Chapter 4 third chapter

Melton Iliad's luxury villa is across the lake from Harlow Bancroft's house, but it is further south. Mason and Della were sitting on the shaded porch, Mason watching through binoculars. In this non-holiday afternoon, there are not many tourists on the lake. Occasionally, you will see a speedboat pulling an elegant water skier behind it, drawing small water waves or a beautiful long S shape when passing by.A gentle north wind blew up ripples that made the water shimmer. Iliad had told the housekeeper on the phone to entertain the guests well, and now he served them drinks and waited by the side for orders.

Della stared at the south and said, "I don't know if that is Derek's ship?" Mason adjusted the binoculars, a slow smile appeared on his face.He handed the binoculars to Della. "Let's take a look." "My God!" Della exclaimed, returned the telescope to Mason, and added lightly: "I think you will be more interested in watching it than I am." Mason stared at the slow-moving speedboat and the three girls in bikinis on board. "Looks like Derek was driving the boat," Mason said. "I can't see clearly with sunglasses on."

"It's great, not only the travel expenses are free, but also the salary." Della said. "No," said Mason. "Looks like I made the wrong choice." Derek's boat made a sharp turn across the lake, passed Iliad's house, and turned sharply back again. The girls in bikinis screamed, and two of them grabbed Derek for fear of falling. "He's smiling so smugly!" said Della. "I couldn't see his face at all," Mason said. "There are too many girls up there." Derek suddenly slowed down. One of the girls took out a wakeboard, and Derek stopped the boat. The girl slowly entered the water, and when she stabilized, she gestured to Derek.

Derek picked up the speed of the boat, and the girl stood gracefully on the wakeboard, making a series of turning movements, weaving back and forth between the waves of the stern. "Don't just look at Paul and forget to pay attention to Bancroft's house," Della reminded him. "It looks like there's a ship coming out of there." Mason turned the binoculars that way. "Really," he said. "There was only one person on board and I thought she was going to wakeboard." “The law says when one person is water skiing, there are two people on board,” Della said. "One who drives the boat, and one who watches the water-skis. Maybe Roseanne wants to handle this on her own."

Mason looked around the lake and said thoughtfully, "There's a boat out there fishing. There's a few boats near the southern end, but there's no one around Bancro's boat." "Can you tell she's carrying a coffee can?" Della asked. Mason shook his head. Derek's boat sped up and circled a few times. "Yes!" said Mason. "She seems to have dropped something. It looks like red... The waves of the boat and the wind and waves make it impossible to see clearly." Then Derek's boat suddenly picked up speed. "Derek obviously saw it too," Mason said.

Derek's boat was fast approaching the Bancrofts' boat, with the girls on the water skis following straight behind. "Okay," Mason said. "He's almost seeing the red coffee can - oops, something went wrong!" The water skiing girl obviously misjudged the size of the wave, turned somersault while turning her arms, and fell into the water. "Damn it!" Mason said. Mason watched through the binoculars as the boat turned back, the girl grabbed the rope that Derek had thrown her, and the boat slowly turned back to its original direction.The girl waved her hand, Derek accelerated again, and the girl stood up again.

Derek took a few turns. "The boat that was fishing just now seems to have dropped anchor," Della said. "Not bad," Mason said. "It's headed for the stern of the Bancroft's boat... No, he made a big circle. Derek was ahead of him, and the water skier nearly splashed water in his face. The fisherman must have Crazy." "It might not be anglers, but desperadoes," Della said. Derek's boat circled a few more times.The water-skiing girl gestured and the boat slowed.The girl jumped into the water, swam gracefully back to the boat, and another girl went into the water.

The second girl's water skiing skills were not as good as the first one, and she went back to the boat after skating for about five minutes. Derek hauled the water skis onto the boat, and the boat made a long loop and headed for the public lake. The boat that had been fishing slowly followed, but soon turned around and sailed to a shady lake, and began fishing again.The Bancroft's boat had gone home. The wind seems to be fresher, but there are fewer tourists on the lake. Mason scoured the lake with binoculars. "See the red jar?" Della asked. Mason shook his head. "I seem to see something red flashing by on the waves, but I can't see anything now. Derek is back. He must have completed the task, but I don't know if he got it."

"I bet he hated being parted from all the beauties," Della said. "It's the kind of entertainment that suits him best." "He'll call and tell me what's going on," Mason said. The butler brought over two more drinks. At this time, the surface of the lake suddenly became calm, and the shore of the lake seemed to be asleep in a midday dream. The butler, obviously trying to hide his curiosity, kept asking if they wanted any more services. "No thanks," Mason said. "We're almost done sitting." "May I ask if you want to come in? It's more comfortable to have air-conditioning inside."

"No thanks," Mason said. "We'll just sit here." "But the side facing the lake is very hot in the afternoon, and the other side is cooler." "No thanks," Mason said. "We're very comfortable here." "Okay, sir." The butler finally stepped back. About twenty minutes later, the phone rang. "Sir, I'm looking for you." The butler said to Mason. Mason picked up the phone. Derek's voice came from the other end. "Perry?" "yes." "It's here." "any questions?"

"No." "Did anyone see you?" "Probably not. The girl on the water skiing is very skilled. She fell into the water at the most appropriate time and took the opportunity to drop her bag." "Where did she keep the jar?" Mason asked. "A place you wouldn't expect." "Stop kidding," Mason said. "I'm afraid of being found out." "In a dummy on the water ski line," Derek said. "That was put on purposely." "What's in the jar?" Mason asked. "Extortion letter, fifteen hundred dollars, and ten silver coins." "Very well," Mason said. "Wait for me there and don't do anything until I get there." Mason hung up the phone and nodded to Della.The two thanked the housekeeper, left the villa, and immediately rushed to the small pier in the open area at the southern end of the lake. Derek meets them there. Mason said, "Paul, your job now is easy." "Say it," Derek said. "what should I do?" "Did you find a little star?" "Of course, it's a beautiful baby!" "Does she want to be famous?" "As long as she can be famous, she is willing to do anything. What this kind of starlet needs most is to be in the limelight." "Okay," Mason said, taking out a portable typewriter from the compartment and putting it on his lap. "Paul, get out the jar and have a look." Derek took out the coffee can.At the bottom are silver coins and 1,500 yuan bills, and the blackmail letter is on top.Mason picked up the letter, loaded the typewriter, corrected the number fifteen hundred and retyped it three thousand. Then Mason took fifteen hundred in ten- and twenty-dollar bills from the suitcase, put them in the coffee can, put the note back, and handed the can to Derek. "Did you use a pseudonym when you chartered the boat?" "I'm more thoughtful," Derek said. "The boat wasn't rented here, I borrowed it from a friend and trailered it in. We only paid a dollar to use the launch pad. I've got the boat up and we're ready to go." "Very well," Mason said. "Give this to the starlet, tell her to go to the lifeguard, say she saw this coffee can while water skiing, thought it was dangerous, picked it up, she opened it and found money in it And a note. If the lifeguard didn't go to the police, the starlet must go to the police—by the way, what's her name?" "Eva Amory." "Is she reliable?" "As long as it helps her make a name for herself, absolutely fine," Derek said. "She just wants to be famous. Also, she drives her own car and doesn't come with us." "Well," Mason said. "Now she can show off." "Of course," Derek said. "The newspapers will definitely think it's a publicity stunt." "Tell her to do what I say," said Mason. "That money is enough to prove that she didn't lie." "What does she do with the money?" Derek asked. "Give it to the police," Mason said. "all?" "all." "It's a pity," Derek said. "That girl..." "It works because she's poor," Mason interrupted. "She obviously lived in a difficult situation, but she still handed over 3,000 yuan to the police, saying that it was not a gimmick. It is impossible for a poor actor to spend 3,000 yuan just to report." "Okay," Derek said. "You just know what you're doing." "You're going to teach her a rhetoric," Mason said. "When she gets dressed and goes to the lifeguard, she can follow suit. She doesn't know the last names of the people on the boat with her. She came to play with a friend, but the friend did not want to be named. The girls on the boat were all trying to get into show business, they wanted to learn to wakeboard, and she was teaching them." "I see," Derek said. "To create the impression that she's hanging out with a rich dad." "Is she willing to do that?" Mason asked. "She'll do anything as long as her bikini pics get published." "I'm certainly not an expert," Mason said. "But I guess the reporter will ask her to pose as if she found the coffee tin." "can you?" "I think so," Mason said. "By the way, what happened to the fake coffee can she dropped?" Derek shook his head. "I have no idea." "There was a guy fishing in a boat, and as soon as the Bancrofts' boat showed up, the guy started almost immediately," Mason said. "I know that," Derek said. "But I bet he never got the coffee can." "Where did the coffee can go?" "It's gone." "what?" "It's gone," Derek repeated. "It was originally floating on the water. I saw it with the naked eye and through a telescope, but when I put away the water skiing equipment and looked again, I disappeared." "Has any boat approached the coffee can?" "No, it's gone anyway." "Did it sink?" Mason asked. "possible." "Did you not close the lid tightly?" "Paley, I'm afraid that's where the problem lies. We may have been negligent. The time for the exchange was really short. The time and place for the girl to fall into the water can be said to be just right. She grabbed the coffee can and put the rope in immediately. Then she took out the fake coffee can. Now all I can think of is that we must have hit the wakeboard when we dropped the fake coffee can and the water went in and it sank later.” "It's bad," Mason said. "I know," Derek said. "I'm sorry, some facts are getting out of hand." "Are there no other boats in between trying to cut into or approach the coffee cans?" Derek shook his head. "No, there's some boats on the other side, a few guys jet skiing, and the fishing guy, nothing else." Mason said: "I can't figure it out, unless the criminals see that you are a detective, so they dare not act." "I don't think so," Derek said. "I'm wearing sunglasses and a hat, and I'm squatting low." "But there were a lot of girls around," Mason said. Derek smiled and said, "It would be the same if it were you." Mason laughed too. "Forget it, you take the boat away, tell Xiaoxing to get dressed and go to the lifeguard—do you think she has transportation?" "Yes, I asked her to drive to the parking lot to meet us. The car is paid for in installments, and there are twenty-three installments." "Okay," Mason said. "I want the names of all the owners of the boats that were chartered at the little pier this afternoon. Have you sent someone to find out the license plate number of the boat that was towed by the private limousine?" "Yes," Derek said. "I got a guy to look up the license plate numbers of the car, the trailer and the boat." "Very well," Mason said. "Tell him to leave quickly, so as not to be discovered by the police." "Is this whole pot of money going to be handed over to the police?" "Not a dime less," Mason said. "Maybe someone will reward Eva Amory," Derek said. "I'm going to tell her about the possibility." "You just tell her to get her bikini ready," Mason said.