Chapter 28 third scene
The group of people sat in two groups: Jane, Rhodes and Impoli who played the role of the knight were in the front; DeWitt, Ryan, Brooke and Ahan chose the opposite seats in the middle of the carriage.
Before the car started, Brook stared at DeWitt for a while, then turned to Ryan who was sitting in front of him and said suddenly: "Mr. Ryan, I was deeply touched by something you said tonight...you mentioned In an instant, there is "endless long years" - when a person sits in the dock, waiting for the verdict of the jury, die? Or step out of the court and start a new life? It is all decided in this short moment .Endless years, really well said! Mr. Ryan..."
"Yeah, that's very accurate." DeWitt echoed with sympathy.
"Oh? You think so?" Brooke glanced at DeWitt's calm face. "This reminds me of a novel I read before—I think it was written by Ambrus Bias. Quite a unique novel. In the book, it is written that a person is about to be hanged, and right there—well, how should I put it? At the moment of execution, this person actually spends his whole life, from beginning to end, without missing a single detail. Replay it in your mind. Ren, this is the same as what you said about the endless years, I believe there must be many writers who have dealt with this idea. "
"I think I've read the novel too," Lane replied, and DeWitt, who was sitting next to Brooke, also nodded. "The concept of time, as science has taught us for many years, is relative. We use Dreaming example - often we wake up and feel that we are dreaming during the entire sleep period... However, some psychologists tell us that the time of dreaming is actually extremely short, which occurs at the time of the handover between unconscious sleep and waking to regain consciousness A moment, just a moment."
"I've heard that too," said Ahan, who sat across from DeWitt and Brooke, talking face-to-face.
"What I'm really thinking about," said Brooke—looking back at DeWitt again—"is some application of this particular psychological phenomenon. John, I can't help being curious—and I'm sure others agree with I'm the same—today, at the moment of sentencing, what was going through your mind?"
"Perhaps," Wren interjected considerately, "maybe Mr. DeWitt doesn't want to talk about it."
"On the contrary," the short securities dealer's eyes were bright at this moment, and his expression on his face was very lively, "what I brought to me at that moment was the most special experience in my life. I think this experience can be fully realized. Supporting the purpose of Piata's novel, it is also fully in line with Mr. Wren's theory of dreams."
"Could it be that what came to your mind at that moment was also all the things that happened in your life?" Ahan said with a look of disbelief.
"No, no, that's not the case. What I thought of at that moment was so strange, and it was completely irrelevant and I shouldn't think of it again..." DeWitt leaned against the green back cushion and said hurriedly , "It's about someone's identity. About nine years ago I was selected by a New York court to serve as a juror in a murder trial against a rough old man accused of stabbing a man in an apartment. The woman was charged with first-degree murder—the D.A. proved there was no doubt that it was a well-planned murder—so there was no way the murderer could have been wronged. The long interrogation process, and even when we came to the jury room to discuss whether he was guilty, I couldn't get rid of the feeling that I must have seen this defendant somewhere before this, so, like everyone else, I Trying hard to remember who this person is, but until I was so tired that I gave up, I still couldn't remember who this person was, when and where I saw him..."
At this time, the siren blew, the car stopped, and the train started to start. DeWitt raised his voice slightly: "To make a long story short, I, like the other jurors, believe that this person has indeed committed murder based on the evidence found by the police. A guilty vote was also cast, the jury returned a guilty verdict, the man was sentenced to death and executed according to law, and that was the end of the matter, and I naturally put the whole thing behind me."
The train officially moved out of the station, DeWitt stopped, licked his lips, and no one else answered: "I said the weird part is here. In these nine years, I have never thought about this person or this thing again." But today, at the moment when the chief juror stood up to declare my fate—unbelievably, it should be said that just after the end of the sentence that the judge asked the jury results, the first word of the chief juror was about to come out. This short moment——Suddenly, for no reason, there was a bang in my head, and a flash of inspiration flashed in. Not only did I strangely recall the appearance of this person who was sentenced to death at that moment, but even more strangely, I also Also remembering who he was and where I'd seen him—you see, it's been nine years since I stopped thinking about him."
"Then who is he?" Brooke asked curiously.
DeWitt laughed: "That's why I said things were weird... It was almost twenty years ago, when I was wandering around South America, and I came across a little place called Barinas, in Chamo, Venezuela. La area. I was going back to my sojourn cottage one night when I passed a dark alley when I heard the sound of a violent fight. I was young and much more adventurous than I dare say now up.
"I had a revolver on me, so I quickly pulled it out of the holster and rushed to the alley, and found two locals in rags, attacking a white man, and one of them grabbed a machete and threw it at the white man. cut, so I pulled the trigger, and the bullet missed. But I saw that the two highwaymen were terrified and ran away, and the white man who was attacked was lying on the ground with several stab wounds. I walked over When I looked at him, I thought that this person must be seriously injured, but he stood up on his own, wiped the blood on his pants, thanked me in a low voice, and then limped away and disappeared into the In the dark. During this time, I only took a quick look at his face. This man, I saved his life twenty years ago, and it is the same man who I sent him to the electric chair. right?"
In a sigh of silence, Ren said thoughtfully: "This bizarre story is worthy of being included in folklore."
The train still galloped on, only the headlights briefly cutting through the dark night—this was the wilderness of Weehawken.
"But what I find most special about this case myself," continued DeWitt, "is that a mystery that I couldn't even think about was solved at the moment of my own life and death! Remember, this man I've only seen his face once, and it was so many years ago..."
"This is one of the most amazing things I've ever heard." Brooke was still full of emotion.
"The human mind is actually far more mysterious and powerful than we can understand, especially at the moment of facing death, even more amazing than Mr. DeWitt's personal experience," Lane said, "eight weeks A few days ago, I saw a report in the newspaper, which was a detailed description of a murder in Vienna. The situation is roughly like this: A man was shot dead in the hotel room where he was staying. The identity of the deceased was ascertained. This person was a gangster who had been absorbed by various parties as an informant. The motive for the murder was obviously revenge. It may have been because the deceased was linked to the police to inform and aroused the hatred of the murderer. The report also said, The deceased had lived in this hotel for several months, and he rarely went out, and even ate in the room, as if he was escaping pursuit. When the body was found, there were still unfinished tableware on the table. He was seven feet away from the table He was shot everywhere, fatally shot, but did not die immediately. This is inferred from the facts left at the scene: the body was lying at the foot of the dining table six feet away from the shot, and the carpet in between was sprinkled with seven-foot-long speckle. Bloodstains. There was a very special situation at the scene, the sugar bowl on the dining table was completely overturned, white fine sugar was spilled on the table, and there was a handful tightly held by the deceased, a whole handful of sugar."
"Interesting," DeWitt murmured.
"This situation seems to be easy to explain. The deceased was shot seven feet from the table, tried to climb to the table, got up with incredible strength, grabbed a handful of sugar on the table, and fell to the ground to die from exhaustion. But why? What is the meaning of referring to the sugar? What is the meaning of the dead man's desperate act before dying? So far, the Vienna police have obviously hit the rocks. I conclude this report," Lane smiled to the three stunned audience, "I am extremely concerned about these The tantalizing puzzle was answered, so I wrote a letter to Vienna. A few weeks later, the local police chief wrote me back, saying that the murderer had been arrested before my letter arrived, but My deduction correctly solved the mystery of the dead man and the sugar - a mystery that still puzzled the Viennese police after the murderer's confession."
"Then what exactly is your deduction?" Ahan asked, "I really can't think of any possible explanation based on this handful of sugar."
"I was blank, too," Brooke said.
DeWitt pursed his mouth into a straight line and frowned thoughtfully.
"What about you? Mr. DeWitt." Ryan asked with a smile.
"I don't think I understand the correct meaning of this handful of sugar," the broker said while thinking, "but one thing seems to be obvious. It should be that the deceased tried to point out the clues left by the murderer."
"Excellent!" Wren exclaimed, "one hundred per cent correct, Mr. DeWitt, very, very good. But what does the sugar as a clue signify? This - oh, if the dead man was trying to point out that his murderer - Of course, this inference is the most absurd one-seems—is it a person with a sweet tooth? Or, does it mean that the murderer is a diabetic? The more reasonable idea of the police is that it should be more directly related to the usual training of the police and the things they deal with, so that the clues left by the deceased have a better chance of being established. Therefore, in addition to the above two explanations, the sugar What else does it mean—what does sugar look like in terms of shape? Well, it is a white crystalline substance... So, I wrote to the Vienna police chief. Of course, sugar may mean that the murderer is a diabetic; But the more likely explanation is that the killer was a cocaine addict."
Everyone was still dumbfounded, DeWitt patted his thigh lightly, suddenly realized and laughed: "Cocaine, yes! White, crystals, powder!"
"The arrested suspect," Ryan said, "is what we usually call a poisonous bug here. Therefore, the Vienna police gave me an official reply through the police here, and of course it was very polite and full of absurd words. Needless to mention is not worth mentioning. I think this explanation is the simplest and basic one. In this murder case, what really interests me is the incredible spiritual power displayed by the deceased before his death. He had no way and no time to think and act like an ordinary person at that moment, but faced death. Some special power triggered a flash of light in his mind, allowing him to live and die at that moment that could not be delayed. Fighting, and successfully leaving this clue to identify the murderer. Therefore, we can understand—at the moment of the end of life, how magical and powerful the instantaneous power of the human mind is, and it can be said to be almost infinite.”
"I think it's 100 percent true," said DeWitt. "It's a very interesting story, Mr. Wren. I can't agree with you when you modestly claim that your insights are only the most common and basic inferences. I think that only Your amazing talent and vision can penetrate the appearance of things and touch the real core."
"If you live in Vienna, you will definitely help them clarify more mysteries." Ahan also said.
The North Bergen Station has passed and disappeared into the dark behind it.
Ren sighed: "I often think this way, if the murdered person can leave some kind of information, so that we can track down the murderer, no matter how obscure the information is, in this way, between crime and karma time, it will be more reliable, and simple and easy to implement.”
"No matter how cryptic? Really?" Brooke questioned.
"Of course it's true, Mr. Brooke. Any information is better than no information at all."
At this time, a tall man appeared, with his hat lowered and his eyes lowered, his face pale and in pain. He came in from the front of the carriage and staggered towards the four people who were talking.He seemed a little unsteady, leaning his whole body on the green checkered back of the train seat, swaying with the jolt of the train, slowly staring at DeWitt among the four.
Ryan stopped talking and looked up at the intruder in confusion. DeWitt said in disgust, "Collins." Ryan's eyes suddenly showed interest.
Brooke said, "You're drunk, Collins, what do you want?"
"Nobody thinks you're dumb if you don't talk, litigator," Collins said roughly, his eyes bloodshot and resentful, the focus always on DeWitt alone. "DeWitt," he tried to say. Be civil, "I want to talk to you alone." He pushed his hat up and tried to put on a pleasant smile, but he could only manage to squeeze out a disgusting mocking smile, DeWitt was pathetic and disgusting answer him.
When the two looked at each other and talked, Ryan's gaze alternated from Collins' painful face to DeWitt's awe-inspiring face.
"Listen, Collins," said DeWitt patiently, in a rather genial tone, "I've told you over and over again that I can't do anything about it, and I've told you why, why do you make yourself so unreasonable? Don't you know that you have seriously disturbed other people's private parties by doing this? Get out of here like a man!"
Collins's tense mouth fell, and his blood-red eyes suddenly filled with tears: "Listen, DeWitt," he said weakly, "you must talk to me, you don't know this How important it is to me, DeWitt, this is—this is a matter of life and death," DeWitt showed hesitation, and everyone looked at Collins intently, the tragic state of this man and the most insignificant humanity were completely exposed in sight.Collins sensed DeWitt's vacillation, grasping at the opportunity like a drowning man at a straw, and said eagerly, "I promise, I swear, if you give me another chance to talk privately , I will never bother you again—just this once, please, DeWitt, please!"
DeWitt stared at him calmly: "Are you serious, Collins? You won't bother me again, will you? You won't bother me like this again, will you?"
"Yes, yes! I guarantee it ten thousand and ten thousand times!" The flame of hope blazed in the blood-red eyes, almost to the point of terror.DeWitt sighed, stood up, and apologized to the three, so the pair of enemies went to the back of the carriage.
DeWitt bowed his head in silence, while Collins was talking loudly like a cannonball, flying his hands and explaining again and again, and not daring to blink for a moment, staring at the blank face that DeWitt avoided—about to step out DeWitt at the carriage door suddenly remembered something, left the eloquent Collins where he was, and returned to the seats of the three friends.
The broker reached into his vest pocket and took out a stack of one-way tickets that he was in charge of buying. He put back his own new multiple tickets and handed the one-way tickets to Ahan: "Frank, the tickets are still here for you." Be on the safe side," he said, "I don't know how long this plague will last, the conductor may come to check tickets during this period."
Ahan nodded and accepted, and DeWitt went back to the car after explaining.On the other side, Collins stood there dying, and when DeWitt arrived, he suddenly came alive and argued eagerly.The two entered the last carriage through the carriage door.When they first jumped into this carriage, they could still glimpse the two of them briefly from this carriage. Then, Ryan and the others saw Collins and DeWitt continue to move forward and disappear into the dark last carriage.
Brooke said: "People who play with fire will eventually set themselves on fire. I think this person is finished. DeWitt would not be stupid enough to help such a person."
"I think he's still counting on DeWitt to be responsible for Lonstra's nonsense," Ahan analyzed. "I wouldn't be surprised if DeWitt actually jumped in to help him, don't you think? He's in a great mood, and the joy of being reborn may make him want to help clean up the mess at Lonstreet."
Ryan didn't speak.He turned his head to look at the next carriage, but of course he couldn't see the two people.At this time, the conductor came in from the previous car and cut the tickets one by one. Everyone turned their attention back, and the tense atmosphere just now calmed down.When Rhodes was found, Rhodes pointed to the train conductor where the three of Rennes were in the middle of the carriage, and was a little surprised to see that DeWitt was not in his seat.The conductor came over, and Ahan handed over six tickets, and told the conductor that one of his companions had something to leave temporarily, and he should return to his seat soon.
"Okay." The conductor replied, cut a hole in the ticket, stuffed it back into the clip above Ahan's seat, and left.
The three of them continued to chat all over the place.A few minutes later, Ahan, who was impatient to sit for a long time, apologized, stood up, put his hands in his pockets, and paced back and forth in the aisle at the back of the carriage to stretch his muscles.Wren and Brook turned to the issue of legacy.
Lane cites an interesting real case to Brooke, which happened many years ago, when he was still retiring, and was touring the entire American continent to play Shakespeare; Brooke listed several wills that caused legal disputes in a professional manner.
The train was still moving forward, and Lane looked back twice at the last car, but DeWitt and Collins did not come back.A look of worry quietly floated into the eyes of the old actor.In the short interval of talking with Brooke.He was distracted in thought, but after a while, he smiled slightly, shook his head as if to shake off his own thoughts, and began discussing eagerly with Brooke again.
The car stopped at Bogota Station, a small station on the outskirts of Hackensack.Ryan looked out the window, and the train quickly restarted.At this time, the worry in the old actor's eyes appeared again, and it was more serious than last time.He glanced at the watch on his wrist, the pointer clearly pointed to 12:36, Brooke noticed it, and looked at him with a confused face.
Suddenly, Ryan stood up in a hurry, scaring Brooke and shouted: "I'm sorry, Mr. Brooke," Ryan said anxiously, "maybe I'm too nervous, but Mr. DeWitt hasn't Coming back made me feel very uneasy, I went to the back compartment to have a look."
"Do you think something's wrong?" Brook panicked when he heard this, and he immediately got up and followed Ren to the back of the car.
"I really hope I'm jumpy." The two hurried past Ahan.
"You two, what's the matter?" Ahan asked.
"DeWitt hasn't come back, Mr. Lane thinks something is wrong," the lawyer replied anxiously, "You should go and have a look together, Ahan."
Wren led the way, and they went through the door leading to the rear car, and stopped abruptly as soon as they entered. The car seemed empty; so the three of them went in to search, and sure enough, the last car was completely empty of them. trace.
The three looked at each other.
"Uh, where the hell have they gone?" Aham whispered. "I haven't seen any of them come back, have you?"
"I didn't pay much attention," Brook said, "but I don't think they came back."
Ren didn't pay 100% attention to this matter either.He walked to one of the car doors and looked through the glass at the dark fields speeding back.Then, he went deep into the dimly lit last carriage, carefully inspecting the rear door of this carriage.Looking out through the glass, behind it is a special car that was added when the train arrived at Newcastle Station, and it is also the real end of the train now, to transport a large number of commuters when the train returns to Weehoken at rush hour tomorrow morning Used.Ren lowered his jaw and said hastily, "You two, I want to go in and have a look. Mr. Brook, I have to trouble you to hold the door open to borrow some light. You can hardly see your fingers inside."
He grabbed the doorknob and pulled it hard, and the door opened in response to the sound, but it was not locked.For a while, the three of them stood squinting to adapt to the almost completely dark compartment, unable to see anything. Later, Ren suddenly turned his head and held his breath...
On the left side of the door is a small compartment - this is the special seat with a small square door that is seen at the entrance of the additional carriages of the train during the day.The front wall of the car and the other wall in front of the front seat of this car constitute the front and rear boundaries of this small compartment; the outer side is an ordinary car window, and the side next to the aisle is open without walls and doors , Ryan stands here.In the compartment, like the other seats in the car, there are two-seater benches facing each other. On the seat next to the window on the front wall, the DeWitt sits there, with his head bowed against his chest.
In the darkness, Ryan's eyes were wide open, and DeWitt seemed to be asleep. Brook and Ahan squeezed up from behind. Ryan stepped in, stood between the seats and gently pushed DeWitt's shoulders, but No response.
"DeWitt!" he yelled sharply, shaking the motionless body vigorously, but there was still no response.But this time, DeWitt's head was tilted slightly, and his eyes were glimpsed.Then he returned to the original posture of lowering his head against his chest... Those eyes, even in the near-dark twilight, could still be seen as a pair of open but completely empty eyes.
Ren bent down and reached out to press DeWitt's heart.
He straightened up immediately, rubbed his hands and walked out of the compartment. Ahan's whole body trembled like a poplar in the wind, his eyes fixed on the ghostly corpse in the darkness; Brooke shouted out: "He...he's dead !"
"I've got blood on my hands," Wren said. "Mr. Brooke, please keep the carriage door open, we need some light, at least until we find someone who knows where the light switch is." He walked across Ahan and Brook walked to the last car where they had been. "And please don't touch him, you two," he said bluntly.Neither of them spoke, they huddled together, staring at DeWitt in shock.
Looking around, Ren found what he wanted, walked over and stretched his arms, and pressed several times—it was the emergency bell on the car.Then, there was a sound of squeaking brakes, and the whole train continued to slide forward, staggered again, and finally stopped staggeringly. Ahan and Brooke grabbed each other by surprise to avoid falling.
Ren, who rang the bell, stepped across the junction of the carriages and walked into the bright carriage where they were seated. He stood quietly and waited.Impoli sat alone and dozed off at the moment, Rhodes and Jane were close together, their heads almost touching each other, and other passengers they didn't know either slept or quietly read newspapers and magazines.After a while, the door at the front of the carriage was slammed open, and two conductors ran along the aisle. All the passengers who were sleeping or reading woke up or threw away the newspapers and magazines in their hands, and looked out to see what was going on; Jane and Luo De also raised his head at the same time, his eyes widened; Impoli also woke up, and stood up with a look of astonishment.
Two conductors ran: "Who rang the bell?" shouted the first, a little gentleman who looked irritable, "What? What's the matter?"
Ryan said in a low voice: "A very serious accident happened, conductor, please come with me, please."
Jane, Rhodes, and Impoli rushed over together, and some passengers also came over and asked what happened at a loss.
"Oh, no, please, Miss DeWitt, you wait here and don't go with us; Mr. Rhodes, please take Miss DeWitt back to your seat; and Mr. Imberly, you'd better stay here too Help take care of Miss DeWitt." Ren looked at Rhodes with meaning, Rhodes' face turned pale, he grabbed the arm of the panicked young girl, half supported and half dragged back to the seat.At this time, another conductor also arrived, a tall and strong man, he pushed the crowd of passengers, "Please, please, please return to your seat, there is nothing wrong, please return to your seat now..."
Ren led the two conductors and walked back to the trailer car. Brook and Yassin remained motionless like fossils, staring at DeWitt's body.A train attendant has turned on the light button on the wall of the carriage. When the light comes on, the originally dark carriage will be clearly seen.The three of Ryan stepped into the carriage, patted the two of Ahan who were unconscious as if they had fallen into a nightmare, and the tall conductor carefully closed the door.
A short and elderly train conductor walked to the corpse, bent over to check, the gold watch hanging on his chest was dangling, and he stretched out his withered fingers to shake the deceased's left chest.
"Here's the bullet hole!" he yelled, "Murder..." He hurriedly stood up and looked at Ryan, who interjected, "Conductor, I should remind you not to touch anything at the scene," he said, and he took it out of his wallet. He issued a business card and handed it to the old conductor, "I was entrusted by the police to participate in the investigation of a series of murders in recent days," he said, "I think I should be the master of this accident."
The old conductor carefully looked at the business card a little worriedly, and then handed it back to Ren.He took off his hat and scratched his white hair.
"Well, what should I do?" He said in a slightly angry tone, "I can't confirm what you said. I am the first conductor of this train. According to the regulations, as long as it happens on this train, any emergency at any time. It's up to me to handle it..."
"Listen," Brook interrupted him, "this is Mr. Shuri Wren. He helped investigate the two headless murders of Lonstra and Wood not long ago. You have to listen to him."
"Oh, really?" The old conductor stroked his chin.
"Do you know who this dead man is?" Brooke added, his voice broken with anxiety. "His name is John DeWitt, and he was the partner of the deceased Longstreet whom I just told you about."
"You don't need to say it," said the old conductor, still looking at DeWitt, who only showed half of his face, "I remembered, and I said why this person looks so familiar, he has been on the train for a long time." This one line train. Well, Mr. Lane, I listen to you, what do you say?"
During Brooke's conversation with the old train conductor, Ryan stood quietly, but his eyes were irritated. At this moment, he immediately said: "First close all the doors and windows, and take care of them, and do it immediately. Tell the driver to drive the car to the nearest station—”
"The next stop is Tinic," interrupted the tall conductor.
"Whatever the station," Wren went on, "have the driver drive as fast as he can, and call the NYPD immediately—see Inspector Sam, maybe someone else is at the main office or at home, but find He, and Attorney Bruno of New York County, have been informed if possible."
"I will notify the station master to contact immediately." The old train conductor thought for a while and replied.
"Excellent, and all the units involved in this accident, all; besides, stop the train on the separate track after arriving at Tinic Station. By the way, what do you call it?"
"My name is Pop Burdenley," the old conductor replied solemnly, "Mr. Wren, I understand everything you told me."
"Boddenley, since everything is clear," Ryan said, "I will trouble you to implement it immediately."
The two conductors walked towards the door, and Burdenley told the young conductor: "I'm going to send a message to the driver, you are in charge of the door control part, understand? Edward."
"no problem."
The two got out of the car and ran through the carriages. The doors of each carriage were crowded with passengers who wanted to find out.
After the conductor left, the murder scene fell silent.Ahan leaned against the bathroom door by the aisle in a state of collapse, Brooke also leaned against the car door, and Ryan looked sadly at the dead DeWitt.
Wren said, without looking back, "Arham, you're DeWitt's best friend, and I thought you'd have the unpleasant task of breaking the news to his daughter."
Ahan froze, licked his lips, but left without saying anything.
Brook leaned back against the car door again, and Ren stood beside the corpse like a sentinel again, not saying anything, not moving, and after a while, there was a faint wailing sound coming from the front car.
A few minutes later, the train started to move slowly with its huge iron body shaking, Ren and Brook still didn't realize it.
Outside the car, it was pitch black.
The train was brilliantly lit, but it lay like a dying caterpillar in the blackness of night near Tinic station.There were some passengers waiting for the train at the station. At this moment, a car came whistling, braked sharply on the side of the track, and a group of people rushed towards the motionless train like menacing gods.
These menacing characters are Sam, Bruno, Dr. Schelling and a group of detectives.
They quickly pushed through a small group of people - including train staff, a driver and shunting staff.A criminal policeman rushed to the closed door of the last carriage with a lantern in his hand, but Sam came later, brushing the criminal policeman's face and arriving first, followed by him slamming on the door.A slight cry came from somewhere in the car, "The police are here!" The conductor Burdenley opened the door, hooked the hook on the wall to keep the door open, and lowered the iron movable steps.
"Is it the police?"
"Where's the body?" Sam asked, and at the same time, a group of people stepped on it.
"Here, the last trailer compartment."
A group of people rushed to the trailer again.Sam and his party quickly saw the dead man, and beside him, Ryan stood quietly, as well as a local police officer, the station master of Tinic Station, and the young conductor.
"Murder, huh?" Sam looked at Wren. "How did this happen, Mr. Wren?"
Ren moved slightly: "Inspector, I will never forgive myself... an extremely daring murder, so daring." He seemed to have aged in an instant, with deep wrinkles on his face.
Dr. Schelling pushed back his inseparable rotten cloth cap, left his coat unbuttoned, knelt down beside the corpse, and began to move.
"Has anyone touched the corpse?" the forensic doctor asked in a low voice, his fingers never resting.
"Ren, Mr. Ryan," Brook reminded, "Dr. Schelling asked you if anyone touched the corpse."
Ren replied mechanically: "I shook him a few times, his head turned to one side, but bounced back to the original position, I bent over and touched his chest again, blood was stained on his hands, other than that , no one else has touched him."
After that, the scene was quiet, and everyone quietly watched Dr. Schelling perform.The forensic doctor sniffed the bullet holes in the corpse, and tore off the jacket of the deceased. The bullet entered the handkerchief pocket on the left chest of the jacket and hit the heart directly. Of course, the jacket has been reimbursed. "The iron ball passed through his coat, vest, shirt, underwear, and heart, cleanly, and killed him with a single shot," Dr. Schelling announced.The wound was quite clean as the forensic doctor said, and there was only a little blood stain on the jacket, and the bullet holes in each layer of clothing became a circle of blood-red and wrinkled tears. "I think he died an hour ago," the forensic doctor continued. While looking at the watch on his wrist, he then pressed the dead man's hands and thigh muscles, and tried to move the dead man's knee joint, "It should be right, he died at about 12:30, maybe a few minutes earlier, There's no way to be too precise."
Everyone looked at DeWitt's already stiff face.The expression of fear and fright distorted the whole face, which seemed not difficult to analyze-it was a kind of undisguised fear, which drilled into the wide-open eyes of the dead, and lay in every twitch of the chin. on the tight muscles, and in every line of frightened panic left on the face...
Dr. Schelling continued the examination gently, and everyone's eyeballs moved down from the face of the deceased with his fingers. When the forensic doctor grabbed the left hand of the deceased, each pair of eyes followed.
"Look at these two fingers," said the forensic doctor. Everyone saw that it was very strange. The deceased's thumb, ring finger and little finger were naturally curved inwards, but the middle finger was tightly wrapped around the index finger, twisting into a strange shape.
"Wow, what the hell—" Sam yelled first, and Bruno bent down, and the others could only look around the back of his head.
"Oh my God!" It was Bruno's turn to say, "Am I crazy or something? Huh?——" He exclaimed, "Impossible, it should be impossible, this is not medieval Europe... This is obviously a It's a gesture to exorcise evil spirits!"
The audience was silent.After a while, Sam said, "Damn it, it's like a detective novel. Ten yuan bets you that there's probably a green-faced ogre hiding in the toilet."
No one laughed, only Dr. Schelling said, "Whatever it means, it is." He tried to pull the two intertwined fingers, blushing and thick-necked in vain, and Dr. Schelling gave a derisive smile. Shrugged, "The embedding is really tight, and it's as stiff as a piece of wood. Probably DeWitt has mild diabetes, which he may not even know about. Otherwise, it shouldn't be so stiff now..."说着，法医抬头斜瞟着萨姆，“萨姆，要不要试试把手指扭成这个样子看看。”
快弯成机器人的众人，眼睛又齐移到萨姆身上。萨姆二话不说，伸出右手，费了好大一番劲儿才顺利让中指交叉于食指上。
“中指再绕过去点，萨姆，”法医气定神闲地指点，“用力压紧，嗯，对，这才像德威特弄的，现在，你试试看保持个几秒钟……”巡官遵命，但似乎艰难得脸都涨红了。
“很费劲对吧？萨姆，”法医直截了当说，“这是我验尸生涯中最有趣的经历之一，这两根指头缠得真紧，连人死之后都还不松开来。”
“我不相信那种什么驱魔避邪的解释，”萨姆松开手指，木木地说，“这是三流小说的破烂情节，跟用双手捧水一样蠢，打死我我都不信——而且，传出去会被社会大众笑死。”
“既然如此，你的合理解释又是什么？”布鲁诺打回一耙。
“这个嘛，”萨姆沉吟下来，“好吧，也许是凶手搞的，故意把德威特的手指扳成这个样子。”
“胡说八道，”布鲁诺断然反对，“你这说法比刚刚那个还荒谬，朗朗乾坤，凶手干嘛那么无聊去扳被害人指头？”
“呃，这难讲哦，”萨姆说，“很难讲哦……雷恩先生，您意下如何？”
“我们非得在这谋杀案中到杰塔托里不可吗？”雷恩动了动身子，“我认为，”他的声音异常虚软，“今天晚上，德威特对我所讲的一个故事深有所感，如此而已。”
如坠云里雾里的萨姆正待追问什么意思，却被站起身来的谢林医生给打断了。
“好啦，在这里我能做的都做完啦，”法医说，“有件事绝对错不了，他是瞬间毙命的。”
这么长一段时间以来，雷恩首次有了明显的举动，他拉了下法医的手臂：“你确定吗？医生——瞬间毙命？”
“是啊，绝对没错，子弹，应该是点38口径的，直接贯穿右心室，这也是唯一的伤口——光从外观的检查是如此。”
“头部呢？没任何伤口吗？没任何暴力打击的迹象吗？——身体其他部位也都没有吗？”
“一处也没有，除了一颗子弹跑进心脏里面，没任何其他伤痕，而且我还敢告诉你，这是我这个把月以来，所看过一堆弹孔里最干净利落的一个。”
“谢林医生，你的意思是说，德威特不可能是在中枪濒死前做出这个手势？”
“好，我讲白了，”谢林医生有些肝火上升了，“我刚说他瞬间毙命，不是吗？天底下哪里有瞬间毙命却又有中枪濒死这回事？一颗硬枪子儿贯穿心室，瞬间——啪，就挂了，一切了账，人死如灯灭，人不是天竺鼠是吧，这你也晓得，人和天竺鼠当然不一样嘛。”
雷恩没笑，他转向萨姆：“我想，巡官，”他说，“根据我们这位火气十足的法医大人所说，我们可弄清一件有意思的事。”
“啊，什么？他吭都来不及就挂了。我也看过几百具这种瞬间毙命的尸体，哪还有什么花巧可言。”
“巡官，这里的确有点新花巧可言。”雷恩说。布鲁诺满脸问号看着雷恩，但雷恩并未再说下去。
萨姆甩甩头，排开谢林医生，弯身看着死者，开始仔细查看死者的衣服；雷恩移了个位置，以便能同时看到萨姆脸部和死者尸体。
“这是什么？”萨姆低问，他从德威特外套内侧口袋里掏出一堆包括信件、支票本、钢笔、列车时刻表和两本回数票。
雷恩冷冷地说：“有一本是旧回数票，在被扣押时过期了；另一本是他今晚才买的新回数票，上这班车前买的。”
萨姆应了声，翻看着旧回数票里如邮票般边缘打着齿孔的车票，车票已磨得边角起毛了，封面和内部有一大堆没一么意义的涂鸦：某些是摹画着列车员查票剪票的记号；某些则是仿印刷体写下的字迹——最多是各式几何图形，几乎每张都有，完全显露出德威特凡事精确的基本性格，大部分的车票都撕去用掉了。跟着，萨姆检查新的那本，车票原封不动，也没任何记号，正如雷恩所说的，出事前在威荷肯站买的。
“这里哪个是列车员？”萨姆问。
穿蓝制服的老列车员回答：“我是，名叫波普·勃登利，是这班车的第一列车员，巡官你想问什么？”
“认得死者吗？”
“呃，”波登利慢条丝理地说，“在你来之前，我已经告诉过在场的雷恩先生，死者的脸孔我很面熟。现在我想起来了。他这些年常坐这班车来来回回。好像是到西安格坞，对吧？”
“今晚你在车上见过他吗？”
“没有，他没坐我收票那头，你看见他了吗？艾德华。”
“今晚我也没有，”粗壮的年轻列车员讲起话挺害羞，“我也一样，我认得他，但今晚也没看到。我到前一节车厢查票，他的一些朋友坐那儿，里头一个高个子拿给我六张票，说他们还有一位有事暂时离开。后来，我也一直没看见他。”
“你不找他收票吗？”
“哦，我根本不晓得人在哪里，心说大概上厕所去了，那是最可能的，我也不会想到有人待在不开灯的车厢里，平常没有人会跑到这里来的。”
“你说你认得德威特？”
“他叫这名字是吗？呃，他还算常坐这班车，我认得他的样子。”
“坐了多少回呢？”
艾德华把帽子往后推，摸着秃脑门想着：“巡官，这也说不上来，到底有几次也没个数，就是来来去去吧，我想是这样子。”
瘦小的勃登利忽然挤上前来：“先生，我想这我可以替你查出来，你晓得，每晚这班午夜的班车由我和艾德华负责，因此，我不难查到他搭过几趟这班夜车。麻烦你把旧的那本车票借我看看，”他说着从萨姆手上拿过那本陈旧起毛的车票本子，打开来，伸给萨姆看，在场其他人也全都簇拥上来，在萨姆肩后伸长脖子。“这个，你看，”勃登利客串起侦探，指着已撕去车票的存根部分说，“每搭一趟车，我们就撕张票收走，且在存根剪洞，你只要找到记号加起来就有答案了，圆的——那是我剪的洞，就这种看到没有——以及打叉的——那是艾德华·汤普森的，一算就知道他一共搭过几次本班车，因为这班车除了我们两个，没有第三个列车员，明白了吧？”
萨姆研究着票本子：“这可真有趣，一共有四十个记号，在这四十次里，我想有一半是坐往纽约方向的列车吧——不一样的洞，是吧？”
“没错，”老勃登利说，“早上的车——别的列车员，每个列车员剪的洞都不大一样。”
“好的，”萨姆继续，“晚上回西安格坞有二十次，在这二十次里——”他算得颇快，“你看，你和你的搭档的记号加起来十三个，意思是搭过十三次，这就表示，他搭这班车的次数多于正常下班6点左右的车喽……”
“看来我也算个侦探了，”老列车员咧嘴露一口白牙，“先生，你要的答案出来了，存根上的洞不会骗人的！”说完，很是得意地笑出声来。
布鲁诺皱着眉头说：“我敢打赌凶手一定晓得德威特这个习惯，常搭这班车而比较少搭正常的下班通勤列车。”
“看来是这样，”萨姆直起身子来，“现在，让我们再搞清楚其他方面。雷恩先生，今晚出事前后到底是怎样？为什么德威特会跑到这节车厢来？”
雷恩摇摇头：“出事的经过我不知道，我知道的是，车子开出威荷肯站不久，麦克·柯林斯——”
“柯林斯！”萨姆叫起来，布鲁诺也应声挤上前来，“柯林斯？也在这班车上吗？老天爷，您怎么不早讲？”
“拜托，巡官，稍安毋躁……柯林斯要不就早下车了，要不就还在车上，在我们发现德威特被杀后，我立刻要售票员马上把车门车窗完全关闭，确定没有任何人有办法离开车子，因此，除非他在尸体发现前就下车，否则他哪里也去不了。”
萨姆仍咕哝着，跟着，雷恩以水波不兴的平稳声调，将柯林斯找上德威特，要求做最后一次晤谈的情况，整个从头讲一遍。
“于是，两人就跑这车厢来了？”萨姆问。
“巡官，我没这么讲，”雷恩修正他，“这是你太一相情愿的推论，当然有可能如此，但我们看到的仅仅是，两个人跨入我们后面一节的车厢，如此而已。”
“好吧，是不是这样我们马上就可查出来。”萨姆叫来几名刑警，下令找寻这个消失的柯林斯。
“萨姆，尸体要摆在这里吗？”问话的是谢林医生。
“就先这样吧，”萨姆不耐烦地说，“我们先到前面去盘问一下。”
于是，一行人出了这节车厢，只留一名刑警守护着德威特的尸体。
闻此噩耗的珍·德威特整个人近乎崩溃，靠在罗德的肩上啜泣，亚罕、殷波利和布鲁克则呆坐在座位上，一脸茫然。警方已清查了整个车厢，其他的乘客都被请到前头的车厢去了。
谢林医生从走道走来，低头看着已然哭得虚弱的年轻女孩。他一言不发打开医疗箱，拿出个小瓶子，要罗德去倒杯水过来，跟着，他把瓶子打开送到女孩抽动不已的鼻子下。
女孩喘着气、眨着眼、身子战栗着。罗德端了杯水回来，珍急切喝着像个极口渴的小孩，医生摸摸她的头，并塞了个药丸到她四中。几分钟之后，珍总算平静了，她躺了下来，眼睛闭上，头枕在罗德的腿上。
萨姆安稳地坐在绿格子座椅上，舒服地伸伸腿，布鲁诺满脸阴郁地看看他，把布鲁克和亚罕叫过来，两人无力地站起来，脸色苍白而扭曲。布鲁诺简单询问了一些问题，包括在丽池饭店的晚宴、往威荷肯的波轮、在码头终站的等候，登上列车到柯林斯的出现云云。
“德威特如何？”布鲁诺问，“很开心是吗？”
“从没那么开心过。”
“我也从来没见他那么快乐过，”亚罕低声地插嘴，“审判，等待——然后是宣判……我才在想他总算躲开了电椅……”他说着又身子一颤。
一抹气愤之色这时闪过律师脸上：“现在，这件残酷的谋杀案可充分证明德威特是无辜的，布鲁诺先生，要不是你们没脑筋地胡乱逮捕和审讯，他现在可能还活得好好的！”
布鲁诺默然无语，良久——
“德威特太太人呢？”
“她今晚没来。”亚罕简明扼要地说。
“对她来说这可是天大的好消息。”布鲁克律师补了句。
"What's the meaning?"
“现在，她不用再担心离婚的问题了。”布鲁克干巴巴地说。
检察官和巡官交换个眼色：“所以说，她也没在这班车上？”布鲁诺问。
“就我所知是没有。”律师不开心地别过脸，亚罕摇着头，布鲁诺又看向雷恩，雷恩只耸耸肩。
这时，一名刑警来报告，车上没有找到柯林斯。
“喂！刚才那两个列车员死哪里去了？”说着，萨姆把原来就在他面前不远的两名蓝制服列车员招过来，“勃登利，你在车上看到过一名个头高高的、满脸通红的爱尔兰人吗——记不记得收过这样一个人的票？”
“他戴着，”雷恩接口补充，“一项毡帽，低低的，几乎盖住眼睛，穿一件斜纹软呢外套，有点酒意。”
老勃登利摇摇头：“我绝对没查到过这样一个人，艾德华呢？”
年轻列车员也摇摇头。
萨姆站起来，走到前面车厢，找到几名和德威特一行人同车厢的乘客，问了几个问题。
没有人记得有柯林斯这么个人，更甭谈他的举止行踪，萨姆只好空手而返：“哪个人有印象柯林斯从本节车厢走回来的？”
雷恩回答：“我确信他也没走回来，巡官。他必定是从后面那两节车厢中的一个溜下车的，这很容易，随便打开个车门跳下车就行了。我确定，在德威特和柯林斯离开，到悲剧发生这段期间，列车曾停靠过几站。”
萨姆跟老列车员要来张时刻表，仔细研究。依据时刻表显示，萨姆推断，柯林斯可能溜下车的车站有小码头站、瑞吉菲公园站、西景站等，甚至包括波哥塔站。
“好极啦，”他说着，转身下道命令给一名刑警，“带几个人去这些车站查查，务必找出柯林斯的行踪，我相信他必定在这些车站中的一站下车，也必定有迹可寻。一有结果立刻打电话回提尼克站找我报告，去吧！”
一队刑警领命而去。
“然后，你们两个，”萨姆又问两位列车员，“仔细想想，在小码头站、瑞吉菲公园站、西景站和波哥塔站，可有乘客下车？”
两名列车员立刻七嘴八舌地回答，每个站当然都有一些乘客下车，但不知道详细人数，更别提这些人是谁。
“也许，可能记得其中一两位，”老列车员的腔调又懒洋洋起来，“如果再见到面的话，但我们不可能知道他们的姓名住址，就算他天天搭这班车。”
“偶尔搭乘的就更不知道了。”年轻的汤普森列车员补了一句。
布鲁诺说：“萨姆，正如柯林斯神不知鬼不觉地溜下车一样，凶手也极可能在完全不被目击的情况下动手，然后躲起来等，等车子一靠站，偷偷打开靠铁道而不是靠月台一边的门，只有两名列车员，他们不可能留意到所有的车门。”
“当然没错，谁都可能做到，”萨姆低声咕哝着，“干脆希望有哪个家伙不小心撞见，凶手站在尸体前面，手上还握着冒烟的枪还省事点……哦对了，他的枪哪里去啦？达菲，有没有找到凶枪？”
达菲警官头摇得像拨浪鼓。
“每个地方每个缝隙都给我再仔细搜一遍，凶手极可能把枪扔在车上再逃跑的。”
“我以为，”雷恩说，“巡官，你不如派些人手沿这条铁道搜寻，也有可能凶手把枪扔出车外。掉在铁道边的某处。”
“有道理，达菲，两样都立刻去做。”
警官也得令而去。
“现在，”萨姆继续说，但一只手却无力地撑着额头，“现在干肮脏活儿的时刻到了，”他看向与德威特同行的六人，“殷波利！你先来，可以吗？”
瑞士人举步维艰地上前，疲惫得眼圈都泛黑了，甚至他平日那有棱有角的短尖胡须也湿软无力。
“例行公事，”萨姆话中有浓厚的解嘲意味，“你在车上做了什么？人坐哪里？”
“我原来和德威特小姐、罗德先生坐一道，但我想他们两个可能不希望有第三者打扰，所以我告退换了个座位。后来，我打了个瞌睡。跟着，我唯一记得的就是，雷恩先生人在车门边，两名售票员从我身边跑向他。”
“睡着啦？”
殷波利眼一抬：“是啊，”他有点被冒犯他说，“你不信啊？坐渡轮又坐车，晃来晃去，晃得头很痛。”
“哦，原来如此，”萨姆似乎一直对挪输此人甚感兴趣，“因此，你就再没有别的可贡献给我们代表正义公理的美国警方了？”
“抱歉，我睡着了。”
萨姆没再理他，走向座位上相儒以沫的珍与罗德，他俯下身，轻轻拍了女孩的肩膀；罗德气愤地往上瞪一眼，珍则泪痕犹湿地坐起身来。
“抱歉得打扰你一下，德威特小姐，”萨姆粗声地说，“如果你能回答几个问题，可能对破案大有帮助。”
“喂，你发神经了是吗？”罗德吼起来，“你没看到她这样子还问问题？”
萨姆没回嘴静静看着这盛怒如公鸡的年轻人，珍低声地说：“问吧，什么都尽管问，巡官，只要能抓到——知道到底是谁……”
“德威特小姐，抓人这事交给我们。我问你，在车子驶开威荷肯站之后，你和罗德先生做了什么事？”
她空洞地看着萨姆，有点不懂萨姆的问题：“我们——我们大部分时间坐在一起，一开始殷波利先生也坐一道，后来，他就移到别的座位去了，我们谈话，一路在说话……”她咬着唇，泪珠又在眼眶打转。
"and then?"
“后来罗德也离开了一下，我记得有几分钟时间我一个人坐……”
“他离开过？真的？好吧，那他去了哪里？”萨姆斜瞥年轻男孩一眼，罗德静坐不动。
“哦，他从那个车厢门出去，”她指着车厢门，通往前面那个车厢，“他没说去哪儿，还是你说了但我忘了？嗯，罗德？”
“没有，我没跟你说，亲爱的。”
“殷波利先生走开之后，你有没有看过他？”
“一次，就是罗德离开那阵子，我回过头去，看他坐在离我们不远的后面位于上，我也看到亚罕先生在走道踱过来踱过去，后来，罗德就回座了。”
“什么时候的事。”
她叹口气：“这确切时间我也记不上来。”
萨姆忽然直通通对着罗德：“罗德，我想单独和你谈谈……喂，殷波利或谢林医生也可以，麻烦其中一个过来一下，陪着小姐坐一下！”
罗德有点不乐意地起身，把座位让给走来的矮胖法医，法医极世故地立刻和女孩恍若无事聊起天来。
萨姆两人沿走道往前走：“听着罗德，”萨姆问，“实话实说，你跑到哪里去了？”
“这说来话长，巡官，”年轻男孩声音坚定，“我们在码头等渡轮时，我无意中注意到——呃，满不寻常的，我看到巧丽·布朗和她那个怪男友，叫普拉克的，他们和我们坐同一艘渡轮。”
“真的！”萨姆缓缓点下头，“喂，布鲁诺，你来一下，”检察官应了声。“罗德说，他今晚看到巧丽·布朗和普拉克也出现在渡轮码头，你赶快来。”布鲁诺吹了声口哨跑来。
“不止如此，”罗德继续说故事，“后来下了船，我又在威荷肯终点站见到了她们，靠码头附近，两个人好像在争什么，后来我就一直留意，因为——呃，因为事情有点怪。我没在候车室见到她们，上车时我也没再见到她们。但车子开动后，我愈想愈不放心，尽管我并没看到他们跟上车来。”
“为什么不放心？”
罗德阴沉下来：“布朗这个女人很难缠，我不知道她会干出什么来，你想想在隆斯崔出事调查的时候，她那样野蛮不可理喻地咬住德威特先生。反正，我就是不放心，所以离开珍一下，好确认她们是否真地没跟上车来。我找了整个车厢，没见到他们，所以我走回座位，这才比较放心。”
“你也看了末节车厢吗？”
“哦，就是没有啊！谁想到会有人躲在那么暗的车厢里。”
“你找人时，大约车子开到哪一站？”
罗德耸了一下肩：“我记得才有鬼，那时哪有心情注意这些。”
“你回座后，还注意到其他人做了什么呢？”
“呃，这个，我有印象的是，亚辛来来回回走了两趟，还有雷恩先生和布鲁克律师在讲话。”
“有没有注意到殷波利？”
"No impression."
“好，先这样子，你赶快回去陪德威特小姐，我想，这时候只有你能照顾她。”
罗德急急回座，布鲁诺和萨姆低声讨论了一会儿，萨姆伸手叫来看守前车厢门的刑警：“去通知达菲，找找车上有没有巧丽·布朗和普拉克这两人——达菲认得她们的样子。”
刑警立刻通知达菲，没太久，达菲警官那大个子晃进车厢里来：“老大，一无所获，那对男女找不到，也没任何乘客记得见过两个这样的人。”
“知道啦，达菲，这件事的后续由你来负责处理，找几个人立刻行动，最好你亲自出马，赶回市区看能不能查出这一对野鸳鸯的行踪。那女的住格兰特饭店，如果不在，试几家夜总会或酒吧什么的，那是普拉克的老巢，这两人也许正躲在哪个角落情话绵绵。有任何结果立刻电话回报，如果情况需要，就留在现场盯着。”达菲咧嘴一笑，离开了。
“那么现在，换布鲁克了。”萨姆和布鲁诺沿走道往回走，雷恩和布鲁克坐一起，布鲁克隔着车窗看着外头的车站停车场，雷恩则闭着眼，靠着座椅后背休息。萨姆坐上两人对面座位的动静惊扰了他们，两人分别转头睁眼，注意力聚焦萨姆身上。同行布鲁诺则迟疑了一下，想想又回头往前面车厢去。
“布鲁克，你这边呢？”萨姆心头沉重地问，“天啊！我累得跟孙子一样，偏偏被这档子事弄得觉也睡不得——情形如何？”
“什么情形如何？”
“在这一长段船途和车途中，你做过些什么事？”
“我一直坐这椅子，直到雷恩先生想去看看一直没回来的德威特和柯林斯。”
萨姆看向雷恩，雷恩一点头：“于是轮最后一个家伙啦，”萨姆一扭头，“亚罕！”
这位平日精神奕奕的退休老人此刻步履蹒跚。
“车子开动之后，你都做些什么？”
亚罕笑起来，却一点儿也不幽默，：“巡官，跟玩捉迷藏一样是吧？好的，我没做什么特别的，我和雷恩先生、布鲁克先生聊了半天，后来，我想伸伸懒腰动一动，就站起来，没去哪里，只在走道上踱来踱去，就这样。”
“有没有注意到什么？比方说有其他人走到后面车厢去之类的？”
“说真的，我没注意到什么，也根本没留意，如果你问的是这个意思的话。”
“那你总能说说看到什么了吧？”萨姆怒得吼了起来。
“也没看到什么，巡官，什么都没有，原因是，事实上我的脑子里一直在想一个很有意思的开局手法。”
“一个什么东西？”
“一个开局手法，巡官，就是棋局开始一连串相关的着数的手法。”
“哦，我忘了，你是个棋痴，好吧，亚罕，我知道了。”
萨姆转过脸来，发现雷恩的灰眼珠正好奇地盯住他。
“当然，巡官，”雷恩开口了，“你也得问我几个问题。”
萨姆没好气地说：“如果您真注意到什么，您会自己告诉我的，不，雷恩先生，您并没发现什么碍眼的东西，我也用不着费口舌问您。”
“说真的，”雷恩声音低下来，“这是我生平最严重的失手，也是最大的羞辱，居然让一件谋杀案，就这么发生在我耳目可及之处……”雷恩低沉地注视着自己的双手，“这么近……”他一抬头，“不幸的是，我沉迷在和布鲁克律师愉快的讨论话题中，什么也没留意，当然，我一直很焦虑，而且焦虑不断增强，也正因为这份焦虑，才驱使我后来起身去查看那两节不开灯的车厢。”
“我猜，在这节车厢时您并没有注意周遭的事物是吧？”
“非常丢脸，巡宜，你说的没错，我的确没有。”
萨姆站了起来，检察官这时又回到这节车厢，扶着座椅走道那头走来。
“我刚和坐这车厢的其他乘客都谈过了，”布鲁诺说，“没有一个人注意到有什么不对的事，也没人记得哪个人会在走