Chapter 32 Chapter 31 Q

There is a story here. "It was a false alarm. No one was sick at all. I was fooled. I was fooled so badly!" Mrs. Belden walked into the room where I was blushing and panting, and took off her hat.She stopped in the middle of the action, and suddenly exclaimed: "What's the matter? Why are you looking at me like that! What happened?" "Something serious has happened," I replied. "You've only been out for a while, but during that time I've made a big discovery—" I paused to create tension, and maybe I could get her out of it.However, despite her pale face, she was not as excited as I had imagined.I continued: "This discovery may have a major impact."

To my great surprise, she burst into tears. "I knew it, I knew it was going to happen!" she murmured. "I've been saying it's impossible to keep a secret when people move in. She just can't be quiet. But I forgot," she said suddenly , with a horrified expression on his face, "You haven't told me what you found. It's not what I thought, probably—" I interrupted her without hesitation. "Mrs. Belden," I said, "forgive me for not beating around the bush. A woman who hides such an important witness as Hannah at a critical moment in the face of a strong police arrest must not need any psychological preparation to accept it." Any excuse that satisfies her. She has successfully blocked a valuable confession, and the law and justice cannot be enforced, and this maid's confession could have saved an innocent woman. Even if she can be arrogant in front of the police, but I can no longer hold my head up in front of the whole world.”

When I spoke, her eyes never left me for a moment, and there was a clear look of disappointment in her eyes at this time. "What do you mean?" she said loudly, "I'm not malicious, I just want to save people. I, I... Who are you? What do you have to do with this case? What do I do with you?" What's the matter? You say you're a lawyer, could it be that Mary Leavenworth sent you to see if I'm carrying out her orders, and—" "Mrs. Belden," I said, "who I am and what I am here for is not important now. What I have to say may be more important. All I can say is that I am not deceiving you. It can't be fake, and they are really friends of Miss Leavenworth. I am interested in knowing things that may affect them. Therefore, I just said that Eleanor Leavenworth was irreparably hurt because of this The maid's death—"

"Dead? What do you mean? Die!" Her outbursts were so natural, and her tone so fearful, that I didn't have to wonder if she knew the truth. "That's right," I repeated, "the maid you have kept hidden for so long is out of your hands. All you have is her body, Mrs. Belden." Her screams lingered in my ears for a long time. "I don't believe it! I don't believe it!" She ran out of the room and up the stairs. Later, when she faced the deceased, she kept wringing her hands and refused to accept the fact, and when she sobbed, she showed the most sincere grief and fear, and said that she knew nothing about it.She was fine when she left Hannah last night.She also does lock Hannah in her room, which she always does when someone is in the house.If Hannah had died of sudden illness, it would have been peaceful, for she had heard nothing all night.Worried that Hannah would alarm me, she listened more than once to what was going on upstairs.

"Did you come into the room this morning?" I said. "Yes, but I didn't notice anything different. I was in a hurry and thought she was still asleep, so I put things within her reach and left immediately, locked as usual." "Strange, she died last night, not on another day. Was she sick yesterday?" "No, sir, she's even brighter than ever. I didn't think she was unwell, and I never saw her sick. If anything—" "Did you never think she was unwell?" Then came a voice, "So why did you go to such lengths to get her the powder last night?" Q said, coming in from the back of the room.

"I didn't!" she retorted, apparently wrong in my assumption. "Is there? Hannah, are you feeling well? Poor girl." She raised Hannah's hand, put it in her own and stroked it lightly, which seemed to be genuine sadness and remorse. "So, how did the powder get into her hands? If you didn't give it to me, where could she get it?" She seemed to notice that there was another person next to me, and she was talking to her.She got up quickly, stared at him with puzzled eyes, and then said, "I don't know you, sir, but I can tell you that Hannah doesn't have any powder, and she doesn't take any medicine. All I know is She was not sick last night."

"But, I saw her swallow the powder." "You see... the whole world is crazy, or I am insane... You saw her swallow the powder! How can you see her actions? Isn't she staying in the room 24 hours a day?" "Yes, but it is a pity that there is such a window in the roof. It is not difficult to find out, madam." "Oh," she exclaimed, flinching uncontrollably, "I have spies in my house, don't I? But I deserve it. I imprisoned her within these four walls. I didn't come up to check at night, not even once. I I don't want to complain anymore. But what did you say you saw her taking? Drugs? Poisons?"

"I didn't say it was poison." "However, you mean poison. You think she committed suicide by taking poison, and I was involved in her suicide!" "No," I said hastily, "he didn't think you had anything to do with her suicide. He just said that he saw the maid herself swallow something, which caused her death. He just asked you where Hannah came from." The medicine powder I got." "How do I know? I haven't given her anything, and I don't know where she got it from." For some reason, I just believed her words, so I didn't want to continue to ask questions, not to mention that every second counts, so I signaled to Q, hoping that he would go to business quickly, and I took Mrs. Belden's hand, hoping to lead her away from the murder scene .But she refused, and just sat on the edge of the bed and said to me: "I will not leave her again. Don't ask me to leave. This is my home and I have the right to be here."

At this time, Q showed stubborn eyes for the first time, standing firmly in front of the two of us and staring at us, unwilling to leave. No matter how hard I urged him to leave, I told him that it was almost noon, and he should send a telegram to Gritz. gentlemen. "If this woman is in the room for a minute, I will not leave the room for a minute. Unless you promise to look after her for me, I will never leave the house." Surprised, I left her side and walked over to him. "You're too suspicious," I whispered, "and I think you're being rude. We haven't seen any evidence and can't take any legal action. Besides, she's all right here. If If it reassures you, I promise to take care of her for you."

"I don't want you to watch her here. Take her downstairs. If she stays here, I won't go away." "What trick are you playing?" "Maybe, I don't know. If so, it's because I have something in my hand that forgives my actions." "What? Letters?" "yes." Now it's my turn to be nervous.I hold out my hand. "Let me see." I said. "I can't let you see her in the room." Seeing him so persistent, I could only turn around and face Mrs. Belden. "Come with me, please," I said, "the cause of her death is not innocent, and we have to call the coroner and other persons concerned. You'd better leave the room now and go downstairs."

"I don't care about the coroner, he's my neighbour, anyway. Even if he comes it won't stop me from looking at poor Hannah until he comes." "Mrs. Belden," I said, "you are the only one who knows that Hannah is in the house, and it would be wise to avoid lingering too long in the room where the body is, lest it attract suspicion." "If I let her go now, doesn't it mean that my previous kindness to her was in vain?" "If you obey my earnest request and come downstairs with me, you won't be leaving her alone. Not only will it not be good for you to stay here, it will be bad for you. So listen to me, or I will have to leave you to him Take care, I will report to the police myself." This last sentence seemed to have moved her, for she gave Q a horrified look, then got up and said, "I'll just listen to you." Then without saying a word, she covered the girl's face with a handkerchief and left the room.Two minutes later, the letter Q mentioned was in my hands. "That's the only thing I could find, sir. I found it in Mrs. Belden's dress pocket last night. The other must be somewhere else, but I haven't had time to look for it. I think the letter That letter should suffice. You shouldn't need the other one." I didn't pay much attention to the meaning of his words at the time, but just opened the letter.This is the smaller of the two letters I saw her hiding under her shawl at the post office the day before.The content of the letter is as follows: The addressee was Mrs. Belden.It's not signed or dated, just postmarked in New York, but I recognize it as Mary Leavenworth's handwriting. "Very unfavorable letter!" Q said in a serious tone.He seems to think that this tone is very suitable for this occasion, "This evidence is very unfavorable to both the writer and the recipient!" "Bad evidence indeed," I said, "and I would have felt the same if I hadn't happened to know that this letter refers to something very different from what you suspect. It refers to Mrs. Belden trustee Don’t think about crooked some of the documents.” "Are you sure, sir?" "Pretty sure. But we'll talk later. It's time for you to wire to the coroner." "Yes, sir." As soon as the conversation was over, we parted ways.He went to do his work, and I did mine. I found Mrs. Belden walking downstairs, terribly sad about her situation, babbling about things like what the neighbors might say, what the priest thinks, what Clara would do, and how she'd rather die than get involved etc. It took me a while to reassure her and make her sit and listen to me. "You're doing yourself no good by being so emotional," I said. "You'll be better equipped to handle what's coming next when you're calm." I continued to comfort her when she was depressed, first explaining the gist of the case, and then asking her if she had any friends who could help her in an emergency. To my surprise she answered no.Although she had kind neighbors and dear friends, she could find no one to offer assistance or sympathy when this happened.If it weren't for my pity, she would have to face it alone. "Everything has happened to me," she said, "from the death of Mr. Belden to the fire in the town last year that wiped out my little savings. I haven't seen anything." I was deeply shaken.Despite her vulnerability and inconsistent attitude, she at least possesses the virtue of sympathy for the downtrodden.But how could she have no friends?I did not hesitate to reach out to her on the condition that she confess to me fully if the case required it.To my relief, she not only said yes, but was more than willing to tell all she knew. "I've had too many secrets in my life," she said.And I do believe that she has been thoroughly frightened this time, and if the police come to her house now and ask her to reveal secrets against her own son, she will obediently obey. "I feel as though I wish I could stand up, face the world, and announce what I've done for Mary Leavenworth. But first please tell me," she whispered, "for God's sake, What is the situation of the two ladies. I dare not ask, nor write. The papers have mentioned a lot about Eleanor, but not about Mary. Mary writes only about her own crisis, and What dangers would she face if something were discovered. What is the truth? I didn't want to hurt them to protect myself." "Mrs. Belden," I said, "Eleanor Leavenworth didn't say what she should have said, and that's what got her. And Mary Leavenworth, until you tell me, I can't Say more. Her situation is as bizarre as her cousin's, and it's not something you or I can talk about. What we want to know from you is, how did you get involved in this case? What did Hannah know that made She must leave New York and hide with you?" Mrs. Belden, however, released her clenched hands, and looked at me with the utmost apprehension and suspicion. "You're not going to believe me," she said aloud, "I really don't know what Hannah knew. I was completely in the dark about what she saw or heard the night of the murder. She didn't say a word." , I never asked. She only said that Miss Leavenworth wanted me to help her avoid the limelight. Because I liked Mary Leavenworth very much and admired her so much, I reluctantly agreed, and then— —” "You mean," I interrupted her, "that after learning of the murder, Miss Leavenworth just expressed hope that you would help her, so you helped her hide Hannah, but you didn't ask any questions, and you didn't Ask for any explanation?" "Yes, sir. You would never believe me, but it is. I thought that if Mary wanted her to come, she must have had her reasons, and, and—I can't explain why now." .It looks different now, but I did." "However, your behavior is really very strange. There must be a reason for you to obey Mary Leavenworth's request so blindly." "Oh, sir," she gasped, "I thought I knew everything. Mary was a smart young girl who would put aside her status to ask me to do things for her and like me. Involved, it's better for me not to know. I do what she says, and I believe that everything will be fine in the end. I don't think too much, just do things according to my own ideas. I will not go against her instructions , that’s because of my nature. As long as the person I like asks me to do anything, I can’t refuse.” "You're fond of Mary Leavenworth, and you seem to think she's capable of serious crimes?" "Oh, I didn't say that. I just subconsciously thought that she might have something to do with the murder, but she wasn't the real murderer. She could never kill. She's too delicate." "Mrs. Belden," I said, "what, from what you know of Mary Leavenworth, makes you think she couldn't possibly kill?" Her pale face flushed before my eyes. "I don't know how to answer," she cried, "it's a long story, and I—" "Then don't mention it," I interrupted, "what I want to hear is the most critical reason." "Well," she said, "it is so. Mary has an emergency which can only be relieved by the death of her uncle." "Huh? What does that mean?" At this moment there were footsteps on the porch, and we looked out and saw Q enter the house by himself.Leaving Mrs. Belden where she was, I went into the hall myself. "Well?" I said, "what's the matter? Didn't you find the coroner? Wasn't he at home?" "Yes, not at home. He took a carriage ten miles away to see a man who was found lying in a ditch next to a cattle cart." He saw my reassurance. expression.I'm glad the coroner is temporarily held back, and Q gives me a meaningful wink, "It's going to take the coroner a while to get to that place, maybe hours if he's not in a hurry Bar." "That's right!" I replied, amused by his expression, "Isn't the road there difficult?" "It's very difficult to walk. If it were me, I couldn't find a horse that could go faster than myself." "That's the best thing for me. Mrs. Belden has a long story to tell, so—" I said. "Don't want to be disturbed. I understand." I nodded, and he turned to the door. "Have you telegraphed Mr. Gritz?" I asked. "Yes, sir." "Do you think he can come?" "Yes, sir, even if he had to rely on two crutches, he would have to limping over here." "What time will you arrive?" "You can see him as soon as three o'clock. And I have to go up the mountain to take care of my demoralized team members." He put on his hat leisurely and walked slowly on the street, looking like he was on vacation today, and he didn't know what to do. This gave Mrs. Belden the opportunity to tell her story.And she cheered up, ready to speak.