Chapter 9 CHAPTER 9. SHELLINGHAM'S WILDLIFE

The two entered the mansion through the front door.The front door of Leiden Court remained open while the party was in progress.The two silently reached a consensus in their hearts not to pass through the study.After Alec entered, he hurried upstairs.The housekeeper was sorting out the second batch of letters of the day and putting them on the side table in the corridor. Seeing this, Roger stopped to see if there were any of his letters. Seeing Roger approaching, the butler shook his head and said, "No letter from you, sir. In fact, there are very few letters today." He glanced at the letters in his hand, "Major Jefferson's, Miss Shannon's, and Planter's. Madame's, nothing else, sir."

"Thank you, Graves." After Roger finished, he followed Alec upstairs. Lunch was very quiet, and the atmosphere was particularly depressing.Everyone was thinking to themselves, no one wanted to mention this matter, and it seemed inappropriate to say anything else.Therefore, at most, everyone will exchange pleasantries about packing their luggage and taking a ride.Mrs. Plant was a little late for lunch, and despite her strange behavior in the morning, she seemed to have fully recovered now.She plans to leave after 5 o'clock.According to her explanation, the safe will be opened in the afternoon, and she wants to wait until that time to retrieve her jewelry before leaving.When she said this, she was very calm and expressionless. Roger thought hard about it. The Mrs. Plant in front of him was completely different from the inferences he had made about her before. He tried to make a compromise explanation, but he had to admit that , he was again at a loss, at least to Mrs. Plant.

That's not all the things that puzzled him.Major Jefferson, who had been downcast in the morning, now looked secretly smug, which seemed to Roger inexplicable.If in the morning Jefferson had been particularly concerned that the safe would be opened by the police first (and that was the only inference Roger could draw from what was known), what was happening now to make him so happy?Although Roger had been trying to keep the key from being copied and the opportunity to sneak into the study, these images flashed through his mind.There was a time when he was away from the study, and the study was out of his sight, during the few minutes when he went upstairs to wash his hands before lunch.Jefferson was unlikely to have the guts to commit such a petty theft while they were away, and he could be caught at any moment.He was also really late at lunch (in fact, he was a few minutes behind Mrs. Plant).However, Roger still feels that this possibility is not completely impossible.

However, it is worth noting the fact that two people used to pay special attention to the safe and the mysterious items inside, and the police will send someone directly to open the safe in the afternoon, and now they don't mind it, and even become extremely excited.Or, anyway, it really confuses Roger.In all respects, this quiet lunch did not make Roger regretful, and he still had a lot to think about. So, after lunch, he didn't sit idle.Alec left directly after eating, and Barbara also left.Roger was pleased that at least one thing didn't seem to be beyond his powers of reasoning.He glanced at his watch and concluded with some satisfaction that he had at least half an hour all to himself before his detective partner returned.He felt a little lucky, and walked under the kind cedar tree again, lit his pipe, and prepared to start the most concentrated deep thinking in his life.

In fact, Roger was completely clueless now, although he tried to put on an air of confidence in front of Alec.For all his plausible assertion of murder, he did, at the time, put it a little far-fetched, but only because he was particularly interested in frightening the dull Alec out of complacency.In the morning, Roger was almost pissed off by Alec several times.Regarding this matter, Alec's comprehension was half a beat slower than before, almost to the point of dullness.Just now, Roger was secretly angry, and what Alec did was pour cold water on all his inferences.Of course, it's also useful to do some self-reflection while you're excited.But Roger felt that since there was only such an audience, he hoped that this audience would be more or less more active.

His thoughts returned to the question of murder.Is murder really too far-fetched?Even before he found the broken vase and the mysterious second shot, he had even been a little suspicious, and now he was more suspicious.Of course, he is only skeptical, and cannot make a conclusion yet.Still, the misgivings are strong. He tried to picture in his mind what might have happened in the study that night.Old Stanworth sat at his desk, and the French windows might not be closed.Suddenly, an uninvited guest came straight in through the floor-to-ceiling windows.The visitor either demanded money or attacked him immediately.Stanworth took a pistol from a side drawer and fired, missing the intruder but hitting the vase.Next—what happened next?

Assuming two people are in close proximity, they might fight in silence.However, when everyone broke open the door and entered, they did not find any signs of struggle, only the dead fell quietly on the chair.But do traces of struggle really matter?Now that You-Know-Who can carefully clean up the fragments of the vase to cover up his presence, he can also clean up any traces of a struggle.However, there is an insurmountable obstacle here, and that is-how did the fight end? Roger closed his eyes and let his imagination run wild.He saw Stanworth holding a gun in his hand, being held tightly by his opponent, struggling back and forth.He saw the comer (he imagined it was a large, strong man) clamping Stanworth's wrist so he couldn't shoot himself.He gradually remembered that there were scratch marks on the wrist of the deceased, could it be that?He saw the intruder's other hand quickly draw his revolver from his pocket, and the next thing—

Roger slapped his thigh excitedly.Of course, then the mysterious man pointed his pistol at Stanworth's forehead and pulled the trigger! He leaned back in his chair and smoked furiously.Yes, if it was murder, then that must have been how it went.In any case, this reasoning can explain three puzzling circumstances: the location of the wound; the fact that Steinworthy's gun had been fired twice, but only an empty cartridge was seen in the chamber; and the way the dead man held the gun. normal.Of course, all this is just speculation, but this speculation seems quite convincing. But there are plenty of facts that contradict this reasoning, aren't there?The doors and windows were locked from inside, which seemed irrefutable evidence that Stanworth was alive when the midnight visitor left the study.Moreover, the suicide note with his autograph seems to point to the direction of suicide equally clearly.Can these two facts be explained so that the situation also makes sense?Even the best reasoning is certainly flimsy if it cannot be explained.

Roger temporarily put aside the time when the visitor left the study, and began to think about the succinct suicide note. Next, Roger spent a quarter of an hour thinking about it. Although the suicide note matter was not too difficult to solve, nor was it completely boring, if possible, he would like to leave the problem to some keen bystander to solve it.If you fill the pipe with shredded tobacco and keep smoking it, it means that you are thinking about the problem over and over again in your mind. If you sit there like a stone statue, the pipe is still in your mouth after it is turned off, and you don’t realize it. , then Roger is all accounted for, not only that, but his pipe is completely cooled, but he still smokes continuously, as if there is still burning tobacco in it, so what is it?Roger smoked his empty pipe like this for three full minutes, before he suddenly jumped up and rushed towards his study, which was called a happy hunting ground.

Twenty minutes later, the train left the station with Barbara, mother and daughter without looking back. Then, Alec returned to the study and found Roger.Alec looked obviously much more relaxed than in the morning, and it was not at all obvious that the young man had just said goodbye to the girl he loved, and it had been a whole month since he said goodbye.It is reasonable to assume that this half hour Alec was not in vain. "Still checking?" He stood at the door, grinning, "I knew you must be here." Roger was trembling with excitement.He was on his knees by the wastebasket, rummaging for something in it, when he heard the sound, stood up and waved a piece of paper at his partner's face.

"I've got my way!" he cried. "I've got my way, Alec, despite your sarcasm. Is there anybody around?" Alec shook his head. "Oh? Now what do you find?" he asked calmly. Roger grabbed his arm, pulled him to the desk, and impatiently pointed at the blotting paper. "See?" he asked. Alec leaned over to take a closer look at the blotter.Where Roger was pointing there were short lines, about an inch in length.The imprint at the left end of the line is shallow, with only pen marks on the surface of the paper, no ink at all, the ink in the middle is relatively light, while the ink at the right end is very eye-catching, with thick lines and firm writing.In addition, there are only a few round ink dots on the blotting paper. Apart from these marks, the whole blotting paper is still very clean. It has only been used for a day or two and has not been used much. "How?" Roger asked triumphantly, "Do you understand?" "Nothing special." Alec straightened up and admitted, "I think someone may be using blotting paper to absorb the nib of the pen." "If you think so," said Roger smugly, "I regret to tell you that you are quite mistaken." "Why? I don't think so." "Look again. Alec Watson, if he blotted the nib with blotting paper, the ink should go from left to right, not right to left, wouldn't it?" "Really? Maybe he's just moving the nib from right to left." "It's unnatural. Also, when you look at the little strokes, almost all of them end up with a slight curve to the right, which means, the lines are written from left to right. Guess again." "Well, well, the other way around," Alec said sarcastically. "He's not cleaning the nib, he's soiling it." "You mean, he's dipped in the ink and is testing the pen? Move to the side. But if you look again, pay special attention to the last stroke on the left. The tip of the pen splits from the middle, forming two parallel marks. See Did it come out? Well, let’s not talk about how wide the marks are. You can see that although the marks are deep, they are obviously not ordinary pen marks. What does all this mean? There is only one kind of pen that can leave such marks. Find out what pen it is, and you can figure out what these marks are." Alec thought about what he said. "Pen! He's trying to see if he can write with that pen." "Excellent! Alec, I knew you'd be a great use for this little game." "Well, I don't understand why you're making such a fuss, so what if it's a pen? I mean, it doesn't seem to help our investigation." "Oh, doesn't it help?" Roger is a person who is very good at keeping things secret and likes to be unexpected, which makes people a little annoying.He stopped on purpose. "What's going on?" Alec was impatient, "I know what kind of medicine you sell in your gourd. You must be eager to tell it like beans in a bamboo tube. Tell me, what are these beautiful pen marks?" " "It's very simple. The suicide note is a fake." Roger said cheerfully, "Okay, let's go for a walk in the garden." He turned around suddenly and walked quickly towards the sunny meadow.I have to admit that Roger is a very annoying person at times. Alec was completely irritated and completely understandable.He also walked out after Roger. "You still talk about Sherlock Holmes!" Alec chased after him, and growled, "You are just as annoying. If you really find something, why don't you tell me directly, what are you doing here?" "Alec, I told you," Roger pretended to be innocent, "the suicide note is fake." "why?" Roger reached out to take Alec's arm and led him towards the rose garden. "I want to hang around here," he explained, "in case the Inspector comes. We'll see. I don't want to miss a thing about opening the safe." "Why do you think the suicide note is fake?" Alec repeated stubbornly. "That's right, Alec." Roger said with satisfaction, "you are finally a little interested in my discovery. You know, so far, you can't be regarded as a qualified Watson at all. Every time I You should be ecstatic when announcing a new development. You don't look thrilled at all, Alec." A smile appeared on Alec's face: "It's enough for you to be excited alone, I think. Old Sherlock Holmes's thinking rhythm is much slower than yours. He will not jump to conclusions, and I doubt he is like you at all." Be complacent all day long." "Don't ask too much of me, Alec." Roger muttered under his breath. "I admit that you've done a good job so far," Alec went on frankly, "though much of what's been said and done has remained speculation. However, if I pander to you as you wish, and say you've done a good job How brilliant, you must have got Jefferson and Mrs Plant under arrest, and charged Mrs Steinworth with contempt of court or something." He paused to consider, and concluded solemnly, "Old man, You really need the brakes, not the gas pedal." "I'm sorry," Roger said humbly, "I'll remember that later. But since you won't compliment me, at least let me do. You're a pretty good brake." "Great Detective Sheringham, after you've finished your compliments, maybe you have to be merciful and tell me how you deduced from old Stanworth's pen that couldn't write well that the suicide note was forged." Roger's face straightened and became serious. "Well, this is really important. It proves the fact of the murder. Of course, my previous inferences were only guesses, and the suicide note reveals this fact." He fished a piece of paper from his pocket, the same one he had just waved in Alec's face in the study.He spread out the paper carefully and handed it to Alec.Alec browsed carefully, and found that there were many irregular creases on the paper, as if it had been crumpled on purpose, and the words "Victor Stein——" could be vaguely seen in the middle of the paper, and the place where the handwriting was interrupted It's a big blob of ink.The handwriting lines are thick.The right side of the paper is covered with ink stains.Other than that, nothing. "Hmph!" said Alec, handing the paper back to Roger, "well, so what?" "I think it couldn't be easier." Roger folded the paper, put it away carefully, and continued, "Stanworth has just absorbed the ink for the pen, or the pen is not full of water. You know, the pen What do people do when there is no water, draw on the paper at hand, and wait for the pen to come out of the water..." "Write your name!" Alec interrupted Roger, who was finally about to show his excitement. "Exactly! The handwriting on the blotting paper is a test pen. I want the fountain pen to bleed. When the pen bleeds, what will happen in nine out of ten cases? The ink flows too smoothly, and the nib bleeds too quickly. From this paper, it can be seen that, That was the case at the time. Stanworth is a pretty impatient guy, don't you think?" "Yes, I think so too. He's impatient." "Well, it's easy to guess what happened. He was trying to write a pen on blotting paper, and as soon as the pen came out, he took a piece of paper from the top of the letter pad on the table and wrote his name. By the way, Did you notice the letterhead? He flicked the pen a few times because the water was coming out too quickly, crumpled the paper up, threw it into the wastebasket, and then took another piece of paper. The pen lost a lot of ink before, This time, the writing was a bit weak at the beginning, and when the 'gram' of 'Victor' was written, the pen was out of water again, so I had to start a new line and make a final attempt. However, this time it was finally written, and he was as smooth as ever Signed. He picked up the paper, crumpled it lightly, not as hard as before, and threw it into the wastebasket again. How is it?" "It seems feasible, then?" "Oops, when the murderer was posing afterward, he thought he'd better take a peek in the wastebasket, and that's the first thing he saw. 'Aha!' he thought, 'I just needed this to wrap things up!' So, he carefully smoothed out the paper, put it into the typewriter, and typed the few words we saw above the signature. Could it be easier than this?" "My God, I can't believe it! So ingenious." Roger's eyes lit up: "Ingenious? Yes, but the reason is simple and clear. Oh, of course, the situation must be like this. If you think about it carefully, the evidence is very strong. For example, the contents of the suicide note are all in the upper half of the letter paper ...it's really unnatural, isn't it? The text should be in the middle, and the signature should be in the bottom half, about two-thirds of the way up the letter. Why isn't this suicide note like this? Because the signature is already in the middle, and the guy just Can type on top." "I think you're right," Alec said slowly. "Well, don't put it so forcefully. Of course I'm right! In fact, that's what I thought of right away when I saw the marks on the blotter. I've been trying to find out what the suicide note was about, but, It was of course obvious when I found the second letter in the wastebasket. By the way, it was a big mistake that the murderer didn't check the rest of the wastebasket." "Yes," said Alec gravely, "if the Inspector finds out about that, he might think of something, wouldn't he?" "Maybe, maybe not. Obviously, from the inspector's point of view, suicide is an obvious fact that cannot be doubted. Of course, apart from the fact that the motive for suicide is not clear, it's nothing after all. We also had occasional suspicions. He and We are different and have no suspicion at all." "Well, we're lucky." Alec said, perhaps also trying to put the brakes on Roger. "There's no doubt about it, but we're not all lucky," said Roger proudly. "Actually, I think we've done pretty well so far," he added frankly. "I don't see how It's better, don't you think?" "Yeah, I can see it," Alec said decisively. "However, if there is one more thing to do, it will be considered a great success." "Oh? What's the matter?" "Find the murderer," said Roger calmly.