Chapter 23 Chapter XXIII Mrs. Plant Confids Her Heart

Although deliberations were slow to crawl in accordance with all required legal procedures, the entire coroner's investigation took less than an hour and a half in total.No one had the slightest doubt about the issues, and litigation was more or less routine.This is thanks to the coroner's inherent inquisitiveness and his satisfaction with the evidence presented.The extent of the investigation was essential, he wasted no time in probing motives, and only called as few witnesses as possible, Roger listened very carefully, yet no new evidence came to light. Mrs. Plant testified clearly and without fear.Mrs. Stanworth was as firm as ever, as calm as a statue.Jefferson, who was on the witness stand the longest, recounted his experiences at the time in customary, crude, blunt fashion.

"Just watch and listen, and you'll never think that all his testimony is bullshit. Right?" Roger whispered in Alec's ear. "Yes, I didn't think of it. Besides, I don't agree with your point of view." Alec retorted, covering his mouth with a hand, "I believe what he said is the truth." Roger's seat creaked softly. It wasn't until the few witnesses left that the jury called the butler Graves and Roger into court at the same time, with the purpose of corroborating Jefferson's account of breaking into the house.The former was also questioned about the suicide note that was found, Roger told about the locked windows, and Alec wasn't even summoned to appear in court.

Inevitably, the verdict in this case was "suicide by temporary insanity." Roger grabbed Alec's arm as they left the breakfast room. "I'm going to try to get Mrs. Plant right now, just before lunch," he whispered. "Do you want to come? Or don't you?" Alec hesitated for a moment, "You have to be clear, how do you plan?" he asked. "Blame her for hiding that she was blackmailed by Stanworth. Trick her into telling me the truth about the night before." "Then I won't be there." Alec said decisively, "The whole thing makes me very sick."

Roger nodded approvingly and said, "I have to say, I also think you'd better not be there. I'll tell you everything afterwards." "So, when shall we meet?" "After lunch. Before I talk to Jefferson, I want to chat with you." He quietly left Alec and stopped Mrs. Plant who was about to climb the stairs.At this moment, Jefferson and Mrs. Stanworth were chatting in a corner of the breakfast room. "Mrs. Plant," he said quietly, "may I have a few minutes of your time? I want to chat with you." Mrs. Plant shot him a wary look. "However, I was going to go upstairs to pack my bags," she refused.

"I'm talking about far more important things than luggage," Roger responded emphatically, looking into her downcast eyes unconsciously. Mrs. Plant laughed nervously. "My God, Mr. Sheringham, you are impressive. What on earth are you trying to tell me?" "Let's go to the garden, if you like, so we won't be overheard. I'll let you know when we get there." She hesitated for a moment, then glanced longingly up the stairs, as if trying to get rid of something strange and obnoxious.Then, with a slight shrug, she turned and walked into the hallway.

"Oh, well." She put on a brisk look, "if you really value it." Roger led her out of the gate, picked up two folding garden chairs as he crossed the hall, and he led the way to the disused corner of the rose garden that was not visible from the mansion, and placed his chair opposite the other. "Come and sit down, Mrs. Plant," he said gravely. If Roger's move was to create an atmosphere and intimidate the opponent, then he seemed to have succeeded.Mrs. Plant sat down and looked at him worriedly without saying a word. Roger sat down calmly and gazed at her for a while in silence.

"As far as I know, you didn't tell me the truth yesterday about your visit to the study that night, Mrs. Plant," he said slowly. Mrs. Plant shivered. "Honestly, Mr. Sheringham!" she exclaimed, as she stood up in embarrassment, "I don't understand at all what right you have to insult me ​​in such a crude way! This is your second time. Attempted to question me. Allow me to say that I found your conduct extremely presumptuous and reckless. I would be grateful if you refrained from your abhorrent and ill-bred behavior in the future." Roger gazed at her calmly.

"You did go to the study." He continued impressively, "because you are being blackmailed by Mr. Stanworth." Mrs. Plant seemed to be weak in her legs, unable to support her weight.She sat down suddenly, gripping the edge of the chair with both hands until her knuckles were as white as her face. "Listen, Mrs. Plant," said Roger quickly, leaning forward, "a very interesting thing has happened here, and I intend to find out. Believe me, I have no intention of hurting you. If something As I think, then I'm totally on your side. But I have to know the truth. In fact, I think I already know almost everything, but I want to hear it from you to confirm it. I want you to be clear Chu, tell me bluntly what happened in Stanworth's study the night before last."

"What if I refuse?" murmured Mrs. Plant's pale lips. Roger shrugged. "Then you do leave me with no choice but to tell the police what I know so far and let them take care of the rest." "Policemen?" "That's right. I assure you I'm not bluffing. As I said earlier, I think I know almost the whole truth. For example, I know you're sitting on the couch begging Mr. Stanworth to forgive you. Actually, after he When you say no, you cry. Next thing you say you've got nothing, don't you? He offers to take your jewellery. And then - oops, but you know, I'm not pretending not to."

Roger spotted the target and fired a casual bow.Mrs. Plant cried out in disbelief, admitting the truth of his inferences. "But how did you know, Mr. Sheringham? How did you find out?" "If you don't mind, let's put it aside for now," Roger said complacently. "It is enough that you know that I do know. I want you to tell me the truth of that night from your own mouth. Don't miss anything. You must Understand, if you hide something, I'll check right away. If you lie to me again—" He paused meaningfully. Mrs. Plant sat very still for a moment, staring at her knees.Then she looked up and wiped her eyes. "Well," she whispered, "I'll tell you. You see, I'm putting not only my happiness, but literally my whole future in your hands!"

"I do understand, Mrs. Plant," said Roger earnestly, "I assure you that, though I press the matter in this way, I will never abuse your secret." Mrs. Plant stared at the rose which was close at hand. "You know Mr. Stanworth is a blackmailer?" she said. Roger nodded and said, "He even blackmailed on a very large scale." "Is that really the case? I don't know, but I'm not surprised at all." She said in a low voice, "He didn't know how to find out that before I got married, I...I..." "Mrs. Plant, there is no need to go into details at all." Roger quickly interjected, "What I am concerned about is that he has been blackmailing you, and I don't want to know the reason." Mrs. Plant gave him a grateful glance. "Thank you," she said softly, "well, I'll just say it's about the incident that happened when I was never married. I kept it from my husband (it was all over before I met him) because I knew It would break his heart. Also, we are committed to each other in love," she added briefly. "I understand," whispered Roger sympathetically. "Then, the devil found out. He was a devil, Mr. Sheringham." Mrs. Plant stared at Roger with wide eyes, traces of fear still lingering in her eyes. "I can't imagine someone being so inhuman. It's almost like Hell!" She trembled involuntarily. "Of course, he asked me for money." After a minute, her voice calmed down a little, "I paid him every penny I could. You have to understand that I would rather face any sacrifice than Husband learned the truth. That night, I told him that I was broke. I lied when I told you the time I went to the study. He stopped me in the corridor and told me to be in the study at 12:30 and He met. The others were asleep at that hour, you know. Mr. Stanworth always keeps these meetings as secretive as possible." "Then you went at 12:30?" Roger reminded sympathetically. "Yes, with my jewellery. I told him I was out of money, and he wasn't angry. He was never angry, just grinning grinningly. He said that period Accept the jewellery, but I must bring the money he asks for - £250 - within three months." "However, if you have no money, how do you pay?" Mrs. Plant was silent.Next, she gazed absently at the bed of roses, as if recalling again the tragic interview of that night.She said in a peculiar hoarse voice: "He said that a beautiful woman like me could always get money if necessary. He said he could introduce me to men if I could play the physical card properly." , can get money from him. He also said that if I am not ready to pay him 250 pounds within three months, he will show my card to my husband." "God!" Roger whispered horribly. Mrs. Plant suddenly looked him in the face. "If you didn't know what Mr. Stanworth was like before, it shows what kind of man he is," she whispered. "I really don't understand. Now I understand," Roger muttered to himself. "I guess, then, Jefferson came in from the outside." "Major Jefferson coming in?" repeated Mrs. Plant, with obvious surprise. "That's right. Jefferson came in at that moment, didn't he?" Mrs. Plant stared at him in surprise. "But Major Jefferson never came!" she cried. "What makes you think so?" Now it was Roger's turn to be surprised. "Should I understand that Jefferson never came in when you were in the study with Mr. Stanworth?" he asked. "My God, no," replied Mrs. Plant flatly. "I hope he's not there. I don't want to be seen. What did he come in for? Why did he ever come?" "I... I really don't know," said Roger timidly. "I thought he had been. I must have been mistaken." Although her denial was unexpected, he was sure Mrs. Plant meant the truth.Her astonishment was too real to be faked. "Well, what happened next?" "Nothing else happened. I... I begged him not to be so callous, to be content with the money I paid before, to give me back the evidence I had, but..." "By the way, where did he keep the evidence? The safe?" "Yes. He always carries a safe with him. It must be a safe against theft." "Was the safe open in your presence?" "Before I went, he opened the safe and put the jewelry in." "Afterwards, was the safe opened or re-locked?" "He locked it before I left." "I see. When was that?" "Oh, it was 1:00, so to speak. I didn't pay much attention to the time. I was so depressed." "Of course. Didn't anything important happen between him...his ultimatum and you going downstairs?" "No. He wouldn't give an inch, and finally I stopped trying to persuade him and went upstairs to bed. That's it." "No one else came at all? No sign of anyone else?" "Yes, no one." "Hmm!" said Roger thoughtfully.This is so frustrating.In a way, though, it is impossible to doubt Mrs. Plant's account.Moreover, Jefferson may have entered the study later, perhaps he heard everything that happened in the study from outside the door.However much Mrs. Plant was agitated, she did not take part in the murder herself. He decided to test her further. "Mrs. Plant, in view of what you have just told me," he said rather casually, "it seems very strange that Mr. Steinworthy should have taken his own life, doesn't it? Can you explain why?" "No, of course I can't. To me there's no explanation at all. But I'm grateful, Mr. Sheringham! It's no wonder, then, that I fainted when you told us after breakfast. I suddenly felt It was like being released from prison. Ugh, the feeling of being at the mercy of that man was horrible! It was so bad! You can't imagine, or you can't imagine, how much relief I felt when I heard of his death easy!" "I can, Mrs. Plant," said Roger sympathetically. "In fact, I'm surprised that no one ended his life early enough to keep him alive today." "Just imagine how no one could have tried to kill him?" retorted Mrs. Plant passionately. "I have. Hundreds of times! But what's the use of that? You know he deals with us victims, at least How did I do it? He put the evidence against me in a sealed envelope. The addressee was my husband. He knew that if he died, the police would open the safe. You know, In that case, the police would have taken that letter, and probably many others like it, and they would have forwarded it to the recipient. Just imagine the consequences! Naturally, no one dared to kill him, and that would only make things worse He used to reveal it to me with glee. Also, when he opened the safe, he always had a loaded revolver in his hand, at least in front of me. I can say for sure that you have no chance of killing him. Oh, Mr. Sheringham, that man is a devil! Whatever the cause of his suicide, I cannot conceive of it. But believe me, I shall thank God on my knees for it every night as long as I live." She sat there, biting her lip, panting, so nervous that she couldn't help it. "However, if you know that there is evidence in the safe, why were you not afraid at all before the inspector opened it?" Roger asked in surprise, "I remember seeing you at the time, and you were not panicked at all." .” "Oh, you know, I had the letter by then," explained Mrs Plante with ease. "Of course, I was terrified! Then it seemed almost unbelievable. Listen! It's lunch." Is the bell ringing? We'd better go in, shall we? I think I've told you all you need to know." She stood up, turned and walked towards the mansion, Roger keeping pace with her. "A letter?" he asked eagerly. "What letter?" Mrs. Plant shot him a surprised look. "Oh, don't you know? I thought you must have. You look like you know everything. Yes, I got a letter from Stamford He said in the letter that due to some personal reasons, he decided to kill himself. Before committing suicide, he wanted to tell me not to worry about anything, because he had burned all the evidence against me. Can you imagine How gratifying it was to have me!" "My God!" exclaimed Roger unconsciously, "like a blow to me from the side!" "What did you say, Mr. Sheringham?" asked Mrs. Plant in surprise. Roger was distraught, and his answers were incoherent, which baffled her.