小说园

花园血案之谜 the ecret garden（第4页）

“Inthatcase，”criedValentin，withadreadfulsmile，“youmayindeedknowagreatdealabouthim。Abouthislifeandabouthis……”

CommandantO‘BrienlaidahandonValentin’sarm。“Drothatslanderousrubbish，Valentin，”hesaid，“ortheremaybemoreswordsyet。”

ButValentin（underthesteady，humblegazeoftheriest）hadalreadyrecoveredhimself。“Well，”hesaidshortly，“eole‘srivateoinionscanwait。Yougentlemenarestillboundbyyourromisetostay；youmustenforceitonyourselves-andoneachother。Ivanherewilltellyouanythingmoreyouwanttoknow；Imustgettobusinessandwritetotheauthorities。Wecan’tkeethisquietanylonger。Ishallbewritinginmystudyifthereisanymorenews。”

“Isthereanymorenews，Ivan?”askedDr。Simon，asthechiefofolicestrodeoutoftheroom。

“Onlyonemorething，Ithink，sir，”saidIvan，wrinklinguhisgreyoldface，“butthat‘simortant，too，initsway。There’sthatoldbufferyoufoundonthelawn，”andheointedwithoutretenceofreverenceatthebigblackbodywiththeyellowhead。“Wevefoundoutwhoheis，anyhow。”

“Indeed！”criedtheastonisheddoctor，“andwhoishe?”

“HisnamewasArnoldBecker，”saidtheunder-detective，“thoughhewentbymanyaliases。Hewasawanderingsortofscam，andisknowntohavebeeninAmerica；sothatwaswhereBraynegothisknifeintohim。Wedidn‘thavemuchtodowithhimourselves，forheworkedmostlyinGermany。We’vecommunicated，ofcourse，withtheGermanolice。But，oddlyenough，therewasatwinbrotherofhis，namedLouisBecker，whomwehadagreatdealtodowith。Infact，wefounditnecessarytoguillotinehimonlyyesterday。Well，it‘sarumthing，gentlemen，butwhenIsawthatfellowflatonthelawnIhadthegreatestjumofmylife。IfIhadn’tseenLouisBeckerguillotinedwithmyowneyes，IdhaveswornitwasLouisBeckerlyingthereinthegrass。Then，ofcourse，IrememberedhistwinbrotherinGermany，andfollowingutheclue……”

TheexlanatoryIvanstoed，fortheexcellentreasonthatnobodywaslisteningtohim。TheCommandantandthedoctorwerebothstaringatFatherBrown，whohadsrungstifflytohisfeet，andwasholdinghistemlestightlikeamaninsuddenandviolentain。

“Sto，sto，sto！”hecried，“stotalkingaminute，forIseehalf。WillGodgivemestrength?Willmybrainmaketheonejumandseeall?Heavenhelme！Iusedtobefairlygoodatthinking。IcouldarahraseanyageinAquinasonce。Willmyheadslit-orwillitsee?Iseehalf-Ionlyseehalf。”

Heburiedhisheadinhishands，andstoodinasortofrigidtortureofthoughtorrayer，whiletheotherthreecouldonlygoonstaringatthislastrodigyoftheirwildtwelvehours。

WhenFatherBrown‘shandsfelltheyshowedafacequitefreshandserious，likeachild’s。Heheavedahugesigh，andsaid：“Letusgetthissaidanddonewithasquicklyasossible。Lookhere，thiswillbethequickestwaytoconvinceyouallofthetruth。”Heturnedtothedoctor。“Dr。Simon，”hesaid，“youhaveastronghead-iece，andIheardyouthismorningaskingthefivehardestquestionsaboutthisbusiness。Well，ifyouwillaskthemagain，Iwillanswerthem。”

Simonsince-nezdroedfromhisnoseinhisdoubtandwonder，butheansweredatonce。“Well，thefrstquestion，youknow，iswhyamanshouldkillanotherwithaclumsysabreatallwhenamancankillwithabodkin?”

“Amancannotbeheadwithabodkin，”saidBrowncalmly，“andforthismurderbeheadingwasabsolutelynecessary。”

“Why?”askedOBrien，withinterest。

“Andthenextquestion?”askedFatherBrown。

“Well，whydidntthemancryoutoranything?”askedthedoctor，“sabresingardensarecertainlyunusual。”

“Twigs，”saidtheriestgloomily，andturnedtothewindowwhichlookedonthesceneofdeath。“Noonesawtheointofthetwigs。Whyshouldtheylieonthatlawn（lookatit）sofarfromanytree?Theywerenotsnaedoff；theywerechoedoff。Themurdereroccuiedhisenemywithsometrickswiththesabre，showinghowhecouldcutabranchinmid-air，orwhat-not。Then，whilehisenemybentdowntoseetheresult，asilentslash，andtheheadfell。”

“Well，”saidthedoctorslowly，“thatseemslausibleenough。Butmynexttwoquestionswillstumanyone。”

Therieststillstoodlookingcriticallyoutofthewindowandwaited。

“Youknowhowallthegardenwassealedulikeanair-tightchamber，”wentonthedoctor。“Well，howdidthestrangemangetintothegarden?”

Withoutturninground，thelittleriestanswered：“Thereneverwasanystrangemaninthegarden。”

Therewasasilence，andthenasuddencackleofalmostchildishlaughterrelievedthestrain。TheabsurdityofBrownsremarkmovedIvantooentaunts。

“Oh！”hecried，“thenwedidn‘tlugagreatfatcorseontoasofalastnight?Hehadn’tgotintothegarden，Isuose?”

“Gotintothegarden?”reeatedBrownreflectively。“No，notentirely。”

“Hangitall，”criedSimon，“amangetsintoagarden，orhedoesnt。”

“Notnecessarily，”saidtheriest，withafaintsmile。“Whatisthenestquestion，doctor?”

“Ifancyyoureill，”exclaimedDr。Simonsharly；“butIllaskthenextquestionifyoulike。HowdidBraynegetoutofthegarden?”

“Hedidntgetoutofthegarden，”saidtheriest，stilllookingoutofthewindow。

“Didntgetoutofthegarden?”exlodedSimon。

“Notcomletely，”saidFatherBrown。

SimonshookhisfstsinafrenzyofFrenchlogic。“Amangetsoutofagarden，orhedoesnt，”hecried。

“Notalways，”saidFatherBrown。

Dr。Simonsrangtohisfeetimatiently。“Ihavenotimetosareonsuchsenselesstalk，”hecriedangrily。“Ifyoucan‘tunderstandamanbeingononesideofawallortheother，Iwon’ttroubleyoufurther。”

“Doctor，”saidtheclericverygently，“wehavealwaysgotonveryleasantlytogether。Ifonlyforthesakeofoldfriendshi，stoandtellmeyourffthquestion。”

TheimatientSimonsankintoachairbythedoorandsaidbriefly：“Theheadandshoulderswerecutaboutinaqueerway。Itseemedtobedoneafterdeath。”

“Yes，”saidthemotionlessriest，“itwasdonesoastomakeyouassumeexactlytheonesimlefalsehoodthatyoudidassume。Itwasdonetomakeyoutakeforgrantedthattheheadbelongedtothebody。”

Theborderlandofthebrain，whereallthemonstersaremade，movedhorriblyintheGaelicO‘Brien。Hefeltthechaoticresenceofallthehorse-menandfish-womenthatman’sunnaturalfancyhasbegotten。Avoiceolderthanhisfrstfathersseemedsayinginhisear：“Keeoutofthemonstrousgardenwheregrowsthetreewithdoublefruit。Avoidtheevilgardenwherediedthemanwithtwoheads。”Yet，whiletheseshamefulsymbolicshaesassedacrosstheancientmirrorofhisIrishsoul，hisFrenchifedintellectwasquitealert，andwaswatchingtheoddriestascloselyandincredulouslyasalltherest。