american tragedy

Chapter 129 (2)
Chapter 3 20 (2)
"But in January, or in February, the dead girl was compelled to come and find the defendant, Clyde Griffiths, and tell him that she was pregnant! One thing I must say to You explain. At that time, and later, she asked him to live with her and marry her as his wife. But he didn't do it, and he didn't want to. Because, at this time, Clyde Griffiths His values ​​and sentiments had changed. He had discovered that the name Griffiths was the key to the doors of Lyceum's high society, and that the man who had done nothing in Kansas City and Chicago, was in Lycurgus But it became a focal point. And it was a name that brought him close to well-educated, wealthy girls, girls who were many times higher in status and status than Roberta Alden. Not only that, he had a crush on a girl, Her beauty, wealth, and status fascinated him, and he became infatuated with her. Compared with Roberta, she was very noble. And Roberta lived in a shabby, lonely house, and it was the country. She was born as a worker, she is very poor, she is not qualified to marry him, she can only have an affair with him, and he is not willing to marry her." He stopped, took a short break, and started talking again:

"However, according to my research, I have not found that at any time, his fascinating social skills were blocked or stopped. On the contrary, from January to July [-]th, and during... yes, even in the In the end, she was forced to tell him that if he did not marry her, she would make the secret between them public. But after that, even after she died at the bottom of Great Bedton, he still participated in various societies. Activities, dancing, driving, gardening, attending banquets, etc., seemed to be forgotten, and it did not occur to Roberta that he should change his behavior when he was repressed morally and in life. "

At this moment he stopped and glanced in the direction of Belknap and Jefferson, who were very composed and indifferent, just smiled, first at him and then at each other.However, Clyde was already so angry to death by these debates and anger, he just thought that this was too extreme and unreasonable.

But just as he was thinking about it, Mason went on to say: "At that time, gentlemen, as I said just now, Roberta Alden had expressed that she would marry Griffiths, and she and he promised to marry her. But it turned out that he never intended to do so. On the contrary, when her demands made him suffer to the limit, and her staying in Lycurgus would inevitably hurt him, He then lured her to her natal home, and apparently pretended to persuade her to make some necessary clothes for him to come to her when he came, but he took her to a remote place where people would not know them, and she The child could be born in the name of his wife, and according to the letter she wrote to him (which I am going to specify), the day was supposed to be three weeks after she left for the Beards' house. Later, but did he really go to her as he promised? No, never.

"Later, only out of helplessness, he allowed her to come to him. It was the sixth of July, two days before her death. But before that... well, take it easy! At the same time, that is From June [-]th to July [-]th, he gave up and left her to hide alone in the small and lonely farm yard on the outskirts of Beards, Rice Valley County. Only the neighbors came to visit her and make her some clothes. Even at that time, she dared not say that those clothes were her dowry! Because she was afraid that the defendant would dump her. Almost every day, sometimes every other day, she wrote to him, telling him what she worried about He is willing to ask him to use a letter or any method to assure her that he will come and take her away.

"However, even on this point he failed! He never wrote to promise! Never! Oh, gentlemen, no! He only had a few phone calls, which is difficult to deduce. It was difficult to hear clearly. Even the phone calls were only made a few times, so hasty, she had to complain that he was too indifferent and inconsiderate to her. In this way, on the fifth weekend, she had nowhere to go, so she had to write to him again , (Speaking of which, Mason selects a letter from a pile of letters on the table behind him and reads) "'I write this letter to inform you that unless you can hang up or write to me before noon on Friday , or I shall come to Lycurgos, and the people will understand what you have done to me. ' Gentlemen, this is what this miserable girl was compelled to write. "

"But would Clyde Griffiths want the people of Rye to know what he did to her? Of course not! Right then and there, he had an insidious plan to save himself from To be found out, and to shut Roberta Alden's mouth forever, gentlemen, the State will prove that he did shut her mouth."

Speaking of this, Mason took out the map of Atrondax that he specially prepared in advance, and marked the red line on the map, explaining all of Clyde's whereabouts before and after she was killed, until he was arrested in Big Bear Lake.When he explained the case, he also told the jury that Clyde had kept his name anonymized, registered under false names many times, and the two hats, and so on.These are all carefully planned.Then he explained that on the road from Fonda to Utiga, and on the road from Utiga to Grass Lake, Clyde and Rob did not ride in the same car.Then he said solemnly:

"Don't ever forget that, gentlemen, although he had told Roberta beforehand that it was their wedding trip, he didn't want it to be said that he was with his maiden bride, no, to Great Berton In the future, he still doesn't want people to know. Because he didn't want to marry her, but to find a remote place. He was tired of the girl, so he killed her on the spot. But before that For 24 hours, 48 ​​hours, it stopped him from holding her in his arms, repeatedly pointing out that he didn't want to keep his promise at all. Did it stop? I'm going to give the register of the two hotels they were staying at that time now You see. They were in the same guest room at two hotels at the same time due to the alleged imminent wedding. They actually stayed for 48 hours instead of 24 simply because he miscalculated the desolation of Grass Lake and he Finding Grass Lake interesting and lively as a summer gathering place for religious people, he decided to leave it for the more desolate Great Berton. You see, this self-professed innocent and misunderstood young lad, La To run around with that weary, miserable girl just to find some lonely lake and drown her there. She will be a mother in four months.

"Later, he finally found a very desolate lake, and then he tricked her into boarding a boat, set off from the hotel to the lake, and dragged her onto the road of death. In that hotel, he once again used a false name to register. Trick, Clifford Golden and Mrs. Clifford Golden. The poor good girl thought he was promising them a little pre-wedding trip before they were married, so that they could be formally and holyly united! But, It didn't work out as she wished, what union would she want except the sacred union of the lake that submerged her? But he could walk away majestically and unscrupulously, just like a ferocious wolf walks past the animal it has killed , he walked towards happiness, towards marriage, into a noble and comfortable circle in terms of material life, status, and love, but she, that poor girl, could only lie stiffly, coldly, and anonymously in the lake. made in the tomb.

"Alas, gentlemen, the laws that the Creator should abide by can also be said to be the laws of heaven. Even if we make painstaking efforts and make plans in haste, the God who determines our destiny! God!

"I'm sure the accused is still there baffled. How do I know what she was thinking? She probably thought that by the time he got her out of that hotel on Great Benton Lake, she would be able to have a decent and justifiable Married to him. It cannot be denied that even then he must have kept his composure, thinking that it was impossible for me to know the details of the matter. However, with his ability to foresee and prevent all accidents that may happen in life, How shrewd and deep his heart must be! For, as he sits here, safe and sound, wishful thinking that his lawyer can get him out of the law" (Clyde is terrified at hearing this. He straightened up instinctively, even his hair stood on end, and his hands under the table trembled) "But he forgot that the girl had written a letter to her mother, In the room of the Grass Lake Hotel, because she left in a hurry, she couldn't send it out, so she put it in the pocket of her coat. It happened that the weather was extremely hot that day, and she undoubtedly thought they were going back to the hotel, so she left the coat There. My God, the letter is sitting on that table right now."

Listen, Clyde's teeth were chattering, and he was shivering like a cold wind.My God, she left that coat behind! Belknap and Jefferson also straightened up, not sure what the letter was about.This is a fatal blow. If this letter ruins their perfectly planned plan, or hinders the implementation of this plan, it will be too fatal! Helpless, they have no choice but to take one step at a time.

"In this letter," said Mason, "he wrote that she was there for nothing but to get married." (At this point, Clyde, Jefferson, and Belknap were smoking a Tone, the hanging heart finally let go, which is exactly what they expected) "And within a day or two." Mason said while thinking that his actions just now must have scared Clyde to death. "But Griffiths or Graham, the Arnier, or the Syracusian, or whatever, he knew. He knew he would never come back, so he He took his belongings onto the boat and drifted for a whole afternoon. From noon to dusk, he searched for a best spot in the lake, a place that was not easy to observe from the shore. After finishing his work, he went ashore, South through a wood, with a new hat on, and a neat purse, and thinking he was done. Clifford Golden dead, and Carl Graham dead, was drowned, like Roberta Alden, lying at the bottom of Great Patton Lake. Clyde Griffiths was alive and handsome, and he was running towards Lake No. 12, which made He has long wanted to go to social occasions.

"Gentlemen, Clyde Griffiths killed Roberta Alden before throwing her into the lake. He hit her on the head and face and I don't think anyone will notice. Unfortunately. Yes, there was a man who witnessed all this when she cried out before she died, on Great Biton Lake. This witness will tell you all he knows after the prosecution has completed the indictment."

In fact, Mason did not have the witness he said, but he still wanted to do everything possible to throw all the shocking materials he could think of into the opponent's fortress.

Indisputably, he did so with greater effect than he had anticipated.Until now, especially after being stunned by the letter that turned out to be out of the blue, Clyde has been pretending to be innocent, framed, numb and indifferent, which makes him look unnatural, a little blunt and discouraged look.An eyewitness! And to come to the court to confront! God! So whoever he is, lying on the lakeshore inadvertently, occasionally saw the sudden blow and heard Roberta's scream but he did not go to help her! He was seen ashore, and slipped into the woods, and perhaps he was seen changing his clothes.God, his hand suddenly grabbed the arm of the chair, as if he had been slammed, and his head shook back.Why? So it seemed that he was dead, and the only thing he could do was to wait to be executed.My God! He was hopeless, hopeless! His head drooped, as if he had passed out.

Speaking of Belknap, Mason's series of revelations made him so distracted that he dropped the pencil he was taking notes on.His eyes were blank, and he stared at the front dumbfounded. Regarding this sudden blow, he did not find strong evidence to refute it, but he still managed to calm himself down. He thought that this would make him appear unprepared, so he immediately tried to refute it. calm yourself down.Anyway, is it true that Clyde was lying, that he really killed Roberta, and that there was a witness there that he didn't know? If so, they might as well get out of here, because the incident The case seemed hopeless, and with public condemnation, the case was likely to be lost.

As for Jefferson, he was once bluffed and crushed.But he was very firm and would not be easily alarmed. He thought of various ways, for example, was there really a witness? Was Clyde telling a lie? If so, the situation would be greatly disadvantaged.He did admit to them that he hit Roberta.But this eyewitness must have seen it, and then it is impossible to make the argument of a change of heart stand.In the presence of witnesses, who will believe their arguments?

Luckily, he was a very aggressive man, very resilient, and even with such a somewhat fatal statement, he would not give in either.On the contrary, he turned to look at Belknap and Clyde. They were both embarrassed and depressed. He argued: "I can't agree with what you said. In my opinion, he is sophistry, otherwise, he is threatening Us. In a word, we'll see! Now, it's time for us to talk, and the days are long! Look at these witnesses, we can keep interrogating them as long as I like, until he refuses to do it. We Plenty of time to do many things, we also want to know about the Witnesses. Also, suicide is not impossible. In addition, there may be other real situations, such as coma caused by epilepsy or other diseases, lack of courage to continue Do it. You shouldn’t be able to see it from five hundred feet away!” He also sneered, and then said something that didn’t seem to be addressed to Clyde: “Even if things are bad, we may judge What do you think about a 20-year sentence and forget about him?"

(End of this chapter)