american tragedy

Chapter 112 (2)
Chapter 39 (2)
"Hey! I can't think of it," Mason was furious, twitting his tongue, "It's too shameful! Well, don't waste your words now, and everything will come to light in due course. But I really don't understand, you know that I have solid evidence, how can you still Can deny it! You wrote a card yourself, took your suitcase and left hers at Kenlochy Station, but you forgot to take it out, Mr Carl Graham, Clifford Mr. Golden, Mr. Clyde Griffiths. Do you remember this card, 'Merry Christmas from Clyde to Robert'? Here it is." He fumbled in his pocket, took out the card from the vanity case and shook it under Clyde's nose. "You wrote this in your own handwriting, and you forgot?" He paused: there was no response.Then he went on: "Tch, fool! What a bad schemer, trying to use a pseudonym instead of his initials—Mr. Carl Graham—Mr. Clifford Golden !"

At this time, Mason was also fully aware that he had to confess to this matter voluntarily, thinking about how to get him to confess, suddenly thought of the cold and terrifying expression on Clyde's face, and thought that maybe he was too scared and had something to say. He didn't dare to say it, so he immediately changed tactics, lowered his voice, and stretched the scary wrinkles on the corners of his mouth and forehead a little.

"Well, Griffiths, listen to me," he said calmly and more directly, "it's not going to do you any good to lie or to deny it, to be honest. It's worse for you. Maybe you thought I was a bit rough just now, because I was also exhausted from this case, chasing someone I thought was very different from you. Now, I found you and I understand your current situation. Mood, those facts frightened you. I also thought that there may be some things in this case that have not been discovered, and there are places that can be forgiven. If you tell me, it may have an impact on the whole case. Of course I don’t know, you Think it over for yourself, I'm just telling you what I think. These letters are here indeed, and besides, I'm going to Three Mile Bay tomorrow, and there are three people you met that night when you walked south from Great Buckton. Not only Those, and the owner of the Grass Lake Inn, the owner of the Great Buckton Inn, the watchman for the taxi, and the guide who drove you and Roberta Alden from Ken Lodge, they'll all know you .Do you think none of them will recognize you, or tell if you were with her then, or that the jury won't trust them by then?"

Clyde listened to all these words in his heart, as if every time a coin was thrown in, the cash box would rattle.But he still remained silent, just staring straight ahead with cold eyes.

"More than that," Mason went on, almost flatteringly soft. "And Mrs. Peyton. She saw me get these letters and cards in the shelf above the chest closet in your room, and that factory where Miss Alden was, and all the girls in it knew she was dead, Wouldn't you think about those things between you and her? Tsk, it's too boring. No matter how you look at it, you should be very clear about these things. Faced with these facts, I'm afraid you wouldn't be lucky enough to avoid them, otherwise you would He's a fool. You should know that too."

He paused again, hoping that Clyde would voluntarily confess.But Clyde still insisted that once the matter of Roberta or Big Burton was admitted, it would be completely ruined, so when Mason continued to speak, he still stared blankly.

"Well, let me tell you one more thing now, Griffiths. Even if you are my son or brother, I don't just want to trick you into telling the truth, but try to save you. This is what I want to advise you Yes. If you really want to think about it for yourself, you won't get any benefit from denying it completely like you just did. In the eyes of others, you are just asking for trouble and creating a trap for yourself. Why don't you just say that you know her and talk to her together, she wrote you a letter? You can't escape it, no matter what you think. Any sane person, even your biological mother here, would persuade you like this. It's ridiculous. It's not Showing your innocence proves you to be guilty. Why not get the facts right here now? If there are extenuating circumstances, say so before you regret it. Besides, if you act now I can do what I say, and I can assure you right away, I'm happy to help you as much as I can. In the end, I'm not here to push a person into a corner, or to make him feel wronged, but just to get the facts straight The truth. But, I've told you that I have all the evidence and can prove it, and you don't even want to admit that you know her but..." At this point, the district attorney raised his hands, looking disgusted and tired .

But Clyde remained silent, his face pale.In spite of everything Mason had revealed, and the good-sounding good-natured words seemed to mean a great deal, he still thought that if he recognized Roberta, he would be finished, in the eyes of those here; Sander La, his whole life, all his dreams would be ruined.Because of these concerns, he never said a word.Mason was also extremely disgusted by this, and finally shouted: "Okay, very good. So you have made up your mind not to speak?" Clyde looked depressed and said weakly: "Her death has nothing to do with me. That's all I can say now." But that's all, he thought maybe he shouldn't have said that, he'd better say... what? Of course he knew Roberta, said he was there with her, Although it was for this matter, he never intended to kill her, and her drowning was just an accident.He didn't beat her into the water at all, it was just unintentional.But it's better not to admit to hitting her. In that case, who would believe that he hit her with a camera unintentionally? It'd be better not to mention the camera at all. Anyway, the paper never mentioned that he had a camera with him. .

He was thinking about it, and Mason shouted again: "You admit that you know her?"

"No, sir."

"Well," Mason turned to the others, "I don't think there's anything else to do but take him over there and see if they know anything. Maybe that'll get something out of this nasty fellow. Bring He went to meet his friends. I think that tent contained his suitcase, among other things. Take him down, gentlemen, and see what the others know."

Then he turned quickly, and Clyde, trembling at the thought of the horror to come, cried, "Oh, please! Don't do that! Do you mean it?"

Kraut spoke at this time: "Just now in the woods, he asked me to ask if you can go there without taking him." "So that's the case?" Hearing this, Mason said: "You Too shy to meet Mr. and Ms. No. 12 on the lake. But you won't admit to knowing that poor little maid of yours. Well, my classy friend, you either tell the whole truth you know , or go down there." He paused for a moment, observing the effect of this sentence, "We can gather all the people there and tell them the whole situation, and see if you still want to deny it there!" Sensing Clay There was still some hesitation in De's expression, and he said, "Take him down, guys." At the same time, he turned and walked a few steps towards the camp.Kraut held Clyde by one arm, and Swink grabbed the other, pushing him a few steps.Clyde said aloud:

"Please don't do this! Oh, please don't do this, Mr. Mason? I don't want to go. Not that I really committed a crime. You can take all my things there, but you don't have to let me go too." .For me, the impact is too great." His face was pale, sweat dripped from his hands, his whole body was cold, as if he was about to pass out.

"Ah, you don't want to go?" Hearing him say that, Mason stopped. "Afraid that they will hurt your self-esteem if they find out? Well, you can answer the questions I want to know. You must understand clearly, otherwise you will go down without delay! Do you answer or not?" He turned to Clyde again, and then The lips trembled, the eyes were frightened, but at last he said with trepidation and certainty: "Of course I know her, of course I do! These letters are the proof. But what does it matter? I didn't kill her. I'll go with her." There, it wasn't with any intention of harming her. I never did! It was a total accident, I tell you. It didn't even occur to me to take her there, she asked... to run away somewhere with her, and the reason Yes...you know...she writes very clearly in her letter. But I just want her to go alone and leave me alone, because I have no intention of marrying her. That's what it is. I'll take her there, Didn't mean to hurt her at all, just to persuade her, that's all. And I didn't capsize the boat, at least not on purpose. The wind blew my hat off, we, she and I got up at the same time, and the boat capsized... ...that's what happened. She was hit on the head by the side of the boat, and I saw her struggling in the water, and I was afraid to swim over, because I was afraid that she would drag me down. Then she sank under the water, and I went up That's the truth, it's true!"

As he spoke, his face flushed red, as did his hands, and only his eyes showed pain, panic and sadness.Perhaps, he thought, there had been no wind that afternoon, and they might find out.And maybe a camera tripod hidden under a piece of wood.If he finds it, do you think he hit her with it? He is soaked in sweat and shaking.

Mason started asking questions again.

"Well, let me see. You said you didn't take her there with the intention of killing her, did you?"

"No, sir."

"Okay, then why did you decide to use different names on the registers of Great Bitterton and Grass Lake?"

"Because I didn't want to be found out that I was there with her."

"Oh, that's right. You don't want her pregnancy to ruin your reputation, do you?"

"Yes, sir, I would not."

"But you don't care if her body is found later and her reputation is ruined?"

"But I didn't expect that she would drown." Clyde was quite astute and cunning, and he immediately realized that it was the other party's trap.

"But you know very well she's not coming back, don't you?"

"No, sir, I didn't know if I would come back. I thought I would."

"Smart," thought Mason, and then suddenly said, "You took your suitcase and left hers over there to look natural when you came back, didn't you? How do you explain that?"

"I don't keep the suitcase with me to escape, but we're going to put our lunch and snacks in it."

"Is it us, or you?"

"us."

"So, you're wasting a big suitcase for a little lunch snack? Can't you find a piece of paper to wrap it in, or use her suitcase?"

"Her suitcase was full of stuff, and I hate wrapping anything in paper."

"I see. You are very proud, very sensitive and careful. But, if you walk twelve miles to Three Mile Bay with a heavy suitcase, won't you feel ashamed and hurt your dignity if you are seen?"

"That's because after she drowned, I didn't want people to know that I was with her, so I had to choose to walk..."

He stopped talking.Mason looked at him, there were still many questions to ask him, and in his opinion, Clyde couldn't explain this question clearly.But it was getting late, and many of Clyde's things were still in the tent—his suitcase, and possibly the suit that was said to be gray that he wore at Dabden that day, not the one he was wearing now.It was dusk, and it might be rewarding to continue to question him, but they had to go back.What's more, he can continue to ask him on the road.

So, in the end he reluctantly ended the questioning. "Well, Griffiths, you will stop here for the time being. Whether what you just said is true, I am not sure, of course, I hope it is true. In any case, you follow Mr. Kraut to Go over there, and he'll take you somewhere."

Then he turned to Swink and Kraut and said, "Well, it's getting late, and I'll tell you what to do. We'll have to buy time if we're going to get there tonight. Mr. Kraut, You take this young man to the place where the other two boats are parked and wait for us. Say hello on the way, so that the sheriff and Sissel know we are gone. After a while, Swink and I will be on the other side Two boats."

After ordering, Kraute acted according to the order, and Mason and Swink walked towards the camp in the twilight.Kraut led Clyde westward, greeting the sheriff and his assistants on the way until there was no answer.

(End of this chapter)