Chapter 29 behind the scenes

Mr. Jerry Lane was lying prone on the grass at the edge of the pond, feeding his black swan breadcrumbs, when old Quisy appeared in the passage, followed by Inspector Sam and Inspector Bruno. Both looked a little shy and withdrawn.Kuisy touched Ren on the shoulder, and Ren turned his head, and he jumped up immediately, with infinite surprise on his face. "Inspector! Monsieur Bruno!" he cried. "Nice to meet you," murmured Sam, hesitating forward like a schoolboy. "Bruno and I came to visit you." "Uh-ah-yes," Bruno said. They stood there bewildered.

Ryan looked at them shrewdly. "Sit on the grass with me," he said at last.In shorts and a jumper, his strong brown legs covered with green grass, he sat cross-legged like an Indian. Bruno took off his coat, unbuttoned his collar, let out a satisfied sigh, and then sat down. The inspector hesitated at first, and then sat down with a bang like the wind and thunder of Mount Olympus.They were silent for a long time.Ryan stared intently at the pond, and the wonderful long neck of the black swan that came to grab a crumb from the water. "Uh," Sam finally said, "It's really... Hey!" He reached out and patted Ryan's arm, and Ryan turned to look at him, "I'm talking, Mr. Ryan!"

"Yes," Ren murmured, "please tell me." "I'd better tell you," Sam said, blinking, "we—Bruno and I, I mean—we wanted to ask you something." "Ask Louisa Kabian if she died of natural causes?" Startled, they looked at each other.Then Bruno leaned forward. "Yes," he said eagerly, "I wonder if you have paid attention to the news in the newspaper. We are considering whether to reopen the old case... What do you think?" Sam didn't speak, and his eyes under his thick eyebrows were fixed on Ren. "I thought," murmured Lane, "that Dr. Schelling agreed with Dr. Miriam's diagnosis of heart failure."

"Well," the inspector said slowly, "he agrees. Anyway, Miriam has always claimed that the deaf-mute girl has a bad heart, and it's also recorded in his medical records, but we're not so sure..." "We think," said the prosecutor, "that there may have been some indiscriminate poison, or some kind of injection, sufficient to cause death without raising suspicion." "But I told you two months ago," Ryan replied kindly, and threw another handful of bread crumbs on the water, "I've already quit." "We know," Bruno said quickly, before Sam could yell, "but we can't help feeling that you've been holding some evidence—"

He stopped.Ren has turned his head away, the gentle smile is still on his lips, but his green eyes are thoughtful, looking at the swan without seeing it.After a long while, he sighed and turned back to face his guest. "You're right," he said. Sam pulled a handful of grass from the grass and threw it under his big feet. "I knew it!" he yelled. "Didn't I tell you, Bruno? He's got something that we can use—" "The case is closed, Inspector," Wren said calmly. Both of them were stunned, Sam grasped Ren's arm so tightly, Ren recoiled instinctively. "It's over?" he cried hoarsely. "Who? What? When? When, for God's sake—last week?"

"The case was closed two months ago." For a moment, neither of them had the energy to speak.Then Bruno gasped loudly, turning pale; Sam's upper lip quivered like a child's. "You mean," whispered Sam at last, "that you kept your mouth shut for two months and let the murderer get away with it?" "The killer is not going unpunished." Like two puppet puppets pulled by the same cable, they jumped up at the same time, "You mean—" "I mean," Wren said in a voice of utter grief, "the murderer is... dead." A swan flapped its black velvet wings, and water splashed over them.

"Sit down, both of you," Wren said, and they obeyed mechanically. "On the one hand, I am very glad that you are here today, on the other hand, it is not entirely true. At this moment, I don't know whether it is right or wrong to tell you..." Sam growled. "No, Inspector, I'm not a sadist trying to tease you to see you suffer," Wren continued gravely. "That's really a problem." "But why didn't you tell us, oh, for God's sake?" cried Bruno. "Because," Wren said, "you won't believe me." A bead of sweat rolled down the inspector's nose and fell down his thick chin.

"It's unbelievable," Ryan said quietly, "if, after listening to me, any of you kicked me into the sink and called me a liar, an over-fantasy, and a deranged"—his voice trembled— "It's as crazy as the crazy Hatter family, and I don't blame you." "It's Louisa Kabian," said the prosecutor slowly. Ren stared into his eyes. "No." he replied. Inspector Sam waved his arms to the blue sky. "It's York Head," he said roughly. "I knew it all along." "No." Mr. Jerry Lane sighed, turned his head to look at his swan, and before he spoke again, he threw another handful of bread into the sink—his voice was deep, clear, and infinitely sad. "No," he repeated, "it's—Jackie."

It seemed that the whole world stood still.The breeze suddenly disappeared, and the only moving thing in front of them was the slowly swimming swan, and then, from somewhere behind them, the cheers of old Kuisi chasing goldfish in the Ario Fountain came, and the spell was broken immediately. Ren turned around, "You don't believe me," he said. Sam cleared his throat, tried to speak, but couldn't, cleared his throat again. "No," he said at last, "I don't believe you, I can't..." "Impossible, Mr. Wren!" Bruno shouted, "That's crazy!"

Ren sighed. "If you don't react like that, you're not normal," he murmured, "but before I finish, I'll convince you both that it is thirteen-year-old Jackie Height— A child, a boy just beginning puberty, almost a toddler in that respect—poisoned Louisa Carbian three times, beat Mrs. Hatter to death on the head, and . . . " "Jackie Hatter," Sam murmured, "Jackie Hatter," as if by repeating the name he could glean some meaning from the whole affair, "but a thirteen-year-old After all, boy, how is it possible to concoct a plot like that and put it into action? It's—this is madness! No one will believe it!"

Prosecutor Bruno shook his head thoughtfully, "Don't get angry, Sam, you're too excited, otherwise you should know the answer to that point, a thirteen-year-old boy is acting according to a criminal outline prepared for him, not Hard to imagine." Ren nodded slightly, staring at the grass thoughtfully. The inspector was dying like a fish. "York Head's outline!" he shouted, "now I get it all. My God, that's it! That devil kid... I thought it was York Head—thought he wasn't dead—but Trying to follow a clue of a dead person..." He laughed out loud all over his body, and the laughter was mixed with bitterness and shame. "It was never possible to be York Hatter," Wren said. "Whether he is dead or alive, of course, there is a possibility that he is still alive, because the identification of the body is not absolute... No, gentlemen, it is Jay." Chi Hatter, and probably Jackie Hatter from the beginning, want me to tell you how—and why?" They nodded blankly.Mr. Jerry Lane lay back on the grass, with his hands folded under his head, and told the cloudless sky his extraordinary story. "I'm going to start with," he said, "the second crime investigation—the Emily Hatter murder. Please remember that I don't know any more than any of you at the outset, and I have no forewarning. Assuming I stepped into that virgin territory, what I saw, and what I believed, was purely the result of observation and analysis. Now I will show you my reasoning from the facts—which led me to believe that the boy is the principal culprit of all events, leading me to the outline of York Hatter's tragedy... "From the outset, this case presented an unusual dilemma. The murderer we faced actually had a witness, but on the surface, all the help that this witness could provide was as if it did not exist. A deaf and deaf A mute and blind woman...a person who can neither hear nor see, and, more complicatedly, cannot speak. The problem is not entirely insurmountable, however, for she has fortunately other senses, one of taste; The second is the sense of touch; the third is the sense of smell. "Taste doesn't count here at all, and we didn't expect to use it, but touch and smell do, and in fact it's mainly because Louisa has touched and smelled the murderer that I was able to Infer facts from these clues. "I have proved to you that the poisoning of the pears in Louisa Cabian's fruit bowl and the murder of Mrs Hatter in the next bed were perpetrated by the same person. I also proved to you in a previous analysis that Well, the poisoning of Louisa was never intended, the sole purpose of the plot was to kill Mrs Hatter. "Well, since it was the same man who poisoned and killed, whoever Louisa touched in the dark room that night - the touch knocked her unconscious - is what we're after. You remember, Louisa touched the murderer's nose and cheek while standing upright, with her outstretched arm just level with the floor, that is, at the height of her shoulders. You, Inspector, have actually caught the lead." The inspector blinked and blushed. "I don't understand..." Bruno said slowly. Ren, who was lying on his back, looked at the sky and didn't see Bruno's lips open and close. He continued calmly: "Inspector, tell me right away that we can deduce the murderer's height from the known height of the witness who touched the murderer's nose and face. It's so clever! At the time and on the spot, I thought, you have already arrested the murderer." The truth, or something close to it, would soon come out, as soon as the evidence was clear. But Mr. Bruno objected, saying: 'How do you know the murderer wasn't stooping?'—a shrewd and astute opinion , no mistake, because if the murderer did stoop and kneel, his height would vary according to the degree of stooping and kneeling, and naturally we could not deduce his height. So, without further examination of this evidence, you and Mr. Bruno The pair dropped the lead. If you keep following the lead—in fact, if you just look down at the floor—you'll get the truth right away, as I did." Bruno frowned, Ryan sat up with a sad smile, and turned to face them, "Inspector, stand up." "Huh?" Sam looked confused. "Please stand up." Sam obeyed curiously. "Now, tiptoe." Sam uncomfortably lifted his heels off the grass and swayed on tiptoe. "Now, still on tiptoe, bent over—try to walk." The inspector awkwardly bent his knees, heels off the ground, trying to do as he was told, and he only took two upside-down steps before losing his balance, and Bruno laughed—he looked like an overgrown duck. Ryan smiled again, "What did your attempt prove, Inspector?" Sam bit off a piece of green grass and snarled at Bruno. "Stop laughing, you laughing wolf!" he growled, "proves that it's hard to tiptoe when you bend over and kneel." "Very good!" Ryan said energetically, "Of course, physically speaking, it can be done, but when a murderer wants to leave the scene of his crime, of course we don't consider walking on tiptoe, bending over and kneeling. Tiptoeing, possible; but not tiptoeing and bending over and kneeling. That would be weird, not a natural human movement, and would have no meaning, in fact, impede speed... In other words, if the murderer was in Louisa Ka The moment Bian touched him, he was on tiptoe as he left the room, and we were immediately able to ignore him while bending over and kneeling. "The floor tells us a plain and simple fact. You remember the footprints on the overturned talcum powder, from the bed to where Louisa touched the murderer, there were only shoe prints - from that point, by the way. , the murderer changed direction and ran out of the room, and all subsequent footprints showed that not only the toe prints, but also the heel prints, and the distance between them was much larger..." "Toe prints," Bruno murmured, "Is it possible? I'm not too slow to say this, my memory is not so clear, is there indeed a toe print..." "It's the toe print," Sam yelled. "Shut up, Bruno." "Here," Wren continued calmly, "where there are only toe prints, there is the added fact that each toe print is only about four inches from the next. There is only one possible explanation—the murderer's After turning around at the point of the bed that hit Mrs. Hatter on the head, he left on tiptoe—no heel marks. I further proved that he was on tiptoe, because there was only four inches between successive footprints, which It's the normal distance to walk on tiptoe in a restricted area...and then when Louisa Kabian touches the murderer, he's upright - not bent knees, remember - and on tiptoe! " "But now," said Wren quickly, "we have a basis for calculating the murderer's height. Let me interrupt for a moment. Of course, we can see what kind of height Louisa Kabian belongs to. In reading Will, when the whole family was gathered, it was also evident that Louisa and Martha Haight were both the same height, and that they were the shortest adults in the family. Later in a visit to Miriam Doctor, referring to the medical card in his file, I determined Louisa's correct height: she was five foot four, but I didn't really need that correct size myself when she was describing what happened that night , I saw it, and estimated her height. I estimated how tall she was - compared to my own height - and did a quick calculation. Now, listen carefully." They stared at him intently. "How far is the distance from the top of the head to the shoulders of a man? Well, Mr. Bruno?" "Er—I don't know," Bruno said, "but I don't see how you're going to be able to say that precisely." "There is a way," Ryan smiled, "everyone's size is different, and of course men and women are different. I happened to get this knowledge from someone, and this is a piece of information I got from Quasi, He knew the most about the anatomy of the human head than anyone I've ever met... The distance from the top of the head to the shoulders of a woman is between nine and eleven inches--let's say, for a woman of average height. It is said to be ten inches, and you can confirm this by observing the average woman, and you can even estimate it by eye. "Very well, then! Louisa touched the murderer's nose and cheek with her fingertips, and told us one thing at once—the murderer was shorter than Louisa. Because if he was as tall as she was, she would have to his shoulders, however, since she touched his nose and cheeks, he must be shorter than her. "Can I be more precise about the murderer's height? Yes, Louisa is five feet four inches—that's sixty-four inches high. The distance from her outstretched arms to the floor is ten inches less than her height, Then from the murderer's cheek touched by Louisa to the floor is also ten inches less than her height, or fifty-four inches from the ground. If the murderer's near nose and cheek are fifty-four inches from the floor , then we only need to estimate the approximate distance from the nose to the top of the head to obtain the full height of the murderer. For a person shorter than Louisa, that distance is about six inches, so the murderer's height is about sixty Inches, or exactly five feet. But the murderer stood on tiptoe, so to get his true height you have to subtract the height a man would add by standing on tiptoe, and I think you can reckon that's about three inches, In other words, our murderer was about four feet nine inches tall!" Bruno and Sam looked dazed. "My God," Sam moaned, "we have to be mathematicians?" Ryan continued calmly, "Another way to calculate the murderer's height is as follows: Assuming the murderer and Louisa are the same height, as I just said, she should be able to touch his shoulder, because her arms are shoulder-level. but she touched his nose and cheeks, which meant he was equal to her height minus the distance from his shoulders to his nose, which is usually about four inches, plus the three inches he lost from the top of his toes —seven inches in total, so the murderer was seven inches shorter than Louisa, who, as I have said, was five feet four. That would make the murderer about four feet nine inches—perfectly confirming my original calculation. " "Oh!" said Bruno, "it's amazing that you can come up with such exact figures just by relying on a bunch of visual estimates!" Ren shrugged, "You seem to think it's difficult, and my calculation sounds difficult, but it's ridiculously simple... Suppose I leave a little room for doubt in my dialectics, suppose Louisa reaches out Her arms are not exactly level with the floor - they are a little lower than her shoulders, or a little higher. Remember, the difference will not be very high or low, because she is a blind person, and blind people are most used to walking The movement of the arm is to hold the arm straight out, but let us raise or lower it by two inches, which is obviously a very generous margin of error. Then our murderer is between four feet seven inches and four feet ten An inch, still a very small man... You may not be convinced - I can see the inspector's eyes are still not convinced - you may think that my estimate of the distance from the nose to the top of the head, or from the nose to the shoulders is too big. Certainly. You can examine these for yourself. But in any case, the fact that Louisa touched the nose of the tiptoe murderer showed that he was much shorter than she - that alone is enough for me to conclude: It must have been Jackie Height who she touched." He stopped to take a breath, and Sam sighed. After Ryan explained, everything seemed to be very simple. "Why Jackie Height?" Wren continued a moment later. "A basic explanation will suffice. Since Louisa and Martha are the shortest adults in the family—she and Martha are about the same height Same - this is obvious when the family gathers for the reading of the will, so the person she touches is not an adult in the family. The other adults in the house are also out of consideration: Edgar Peary is tall, Abko Mr. and Mrs. are tall, too, and so is Virginia. As for outsiders, what if the perpetrators are not from the family? Well, Captain Trevitt, John Gurley, Dr. Miriam—all tall, Chester Bigelow was of average height, but the average height of a man is certainly not several inches below five feet! The murderer cannot be a complete stranger, because from the various factors of the crime, it is proved that he has no knowledge of the house. , I am very familiar with the eating habits of different people in the room, the surrounding terrain, etc..." "I see, I see," said the inspector displeased, "it's been right under our noses all along." "I have to agree with you this time," Ryan said with a chuckle, "so the murderer can only be Jackie Height, as far as I can see, it's about the height I calculated—this is for me Exactly confirmed when reading his medical card at Dr. Miriam that he was four feet eight inches tall - I was only an inch short, that's all... Of course, it couldn't be Little Billy, except that the idea was obvious In addition to being unreasonable, he is still too small, less than three feet tall. Another point: Louisa said she felt a smooth and soft cheek, which most people immediately associate with women-like you, but Thirteen-year-old boys also have smooth and tender cheeks." "Damn it," said the inspector. "So, standing in the bedroom and listening to Louisa's testimony, watching her experience the night before the exercise - doing a quick calculation - I came to my conclusion. It appears that Jackie Hayt was the night before the sneak attack Or, he poisoned his aunt's pears and struck his grandmother on the head, causing her death." Wren paused and sighed, looking at his swan, "I could tell you right away, but this conclusion seems so paradoxical and ridiculous that I'll throw it away right away. That kid is a fabricator of complex schemes of adult intelligence— —and murder? It’s ridiculous! My reaction was exactly the same as your reaction not long ago, inspector, I laughed at myself, it’s impossible, I must have made a mistake somewhere, otherwise there must be an adult behind the back to order that child, I even imagined lurking in the shadows a grown-up I'd never seen before—an almost dwarf-like figure—four foot eight or nine. But it was so stupid I didn't know what to think. "Of course, I didn't reveal my thoughts. If I had revealed the results of my calculations to you at that time, it would have seemed absurd. I didn't even believe it myself. How could I expect you to believe it?" "I'm starting to see—lots of things coming," Bruno murmured. "Really?" Ryan asked in a low voice, "I don't think you have seen half—or a quarter—of Mr. Bruno, even with all your insight... What's going on? Louie Shah Kabian claimed she smelled vanilla on the murderer. Vanilla, I said to myself, is not contradictory to a child, and I explored every source of vanilla I could think of—candies, cakes, flowers, and the rest , you know, no progress. I searched the house alone, looking for possible connections, clues, still nothing. So finally I gave up on the theory of vanilla related to children and thought of vanilla smell in terms of chemicals. "I found out from Dr. Ingels that I found out that York Hitt had a skin disease on his arm and did use Peruvian balm as a remedy, and I found a record of a bottle of this oil in the laboratory. . . . York Het! A dead man, is it possible that he is not dead?" "That's where I strayed," said Sam sullenly. Ren didn't pay attention, "Indeed, it's possible. The result of identifying the body is not absolute, we just assume that the body that was picked up is his... But—how to explain the height? Inspector, you first talked to me When the body was found, the height was not mentioned. Even if it was not York Height's body, but his deceitful trick, he should have found a dead body that was about the same size as himself, so knowing the height of the body was right. I'll help. But I finally got York Hayt's height from Miriam's medical card, which is five feet seven, so it can't be York Hayt that Louisa touches—the murderer Beru Yisa was much shorter, at least under five feet... "Then why the vanilla smell? Logically, the source of the vanilla smell on the night of the murder would have been Peruvian balm, a chemical that was in the laboratory where the murderer picked the poison, sitting on the It was readily available on the shelf, and I couldn't find any other source of the vanilla scent...so, although it seemed unlikely that the Peruvian balsamic oil smell from the night of the crime was brought by York Hayt, I followed this lead, hoping to find Come up with an explanation as to why someone else used this oil. The only reason I can think of for using this oil on the night of the murder is that the murderer deliberately left this clue in the hope that the police would find out that York Height was in the Peruvian balm has been used in the past. But it seems so stupid again – is York Hayt dead, or is he not? That question was very troubling at the time.” Ren sighed, "The next step is the laboratory. Do you remember the arrangement of the bottles and cans on the shelves? There are five shelves in total, each shelf is divided into three sections, and twenty containers are placed on each section. The containers are numbered sequentially, starting with number one on the first shelf on the far left at the top. You remember, Inspector, I pointed out that the number nine bottle of strychnine was almost in the middle of the first section on the top floor. And we found The hydrocyanic acid of No. 57 is also on the top floor, but it is in the third, or the section on the right hand side. If I were not there, and you describe the situation to me, I would know the order of the bottles and jars. It runs through the entire shelf from left to right, from the first section, then the second section, and then the third section. Unless it is in this order, it is impossible for bottles No. 9 and No. 57 to be placed where they are placed ...so far, no doubts. "Peruvian balm, according to the index, was in jar No. 30—after the fire and explosion, that jar disappeared, but from my knowledge of the order of these containers, I can tell exactly where it was originally, because There are twenty containers in each section, and there is no gap between them, so number 30 should be placed in the middle section of the top floor... I have already found out that Martha Hayt is the only person in the family who knows besides York herself. York had a dermatological member, and I called her in, and she confirmed it: yes, she knew he used an ointment—she couldn’t remember the name—but she knew it smelled like vanilla. When I asked That jar of hers is usually there - I put some fake jars in the middle of the top floor beforehand - and she went over to the middle and took down a bottle that was number 30 - Peruvian balm - where it used to be... and yet At that time, I discovered an important thing - something that has nothing to do with the smell itself!" "What's the matter?" Inspector Sam asked anxiously. "I didn't see anything important happen." "No?" Ren smiled. "Then you don't have my strengths, Inspector. How does Martha Hatter take down the jar? She stands on tiptoe, barely reaching the jar. What does that mean? Martha Hatter, the two shortest of the family One of the grown-ups, had to reach out and stand on tiptoe to get to the top jar. But the point is - she could reach the top shelf standing on the floor!" "But is there anything thought-provoking about that, Mr. Wren?" Bruno frowned. "You'll see right away." Wren's teeth gleamed. "Do you remember the time we investigated the lab beforehand—before the fire—we found two imprints on the edge of the shelf? Both ovals—obviously Imprints made by fingertips. The first is on the edge of the second shelf directly under bottle 69, and the other is on the edge of the second shelf directly under bottle 90. These imprints do not extend further to the depths of the entire shelf, and only appear in the front half of the edge. Now, whether it is a bottle of No. There is another importance—the bottle number sixty-nine facing the first imprint is directly below the number nine bottle, in other words, on the shelf one floor down, directly opposite the number nine bottle of the second imprint. Bottle No. 10 is just below Bottle No. 30—it is also the shelf one floor below. Bottles No. 9 and No. 30 are both related to this case—Barchynine in No. 9 was used The first time it was poisoned, in Louisa's eggnog milk; in a size 30 bottle of Peruvian balm, the smell the murderer gave off on the night of Mrs. My mind immediately jumped to something else. The three-legged stool, which, as evidenced by the three-point mark on the dust, was usually placed between two work tables, was found under a ledge in the middle section, and the stool had a used Marks - rubbing and uneven marks on the stool surface. Obviously, just sitting on it would not cause such uneven marks, because sitting should leave a smooth butt mark, or take most of the The dust is completely wiped off, there is no possibility of causing traces of friction... Now this stool that has been moved out of its place, remember, placed in the middle of the shelf directly under containers No. 30 and No. 90, what does all this represent? Why use this stool? If not for sitting, then for what? Standing is obviously, so that would explain the friction and uneven staining. But why stand on the stool? So the story goes It's clear. "Fingerprints on the side of the second shelf show that someone tried to get containers No. 9 and No. 30 on the next shelf, but he couldn't reach it. His fingertips only reached the edge of the second shelf. To To get the bottles, the person had to stand on something, so the stool came in. Of course, the attempt to get the bottles must have been successful, because we know the bottles were used. "What conclusion does this bring me? Brings me to the following argument: If someone leaves a fingerprint on the bottom of bottles No. 69 and No. 90, then the distance from the shelf where the fingerprint was made to the floor must represent The height of a person—not his real height, of course, but his elongated, or hand-reached height. Because if you want to achieve something beyond your reach, you elongate the height of your whole being, Automatically tiptoes and reaches out to the maximum vertical limit." "I understand." The prosecutor said slowly. "Yes, Martha Hitt can get the can from the top shelf by standing on the floor instead of a stool! This means that every adult in this case can stand on the floor instead of a stool. The top tier of Peruvian balm was available because Martha and Luisa were the shortest adults in the case. So the person who left his fingerprints on the edge of the second shelf and then stood on the stool to get the jar, was better than Martha Much shorter, and not an adult... How much shorter? It's easy to calculate. I borrowed your ruler, Inspector, and measured the distance between the two shelves. Between the shelves, there was exactly six inches. I also adjusted the thickness of the shelves themselves, which were an inch thick. Therefore, the person who left the fingerprints was about six inches plus one inch plus one inch shorter than Martha (because Martha's hand reaches about an inch in front of the jar)—that is, about eight inches shorter than Martha. And since Martha and Louisa are the same height, and Louisa is five feet four inches, the The person who left the fingerprints was about four feet eight inches tall! "Strikingly and emphatically confirming my original calculations—again pointing out that it was a murderer fifty-six inches tall, pointing again at Jackie!" There was a short silence. "I can't believe it," murmured the inspector, "I really can't believe it." "Don't blame you," Ryan replied gloomily, "I'm more depressed than I was before—a theory that I couldn't even believe was proven, but it's just gone too far. I can't hide from the truth anymore, Jackie Hatter not only poisoned the pears and attacked Mrs. Hatter's head, but he was also the one who mixed strychnine with eggnog milk and used Peruvian sesame oil... This section is all about the murderer masterpiece." Ren stopped and took a deep breath, "I counted the facts. At this point, there is no doubt that although it seems crazy, thirteen-year-old Jackie is indeed an active criminal we want to hunt. It is incredible, but there is no Doubtful! Yet his schemes are quite complicated—clever in a way, and undeniably old and wise, and no matter how precocious, it is completely inconceivable that this thirteen-year-old boy could figure out such a plan by himself. method. So I can say this without difficulty, there are only two possible explanations: one, he is just a tool used by an adult, the adult thinks up the strategy, and then finds a way to make the child implement it... But This is obviously wrong. Is it possible for an adult to use a child—the most unreliable object—as a tool? It is possible, but the probability is too small—this adult is taking too much risk, and the child may not know The seriousness of the matter, or just being naughty, or giving away secrets in a show of authority, or possibly being overwhelmed by the pressure of the first police interrogation and revealing the whole truth. Of course, it is impossible for a child to keep silent because of the threat of violence, but it seems It doesn't make sense, kids are the most outspoken, and from Jackie's general behavior he's not the kind of kid who would be intimidated by fear." "I have no problem with that," muttered the inspector. "Of course not," Ren smiled, "Now even if an adult uses this boy as a tool, there are still some obvious contradictions in the implementation of the strategy, which is impossible for an adult to promise - it is absolutely impossible for an adult to let such a事情发生——这些做法，我会在待会儿说明，处处指出这是出于一个孩童，而非成熟的心灵。基于这些矛盾，我抛弃了有个成人在指挥杰奇行动的理论。然而，我仍旧无法相信，这计策不是大人肇始的结果，所以面对一个这样的问题：如何可能由一名成人策划，由一名小孩实行——而他们两人之间却没有共犯的关系？这只有一个可能的答案——亦即我两项解释中的另一项——这个小孩根据一部由大人创作的计划行动，而那位大人完全不知道这个小孩子在跟随他的计划（否则他应该会马上向警方透露）。” “所以那就是你如何追到那部大纲的由来。”检察官沉思着说。 “是，此时我觉得自己找对了方向。有没有什么线索指出谁是那部策略的成人创作者？有，其一，对毒药能运用自如。这当然指向这群人里的化学家，约克·黑特；另外一点，芭芭拉·黑特在早先的证词中提到，她父亲曾经尝试小说写作。我回想起来，怵目惊心，小说！然后，还有秘鲁香油，只有约克·黑特一个人用这个东西……所有的征兆都指向他，不管他是死是活。” 雷恩叹口气，伸了伸臂膀，“你记不记得有一次我说，我有两条必须侦查的线索，巡官——而你显得十分讶异？第一条是我曾经描述的香草气味；第二条，就是我为了追究那部成人写的策略去拜访芭芭拉·黑特，从她那里，我很高兴发现，我对约克曾经致力写一部侦探小说的臆测是正确的。处理犯罪的小说就是侦探小说，我知道一定是这种小说。除了黑特曾经说他在做大纲以外，芭芭拉对之一无所知。这么说来，有可能存在这样一部大纲！我相信，约克·黑特基于创作小说的意图，至少曾经策划一个谋杀策略的大纲；没有料到在他死后，却给小杰奇提供一个活生生的犯罪蓝图。 “杰奇依照大纲行事。他会不会把大纲销毁了？不太可能，按照儿童心理，他把它藏起来的可能性大于把它销毁，至少，仍是值得动手寻找。如果他把它藏起来了，可能藏在哪里？当然是在房子里的某处。然而房子早就被搜查过了。并没发现类似的东西。此外，我觉得一个十三岁的男孩子——在这种喜好海盗、牛仔和印第安、流血暴力武打和恶魔与正义搏斗的年纪——一定会选一个非常浪漫的地点来藏这部大纲。我事先已经发现这孩子进入实验室的方法——经由烟囱和壁炉。我猜测这个相当浪漫的入口，同时也可以成为一个同等注意的大纲藏匿点，既然这似乎是一个很可能的地点，我便去搜索烟囱和壁炉的内部，发现在砖砌的隔墙上方，有一块松动的砖块，砖块后面藏了大纲。这算起来也是合乎道理的，杰奇确信别人都不晓得这个出入两个房间的奇妙办法，把大纲藏在那里，可以保证大纲不会被人发现。 “就烟囱这件事来讲，无疑这个孩子——顽皮捣蛋，乖张倔强，不服尊长——只因为他的妖魔奶奶禁止他去实验室，所以他就搜遍了房子上下，刻意去找一个能够如愿以偿的进口。正如一般儿童有时也会找出一些令人意想不到的事物，杰奇一定曾经在卧室这边的壁炉探查搜索过，他看到那堵墙并非整个封到顶，就爬到那上头，由此发现不必用门就可以进实验室。然后他一定在实验室里东看西查，从档案柜我们发现空空如也的那个夹子里，我猜，找到黑特自杀之前放在那里的手稿。一段时间之后，可能就在他决定要把虚构的罪案付诸实行的时候，他把烟囱里那块砖头弄松——也可能本来就是松的，他只是趁便利用把它当做藏物点……还有一件事：记住，从发现大纲到第一次下毒，他有很长一段时间去思忖那部引人入胜的谋杀计划，拼出艰深的字眼，了解其中的要旨，虽然无疑没读懂一半，可是也到足以明了如何行动的程度。因此，记住，发现大纲是在第一次下毒之前，然而是在约克·黑特死亡以后。” “只不过是个小孩子，”巡官喃喃自语，“所有那……”他摇头，“我——妈的，我不知道要怎么说。” “那就洗耳恭听好了！”布鲁诺粗暴地说，“继续吧，雷恩先生。” “回到大纲本身，”雷恩继续说，此时他已无笑容，“当我找到的时候，我不能把它拿走，杰奇会发现大纲不见了，而且我要让他以为自己是个了不起的成功策上。所以我当场抄了一份，把原件放回去，我还找到一个装满白色液体的试管，我知道一定是毒药，为了安全起见，我用牛奶取代——还有一个理由，等你们读了稿子本身就会一目了然。” 旁边的草地上有一件旧夹克，雷恩伸手把它拿过来。 “我已经随身携带好几个星期了，”他平静地说，“一部引人入胜的文件，我想在我继续之前，你们两位先把它读一遍。” 他从那个夹克口袋里拿出铅笔誉抄的约克·黑特的大纲，交给布鲁诺。两位访客求知若渴地一起阅读，雷恩沉默地等他们读完。当他们同样沉默地把大纲交还时，两张脸上都有恍然领悟的神情。 “刚才我说，”雷恩把抄本小心放回以后，接着说，“在执行这个其实说起来算计老练的策略时，有一些很明显幼稚的矛盾之处，我依照它们在调查中出现的顺序，—一加以讨论。 “第一，毒梨子。暂时光不谈有没有杀死露易莎的意图，无论动机是什么，至少下毒的人就是要在梨子里掺毒。我们发现用来注射毒药的针筒掉在房间里面。我们知道，那颗梨子一开始并不在房间里，那是下毒的人带进来的，换句话说，下毒的人带一颗没有毒的梨子进来，在他的犯罪现场施行下毒的手续。这多可笑！事实上，多么幼稚！成人会这样做吗？由于有被揭发或干扰的可能，可以料想，这个犯罪行动应该是很仓促的。一个大人要想在梨子里下毒，会在进入要放梨子的房间之前先把毒药注射好，这样就不必在每一秒钟都十分宝贵、随时都有可能被发现的情况下，还站在那里进行把注射针插进梨子等等的工作。 “确实，如果凶手是故意把针筒留在房间里，那么我就无法结论说，带针筒进来的理由是要在房间里面给梨子下毒，如此我也无法确知梨子是在房里还是房外下的毒。然而暂且假设注射筒是故意被带进来留在房间里的，为什么呢？只有一个合理的可能：要引起人们注意梨子被下了毒。但这未免多此一举，我们已经证明谋杀黑特太太是预谋犯罪，不是意外！尤其是在这之前已经有过一次下毒的阴谋，梨子被下毒的事一定会被发现，因为警方会寻找下毒的迹象——事实上，萨姆巡官正有此举。因此，所有的征兆指出，注射器是无意间被留下来的，这表示，把注射器带进房间唯一可能的理由，就是要用它在房间里给梨子下毒……当我阅读大纲时，这点得到了证实。” 他再度从夹克口袋把大纲拿出来，打开，“大纲上实际是怎么说的？它说：'这一次的点子，是在一颗梨子里下毒，把它放在……水果盅里'等等，然后接下来说：'Y……挑选……一颗已经发烂的梨子把它带进房间，梨子里注射了满满一针筒的毒药'等等。以一个小孩子的心思来看，”雷恩把大纲丢在草地上，继续说：“大纲讲得很粗略，并没有特别说明，应该在进入房间之前或之后在梨子里下毒，而且也没有指定要把针筒留在房间里，就如任何成人的想法，黑特理所当然地以为，梨子会在带进犯罪现场之前就下了毒。 “因此，无论解读这部大纳指示的人是谁，是依照字面逐一解释，在死者房间里给梨子下毒……我马上看出来，这是一个不成熟的心灵的征兆，换句话说，这是一个由成人构思、但由小孩执行的情况——该行动显示出，当指令暧昧不明时，童稚的心思是如何运作。” “绝对错不了。”巡官喃喃说。 “第二项矛盾。你们记得实验室地板上的灰尘有许多脚印，没有一个是完整清楚的？这些灰尘不可能和黑特原来的计谋有任何关联。显而易见——因为根据该计划，他自己还住在实验室里，所以根本不会有任何灰尘。所以那些脚印和任何由之推演出来的结论，都涵括于真实事况之内。我们可以明显地看出，实验室的使用者把所有清楚的脚印全部磨掉——一方面，就一个小男孩来说，做法十分精明，然而在房间唯一的那扇门附近，没有一个，不管是磨损或没有磨损的脚印！好，成人不会忽略在门附近留下足迹，因为他进来的真正方法是通过烟囱，而这点应该要当做秘密严加保守。门附近的脚印可以误导警方以为闯入者是从房门进来，也许用一把复制的钥匙。门附近毫无脚印，绝对会引人调查壁炉。又一次，如我所说，一个不成熟的心灵的征兆，忽视了他行动上最明显的破绽——因为他确实想到把脚印磨掉，若换成一个大人，当然也不会遗漏这个破绽。” “加上这点，”萨姆粗着嗓子说，“天哪，我真笨！” “第三项矛盾，大概是所有矛盾中最有趣的一个。”雷恩的眼睛一时灼灼有光，“你们两人——和我一样——都被杀死黑特太太的那把不可思议的武器搞得很困惑。那么多可用的武器，却用一把曼陀林琴！为什么？坦白说，直到我读了大纲之前，我一点也想不通为什么杰奇会选一把曼陀林琴作为凶器。自然我假定，无论他跟从的是谁的策略，指定使用曼陀林琴一定有其特殊的理由，我甚至想到，使用曼陀林琴可能只是为了要暗示其拥有人——约克——与本案的关联。但那也不会道理。” 他再度拾起大纲，“参考大纲上面怎么说，没有一个字提到曼陀林琴！它只这样说：'用钝器打击埃米莉的头。'” 萨姆瞪大眼睛，雷恩点点头，“我晓得你得到结论了。完全证明是一个小孩子的解释办法，随便问一个十三岁的小孩子，'钝'器是什么意思。大概千分之九百九十九都不晓得答案。大纲里再没有其他字眼提及这个杀人的钝器，约克·黑特不假思索地写下这个名词，知道任何成人都会明白——钝器是指一种不税利的、沉重的武器。杰奇读到这个字，不知道是什么意思。他必须取得一种叫做'钝器'的怪东西，然后用这东西打击他可恶的祖母的头。小孩子的心思如何运作？器——这个字对小孩子仅代表一个东西：乐器。钝——算了，他不管了，这个字或许连听都没听过，即使听过，也不知道是什么意思。或者他曾经查过字典，发现那意指某物是粗的，不是尖的；是愚钝的，不是锐利的。他一定马上联想到曼陀林琴——房子里，如芭芭拉·黑特所言，唯一的一样'器'，而且，又属于这桩计谋的罪犯约克·黑特所有！这些都证明是孩童之举，成人只有白痴才会以那种方式阐释'钝器'。” “不可思议，不可思议。”布鲁诺反反复复只讲得出这句话。 “整个来说，我知道杰奇在实验室找到那部手稿，然后一步步地根据指示，实践真正的罪行。现在，想想看大纲本身：它特别说明，约克·黑特本人——当然，黑特是指在小说里面代表他本人的那个角色——说约克·黑特扮演那名凶手。假设是一名成人找到那部大纲，并计划根据大纲实施真正的罪行。他读到约克是故事里的罪犯，但是约克已经死了，一个成人难道不会因而抛弃所有指明约克是凶手的计策吗？自然会。然而我们这位凶手做什么？他使用秘鲁香油，依大纲说明，是导致约克·黑特涉嫌的线索。约克·黑特的方法很聪明：香油是指向故事里的凶手的一种'气味'，因为该线索，他才会在故事结束的时候被逮。然而，在真实生活里，既然黑特已经死了，使用香草气味来引人怀疑约克·黑特，岂不幼稚……在这里我们又发现什么？一个盲目跟从文字指示的心灵——一个不成熟的脑筋。 “第四项矛盾，或者这是第五项？在黑特的故事里，他自己是罪犯，并且暗植一条线索指向他本人——香草的气味。在他的故事里那是真线索，但是鞋子那条线索——康拉德的鞋子——假线索，原意就是要当假线索，仿佛凶手刻意栽赃康拉德，以误导警方偏离正确方向。 “然而，当这不再是一个故事，而变成真实生活时，情况改观了——某人把小说情节当做真实犯罪的模式来跟随。在本案中，指向约克的香草线索，变成也是假线索！因为约克死了，现在他在这个计谋当中根本已经不成要素。那么为什么要像凶手所做的，使用两条假线索指向两个不同的人？任何成人若处在杰奇的立场，会选择康拉德的鞋子作为稳当的假线索，而抛弃指向死人的香草味——至少，会在两者中选择其一，不会一视同仁地两样都用。假使选择鞋子，也不会像杰奇一样当真穿起来，只要把毒药淋在其中一只鞋尖，然后把鞋子留在康拉德的衣橱里，那就够了。但是，又一次，因为对暗示和明白的指令都缺乏成熟的理解能力，在大纲并未说明必须穿着的情况下，杰奇当真把鞋子穿起来——打翻爽身粉，大纲里并未提及，纯粹是件意外，证明大纲并未要求必须穿上鞋子以便留下脚印——而这是穿鞋子唯一可能的理由……这一切指出，这名凶手在面对仅需一般成人智慧即足以应付的情况时，却不辨轻重，再一次，如我所说，标明是幼童之举。 “最后，那场大火。在读大纲之前，那场火使我很困惑。其实，在我读大纲之前，很多事情都让我很困惑，因为我一直想给每一件事情都找出理由来，而事实上根本全无理由可言！所有的事都是盲目做出来的……大纲里面对那场火的目的如此说明：使之看起来像有人意图谋害约克·黑特，因而让约克显得无辜。但是黑特一死，以他卧房为中心的火灾变成没有意义，任何成人或者会因此将之全然放弃，或将之改为己用——也就是，在他自己的房间或在接近他自己的某处起火。成人大概会干脆放弃，因为即使在约克的小说里，那也是一个蹩脚办法，并不是一个特别聪明的侦探故事素材。 “那么，我们面对的是什么？一部虚构犯罪的大纲，被巨细靡遗且愚蠢地盲从到底——每一项需要原创性或选择性思考的行动，都表现出这个跟随者是不成熟的，是个小孩。这些事情使我确信杰奇是凶手，而且会和说服我一样地说服你们。杰奇对他所全心追随的大纲的微妙复杂，一点也不了解，他唯一能理解的，就是对要做什么事的清楚和特定的说明。至于做这些事情的理由，他并不了解，他的脑袋唯一明白的地方是：依据大纲，他知道约克是罪犯，他知道约克已经死了，打定主意自己来当约克，或者说罪犯。所以每当大纲说，约克，或者Y，必须做什么的时候，杰奇就把自己当做约克，然后去做，甚至连那些约克在大纲里刻意安排给自己——即罪犯——脱罪的指示，他都照做不误！而且每次杰奇必须靠自己判断行事，或必须解析某件语意不明的事物时，他的反应都很合乎本性，做出幼稚的举动，把自己暴露。” “那个要命的第一次下毒，”萨姆清了清喉咙说：“我看不出来……” “耐心点，巡官，我正要提及这点。我们当时并不知道那次下毒是不是有意谋命，然而，当我们由谋杀案推知第二次下毒并无意谋命以后，大概也可以假定第一次也没有那个意思。在知道那是约克的计谋之前，当我想到杰奇可能是凶手的时候，我自问：'蛋酒奶那一次，似乎是杰奇意外阻止恶事成真，是否可能他喝下蛋酒奶并非意外，而是故意的？倘若如此，是为什么？'好，如果第二次下毒不是有意的，第一次下毒也不是有意的，那么凶手要如何使露易莎连一口蛋酒奶也不喝，而同时又能把蛋酒奶被下毒的事实显露出来？毕竟，仅是在饮料里掺毒，然后例如假装无意地把它打翻，并不能显现里面有毒的事实；小狗出现完全是意外。所以，如果露易莎不可以喝，而又必须让人知道其中有毒，凶手不得不采取大胆的对策。事实上，杰奇自己喝下一些，即是他在遵照某种指令行事的重要证据——他不可能自己把它下毒，然后又故意喝一口致病——这根本不是小孩子的推理方式。他照此行事的事实，使我确信他是在跟随一个并非由他策划的计谋。 “等我读了大纲，一切就了然了。在故事里，Y有意于蛋酒奶下毒以后，自己小啜一口，微感不适——如此可以一箭三雕，既不伤害露易莎，又使情况看似有人要谋害她，最后，还把自己摆在最无辜的地位——因为下毒的人怎么可能故意陷害自己？黑特的计划高明——以小说的观点来说，如果他策划的是一个真正的杀人阴谋，显然即使为了掩人耳目，他也不至于考虑自己服毒。” 雷恩叹口气，“杰奇读了大纲，看到Y给蛋酒奶下毒，然后自己啜一小口，杰奇知道大纲上说Y做什么，他就一定要照做不误，所以只要他的胆量——以及情势——允许，他就照章行事。事实上，杰奇在第一次下毒时饮下蛋酒奶，以及在第二次案件中自己既下毒又杀人，都有力的证实，他只是盲目服从一个异想天开、不符事实的计谋，对其中所隐含的任何意义当然从来都没了解过。” “至于动机呢？”萨姆有气无力地问，“我仍然想不通为什么一个小孩会要谋杀他的祖母。” “棒球是一个理由。”布鲁诺故作滑稽地说。 萨姆瞪他一眼，布鲁诺说，“毕竟，像那种样子的家庭，很容易可以了解嘛，萨姆。嗯，雷恩先生？” “是，”雷恩面带哀伤的微笑，“你早就知道答案，巡官，你自己晓得，这个家庭的魔鬼血统是怎么造成的。虽然才十三岁，杰奇的血管里有他父亲和祖母的病态血液，可能出生的时候，他就已经具有杀人的潜力——也就是说，除了所有的小孩在某种程度上都具有的执拗、捣蛋和残忍的倾向，而他这些倾向的程度特别大以外，他还继承了黑特家血统的弱点……你们记不记得他对小家伙比利几近疯狂的欺压？他热衷破坏——践踏花草，差点淹死一只猫——全然不受管教？除此之外，再加上我约略猜测，但大概也八九不离十的：黑特家族没有所谓的家庭温暖，家人之间的仇恨与整个黑特家族习性相较起来并无矛盾，老太太经常毒打那个男孩子，事实上，案子发生前三个星期，才因为他偷了露易莎的一颗水果鞭答过他，那个男孩子曾经听到他妈妈玛莎对老太太说'我希望你死掉'之类的话——孩子式的仇恨日积月累，加上脑子里的劣根性煽风点火，可能在读到大纲，看见所有人里面他是讨厌的家中之敌，也是他母亲的敌人，'埃米莉祖母'，要被计划谋杀掉时，立即引起他的灵感……” 此时，曾经多次呈现在雷恩脸上的衰老憔悴的表情再度出现，他的面目一片阴霾，“因此，不难理解，当这名遭到遗传和环境扭曲的少年，发现一个以他假想中的敌人为谋杀对象的计划时，是多么正中下怀，而且在采取第一个步骤——下毒——以后，没有被逮到，他看不出有任何道理不继续往下做，他的犯罪冲动更因成功而滋长增大……” “这些令人困惑的罪行，和多数罪案一样，因种种不在约克·黑特计划之内，或因幼龄罪犯参与所造成的意外，使情况更趋复杂：床头桌上的粉盒被打翻，杰奇蹑脚站定时被露易莎摸到，证实下毒身高的污指印。” 雷恩停下来喘口气，布鲁诺赶紧开口问，“皮瑞，或者说卡比安，在这里面的角色呢？” “巡官以前就揭示过答案，”雷恩回答，“皮瑞，埃米莉前夫的儿子，对她心怀怨恨，因为她个人应对他父亲的惨死负责——无疑他心中有某种犯罪意图，否则何必改姓在这个家里谋职。无论是真是假，总之他想要以某种方法让黑特太太吃苦头。然而当老太太被杀，他变成处身险境，可是他不能离开，也许他早在谋杀案发生以前就断绝了原来的意图——他似乎因为与芭芭拉亲近受到极大的影响，他真实的意图可能永远没有人知道。” 好一段时间，萨姆巡官都以一种非常奇怪的审思神情看着雷恩。“为什么，”他问，“在整个调查过程中，你都这么噤若寒蝉？你自己说在调查实验室以后，你就知道是那个孩子，你为什么要这么神秘兮兮？对我们不太公平，雷恩先生。” 良久，雷恩都没有答话，等他终于开口，那沉重的声调充满了难以言传的感情，萨姆和布鲁诺都为之震慑。“让我给你们大致剖析一下，在调查进行期间，我自己的感触……当我知道那个孩子是罪犯，一次又一次的证实驱走我最后的怀疑时，我面对一个不忍目睹的问题。 “无论从任何社会学的立场来看，都不应该要求那个男孩子对他所犯的罪行负道德上的责任，他是他祖母罪恶的受害者，我要怎么办？揭发他的罪状吗？如果我揭发了，你们的态度会如何——你们，曾经宣誓维护法律的专职人员？你们毫无选择的余地，那个孩子一定会被逮捕，可能要被送进监牢关到他长大成人，然后以他于道德上不应负责的年纪时所犯的谋杀罪受审判。假设他被判无罪，然后呢？充其量他也只能以心理不正常请求释放，然后在精神病院度其余生。” 他叹口气，“所以，我既然并未宣誓护卫字面上的公正，我觉得，既然罪恶的源头并非出于那个男孩子，既然无论是策划或犯罪冲动都不是他自发的，既然就广义来说，他是悲惨环境的受害者……应该要给他一个机会！” 雷恩凝望地面静谧的波纹和悠游的黑天鹅，“从一开始，甚至在我读到大纲之前，当我以计谋是由成人构思的假设为基础进行调查时——我就预测可能还有一次谋害露易莎的行动。为什么？因为，由于前面两次都不是当真的，由于黑特太太的死才是主要的目的，依逻辑，似乎阴谋者应该会再安排一次以露易莎为对象的'企图'，加强杀人动机是出于对付她，不是对付她母亲的假相……倘若这名新的阴谋者真的要杀死露易莎，我怀疑这第三次企图可能会当真致命，无论如何，我相当肯定会有另一次行动。 “当我在烟囱墙上的秘洞找到一试管的毒扁豆碱，这个计谋中还没有被用上的毒药，理论便得到证实。基于两点理由，我用牛奶取代毒扁豆碱：预防意外，并且给杰奇一个机会。” “恐怕我不太了解怎么——”布鲁诺开口。 “这就是为什么我不能告诉你们，我在什么地方找到大纲的理由，”雷恩把他的话挡回去，“等到你们了解就太迟了。你们会设陷阱，当场逮住他，把他缉捕起来……我要用什么方法给他一个机会？就是用这个方法。我找到手稿，发现里面不止一次说明，无论如何，绝对没有要毒死露易莎的意思，一再重复，如你们读到，说不要杀死她。因此我用一试管无害的液体取代，让杰奇有机会实行大纲的最后一项指令——即对露易莎进行第三次假下毒——而不造成任何恶果。我很确定他会不顾一切地遵照大纲的指令做到底……我自问：等他依照大纲指示把脱脂奶下毒以后，他会做什么？大纲对这点并未完整说明——Y只说他会或者引人注意脱脂奶不太对劲，或者用某种方法避免露易莎喝下去，所以我在旁观察。” 他们俯身向前，神情紧张。“他做了什么？”检察官耳语问。 “他从窗台溜进卧室，取得他以为装着毒药的试管。大纲上，据我所知，要求在脱脂奶里滴十五滴毒药，杰奇踌躇一下——然后把整瓶试管的毒药都倒进玻璃杯里。”雷恩停下来，沮丧地望一眼天空，“这看起来很糟糕，这是第一次他故意不遵守大纲的说明。” “然后呢？”萨姆厉声问。 雷恩疲惫地望着他，“虽然计划中指示，要在露易莎喝下去以前引人注意奶中有毒，他并没有如此做。他任她喝下去，事实上，我看见他从窗台外偷看，而且，看她喝下脱脂奶以后没有任何痛苦挣扎的后果，他脸上有失望的表情。” “上帝慈悲。”布鲁诺大为震惊。 “不是位很慈悲的上帝，”雷恩沉重地说，“起码对那个可悲的小家伙不怎么慈悲……此时我的问题是：杰奇会做什么？确实，他在好几方面都没有服从大纲的字句，而现在大纲已经结束了，他会就这样罢手吗？如果他到此为止，如果他没有再企图毒害露易莎或任何人，我下定决心绝口不提他的罪状，佯装我无能破案，从此踏出这出戏，这个男孩子可以有机会改邪归正……” 萨姆巡官表情很不自在，布鲁诺瞪着一只搬了一小片干叶子的蚂蚁忙乱地往小土丘爬上去。“我看住实验室，” 毫无生气的声音传来，“那杰奇可以取得更多毒药的唯一所在——如果他要的话。”稍稍停顿一会儿，“他要，我看见他潜入房间，刻意拿下一个标明有毒的瓶子，装满一支小瓶子，然后离开。” 雷恩一跳站起来，用脚尖站起来，用脚尖踢一团泥土。 “杰奇给自己定了罪，两位先生，对流血和谋杀的欲望已经深植他的脑海……当时他已经开始使用他自发的意念，跨越现成和特定的指示——事实上，违背了大纲，这时我知道，他已经无可救药，如果不受嫌疑地活下去，他会一辈子成为社会的害虫，他不适宜再活下去，同时，如果我告发他，继之而起的，将是一场社会报复一名十三岁大男孩子犯罪的惨烈局面，至于他所犯的罪，最后分析起来，其实是社会本身的……”雷恩沉默不语了。 等他再度开口，语气已然不同，“整个事件的悲剧，你们可能会说，正是Y之悲剧——就如他所自称——约克·黑特以小说写作的精神计划一件罪案，却在自己孙子的心灵里创造出一头自我毁灭