Chapter 31 Chapter 30 Cross-examination

These people broke into pieces, in twos and threes, stealthily, riding the moonless night, without anyone noticing, they all popped out of Knox's house.The clock strikes nine—people have all slipped in from the servants' room off the lane—and Knox's study is assembled: the Quinns, Prosecutor Simpson, Pepper, Joan Bright, and Knox himself.The black curtains were drawn; not a gleam of light came out of the house.All the people kept their voices down, nervous and excited, but forced themselves to be calm. All, it should be said: Ellery was not among them.Ellery, though he suited himself to the solemnity and sophistication of the occasion, always managed to give the impression that he wasn't expecting anything spectacular tonight--nothing!

"Mr. Knox, is your bag ready?" The officer's mustache drooped in a mess. Knox opened a drawer of the writing desk and took out a small package wrapped in brown paper: "Use this to impersonate. It's paper cut into bills." His tone was steady, but his expression was tense. "My God," began the prosecutor after a moment of silence, "what are we waiting for? Mr. Knox, I think you can move. We'll follow you. The place is surrounded, the man impossible--" "I daresay," said Ellery, drawn out, "the need to go to the Times Building cloakroom tonight is no longer necessary."

It was another moment of drama—like the smug moment a few weeks earlier when Ellery identified Khalkis as the killer.However, if he now realizes that he's being ridiculous again, he doesn't show it.He was all smiles, as if all the fussy preparations, the police cars lining up around Times Square, and the crowds gathering in groups, were just child's play. The officer's thin frame rose six inches abruptly. "Ellery, what do you mean? We're wasting time! Is this another of your whimsical new tricks?" The smile faded from Ellery's face.He looked at them all, and saw that they were all standing there looking at him with big, bewildered eyes.As soon as the smile disappeared, it was replaced by a serious expression.

"Very well," he said solemnly, "let me explain. We're going downtown now, and it's going to be a waste of time—funny, in fact—do you know why?" "Funny!" exclaimed the prosecutor. "Why?" "Because, Simpson, it would be a waste of effort. Because, Simpson, your mate won't go. Because, Simpson, we've been screwed!" Joan Bright gasped.The rest of the people opened their mouths. "Mr. Knox," said Ellery, turning to the banker, "will you please ring for the footman?" Knox complied; his forehead was creased in deep lines.The slender old man responded immediately: "Mr. Knox, what are your orders?"

However, it was Ellery who answered him, very simply: "Craft, are you familiar with the burglar alarm system in this house?" "Familiar, sir..." "Go check it out right away." Kraft hesitated a little, Knox simply motioned, and the valet walked out.No one said a word, until the footman hurried back in, panic-stricken, with wide-eyed eyes: "It's broken—quiet, sir! But it was all right yesterday, sir!" "What!" Knox yelled. Ellery said calmly, "As I expected. None of your business, Kraft . . . Mr. Knox, you'd better go and see that precious painting of yours."

Knox shuddered.His serious gray eyes were burning with impatience.He looked surprised at first, and then immediately made up his mind.Without a word, he sprang forward and rushed out of the room, Ellery following him, and the rest of them following. Knox led the way and took everyone to a large and quiet room upstairs—this is a showroom, many precious ancient paintings are hung on black velvet... At this moment, no one will appreciate it Aesthetically refined.Once Knox entered the showroom, he headed for the far corner, with Ellery right behind him. He stopped abruptly in front of a panel of the wall, groping for a curlicue... a large, seemingly solid wall moved silently aside, revealing a dark hole.Knox reached in, hummed, and looked desperately into the black hole...

"No more!" he shouted with a pale face. "Exactly," said Ellery, in a tone of anticipation. "Scheming, indeed, worthy of Grimshaw's haunting party." Sincerely Readers of this book: At this point in the plot of the story, I inserted a few sentences according to the old rules to test the wisdom of the readers. Why joy?Because, among the various cases that I participated in the investigation, perhaps the problem of Dangtui's strange case is the most complicated.What a joy! — for a man who is often asked wryly by book-buyers, this is a real pleasure. "Is this a difficult case?" they ask, "My God, I'll solve it in a flash!"—it would be a great pleasure to answer the above statement with the following: "Well Come on, readers, maybe you think you have solved it just right, but unexpectedly you have been fooled!"

I may be overly optimistic.Anyway, the overall situation is settled.Know, careless reader, that you now have all the facts in your possession to answer exactly that trinity of questions: Who strangled Albert Grinshaw and shot Gilbert Sloan and stole James? · The Knox Collection of Paintings. I venture with all sincerity: Cardea vous, go to your troubles!