Chapter 35 Chapter Thirty-Four

"That's not a problem, Mr. Cheney," said Ellery, "I can make it clear to you—you, of course, and—" But then the doorbell rang, and Ellery fell silent. That ran towards the gate.Miss Joan Bright appeared at the drawing-room door. It seemed that Miss Joan Bright was as surprised to see Mr. Alan Cheney as Mr. Alan Cheney was to see Miss Joan Bright.Aaron stood up and clung to the warped walnut armrest of the Quinn's finely carved bone armchair; Something to back it up. Ellery Quinn got up from the couch where he lay, with his left arm wrapped in bandages, and thought this was—this was a good end... He was paler a little, but for weeks, For the first time, he showed a cheerful expression.Standing with him was a trio of choirs--his father, looking embarrassed; I was taken aback by others, and I haven't recovered yet; there is another emaciated and courageous rich man, Mr. James Knox. It seems that he has not changed in any way because of sitting in class once—— —These gentlemen all owed their respects, but the lady at the door couldn't get a smile back, because the lady seemed to have been stunned by the young man who was just as dazed as she was clutching the chair.

Then her blue eyes rolled and met Ellery's smiling gaze: "I thought... you asked me to—" Ellery walked up to her, grabbed her arm, and pushed her to the side of a grand chair, and she sat down very embarrassedly: "Do you think——I invite you...why? , Miss Bright?" She caught sight of his left shoulder: "You're hurt!" she exclaimed. "Well," said Ellery, "I might as well use a hero's ready-made saying, 'It's nothing. Scratch a little.' Sit down, Mr. Cheney!" Mr. Cheney sat down. "Come on!" said Simpson impatiently. "I don't care what other people do; you've got to explain it to me anyway, Ellery."

Ellery lay back on the couch again, lighting a cigarette with one hand: "Now we can relax," he said.He met James Knox's gaze, and the two smiled knowingly, "Explain it again...Of course." Ellery began to speak.He talked for half an hour like he was frying popcorn. Allen and Joan sat with their arms crossed and never glanced at each other. "This is the fourth conclusion—there have been four conclusions in total, as you all know," Ellery began, "I was led by Mr. Pepper's nose when Khalkis concluded. on Sloane's conclusion, it may be said that Pepper and I were at loggerheads, for I never believed it at all, although I did not know for sure the implausibility of this conclusion until after Suyza came to report. ;on the Knox conclusion, I led Mr. Pepper by the nose--you see, it was a draw; , this fourth and last conclusion, which astonished everyone here, was as obvious as a strong sunlight, which poor old Pepper will never see again..." He was silent for a moment, " Needless to say, the discovery of the promising young and respected Deputy Public Prosecutor as the real perpetrator of a series of crimes committed with scheming and audacity must confuse you, if you do not understand how and why he So. In fact, it was my unselfish old comrade-in-arms who captured Mr. Pepper, logic, the original Greek is logos, and I believe it will be the nemesis of all conspiracies."

Ellery flicks ash on Dijuna's spotless rug: "Now, I can say frankly, that before it got to Mr. Knox's mansion on Riverside Drive — the threatening letters and the paintings Theft—Before these incidents, I had no idea where the culprit was. In other words, if Pepper had quit after killing Sloane, he would have slipped through. However, the case Also like other less public cases, the criminal is always led to a dead end by his own insatiable desire, and he always weaves with his own hands the net into which he finally falls. "The chain of events at Knox House on the Embankment is well within my memory, so I shall begin here.

"You still remember that I summed up the main conditions of the murderer yesterday morning; now it is necessary to repeat these conditions. One: He must be able to create false clues to frame Khalkis and Sloan. Two: He Must be the author of the threatening letter. Three: He has to be at the Knox house to be able to type the second threatening letter with a security machine." Ellery smiled: "Now I can make it clear. I made a lot of use of this last condition yesterday morning, so I was so suspicious-why I did this on purpose, you will understand after listening to the text. I am at the police headquarters. After a whole series of eloquent prevarications, my shrewd lord father once pointed out to me privately 'what's wrong.' I use the words deliberately: 'in Knox's house', obviously has a much broader connotation. Because, 'in the Knox house' can refer to anyone, whether they belong to the Knox family or not. In other words, the person who typed the second letter does not have to be is a regular resident of the house; he may simply be an outsider who has had access to Knox's house. Please remember that.

"Let us proceed, therefore, from the fact that the second letter, in the circumstances of the time, must have been written by someone who happened to be in that house when it was written; and this person, That is, the murderer. "My wise lord father, however, pointed out that this may not necessarily be the case; and retorted how it seemed that the writer was not an accomplice or employed by the murderer, as long as the murderer himself was not in the Knox house. This letter was written under the circumstances? This of course means that the murderer cannot enter Knox's house with a high-sounding appearance, otherwise he can type this letter himself... This is a good question, and it hits the nail on the head —I took pains to avoid this question yesterday morning, it would have ruined my business, because my purpose was to get Pepper into a trap.

"Excellent! Now, as long as we can prove that it is impossible for the murderer to have an accomplice in the Knox house, it means that the murderer typed the second letter himself, which means that at the time of typing the letter the murderer was In Mr. Knox's study. "However, in order to prove that there were no accomplices in this case, we must first establish Mr. Knox's innocence, otherwise, it will be difficult to justify the logic." Ellery lazily puffed out a long puff of smoke: "It couldn't be easier to prove Mr. Knox's innocence. Are you surprised? But it is ridiculously obvious. To confirm this, Depends on a fact which only three people in the world know: Mr. Knox, Miss Bright and I. And that Pepper - you will see - is ignorant of this essential point , which caused his first loss in the intrigue.

"This is the fact that, at a time when Gilbert Sloan was generally regarded as a murderer, Mr. Knox automatically--note this--told me, in Miss Bright's presence, that he and Green On the night Shaw visited Khalkis, Khalkis had borrowed a thousand-dollar note from him—Knox—and handed it to Greenshaw as an extortion payment; and he , Knox, witnessed Greenshaw fold up the note and stuff it into the back of the watch case, which was in his watch when Greenshaw left the house. Mr. Knox and I went to the headquarters at once, It was found that the bill was still there--the original bill, for I checked it at once and found that Mr. Knox was right, and that it was drawn from the bank on the date he stated. It follows that this thousand-dollar The money note is a clue to Mr. Knox. He knows this fact better than anyone else. If Greenshaw was killed by Mr. Knox, he should do everything possible to prevent the note from falling. to the police. Since he knew that Greenshaw had the note and where it was kept, he could have removed the note from Greenshaw's watch on the spot if he had strangled Greenshaw. Easy thing. Even if he wasn't directly the murderer--but only an accomplice--he would have thought of removing the note from the back of the case, which had been in the hands of the murderer for a considerable period of time anyway.

"However, when we opened the case at Police Headquarters, the note was still inside! See, I have just said, if Mr. Knox was the murderer, why didn't he remove the note? In fact, he Not only did he not remove the ticket, but he also told me about the ticket out of his own will—at that time, like all investigators, I never even dreamed of having a ticket—why did he do that? See, he acted so differently from what a murderer or an accomplice might have done, that I had to decide, 'Well, whoever the culprit was, it couldn't have been James Nock anyway. S.'" "Thank goodness!" Knox croaked.

"Let's see," Ellery went on, "what consequences such a reverse conclusion, which at the time seemed insignificant, has had. We know that only the murderer or his accomplices (assuming If he had an accomplice), it was possible to write these two threatening letters-because both letters were typed on half promissory notes. Then, since Mr. Knox was not a murderer or an accomplice, both letters were impossible. It was he who wrote it, though the letter was typed on his own typewriter. I deduced yesterday from the pound sign that the letter was from his typewriter. From this it follows—and this It's quite astonishing - the guy who typed out the second letter was using Mr. Knox's typewriter on purpose! For what purpose? Just to make the '3' miss and reveal the pound sign - it was intentional of course blunder and deliberate—thus constituting a clue by which, I think, he intends to lead to Mr. Knox's typewriter, to create the illusion that the letter was written by Mr. Murderer. So, another set-up—this is the third time, after the first two failed attempts on George Khalkis and Gilbert Sloan."

Ellery frowned thoughtfully. "Now we're going to step up to a more rigorous reasoning. Pay attention! One thing is very clear: the real criminal is framing James Knox. As a murderer and would-be thief, one must consider whether or not James Knox was considered a possibility in the minds of the police! If the real criminal knew that the police authorities could not possibly consider James Knox to be a criminal, And it would be foolish to try to give the impression that James Knox was a criminal. Therefore, there is no way the real murderer knew about the thousand-dollar bill. Had he known, he would not have framed the Mr. Knox. So, this alone can completely rule out a person as a suspect, not to mention that this person is an agent appointed by the Victoria Museum-of course, as an agent Such a fact does not necessarily make it immune to suspicion, but it can only be plausibly presumed that she is innocent. This person is a beautiful girl here, and I noticed that her face was getting redder—— She is Miss Bright; for, she was there when Mr. Knox told me about the thousand-dollar bill, and if she had been the murderer, or even merely an accomplice to the murderer, she would not have framed Knox. Perhaps, sir, the murderer will not be allowed to frame Mr. Knox." Joan straightened up at this; then smiled again, and leaned back again.Alan Cheney blinked.He kept staring at the carpet under his feet, as if the carpet was some kind of rare and precious fabric, which aroused the careful study of a young archaeologist. "Therefore—I've used too many of them," Ellery went on, "and I've ruled out Mr. Knox and Miss Bright from among those who might type a second letter, both Not a murderer, nor an accomplice. "Then there's only one other group of people living in the Knox house—the servants—could there be any murderers among them? No, because none of the servants Was able to get into the Khalkis home and create a false lead against Khalkis and Sloane - we keep a careful list of all the people who came in and out of the Khalkis home, not a single one of Mr. Knox's servants. Then Is there anyone among Mr. Knox's servants who is an accomplice of the murderer outside, and the accomplice stole Mr. Knox's typewriter?" Ellery smiled. "No, I can prove no. The fact that Mr. Knox's typewriter was used as a tool to frame him shows that the murderer's use of that typewriter was deliberate and premeditated; because , the only concrete evidence the murderer relied upon to frame Mr. Knox was the fact that the second letter was found to have come from Mr. Knox's typewriter; this was the core of the whole plot. (Note that even though he Knox, it is impossible to foresee any particular method of making Mr. Knox a criminal, at least he intends to borrow a certain characteristic of the typewriter.) Well, since Mr. Knox's typewriter is used to frame him, then, if the two It was clearly to the murderer's advantage that both letters were typed on that typewriter. However, only the second letter was typed on that typewriter - the first was on an 'Enderwood' outside Mr. Knox's house. ' card typewriter, and the only typewriter in Mr. Knox's house was a 'Remington' card... So, since the murderer did not use Mr. Knox's 'Remington' card to type the first Knox's typewriter for the first letter. However, all the servants can steal Mr. Knox's typewriter for the first letter. typewriter—in fact, the shortest they had been in his house was five years. Therefore, it is unlikely that any of them was an accomplice to the murderer, and if he was, the murderer would have ordered him to use Knox's typewriter to type out First letter. "This clears Mr. Knox, Miss Bright, and all the servants in the house from being either murderers or accomplices! But how is that possible, since the second letter was indeed from Knox's house?" Ellery threw the cigarette butt into the fire: "We now know that although the author of the letter wrote the second letter in Mr. Knox's study, he did not write the first letter when he wrote the first letter. Not in Mr. Knox's study--nor in the house--otherwise he would have used that typewriter to type the first letter. We know, too, that since the first letter, No outsider was ever allowed into Knox's house—that is, no outsider, except one. Listen, the facts are clear: Anyone can write the first letter outside, and anyone who can write the second There was only one person who sent the second letter—the only person who was able to enter the house until the second letter was received. In this way, another point is clarified. "Because, I've been asking myself: What's the point of that first letter? It's all lip service, no specific goal. Anyone who writes a threatening letter is usually a rip-off - no one likes to talk too much. ;No one will write a letter to identify himself as a blackmailer, and then send a second letter to extort money. This requires a satisfactory and complete explanation psychologically: the first letter is essential for the murderer Little, he had his own purpose. What purpose? That is, to enable him to enter Knox's house! Why did he enter Knox's house? To be able to use Knox's typewriter to Type the second letter! It all makes sense... "Now come to see, who was the only person who was able to enter the house between the receipt of the first letter and the receipt of the second letter? However strange it may seem, however Unbelievable and significant, but I can't get around the fact that this guest is our colleague, our investigative partner—in short, Deputy Attorney Pepper, who was there for a few days ( And, we should recall, this was at his own initiative), apparently for the purpose of waiting for the second letter! "The methods are powerful! What a ghost to the extreme. "My first reaction was natural - I couldn't bring myself to believe it. It seemed impossible. But even though I was shocked by the situation, and even though it was the first time I thought Pepper would It's possible," Ellery went on, "but the facts are clear. I can't rule out the suspect—and it's no longer a suspect, and logically he's the culprit—I can't rely on my subjective desires alone. , and turned a blind eye to the consequences of the reasoning. I forced myself to double-check. I thought through the case from beginning to end, to see from Pepper's performance that this conclusion was in line with reality. "Yes, Pepper himself identified Greenshaw as the person he defended five years ago. Why did he not identify him when he had the opportunity to do so? This detail does not prove anything, but it is interesting. Nine times out of ten, the association must have started at least five years ago, between the lawyer and the lawyer. The relationship between the client. After Greenshaw stole the painting from the Victoria Museum, he approached Pepper. When he Greenshaw was in jail, the painting was already in the hands of Khalkis, and the payment was not yet paid. Maybe he had entrusted Pepper to take care of him. As soon as Greenshaw was released from prison, he would of course collect money from Khalkis. There is no doubt that Pepper was behind the scenes, and he intervened in everything that happened afterwards. , but he never showed up, and has always been behind the scenes. The transaction between Greenshaw and Pepper may be exposed by Pepper's former legal partner, Yao Dun, although Yao Dun may be completely innocent." "We're looking into him," Simpson said. "He's a respected lawyer." "There is no doubt," said Ellery grimly, "that Pepper would never openly work with a gangster—not Pepper...but that has yet to be verified. Pepper strangles Greenshaw What is your motivation?  … "After the meeting between Greenshaw, Mr. Knox and Khalkis that Friday night, Greenshaw got a promissory note 'to bearer', and Mr. Knox came out with Greenshaw and walked away. and Greenshaw stood in front of the house. Why? Perhaps it was his accomplices—a conclusion not purely imaginative, as Greenshaw himself said he had a 'only partner'. So, Pepper must have been waiting for Greenshaw nearby. They must have hid in the shadows together, and Greenshaw had told Pepper everything about the negotiations for entering the house. Pepper felt that Greenshaw was no longer needed. Well, Grimshaw is even dangerous to Pepper, and after getting rid of Grimshaw, he can take all the money he got from Mr. Khalkis without sharing the spoils-he must have murderous intentions for his party at this time .The promissory note was a reminder, because the promissory note was 'paid to the bearer' when Khalkis was still alive. Please remember that whoever holds the promissory note has a potential fifty In addition, there is Mr. James Knox who did not show up, and another person who can be blackmailed in the future. Pepper has undoubtedly killed Greenshaw, or in the empty Knox house next door. He must have prepared a key for the basement. Anyway, after Greenshaw died in the basement, he searched the body After a search, I got the promissory note and Greenshaw's watch (maybe I had an idea at the time, and it could be used as a frame in the future), and I also got the 5,000 yuan that Sloane gave him the night before to ask Greenshaw to leave New York. Money. When he set out to strangle Greenshaw, he must have known what to do with the body; probably he intended to keep it in the basement forever. But by the next morning, Khalkis fell ill and Pepper must have Immediately realized that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to put Greenshaw in Khalkis' coffin. It was also his luck that on the day Khalkis was buried, Woodruff himself called the Prosecutor's Office to report the loss, and Pepper spoke The request—Simpson, you mentioned it yourself, you mentioned it once when you reprimanded Pepper for being too interested in Miss Bright—he asked to take the case of the will search. It can be seen that this is another sign of Mr. Pepper's psychology. "Now that he is free to come and go to the Khalkis house, how easy he finds it is! On the Wednesday night after the burial, he took Greenshaw's body out of the basement of the empty Knox house where it had been stuffed In the old box in the basement, he dragged the corpse through the dark backyard and into the darker cemetery, dug up the soil above the underground ossuary, opened the horizontal iron door of the underground ossuary, jumped in, Opening Khalkis' coffin--and immediately discovering the iron box in which the will was placed; perhaps even he did not know where it had gone until then, and it occurred to him that the will might one day be of use in answering this tragedy Another character in the film, Sloane, was blackmailed—Sloan was uniquely motivated to steal a will, and he was the only one who stuffed a will in a coffin before burial—and Pepper took the will. and prepared to use it as another instrument of extortion. He stuffed Greenshaw's body into the coffin, put the lid on it, climbed out, drew the door of the ossuary behind him, filled the shallow pit with earth, I packed up the tools I used, picked up the will and the iron box, and left the cemetery. Coincidentally, there is another small proof that Pepper is the murderer. Because, Pepper himself told us, on this night—— Wednesday night, in the middle of the night—he saw Miss Bright go to the study to search. Pepper himself confessed that he did not sleep that night; The business of burying the body. "This is exactly what Mrs. Freeland reported. Mrs. Freeland saw Sloan go to the cemetery that night. Sloane must have noticed that Pepper was acting suspiciously in this house." , just spying secretly, seeing what Pepper did—including burying the body and grabbing the will—and knowing that Pepper is a murderer... As for who was killed, it was dark at that time, and Sloan might have can not see clearly." Joan shuddered: "That—such a handsome young man. I can't believe it!" Ellery said gravely, "That's a lesson in ruthlessness, Miss Bright. If you're sure and sure, go ahead and never look back... Where did I get? Yes! By this time, Pepper thought he was safe; the body was buried, and no one would think of looking for the man. But the next day, when I announced that the will might have been stuffed into the coffin, I suggested exhumation and opening the coffin. Pepper's mind must have been running wild at the moment. There was nothing he could do to prevent the murder from being revealed, unless he went back to the cemetery and retrieved the body; It would be a great risk. On the other hand, there was a murder, which was not necessarily useless to him. So, since he had unimpeded passage through Khalkis' house, he laid some clues, Let the dead man--I mean Khalkis--be the murderer. He, too, has mastered my reasoning, and he deals with me with mystique--he leaves no visible signs, only some Clues, he vaguely knew that I would not let these clues go. The reason why he chose Khalkis to be the 'murderer' may be due to two reasons: first, such a conclusion fits with my thoughts; Second, Khalkis is dead, and Pepper will not deny it any way Pepper can frame it. And, to put it more fully--if this conclusion is accepted, it will not make any living person suffer. Wronged; because, please remember, Pepper is not a murderer who insists on killing people. "Well, as I pointed out at the outset, unless Mr. Pepper knew that Mr. Knox would not make trouble because of his possession of the painting, he would not have been able to create those objections. Khalkis' False Clue - One of Pepper's faux pas against Khalkis was that there were actually only two people meeting in the study that night. However, to know that Knox had the painting in his hand, he would have to It must be Grimshaw's accomplices, as I have said many times before; therefore it must have been he who had accompanied Grimshaw into the hotel room on that night of many visitors. "Miss Bright inadvertently dismantled the so-called diorama that Kharkis was the murderer. She recalled the inconsistency of the teacup and reported to us. Pepper must have felt a basin of cold water at the time. But at the same time, He must also comfort himself, thinking that there is nothing inconsiderate in his arrangement-before he finds an opportunity to play tricks on the cup, it is inevitable that someone has taken into account the situation of the cup. On the other hand, When Mr. Knox unexpectedly came forward to talk about his own experience and revealed that he was the third person, Pepper realized that everything was in vain, and he also realized that it dawned on me that the clues were deliberate. Laid out there for discovery. Pepper's position is so advantageous that he always and everywhere knows what I know--how he must be secretly amused when I am smug, boastful, and self-satisfied!— —Pepper made the decisive decision to take full advantage of his unique position and arrange the subsequent events in accordance with the views I have expressed. Pepper understands that when Khalkis is dead, the promissory notes he holds are worthless Worth it. Is there any other way to make money? He can no longer blackmail Mr. Knox for owning dirty paintings, because Mr. Knox has given the details to the police authorities, which Got rid of him by accident, yes, Mr. Knox had said that the painting was of little value, a reproduction, but Pepper didn't believe that, he thought it was nothing but Mr. Knox It's just a clever trick to get the cicada out of the shell-in fact, you are, sir, Pepper is shrewd and cunning, and you can tell you are lying at a guess." Knox snorted, as if too embarrassed to speak. "Anyway," Ellerys went on gracefully, "Pepper's only source of money left is to steal Leonardo from Mr. Knox; he believes Mr. Knox He had the original Leonardo in his hand, not a copy. But before he could do it, he had to be safe; the police were on the lookout for the murderer. "It's about Sloan. Why did Pepper choose Sloan as his second stand-in? "Now we have enough facts and inferences to answer this question. In fact, not long ago, I mentioned it to you, Dad—do you remember what happened that night?" The old man said silently Nod, "Because, if Sloane had seen Pepper go to the cemetery, he would have understood who the murderer of Greenshaw was at this time, which means that Sloane had mastered Pepper's crimes. However, why did Pepper Will he know that he has fallen into Sloan's eyes? It's like this: Sloan has witnessed Pepper take out the will from the coffin, even if he didn't see it clearly at the time, then when the grave was opened and the will and the will When the iron box was gone, his heart became clear. Sloane wanted to destroy the will and the iron box, and he was bound to find Pepper, seize him as a reason to kill him, and proposed to use the will as a silent excuse. Seeing that his own safety was seriously threatened, Pepper was bound to start negotiations with Sloane: he kept the will as a weapon to keep Sloan from speaking. But in his heart, he must secretly plan , How to get rid of Sloan, this is the only living testimony against him. "So Pepper arranged the scene of Sloane's suicide, as if Sloane was the murderer of Greenshaw. According to speculation, Sloane seems to have this motive; in addition, the will left in the basement, The cellar keys seized in Sloane's house, and Grimshaw's watch hidden in the wall safe in Sloane's office, are Pepper's clever framing of his victims. Here I should mention, Papa, that one of your men It was not Reed's fault that he 'negligently' failed to notice the remains of the will in the furnace of Knox's empty house. "Because, at the time of Reed's search, there hadn't been any fragments there yet. Pepper burned the will later, deliberately keeping the name of Albert Grimshaw, written in Khalkis's own hand, from being charred, leaving the ashes and the fragments were placed in the furnace, this was after Li De's investigation... As for the revolver that Sloane used to kill Sloan, there is no doubt that it was Pepper who put the key into the Borun. When I bought the cigarette case, I got it from Sloan's house in the Khalkis family. "In order to silence him, he had to kill Sloane. At the same time, he knew that the police authorities would definitely ask: 'Why did Sloane commit suicide?' The obvious reason is: Sloane knew that these clues had been discovered and he was about to be arrested. Pepper asked himself: the police authorities must be thinking how did Sloane know? Well, someone tipped him off. You know, this is all that Pepper could have imagined. So, how to create an illusion , does that mean Sloane ever got a signal? Hey, it's easy! This reminds us of the mysterious phone that Sloan 'suicide' was on the night we've found it to be from Kaji I called from the scholar's house. "Do you remember that?—isn't that what we thought someone had told Sloan about us? Pepper used to call in our presence, saying it was for Wu Zhuofu, I want to invite Wuzhuofu to appraise the leftover fragments of the will. Do you remember this? After a while, he hung up the phone, saying that it was a busy signal on the phone; after a while, he dialed again , Only this time did he really talk to Woodroff's valet. In fact, the first time he dialed was the phone number of Khalkis Collection General Depository! He also knew that the phone number could be traced. It was so thoughtful; when Sloane was there to answer the phone, Pepper had only to hang up the phone without saying a word. Sloan was baffled, of course. But That's enough, it's enough to create the fact that there is a phone call from Khalkis's house to the collection general warehouse; dial into the collection pool instead of reporting phone numbers. Pepper also took advantage of psychological factors, because no one, especially those who had the most reason to tip off Sloane, would Ken admitted that he had called. "Pepper left the Khalkis house immediately, presuming to go to Woodroff to verify the fragments of the will. But before he went to Woodroff's, he made a turn at the collections general warehouse-maybe Sloane gave him a prescription. The door—he killed Sloane, and arranged it a little so that it would be obvious that it was a suicide. Finally, because the door was closed, the theory of Sloane's suicide was disproved, but this detail was not Pepper's. Miscalculated; he didn't know that the bullet had pierced Sloane's skull and flew out of the open door;他也决不会在必不可少的触碰之外再多费手脚。穿出到房间外边的子弹，没有发出任何声响，因为它掉落在墙壁上厚厚的挂毯之中。就这样，阴错阳差，佩珀在离去之时又做了一个合乎逻辑的动作——几乎是出于凶手的本能：他把门关上了。他万万想不到这一来竟枉费了自己全部心机。 “几乎有两星期之久，大家对史洛安是凶手的说法深信不疑——看起来，好象是凶手知道事已败露，就一死了之。佩珀认为现在已无后顾之忧了，可以从诺克斯先生手中把画偷过来了；由于这时警察当局已经圆满地把凶杀案断结了，所以他偷诺克斯先生藏画的初衷，肯定不是想要借此造成诺克斯先生是凶手的假象，而是旨在造成这样一种假象：诺克斯先生为了不肯把利奥纳多作品交还博物馆而自我偷盗。却不料跳出了苏伊查，提供的证词，把史洛安自杀之说推翻了，并且搞得人尽皆知，佩珀晓得警察当局仍在缉捕凶手。何不把诺克斯先生既当作自偷藏画的窃贼，又当作凶害格林肖和史洛安的凶手呢？佩珀失着之处——但这并非他算计错了——就在于他满以为诺克斯先生在推理上有成为凶手的可能。要是诺克斯先生不曾把一千块钱票子的事儿告诉我的话，情况本来会如他所料虽然动机很难讲得通——诺克斯先生来告诉我那件事时，我甚至投有想到要把这事向我父亲汇报——因为那时史洛安自杀之说早己成为定论了。于是佩珀放心大胆地把诺克斯先生构陷为凶手和窃贼，没有想到最终会被我看出破绽——虽然我起先并不知道就是他。然而，到了第二封信喑示是出于诺克斯先生之手的时候，我由于确知诺克斯先生是清清白白的，所以认定第二封信是设计陷害，并且通过洧绎推理，看出佩珀本人就是罪犯，对这一点我刚才己经讲过了。” “喂，孩子，”警官第一次开口说话了，“喝口茶吧。润润嗓子。你肩膀感觉怎么样？” “还好……现在你们可以懂得为什么第一封恐吓信必须在外面写，从而也就懂得这个答案何以会指向佩珀。佩珀当时无法冠冕堂皇地在诺克斯家居留足够长的时间，来找出藏画的所在并且写出第二封信；但是他通过第一封信，使自己能以探员的身份进驻这所房子。辛昔森，请你回忆一下吧，这是出于他自己向你建议的；这又在佩珀犯罪的天平上，增添了一个小筹码。 “用诺克斯先生自己的打字机打出第二封信，是佩珀虚构陷害的倒数第二个步骤。最后一个步骤，当然就是偷画了。佩珀进驻那所房子的那段时间，他就搜索这幅画。不消说得，他压根儿就不知道有同样的两副画并存着。他发现了陈列室墙壁上的活络镶板后，就把画偷到手，私下夹带出来，藏在第五十四大街的诺克斯空房子中——这是天造地设的秘密窟！接着，他就着手炮制出第二封恐吓信。 “就他这方面来讲，计划已经完成了——从此以后，他只消袖手旁观，万一我不能发现出英镑符号这一线索的话，那么他作为辛普森先生属下一名机警的法律捍卫者，也可以指出信是出于诺克斯先生之手，理直气壮地给他定罪；再过一些日子，等到一切都风平浪静之后，他就可以靠这幅画发一笔财了，或者卖给一个不十分循规蹈矩的收藏家，或者经由'销赃者'转手。” “那么，防盗报警器究竟是怎么一回事呢？”詹姆士·诺克斯问道，“他倒底抱着什么用意呀？” “哦，这个嘛！且听我说下去吧，他在偷了画之后，”埃勒里答道，“接着又写好了信，他就把你的防盗报警装置系统破坏了。他期望的是，我们会到时报大厦的约定地点去，然后又空手回来。按照他的计划，我们这时已经明白自己中计了，信的目的原来是调虎离山，趁我们离开房子的时候下手偷画。这，当然是明摆着的事；当我们给你，诺克斯先生，定罪的时候，我们就会这样说：'瞧！诺克斯自己把防盗报警器搞坏，想使我们认为画是今晚被外面人进来偷掉的。而实际上，画根本从来也没被偷掉。'这是一套机关算尽的阴谋诡计，必须高度集中地深思熟虑才能把它识破。但这也表明了，佩珀的思想方法是异乎寻常的细致周到的。” “这都已经清楚了，我看，”检察官突然说道；在埃勒里讲解的时候，他一直聚精会神地听着，“可是我还想问问，那两幅画是怎么回事——你为什么在这时把诺克斯先生逮捕——这一切我都不明白。” 诺克斯那张皱眉蹙额的脸上，第一次出现了笑容；而埃勒里却哈哈大笑起来。 “咱们一直做诺克斯先生的工作，要他经得起、受得住；只要讲清了他究竟能经受风雨到何种程度，也就解答了你的问题，辛普森。我早该告诉你了，关于那两幅都属于古董、只在皮肤色泽上有细微差别的油画，这整个'典故'都是胡吹瞎扯——全都是编造出来以耸人听闻的。接到第二封恐吓信的当天下午，我通过演绎推理，一切都明白了——佩珀的计谋，他的罪行，他的意图。但我所处的地位很特别：如果马上把他逮捕法办，我却拿不出一星半点的真凭实据，可以让你定他的罪；再说，那幅珍贵的古画已被他藏匿在什么地方。我们把他一揭穿，那幅画说不定从此再也不会出现了；而我有责任使那幅利奥纳多作品物归原主，还到维多利亚博物馆。另一方面，如果我设法把佩珀引进圈套，只要能把他跟他所偷窃的利奥纳多作品人赃并获，那么，单凭他手中有此画，就足以构成一项罪证，更何况这样一来也可以使这幅画成为完璧！” “你的意思是不是说，那套皮肝色泽上细微差别之类的诸般说法，全都是捏造出来的吗？”辛普森问道。 “是的，辛普森——是我略施小计，我把佩珀耍了一下，就象他耍过我一样。 “我把诺克斯先生拉到我这一边，推心置腹地把一切都告诉了他——他正怎样被人陷害，以及被谁陷害。他于是告诉我，在他从卡吉士手里把利奥纳多真迹买了下来之后，他又复制了一个副本，他坦率承认，原来的打算是，一旦官方施加的压力太大的话，他就把这个复制本还给博物馆，诡称那就是他从卡吉士手里买下的。这样做法，那边的专家当然立刻就会辨认出是件膺品——但诺克斯先生准备下的那套诡辩之辞却是无瑕可击的，所以有可能被他滑过去。换句话说，诺克斯先生把复制本藏在伪装的散热器管子内，而把原本藏在镶板后面，佩珀偷走的乃是原本。这倒使我获得启发——何妨将计就计，给他来个三真七假、虚实难分。” 埃勒里回忆到这儿，禁不住眉开眼笑起来：“我告诉诺克斯先生，我打算逮捕他——纯粹是为了让佩珀感到称心如意——我要控告他，给他罗织罪名，并采取一切必要措施，使佩珀深信其对诺克斯先生的陷害已经大功告成。现在我要说一句，诺克斯先生当时的反应很漂亮；他既恨佩珀企图陷害他，他想要报复一下；他也内疚自己曾不怀好意，打算用复制品去搪塞博物馆，他想要赎罪；所以他同意为我演出苦肉计。我们请来了托比·约翰士——这都发生在星期五下午——我们共同杜撰出一套故事，骗得佩珀提早摊牌。我们也预防到万一佩珀不上钩呢，所以在商量研究这套子虚乌有的典故时，把全部谈话都录了音……无非是用来证明：并不是真的要逮捕诺克斯，而是以此作为诱捕真凶的一种手段。 “现在，咱们来看一看，佩珀听了专家讲得天花乱坠的无稽之谈后，他作何想法。专家的谈话中，连篇累牍都是些耳熟能详的历史资料和当时意大利一些艺术大师的名字，还'津津乐道'两幅画的'微妙差别'——当然喽，这一切全都是无中生有、凭空捏造出来的。这份古代油画的珍品，从来就是独一无二的——就是利奥纳多的原本；根本没有那一套传闻；也压根儿没有什么'当时的'复制本——诺克斯先生那幅复制品，是纽约出产的现代油画，任何懂艺术的人一看就能鉴别出来的：所有那一切以骗攻骗的计谋，全应归功于我的想入非非……当时，佩珀听到这些话是出于约翰士这样的权威人士之口，就相信：自己如要判断出哪一幅是真利奥纳多、哪一幅是'当时的复制本'，唯一的办法是将两幅画并列着对比！佩珀一定对他自己说我所要他讲的话：'好吧，我无从知道我到手的是哪一幅；是真迹还是复制本。诺克斯的话是不能算数的。所以我必得把两副画并排放在一起——要赶快，因为现在这和查出的这幅，不久就会归入检察公署的档案中去的，在我手上的时间是不会太长的。'他必然会想，只要他能把两幅画并列在一起，确定出哪一幅是利奥纳多原件，他就把复制本归档，这是万无一失的——连那位专家自己也承认，要不是两副画放在一起的话，他也识别不出来！ “这一手可真是高明啊，”埃勒里喃喃自语地说道，“我为此深自庆幸。怎么——诸位都不拍手称赞吗？……当然啦，如果咱们的对手是个懂艺术的人，是个审美专家，是个画家，或者哪怕是个附庸风雅的人，那我是绝不会冒着风险叫约翰士去讲这个荒谬的故事的；但我知道佩珀是个道道地地的门外汉，他对这些话一窃不通，只好照单全收，尤其因为其它的一切都是逼真的——诺克斯被捕，收监，报纸上大吹大擂，还有伦敦警察厅的公文——嗨，妙极啦！我也知道，无论是你，辛普森，还是你，爸爸，全都不会听出破绽来的，因为，尽管你们对于抓人办案都是个中老手，但对于艺术，你们并不比在座的迪居那更懂多少。我有理由要担心的，仅有一个人，那就是布莱特小姐——所以我在那天下午，把这套策略对她作了必要的透露，以便在诺克斯先生被'捕'的时候，她会显出恰如其分的惊恐神态。附带说一句吧，我还另有应对自己祝贺的方面呢——那就是我的表演；难道我算不上足智多谋、诡计多端吗？”埃勒里咯咯咯笑了起来，“我知道没人赏识我这套才能……不管怎样吧，佩珀由于一无所失而大有所获，禁不住要把两幅画并列在一起，哪怕是只作五分钟的对比……这全不出我的所料。 “就在我在诺克斯先生家里对他进行指控的时候，我早已派遣维利巡官——我应承认，这位巡官是极为勉强从命的，因为他对我父亲是如此忠诚，他只要一想到是背着我父亲行事，这位彪形大汉的整个身躯就会不寒而栗——去搜查佩珀的寓所和办公室，怀着万一的希望，也许他会把画藏在这两个地方的某处。当然，在这两个地方，全都一无所获，不过我总得查实。星期五晚上，我注意到，是由佩珀把画带到检察公署去的，那对他讲来是随时都可取用的了。那天晚上，以及昨天一整天，他都潜伏不动，这是不言而喻的；然而，现在大家都知道了，熬到昨天夜里，他就从公事案卷内偷出那幅画，夹带到诺克斯空房子中他那秘密窟，被我们当场拿获，两画并在——那个原本，以及不值钱的复制品。不消说得，维利巡官及其弟兄们一直象警犬似的尾随着佩珀；我一直不断地收到关于佩珀的行踪的报告，因为我们不知他把那幅利奥纳多的作品藏匿在哪儿。 “至于他朝我当胸一枪”——埃勒里轻轻揉抚自己的肩膀——“总算侥开之幸，只不过伤了我的皮肉，我认为，这一事实表明，在那水落石出的痛苦的一刹那间，佩珀终于领悟到我已扭转了全局。这样，戏就收场了。” 众人叹服。就象事先安排好的一样，迪居那端上了茶点。有一会儿的功夫，大家把那案子撇在了脑后，聊起天来——必须指出的是，琼·布莱特小姐和阿仑·切奈先生两位都不参加聊天——聊天之后，辛普森说道：“埃勒里，我还存在一些疑问，有待澄清。你曾围绕着两封恐吓信，颇费周折地对一大堆现象进行分析，也提到了是否可能有同谋犯的问题。分析得好！但是——”他用典型的检察官的派头，旁若无人地用食指在空中点点戳戳——“你最初的分析是怎样的呢？你曾说过，写信者的第一个特征就是：由于此人曾在卡吉士家布置过陷害卡吉士的假线索，所以凶手必定就是此人；你还记得吗？” “记得的。”埃勒里一面说，一面寻思地眨眼。 “但你一点也没提到，布置那些假线索的，也有可能是凶手的一个同谋呀！你怎第么能一口咬定是凶手本人，而完全否定了有同谋的可能性呢？” “你别急，辛普森。这其实是不言而喻的。格林肖自称只有一个同党——对吧？我们又从另一些事，证实了这个同党把格林肖杀害了——对吧？那么，我就可以说，那个同党杀了格林肖之后，他处心积虑要想移祸于人，最初就是想移到卡吉士头上——所以，我认为，伪造线索的是凶手。你问我，在逻辑的可能性上，伪造线索的何以不是同谋呢？理由很简单，凶手正是为了要甩掉同谋，才把格林肖杀死的。难道他会杀掉了一个同谋，却为了制造假线索的目的而再去另找一个同谋吗？况且，这个罪犯布置陷害卡吉士的线索，在他这方面完全是信手拈来的。 “他可以随心所欲地挑选一个'使人置信的'凶手。于是他就挑选了一个最方便趁手的。他刚刚甩掉一个同谋，却再去搭上一个同谋，未免太蠢、太没有道理了吧。因此，我在考虑了这个精明罪犯的精明程度之后，确知他是亲自伪造线索的。” 辛普森高举双手，连称：“好，好。” “埃勒里，弗里兰太太是怎么回事？”警官好奇地问道，“我原以为她跟史洛安是姘头。但这又讲不通，她为什么把那天晚上看见史洛安到墓地去的事报告我们。” 埃勒里另外点起一枝烟：“这是个细节。根据史洛安太太所谈的，她尾随史洛安，一直跟进了比乃第旅馆的情况来看，史洛安和弗里兰太太之间显然有暧昧关系。但我认为，你应该想到，史洛安一旦意识到自己继承卡吉士收藏品总库的唯一途径就是通过自己的妻子，这时，他一定会下决心摆脱姘妇，从此专心一意博取妻子的欢喜。不消说得，象弗里兰太太那号人——不甘心做一个被人抛弃的情妇——她的反应也在常理之中，就是千方百计想要给史洛安吃苦头。” 阿仑·切奈忽然象大梦初醒。他突如其来地——诚惶诚恐地避眼不朝琼看——问道：“奎因，那么，这位沃兹医生又是怎么回事呢？他究竟到哪儿去啦？他为什么逃跑？他跟这件案子如果有所牵连的话，究竟是些什么牵连呢？” 琼·布莱特正在津津有味地细看自己的双手。 “我认为，”埃勒里耸了耸肩说道，“这个问题不妨由布莱特小姐讲清楚。我一直抱有怀疑……怎么，布莱特小姐？” 琼抬起头来，笑得很甜美——虽然她并不朝阿仑那个方向望去：“沃兹医生是我的同伙。这是真的！他是伦敦警察厅最干练的探员之一。” 不难觉察，这在阿仑·切奈先生听来是大好消息；他用干咳来掩饰惊奇，比刚才更加出神地凝视着地毯。 “请听我说吧，”琼依然甜笑着继续说道，“我没有对你讲过他的任何情况，奎因先生，因为他亲自对我下过禁令。他不露真面目，为的是避开官方的耳目和干扰，一心追踪利奥纳多的作品——他对过去的事态进展非常恼火。” “那么，一定是你设法把他搞进卡吉士家的喽？”埃勒里问道。 “是的。当我感到这事已经不是自己力所能及的时候，我就写信，把自己无能为力的情况报告了博物馆，于是他们就找上了伦敦警察厅，在此之前，伦敦警察厅对失窃的事毫无所知——几位馆长原来都非常渴望把这事情悄悄解决。沃兹医生确实是有行医执照的，以前也曾经用医生的身份办过几件案子。” “那天晚上，他的确到比乃第旅馆去找过格林肖，是吗？”检察察问道。 “当然是的。那天晚上我不能亲自跟踪格林肖；但我把情况通给沃兹医生，他就去盯住那人，看见那人与一个认不出是何许样的人会面……” “那肯定就是佩珀了，”埃勒里自言自语。 “……他一直盯到了旅馆的前廊，眼看格林肖以及现在知道是佩珀的这个人上了电梯。他还看见史洛安上去了，还有史洛安太太，还有奥德尔——最后他本人也上去了，但他并没有进入格林肖的房间，只是踏勘了一下。他目睹这些人一个个走掉，却没有看见第一人走掉。不消说得，他无法把这些事讲给你听，除非暴露出他的身份，而他是不愿意暴露身份的……沃兹医生没有发现什么，就回到了卡吉士家。第二天晚上，当格林肖和诺克斯先生来访时——那时我们还不知道那人就是诺克斯先生——很不巧，沃兹医生已经跟弗里兰太太出去了，他跟她的交往总有点——嗯——嗯——我该怎么说呢？——令人费解啊！” “如今他在哪儿呢？”阿仑·切奈眼望着地毯上的花纹，漫不经心地说道。 “我可以肯定，”琼对着烟雾腾腾的空中说道，“沃兹医生这时正在飘洋过海，打道回府。” “哦。”阿仑说道，似乎听了这个答复而感到无上满足。 等到诺克斯和辛普森走了之后，警官长嘘了一口气，象个老父亲似的拉了拉琼的手，拍拍阿仑的肩膀，告别而出，去干自己的公务了——大概是要去应付一大帮如饥似渴的新闻记者，也许更为荣幸的是，他还要去见见位高高在上的上司，这些上司，随着格林肖——史洛安——佩珀案件的曲曲折折的进程，也已被搞得精疲力竭。 只剩下埃勒里独自一个来陪伴客人了，埃勒里却开始全神贯注于自己肩膀伤口上的绷带。他简直是最怠慢的主人了；琼和阿仑站了起来，相当尴尬地打算告辞。 “什么！你们难道也打算走吗？”埃勒里总算大发慈悲地开口了。他从沙发上爬了起来，朝着他们傻笑；琼的洁白鼻子微微有点颤动；阿仑踮起一个脚趾，在那张吸引着他全部注意力达一小时之久的地毯上，沿着复杂的花纹转动，“唉！你们且别走。再等一下。我要讲一件事，你必定特别感兴趣的，布莱特小姐。” 埃勒里匆匆忙忙走出了起居室，使人莫测高深。当他不在房间的时候，谁也不开口；他俩呆站在那儿，就象两个互怀敌意的小娃娃，互相偷觑着。直到埃勒里从卧室出来的时候，两人一起都舒了一口气，埃勒里右臂抱着一大卷油画。 “多少事端，”他庄重而严肃地对琼说道，“都由此而起。我们不再需要这幅备受蹂躏的利奥纳多了——佩珀已死，不会开庭审判了……” “你未必会——你未必会把这交给我——”琼慢吞吞地开口了。阿仑·切奈干瞪着两眼。 “正是要交给你。你马上要回伦敦去了，不是吗？所以请准许我把你自己所赢得的荣誉，授予你吧，布莱特副官——你有权亲手把这副利奥纳多作品带回博物馆去。” “啊！”她半启着樱桃般的嘴，微微有点颤抖；但并不显得十分殷切。她接过了那一卷油画，从自己的右手交到自己的左手，再从左手传到右手，很象是不知将它如何处置是好——为了这幅老掉了牙的油画，有三个人送掉了性命。 埃勒里从餐具柜中取出一个瓶子。那是个褐色的旧瓶子，闪闪发亮；他又低声吩咐迪居那几句，于是这位出色的小厮赶快到厨房去，一会儿的功夫就端来了虹吸管、苏打水以及开怀畅饮的各种材料。 “布莱特小姐，喝杯威士忌苏打吗？”埃勒里兴致勃勃地问道。 “唔，不喝了！” “那么来杯鸡尾酒，怎么样？” “多谢你的好意，可是我不喝酒，奎因先生。”一阵忙乱已经安定了下来；布莱特小姐重又恢复了冷若冰霜的常态，在不那么敏锐的男性看来，简直是不可思议、无法理解的。 阿仑·切奈何望着瓶子，馋涎欲滴。埃勒里忙着捣鼓杯子、瓶子。不多时，他在一只高脚杯子内，炮制出了发泡沫的琥珀色液体；于是用一种深通世故的态度递给了阿仑。 “的确是妙品啊，”埃勒里喃喃说道，“我知道你嗜好杯中物……什么——你？”埃勒里装得象是大吃一惊的样子。 原因是：阿仑·切奈先生，在琼·布莱特小姐的严峻目光注视之下——阿仑·切奈先生这样一位积习难改的酒鬼——居然拒绝不喝这杯芳香扑鼻的混合酒！ “不，”他口气坚定地咕噜道，“不，谢谢你，奎因，我戒酒了。再也不开戒了。” 琼·布莱特小姐似乎通体都沐浴在一道温暖的阳光之下；词汇贫乏的人，或许会形容她神情焕发起来了；事实就是，冰霜如同着了魔似的消融了，又一次使人不可思议、无法理解，她脸红了，低头望着地板，她的脚尖也踮着划了起来；而那幅价值百万美金的利奥纳多作品，竟从她胳膊下掉落在地，她也置之不理，完全把它当作是花花绿绿的月份牌一般。 “算了吧！”埃勒里说道，“我还以为——好吧！”他不以为然、大失所望地耸耸肩，“你听我说，布莱特小姐，”他说道，“这很象是演员专任制剧团演出的旧式闹剧。男主角大叫大嚷，从此不再喝酒了——到第三场结束时，他已开始了新生活，诸如此类的情节。的确，我听说切奈先生已答应经营他母亲的企业，他母亲如今得到了相当大的一笔财产了——对吗，切奈？”阿仑点点头，一声不吭，“等这场疾风暴雨的官司结束之后，他说不定还要主管卡吉士收藏品总库呢。” 他滔滔不绝地唠叨着。他突然住口了，因为，两位客人谁也不在听他。琼激动万分，朝着阿仑；两人通过眉目传情——或者不妨给它一个随便什么字眼——弥合了隔膜，于是琼再次涨红着脸，转向埃勒里，埃勒里正用悲天悯人的目光打量着他俩。 “我想，”琼说，“我不回伦敦去了。你——你真好……” 埃勒里等客去、门关之后，眼望着丢在地板上的那幅油画——就是刚才从琼·布莱特小姐的玉臂中滑到地上的——叹了一口气，把那杯威士忌苏打，喝得一干二净，迪居那在旁观望，有点不以为然，他小小年纪却认真地抱着绝对的戒酒主义呢……根据埃勒里那瘦削面庞上怡然自得的神情来判断，该不会是借酒浇愁吧。