Chapter 31 Chapter 30 Burnt Paper

I'd better forgive someone who is kinder than me. I didn't call for help right away.The shock of discovering the dead body came at a time when my thirst for life and hope was at its strongest.All my plans, which had depended on Hannah's testimony, were suddenly dashed.Worst of all, the coincidence of Hannah's sudden death suggested that the gangsters who killed Mr Leavenworth had probably been here, and I was too devastated to act immediately.I can only stand and stare at the peaceful face in front of me, smiling in peace, as if death is more comfortable than we think.At the same time I wondered about God's grace, which brought not reassurance but renewed dread, complex emotions instead of epiphanies, disappointment instead of fulfillment.Under the raging power of death, even those whom I didn't know and had no feelings for suffered. The cause and effect of this murder case were too important, so I couldn't concentrate.The maid Hannah lost her life as a witness.

However, her hesitant mouth shape and half-opened eyelids caught my attention. The more I looked at her, the more I thought there was a hopeful look on her face.I bent down to look at it, and asked myself if she had really passed away. Seeking a doctor immediately might save her life.But the more I looked at it, the more I believed that she had been dead for a long time.It makes me sad to think of this, for I could have acted immediately and boldly last night to force my way into the poor girl's hiding place, and to prevent, if not evade fate's terminus.And that made me understand where I am now.

Leaving her, I went to the next room, opened the window, and tied the red handkerchief I carried with me on the curtain.Immediately a young man came out of the tinsmith's lodgings and entered the house where I was.I believe he is Q, although this young man does not look like Q at all, and his clothes and facial expressions are quite different from Q. I saw him cast a quick glance in my direction, then move across the room and wait for him at the top of the stairs. "How is it?" he whispered as he entered the house, looking at me from downstairs, "did you see her?" "I see," I replied with dissatisfaction, "I saw her!"

He hurried upstairs to me. "Did she say it?" "No, I haven't talked to her yet." I sensed he was alert to my voice and manner.After pulling him into Mrs. Belden's room, I quickly asked him, "Why did you inform me this morning that you had seen Hannah? And that she was in a certain room and I could go find her?" "That's what I said, yes." "So you were in her room?" "No, I've only been outside the room. I climbed onto the sloping roof last night while you and Mrs. Belden were out. I saw a light, and then looked in the window and saw her moving about the room. "He must have sensed the strange expression on my face, because he stopped. "What happened?" he asked excitedly.

I can no longer control myself. "Come with me," I said, "see for yourself!" and led him into the room I had just left, pointing to the body lying quietly inside. "You told me that Hannah should be found here, but you didn't tell me that was the case when she was found." "My God!" he exclaimed, "isn't he dead?" "No," I said, "it's dead." He can't seem to understand. "Impossible!" he replied, "She was just taking sleeping pills, she was sleeping soundly—" "She's not sleeping," I said, "and if she was, she'll never wake up. Look!"

I raised her hand again and let it fall heavily back to the bed. The sight seemed to convince him.He collected himself and stood by, gazing at her with a very strange expression.Suddenly, he started flipping through the clothes Hannah had left on the floor. "What are you doing?" I asked, "What are you looking for?" "I saw her taking something last night, I guess it's powder, so now I'm looking for the piece of paper with the powder in it. Oh, I found it!" He yelled, holding a piece of paper aloft.The paper had been lying under the edge of the bed, and he hadn't noticed it until now.

"Let me see!" I exclaimed, anxiously. He handed me the paper.A fine layer of white powder can be vaguely seen on the inner surface. "This is very important," I said, carefully folding the paper. "If the amount of white powder is enough to test out that it is a packet of poison, the cause of the maid's death will be revealed. It is obviously a suicide." "I'm not as sure as you," he retorted. "I'm usually good at judging people's expressions. If I'm not mistaken, when this girl took the drug, she didn't know it was poisonous like I did. Her expression was cheerful." And happy, with what might be called a smug look on her face as she threw her head back into her mouth. If Mrs. Belden gave her the powder, tell Hannah it's medicine—"

"That remains to be investigated, and the powder has yet to be tested for poison. She may have died of a heart attack." He just shrugged and pointed first to the breakfast plate on the chair, then to the broken door. "By the way," I responded to his questioning expression, "Mrs. Belden came here this morning, and she locked the door when she left, which also proves that she believes Hannah is all right." "Not even suspicious when you see a pale face lying motionless on an upside-down pillow?" "Perhaps she came and went in a hurry, didn't pay attention to Hannah, just put down the food and glanced in her direction casually?"

"I don't want to suspect that there is something wrong with all this, but what a coincidence!" He hit me where it hurts, and I took a step back. "Okay," I said, "it's no use standing here and guessing, we have a lot of work to do. Come on!" I walked quickly towards the door. "What do you want to do?" he asked. "Have you forgotten that our mission is to solve a murder mystery? That's part of the mystery. If Hannah was murdered deliberately, we have a responsibility to find out." "It's up to the coroner to get to the bottom of it. There's nothing we can do now."

"I know, but at least we can take a detailed note of the situation in the room and pass it on to someone we don't know. Mr. Gritz will want us to do this, I'm sure." "I've looked over the whole room and everything is stored in my memory like a photograph. I'm afraid I'll never forget it." "Where's the body? Did you notice the position of the body? The shape of the sheet around the body? Any signs of frightened struggle? Is the expression peaceful? Do the arms have a natural droop?" "Yes, yes, don't tell me to take another look."

"And the clothes hanging on the wall?" He quickly pointed out each item with his hand, "See? A dress, a shawl, not when she left without saying goodbye That one, but a black shawl, probably Mrs. Belden's. And this drawer," he opened the drawer, and there were some panties in it, and it said--I see, ah, it's the name of the mistress, It's smaller than the size she wears though.Probably sewn for Hannah, then embroidered with her own name to avoid suspicion.There are also clothes scattered all over the place, all new clothes, all embroidered with the same name.And—"Wow! Look!" he exclaimed suddenly. I walked over to him and bent down, and saw that the washbasin was half full of paper ashes. "I saw her hunched over in this corner, not sure what she was doing. Is it possible that it was suicide? She clearly destroyed a secret here that she didn't want anyone to know." "I don't know," I said, "I hope so." "It was completely burned, not even a small piece was left, what a pity!" "Mrs. Belden will solve the mystery," I said. "Mrs. Belden will be able to unravel all the mysteries," he replied. "This is the key to the mystery of the Leavenworth murder." He glanced at the ashes again. "Could it be that the confession was burned?" This conjecture seems quite likely. "Whatever was burned," I said, "is now a pile of ashes, and we have to accept the fact and try to find clues from it." "Yes," he sighed deeply, "it is, but Mr. Gritz will never forgive me, never will. He will say that the moment he saw her taking the medicine, I You should have noticed something was wrong." "But she doesn't know, she didn't see you." "We don't know if she saw it, nor did Mrs. Belden anyway. I really don't understand women, and while I'm proud to have dealt with the shrewdest of women, I feel like I've failed miserably in this case. " "Well, well," I said, "it's not over yet, who knows what secrets Mrs. Belden will reveal? Well, she's coming back soon, and I must be ready to face her. If possible , I hope to find out whether she knew that there was a death, that is the key to everything. It is more likely that she did not know at all." I urged him to leave the room, shut the door behind me, and lead the way down the stairs. "Now," I said, "you must do something at once. Send a telegram to Mr. Gritz and let him know that something has happened." "Okay, sir." Q walked towards the door. "Wait a minute," I said, "I may never have the chance to see you again, so let me tell you now that Mrs. Belden received two letters yesterday, one large and one small. The shipping location of—” Q puts his hands in his pockets. "I don't think I'll have to look too far to find out where it was sent. Oops, it's gone!" Before long, he had already returned upstairs.At this time, I heard the sound of the door opening.