Chapter 29 Chapter 28 Strange Experience

It is no different from other simple theft cases. I first double-checked the room. As I said, the room felt comfortable, square, well lit and well decorated.There was a red carpet on the floor, a few pictures on the walls, and pleasant white curtains on the windows, which looked tasteful with patterns of tooth plants and autumn leaves.There was an old accordion in one corner, and a table in the center of the room, covered with a brightly colored tablecloth, and furnished with trinkets that, though not worth much, were pleasing to the eye.However, the reason why I walked slowly in the room was not to be attracted by these decorations.These things can be seen in many rural families, and I am not particularly interested.The reason why I walked around the room was to see the bits and pieces hidden under the appearance of these things, including not only the general furnishings of the room, but also every small item, which can reveal the character and temperament of this woman and past experiences.That's why I studied the daguerreotypes on the mantelpiece, the books on the bookshelves, and the music on the accordion, hoping to find some hint of Hannah's presence in the house.

I was delighted to see that she had a small library in the corner of the room with a well-chosen collection of poems, histories, and novels, which explains the cultured mannerisms of Mrs. Belden's conversation.I took out a battered book of Byron's poems and opened it. There were a lot of underlines in it.I put the book back on the shelf, mentally remembering her romantic feelings, and turn to look at the old accordion by the wall.The accordion was not open, but it was neatly covered with a cloth, and there were a book or two on hymns, a basket of russet apples, and a half-finished piece of hand knitwear.I picked it up to look at it, but had to put it down because I couldn't see what she was trying to achieve.Next I stopped in front of an open window that looked out on the small lawn that surrounded the house and was separated from the neighbor's lawn.The view outside the windows attracted my attention, but the windows themselves attracted my attention more. On one of the window frames there was a line written with a diamond point—it could be seen that it was a word—but I could not make out what it meant.I decided that it was written by a primary school girl, so I didn't pay any attention to it.Looking down, there is a knitted basket on the table next to me.There are bits and pieces of stuff inside.I saw a pair of silk stockings that were too small to be Mrs. Belden's, and too worn out to be mended.I carefully took out the stockings to see if there was a name on them.Don't panic, I see an H on it.I put the stockings back in the basket and took a deep breath.At this time, I looked out of the window and was once again attracted by the writing on the window.

gnirevalc yram What exactly does that mean?I casually spelled it backwards, and at the end, readers, please spell it out for yourselves, and you can imagine my astonishment.I couldn't help but be ecstatic with this important discovery.I sat down to write a letter, but before I could finish it, Mrs. Belden came in to announce that supper was ready. "As for your room," she said, "I've got mine in order, because I thought you might prefer to stay on the ground floor." Then she opened the door next to me, and inside was a small but quite comfortable room, where a bed, a large cabinet, and a blurry mirror could be vaguely seen.The frame is old fashioned and the color is dark.

"I keep everything simple," she said, leading me to the dining room, "but I try to be comfortable and try to make other people happy." "I think you're doing a great job," I compliment, and cast an admiring glance at her neatly set table. She smiled and made me feel that the way was paved, which would help her to do what I wanted. The dinner was sumptuous, tasty and unforgettable.Not only are the dishes exquisite, but the atmosphere is also free-spirited and filled with a sense of mystery.In the face of her gracious hospitality, I could not help feeling ashamed to enjoy this lady's food with suspicion.She was startled when a cat leaped from the kitchen's sloping roof onto the back lawn.I heard, or thought I heard, the rattling of the floorboards upstairs, and it made my heart beat faster!The dining room we were in was long and narrow, and seemed to run diagonally through the center of the house, leading at one end to the living room and at the other to the small room she had let me live in.

"Aren't you afraid to live alone?" I asked.At this moment Mrs. Belden put another piece of cold chicken on my plate, and I didn't want to eat it. "Are there no robbers in your town? No tramps? You are supposed to be very scared when you are alone?" "No one will do me any harm," she said. "I will not refuse anyone who comes here, whether they want food or shelter." "So, from the fact that you live next to the railway station, there must be scoundrels who come here for free?" "I can't refuse them. The only thing I can do is to feed the poor."

"But there are loafers and idlers who will neither work nor—" "They're still poor." It occurred to me in the back of my mind that this lady would indeed cover someone who had the misfortune to be involved in a serious crime.I leave the table.At this moment, it occurred to me that if Hannah was really here, Belden would use this opportunity to bring food upstairs for Hannah to eat.I'd walk away for a while to give her free rein, so I went out on the balcony to smoke a cigar.As I smoked my cigar, I looked around for Q.Just seeing a little bit of evidence that he's in this town is a big encouragement to me right now.However, there seems to be no sign of it at all.If Q is around, he must be well hidden.

I went back to the table and sat down with Mrs. Belden.I knew she came downstairs with an empty plate because I saw her put it on the table when I went to the kitchen to get a drink.I made up my mind to wait a while to see if she would speak up for herself.If she is still tight-lipped when the time comes, I will try to induce her to reveal the secret as unexpectedly as possible. However, her confession came sooner than I expected, the content was not the same as I expected, and the result was also different. "You're a lawyer, you should be right." She said, holding knitwear in her hand, pretending to be serious about her work.

"Yes," I said, "I do practice law." She didn't make a sound for a long time. I believe she must have made a mess of knitting, because after I finished speaking, she showed a look of surprise and humiliation.Then she said in a hesitant tone. "In that case, perhaps you'd like to offer me some advice. In fact, I'm in a very strange situation. I don't know how to solve it, but I have to act now. Would you like to hear?" "Of course, I'd be happy to advise you in any way I can." She took a deep breath and seemed a little relieved, but still frowning.

"It's really hard to describe. Two women asked me to keep a package of documents. If I want to return them or destroy them, I have to get the consent of both of them: if I come to pick it up in person, or in black and white instructions, both parties need to nod and agree. These I want to keep the documents well, and no matter what happens, no matter who comes to rob them, I can’t hand them over.” "It's not difficult to understand," I said, and she stopped. "However, the lady who was more concerned in the matter wrote to say that for some reason, for her peace of mind and for her safety, those documents must be destroyed immediately."

"Do you want to know the scope of your responsibility?" "Yes." She answered, her voice trembling. I couldn't help standing up, because a lot of speculation was running through my mind, and those thoughts were overwhelming. "Keep firmly on the document in your hand, and you can't return it to them until both of them express their wishes at the same time." "Is this advice from a lawyer's point of view?" "Yes, also from the perspective of an ordinary person. Once you make a promise to someone, you have no choice. If one of them asks you to do anything, it is a violation of the original promise to give back to both of them at the same time. promise. If you cause anyone grief or loss by keeping the document, it does not mean that you have to give up the original commitment. It is your responsibility to keep the document, and what happens has nothing to do with you. Moreover, you Also can't be sure if what she said is true. If you destroy the documents on her instructions, you may be more wrong. Because according to your promise to them, you should keep the documents, which is in the interest of both of them .”

"However, the situation is different now. For me, I think that the party who is more concerned should be considered more, especially since the two of them have separated and will probably never get the consent of the other party." "No," I said. "Negatives don't make positive, but wrongs add to wrongs. Justice cannot be sacrificed in an improper way at will. Mrs. Belden, you must keep the papers." She was downcast, obviously she herself hoped to let the party she cared about go well. "The legal stuff is really hard," she said. "It's really hard." "It's not just a matter of law, it's a simple matter of responsibility," I said. "Suppose the situation is different now. Assuming that keeping the documents protects the reputation and happiness of the other party, what is your duty?" "But--" "An agreement is an agreement," I said. "Once a contract is signed, it cannot be changed without authorization. Since you have accepted other people's trust and made a guarantee, you must abide by it and cannot violate the terms of the contract. Returning the documents or destroying the documents is tantamount to breaking the agreement yourself.” She slowly revealed an expression of extreme melancholy. "I guess you're right," she said, and then fell silent. I looked at her expression and thought, if it were Mr. Gritz or Q, they would definitely ask questions before leaving their seats.They will certainly ask for the names of both parties and where the precious document is hidden, because she said that the document is extremely important.However, I am not Gritz and I am not Q, so I can only let her continue to speak on this topic until the leak allows me to learn more about the inside story.So I turned to ask her some questions, when I noticed a woman's figure outside the window, coming out the back door of the house next door.Judging from her disheveled appearance, she fits perfectly the homeless shape that was talked about at dinner.She threw away the dry crust she was chewing on as soon as she was in the street, and walked up Mrs. Belden's path.She was disheveled, the only clothes she had were torn and dirty, swaying in the bitter spring wind, and her tattered shoes were stained with red dirt on the road. "It seems that you have business coming." I said. Mrs. Belden appeared to be awakened from meditation.She got up slowly, looked out the window, and then her eyes softened immediately, looking up and down at the poor man in front of her. "Poor thing!" she murmured to herself. "It's a pity that I can't help her to-night. Only let her have a good meal." After she finished speaking, she went to the front door and went around to the kitchen, and in a short while there was a long and rude sigh: "Bless you!" However, she wanted nothing more than dinner.After a certain amount of time, which I judged to be chewing time, I heard her speak again, asking to be allowed to stay overnight. "Ma'am, it doesn't matter if it's a barn or a cabin, as long as it can shelter me from the wind outside." Then she began to give such a poignant account of her poor and ill past that I was not at all surprised when Mrs. Belden came in and told me that she had agreed to let her spend the night in front of the kitchen fire, though She had previously firmly stated that she would not stay with anyone. "Her eyes are honest," she said, "and kindness is the only thing I can give." Because of this episode, our conversation had to come to an end.Mrs. Belden went upstairs while I was alone thinking about the conversation and trying to decide on a course of action.I think she may keep the documents according to the principle of fairness I said, but she may also be affected by her emotions and destroy the documents.That's when I heard her creep down the stairs and out the front door.Unsure of her intentions, I picked up my hat and immediately started stalking her.She walked towards the street.My first thought was that she was going to a neighbor's house or to a hotel.However, her slow pace quickly changed to a brisk walk, confirming my suspicions that she still had a long way to go.After a while I passed the hotel and its outbuildings, and then also the small schoolhouse, the last house in the village.I have gone to the suburbs.what does this mean? Yet her shaky figure continued on its way, the outline of her body and the tightly wrapped shawl and hat becoming more and more blurred, almost disappearing in the darkness of the April night.I continued to follow, stepping on the grass beside the road so that she would not hear my footsteps and look back.Finally we came to a bridge and I could hear her crossing, and then there was silence.She had stopped, apparently listening carefully.It wouldn't be wise for me to stop too, so I sauntered past her as best I could, but at a certain point I stopped again and walked back, keeping an eye on her progress until I came again. to the bridge.By this time she had disappeared. I guess she has actually discovered the motive of my staying overnight, and now there is a plan to divert the tiger from the mountain, so that Hannah can have a chance to escape, so I want to return to the post that I accidentally left immediately.But then a strange sound from the left caught my attention.The source of the sound was the bank of the creek below the bridge, and it sounded like the creaking of hinges on an old door.I jumped over the wall and walked down the slope as far as I could towards the source of the sound.It was pitch black all around, and I didn't dare to move too fast.At this time, I began to worry that my trip was in vain. Unexpectedly, a flash of lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, and an old farmhouse could be vaguely seen through the short lightning.Judging from the sound of running water around me, the farmhouse should be on the edge of the creek, so I hesitated.At this point I heard heavy breathing again nearby, followed by a sound that sounded like someone groping forward and stepping on a pile of loose planks.Standing here now, through the dilapidated door in front of me, I see Mrs. Belden standing inside the farmhouse, holding a match in her hand, looking intently at the surrounding walls.I barely breathed so as not to startle her as she looked up at the ceiling.The ceiling is so old that it barely covers half of the sky.She too looked down at the floor beneath her feet, which was as worn out as the ceiling.Her eyes finally rested on the little tin box she had taken out from under the shawl.She put the tin box on the ground at her feet.As soon as I saw the tin box, it immediately dawned on me about her trekking behavior.She wants to hide things that she dare not destroy.I finally breathed a sigh of relief at this point, and was about to take a step forward when the match in her hand went out.Just as she was beginning to light another match, I thought it best not to approach her just now, lest she be suspicious and interfere with my main plan.So I decided to wait until she was gone before going to get the tin box.So I made my way to the side of the farmhouse and waited for her to leave.If I ventured to take a peek, she would probably be aware of my presence due to the lightning around me.Time passed minute by minute, sometimes it was dark, and sometimes lightning flashed, the atmosphere was very strange.And she still didn't come out.At last I grew impatient, and just as I was about to emerge from the hiding place, she stepped out and began trudging back to the bridge.When I decided she had lost sight of me, I sneaked out of my hiding place and entered the farmhouse.I can't see my fingers inside. Fortunately, I have the habit of smoking and carry matches with me like her.I lit one and held it up, but the light was very weak, and I didn't know where to start, so the match went out before I could get a good look around.I will light another one.This time I focused on one place, the floor beneath my feet, but it went out before I could find any sign of her hiding the box.Now, for the first time, I realize the predicament in front of me.Probably before she left, she had decided to hide the box somewhere in the old farmhouse, and I had no way of finding it, just wasting matches after matches.Really nothing.Before making sure the box was under a pile of trash in the corner, I ordered a dozen or so.Now I have the last one in my hand.That's when I noticed a cracked plank on the floor that showed signs of being moved.Just one more match and I could move that board, check to see if there was a box underneath, and if so, remove it safely. Deciding not to waste resources, I knelt down in the dark and reached for the board, only to find it loose.I wrenched it open with all my might, threw the board aside, and lit a match to look into the hole.There was something in it, but I couldn't tell what it was, maybe it was a stone or a box, and when I reached for it, the match fell from my hand to the ground.Complaining about my own carelessness, and determined to get what I saw at all costs, I reached down to the opening, and the next thing I found to be a curious object fell into my palm.It was that tin box! Satisfied with the result of my labors, I was tempted to turn away, hoping to arrive before Mrs. Belden arrived.Is this possible?She started several minutes before me, and I had to pass her on the road, so I might be spotted by her.Is it worth the risk for this purpose?I think it's worth it. When I got back on the road, I started walking at a brisk pace.This short stretch of the road passed no one and met no one.Suddenly at the corner of the road, I ran into Mrs. Belden unexpectedly.She was standing in the middle of the road looking back.I was a little flustered, and quickly walked past her, thinking that she would stop me.Yet she let me pass without a word.Seriously, I doubt she ever noticed me.I was very surprised by her reaction, but even more surprised that she didn't stop me at all, so I decided to look back.Only then did I understand what had held her back, not even noticing that I was passing by.The farmhouse behind us is on fire! I knew immediately that it was my masterpiece.I dropped a match that wasn't completely extinguished and landed on some kind of flammable object. I was so surprised by this scene that I stopped and stared.The red flames burned brighter and brighter, illuminating the clouds above and the stream below more and more brightly.I was so dazzled that I forgot Mrs. Belden was there.However, she exclaimed excitedly beside me, and when I got closer, I heard her exclamation sound like a dream. "Anyway, I didn't do it on purpose," she lowered her voice, revealing a certain degree of satisfaction in her tone, "But now that everything is gone, Mary will be very satisfied, and no one can blame her." I didn't linger any longer to hear what she had to say next.If that was her conclusion, she probably wouldn't be around for long, especially now that a group of village boys were running wildly towards the scene of the fire. As soon as I got back to the house, I made sure that no homeless girl she had taken in had a chance by leaving the room recklessly.Then go back to your room to rest and see what's in the box.I found it to be a fine tin box with a lock on it.I found to my satisfaction that it was not heavy, which was what Mrs. Belden called a document.I hid the box under the bed and went back to the living room.No sooner had I sat down and fetched a book than Mrs. Belden came in. "Oh!" she exclaimed, taking off her hat, her face flushed from exercise but much more relieved, "tonight was horrible! Not only was there lightning, there was a fire on the other side of the street, it was a mess outside. I hope You won't be too lonely by yourself." She said, watching my expression closely, and I tried my best to maintain my composure, and she continued, "I just went out to do some errands, and I didn't think it would take so long." I prevaricated with lukewarm words, and she hurried out of the room and closed the doors and windows. I waited for a while, but she didn't come back.Probably because he was afraid of revealing an astonishing secret.She retired to her room to rest, allowing me to make the most of my alone time.I let go of the burden in my heart.In fact, I couldn't take any more stimulation this evening and hoped to save the next move for tomorrow.When the storm died down, I went to bed, tossing and turning at first, and finally falling asleep.

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