Chapter 27 Chapter XXVI Ellery's Corollary
They walked quickly around Blatter's house for fear of meeting the deceased's family.Jonas Lincoln went home quietly.There was an ominous atmosphere in the Bratt house because of a string of misfortunes.Everyone's faces were full of sadness, and Hei Lin was in a daze all day long.
At noon that day, Ellery sat silently in the professor's study.The old professor, who is usually talkative, didn't say a word as if he was hiding from the air-raid siren.Both the teacher and the student looked extremely quiet on the surface, but inside they were turbulent and turbulent.
There were dark clouds outside, and the wind was blowing so hard that it rattled the windows.It didn't take long before the big raindrops and the rumbling thunder came one after another.
The old professor fumbled in his pocket for a while, then took out his pipe.Ellery immediately lit a cigarette for the professor.
"Hi! What are you thinking about?" the professor asked while smoking a cigarette.
"I dare not deny that I am thinking about some problems, but this feeling is very strange, as if there is an idea floating there in a daze, but I can't catch it, like a ghost. I think this kind of inexplicable The teacher must have the same feeling, right?"
The professor took a deep breath of cigarettes: "I often have this phenomenon, but if you keep thinking about it like this, it will be useless and unpleasant. According to my experience, it is better to simply forget about them and let your mind go. Guazi is sober and sober, and when he has almost rested and then thinks back, there will often be unexpected gains.”
Ellery nodded, smiled slightly, and after a while of chatting, the two of them talked about the chessboard in Bratt's study.Ellery suspects that Bratt was not alone in playing that game, but the evidence to support his view is just a hunch.So he frowned and said, "Professor, do you think there is room for discussion with Stallings' words?"
"I've also thought about this problem, but I really can't see what's wrong with the surface of this matter."
"What you call the surface is..."
"Besides Kloshak, Stallings was the last person to see Blatter. There's nothing suspicious about what he said. There's nothing wrong with playing chess alone, especially if he's as good as he is." However, when Stallings left, Klossak must have sneaked into the study and killed Bratt while he was concentrating on playing chess, and Bratt was holding the red piece when he was killed , so the chess piece will be found near the totem pole."
Ellery scratched his head. "Sneak into the study? What does that mean?"
Adori smiled and said: "I was just about to talk about this! Didn't I just say various hypotheses that are not supported by evidence? One of them is Kloshak - as you have repeatedly argued, he is just a It’s just someone similar to us—the guest that Bratt was waiting for that night. From this assumption, we can know how Kloshak entered that house. Of course, Bratt would not know that he thought he was a confidant A man who is not a friend or a friend is actually an enemy who seeks revenge on himself."
"I can't agree with that..." Ellery sighed, "Sir, I can tell you right now about the theoretical outlines of that powerful hypothesis, which is not just a random guess, but can be analyzed, but this The conclusion still cannot dispel the haze."
The professor smoked his pipe and thought: "Wait, I haven't finished, I have another hypothesis, but it is also unsupported by evidence, but in my opinion, this has the same degree of truth as the previous hypothesis That's right, two people came to Bratt that night, one of them was the one who sent away his wife, step-daughter and all the servants in the house for him, and the other was his enemy Kloshak At this time, did the legitimate guest come before or after Kloshak? From this result, we can know whether he came when Bratt was alive or after his death, no matter what , this person does not want to be implicated because of a certain relationship, so he has kept silent about the visit, which is also human nature! Regarding this, no one has thought of it. I find it really strange. In the past three weeks, I I've been looking forward to your proposal!"
"I see." Ellery took off his pince-nez, his eyes were bloodshot, and there was a flash of lightning, illuminating the room and their faces an eerie blue. "That was a big expectation." Oh!"
"Haven't you thought of that?"
"I didn't think of it. I didn't state the hypothesis because it wasn't true."
"Oh!" said the professor. "Finally, we are almost at the goal. According to you, you can prove that only one person went to that house to look for Bratt that night, can't you?"
Ellery smiled weakly: "Teacher, you really make me feel uncomfortable. The so-called evidence, making others believe it is evidence, is more important than you proving it is evidence. The whole story is very complicated. Teacher, do you still remember that What the French moralist Marquis Wolfnag said! 'If there is a thought that cannot be expressed in simple language, then this weak thought can be ignored.' But when the time is right, I will express it." The professor looks forward to Leaning forward, so Ellery put on the pince-nez again, "I have two arguments, the position of chess pieces on Blatter's table, and the psychology of a good chess player, sir, Do you understand how to play chess? I remember you said that you never played chess with Blatter."
"Yes, but I know the method, although I don't play well, and I haven't played for several years."
"If you know the play, you can understand my reasoning. Stallings said that when he entered the room, he saw Blatter playing chess by himself, and only played two pieces. Our friends deviated from the subject to a certain extent The right direction is all caused by his words, so they think-the last time Stallings saw Blatter, he was playing chess alone, so Blatter was also playing chess alone when he was killed, And you are getting into the same error.
"But the chess pieces on the table indicate a completely different situation. Not only the chess pieces on the board have been taken away, but also the chess pieces placed outside the board clearly show that black has captured nine red pieces, while red has only captured Three black pieces were lost, you remember! From this we can immediately see that black has a greater advantage than red.
"The black pieces on the board have three kings, that is to say, there are two stacked pieces, and there are three black pieces, while the red pieces have only two extremely weak pieces left."
"So what?" asked the professor. "I still feel that Blatter is playing chess alone, and he is studying the worst possible situation for the enemy."
"This conclusion is not allowed." Ellery retorted, "From an experimental standpoint, if an expert plays chess, he will only be interested in the first and last moves, not only chess, but other games of wits , the key is at the end. If only one player is playing chess, what reason does Blatter want to create an overwhelming situation with three kings on one side? It is impossible for him to create that situation when doing experimental chess. Anyone with a discerning eye can immediately see the unfavorable situation and know the result when they look at the chessboard. However, Blatter plays the unbalanced chess seriously with himself as the opponent, which is tantamount to saying that Arlekin is playing chess alone. When—one side is extremely dominant, the same is the case with a king, two bishops, and a knight. So, although Stallings saw Blatter playing chess alone, on that night or Even later, he played chess with an opponent. It is impossible for an expert like him to play chess that is overwhelmingly unbalanced, and this unbalanced situation is just another situation, that is, Said he was playing chess with someone."
It was raining heavily outside--gray rain, beating violently on the window-sills.On the face of Professor Yaduoli's black beard, he smiled wryly with regret and showed his white teeth.
"I get it! I get it, I admit, but you haven't eliminated another possible hypothesis. Blatter played chess with a legitimate visitor that night, and at a certain point, the visitor went back first, and then Blatter Killed by Kloshak."
"How ingenious!" Ellery chuckled happily, "Master, you are so stubborn! Now I can bombard you with both theory and common sense.
"Let's look at it from this point of view! Can we infer the moment when Blatter was killed from the period of playing chess?
"From the point of view of theory, I claim that we can deduce the result. Didn't we see it on the spot? There are two red pieces in the first row of black pieces, one of which is still alive, but in the rules of chess, if When one's own piece reaches the enemy's first row, it has the right to crown its own piece, which means to become a king. As you know, it has the right to place the second piece on top of the first .But in this game of chess, why is there a situation where there is a red piece in the row that should be the king, but it is not crowned?"
"I'm finally beginning to understand a little bit." Professor Yadori murmured.
"The reason for this is that at that moment, the game was stopped. It was because if the red piece was not crowned, the whole game would not be able to continue." Ellery continued in one breath, "What's the matter?" Can this game be interrupted? Yes, first of all we must deduce whether Blatter is holding red or black chess pieces in this game. I believe everyone knows whether Blatter’s chess skills are as bad as amateurs’. In the past, he invited the National Chess Champion to his home for a game of chess, and the two played a tie, and their chess skills were equal, so it was obvious that Blatter could not take the red chess, because the red chess left the opponent with three more kings A tie like this cannot be taken by Blatter of course, so I advocate that Blatter took the black piece... However, for the sake of correct statement, I will slightly correct it, that is, the black piece is not There are three kings and a single piece, but two kings and two separate pieces, because I think one of the red pieces has become the king."
"But even so, it's overwhelmingly overwhelming."
"Blatt should sit on the chair near the desk when taking the black piece, instead of sitting on the opposite chair farther away from the desk, because the red piece that was taken away was placed on the side close to the desk, and the red piece that was removed Chess is of course black.
"So far, we can know that when Blatter plays chess, he takes black pieces, and he sits on a chair near the desk, while his opponent sits on the opposite chair, that is to say, Blatter has his back to the desk, and The guests sit facing the desk."
"But what's the point of it?—"
Ellery closed his eyes and said, "Teacher, please accept Disraeli's motto - patience is needed for those who want to understand the work of genius. What about Philip of Macedon, what about Jesus, these tiresome and long words, I have never been able to figure out what the conclusion is, and I have countless times in my heart...
"However, where did I just say? Oh! Yes! The red piece of chess is missing a piece, and the missing piece fell outdoors where Blatter was crucified. Blatter was nailed There is a red stain on the palm of his hand, so it seems that Blatter held the chess piece in his hand when he died, why did he hold the chess piece in his hand? Of course there are various possibilities, but inferred from the known facts, there is only one possible."
"What fact?"
"The red piece should be the king on the black side but didn't wear the crown. From this fact, there is a lost red piece in the hand of the black piece. But, teacher, why do you always disagree with me? What about the conclusion? I really don’t understand this point!” Ellery said proudly, “My conclusion is that, first, after a hard fight, the red piece chased its pieces to the king of the black piece. row, that is, the side of the first row of black pieces, that is, Blatter picks up a red piece that has already been taken, and wants to put it next to the red piece that has reached the row of his own king. Second, Blatter did not When I put the red piece in my hand on the first row, something happened, and the game ended. This is my conclusion. In other words, Blatter took the red piece because he wanted to put the red piece on the opponent's piece. The fact that the king, in the end, failed to complete his move for his purpose clearly shows not only that the game was interrupted, but also the reason for the interruption."
Adriatic listened eagerly without saying a word.
"The simple conclusion about this is that Blatt couldn't complete the action because he couldn't do it anymore." Ellery took a breath and sighed, "Blatt was killed at that moment, so he couldn't give Red Chess wears a crown."
"Then now to the bloodstains!" cried the professor.
"Yes!" Ellery said, "the blood on the ground supports my inference just now. The blood is on the black side, that is, two feet behind the chair where Bratt is sitting. We already know that the person was killed in the study. And there is only one bloodstain in the study. If Blatter is sitting on a chair and wants to put down the red chess piece, and at this moment his head is attacked from the front, of course he will fall backwards, that is, he will fall from the back of the chair. , and we happened to find bloodstains there. Forensic doctor Ramsen said that he did not see any signs of injury, so he argued that Blatter was directly attacked on the head. All the details are completely consistent, but there is one fact, that is Blatter was playing chess with the person who attacked him, in other words, the murderer who killed Blatter was his opponent in chess, it seems that you have an objection?"
"Of course!" Professor Yadoli lit up his cigarette, took a puff, and exhaled slowly, "Your theory denies the following point, that is to say, those who play chess with Blatter are innocent , or Kloshak's accomplice—that is, the innocent man's quarrel with Blatter, or his accomplice's attempt to distract Blatter so that Kloshak could take advantage of it. After the attack, I already said this idea the day the blood was found."
"There are so many theories, sir." Ellery blinked teasingly, "We already knew that Kloshak had no accomplices, he came here for revenge, and he never lured accomplices in terms of money. factor.
"Then there were two people, a guest who didn't know anything, about the possibility of this... What does that mean? I want you to think about it, it means that Kloshak attacked Blatter in front of witnesses. , but how reluctantly does he need to silence that witness? If he is the kind of person whose conscience is clouded by blood, when he needs to kill someone, he won't do it? But the person seems to be Returned safely."
"What if that witness came before Kloshak and then went back?" the professor asked urgently.
Ellery groaned helplessly in his throat: "If you go back first, then this witness is not an eyewitness." He said with a smile, "In short, the most important thing is that we can see from the chessboard that Blatter is against Kloshak played the game without any visitors either before or after the game."
"So what's your lengthy conclusion so far?" Adori asked.
"As I said before, the murderer killed Blatter after playing chess with him, and of course Kloshak did not appear as Kloshak, but as someone else, and for acquaintance."
"Oh!" the professor shouted, "I finally understand, why is it an acquaintance? Do you think that the person who plays chess with him must be an acquaintance? Don't be kidding, people like Blatter, even if the other party is charging the water bill, As long as he knows a little bit about chess skills, he will compete with him, and I spent three weeks trying to tell him that I don't want to play chess with him!"
"Ah! Teacher, you are so disgusting. If it is for the sake of playing chess, it is inferred that the person who is playing chess with him is not his friend. I have a more favorable reason for this. Does Bratt know that the enemies of the Tiffany family are eager for him? Bleeding, and came to this country?"
"It can be proved from his suicide note that he already knew about it, and Pang also wrote him a warning letter."
"You're absolutely right! But he already knows about it. Will he still play chess with strangers and send away all those who protect him?" Ellery continued as if sighing, "If sufficient information is found , everything can be easily solved. Listen carefully, let me give you the most direct example now, let’s assume that someone comes to Blatter, negotiates a good deal with him and goes back. After that, Kloshak appears, Klo Shaq and Blatt have never met, but we know that the other side played chess with Blatt, and it was Blatt who invited people who had never met to this house without any precautions. Of course, this assumption is wrong, anyway. , the other party must be someone that Blatter knows well, it doesn’t matter whether he is the person Blatter waited for that night, or a casual visitor. I believe that besides Blatter, there was only one person who walked into the study that night People, that is Kloshak, but even if two people, three people, or ten people have come, it doesn’t matter, the people who played chess with him are familiar to him, this conclusion will not be shaken.”
"So what do you understand?"
"I don't understand at all!" said Ellery sadly. "So I said just now that I don't know any more than I did three weeks ago, but now I've discovered a fact."
The professor got up and walked back and forth by the fireplace: "Do you have any unexpected conclusions?"
"I'm absolutely sure that Croshak is not lame."
"Hasn't this matter already been said?" Professor Yadoli said.
"No, it didn't feel right before," Ellery replied, "and now I'm 100 percent sure about it, why?" Ellery got up to walk about, the air in the room was quite humid, It was raining harder outside, "No matter who Kloshak disguises as, he and Blatter are very familiar people, and among the people that Blatter is familiar with, there is no lame person, so Kloshak is not No lameness, he just used his childhood disability as a feature in order to deceive the eyes and ears of the police."
"That's why that guy can leave lame clues as if nothing happened!" Professor Yadori muttered to himself, "Yes! He returns to normal when he feels dangerous, alas! I should have thought of this earlier." Yadori He lit the cigarette, took a puff, and strode around the room, swinging his upper body back and forth, "What about now?" He looked at Ellery with sharp eyes and said, "Isn't that vague concept clearly emerging now? ?”
Ellery nodded: "There are still many swirling mysteries hidden behind... We know that Kloshak is nearby, and we can also see his motives for pretending to be lame. This is completely different from the criminal pattern of approaching the target first and then taking action." It matches. There is an enemy relationship, and he killed Andorea among the brothers, but why did he first find Pang, who lives in the most remote place? When this question will be solved, only God knows... Crowe Shaq reappears, this time with Bratt, and the same problem happens again. So now it's extremely complicated, Klossak finds out after Bratt is killed that he killed the wrong guy, and knows that Pon is alive; "Where is he? No matter what, he must be found." Croshak muttered to himself, otherwise the goal of revenge will not be achieved, this is the result of the second act, what a big show, Megara is back Kloshak knew he was coming back, and he was the only one who knew who Pang was disguised as and where he lived, so the murder case was deadlocked at halftime. And then...Jesus!" cried Lerry.
The professor looked at Ellery nervously. He seemed to be in a sudden panic, staring at the host as if he was nailed to the ground.
"My God!" Ellery jumped up suddenly. "I'm so stupid, I'm an idiot, a nerd, I'm so stupid, so stupid!"
"Didn't I say that?" The professor smiled in relief, "What is that? Quinn, what did you think of?"
Ellery's face was filled with exhilarated expressions, his eyes clouded as if he was completely in fantasy, and his heart was greatly shocked, and he was shaking there, these expressions disappeared soon after they appeared, and Ellery was smooth With a dark face, there was a strong determination, and he suddenly said: "I can only tell you the general idea, and I don't have time to go into details now. What are we waiting for? What are Kloshak waiting for? Let's wait for Kloshak." Shaq was informed of Pang's whereabouts by the sole keeper of the secret, so now that Megara was killed, isn't it obvious?"
"Kloshak has discovered it!" Adori shouted expressively, "Oops! Quinn, we are so stupid, maybe it's too late!"
Ellery didn't even have time to answer, so he hurried to the phone: "Xionion, please send a telegram... Hurry up, this is Police Officer Lu Deng in Arroyo Village, West Virginia... Now tell You send a message,——'Immediately form a guard team to Grandpa Peter's hut, please protect the old man before I arrive, and tell Kermit by the way that Kloshak is back. Before you arrive at the hut, in case something happens , please find Krosac's whereabouts, but don't touch the crime scene! Caller, Ellery Quinn', please read it to me once, eh! Krosac - Krosac, yes! Good! Thank you You!" He put down the phone, changed his mind immediately, picked up the phone, and called Bradoudo across the street to ask Bonn police officer to listen to the phone.Stallings told him that Officer Bonn had left Bradoudo in a hurry not long ago.Ellery drove away Stallings domineeringly, called one of Bonn's men down, and asked him where Police Officer Bonn was. Drove out with the district attorney.
"Okay!" Ellery said, hanging up the phone thoughtfully. "What shall we do now? Don't waste time!" He ran to the window!The rain poured out like a waterfall, lightning flashed, and thunder blared loudly, "Teacher!" He ran to Professor Yadori, "Please stay here."
"I can't let you go alone." Professor Yadoli said, "It's thundering and raining outside, how do you go?"
"Teacher, no problem, please stay here, I will contact the aircraft company." Ellery picked up the microphone, "Pick up Mineola Airport! Hurry up!"
While Ellery was waiting, the professor stroked his chin uneasily: "Hey! Quinn! It doesn't seem appropriate to take off in this kind of weather."
Ellery waved his hand: "Hello, is this Mineola? Can you charter a plane to the southwest?...What?" Ellery had a disappointed expression on his face, and hung up the phone shortly afterwards. "Even the weather and the rain are tormenting us. The storm is coming from the southwest. I'm heading southwest. The people in Minneola say that the weather in the Allegheny Mountains is very bad, so I can't fly. What should I do now? "
"Take the train!" Adori suggested.
"No, I still trust my sports car. Teacher, can you lend me a raincoat?" The two came to the entrance of the hall, and Professor Adori took out the raincoat from the cabinet and helped Ellery put it on.
"Hey! Quinn!" gasped the professor, "you can't run around now! It's a convertible, the roads are rough, and it's a very long drive."
"I won't take unnecessary risks, please rest assured." Ellery continued, "Anyway, Luden will find a way!" He opened the door and jumped out. The professor escorted him to the entrance, where Ellery stood and held out his hand Said, "Teacher, please pray for me! No! It's better to pray for Pang!"
"Go!" the professor whispered, "I will try my best to contact Bonn and Esham. Pay attention to your health, do you really think you won't run in vain?"
Ellery asserted: "For the past two weeks, there was only one thing that stopped Kloshak from killing Megara, because he didn't know where Poon lived. But he has now killed Megara, so Kloshak must have It was the discovery of Grandpa Peter's disguise, and his hiding place in the mountains, and he would force him to tell before he killed Megara. It is my job to prevent the fourth murder, and there is no doubt that Klossak has now On the way to West Virginia, I hope that guy got more sleep last night, if he didn't sleep all night--" He shrugged his shoulders, smiled at the professor incredulously, and immediately walked into the glowing It was pouring rain.He descended the steps and ran towards the garage where the old racing cars were kept.
Professor Yadori looked at the time mechanically, and it happened to be exactly one o'clock in the afternoon.
— Vittorio Marenki
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