花园血案之谜 The Secret Garden（第4页）

“Perhapshewas，”saidBrownstolidly；“itispossible。”

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

andantO‘Brienlaidahain’sarm。“Dropthatslanderousrubbish，Valentin，”hesaid，“ortheremaybemoreswordsyet。”

ButValeeady，humblegazeofthepriest）hadalreadyreself。“Well，”hesaidshortly，“people‘sprivateopinionswait。Yougeillboundbyyourpromisetostay；youmusteonyourselves-aher。Ivaellyouanythitoknow；Imustgettobusinessaheauthorities。thisquietanylonger。Ishallbewritinginmystudyifthereisanymorenews。”

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

“Ohing，Ithink，sir，”saidIvan，wrinklinguphisgreyoldface，“butthat‘simportant，too，initsway。There’sthatoldbufferyoufoundonthelaoipretenceofreverehebigblackbodywiththeyellowhead。“Wevefoundoutwhoheis，anyhow。”

“HisnamewasArheuhoughhewentbymanyaliases。HewasawaofsdisknowntohavebeehatwaswhereBrayhiskohim。Wedidodowithhimourselves，forheworkedmostlyinGermany。We’veunicated，ofcourse，withtheGerma，oddlyenough，therewasatwinbrotherofhis，namedLouisBewehadagreatdealtodowith。Ioguillotinehimoerday。Well，it‘sarumthiwhenIsawthatfellowflatonthelawnIhadthegreatestjumpofmylife。IfIhadn’tseenLouisBeckerguillotihmyowneyes，IdhaveswornitwasLouisBegthereihen，ofcourse，Irememberedhistwinbrermany，andfollowinguptheclue……”

&oryIvaheextreasonthatnobodywaslisteningtohim。TheandaorwerebatFatherBrorungstifflytohisfeet，andwasholdiightlikeamaninsuddenapain。

“Stop，stop，stop！”hecried，“stoptalkingaminute，forIseehalf。WillGodgivemestrength?Willmybraiheonejumpandseeall?Heaveoodatthinking。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，Iwillahem。”

Simonspinhisnoseinhisdoubtaheaohefrstquestion，youknow，iswhyamanshouldkillahaclumsysabreatallwhenamankillwithabodkin?”

“Amanotbeheadwithabodkin，”saidBrowndforthismurderbeheadingwasabsolutelynecessary。”

“Why?”askedOBrien，withi。

“AioherBrown。

“Well，whydidntthemancry?”askedthedoctardeainlyunusual。”

“Triestgloomily，ahehichlookedontheseofdeath。“hepoiwigs。Whyshouldtheylieonthatlawn（lookatit）sofarfromaheywereheywereurdereroccupiedhisehsometrickswiththesabre，showinghowhecouldmid-air，orwhat-not。Then，whilehiseoseetheresult，asilentslash，andtheheadfell。”

&stillstoodlookingcriticallyoutoftheaited。

“Youknowhowallthegardenlikeanair-tightchamber，”weor。“Well，howdidthestrahegarden?”

Withroulepriestahereneverwasahegarden。”

TherewasasilehenasuddenostchildishlaughterrelievedthestraiyofBrownsremarkmovedIvas。

“Oh！”hecried，“thelugagreatfattoasofalastgotintothegarden，Isuppose?”

“GotintothegardeedBrowively。“irely。”

“Hangitall，”aoagarde。”

“Notnecessarily，”saidthepriest，withafaiistheion，doctor?”

“Ifancyyoureill，”exclaimedDr。Simonsharply；“butIllasktheionifyoulike。Hetoutofthegarden?”

&getoutofthegarden，”saidthepriest，stilllookingoutofthewindow。

“Didofthegarden?”explodedSimon。

“ely，”saidFatherBrown。

Simonshookhisfstsinafrenzyigetsoutofagarde，”hecried。

“Notalways，”saidFatherBrown。

Dr。Simtohisfeetimpatiently。“Ihaveospareoalk，”hegrily。“Ifyouderstandamanbeingononesideofawallortheother，Iwon’ttroubleyoufurther。”

“Doctor，”saidthecleritly，“wehavealwaysgotoogether。Ifonlyforthesakeofoldfriendship，stopahquestion。”

&ientSimonsankintoachairbythedoorandsaidbriefly：“Theheadandshoulderswerecutaboutiseemedtobedoh。”

&hemotiowasdoomakeyouassumeexaplefalsehoodthatyoudidassume。Itwasdoakefraheheadbelohebody。”

Theborderlandofthebraihemonstersaremade，movedhorriblyintheGaeli。Hefeltthechaoticeofallthehorse-menandfish-womenthatman’sunnaturalfaehanhisfrstfathersseemedsayinginhisear：“Keepoutofthemardehetreewithdoublefruit。Avoidtheevilgardehemanwithtwoheads。”Yet，whiletheseshamefulsymbolicshapespassedacrosstheamirrorofhisIrishsoul，hisFreellectwasquitealert，andwaswatgtheoddpriestasdincredulouslyasalltherest。