than himself. He is also proud that his country did not lead to such a big unjust prison in the end.

And while all this was happening, what happened to Fragoso? Oh, the lovely lad has been embraced by many!Benito, Manoel and Mina hug him desperately, and Lina is no exception!There was so much competition to talk to him that he didn't know who to listen to, and he tried to explain that he deserved it—it just happened by chance!Was he to be thanked for recognizing Torres as a forest captain?Of course not.As for his idea of ​​going to the forest guard where Torres was alive, it didn't seem to be able to turn the situation around. He didn't even know how valuable the name Ottoga was at the time!

Well done Fragoso!Whether he wanted to admit it or not, he had indeed saved Joam D'Acosta's life! From this point of view, how amazingly one thing after another is connected, and finally converges on one point: Fragoso was rescued from exhaustion and dying in the forest of Iquitos. The owner of the Quitos estate took him in enthusiastically; he met Torres on the Brazilian border, and Torres boarded the big raft, plus Fragoso had seen Torres somewhere before. "Well, yes!" cried Fragoso at last, "it is not to me that all happiness is due, but to Lina!" "Because of me?" the half-race girl asked in surprise.

"Yes, may it be? Could I have made so many people happy without your idea of ​​following the vine?" How Fragoso was congratulated and loved by this righteous family and their adversary at Manao need not be told. But didn't Judge Jarry Gates take any credit for Zhao Xue's grievance?It is true that even with the ingenuity of an analyst, he could not decipher the document. No one could understand the document without the deciphered number.Without him, with the name of Ottoga alone, who could have calculated a number known only to the murderer and Torres? Therefore, it is indispensable to thank him! Needless to say, the details of the case were sent to Rio de Janeiro that same day, together with the original version of the document and the number of deciphered documents.Just wait for new instructions from the Ministry of Justice, and the new instructions will undoubtedly order the immediate release of the prisoner. So, Joam D'Acosta's family will stay in Manao for a few days; then Joam D'Acosta and his family will say goodbye to their master, and they will continue to sail without fear. Down the Amazon, until the end of Belem's journey there, Mina and Manoel, Lina and Fragoso were to marry as planned before departure. Four days later, on September 4, the order for the release came.The document was confirmed not to be forged.It was indeed the handwriting of Ortga, an employee of the diamond mine management office at that time. There is no doubt that this detailed confession was written entirely by him. The death row inmate of Villa Rica was finally acquitted and Joam D'Acosta was legally exonerated. On the same day, Judge Jarry Gates had dinner with the Joam Dacosta family on the big raft.When it was dark, the family shook hands with him one by one to say goodbye; they agreed to see each other again, and the Joam D'Acosta family agreed that they would come to Manao to visit the judge when they returned, and they also invited him to come to the Iquitos estate later. guest. The next day, on the morning of September 5th, at sunrise, the flute blew, and Joam Dacosta, his wife, and their children stood on the deck of the raft.The big raft lifted anchor and began to enter the channel. When the big raft disappeared at the bend of the Negro River, the cheers of the residents of the city gathered on the river bank were still echoing in the air for a long time.