Chapter 33 Eighth scene

Ryan walked through Bedley Park with his black shawl fluttering like a cloud. He walked forward with his cane in high spirits, breathing deeply the fresh morning air with the smell of the sea. The warm sunshine that came made him very happy.He stopped by the park wall and watched a group of seagulls pounce on the waves with a few traces of colorful oil slicks, mistaking them for fishes pecking at the orange peels floating on the waves.In the open sea, a regular ship with a triangular sail tilted its hull and slowly floated on the sea surface; another group of Hudson River cruise ships blew their whistles.At this time, a gust of sea breeze came unobstructed, and Ren took a breath, so he wrapped the shawl that flew up again tightly.

Ren sighed softly, looked at his watch, turned around, and he crossed the park twice and walked straight to Bedley Square. Ten minutes later, he sat safely in a room with simple furnishings, smiling and facing a short, dark South American man in a long dress behind the desk.This South American, who never forgets the flowers on his skirt, is named Joan Ajos. He is a typical little man who jumps like beans, with a mouthful of white teeth set in a dark brown face, shiny and bony. Rolling black eyes and an elegant moustache. "It's a great honor, Mr. Wren," said the little man, who speaks excellent English. "You've made my poor consulate flourish. I've been used to your thunderous name since I was young as an attache of the embassy..."

"Dear Mr. Ahus, you really flatter me," Ryan replied politely. "You have just returned from your annual leave. It is undoubtedly a time when you are busy with business. I am sorry to ask you to take the time to meet me. Today Excuse me, mainly because I personally participate in a very special criminal investigation, about this series of related murders in New York City, I wonder if you heard about it during your stay in Uruguay?" "Mr. Wren, you said it was murder?" "Exactly, three cases in a row in the near future. Because of my own curious nature and the persistence of the authorities, I accepted the invitation of the district prosecutor and participated in the investigation work in an unofficial capacity. So far, my personal investigation has been completed. I have grasped some rather subtle clues, and it is still uncertain whether the crime can be successfully uncovered, but I have every reason to believe that your strong assistance will be the key to whether these clues can be established."

Ahus smiled: "Mr. Ren, please say, as long as you can, as long as you can." "Have you ever heard the name Felipe Macuncho? A Uruguayan?" A clear light clearly appeared in the eyes of this small but clever consul: "The Skynet is extensive, isn't it?" Consul Ahus said softly, "Then, Mr. Wren, what did you ask about? This Ma Kuncho is a very nice gentleman, I have met him and talked to him, what aspect of him do you want to know?" "I'd be interested to know how you met this man, and everything you thought interesting about him." Yahus spread his hands: "Let me start from the beginning, Mr. Wren, and it is up to you to judge which parts of it can help your investigation work... Philip Macunjo is a member of the Uruguayan judiciary. The staff, a fantastic and reliable staff member."

Ren raised his eyebrows. "A few months ago, Macuncho was ordered to come to New York to represent the Uruguayan police in the pursuit of a criminal who had escaped from the Grand Montevideo Prison, a man named Martin Stoop." Ryan sat up straight: "Martin Stoop... I'm getting more and more interested in what you said, dear Mr. Ahus, the name Stoop sounds like an Anglo name, why is this person called In a Uruguayan prison?" "Personally," Ahes said, sniffing the flowers on his skirt, "so I know the ins and outs of this criminal case. I was told by Ma Kuncho himself. Martin Stoop's complete file on the criminal case. Not only that, but he has given me all the details that he personally knows."

"Please continue, Mr. Ahus." "It goes back to 1912, when a young prospector, this Martin Stoop, with a full education in geology and probably mechanical training, was charged with the murder of his young His Brazilian wife was prosecuted for the crime and sentenced to life imprisonment. The reason for the conclusive evidence was that three of his colleagues and prospecting partners testified together. At that time, the four of them owned a mine in the interior, which was located in a remote place, from the capital of our country. Vidiya sailed a long distance along the river and had to pass through virgin forests. His three companions testified with one voice during the trial. They witnessed the murder with their own eyes. , took a boat down the river from the inland, and handed it over to the police; they also carried up the body of the murdered woman, and exposed it to the scorching weather for several days, which was unbearable; The two-year-old baby was also with him; the murder weapon was of course not missed—a Macchetti short knife unique to South America. Stoop did not protest from the beginning to the end. At that time, his whole body had fallen into a state of insanity. He basically has no ability to state his behavior, so he was convicted and sent to prison for execution. As for the two-year-old daughter, he was handed over by the court to the monastery of Monteverde.

"Stoop behaved well in prison and was a model prisoner. Gradually regaining his sanity, he appeared to be resigned to his status as a prisoner, not to cause trouble, not to make trouble, and was never in company with other prisoners. " Wren asked, "Did the motive for the murder be found out at the trial?" "Oddly enough, the answer is no. Three of Stoop's associates speculated that the motive for the murder was that Stoop had an argument with his wife and accidentally killed her. They testified that none of them were in the house at the time of the murder. In the cabin at the scene of the accident, I ran over after hearing the screams, and I happened to witness Stoop slashing at the woman's head with a machete dagger, and it seemed that Stoop was in a state of rage and out of control."

"Please continue." Ahes sighed: "After twelve years of imprisonment, completely unexpected by the police, Stoop successfully escaped from prison. This escape was obviously planned for several years, and all the relevant details I have noticed, are you interested in the escape process?" "That's not necessary, Mr. Ahus." "But he suddenly disappeared, as if the earth opened a mouth to swallow him. We searched all over South America, but there was no trace of this person at all. It is generally believed that he may have fled to the more inland terrifying forest Dead somewhere in there. That's all I know about Martin Stoop... Would you like some real Brazilian coffee, Mr. Wren?"

"Oh, thank you for your trouble, no need." "Or how about trying our delicious Uruguayan specialty yerba mate?" "Thank you, I really don't need it. As for Makunjo's part, can you explain more?" "Oh, yes, according to official information, three of Stoop's companions sold their mine. It was a rich ore lode, which happened during the Great War. If I remember correctly, this rich ore is rich in extremely high purity. Manganese is high in manganese, and during the war, manganese was a very important military industrial raw material. Therefore, the mine was sold at a very good price, and the three men returned to the United States with a large sum of money.”

"Mr. Yahus, you mean to go back?" Ren asked reflexively, "These three are Americans?" "Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you the names of these three people, they are Harry Longstreet, John DeWitt and - I think - yes! William Crochet... ..." "Please wait a moment," Ryan's eyes flickered, "You know the serial murder case I mentioned just now, the two victims in succession are the two partners of DeWitt-Lonstra Securities Company, that is, you just now Lonstreet and DeWitt?" Ahus's black eyes almost popped out: "What!" He shouted, "There is such a thing! So the prophecy really..."

"You mean—" Ryan asked eagerly. Consul Yahusi spread his hands: "In July this year, the Uruguayan police received an anonymous letter, postmarked in New York, USA. Later, DeWitt admitted that he wrote it. The letter pointed out that the fugitive Stoop was in New York, and It is recommended that the Uruguayan police send someone to investigate. Of course, even though the Uruguayan government has changed several times, they immediately retrieved the archives of the year, and Ma Kuncho was the person who was ordered to take charge of this investigation. Ma Kuncho speculated that the informer must be He was one of the three companions with Stoppe back then, so he came here and asked for my assistance. After tracking, Ma Kunqiao found that Longstreet and DeWitt really lived in this city and had a considerable social status; They also tried to find out the whereabouts of William Crochet, who was Stoop's third mining partner back then, but there has been no news. All we know is that after the three returned to North America, Crochet and another The two parted ways, whether it was because of incompatibility or because he wanted to enjoy his wealth alone is unknown-of course I have no idea at all, and it may be neither of the reasons. Anyway, that's all I know." "So Ma Kunjo went to see DeWitt and Lonstra?" Ren asked politely. "Exactly, he found DeWitt first, informed him of his intention and presented the anonymous letter. DeWitt hesitated for a moment, and then admitted that the person who wrote the letter was him. DeWitt invited Ma Kuncho to live in his home during the investigation in the United States. Taking his home as the investigation headquarters, Ma Kuncho naturally had to figure out why DeWitt knew that Stoup was in New York. DeWitt produced a threatening letter signed by Stoup, threatening to eye for eye--" "Please wait," Ryan took out his long wallet, pulled out the letter he got from DeWitt's safe, and gave it to Ahus, "Is this the letter?" The consul looked at it and nodded emphatically: "Yes, Makunjo showed me this letter when he reported it, took a photo and kept a copy, and returned it to DeWitt himself." "DeWitt, Lonstra and our special commissioner Ma Kunjo discussed several times in West Kowloon. Of course, Ma Kunjo hoped to contact the local police immediately for assistance and investigate here. He is absolutely helpless alone; but The two of DeWitt strongly opposed it and demanded that the American police not be involved. The reason was that once the news was exposed, their past experience of poverty and the unclean past of the suspected murder would definitely be reported by the newspapers... Naturally, Ma Kuncho was in a dilemma. , came to discuss with me, we considered the two people's current position and social status, and finally decided to reluctantly comply with their request. Both Longstreet and DeWitt said that they received similar threats about five years ago The letter was also sent in New York, but he tore it up on the spot without taking it seriously, but the last letter made DeWitt deeply disturbed, and the threat in the letter was stronger than the previous one, so he kept this letter. " "Of course I'm making a long story short, Mr. Wren, Ma Kunjo has been investigating this place for about a month without any clues, and reported the results to me, and informed DeWitt and the two, so he decided to suspend this investigation. Work and go back to Uruguay." Ren thought seriously, and asked again: "The Ke Luoqi you just said is missing, did you find it later?" "What Makunjo heard from DeWitt was that since they came back from Uruguay together, Ke Luoqi broke up with the other two without explaining any reason. DeWitt and the others also said that in the first few years I also occasionally received messages from Keluoqi, mostly from Canada, but they also emphasized that the past six years are like a kite with a broken string, and there is no contact anymore." "Of course," Ryan said in a low voice, "we can only rely on the information provided by these two dead people who can no longer speak now. Mr. Ahus, do you have any reference to any later events of Stoop's daughter in the archives in your hand?" message?" Ahus shook his head: "The only thing I know is that she left the monastery later, or was taken away by someone - the details are unknown - around the age of six, and there has been no further news since then." Ren sighed, stood up, and stood in front of the little consul's desk: "Dear Mr. Yahes, what you have done today is like a brave knight defending justice. Please accept my respect." A row of white teeth appeared in response: "Mr. Wren, I am really flattered by your compliment." "If you want, you can definitely," Ryan continued, straightening his shawl, "it will be of greater help to the manifestation of justice. I don't know if it is convenient for you, but take the time to send a telegram to the relevant agencies of your country's government and ask them to telex A copy of Stoop's fingerprint information, if there is a file in that year, I will also telex a copy of the file photo of this person, and all the complete information of this person. In addition, regarding the missing William Crochet, I personally agree I am very interested, would you please handle it together, such as the materials mentioned earlier..." "I'll send a telegram right away." "I think that such a small but thriving country like yours should have such modern equipment!" Ryan said with a smile, and the two walked towards the door together. Ahesi deliberately put on a look of surprise: "Oh, of course! The photos will definitely be clearly transmitted to you through modern equipment. Our country does not lack any equipment that you can see in other countries." "This trip——" Ren bowed deeply and said goodbye, "I really feel that I have benefited a lot." He walked up the street and walked towards Bedley Park. "I have benefited a lot." Ren whispered repeatedly.