Chapter 3 Chapter 2 Search

Only during the brief period before the funeral procession retraces its route from the backyard to the house is there any tension. Then it reappeared, and a whole bunch of confusing events followed.It is not until much later that the reason for it becomes apparent. The first sign that something was wrong came from the shouting of Miles Woodroff, the attorney's advocate for the deceased.The situation has now become clear and obvious.Pastor Ada had returned to the Khalkis home to comfort the bereaved, followed by the sexton Hennywell.The little old woman with watery eyes and inflamed mucous membranes who joined the group at the cemetery returned with the party, and is now also in the living room, examining the empty coffin with a critical expression. At this time, Tuus and his assistants were busy cleaning up the gloomy scene they had arranged before.No one invited the little old woman in; no one noticed her presence, except perhaps that eccentric Dummy, who stared at her in disgust with what seemed sensible.The rest sat down or lolled about; few spoke; and except the undertaker and his assistants, no one seemed to have anything to do.

Miles Woodroff, restless as the others, tried to pass the awkward post-burial time by wandering, as he later said, into the dead man's study.The servant Wegsch stood up hastily, as if he had just dozed off.Woodruff waved his hand, and still wandered boredly across the room, toward a wall between two bookcases, where Khalkis' safe was embedded.Woodruff categorically claimed that he had pulled the dial on the safe, selected the combination of numbers, and opened the thick little round door by a purely mechanical action.He later asserted that he never intended to find it, let alone that it would be lost.After all, he had seen it, had actually touched it, five minutes before the funeral procession left home!But the fact is: Woodroff did find that it had disappeared, along with the iron box in which it was contained; Story", causing tension to re-emerge, and a horrific sequence of events ensues.

Woodroff's reaction after discovering that it had disappeared was quite distinctive.He turned around and rushed in front of Wegsch, who thought he had gone mad suddenly, and shouted loudly: "Have you ever touched this safe?" Panting.He was so anxious that he didn't know what to do. "How long have you been sitting here?" "Sir, I sat here when the funeral procession left for the cemetery." "While you sat here, did anyone come into the room?" "Sir, no one has been here." Wegersch panicked now.The ring of gray hair behind the pink scalp hangs over the ears, trembling.Old Wegsch was stunned. From Woodroff's domineering posture, he could see that something big must have happened.Woodroff, with his big size, red face, and rough voice, scared the old man to tears.

"You slept soundly at home!" He roared like thunder, "You slept soundly when I came in!" Wegg said gruffly, "I just dozed off, sir, really, sir, I just dozed off, sir. I never fell asleep for a moment. I heard you when you came in, didn't I, gentlemen?" "Hmm..." Woodroff's tone softened, "I think it's probably like this. Go and ask Mr. Sloane and Mr. Cheney to come here immediately." When the two men came in with bewildered looks, Woodruff was standing in front of the safe in a messiah pose. He didn't say a word, and stared at them with cross-examination and censorship eyes.He noticed at once that there was something strange about Sloan; but what it was, he could not say.As for Aaron, the child still had his usual frowning expression. As soon as he got close, Lawyer Woodruff could smell the strong smell of whiskey in his mouth.Woodruff didn't have the time to be wordy.He was not polite, pointing to the opened safe, and looked at the two men with extremely suspicious eyes.Sloane shook his lion-like head; the man was strutting, in the prime of his life, well-dressed and fashionably dressed.Allen said nothing—shrugged his bony shoulders, indifferent.

"Well," said Woodruff, "I have nothing to lose. But, gentlemen, I am determined to get to the bottom of this matter. Do it now." Woodruff looked as if he was smug.Everyone in the house must heed his call and come to the study.It seems strange to say, but it is absolutely true, the funeral procession had not been back to Khalkis' house for four minutes, and Woodruff had all gathered on this carpet—all of them, even the undertaker Stuart Adams and his assistants! ——Regardless of men, women, young and old, everyone denied ever taking anything from the safe, and even said that they never went to the safe that day.

In one dramatic, somewhat comical moment, both Joan Bright and Alan Cheney turned to the same idea.The two rushed out the door at the same time, you rushed to the hall next to each other, and then rushed into the hall from the hall.Woodruff yelled and followed them closely, not knowing what had happened.Allen and Joan worked together to unscrew the door of the hall, passed through the hall, and pushed open the unlocked door facing the street. They faced the slightly surprised crowd on the street, and behind the two were tight Follow Woodroff. Then Joan uttered a clear contralto: "Has anyone been in this house in the last half hour?"

Allen also shouted, "Who?" Woodroff couldn't help repeating the word.A group of reporters was looking at the closed gate on the sidewalk, and one of the bewildered young men replied, "Nobody's been here!" Another reporter said slowly, "What's the matter, old sir? Why on earth are we not allowed to go in?" What?—we won't get in the way," Some among the audience on the street expressed the same feeling.Joan blushed naturally, brushed her brown hair with her hands, and tidied her temples subconsciously.A Lun shouted again: "Has anyone come out?"

——A thunderous voice answered him: "No!" Wu Zhuofu coughed a few times, the crowd scene weakened his self-confidence, he angrily drove the young man and woman back into the house, and then carefully locked the door Doors closed—both doors locked this time. But Woodroff's self-confidence will not be shaken for long.As soon as he entered the study, he immediately regained his confidence. The people in the study, some sitting and some standing, were at a loss.He snapped questions at them, one after the other, and nearly roared in disappointment when he found that almost everyone in the family knew the combination of the safe.

"All right," he said, "all right. Someone's doing something wrong here. Someone's lying. But we'll find out soon enough, soon enough, I daresay." He paced up and down in front of the group, " I'm going to open the skylights to tell you the truth. It's my duty—my duty, you should understand," everyone nodded at him, like a set of dolls, "and I'm going to search every One person. Just do it. Start right away." Everyone stopped nodding at that, "Well, I know there are people here who don't like my idea. Do you think I do? But I'm going to do it anyway Do. It was stolen right under my nose. My nose." At this point, however serious the scene, Joan Bright chuckled; Woodroff's nose was indeed on the face occupy a large area.

Nacio Suyza, who was neatly groomed, smiled slightly: "Oh, isn't it a bit of a joke, Woodruff? The whole thing may be very simple and obvious. You are dramatizing it." "Do you think so, Suyza, do you think so?" Woodroff looked from Joan to Suyza. "I can see you don't approve of body searches. Why?" Suyza laughed. "Am I on trial, Woodroff? You gotta hold yourself up, man. You're like a chicken with its head cut off. Maybe," he said bluntly, "maybe you're There was a delusion that I saw the box in the safe five minutes before the funeral."

"Illusion? Do you think so? When a thief is dug out from among you people, you will know that this is not my illusion." "Anyway," Suyza said, showing his white teeth, "I don't want to use this kind of high-handed tactics. If you don't believe me—try it yourself—search me, old man." At this point, the inevitable happened; Woodruff lost all self-control.Furious, he lost his temper, shook his fist under Sujza's sharp, cold nose, and shouted, spitting: "God, look at me! God, let Let me show you what high-pressure means are!" In the end, he finally did what he should have done a long time ago - grabbed one of the two telephone receivers on the dead man's desk, dialed excitedly, and stammered Talking to the unseen person who answered the phone, he put down the receiver and said to Suyza in a gloating tone, "Wait and see if you will be searched, I Friend. By order of Prosecutor Simpson, no one in this house is allowed to leave the house until someone from the Prosecutor's Office comes here!"