Chapter 14 Chapter 14 Mr. Gritz's Specialty

Shut up and listen to me. There was no doubt that the criminal Eleanor Leavenworth was prepared to sacrifice for was the one she had once loved dearly.Love itself, or the strong sense of duty derived from love, are sufficient to explain this series of determined actions.Whenever I ask myself who this person is, there is only one name that keeps popping up in my head.I was biased against the name because the man repulsed me—the ordinary secretary—because of his up-and-down, unpredictable attitude, and because of his erratic, sometimes awkward composure. It is not because Eleanor's eccentric behavior had any bearing on the case that I singled out this individual for questioning.During the interrogation, his attitude was different, which is not enough to show that he was suspected of killing the deceased.There was no sufficient motive in him to kill, and there was no apparent benefit to him from killing.However, if emotional factors are included in the scope of consideration in this case, then what possibility has not been considered?James Harwell, secretary to a retired tea merchant, was one of the factors not considered.James Havel, greatly influenced by his infatuation with the beautiful Eleanor, was another factor.The reason why he was included in the list of suspects was due to reasonable doubts about him after careful consideration of the possibility.

However, it is easy to be suspicious of others, but very difficult to produce actual evidence.It is one thing to believe that James Havel is guilty and quite another to find enough evidence to bring charges against him.It's a long way to go, and I feel like I'm stagnating and shrinking before I even make up my mind to do it.The embarrassment of his situation forced me to begin to feel sympathy for him, even if it were innocent.My distrust of him showed that I was not kind, if not just.If I had liked this person in the first place, I might not have doubted him so easily. However, Eleanor had to get out of the woods.Once there is suspicion, who knows what the final result will be?Maybe she'll be arrested.Once arrested, she will not be able to clear her stigma for the rest of her life at such a young age.The result would not have been so unacceptable if the penniless secretary had been charged.I decided to go to Mr. Gritz early.

Eleanor put her hand on the dead man's chest, looking dignified, and it is hard for me not to be moved when I think of this scene.The other image, of Mary leaving angrily in less than thirty minutes, also haunted my mind, keeping me awake long after midnight.The two scenes form a sharp contrast of black and white, neither similar nor harmonious.I can't escape the entanglement of this contrast.No matter what I do, these two images go hand in hand, making me alternately hopeful and skeptical.I don't know if I should join Eleanor in putting my hands on the dead man's chest and swear to God that she is innocent and honest; I don't know if I should follow Mary's example and turn around when faced with a situation that I can't understand or understand. Just walk away.

I knew in my heart that it was going to be difficult, so I went to Mr. Gritz early the next morning, never allowing myself to be discouraged by disappointments or initial setbacks.My mission is to free Eleanor Leavenworth.In order to accomplish this task, I must remain calm and steady.My greatest fear was that it would be irreparable before I had the power or opportunity to intervene.However, the fact that Mr. Leavenworth's funeral will take place today has given me some relief.I know Mr. Gritz fairly well, and I presume he will wait until the funeral is over before taking any action. I don't know exactly what the detective's residence looks like, but when I asked the way and came to the door of this exquisite three-story brick house, I noticed that it was indeed a little different.The shutters are ajar, but the spotless drapes are drawn tight, revealing the personality of the homeowner.

I hurriedly rang the doorbell, and it was a young man who answered the door.He was pale and his red hair fell to his ears.When I asked him if Mr. Gritz was at home, he grunted what sounded like no, though I later realized that was an affirmative answer. "My name is Raymond and I would like to meet him." He glanced at me, scrutinizing the details of my appearance and clothing, then pointed to a door on the stairs.Before he continued to point out the direction, I quickly went upstairs, knocked on the door he was pointing at, and then entered.Mr. Gritz, with his broad back arched in front of the desk, looked back at me.That desk probably came to America with the Mayflower.

"Wow!" he yelled, "I dare not, I really dare not." He got up.There was a huge stove in the middle of the room. He opened the door gently and then closed it hard again, "It's really cold today, isn't it?" "Yes," I replied, carefully checking whether he was in the mood to communicate with others, "Unfortunately, I don't have much time to care about the weather. I'm in a hurry to report this murder—" "Of course, of course," he interrupted me, keeping his eyes on the poker.I'm sure he's not hostile. "This is a tricky case, but the truth may be out for you. I can see you have something to say."

"Yes, but I don't know if it's the answer you want to know. Mr. Gritz, after breaking up with you last time, I believed in some things to a large extent, and now I am absolutely sure. You doubt The object of the attack was an innocent woman." If I expected surprise from him, I would be disappointed. "It's gratifying that you are so sure," he said. "I have the utmost respect for your opinion, Mr. Raymond." I suppress my anger. "I am quite sure of myself," I went on, determined to get him to respond, "that I have come today to ask you, on the grounds of justice and humanity, to suspend investigations in that direction unless we have nothing else to do. Other clues can be investigated, and then come back to investigate her."

But he was the same as before, showing no curiosity. "That's right!" he exclaimed. "It's not easy for a person like you to make such a request." I am unimpressed. "Mr. Gritz," I continued, "a lady's name once tarnished is never cleansed. Eleanor Leavenworth is such a noble lady that you cannot be tolerated in such a crisis." I ignore it. If you will pay attention to my explanation, I promise you will not regret it." He smiled, and looked from the poker to the arm of my chair. "Okay," he said, "I'm all ears, you go on."

I took the notebook out of my bag and spread it out on the table. "What! Notebook?" he exclaimed. "Not safe, it's not safe. Never put plans on paper." Without letting him interrupt me, I continued: "Mr. Gritz, I have had more opportunity to study this lady than you have. I have seen her do something that no guilty man can do. And I There is no doubt that not only her hands, but even her heart have nothing to do with this murder. She may know a thing or two about its secrets, which I will not deny, and she does hold the key However, if she really has inhuman difficulties, what can she do? If she thinks she is responsible for concealing the clues, we can't make Miss wrong just because of this. We just need to be a little patient With a bit of brains, you can achieve your goal without embarrassing her."

"However," Detective Gritz interjected, "Tell me, we only have one clue. If we don't pursue it, how can we make the truth known?" "Any clue Eleanor Leavenworth gives you is a dead end." His eyebrows were raised thoughtfully, but he didn't speak. "But there are people who know that Miss Eleanor is strong-willed, helpful, and perhaps deeply in love with him, and have been using her. Let's investigate and see who has the power to keep her in his hands, and the murderer will be found out. .” "Hmph!" Mr. Gritz squeezed his lips tightly and didn't say much.

I believe he must have something to say, so wait for him to speak. "So you already have someone in mind." He finally spoke, almost without emotion. "I didn't say anything," I replied, "just give me some more time, please." "So you plan to intervene in this matter?" "That's right." He lowered his voice and let out a long whistle. "Can I ask for your advice," he finally asked, "Are you planning to act alone? Even if you have a suitable assistant, you will reject him thousands of miles away and don't take other people's opinions seriously?" "I just want your help." He smiled wider, and with irony. "You must be very confident!" he said. "I have great confidence in Miss Leavenworth." My answer seemed to satisfy him. "Tell me about your plan." I didn't speak up right away.In fact, I haven't drawn up any plans yet. "In my opinion," he went on, "your next job will be quite difficult for an amateur. I advise you to let me do it, Mr. Raymond, let me do it." "I think," I replied, "that I'd rather—" "No," he interrupted, "I'd be happy if you gave me a suggestion or two every once in a while. I'm not a self-centered person, and I'm open to other people's opinions. As it stands, If you'd be comfortable telling me what clues you've seen or heard, I'd be all ears." Seeing him so pleasant, I asked myself what could I tell him.What can be said, he may not think it is very important, but it is not appropriate to hesitate at this moment. "Mr. Gritz," I said, "except for what you already know, I don't have many clues. In fact, I believe in my intuition, and the facts are not very important to me. What I can be sure of is that Eleanor ·Leavenworth had no part in committing the crime. I am equally sure that she knew the real murderer, and for some reason she considered it her sacred duty to protect him, even at the stake of her own safety. I don't hesitate. These are all inferred from the facts. Now that I have this information, it should not be difficult for you and me to figure out why. If we can know some of the family—" "So you don't know anything about the history of their family?" "I do not know anything." "I don't know that one of them is already engaged?" "I don't know." I replied directly, without any intention of talking about him. He was silent for a while. "Mr. Raymond," he said aloud at last, "are you aware of the obstacles which may be encountered in the work of detectives? For example, you probably thought that I could blend in with all kinds of people. Unfortunately, you are mistaken." It sounds strange to you, but to be honest, I have never been able to enter a certain class of people. I feel that people don't treat me as a gentleman. No matter how good the clothes are, the haircut is the best. There will always be people pointing fingers." He looked depressed.I almost laughed out loud, even though I was secretly worried. "I even hired a French squire who knew how to dance and had whiskers, but it was no use. The first gentleman I approached stared at me. He was a decent gentleman, not like your average American dude. He was staring at me, but I couldn't look him in the eye. He told me what to do when I was chatting with the squire, but I forgot all about it at the time." While I found this interesting, the sudden change of subject made me a little uneasy.I looked at Mr. Gritz questioningly. "I dare say, you must have no problems, right? You were born in a gentleman's family, probably right? Maybe you don't blush when you ask a lady to dance?" "Well..." I said. "I tell you," he replied, "I can't do it at all. I can go into a house and bow to the mistress and make her look as graceful as possible, if I have a warrant in my hand, or if I have a warrant in my head. It's some work stuff. But if I'm toasting champagne in lambskin gloves, I'm totally powerless." He thrust his hands into his hair, looking melancholy at the champagne in my hands. Cane, "All detectives are the same, though, so when we need a gentleman, we usually turn to someone who has a career other than detective work." I'm starting to understand his motivation for changing the subject.But I tried to keep it as quiet as possible, knowing vaguely that I was still indispensable to him after all. "Mr. Raymond," he almost blurted out, "do you know a gentleman named Claflin? He's staying at the Hoffman Hotel." "I've never heard of this man." "His words and deeds are very elegant, can you get to know him?" I followed Mr. Gritz's example and stared at the mantelpiece. "I can't promise you now, I will give you an answer after I get to know him a little bit." Finally I replied. "There's nothing to know. Mr. Henry Claflin is a gentleman, well-informed, and lives at the Hoffman Hotel. He doesn't know the place well, but he looks like any gentleman. He can drive a carriage." , walks, smokes, but never visits. He's good with women too, but I've never seen him bow to a woman. All in all, he's worth getting to know. Too bad he thinks too highly of himself and thinks Yankees are Too uninhibited, unpolished. If I had the guts to know the Emperor of Austria, I would have the guts to deal with him." "You wish—" "You have a good family background and a solid personality. He will be a very suitable friend for you as a young lawyer with a bright future. I promise you, if you develop this network well, you will feel that the time has come. The hard work is worth it." "but--" "It may also become a good friend because of this, and it may become a person who talks about everything—" "Mr. Gritz," I interrupted him quickly, "I cannot approve of associating with people in order to give the police clues and then selling them out." "Mr. Claflin must be your friend if you want to carry out your plans," he answered gravely. "Oh!" I suddenly had a flash of inspiration in my mind, "He has something to do with this case, right?" Mr. Gritz smoothed the sleeves of his coat thoughtfully. "I don't think it's necessary for you to betray him. You don't object to being introduced to him, do you?" "I have no objection." "If you think his character is not bad, you don't object to talking to him?" "Won't." "Even during the conversation, if you can get some clues that can be used to save Eleanor Leavenworth, don't you object?" The "no objection" I answered this time was not as firm as the previous two times.In the future development, the last role I want to play is a spy. "Well," he went on, ignoring my half-hearted answer, "I suggest you check into the Hoffman Hotel immediately." "I doubt it will work," said I, "for I have seen and spoken to this gentleman, if I remember correctly." "where?" "You first describe his appearance and let me listen." "Well. He's tall, well built, with a handsome dark face, brown hair with some white streaks in it, piercing eyes, and a soft voice. I assure you, he's a handsome man." "I should have seen him," I said, and proceeded to tell him when and where I had seen this man. "Huh!" he said, "you are interested in him, and he is obviously interested in you as well. What should I do? I probably know," he thought for a while and then said, "Unfortunately, you have already talked to him, it is possible It has already created a bad impression. In fact, the most important thing is to have no ill will when we meet." He got up and paced. "Well, we've got to play it safe. Give him a chance to see you on other occasions and get to know you better. Go to the reading room at the Hoffman Hotel and chat with the nicest people there. Don't chat, though. Too much, and don't talk too much. Mr. Claflin is a perfectionist, and if you go around hitting on people, he won't think anything special until you notice him. Try to be as real as possible, Let him come to you by himself. He will want to come to you." "Maybe we're not talking about the same man. Maybe it wasn't Mr. Claflin I met on the corner of Thirty-seventh Street." "I'd be surprised if that was the case." I don't know what objection to raise, so keep silent. "If it's not the same person, I will start to review my head." He continued happily. "Mr. Gritz," I began, having been talking about other people without mentioning the plans I had in mind.I was anxious to tell him, "There's one person we haven't talked about yet." "Who?" He asked softly, turning to face me, "Which one could it be?" "Who else but that one?" That's all I can reveal.I currently don't have enough evidence to doubt him, and I have no right to point out that he is involved in the case. "I'm sorry," I said, "but I'd better not say anyone's name on the spur of the moment." "Is it Javier?" He pointed it out easily. My face immediately turned red naturally, and it was too late to deny it. "Why can't this man be mentioned?" he went on. "I don't see any reason why this man can't be mentioned." "His testimony at the cross-examination was all true, wasn't it?" "It hasn't been overthrown yet." "He was an unusual man." "me too." Feeling a bit overwhelmed and at a disadvantage, I took my hat off the table and was about to leave.However, I suddenly remembered Hannah, so I turned to him and asked if he had heard from her. He seemed to be hesitant to tell me for a long time, long enough that I began to wonder if he had the heart to tell me the truth.Suddenly he crossed his arms and said with great interest, "The murderer must have something to do with her disappearance. Even if the earth's crust cracked and swallowed Hannah, it would not be as clean as the disappearance he planned." My heart sank immediately.Eleanor once said "Hannah can't help me".Is this maid really gone?Really never come back? "Many of my agents have been looking for her, let alone the general public, and yet no word of her whereabouts has been reported. I'm afraid that when we finally find her one morning, she'll be floating in the river, pocket There are no clues." "All the facts of the case depend on her testimony," I said. He gave a short snort. "What did Miss Leavenworth say?" "She said Hannah couldn't help her." I think he was a little surprised to hear that, but he covered it up with a nod and a sigh. "Hannah must be found," he said, "and will be found if I send Q to find it." "Q?" "He's one of my agents, and he's doing investigations and inquiries for me. We call him Q because Q is short for question." When I turned around to leave again, he said, "If they publicly Remember to come to me as soon as possible.” suicide note!I forgot the existence of the suicide note.

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