第62章花园血案之谜(7)
ButValeeady,humblegazeofthepriest)hadalreadyreself。"Well,"hesaidshortly,"people'sprivateopinionswait。Yougeillboundbyyourpromisetostay;youmusteonyourselves—aher。Ivaellyouanythitoknow;Imustgettobusinessaheauthorities。We'tkeepthisquietanylonger。Ishallbewritinginmystudyifthereisa;
"Isthereanymorenews,Ivan?"askedDr。Simon,asthechiefofpolicestrodeoutoftheroom。
"Ohing,Ithink,sir,"saidIvan,wrinklinguphisgreyoldface,"butthat'simportant,too,initsway。There'sthatoldbufferyoufoundonthelawn,"aedwithoutpretenceofreverehebigblackbodywiththeyellowhead。"We'vefoundoutwhoheis,anyhow。"
"I;criedtheastoor,"andwhoishe?"
"HisnamewasAr;saidtheuive,"thoughhewentbymanyaliases。HewasawaofsdisknowntohavebeeninAmerica;sothatwaswhereBrayhiskohim。Wedidn'thavemuourselves,forheworkedmostlyinGermany。We'veunicated,ofcourse,withtheGerma,oddlyenough,therewasatwinbrotherofhis,namedLouisBewehadagreatdealtodowith。Ioguillotinehimoerday。Well,it,gewhenIsawthatfellowflatonthelawnIhadthegreatestjumpofmylife。IfIhadn'tseenLouisBeckerguillotihmyowneyes,I'dhaveswornitwasLouisBegthereihen,ofcourse,Irememberedhistwinbrermany,andfollowinguptheclue。。。"
&oryIvaheextreasonthatnobodywaslisteningtohim。TheandaorwerebatFatherBrorungstifflytohisfeet,andwasholdiightlikeamaninsuddenapain。
"Stop,stop,stop!"hecried;"stoptalkingaminute,forIseehalf。WillGodgivemestrength?Willmybraiheonejumpandseeall?Heavenhelpme!Iusedtoodatthinking。IcouldparaphraseanypageinAquinasonce。Willmyheadsplit—orwillitsee?Iseehalf—Ionlyseehalf。"
Heburiedhisheadinhishands,andstoodinasidtortureofthoughtorprayer,whiletheotherthreelygatthislastprodigyoftheirwildtwelvehours。
&herBrown'shaheyshowedafacequitefreshandserious,likeachild's。Heheavedahugesigh,andsaid:"Letusgetthissaidahasquicklyaspossible。Lookhere,thiswillbethequickestwaytoceyouallofthetruth。"Heturor。"Dr。Simon,"hesaid,"youhaveastronghead-piedIheardyouthismaskingthefivehardestquestionsaboutthisbusiness。Well,ifyouwillaskthemagain,Iwilla;
Simon'spinhisnoseinhisdoubtaheao;Well,thefirstquestion,youknow,iswhyamanshouldkillahaclumsysabreatallwhenamankillwithabodkin?"
"Amanotbeheadwithabodkin,"saidBrowncalmly,"andforthismurderbeheadingwasabsolutelynecessary。"
"Why?"askedO'Brien,withi。
"Aion?"askedFatherBrown。
"Well,whydidn'tthemancry?"askedthedoctor;&quardeainlyunusual。"
"Twigs,"saidthepriestgloomily,ahehichlookedontheseofdeath。"hepoiwigs。Whyshouldtheylieonthatlawn(lookatit)sofarfromaheywereheywereurdereroccupiedhisehsometrickswiththesabre,showinghowhecouldmid-air,orwhat-not。Then,whilehiseoseetheresult,asilentslash,andtheheadfell。"
"Well,"saidthedoctorslowly,"thatseemsplausibleenough。Butmywoquestionswillstumpa;
&stillstoodlookingcriticallyoutoftheaited。
"Youknowhowallthegardenlikeanair-tightchamber,"weor。"Well,howdidthestrahegarden?"
Withroulepriesta;Thereneverwasahegarden。"
TherewasasilehenasuddenostchildishlaughterrelievedthestraiyofBrown'sremarkmovedIvas。
"Oh!"hecried;"thenwedidn'tlugagreatfattoasofalastnight?Hehadn'tgotintothegarden,Isuppose?"
"Gotintothegarden?"repeatedBrowively。"irely。"
"Hangitall,"criedSimon,"amaoagarden,orhedoesn't。"
"Notnecessarily,"saidthepriest,withafai;Whatistheion,doctor?"
"Ifancyyou'reill,"exclaimedDr。Simonsharply;"butI'llasktheionifyoulike。Hetoutofthegarden?"
"Hedidn'tgetoutofthegarden,"saidthepriest,stilllookingoutofthewindow。
"Didn'tgetoutofthegarden?"explodedSimon。
"ely,"saidFatherBrown。
Simonshookhisfistsinafrenzyiaofagarden,orhedoesn't,"hecried。
"Notalways,"saidFatherBrown。
Dr。Simtohisfeetimpatiently。"Ihaveospareoalk,&qurily。"Ifyou'tuandamanbeingononesideofawallortheother,Iwon'ttroubleyoufurther。"
"Doctor,"saidthecleritly,"wehavealwaysgotoogether。Ifonlyforthesakeofoldfriendship,stopandtellmeyourfifthquestion。"