Chapter 10 chapter Ten

Around noon on Friday, Mason's phone rang, and Derek said on the end, "Perry, I'm so scared." "What's going on?" Mason asked. "That fabricated identification. I'm afraid we're in a quagmire." "Listen carefully," Mason said. "What we did was in good faith, so we didn't have to lie to Gidon. Just tell him that his picture had been given to a crime witness to identify him. Of course, he would never know that the portrait was What we did. He'd think it was a composite picture drawn from an eyewitness description - not one we'd handed over to a witness. This guy is smart enough to know when he's on the witness stand After that, something will happen. His past record will be caught, and he will just walk away in silence. We will never hear from him again."

"You don't know the other half of the story yet!" Derek said. "Okay, what's this half of the story?" "You know Fulton, right? One of my operators." "Yes, I've seen him, like a very calm guy." "Come on," Derek said. "The North Pacific supermarket was robbed last night, and the gangsters stole about 7,000 yuan. There was a night patrolman who was persuading the gangsters. Obviously, he scared the gangsters." "Is there more than one criminal?" Mason asked. "Obviously, it's just one person alone."

"Okay, what happened?" "He shot the doorman and then escaped through the front door." "Is it serious?" Mason asked. "I mean the gatekeeper." "He's alive. His name is Stephen Hooker. The bullet was aimed at his heart to the right. Fortunately, his bulletproof vest bounced off, but it hurt his shoulder. He fell to the ground on the spot, but he was fine. .” "Okay," Mason said. "What did you get?" "Following your instructions, I asked Fulton to show Gidon's portrait to the gatekeeper and a witness named Zhu Coney. When the robbers tried to escape through the front door, Coney happened to see After the evening movie, he was passing by a nearby street. The robber pointed a gun at Coney and asked him to raise his hands. Coney thought it was a robbery, but the gangster just threatened him with a gun, and then crossed the street and fled into the alley Coney then tried to find a phone to call the police, but when the robbery happened, someone had heard the gunshots and called the police in advance. Soon, the police patrol car arrived at the scene, and Coney stopped the car, Describe the incident and the appearance of the gangster to the police. Since Kony saw the gangster's appearance clearly, his description to the police is very clear."

"Does it look like Gidon?" Mason asked. "The only similarities are a pair of eyes, a nose and a mouth." "That didn't stop us from showing him Gidon's portrait," Mason said. "We can fabricate the drawing as a story from a composite drawing by the police..." "Wait a minute, you haven't gotten the point yet," Derek said. "We have shown the portrait to Koni, and he just smiled and said that the robber looks nothing like this portrait. He described that the robber is older, with a larger body tonnage, and his eyes are completely different. Afterwards, Fulton rushed to the police station and showed the portrait to Hook. Fulton claimed that he did not give any hints, but only told Hook to read the portrait carefully to see if there was any similarity between the two. place."

"Okay," Mason said. "Then what conclusion do you draw?" "Hook said the portrait looked a lot like that fellow." "What!" Mason exclaimed. "While Hook couldn't be sure it was the guy because he only had one look at the guy before the shooting, he said the portrait looked a lot like that guy. There was a street light, and Hook saw the guy's face first. Back view, before drawing the gun, Hook committed the taboo of shouting loudly. In fact, he wanted to draw the gun and shout to stop at the same time, but the gangster also drew the gun, turned around and fired, hitting Hook's protection Then Hook was injured and fell to the ground. So he didn't have a good angle to see this person. On the other hand, when the gangster rushed out from the front, the witness Ko Ni happened to pass by there, only eight feet or so away from the gangster. Ten feet away, so there is a chance to see the gangster's face. Now, we are in a difficult situation to deal with the aftermath. The police learned from Hook that a private detective agency has a portrait that looks like a gangster. The police not only want This portrait, you also need to know the story behind it. I'm covering for Fulton right now, and I told the police that he's out on business. The police want to see Fulton as soon as he comes back. I'm afraid we'll have to pay a big price. "

Mason said: "This is a trouble that we didn't expect. How is Zhu Koni now?" "That's why I called you," Derek said. "He's here with me, and he wants to look at the portrait again. Although he doesn't think the gangster and the portrait are the same person, he wants to look at the portrait again because he has heard from the gatekeeper that they look very similar." "Is he in your office?" "yes." "Is the portrait there?" "I have a copy." "Bring the portrait and Koni over here, I want to talk to him," Mason said.

"That's exactly what I wanted to do," Derek said. "Hopefully you'll take over this. But sooner or later we'll have to turn over the portrait to the police, Paley." Mason said: "The boat will be straight when it reaches the bridge. I tend to hand over the portraits to them at that time. Let's talk to Coney first to see if there is any turning point." "I'll be right there," Derek said. Mason hung up the phone and turned to Della who had been monitoring the phone just now. "We're at an impasse now," he said. "That damned gatekeeper... Of course, in the course of witness testimony, this kind of thing happens occasionally. This is the most unacceptable type of evidence. When rumors come out one after another, there will often be such a number one person who will come forward to make ridiculous identifications out of goodwill."

Derek's signal knocked on the door, and Mason let them in. Derek turned to the people who came with him and said, "This is Zhu Koney, Mr. Mason." "How are you? Mr. Coney." Mason shook hands. Ko Ni is in his early forties, with a pair of gray and calm eyes, decisive and powerful lips, broad shoulders, and a protruding belly. "Hello, Mr. Mason, Su Yang's name, it's an honor to meet you." "Sit down, sit down," Mason said. "You're welcome. Paul, what's the matter?" Derek said: "Joo Coney was walking past the North Pacific Mart on his way home from an evening movie, and it was about a little after midnight. The door opened and a guy came out, and Coney saw him with a pistol. , so he raised his hands automatically. He thought he had a lot of cash on him, and he guessed that he was going to be robbed this time. But the man just pointed a gun at him and said: 'Hands up!' and stepped back to the road, When approaching the middle of the road, he turned around and fled into the alley. Coney felt that something was wrong, so he tried to push the door of the supermarket, but the door was automatically locked by the spring lock when it was closed. So Coney ran Go out into the street and try to find the nearest payphone—Kony, go ahead."

Coney patted his stomach and said, "I'm not running as fast as I used to. After running for a few blocks, I slowed down and tried to recall where the nearest phone was." "Are you familiar with that neighborhood?" Mason asked. "Very familiar, my place of work is not far from there." "what kind of job do you do?" "Motor repair." "Okay," Mason said. "What happened next?" "I was lucky, and then I saw the lights of the police car flashing, and the police car arrived quickly. I ran to the middle of the street, told them to stop, and I told them what happened, and they turned on the siren, cordoned off the area and searched. , but I guess they didn't find the culprit. The police then entered the supermarket and found the doorman on the ground. They quickly got him out and rushed him to the hospital. Now, the thing that bothers me is that the detective provided me with Of course, I must say that it is difficult to remember a person's face when you have a glimpse, especially when you are emotionally excited. But I have always been good at recognizing people, and I seldom forget people's faces, let alone I You can still clearly see the gangster."

"Have you seen that portrait?" Mason asked. "I've seen it." "Is it possible that you are the same person as the criminal?" "I don't think there is, but I don't want any criminals to get away with it," Coyne said. "After I talked to the gatekeeper, I decided to take a closer look at the portrait." "Well," Mason said. "This kind of thing happens occasionally, mistakes in identification, and..." "That's not the point," Coyne said. "I am a law-abiding citizen and I hate gangsters and robberies. I have been robbed and lost money. When the detective identified himself and asked me to see the portrait, I did it quickly and told him it could never be The same person I witnessed, I didn't think much about it, but I still proceeded cautiously and asked for his business card, in case any situation arises in the future, I can contact him again."

"Have the police asked you to describe the perpetrator in detail?" "Of course it is. I have spoken to the police for over two hours and they have given my description to the artist for sketching." "Then, that's all." Mason said. "No, that's not the case," Coney said. "After I knew the gatekeeper claimed that the portrait resembled the gangster, I wanted to look at it again. Because I hate letting the gangster slip away." Mason said, "Paul, do you have that portrait?" Derek said rather hesitantly, "Yes, I have one." "Let's see." Mason said. Mason spread out Gidon's portrait on the table. "Let's see," he said. Coney looked at the portrait carefully, and then said: "It's hard to say. What the gatekeeper said shook my mind, and I became uncertain, but now I know it's not the gangster. The gangster looks like He's older, more bulky, and he has the look of... that kind of sinister gangster. This portrait looks like an intellectual, and the guy running out of the door looks like an assassin." "Indeed," Mason said. "Past experience has shown that when people are in emotional distress, especially when the gangster has a gun? Witnesses tend to perceive the witness as taller and stronger than they actually are; often, they also judge their age as older than they really are." "Well, I shouldn't make such an obvious mistake," Ko Ni said. "It doesn't matter, I did this only to satisfy myself, and I can't care about other disturbing things. After I learned that the gatekeeper said that the portrait was very similar, I went to the detective's office and took a closer look. A portrait to see if I was wrong in judging." "Is it possible that you really made a mistake?" "I saw the gangster at close range, and I could see it very clearly. That portrait—it was definitely not the gangster's." "Is there a slight similarity between the two that confuses the goalie?" Mason asked. "Of course there is, otherwise the goalkeeper wouldn't mistake the portrait for the gangster," said Kony, gazing at the portrait again while covering the lower part of his face with his hand. "The mouth is nothing like that," he said. "The eyes aren't too far off the mark. The guy's mouth is like—I don't know what's wrong with it, maybe he has something in his mouth, but the top half of the picture is maybe...well, sort of like that The gangster... This is what bothers me. I have a feeling that this bird man has been familiar somewhere before, but..." He paused, then shook his head: "In any case, I can't identify this portrait as The gangster." "It doesn't matter," Mason told him. "We'll stop here for now, thank you for stopping by." "Who is this man? Where did you get this portrait?" Corny asked. "There are certain aspects of the crime that we're particularly interested in," Mason said. "It's the Derek Detective Agency, of course. In the course of the investigation -- he's had a lot of special events." Mason smiled and shook hands: "Nice to meet you, Mr. Coney." Koni reported back with a smile: "Well, if you don't want to say it, don't say it. Today's conversation is the most pointless conversation I have heard in a long time. Mr. Derek, thank you, you have my address. .Goodbye, everyone." Coney walked out. Derek wiped his forehead with his hand and said: "This is a real mess. The gatekeeper has told the police that we have portraits of the robbers." "Can you go to the gatekeeper and pour cold water on his identification?" "That's not an identification at all," Derek said. "The gatekeeper said that this portrait is so similar to the gangster, as if the portrait was presented in its original form." "Well, based on what Coney said, can you ask the gatekeeper to give us other supporting evidence?" "Maybe I can," Derek said. "But the timing is too sensitive and the police are questioning our intentions." "Then let the police worry about their own business," Mason said. "We mind our own business." "Suppose they call and want to see that portrait?" "Just show them." "Then they would ask how to get the portrait." "Just tell them it was painted by a painter." "They'll want to know which painter it is." "Just tell them to come to me." "That damn gatekeeper," Derek said emotionally. "He's really cornered us." Mason said: "Don't underestimate the fact that we are currently interested in it. It gives us a useful weapon. Let's hand over the portrait to the police. If the gatekeeper still insists that the portrait looks like a gangster, the police will post a notice and wait for the good luck. When Ton is disturbed by what he reads in the papers, he will leave the country as soon as possible." "Where's he going to get the money?" Derek asked. "Any way he can get the money is possible," Mason replied thoughtfully. "As for this, I have to think about it."