american tragedy

Chapter 120 (1)
Chapter 315 (1)
Mr. Ruben Jefferson was absolutely different from Belknap, Katchman, Mason, or Smillie, and indeed from anyone who had ever met Clyde, or had any legal interest in the case.He is very young, tall and thin, with brown skin and thick features, calm but not cold, with a strong will.His intellect and legal qualities were excellent, and, combined with his shrewdness, he looked like a lynx or a ferret.His pale blue eyes are shrewd and determined, his long nose is powerful and curious, and his body and hands are very powerful.As soon as he realized that they might be tasked with defending Clyde, he immediately studied the coroner's notes, the reports of several doctors, and the letters from Roberta and Sandra.At this moment he was listening to Belknap, who said that Clyde had admitted that he had indeed planned to kill Roberta, but hadn't done so, because he had just hit her inadvertently because he had lost his mind at the crucial moment.Jefferson just looked straight at it, not talking or laughing.

"But he shouldn't be in this state when he went to the lake with her?"

"No."

"Not when the boat capsizes and swims away?"

"No."

"Walking through the woods, changing clothes and hats, hiding a tripod, and not in a dazed state either?"

"No."

"Then you should understand that from a legal point of view, if we accept his version, he is also guilty, and the judge will definitely decide that."

"Yes, I understand, and I have thought about it."

"Well, then..."

"Listen, Jefferson, there's no doubt this is a tough case. It looks like Mason has the upper hand, and if we can get him out of the way, there's nothing we can't do. I haven't figured it out yet. , but it seems to me that we can get away with the excuse of insanity or impulsiveness, as in the case of Harry Sand, or let's not mention it." He paused, feeling some Gray temples, hesitant.

"You're sure he committed murder, too?" Jefferson interjected coldly.

"I don't think so. You'd be surprised, at least I'm not entirely sure. To be honest, it's one of the hardest cases I've ever handled. Clyde isn't as ruthless as you might think. He even It can be said to be quite honest and amiable, of course I mean his attitude. He is only 21 years old. Although he is related to the Griffith family, he is still very poor, but he is just an ordinary employee. He also said that his parents are also very poor ...they got a church out west, like in Denver, before that in Kansas City. He hasn't been home in four years, because he got into trouble when he was a waiter in a Kansas hotel, and had to run away. Whether Mason knows or not, we have to be careful. It seems that he and some other waiters secretly drove out a rich man's car, and then ran over and killed a little girl in a hurry. We must find out about this before Just in case, if Mason knows, he might bring it up during the trial to catch us off guard."

"Oh, he's not up to it," replied Jefferson, his piercing eyes twinkling. "I'll just go to Kansas City and look into it."

Belknap then told Jefferson everything he knew about Clyde's life—how he washed dishes before Lycurgus, waited tables in restaurants, clerked soda shops, and drove a delivery van. , anything in short, how to get interested in girls, then met Roberta, then met Sandra, how to end up in trouble, love both, but can't get to the second unless you get rid of the first hand.

"Knowing all this, are you still not sure that he killed her?" Jefferson asked him after listening.

"Yes, I've said I can't be sure. But I know he's obsessed with the second girl. Every time he or I mention her occasionally, he looks very different. For example, once I asked His relation to her—he was already accused of seducing and killing another girl, and he looked at me as if I had said something wrong and insulted them.” Belknap gave a dry laugh at this point. , while Jefferson leaned against the mahogany table with his long, thin legs and stared straight at him.

"Really?" said Jefferson at last.

"Not only that," said Belknap, "he said 'Nothing, of course nothing, she couldn't be,' and, 'Here he goes,' and what, Clyde?' I asked, 'Don't forget who she is.' I got it. Believe it or not, he also asked me if there was any way I could keep her name and her letters from the papers and his trial from being mentioned, or Let her family know so that she and they don't suffer too much."

"Really? And what about the other girl?"

"That's what I was about to say. He seduced the girl, then went so far as to murder her, and probably did kill her. But the girl got him too, and I'm afraid he doesn't know what he's done. .You know what I mean? I'm sure you know what it's like to be a man his age, especially if you don't have women and money and you're all set on it."

"You think he's getting deranged by these things, don't you?" Jefferson asked.

"Possibly. Delirious, mad, insane, as New Yorkers say. But he was really grieving for the other girl, and I'm afraid it was because of her that he cried in the jail. You don't know when I went to see him He was crying, crying like his heart was broken."

Belknap scratched his right ear, thoughtfully. "Anyway, there's a point in saying he's bewildered by it, Alden forcing her to marry, and there's another girl who's willing to marry him. I understand his situation quite well, Because I have encountered this situation myself." Then he told his story. "Besides, he also said that there was a story in the Unified Die Zeit on June [-] or [-] that two people had drowned."

"Okay, I'll look for it." Jefferson replied.

"I want to take you to the detention center tomorrow to see how he impresses you. I can also observe whether he has the same attitude towards you. I hope to hear your point of view."

"Of course I will tell you." Jefferson was a little impatient.

The next day Belknap and Jefferson visited Clyde in the detention center.Jefferson talked to him first, and mulled over his strange story.Even so, he was still not sure whether Clyde hit Roberta on purpose or not.If it was unintentional, how could he swim away after the accident and let her drown in the lake? Even he could hardly believe it, let alone a jury.

Another version of Belknap is that he was out of his mind at the time, and after reading the report in the "Unified Times", he followed suit.Of course, this is also possible, but Clyde is still very quick and sober, at least Jefferson thinks so.Clyde seemed to him far more cunning and natural than Belknap had thought, and he concealed these qualities in a gentle and amiable manner.

Clyde did not trust Jefferson as much as he did Belknap, and this attitude initially made Jefferson cold towards him.But he was soon overwhelmed by Jefferson's firmness and seriousness, and felt that even if Jefferson didn't sympathize with him emotionally, he was still very interested in him professionally.After that, he felt that this young man might be able to help him more, and he expected more from him than Belknap.

"Miss Alden's letter to you is very strong evidence, don't you understand that?" Jefferson said after hearing Clyde's retelling of his story.

"Yes."

"These letters must have seemed miserable to an ignorant person. So they may have prejudiced the jury against you, all the more so if you compare them with Miss Finchley's letters to you." .”

"Yes, these are very bad for me, but she is not always like this. It is only when something happens later that I ask her to let me go again, so she writes like this."

"I know. We'll consider it, and if necessary we'll bring it up, if only we could find a way to keep those letters out of the way," he said, turning to Belknap.Then he said to Clyde: "What I want to ask is, have you been in contact with her for about a year?"

"Yes."

"Did you know if she had been with any young man somewhere, or even intimately, during your time with her, or before?"

Clyde suddenly realized.With Jefferson, as long as it can be used as a reason to escape the law, he dares to put forward any idea or trick, regardless of what others think.Instead of cheering up Clyde, the idea startled him.What a disgrace to tell such a lie about someone like Roberta.He could not, and would never want to have such a thing, so he said:

"I don't know, never heard of anyone she was with, in fact, I don't believe she was."

(End of this chapter)