Chapter 14 The Gentleman Crucified Part Three

After Megara learned of the tragedy, she immediately stopped all her original plans and activities.The Black Forest also turned on its full horsepower and sped northward from Jamaica at high speed.Due to the failure of the main engine, Captain Sweet had to order the ship to dock for repairs.Therefore, it took a few days before the ship went to sea again. On July 1, eight days after the Bonn police officer received the telegram, the Black Forest finally appeared off Long Island.Because Megara had contacted the Port Authority of New York Harbor in advance, the customs clearance procedures were completed quickly.When he entered the bay, in addition to a police boat, there were many small boats hired by journalists behind him. It took a lot of effort to prevent the journalists from boarding the deck of the Black Forest!

During this time, the Bratt family has held a funeral for Thomas Bratt.Mrs. Bratt did not make a big splash, but buried him in a nearby cemetery with a simple and grand ceremony.Everyone said that Mrs. Bratt was very strong, and some even said that Miss Helin, who was not related by blood, was more flustered than her mother. The manhunt for Kloshak has become a nationwide manhunt.His portraits have been posted on major news media or in the streets and alleys across the country, and international police networks have even cooperated as far as Mexico and Canada.Although everyone searched day and night, there was still no clue to be found, let alone the case of Klimt.

What about Fox?The driver of the Blatter family is still imprisoned in the seaside hut as if in prison.Investigations into him are still ongoing.Until the day when Megara came back, his fingerprint information was still not found in the criminal files in the east, and the police officer still refused to give up and sent his fingerprint card to the west for comparison.Fox remained silent throughout, as if he had no complaints about his detention.He sat on the only small chair in the house every day, and hardly moved except for three meals. It seemed that Bonn had a little wisdom in using this strategy of completely ignoring him to deal with his silence.

On Friday, July 1st, the Black Forest sailed into Kegam Bay.Blatt's private pier was crowded with people, and Ellery, Professor Adori, Police Officer Bonn, and Esham's prosecutor's office were also standing on the pier at this time, waiting wordlessly. The boat finally docked slowly.The hull looks magnificent and luxurious, its metal hull reflects the sun, shining on the blue sea in the morning. Megara disembarked first.He is tall, dark-skinned, and has two black beards with character on his mouth.His nose was flat and broad, as if he'd been fatally flattened in a fight.However, generally speaking, Megara is a man who seems to be full of energy, especially when he jumps from the hull of the boat to the pier, which is really clean and agile. It looks completely different from the victim Bratt.

He walked up to Ellery and the others, and said in English with a slightly British accent: "My name is Stephen Megara, why are there so many people coming to pick me up? Hei Lin." His only name is Hei Lin. name. Helin walked over.Megara took her hand and looked tenderly into her eyes. All focus is on them.Heilin slowly withdrew his hand a little embarrassed.Megara smiled, and after talking to Mrs. Bratt, she turned around and asked, "Thomas was killed, right? If there is anything I can help, please don't hesitate. Now Could you please introduce yourself first?" Ersham said in a very displeased tone: "I am the local prosecutor Ersham, this is the Bonn police officer, there is the visiting investigator Ellery Quinn, and this one is just moved to Professor Adori near Bratt's house."

After shaking hands with everyone one by one, Megara pointed to a serious man with white hair beside him and said, "This is Captain Sweet." "Hello." Sweet greeted everyone immediately.Ellery also discovered that he was missing three fingers.He is a tall old man with clear eyes like a pair of telescopes.He is very much like a wandering Jew, with a wandering taste. After everyone finished greeting, Ellery and his party followed Megara to Bratt's house, while the captain was still walking unsteadily like a boat. Megara spoke first: "Because I've been at sea for a long time, I couldn't get the news right away, but Blatter's death is a big blow to me." However, from Megara's expression, Doesn't look like he's been hit in any way.The Bratt mother and daughter, Lincoln and the doctor walked behind blankly.

Officer Bonn stepped forward enthusiastically and asked, "Mr. Megara, we have been waiting for you to come back. Who do you think will kill Blatter?" "Well..." Megara turned her head to look at Mrs. Bratt and Heilin, "Sorry I can't tell you, because I want to understand the whole story first." When Esham was about to answer, Ellery suddenly asked in a low voice, "Do you know about Andrew Pang?" When Megara heard this, she was taken aback at first, but soon returned to her normal expression: "Anduru Pang? Is he related to this case?" "So, you got it!" Esham exclaimed.

"His death was exactly the same as Blatter's," Ellery replied. "Pang was also killed?" Megara couldn't help crying, and there was a shadow of anxiety in his eyes. "His head was cut off, and he was nailed to a T-frame to form a letter T..." Ellery explained emphatically. Hearing these words, Megara stopped suddenly, and all the people walking behind him also stopped, his face became very nervous. "T," he murmured, "well, let's talk in the room!" At this moment, Megara's face revealed the paleness after panic.He was full of worries, and seemed to be full of worries, and suddenly seemed to be decades old.

Ellery asked eagerly, "Could you please explain the 'T' thing first?" "Let me think about it..." Megara trembled.Then, a group of people walked into the house quietly. Stallings opened the door and said with a gentle smile, "Mr. Megara, it's good to see you—" Megara didn't even look at him, she just walked past him, walked into the living room, and started to walk up and down, looking at him as if she was worried about something.Mrs. Bratt came up to him and grabbed his wrist. "Stephen... if you know this horrible riddle..." "Stephen, you must know!" Heilin cried out.

Lincoln also went on to say: "Mr. Megara, I think you should tell everyone! This is like a nightmare to us, so speak out! It will also clear everyone's doubts." Megara sighed and put his hands in his pockets: "Please calm down first." He looked at Captain Sweet with a guilty face and said, "Please sit down, Captain, I am so sorry for dragging you into this mess .” The captain still just nodded, but instead of sitting down, he retreated to the door. Megara clasped her hands tightly and said blankly, "I know who killed Thomas Bratt." "Oh? Who is it?" Bonn asked anxiously.

"It's Kloshak, I think he must be right. Didn't you just mention T? If the meaning of the word T coincides with what I think in my heart, then in this world, only He can do this kind of thing. In short, you must first tell me the whole thing, including the two murders of Blatter and Pang." Bonn looked at Ersham, and Ersham nodded to him, so Bonn cleared his throat, and made a statement, starting from the time when Grandpa Peter and Farmer Okins found Principal Pang's body at the T-junction, detailing everything narratively.When he talked about a lame man who asked the garage owner Karuka to drive him to the T-junction, Megara nodded slowly: "It's him! It's him!" shouted as if all doubts had disappeared , when the story was finished, he showed a wry smile and said, "At this point, I have fully understood." He regained his composure, "Please tell me about the thatched cottage again!" "But, Mr. Megara," Esham protested, "what the hell is going on, I really..." "Please take me there right away, now," Megara said as she walked to the door. Bonn and Ersham looked at each other.They looked at Ellery, who nodded at them.Everyone went to the scene one after another. Professor Yadori walked at the end.He secretly tugged on La Ellery's sleeve and said in a low voice, "Hey! Don't you think this scene is almost over?" Ellery shrugged, turned around and made a grimace: "How do I know? That guy doesn't know where it is, unless Megara can find Kloshak..." "Your hypothesis is exaggerated," said the professor. "How do you know that Kloshak is hiding around here?" "No, I don't know either, it's just that there must be such a possibility." After a while, everyone came to the thatched cottage.It has been covered with a tarpaulin around it, and a policeman is standing there guarding it.As soon as Bonn removed the cloth tent, Megara walked in. The interior of the hut was preserved as it was the scene of the murder the next morning. Megara only paid attention to one thing at this time, and paid no attention to the T, the blood and the traces of the battle. He only looked at the pipe of Poseidon and said, "Officer Bonn, when you said the pipe of Poseidon, I knew You got something wrong." "Wrong?" Bonn was very embarrassed, but Ellery's eyes were shining brightly. "Is there a mistake? Mr. Megara." "Well, it's all wrong." Megara looked at the pipe mournfully, "Do you think it belongs to Thomas Bratt? Wrong!" "Could it be Kloshak's?" cried the inspector. "It would be fine if it was really his." Megara replied in a cruel tone, "It's wrong, it's mine." In an instant, everyone was thinking quietly, thinking about this matter repeatedly in their hearts, Bonn He looked very confused. "Wait a minute." Isham finally couldn't hold back the doubts in his heart and asked again, "This answer really confuses us. Mr. Megara, we always thought that this pipe belonged to Bratt, and yours Steward Stallings said the same thing, and what is even more puzzling is that there are only Thomas Bratt's fingerprints on the whole pipe. Bratt also smoked this pipe that night. Why are you saying yes now? and yours?" "What's wrong with that? It's my pipe. If Stallings says it's Tomaskin's he must be lying, or he saw it when I left last year and forgot who it was." Using it," he explained after a pause, "I forgot to take this pipe with me when I went to sea a year ago." "I suppose you don't know what's going on here?" said Ellery to Esham. "Why should a man have so many pipes he doesn't smoke and use someone else's? It doesn't really make sense. " "Yes!" "This is not a joke!" Megara said solemnly, "If this is not mine, then whose is it? Besides, Thomas has so many pipes, so he probably wouldn't use other people's pipes, right? Besides, Tom Thomas has a cleanliness..." He touched the pipe, looking like he couldn't put it down, and then said, "I really miss this Poseidon pipe, it has been with me for fifteen years. Thomas also I know I like this pipe very much," he said after a moment's silence, "and a man like Thomas would never want to smoke it." Ellery went on: "I see this is getting interesting, folks! How do you feel about what Mr. Megara said?" "That's easy," said Inspector Bonn triumphantly. "Kloshak wants to put the blame on Mr. Megara." Ellery waved his hand in disapproval: "Are you kidding? It's not that Croshak didn't know that Mr. Megara was traveling dozens of miles overseas when the murder happened. Besides, Croshak wouldn't Stupid enough for us to associate this case with the principal's murder." Ellery frowned, then looked at Megara, "Mr. Megara, where were you on June 22nd? ?” Megara looked back at the captain: "I knew they would ask this question." He smiled wryly, "Do you remember where we were at that time?" Sweet nodded, took out a small book from his pocket and handed it over: "I copied this from the log book, you will know it after reading it." So everyone looked at this small notebook together, which recorded that on June 22, the Black Forest passed through the water gate of the Panama Canal, intending to sail to the West Indies, and the receipt of the canal charges was attached. "At that time, all the crew members were on board." Sweet said in a hoarse voice, "The logbook is on board, and you can read it with me at any time. At that time, we were sailing in the Pacific Ocean to the east and to Australia in the west. " Officer Bonn nodded: "I don't doubt you, but I need to see the logbook, I hope you don't mind." Megara crossed his hands and asked, "Does anyone doubt me?" He continued to smile, "Actually, if you really doubt me, I don't blame anyone." Ersham wasn't too pleased, and the officer said to Ellery, "Well? Did you think of anything? I know you must have something." "I'm sorry, my lord," Ellery said, pointing to the memo and the receipt. "I don't think Klossak is trying to use that evidence to convince us that Megara is the murderer, because he must know that Megara has something wrong." Proof." He paused for a few seconds, then picked up his pipe and said with certainty, "The problem must be with this peculiarly shaped pipe. Why did Kloshak make this move? I think he It must be used to convince us that Mr. Blatt was killed while smoking this pipe; moreover, he did not know that this pipe belonged to Mr. Megara. So since he wants to make this the first scene of the murder Then, the murder must not have happened here. Now let us think about it, where could be the real first scene?" "Is it the study?" "Well! I think so." Ellery returned the pipe to Megara. "You must remember the confession that Stallings saw Thomas Bratt sitting alone in the study before leaving the house." Well! He must have been waiting for someone that night, and he didn't want anyone to see him, so he pretended to be playing chess and sent the family away." "Wait a minute, Ellery." Megara scratched her head and said, "Your reasoning is correct, but there are deviations." Ellery asked suspiciously: "Oh! Is there an error in the analysis?" "You just said that Croshak didn't know that the pipe was mine. That assumption is entirely wrong!" Ellery now took off his glasses and began wiping them—a gesture he always did when he was embarrassed or excited.Then he said: "Then, Mr. Megara, will Croshak know that the pipe is yours?" "Because this pipe is usually placed in a box. I wonder if you have found that box?" "No!" Ellery said, looking at Megara. "Isn't that box with your name on it?" "Yes," Megara went on, "my full name is engraved in gold letters on the lid. The pipe was still in it when I last saw it." "Oh! Great." Ellery said with a sudden excited smile, "There is no doubt now. Mr. Megara, thanks to your reminder, I can figure out some problems. The matter is already a little bit, so Now please don't be impatient, everyone, and I will comment when I finish... In fact, Croshak knew that the pipe belonged to you, but he deliberately left your pipe in the hut, and then he should have taken the box. Gone. Why did he take the box? Because if he left the box, we would know that it was not Thomas's thing when we found it. So the reason why he took the box was to let us temporarily Mistaking that pipe as Thomas's. Do you agree with me?" "Why let us misunderstand it for a while?" Bonn asked. "Why?" Ellery went on confidently, "Kloshak had already foreseen the situation so far. His purpose was to make us mistakenly believe that Mr. Megara had not returned. The hut is the scene of the murder, and after Mr. Megara came back, we found out that the hut was not the first scene. Then, he can make us confused where is the real murder scene. Therefore, why he used this Method? Is it a cover-up? I think we can start with Thomas's own pipe." "I always find it weird." Esham said, shaking his head. Ellery smiled and said, "Don't you understand? Kloshak wants us to go to the murder scene now, not a week ago, mind you, but now." "But why is that?" Megara asked inexplicably, "Isn't there any meaning at all?" Ellery shrugged and said, "I can't be very specific about the real reason behind this layout. But, Mr. Megara, now Kloshak is trying to confuse us about the murder scene, just like you The thing you are looking for is in the Atlantic Ocean, but you are trying to find it in the Pacific Ocean. Of course, it is futile. I would rather follow the route laid out by Kloshak." Ellery thought for a while, and then said, "So First, we can find some clues that he arranged to let us know in advance, and maybe we can find flaws, what do you think? Let’s go! Let’s go to the study to have a look.”