Chapter 6 fourth scene

The reception room, located on the second floor of the garage, was a large, empty, lifeless room with benches lining all four walls. The group of people rushing to the Longstreet banquet sat scattered, with all kinds of sad and nervous expressions, but they didn't speak. Inspector Sam and Constable Duffy entered first, followed by Dr. Schelling and two assistants under his command.The corpse was carried in on a stretcher, and Dr. Schelling wanted to block it with a screen, and the three doctors checked behind the screen. For a while, everyone was quiet except for the extremely enthusiastic discussion of the autopsy staff, and, like As if carrying out an unspoken order, everyone turned their heads without looking at the screen. After a long time, Qiaoli sobbed softly, leaning on Prak's slightly trembling shoulders.

Inspector Sam crossed his powerful hands behind his back, and looked at everyone with a look that was so calm that he was almost indifferent. "Now, there are no other people in this room," the inspector said relaxedly, "we can spread out and talk. I know you must be in a mess right now, but it's not too upset to answer a few simple questions. The point of the problem," everyone looked at Inspector Sam like schoolchildren, "sergeant," the inspector turned to Sergeant Duffy, "you said there was someone present who could confirm that the deceased was Harry Lonstray, who was that?"

Officer Duffy pointed to DeWitt, who was sitting with his wife, and DeWitt moved. "It's you," said Inspector Sam. "Now, you can repeat what you told the officer in the car—Jonas, you're in charge of the transcript." The inspector said to one of the detectives by the door. , the criminal policeman nodded, took out a pencil and notebook. "Please say your name first." "John DeWitt," DeWitt's manner and voice suddenly filled with determination and confidence.Inspector Sam noticed the unexpected look in the eyes of several people in the seat, and DeWitt's performance seemed to attract their interest, "The deceased is my partner, our company is called DeWitt-Lonstra Securities, Located on Wall Street."

"Then, who are the other gentlemen and ladies here?" DeWitt - Introduces the other person's name and identity. "Why do you all take this tram?" DeWitt gave a brief account of their ride at Forty-Second Street, including Lonstra's invitation to a weekend party at his house, their departure from the restaurant, the sudden commotion, and their impromptu decision to take this trolley to the ferry port and then the ferry. …Sam listened with a blank face, and when DeWitt finished speaking, Sam laughed, "Well said, Mr. DeWitt, just in the car, you saw me get the The cork full of tiny needles you found, have you seen this thing before? Or heard of this thing?" DeWitt shook his head, "Has anyone else seen or heard of it?" Everyone They all shook their heads to express their ignorance, "Okay, Mr. DeWitt, now listen carefully, and see that what I say next is all true. Under the awning at the intersection, you once took a letter to Longstreet. He reached into his left pocket with his left hand to take out the glasses case, took out the glasses, and put his hand back into the pocket to put them back into the glasses case. At that time, did you notice that his left hand Anything unusual? Did he scream? Did he withdraw his hand quickly?"

"Not at all," DeWitt replied calmly. "You'd think the cork was in his pocket, but apparently it wasn't." Sam turned to the others: "Did anyone notice anything unusual then?" Qiao Li said in a crying voice: "There is nothing, I am standing beside him, if he is pricked by a needle, I will definitely feel it." "Very well, then Mr. DeWitt, Mr. Longstreet read the letter, he reached into his pocket again for the case, put the case back, and--for the fourth time--reached into the pocket again, Did he cry out or show any signs of being pricked this last time?"

"I swear absolutely nothing," DeWitt replied, "no cry or possible sign." Everyone nodded in agreement. Sam leaned forward a little: "Miss Brown," he said to the actress, "Mr. DeWitt said, after Lonstra returned the letter to him, he saw you and Lonstra immediately run to the tram together, Is it true that you held Lonstreet's left hand until you got into the car?" "Yes," she trembled slightly, "I was pushed and held on to his left arm, and he—his left hand was also in his pocket, and we kept it like this until we squeezed Car, go to the conductor's seat."

"And then, in front of the conductor's place, did you see his hand sticking out -- his left hand?" "Yes, he reached out and looked for change in his vest pocket, but couldn't find it. That was when we squeezed into the car." "His hands are fine--no stab wounds, no bleeding, are there?" "yes." "Mr. DeWitt, could you show me that letter you wrote to Lonstra?" DeWitt took the muddy envelope from his breast pocket and handed it to Inspector Sam, who read it—a letter of protest from a client named Weber.Weber complained: He asked them to sell his stock at a certain time and at a certain price, but DeWitt-Longstreet did not follow through, causing him to suffer a lot of losses. The letter emphasized, This is obviously caused by the negligence of the securities company, and the company should be responsible for compensation.Sam returned the letter to DeWitt without a word.

"So it's pretty clear," concluded Sam, "in other words—" "That cork," DeWitt went on quietly, "must have been in Lonstra's pocket when he got into the car." Sam put on a half-smile: "That's right, while waiting for the bus, he put his hand into his pocket four times, and when everyone ran to the tram, you did see that Miss Brown was always on his left side. And Longstreet's left hand was always in the wrong left pocket. If there was anything wrong, you and Miss Brown would definitely notice, and after getting into the car, Miss Brown saw that there was nothing unusual about his left hand. Anyway, the pinned cork wasn't in Lonstree's pocket until he got into the car."

Sam stroked his chin and pondered for a while. Then, he shook his head, paced back and forth in front of pedestrians, and asked everyone about the distance and relative position of standing in the car from Lone Street. The other passengers kept moving and squeezing, and everyone dispersed.Sam pursed his lips tightly, but did not show any disappointment. "Miss Brown, why did Longstreet take out his glasses in the car?" "I think he wants to read the newspaper." Qiaoli's voice was weak. DeWitt said: "On the way to the ferry, Lonstra was in the habit of reading the market closing table in the evening paper for the day."

"Miss Brown, Lonstra gave a cry when he took out his glasses this time, and looked at his hands, didn't he?" "Yes, he was startled and annoyed, but that was all. He checked his pockets to see what had stuck him, but the car shook so badly that he had to hold on to the rings and talk to me. Said that his hand was pricked, I felt that he seemed to be standing unsteadily at that time." "But he still puts on his glasses and reads the securities page, doesn't he?" "He was about to open the newspaper, but before he could, he—he fell down before I could get my head around it."

Inspector Sam frowned: "Is it the habit to read the evening paper in the car every night? Or is there any special reason why you must read it today? After all, it's really not a polite behavior for a group of guests to travel together..." "That's nothing to wonder at," DeWitt interrupted coldly. "You don't know this man, Lonstra. He's always doing what he likes. How could he need any other reason than you said?" Qiaoli on the side thought with tears: "Oh, yes, there is one thing," she said, "This may be a special reason. This afternoon, he asked someone to buy a newspaper—I don't think it's the closing price." Quotes—seems to see how a certain stock is doing today, maybe—” cried Sam, “that’s a clue, Miss Brown, what kind of stock is that, can you remember?” "I think... like International Metal," she said, casting a sneaky glance at Mike Collins's head, who was staring unhappily at the dirty floor. Mister may need a little advice." "I see, hey, Collins!" The big-headed Irishman murmured, and Sam stared at him curiously, "You were at the party, too! I thought the tax department was busy. ...Collins, tell me how you got into this international metals stock exchange?" Collins was not very kind: "It's none of your business, Sam, but if you really want to know, Lonstra advised me to buy a lot of international metals stocks - he said he'd been watching me for a long time, but fuck it Yes, it just fell below its all-time low today." DeWitt turned to look at Collins in disbelief, Sam immediately asked him, "Mr. DeWitt, do you know about this deal?" "Not at all," said DeWitt, turning to the inspector. "I'm very surprised that Lonstra would advise people to buy International Metals, which I saw last week was going to plummet, and I advised all my clients never to touch this stock." .” "Collins, when did you hear about the international metal crash?" "Around one o'clock this afternoon, but DeWitt, what do you mean you don't know anything about Lonstray? What the hell kind of shitty company are you? I'm-" Inspector Mu cut in, "Boy, don't get angry, let me ask you, have you seen Lonstra between one o'clock this afternoon and when you guys came here at the restaurant?" "I've seen it." A very angry voice. "Where?" "Times Square at the branch office is not long after noon." Sam shook his body leisurely again: "I guess, He Heqi didn't quarrel, right?" "Oh, for God's sake!" cried Collins, "you've gone the other way, Sam, what the hell are you trying to do—put the blame on me?" "you have not answer my question yet." "Well—no, there was no quarrel." Qiao Li screamed suddenly, and Sam looked back as if he had been shot, but all he saw was the fat, jolly Dr. Schelling, with his sleeves rolled up, emerging from behind the screen, and a glimpse of Lonstra's dead face. . "Give me that thing—the cork or something they told me about downstairs, sir, please," Dr. Schelling said. Sam nodded to Officer Duffy, and Duffy handed a package to Dr. Schelling like a heavy burden, and the doctor took it, hummed, and disappeared behind the screen again. Qiaoli stood up now, her eyes were burning with anger, and her face was distorted, just like Medusa, the gorgon in the nightmare. She was just about to recover from the shock of the murder, but at this moment, she suddenly saw the bloodless face of Longstreet, which made her hysterical again-of course, there was a bit of artificiality, and she rushed to DeWitt. , grabbed his collar hard, pointed at his pale face and shouted: "You killed him, you did it, you hate him, you killed him!" All the men present stood up nervously, and Sam and Duffy hurriedly pulled Qiao Li away who kept screaming.DeWitt remained as motionless as a stone statue, and Jane DeWitt sat beside her, looking at her father in horror.Impoli and Ahan guarded DeWitt on both sides with serious expressions, like two sentinels, and Collins still sat unhappily huddled in the corner.Pluck stood up at this moment, and kept whispering in Qiao Li's ear. Qiao Li had gradually calmed down and started to cry... Only Mrs. DeWitt didn't respond at all, and she always used her emotionless With piercing eyes, he watched all this coldly without blinking. Inspector Sam looked down at Qiao Li, who was still trembling, and asked, "Why do you say that, Miss Brown? How do you know Mr. DeWitt killed him? Did you see Mr. DeWitt put the cork in Long Stry's pocket?" "No! No!" she moaned, shaking, "I don't know, I don't know anything, all I know is that he hates Harry, hates him... Harry keeps saying that—" Sam snorted With a sound, he straightened up and gave Police Officer Duffy a wink. Duffy gestured to the policeman who was taking notes. The policeman opened the door, and other policemen who were waiting outside came in.At this time, Pulke was still chanting his mind-reading spell, trying to calm Qiao Li down.Sam announced, "Everyone wait a minute, I'll be right back." After speaking, he led Jonas, who was in charge of the transcript, out.