Chapter 27 Chapter 27: Sheringham Discovers the Truth

The car to the train station stopped at the gate of the manor, and the other people at the party began to say goodbye to each other. Until then, Roger didn't show up again.Naturally he said goodbye hastily, but probably on purpose.Roger didn't want to stay by Mrs. Jefferson's side any longer. He and her husband shook hands enthusiastically. Although neither of them spoke, the gesture of shaking hands seemed to imply that Jefferson's privacy would not be violated, which made the silent Jefferson respond gratefully. After arriving at the station, Roger bought all the tickets, and then sent Mrs. Plant into the non-smoking compartment quickly, explaining that he and Alec would smoke along the way, and the smell of smoke would spoil the taste of jasmine perfume.He also had a simple and interesting communication with the conductor on the train, and sent a few silver coins to ensure that their first-class compartments were locked.

Roger put on the usual stupid state, which made people crazy to watch. "Investigate what?" He asked expressionlessly. "Of course it's the Stanworth thing, you idiot!" Alec roared. "Ah, yes, of course, the Stanworth thing." Roger replied innocently. "Did I do well just now, Alec?" He suddenly changed his tone and asked. "What's doing well?" "When I say 'investigate what', it sounds innocent, doesn't it? You know, that's what top detectives do. They act like they've completely forgotten about the case before they're ready to solve the mystery. Why do they do that? Do, I can't figure it out, but it's clearly in line with the rules. By the way, Alec," he added kindly, "you've played the part very well. The detective's dumb friends often like to be so inexplicably angry like you, sir. Shout out. I think we'd be a great team, don't you?"

"You stop and tell me directly, have you made any progress on the Steinworth murder case?" Alec asked stubbornly. "Oh, that?" Roger put on an air of indifference. "I got it all over forty-three minutes ago." "what?" "I mean, forty-three minutes ago I completely solved the mystery. Of course, forty-three minutes and a few seconds ago. It's a rather interesting little puzzle in its character, my dear Asia. Rick Watson, but once the key factor in the case is grasped, it is actually surprisingly simple. Due to some special reasons, I seem to have ignored this key factor, so I procrastinated until now. However, when you put this case into writing , don’t write about this matter, otherwise I will have no chance to defeat my competitors, find the lost royal power, and become a great emperor.”

"You found the murderer, didn't you?" Alec roared suspiciously, "I seem to have heard you say something similar before." "You mean Jefferson? Yes, I admit I was totally wrong. But this time it's different. This time I actually cracked the case." "Oh, well, let's hear it." "I'd be more than happy to tell," said Roger sincerely. "Let me see. Where do I start? Well, I've managed to get some very important things out of Mrs. Plant and Jefferson, and I remember both I told you, didn't I? Except for one thing." Roger suddenly straightened his face, and put away his joking demeanor.

"Alec," he said gravely, "I've never heard of a bastard like Stanworth. One thing I didn't tell you, he gave Mrs. Plant three months before that Had to give him £250, and hinted that if he couldn't, it wouldn't be hard for a pretty woman like her to get so much money." "God!" Alec whispered. "What's more, he actually said that he could introduce a rich man to her, and as long as she did what he said, she would be able to cheat her of the money. Oh, I tell you, shoot and kill Steinward This guy is giving him money. Whoever the murderer is should be honored as a model citizen and the country should be thanking him instead of hanging him. If this is in the hands of the police, he will be hanged for sure die."

"Nevertheless, you can hardly expect the law to recognize such ideal rewards and punishments!" Alec objected. "I don't see why not," Roger retorted, "but let's leave that aside for now. Well, in my opinion, there are two main obstacles to deciphering the Stanworth affair. First, it seems at first that There was no motive for his murder, and later, when we learned about him, there were too many motives. All the people in the mansion, including Mrs. Plant, Jefferson, Mrs. Steinworth and the housekeeper, these people Everyone has a motive for committing the crime, so the investigation process of the case has changed from finding out who is the murderer to excluding who is not. By the way, the butler seems to be a murderer himself. Watts, so the latter used this to threaten him. I used this method to exclude Mrs. Plant, Jefferson, and Mrs. Steinworthy in turn. However, there are other victims besides the few who currently live in the mansion. victims—God knows how many! Of the other victims, we know nothing at all.”

"So he still has many victims?" "I believe Stanworth's operations are quite extensive," said Roger sarcastically. "I narrowed the scope of the investigation somewhat, however. I then began to scrutinize the evidence I had gathered once more. There was a The question I keep asking myself - is there any evidence that points to someone, male or female?" "Female?" Alec repeated in surprise. "Of course, despite all the evidence - such as the large footprints in the flowerbed - the possibility of a woman being involved cannot be ruled out. It seems unlikely, but I can't ignore even the slightest possibility. Fortunately I did, and it turned out to be That glimmer of possibility led me in the right direction."

"My God!" "Yes, I admit that I was too slow to comprehend, because the facts were always in front of me, but I didn't realize it. You know, the key to the whole mystery is that there was a second woman in the study that night." "How on earth do you know this?" Alec said in astonishment. "We found the hair on the couch, and I put it in the envelope, remember? It was quickly forgotten and I thought it was Mrs. Plant's hair. I was in the garden just now and suddenly Come to think of it, that's not the case at all, she had rather dark hair. Of course, this discovery opened up a whole new dimension of reasoning for me."

"Oh, God!" "Yes, quite astonishing, isn't it?" Roger went on calmly. "Needless to say, I was working my brains very fast. Five minutes later the whole thing was all too obvious to me. Of course, Some details are not clear to me, but the general framework is clear." "You said you guessed who the second lady was?" "Almost no guesswork, I knew right away who it was." "Who?" Alec asked impatiently, without trying to hide it. "Wait a little longer, and I'll talk about it right away. Then, I deduced based on factual materials, and I have already guessed the image of the man who killed Steinworthy."

"Oh, so the murderer is a man?" "Of course, it's a man. I've never doubted that the actual perpetrator must be a man. There must have been a scuffle between the two sides at the time. The woman is not strong enough to handle it! Stanworth is not weak, this It also shows that the murderer must be a strong and strong guy. From the size of the footprints on the flowerbed and the distance between the footprints, it can be seen that the murderer is obviously tall and strong. From all the layout of the murder scene, he is very cunning. And he He knew how to work with the lattice windows from the fact that the windows were locked when he left. Well, what does all this mean? It's obvious to me."

Alec stared at him intently and listened to every word. "I think I understand what you mean," he said slowly. "I guess you understand," said Roger cheerfully. "Of course, other facts confirm this, for example, the disappearance of footprints. It must have been deliberately erased by someone. As I said, I To compare these footprints with the shoes of every male in the mansion, remember? This man has heard that too. Of course, it made me sure from the start that the murderer was Jefferson. Because I jumped to the conclusion that The figure leaving the study was him. After that, I always thought Jefferson was the murderer." "I'll try my best to make you dispel this guess." Alec forced a smile. "Oh, that's right. I insisted that it was him, and I can't blame you." "I was trying to get you to correct this mistake, remember?" "I know. I dare say, fortunately, you persuaded me. If you hadn't warned me repeatedly, maybe I would have questioned him more directly, causing extremely embarrassing consequences." "Okay." Alec said slowly, "Now that you may have figured out the truth of the matter, what are you going to do?" "What to do? Forget about it, of course. I just told you my opinion. The man who killed Steinworth should be praised as a model citizen. Unfortunately, that can't be done, so the best thing to do is try to Forget as much as possible that Steinworthy did not commit suicide, and believe, as everyone else does, that he died by suicide." "Hmm!" Alec stared out the window, "I want to know! Are you really sure?" "Absolutely," said Roger decisively. "In the circumstances, any other inference would seem absurd. Don't discuss the matter any further." The two were silent for a moment. "The... second lady," Alec said tentatively, "how can you be so sure she's right?" Roger took out the envelope from his breast pocket, opened it, carefully removed the hair from it, put it on his lap, and meditated silently for a moment.Suddenly, he picked up the hair and threw it out the open window. "The key physical evidence is destroyed here." He said with a smile, "Let me tell you, in Leiden Court, who else has such a special hair color?" "I don't think so," Alec replied. This time, the two were silent for a longer period of time. Then, Roger glanced at his companion curiously, and said lightly: "Please satisfy my natural curiosity, Alec, why did you kill Stanworth?"