Chapter 23 Chapter 22 Puzzles

"Come on, and let us get a taste of your personality traits." Mr. Claflin's personal opinion and position regarding Eleanor Leavenworth may be more or less deduced from the morning's conversation with me.I asked myself what other facts were needed to support my inference.I discovered the following facts: 1. Mr. Claflin was not in the United States at the time, but he stayed briefly in a hotel in New York State. 2. This hotel should be the same as the one where Eleanor Leavenworth was staying. 3. They interacted somewhat in that hotel. 4. They had both been away from New York long enough to have their wedding ceremony some twenty miles away.

5. A Methodist minister who lived within twenty miles of the hotel. Next I asked myself how to find out the basis for these facts.My knowledge of Mr. Claflin is limited, so I set him aside for the time being and explore Eleanor's personal history first.I found out she was in... a trendy hotel in New York State.If this is true, and my theory is correct, he must be at that hotel.Therefore, the most urgent task is to confirm this matter.I decided to start for the hotel tomorrow. However, before undertaking an investigation of this magnitude, I think it is necessary to gather relevant information, but there is not much time left.I decided to visit Mr. Gritz first.

When I saw him, he was lying on the hard sofa in the simple living room I mentioned earlier.He had a rheumatic attack and was too sick to get up.His hands were wrapped in bandages, and his feet were also wrapped in dirty red cloth, as if he had just been sent back from the battlefield.When he saw me, he gave a slight nod of welcome and apology, first briefly explained his physical condition, and then went straight to the topic that both of us cared about the most.He asked me, slightly sarcastic, if I was surprised to find the bird flying away when I returned to the Hoffman Hotel this afternoon.

"I'm surprised that you let him fly away at this time," I said to him. "From the way you asked me to get acquainted with him, I thought you were sure he played an important role in the murder." Role." "And how do you think I don't think he's important? Oh, just because I let him slip away so easily? What does that prove? I don't hit the brakes until the car goes downhill. But let's go back On to the point. Did Mr. Claflin explain his position before he left?" "Your question is very difficult to answer. I am prevented by circumstances from speaking directly to you at the moment, but I will try to say what I can. Mr. Claflin did, I think, clarify some things when he met with me this morning. Fact. But his explanation is a bit abstract, I need to conduct some investigations first, and then tell you the secret after being sure. He gave me a possible clue—"

"Wait a minute," said Mr. Gritz, "does he know he's giving you a clue? Did he trick you on purpose, or did he inadvertently give you a clue with pure motives?" "He should have no malice." Mr. Gritz was silent for a while. "It's a pity that you can't explain it any more clearly," he finally said. "I'm a little worried about letting you investigate on your own. You are not familiar with this line of work, and you may waste your time, not to mention that you may follow the wrong clues, and the results are meaningless. wasted effort on the details."

"You should have thought of that long before you worked with me." "You really insist on going it alone?" "Mr. Gritz, here's the thing. As far as I know, Mr. Claflin is a gentleman of good standing. I really don't know why you want me to go after him. I only know the result of the pursuit, Get me some information that seems worthy of further investigation." "Okay, okay, anyway, you know best. But as time goes by, you must find a way, and you must move quickly. Otherwise, the public will become more and more impatient." "I know, because of this, I came to ask for your assistance. I hope you can help me at this stage. You have some information about him, and I also want to know, otherwise you would not be so interested in him. Now be honest, do you want me to know the information you have? In short, tell me everything you know about Mr. Claflin, but don't ask me to exchange confidential information with you immediately."

"I'm a professional detective. You're asking too much of me." "I know. If it weren't for the current emergency, I might have hesitated for a long time before making such a request. However, judging from the current situation, if you don't make concessions first, I really don't know how to proceed to the next step. According to—" "Wait! Isn't Mr. Claflin the boyfriend of one of the cousins?" I was very interested in the gentleman, but I was very reluctant to let others know, and I couldn't help blushing at the sudden question. "I think so too," he went on, "because he is not related, and I guess his position in that family should be the same."

"I don't know what you mean by that inference," I said, anxious to figure out how much he knew about the man. "Mr. Claflin is not familiar with New York, and he hasn't been in America very long, as you imply. Have established a male-female relationship with one of them." "It's not Mr. Claflin's first visit to New York. He was here a year ago, as far as I know." "you sure?" "Sure." "What else do you know? Maybe you already know what I'm keeping in the dark? Please heed my plea, Mr. Gritz, and tell me what else I need to know right away. You won't Regret it. There is no personal benefit for me to solve the case. If I succeed, you are the one who enjoys the glory. If I fail, the one who accepts the shame of failure is me."

"Fair enough," he said to himself, "what will you get paid?" "My reward is to exonerate the innocent lady and restore her innocence." He seemed satisfied with the assurance, and his voice and expression changed.For a moment, he looked like he was about to confess. "Well," he said, "what do you want to know?" "The first is why you suspect him to be involved in the case. Given his cultivation and status as a gentleman, why do you think he has anything to do with this case?" "You shouldn't ask that question," he replied.

"why?" "Because the opportunity to answer this question was yours, and now it's my turn." "What's the meaning?" "Do you remember that Mary Leavenworth sent a letter when you drove to her friend's house on Thirty-seventh Street?" "The afternoon of the interrogation?" "right." "Of course I do, but—" "Didn't it occur to you to check the name and address before you put the letter in the mailbox?" "I didn't have the opportunity to see it, and I didn't have the authority to see it."

"Isn't that letter written by your side?" "That's right." "It never occurred to you that the letter deserved attention?" "Whether I think it worth noting or not, if Miss Leavenworth decides to put the letter in the post-box, there is nothing I can do to stop her." "Because you're a gentleman. There are downsides to being a gentleman," he mused to himself thoughtfully. "But, you—how did you know the content of this letter? Ah, I see." I remember that he was in charge of organizing the carriage we took at that time. "You bought the coachman, and he asked you A tip-off." Mr. Gritz winks mysteriously at his wrapped toes. "That's beside the point," he said. "I've only heard of a letter that might interest me, and I've also heard it dropped into a mailbox on a certain street corner. These The information just coincided with my opinion, so I sent a telegram to the post office in the jurisdiction of the mailbox to ask them to pay attention to the address on a suspicious letter before sending the batch of letters to the General Post Office. As a result, they sent a telegram to tell me, Just got a letter in pencil, suspicious looking, and stamped, and they gave me the address—" "address is?" "Henry Rich Claflin, Hoffman Hotel, New York City." I took a deep breath. "That's how you started to notice this person?" "right." "Strange, but go ahead. What's next?" "Then I went to the Hoffman Hotel to inquire according to the name and address on the envelope. I learned that Mr. Claflin was a frequent guest of the hotel, and that he had just come to America from Liverpool on a steam cruise three months ago. His registered The name is Mr. Henry Rich Claflin, London. He has been staying in the first class rooms and has not changed rooms. Although no one knows for sure what he is, he has been seen in association with several notable persons , British and American, all of them showed respect to him. Although he is not a spendthrift, he can be seen to be quite wealthy. After getting this information, I went into the office and waited for him to come. I hope the hotel staff Showing him the strange letter written by Mary gave me a chance to observe his reaction." "Did you get what you wanted?" "No. I didn't see it at the crucial moment when a fool blocked my view. I got a good deal from the clerk and servant that evening, though. They told me that Claflin was thrilled when he got the letter, so I Convinced it would be worthwhile to pursue this lead, I therefore sent some of my men to follow Mr. Claflin for two whole days. Unfortunately nothing came of it. His interest in murder, if it may be called an interest, was all concealed. Although he went out to the streets, read the papers, and walked around the house on Fifth Street, he not only avoided getting too close, but he didn't want to talk to any member of the Leavenworth family at all. At this time you appeared, your determination It also aroused my will to start again. I believe that Mr. Claflin was of a very good family, and from the gossip I have heard about him, it is impossible to know about him and Leavenworth if he is not a gentleman and a friend. family, so I hand him over to you, and—" "Find out I'm a tough partner." Mr. Gritz smiled as if he had a sour plum in his mouth, but he didn't answer.The two of us were immediately speechless. "Did it ever occur to you to ask," I said at last, "whether anyone knew of Mr. Claflin's whereabouts on the night of the murder?" "Yes, but nothing. Many say that he went out that night, and it is also said that he was already in bed when the fire was brought in the next morning. Apart from these, there are no further clues." "So, in fact, you have gained nothing more than that. Apart from knowing that he was obviously interested in the murder case and was very excited, and that the deceased's niece wrote him a letter, there is no other evidence at all to prove that he was involved in the case. .” "That's all I know." "Just one more question. Have you heard what time he picked up the paper that night, and how he looked when he saw it?" "No. I only know of more than one person who saw him hurrying out of the restaurant and immediately entered the room with the Post in his hand, without even touching dinner." "Hmph, it doesn't look like—" "If Mr Claflin was guilty of the murder, he must have ordered dinner before he opened the newspaper, or sat down to eat after he had ordered it." "So you don't believe that Mr. Claflin was involved?" Mr. Gritz looked away uneasily at the newspaper protruding from my coat pocket, and said, "I'm going to let you convince me that he was involved." His words reminded me of the task at hand.I pretended not to see his expression and repeated the question just now. "How did you know Mr. Claflin was in New York last summer? Did you find out at the Hoffman Hotel?" "No, I learned otherwise. In short, I was tipped off by my contacts in London." "From London?" "Yes. I have a friend who is traveling with me locally. If necessary, I will occasionally help me get some news." "But, what method did you use? From the development of the murder case to the present, writing a letter to London, and then getting an answer from London, it can't be so fast, right?" "No letters to and fro at all. All I have to do is telegraph him a name, and he will understand that I want all news about that person within a reasonable time." "So you sent him Mr. Claflin's name?" "Yes, use the password." "And then got an echo?" "Just this morning." I shifted my gaze to his desk. "The papers are not here," he said. "If you would please put your hand into my breast pocket, there is a letter—" The letter was in my hand before he had finished speaking. "Forgive me for my haste," I said. "It's my first detective job, as you know." He smiled at a very old and faded picture before him. "There is nothing wrong with haste, it is your fault for showing it. You have to read what is written in it. Let us hear what my friend Brown wrote in his letter, and see what he said to this man who lived in Portland Street, London. Mr Henry Rich Claflin has found something." I held the stationery up to the light, and it read as follows: Henry Rich Claflin, gentleman, aged forty-three, born in Hevershire, England.His father, Charles Claflin, served briefly in the Army.His mother was Helen Rich, born in Dumfray, Scotland.She is still alive, living with Henry Rich Claflin in Portland Street, London.Mr. Claflin was unmarried, six feet tall, of medium build, and weighed about two hundred pounds.Darker complexion, normal facial features.The eyeballs are dark brown and the bridge of the nose is straight.Handsome in appearance, tall and straight when walking, and fast in pace.He is recognized as a good person in high society, especially popular among ladies.Spend big, but don't waste it.His annual income was said to be around £5,000, and his appearance fit that figure.The property included a small farm in Hevershire and several deposits whose total amount is unknown. At this point, the informant sent information about his personal history. In 1846 he left his uncle's house and went to boarding school at Eton College, an aristocratic school.Eaton entered Oxford after graduation, graduating in 1856.Academic performance is good.My uncle died in 1855, and my father inherited the property.Father fell to his death in 1857, or in a similar accident.Shortly after his father's death, he took his mother to London at the above address, where she has lived ever since. In 1860 made several trips, several of them with friends in Munich, and also with Vanderfurts in New York.As far as Cairo in the Far East.Came to the United States alone in 1875, and returned home three months later because of his mother's illness.Activities in the United States are unclear. According to the employer, he has been loved since he was a child.Been a little quiet lately.Check mail carefully, especially international mail, before leaving the United States.Received very little mail other than newspapers.wrote to Munich.Saw a torn envelope in the trash, addressed to Amy Belden, with no address.Most of the correspondents in the United States live in Boston, and there are two in New York.The name is unknown, but it is presumed to be a banker.When he returned home, he brought a lot of luggage and decorated part of the house, as if to please the lady.It was shut down shortly thereafter.After two months, I went to the United States and stayed in the south.Twice telegrams were sent back to Portland Street.He had corresponded with friends, but only occasionally.The last letter received was from New York.The last one was from a cruise ship departing from F in New York State.Everything he does here is entrusted to - agency.Country estates are managed by ——. brown. The letter fell from my hand. F——, New York State, is a small town near R——. "Your friend is really good," I said. "The news in his letter is exactly what I want to know most." Then I took out the notebook and wrote down the part of the letter that made me feel the most in the process of reading it. "With the information he has collected, I can unravel the mystery of Henry Claflin in a week." "How soon," asked Mr. Gritz, "before I can intervene?" "I'll let you know as soon as I'm sure I'm on the right track." "How do you know you're going in the right direction?" "Not much, just get a certain point right, and—" "Wait a minute. Who else can help you besides me?" Mr. Gritz looked at the table in the corner and asked if I could open the top drawer for him and get him some scraps of paper with burn marks inside. Following his instructions, I took out two or three of them and placed them on the table beside him. "It was found in the furnace by Forbes on the first day of the interrogation," Mr. Gritz explained abruptly. "You thought he had only found the key. Not quite. He rummaged through the coals once more and found these." Very interesting piece of paper." Immediately I anxiously looked down at the torn, discolored scraps of paper.There are four pieces in total.At first glance, it was just a piece of ordinary writing paper that hadn't burned out, torn into long strips and rolled into kindling.However, if you look closely, you can find that there is writing on one side, and more importantly, there are traces of blood spattered on it.This last discovery gave me the creeps.I was so shocked that I put the paper down and turned to Mr. Gritz. "How do you explain that?" "I was going to ask you." I suppressed the feeling in my heart and picked up the paper again. "Looks like fragments of a letter from long ago," I said. "It feels like that." Mr. Gritz sneered. "Judging from the literal bloodstains, this piece of paper must have been placed on Mr. Leavenworth's desk at the time of the murder, face up." "yes." "Judging from the fact that each strip has the same width and will curl when not affected by external force, it must be torn into strips of the same size, then curled separately, and then thrown into the fireplace before being discovered." "You're right," said Mr. Gritz. "Go on." "From the handwriting, the writer should be an educated gentleman. Not Mr. Leavenworth's handwriting, because I have been studying his handwriting a lot lately, and I can tell it at a glance. But it may be—wait!" I said. Suddenly shouted, "Do you have any glue handy? If I could stick the pieces of paper to a piece of paper and keep them flat, it should be easier to tell you what the contents are." "There's glue on the table," Mr. Gritz pointed out. Once I got the glue, I looked at the paper again, looking for the joins.The words on the slip of paper were clearer than I expected, and the longer one was also the most complete, with "Mr. Huo Yi" on the top, indicating that it belonged to the left edge of the letter.The second longest edge shows signs of machine cutting and belongs to the right edge of the same letter.Then, according to the size of general business letter paper, I pasted these two pieces on the same piece of paper, and the situation became clear immediately.First, stick two pieces of paper of the same width in the middle blank space to fill the whole paper.Secondly, the pen does not end when it reaches the bottom of the letter paper.The end is on another page. I picked up the third and watched the edge of the piece.The top of this line is the machine-cut edge, and judging from the distribution of fonts, it should belong to the last line on the second page.I attached it to another piece of paper and continued to look at the fourth strip, which also had machine-cut marks on the top, but not on the side.I tried to use this one to join the third one I just pasted, but the fonts couldn't be joined.I pasted this piece of paper where it might be the third one. If all of them are assembled, it should look like the following. "Wow!" exclaimed Mr. Gritz, "it really seems like that." I held the whole sheet of paper up to his eyes. "Don't show it to me. Do your own research and tell me what you think." "That's it," said I, "that's all I can be sure of: it's a letter addressed to Mr. Leavenworth, from some hotel, and the date is—I see, it looks like March, yes. wrong?" I pointed to a barely legible word under "Hotel." "It should be. Don't ask me." "Must be March. The year is 1876, so the full date is March 1, 1876, and the signature is—" Mr. Gritz looked up to the ceiling in anticipation. "It's Henry Claflin," I announced without hesitation. Mr. Gritz turned his gaze back to the tips of his heavily wrapped toes. "Hmph... how do you know?" "I'll let you know later." After I finished speaking, I took out the business card that Mr. Claflin handed me when we met last time, and put the business card under the last line on the second page for comparison.Recognizable at a glance, Henry Rich Claflin on the card was in the same handwriting as the letter, with "Hen-ch-" faintly visible. "It was Claflin," he said, "without a doubt." I could tell he wasn't surprised. "Now," I went on, "let us decipher the general meaning of the letter." I read all the words from the beginning, and paused when there were missing words. The full text is as follows: Respect - you - niece - seem - worthy - love and trust - face, body - speech - beautiful, charming -, rose belt - rose is no exception. ——Beautiful, charming and gentle, ——heart trampling——trusting—heart—. —his dignity—obedience— If--believe--her--cruel--face--,--Kung's servant--your-H--- "Sounds like someone complained to Mr. Leavenworth about what her niece was doing," I said, a little shocked at my own words. "What's the matter?" said Mr. Gritz. "What happened?" "Strange," said I, "that the contents of this letter have been mentioned to me. It is indeed a complaint about a niece of Mr. Leavenworth, signed by Mr. Claflin." I repeat what Mr. Harwell said to me. Report it to him. "Ah! Mr. Harwell has spoken, too, by your account, has he not? I thought he was sworn not to gossip." "Mr. Harwell and I have been together almost every day for the past fortnight," I said. "It would be strange if he told me nothing." "He said he had seen a letter from Mr. Claflin to Mr. Leavenworth?" "Yes, but he can't remember the details." "A few words here may help him recall other parts." "It is better not to reveal this evidence to him. If possible, I think it is best not to let the confidential information between us be known." "Of course not," said Herr Gritz gravely. I didn't notice the writing style of these characters at first, but now I picked up the letter paper again and began to point out some incomplete characters, maybe we can put them together, such as Huo——, Li—Li, Mi——, Trampling—, Gong servant -. After putting it together, I then proposed to fill in the deduced words, such as adding Leavenworth after Horatio, Mr. after Leavenworth, "have" after "you", and then add "one" "Niece", add "thorn" after "rose belt", "others" after "trample", "you" after "if", "my word" after "believe", "beautiful" after "cruel" ". I added some words, and the full text is as follows when I'm done: "I think that's enough," Mr. Gritz said. "It's clear from the whole letter that this is what we need at the moment." "The tone of the whole letter seems to be quite critical of the lady mentioned in the letter," I said. "He must have complained in his heart, or felt that he must complain, so he used such straightforward words to describe the woman he Still considered gentle, charming, beautiful lady." "Complaint letters are often the motive behind suspenseful murders." "I should know where the doubts in this letter are, but," I saw him look up, "forgive me for not being able to tell at the moment. My theory is solid and has been confirmed to some extent. I can only That's enough talk." "According to you, this letter did not provide the clues you wanted?" "You can't say that. This evidence has its value, but it has nothing to do with the clues I'm currently searching for." "But this clue is very important, otherwise Eleanor Leavenworth wouldn't have spent so much effort to take it away from uncle's desk first, and then—" "Wait a minute! Why do you think this is the paper she took from Mr. Leavenworth's desk on the night of the murder?" "Because the letter came out at the same time as the key, we know she threw the key in the fireplace and there were a few drops of blood on the letter." I shake my head. "Why are you shaking your head?" Mr. Gritz asked. "Because you believe that this letter is the paper she took from Mr. Leavenworth's desk. I disagree with your reasons." "why?" "First of all, Forbes doesn't mention that she ever saw any papers in her hand when she bent over the fireplace, and it may be inferred that these papers were already in the coal pile at that time. You must wonder why the hard work A piece of paper that I got my hands on was left there. Secondly, these papers are twisted and deformed, as if they had been rolled up, which is difficult to explain by your hypothesis." Detective Gritz's eyes sneak up on my tie, which is where his eyes are closest to my face. "You are very clever," he said, "very clever. I admire you very much, Mr. Raymond." I was a little surprised, not necessarily happy with this unexpected compliment.I looked at him suspiciously for a while and then asked. "What do you think of this matter?" "Oh, and you know I have no opinion. I gave up all opinions when I turned the case over to you." "But--" "There is no doubt that these scraps of paper were a letter which was on Mr. Leavenworth's desk at the time of Mr. Leavenworth's murder. There is also no doubt that Miss Eleanor Leavenworth took the paper from the desk when the body was moved. When she found that someone noticed her behavior and focused on the paper and the key, she wanted to dispose of these things so that there would be no suspicion. But the processing was not entirely successful, and she put the key Throwing it into the fireplace, where they were subsequently found, we also know. I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions." "In that case, well," I stood up, "let's leave the conclusion alone. I have a theory in my head that must be proven for the conclusion to be worthwhile." I waited for Gritz to write me Q's address in case I needed assistance during the investigation, and then I left Mr. Gritz and went to Mr. Willey's residence.