Chapter 21 Chapter 19 Full Hunt

The walk back to the Leeds was strange, the weather had turned cold, and Mr Wren, wrapped in his heavy coat, had a feverish fire in his eyes.I could feel his willpower pushing the wheels of the car, and he said nothing, only occasionally looking up, telling Dromeo to drive faster. However, after all, human beings cannot resist the physiological needs of eating and sleeping, and we are forced to stop for the night.The road was resumed the next day, and we finally arrived in Leeds near noon. There seemed to be an unexpected commotion on the street. The newsboys held up the newspapers and yelled loudly. There were eye-catching headlines on the front page. I suddenly heard a few words from a newspaper vendor: Fanny Cather!

"Stop!" I yelled at Dromeo. "Something has happened." Before my father and Mr. Wren could react, I jumped out of the car, threw a penny at the newsboy, and grabbed a newspaper. "I've found it!" I screamed, climbing back into the car quickly, "Look!" The report in the Leeds Observer daily said that Fanny Cather "has been in disrepute for many years and has been arrested on the order of District Attorney John Hume and will be charged with..." A long list of offenses follows : Human trafficking, drug trafficking, and other evil deeds.According to the reports, Hume appears to have made good use of the documents that had been found in the Dessit house during the investigation of the first murder.Several of Fanny Cather's "strongholds" were raided, private bribery was revealed, the most vicious rumors of every kind were circulated, and it was evident that many of Leeds' respectable social figures, business leaders, Politicians are directly involved.

Kaiser's bail is 25,000 yuan. We noticed that she was released on bail very quickly, and she was released at liberty, waiting to be charged. "This is great news," said Mr. Wren thoughtfully. "Blessing, Inspector, I can't say how lucky, and now our friend Fanny Cather is in a terrible state, perhaps..." He did not seem to be Concerned about the woman being arrested and prosecuted and ruined, "This kind of person will definitely try his best to get rid of the crime...Dromeo, drive the car to the Hume prosecutor's office!" Hume, sitting at his desk, smoking a cigar at ease, greeted us with great pleasure.Where is that woman now?bailed.Where is her headquarters?He laughed and gave us an address.

We got there—a large house in the middle of town, apparently raided by the police, extravagant, opulent, resplendent, and adorned with a mass of impassioned nudes of dubious artistic value.She wasn't there, she hasn't been back since she got out on bail. We frantically searched everywhere, and once again panicked.Three hours later, we looked at each other in silence and despair: the woman was gone, she was nowhere to be found. Could she have jumped bail and left the state—perhaps out of the country?Considering the major crimes she will face, this is very possible.We watched with annoyance as the old gentleman informed John Hume and the police as coldly and neatly as a lawn mower. The police issued a wanted warrant and searched all the places where Fanny Kaiser frequented. The plainclothes criminals searched for her whereabouts. , the train station was also monitored, and Europol in New York City was notified.But all in vain, the woman disappeared.

"Damn it," murmured John Hume, as he sat exhaustedly in his private office waiting for the return, "we're scheduled to prosecute her in three weeks, which is two weeks after next Thursday." We lamented in unison that even if Governor Bruno postponed the execution, Fanny Cather would not appear until a day after Aaron Deo's execution—if she would. The days that followed seemed like years to us, a week passed, and Friday... we still did not give up our search.Mr. Lane is really energetic. Through the cooperation of the police, he arranged the local radio stations, calling and appealing non-stop through the radio.Everyone associated with her is under surveillance, and her staff - including women, lawyers, minions, and gang members of the Ritz gangland - are gathered at her headquarters for questioning.

Saturday, Sunday, Sunday—... and on Monday we learned from Father Muir and from the papers that Warden Magnus had officially announced that his execution would be at 11:05 on Wednesday evening. Tuesday... Fanny Kaiser was still missing, telegrams had been sent to all the European ships, but no female passengers like Kaiser were on board. Wednesday morning... We seem to be living in a dream, we don't want to eat, we only talk a few words.Father Muir hadn't changed his clothes in forty-eight hours, and Mr. Wren's cheeks were cadaverous, and his eyes were burning sullenly.In desperation, we tried to go to Algonquin Prison to have a talk with Deo, but were denied permission because it violated the strict rules of the prison.We did hear a little bit about him, though: Deo was strangely calm, almost apathetic, he stopped cursing us, in fact he seemed to forget we existed.As the execution time approached, we stepped into his cell with distorted steps, and what he would suffer became more and more clear in our hearts; however, Father Muir, with tears in his eyes, smiled and told us that "he kept his faith."Poor priest!It wasn't spiritual beliefs that Alan Dow held fast to, I'm pretty sure, but more earthly hopes.My intuition told me that somehow Mr. Lane had brought him the words that he would not die that night.

Wednesday, a day of terror and wonder.We barely moved at breakfast.Father Muir had already gone out, dragging his old steps to the death cell in the prison courtyard.Then he rushed back without stopping to rest in the bedroom upstairs.When he reappeared with prayer book in hand, he seemed much calmer. Naturally, we all gathered at Father Muir's that day.I vaguely remember that Jeremy seemed to be there too, with a humble expression on his young face, walking around outside the gate with heavy steps, smoking desperately.When I went out to find him once, he told me that his father had done something terrible and that the warden had invited Elihu Clay to be a witness to the execution, and—Jeremy said bitterly—he had accepted up.I couldn't think of what to say... So a morning passed, and Mr. Wren's face was tense and wrinkled. He hadn't slept for two nights, and the lingering boredom was carved deep of grooves.

For some reason, the whole thing felt as if the family members were gathered outside the dying patient's ward, no one was talking nonsense, and when anyone spoke, they kept their voices down. Occasionally someone would step out and stand on the porch, looking wordlessly at the gray prison walls.I asked myself why we all took the death of this poor man so seriously to us, when he meant nothing to us even personally.But in a way, he fascinates us—he may be symbolizing some kind of abstraction. Just before eleven o'clock in the morning, Mr Wren received a final report from the Prosecutor's Office by a courier from Leeds.All efforts were in vain, and Fanny Cather could not be found, nor was there any trace or whereabouts of her.

The old gentleman straightened his shoulders: "There is only one way to go," he said in a low voice, "and that is to remind Bruno to fulfill his promise to postpone the execution until we find Fanny Cather—" The doorbell rang, and from our surprised looks, he immediately sensed that something was up.Father Muir rushed to the door, and the next moment we heard his sobs of joy. We stared blankly at the door of the living room, at the figure standing against it. It was Fanny Cather who seemed to be resurrected from the dead.