Chapter 9 Chapter 8 Oista Island

Across a stretch of blue water, just a mile away from Long Island is Oista Island.It is like a hill, lying across the middle of the bay, cutting the bay in two.In the middle of the curved bay, there was a small wooden pier, where several small boats and a steamboat were moored. Ellery and his two companions returned to their original path, heading toward the sea.Soon, Oista Island appeared in front of my eyes. From the outside, the island seems to be twisted out of the original, slightly rectangular. Although Ellery couldn't see the entire island, judging from the visible outline, it is not difficult to understand why it was named Oista Island, which means Oyster Island.It is like an emerald green gem, placed in it under the reflection of the sun and the blue water.There is a lush virgin forest on the island, where tall palm trees are making a show.

The shore seemed to be all trees and wild bushes.There is a small dock.If you look closely, you can still see its gray outline.Other than that, there are no man-made structures. Esham stepped onto the pier and yelled, "Hello!" as if standing on a podium. Not long after, a police boat that was patrolling the sea sped up. The Bonn police officer gestured: "Please go up! Maybe we can really find out the truth there." After they went up, the police boat started, made a big roundabout, and headed straight for the center of the island. As the police boat moves forward, the mainland and the island can be clearly seen.It turned out that there was also a small port on the west bank where Ellery embarked. Needless to say, it must belong to Mr. Lin's house, and there was a small boat tied to the mooring pole there.And on the east side, there is also a wharf exactly like Lin's, and Ellery thought it probably belonged to Dunpaolo's.It's just that there are no ships to the east.

The motorboat rowed across the sea, surging waves, and under the blue sky, it was really beautiful.Ellery wished they were on vacation instead of investigating cases. As they get closer to the island, they can see the island more clearly, and the island seems to be getting bigger and bigger. Suddenly, Police Officer Bonn jumped up, his expression changed drastically, and he shouted, "Look what happened!" Everyone looked in the direction Bonn pointed.A shirtless man, hugging a woman who was struggling and screaming weakly, ran out of the jungle and jumped onto a boat that was originally parked at the pier.As soon as the man got on the boat, he roughly threw the woman to the side of the boat and started the engine; the woman stood there motionless, and when the man looked towards the island, Ellery and the others finally saw To his dark-skinned face.

In less than ten seconds, another monster as tall as before rushed out of the forest and reached the water's edge via the same path as the escapee just now.It was a burly naked man with a tall figure and brown skin. Because he ran so fast, his shiny black hair flew up. Ellery was dumbfounded: "Is that Tarzan?" Ellery even waited for the elephant that often appeared with Tarzan, but the man lacked a thong of animal skin. The man looked at the fleeing boat and muttered something in his mouth.He didn't seem to realize that he was standing there naked, looking at the boat all the time, and, of course, it was impossible to notice Ellery's party nearby.

Suddenly, the man jumped into the sea like a whale harpooning, and swam quickly towards the fleeing boat. Officer Bonn smiled coldly. "Fool, does he think he can catch up?" Ellery reminded him, "Hey, the boat stopped." Ersham looked at the boat in amazement, but it stopped moving a few yards offshore.I saw the man on the boat pulling the motor desperately. "Get over there!" Sergeant Bonn yelled at the boatman. "Hurry up! Drive the police boat over, that man seems to be going to kill someone!" Then, the police boat blew its whistle and galloped away with the wind.There is also the sound of the flute behind the island.At this time, the men on the boat and swimming felt for the first time that there were people around, and they nervously searched for the place where the siren was issued.

The naked man immediately shook the water off his head, then jumped back into the water, as if there was a demon behind him, swam desperately back to the island, and disappeared without a trace. The woman sitting on the bow looked at the stern in shock; the man at the stern also seemed to have experienced a battle, and walked to the middle of the deck weakly, waving weakly to the police boat. Not long after, the police boat and the boat approached.At this time, the naked man also jumped ashore, ran into the jungle without looking back, and finally disappeared.The two men and women then boarded the police boat.

Strangely, when the police boat pulled the boat closer, the man on board, who had just stepped onto the deck with his bare upper body, grinned loudly as if after watching a farce.Everyone didn't understand why he was so happy, and everyone was stunned.Ellery, like the other police officers, was staring at him intently at this time. He noticed that the man had a strong body, brown hair, light skin, grayish eyes, and well-developed muscles.Ellery looked at the laughing man on the deck with his stomach in his hands and decided he must be a tough guy. Ellery discovered that the Piloted woman looked a lot like Jonas Lincoln.

"She must be Hathe Lincoln," Ellery said to herself quite sure, looking her up and down.The woman's face was not very pretty.She was only wearing a man's vest—and Ellery noticed that the laughing man wasn't wearing a top—with a dirty canvas covering her lower body. Perhaps it was everyone's onlookers, the woman was a little embarrassed, she lowered her head, her body trembling slightly.Both hands subconsciously want to cover the part above the knee. "Hey! What are you laughing at?" Officer Bonn asked the naked man angrily, "Who the hell are you? And why did you abduct this woman?"

"It's useless to tell you." The man wiped the tears from his eyes and said, "It's really ridiculous." Officer Bonn blushed immediately after hearing this. "Okay! I'm sorry!" The man finally suppressed his smile and stood up. "My name is Paul Dun, and this is Hess Lincoln. Thank you for saving my life." "Get up!" said Bonn sternly.Esham and Ellery helped move the silent woman to the police boat. "Hey! Wait a minute," Deng Baoluo seemed to refuse, with no trace of humor on his face, only a look of suspicion, "Who are you?"

"Who are we?" Esham pointed at himself amusedly, "It's the police! Dude, get up." "Police?" Dunpaolo narrowed his eyes, turned his gaze from Bonn to Ersham, looked at him, and then turned to Ellery.The other woman fell to the deck again. "Well, that's weird, what's the matter?" the man said. Prosecutor Esham had no choice but to explain the matter, so the man's face became very pale, and Hayes' eyes were full of fear. Deng Paulo muttered to himself: "Thomas was killed? Impossible, I saw him yesterday, alas!" "Is my brother okay?" the woman asked anxiously.But no one answered her.

At this moment, Paul Deng bit his lower lip, and then asked helplessly, "Have you met with Mr. Lin?" Paul Deng's tone was a little strange. "Why are you asking this?" Paul Dun did not answer, and was silent for a while: "No, it's nothing. I'm friends with him, just asking by the way." Paul Dun suddenly sat down and looked at the pier, and murmured, "Poor Thomas!" "Let's go back!" Officer Bonn ordered.The police boat made waves on the water and headed back towards the bow of the ferry. On the pier, Ellery saw Professor Adriatic standing there.Ellery waved to him, and Professor Ardori also waved to them with a smile. Officer Bonn spoke first: "Paul Dun, tell us what you did just now!" "There's also that lunatic who is chasing after you, so please explain clearly." Esham added. At this moment Paul Dunn was completely different from the maniacal laughter just now. He said with a serious face: "Oh! That's really unfortunate. I think I have to tell you the truth. Hayes," Deng Paulo turned to the woman, "please forgive me .” Hayes didn’t answer, maybe because she knew the news of Thomas’ death. "How can I say that?" Paul Dun frowned, propping his chin with his left hand, "Hess is a young and simple girl, you know, at her age, she often does deviant things. She needs someone to watch over her." , but Jonas Lincoln," Dunpale said, frowning, "in my opinion, he has not fulfilled his due responsibilities." "Hmph! That's none of your business." Hayes said angrily. "Hayes," Dunpaolo said in a very gentle tone of love, "but, after a week, you still haven't left that strange island. I want you to return to normal and live happily as you did before. Those The lunatics in the nudist camp will only hurt you, Hess." Paul Dun looked at Miss Lincoln affectionately, but she still widened her eyes: "Paul Dun, what you said is too much!" Police Officer Bonn felt that if the questioning was not terminated, it would soon become their debate, so he interrupted the controversy: "Even if I am nosy, I think Miss Lincoln is free to run around naked. , what does it have to do with you? From my point of view, this young lady is considered an adult." "Relationship?" Deng Paulo gritted his teeth and said, "If you want to know, then I'll tell you, of course I have the right to interfere. Emotionally, Hesse is a simple little girl, and she can easily be sweet-talked Attracted by his strong body." "You mean Lomin?" Ellery laughed dryly. "Yes! That despicable man. He is the living trademark of the Crazy Sun Cult. With his disgusting appearance, he bluffs everywhere. That's how Hethe was abducted by him. "I was very worried about Hess, so I went to the island early this morning to investigate, and ended up having an argument with him. It's ridiculous to say that he looks like an ancient primitive man, so I just laughed out loud. But, to be honest , if you hadn't rushed here just now, I think I would have been beaten to death by him at this moment. But..." Deng Paulo said proudly, "I finally rescued Hess. This is what happened .” Hayes didn't say anything, but her body was still shaking.There seemed to be tears in her eyes, and she kept pursing her lips. Esham raised a question: "But, Mr. Paul Dunpale, I still don't understand what rights you have?..." Deng Paulo stood up and said with excitement in his eyes: "What are you! No one else has the right to intervene in this matter except me and Haisi. It's just that I have always wanted to marry Haisi, and this is my 'right' .Actually, she loves me too, but she doesn't know it, so I'll remind her." He looked at Hayes, but Hayes just stared at him fiercely. "This is the persistence of love!" Ellery said to Ersham. "Yes!" Esham also replied. At this time, a police officer pulled the thick rope of the pier. Professor Adori walked over to Ellery and said, "I don't know how things are going, so I came over to take a look... Hey, Paul Dun, what are you doing here?" Paul Dun nodded: "They said that I abducted Hess, and they wanted to sentence me." Adori smiled: "Oh! That's terrible..." Ellery couldn't help but twitched his mouth when he heard the professor's joke: "Professor, please come to Oista Island with us later, okay? If you accompany us, we can save a lot of unnecessary Trouble." "Oh! By the way, Dr. Dunpale," Bonn reminded, "I just heard you say that you saw Mr. Bratt yesterday morning?" "Yes, but just a glimpse, on the way to New York, that is, Tuesday morning, and he's the same as usual, so I still don't get it. Any suspects caught?" "That's what we want to ask you," Bonn said. "What were you doing last night?" Dun Paulo smiled wryly and said, "I'm not the first to be asked, right? Last night I was alone at home. As for cooking and cleaning, a woman came to help every day." "Mr. Paul Dun, do you mind if we get to know you a little more?" Ersham asked. Deng Paulo lowered his head, hesitated for a while, then raised his head and said, "Ask!" Esham smiled gratefully: "When did you move here?" "1921. As you know, I'm a retired army doctor. I was in Italy during the war, and because of the impetuosity of my youth, I went into field medical work, a lad just out of school. I had two He was wounded once and promoted to second lieutenant, and he also participated in the attack on the Balkan Peninsula, but was captured. That was really an unpleasant memory," he said with a faint smile, "my youth also followed the east. Running around was exhausting. After the war, I was sent to Karachi by the Austrian army..." "And then came to America?" "No, I didn't come here right away. For four years I was a wanderer. I got some convertible property in the war, and sold some of it. I played a lot of places, and I went through a lot of countries. I came here at the end." Dunpaolo took a breath, "You know, there are many people like me—participating in battles, wandering, without a wife, and even lost contact with relatives and friends..." "So you've been living here, a squire?" "Ok!" "Okay, thank you for telling us these things." Elsham said very kindly, and then turned to Hethen, "Miss Lincoln, I think you should go back first! There may be some troubles on that island." Hayes looked down at the ground: "No! I don't want to go home. I want to go to the island." Everyone was surprised by her affirmative answer. The smile on Deng Paulo's face disappeared: "What?" He yelled angrily, "You want to go back? You are crazy, you want to go back when something like that happened?" Hess raised her head suddenly, and her eyes were full of gunpowder: "Paul Dun, I am me, a complete free person, and I don't need to accept orders from you or anyone. I want to go back to the island, and you have nothing to do with it." Bonn looked at Ersham, only to see Ersham muttering and complaining. Then Ellery said slowly: "Okay! Let's go to the island first! Don't be angry, everyone." So everyone got on the boat again and sailed straight to Oista Island.This time there were no other accidents. When the motorboat arrived at the island, everyone set foot on the pier together. At this time, an old man in a strange dress appeared.His hair was fluffy, his small eyes were piercing, he was dressed in a pure white robe, and he dragged a pair of strange wooden sandals on his feet.Leaning on a crutch with a snake's head on his right hand, he emerged from the grass. Everyone was taken aback by this sudden old man. The old man stared proudly at Ellery and his party, and behind the old man was the naked man who jumped into the water and chased Paul Dun just now, but he was now wearing white trousers and a shirt. The two groups glanced at each other for a moment, but soon, Ellery leaned forward and said affectionately, "Hey! Are you Harlacett? That's right, it's you." Professor Ardori couldn't help laughing because of Ellery's voice, as if he was seeing an old friend. The ghostly old man looked at Ellery with some surprise. "How do you know my name?" he said sharply. "Are you a follower of my temple?" Bonn jokingly said, "Grandpa Peanut, I'll be your disciple." Then he strode up and grabbed the old man's wrist, "You are the one who started it! Where is your hut? We have something to ask you. " Halackett looked back at the burly man like a frightened child: "Paul, Paul, what's going on?" "What! His name is Paul? Huh..." said Bonn police officer, "Listen, this madman thinks he's Jesus!" Paul Luomin didn't move his eyes because of these mocking words.He kept staring at Dr. Paul Dunpale, and Paul Dunpale was staring at him. Ellery found that Hess had disappeared at this time. The old man said slowly, "Who are you? Why are you here? We are messengers of peace." Elsham and Bonn couldn't help being amused by the crazy old man's words again. Officer Bonn laughed and yelled in a hoarse voice: "Hey! Old man, do you really think you are Moses? Tell you, we are the police, do you understand? We are here to catch murderers." The little old man looked like a deflated ball, his lips trembling: "Oh! Here it is again, another murder case!" At this time, Paul pushed the old man away and stepped forward.He almost hit Bonn's nose with his head, and said rudely: "I don't care who you are, we don't know about killing anyway. If you want to find the prisoner, go elsewhere, what does that matter to us?" ?” Ellery looked at this masculine man, no wonder the repressed girl was fascinated by him. Esham said quietly, "Where were you and this lunatic last night?" "On the island. Who was killed?" "You don't know?" Esham asked. "I don't know, who is it?" "It's Thomas Bratt." Luo Min looked indifferent: "Bratt? He deserves it! This guy should have died a long time ago. We are a clean world here, and everything has nothing to do with us. You don't have to waste your energy here." Officer Bonn gently pulled Esham away, and looked at Luo Min without fear. The two were almost the same height: "Hey! You arrogant guy, be careful what you say!" Wrist, "This is the prosecutor, he is our immediate boss. Let me tell you, whatever he asks, you can answer obediently." Luo Min glared at Bonn, and tried her best to break away from Bonn's hand, but Bonn's hand held him tightly like iron clamps. "I see." Luo Min murmured, "You insist on getting us involved, but I can't help it. Anyway, no one will let us go. What are you asking?" "Okay, then tell me, when will you leave the island with that stupid old man behind you?" Harakett's eyes widened and he screamed, "Come back! They're blaspheming." Paul turned around and waved his hands: "Stop arguing! Let me talk." He pursed his lips and said slowly, "The old man hasn't left since he came here, and I went to the village a week ago bought food." "Okay! Now, we want to see your main altar. Lead the way!" Police Officer Bonn said forcefully. A group of them, led by Harakett, walked from the coast to the forest in the center of the island.In the dense forest, there is a path that is almost obliterated by grass.The island is surprisingly quiet. Although there are birds and insects, there is no sense of human presence. The old man and Luo Min walked quickly ahead, as if they had forgotten the existence of Ellery and his group.Deng Baoluo still stared at Luo Min intently, and Luo Min seemed to be wary. When they came to the clearing among the trees, they found that the so-called temple was just a small hut made of wooden boards.There were about twenty disciples of Harakett, men and women, all dressed and waiting there. Luo Min murmured to those people and didn't know what to say, but when they nodded, they scattered like birds and beasts. Bonn, who was originally grumpy, didn't say a word at this time.He has always been indifferent to the outlawing of various pagan customs. Harakt focused on raising the snake wat in his hand and placed it high on his head.He murmured a strange language, and then walked up the stairs of the hut step by step. In the small house, there are really unexpected decorations—there are ancient celestial maps hanging on the wall, a stone statue of the Egyptian god Hellas with a bird as the head, and some weird musical instruments that can't even be named.The hut had no roof, and the evening sun cast a long shadow on the wall. These "decorations" left these "heretics" dumbfounded for quite a while. Halak walked up to the altar without looking back.His face was calm and composed, as if as long as he was in the temple, he would be protected by God.The old man raised his head to the sky, raised his hands high, and chanted another spell. Ellery wanted to ask Professor Adori, but he saw the professor listening attentively not far away. "It's incredible!" the professor muttered to himself, "It's been the twentieth century, yet there are still people who can speak such fluent ancient Egyptian." Ellery didn't understand the meaning of the professor's words: "Master, do you mean that this madman really knows what he's talking about?" "Hmm!" The professor paused, as if he was sorting out his thoughts, "Originally, I wanted to tell you, but I never had the chance to be alone with you. Actually, I came here two or three weeks ago, when I The first time I saw this old man on crutches, I knew it was Streka, the greatest Egyptian scholar in the world. But a few years ago, he went to Egypt's "Royal Valley" for archaeological exploration , unexpectedly suffered from severe heat stroke while digging, and went mad. Since then, he has not been well." "But—about the fact that he spoke Ancient Egyptian..." Ellery still didn't understand.Ellery looked at Harlacett incredulously. "Listen!" Professor Adori patted Ellery on the shoulder, "he is reciting the sacrificial rite to Heras—it's written in ancient hieroglyphs! It's just that his memory fails after he goes mad. For example , there is no such house in Egyptology, and the horns are used for sacrifices, and the snake pot is a symbol of godhood. In addition, the portrait of Heras and the scriptures he recited are just fragments left in Chi's brain It’s just a patchwork of memories and my own imagination.” Harakett had finished chanting the spell at this time, he calmly grabbed a little ash from the censer on the altar, and wiped it on his eyelids.Then, walked down with a smile. Ellery revisited Harakett from another angle.Whether he is crazy or not, if he is not a liar, the problem will be completely different.And the name of Streika seems to have been heard before, by the way, wasn’t there an Egyptologist named Streka in high school a few years ago?It is said that he has been dead for a long time, so this old man... As soon as Ellery turned his head, he saw Hathe Lincoln wearing a sweater and skirt, standing on the other side of the temple.Although her face was pale, it also expressed her determination.She didn't even look at Deng Baoluo, but went straight to Luo Min.Surprisingly, Luo Min blushed and dodged to the side.Deng Paulo couldn't help smiling when he saw it. Police officer Bonn would not forget the purpose of his trip because of these trivial matters, so he walked up to Strelka who was standing in the crowd and said, "May I ask you a few things?" "What's the problem?" Harakett's head seemed to be normal. "When did you leave West Virginia?" "Five months ago. After Kufi." "What?" Bonn was a little impatient. Professor Yadoli cleared his throat and said: "Let me explain! The so-called 'Kufi Festival' is a ceremony held by ancient Egyptian monks when the sun goes down. The content is very complicated. Kufi is composed of about sixteen kinds Sweets made of raw materials, honey, resin, and a lot of various fruits; stirred in a bronze furnace, and then chanting scriptures while stirring. This is what they take, in the sun When going down the mountain, the ceremony of offering sacrifices to the ancestors is held. That is to say, the ancestor worship he held after the sun went down five months ago-it should have come in January." Bonn nodded, expressing that he understood Kufei festival meaning.Streika also nodded heavily to the professor. Suddenly, Ellery yelled as if he had discovered something: "Kloshak!" At this moment, Streka suddenly lost the smile on his face, and then retreated to the altar with a very dull expression.Luo Min didn't move. Judging from his expression, he was probably just taken aback. Ellery also noticed it, so he apologized very embarrassedly: "I'm sorry, I often do such rash things. Officer, please continue to ask questions." Bonn smiled, and turned to Harakett again: "It seems that you are not an ordinary fool. Say, where is Kloshak?" The crazy old man pursed his lips: "Kloshak... I don't know! I don't know, he is a traitor who betrayed my god and fled." Harakett's answer was the same as when he was in Arroyo. Then, Esham pointed to Luo Min and asked, "When did this guy join your organization?" Luo Min replied with an unhappy face: "Who the hell is Klossak? As for me, I met this old gentleman in February." "Where?" "Pittsburgh." Luo Min glanced back at Harakett, then turned back and continued, "He said he was the 'Sun God' and had magical powers. Of course, these words are superstitious, and they can only be fooled by those country bumpkins; However, asking people to take off their sweaty clothes and bask in the sunshine of nature is quite a fascinating argument. Just look at me!" Luo Min took a big breath and puffed up her chest, " Look! My strong body is all the gift of the sun!" "Hey! Don't talk about it. I think you are no different from the advertisements that sell plasters on the roadside." Bonn said disdainfully. Wait. By the way, why on earth did you come to this island?" "Hmph!" Luo Min puffed up her chest, "What is a police officer, it's nothing special, I—" Harakett cried out uneasily: "This is the rule." "Regulations? Who made the regulations?" Esham Zhang Erjingang asked confusedly. Streika just repeated: "This is the rule." Luo Min explained: "Don't listen to him, he will say some inexplicable things when he is angry, when I am with him, he will say the same things, rules and so on..." Ellery asked pleasantly, "Was he like this before you became his apprentice?" "Ok!" It seems impossible to get some tidy clues from this sunstroke-mad Egyptologist.And Luo Min didn't know anything about what happened six months ago. In the end, all they knew was that there were twenty-three naturists on the island, most of them from New York.Ellery thought that they were probably also attracted by those ingenious advertisements and Luomin's strong body. They took the railway to a nearby station, then took a taxi to the public pier, and then the owner of the island, Kegam, transported them to the island by boat.It is said that Kaigam and his wife live on the east side of the island. Bonn found out all those believers who worshiped the sun god and naturism.They were terribly afraid as if they had committed some heinous crime. Some trembled, some huddled together, and some of them even took out their suitcases and prepared to leave.But Bonn told them not to leave without permission.Then I asked each person's name and address clearly, recorded them, and showed a sarcastic smile from time to time. Esham also stood aside and co-organized: "Did anyone leave yesterday?" Everyone immediately shook their heads.It seems that no one has returned to the mainland these days. Hess Lincoln was still standing beside Luo Min at this moment, motionless. Deng Paulo walked over slowly, and said patiently: "Hess, let's go!" Hess shook her head without looking. Dun Paulo came closer: "Okay! Don't make trouble anymore. I know you just like to have a temper. However, you should be able to distinguish right from wrong after so many things you have experienced. You really shouldn't be with these lunatics. , liar together." Hearing these words, Luo Min ran over angrily: "Hey, what did you just say?" Paul Dun stared at him and said, "Crazy!" Resentment and jealousy have gone to the good doctor's head.As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his right arm and punched Luo Min on the chin, making a thud. Hayes was petrified by the sudden punch.She was nailed there like a log, and ran into the forest crying.At this moment, Police Officer Bonn jumped out. Although Luo Min was a little dazed at first, he immediately shrugged and laughed.He opened his big eyes like copper bells, "Deng Paulo, please remember, this time I spared you, next time I meet again, I will definitely tear your bones apart piece by piece. Go back quickly! " Watching this chaotic farce, Ellery couldn't help shaking his head and sighing.