Chapter 29 Chapter 28 Request

The next step came on Thursday, two days after James Knox signaled his determination to get to the bottom of both the United States and Britain.Whether this tycoon boasted a lot, but whether he really has the ability or is just a bluff, will never be tested and proven.For on Thursday morning, Ellery was bored looking up at the sky from the window of his father's branch office at Police Headquarters, in a very unhappy mood, when the Messenger God appeared, and the Messenger God was the emaciated telegraph man.The letter he sent unambiguously united the disobedient figure with the defender of law and order.

The telegram was signed by Knox, and the text was obscure: "I'm waiting at the Western Union Telecom Office on 33rd Street. Please send a plainclothes officer to pick up the packet. There are many obstacles, so I can't submit it directly." The father and son looked at each other. "This is really embarrassing," the police officer said to himself. "Could it be that he sent us Leonardo's work in this way? Do you think so, Ayler?" Ellery frowned again. "No, no," he said impatiently, "it will never be like this. That painting of Leonardo, if I remember correctly, was four feet high. , six feet wide. Even if the canvas were cut and rolled up, it wouldn't be a 'packet'. No, it must be something else. I advise you to send for it immediately, Papa. Nock Stan's phone call made me feel—well, strange."

A detective went to the above-mentioned telecommunications office, and the father and son waited anxiously, sweating.The sender returned within an hour with a small package unaddressed and signed only with Knox's name on one corner.The old man took it apart.Inside was an envelope with the letter inside, and a sheet of paper from Knox's letter to the officer—all in a cardboard box, as if to hide the contents of the packet.Look at Knox's letter first—short and blunt, but well organized.The provisions are as follows: The letter was in Knox's own handwriting. The letter in the envelope that Knox had attached was a small strip of blank paper.Envelopes were a common cheap variety and could be bought at any neighborhood stationer for a penny; the Knox address on the envelope was typewritten.

The letter was posted at a post office in the area between the commercial and residential districts, and the postmark indicated it might have been posted the night before. The letter to Knox typed inside the envelope was quite strange.One side of the paper looked rough—it seemed that the original paper must be twice the size, and it was torn from the middle carelessly for some reason. But the police officer didn't study the paper any more; his old eyes turned over the typed words: "Mr. James Knox: The author of this letter asks you for something, and you should not say no. First let you know who you are dealing with, and you look at the reverse side of the paper-you will I find that I am writing this letter on the reverse of a half-note that Khalkis made to Greenshaw in your presence some evenings ago..."

Ellery exclaimed loudly, and the officer stopped reading and turned the paper, trembling.It's unbelievable...but it's true—in George Khalkis's own scrawled handwriting. "That's the half promissory note, that's right!" exclaimed the sergeant, "as solid as the nose on your face! It was torn out of it for some reason--here's only half, but Khalkis's The signature is on this half, oops—" "Strange thing," Ellery said to himself. "Go on, Dad. What else is in the letter?" While turning the paper over again, the police officer licked his dry lips, and read again:

"You should not be so stupid as to take this letter to the police authorities, because the stolen works of Leonardo are in your hands, and if you go to the police station, you must tell the cause and effect, the respected Mr. James Knox Received millions of dollars worth of art stolen from the British Museum. Don't shame yourself! I'll charge you exactly what you need, Mr. Knox, for example, and you'll be getting a special soon Instructions on how to settle the first payment. It would be too bad if you tried to fight, because I will surely make the police authorities know that you are harboring stolen goods."

The letter was not signed. "He's a goofy bitch, isn't he?" Ellery said to himself. "Well, I don't have sand in my eye," said the inspector, shaking his head. "Whoever the letter writer is, he's a hard man. Catch Knox for owning the stolen painting, and come and rip him off!" He put the letter carefully on the table and rubbed his hands together happily. "Well, boy, the rogue is in our hands! He's going to get away with it anyway. He didn't think Knox would come and report us." , because we don't know the entanglement yet. So—"

Ellery nodded absently. "It seems so." He looked at the paper with a guessing expression. "But it's better to verify Khalkis' handwriting. This letter—I can't tell you how good it is." It's important, Dad." "Important!" the old man giggled. "You're exaggerating a bit, aren't you? Thomas! Where's Thomas!" He ran to the door and pointed his fingers at a man in the front room.Inspector Willie entered like a gust of wind. "Thomas, you go into the files and find that anonymous letter--the one that reported to us that Sloane and Greenshaw were brothers. When you come back, get Miss Lambert too. Tell her to take a few Khalkis' handwriting—she's got some, I suppose."

Willy went away, not to return soon, and with him was the thin young woman with a few gray hairs in her black hair.He presented a packet to the police officer. "Come on, Miss Lambert, come on," said the police officer, "I want you to do something small. You can take a look at this letter and compare it with the one I gave you for identification not long ago." Enna Rambo sank to her work in silence.She compared Khalkis' handwriting on the back of the letter with the words she brought with her.Then, she used a magnifying glass to carefully examine the threatening letter, occasionally comparing it to the anonymous letter Willie had just found.Everyone waited patiently for her to come to a conclusion.

She finally put down both letters: "The handwriting on this newly received letter is indeed Khalkis's own handwriting. As for the two typewriter letters, there is no problem, they both use the same typewriter, police officer , and may have been typed by the same person.” The police officer and Ellery nodded. "Anyway, this is conclusive evidence," Ellery said. "The anonymous letter writer who reported the brother's relationship is undoubtedly our target." "Miss Lanbo, do you have any specific details?" the police officer asked. "Yes. Last time the first letter was written with a normal model 'Enderwood' typewriter - this time it is the same typewriter. However, the internal evidence itself is surprisingly small. The man who typed these two letters took great care to avoid leaving any trace in which he could be traced."

"We're dealing with a crafty criminal, Miss Lambert," said Ellery dryly. "Undoubtedly. You see, we relied on several grounds--space between lines, margins, punctuation, the heavy typing of certain letters, and the like. Both letters, deliberately Efforts have been made to remove these traces of traceability, and have been successful. But one thing that cannot be avoided by the letter writer is that the typewriter itself has specific characteristics. It may be said that each typeface on a typewriter has its own stylistic, in fact as identifiable as fingerprints. There is no doubt that both letters were typed on the same typewriter, and I dare say - though I am not bound to vouch for it - that both letters are Made with the same hands." "We accept your opinion," said the inspector, grinning, "with all sincerity. Thank you, Miss Rambo...Thomas, you take this threatening letter to the laboratory and let Jimmy see if there are any fingerprints. But I suppose our subject is so cunning that he should not leave fingerprints." Willie returned shortly afterwards, with a letter and a negative report.The freshly typed side of the paper, no fingerprints at all.But on the other side of the letter, the side on which George Khalkis had written a promissory note to Greenshaw, the fingerprint expert reported a clear George Khalkis fingerprint. "From the two aspects of handwriting and fingerprints, it is confirmed that the promissory note is absolutely authentic," the police officer said with satisfaction, "yes, my son, the person who typed this letter on the back of the promissory note is the person we are looking for—— This man killed Greenshaw and took the promissory note from the body." "At least," murmured Ellery, "it confirms my theory that Gilbert Sloane was killed." "Exactly. Let's take this letter to Simpson's office." Simpson and Pepper were discussing matters in the prosecutor's office when the Quinns arrived.The police officer triumphantly took out the newly received anonymous letter and conveyed the expert's appraisal.Immediately, the two prosecutors were refreshed, and the mood in the office was high, and they could count on an early—and correct—solved case. "One thing is absolutely certain," said Simpson, "that your officers must keep out of sight, old Quinn. I think the guy who wrote this letter will send another letter or something. We need to send Stay on the scene and wait for it to come. If your disciples are wandering around Knox's house, they might startle the snake." "There's some truth to that, Henry," admitted the inspector. "Can I do it, Prosecutor?" Pepper asked eagerly. "Okay. It's best. You go to his house and wait for the development of the situation." The prosecutor smiled unhappily. "In this way, we can kill two birds with one stone, Quinn. We can catch the author of the anonymous letter— And we can plant our own people in the Knox house and search for that damned stolen painting!" Ellery giggled: "Good tactics, Simpson. I follow Pudista's wise opinion about self-defense. 'To scheming people,' he thought, 'I must be extra considerate!' "