Chapter 10 ten

Sam.Gregory and Lieutenant Trager ran forward while struggling to make out the way in the moonlight.The screaming ahead stopped.They ran to where the sound came from.There was an unsettling calm over the moon-dappled ground, and only the two of them, guns in hand, walked cautiously towards the scene of the incident. Trager suddenly tapped Gregory on the shoulder, and there was a sound, he whispered, there were footsteps there. They listen carefully.The sturdy Gregory was panting heavily, but he couldn't make out what the sound was. After a while, the sound of footsteps crunching on the sand was getting closer and closer to them.

The voice came from the other end of a garden full of thornless cacti.Trager and Gregory each made a quick round along one side of the field. It's Wilma.Staller walked slowly towards them.Dr. Kenward leaned heavily on her shoulder. Under the moonlight, Wilma's face was pale, with fear on her face.When she recognized them, she said: Dr. Kenward has been shot. While walking, out of professional habits, the doctor was groping for the wound.He said calmly: The adductor muscle mass was perforated, and the bleeding area was larger than expected after the rupture of deep blood vessels.I can control the pain.Gentlemen, if you don't mind, we're going back to the building.

He limped off again. How did you get hit?Gregory asked, who fired the shot?Did you shoot?what are you doing there Wilma.Staller said sullenly: He fell asleep.I'll just leave him there and let him rest a little longer.The night rounds had nearly ruined him.He had no idea who fired the shot. Lieutenant Tragg took Dr. Kenward's left arm, put it around his neck on his shoulder, and helped Dr. Kenward walk forward. Dr. Kenward said calmly: Gentlemen, I have fallen asleep.I'm not sure, but I believe the gunshot woke me up, but I have no proof.When I fully awoke from a deep sleep I heard at least two gunshots.I was so dazed that I didn't know where I was, but I saw the bullets thud into the sand and it was obvious that the gun had been fired at me.I jumped up, raised my legs and ran.The shooter came after him.When I ran, there was a large cactus between him and him.The people who chased me went around this cactus and chased me by the moonlight.He fired a few more shots and the second shot hit me.

When the last shot went off, I saw Dr. Kenward fall.Wilma.As soon as I saw him running towards me, I knew someone was shooting at him, Staller said. You didn't see your pursuer at all?Gregory said. No. Didn't see the flash when the gun was fired? No. I see it, Wilma."I saw the flash of the last two shots, right behind that vat-like cactus," Staller said.It was about fifty or sixty feet from where Dr. Kenward fell. Doctor, can you walk over there?Lieutenant Trager asked. With Wilma helping me, it should be fine.I was taken aback by the size of the wound, but it was manageable.Wish me luck, I don't want to bother another doctor.

Trager lowered the doctor's arm and nodded to Gregory. They turned and walked towards the cactus garden, a little distance from each other, guns in hand. Take it easy, Tragg told his brother-in-law, there might be an ambush. Gregory took a few steps to the right, shot first, and then asked questions. He said, don't take risks. They advanced slowly, swiftly from one shadow to another, like two well-trained hounds darting from cover.They kept a certain distance, but both could see each other. The whitewashed walls reflected a white light.They saw nothing, heard nothing, the garden was quiet under the moonlight, only the sound of the waves in the distance made a rhythmic low roar, only the bloodstains on the ground told them that the silence under the moonlight contained the meaning of death threaten.

Let's go back, Trager said, to where the man lay and see if we can pinpoint where the shot was fired.Then look for footprints. They found a place to set up a bonfire with stones, and on top of the stone was an iron plate that the miners used as a stove when they were out in the field, and the iron plate still smelled of foul wood.Dr. Kenward was sleeping on a blanket, and the ground was sunken with bullet marks indicating that at least two bullets had penetrated the sand.Thirty yards forward, next to the giant cactus, they found empty brass cartridge casings gleaming in the moonlight. Lieutenant Tragg picked it up, a .38 automatic.He said.

There are footprints on the ground behind the cactus.Sam.Gregory was very familiar with life on the ranch. He lowered the flashlight close to the ground, and the footprints on the ground became clearer under the oblique light.He carefully inspected the ground very patiently, guessing what happened, and it took him twenty minutes before he stood up with satisfaction. Someone had attacked Dr. Kenward sleeping like a hunter on a fawn.He emerged from behind the wall first, crawled across the sand in the moonlight, and then got down on his stomach, advancing an inch or two at a time.Then he fired three times, and at the end of the shot he jumped up, leaving deep footprints in the soft sand.He ran around another field of cactus fifty yards away and fired two more shots.Footprints afterward show him sprinting towards the white wall at full speed.These can be clearly analyzed from the changes shown by the footprints, but the rest are less clear.The sand is soft and dry, and some footprints have been filled with sand. It is difficult to analyze any clues with them. The only feature is that the footprints seem to be very small.

Lieutenant Tragg stood aside, running quickly to compare his footprints with those of the man. little feet.He said. Gregory is not sure, have you noticed the footprints left by the high heels of cowboy boots?he asked. Didn't pay much attention.Trager said. I noticed, but said the footprints might have been made by the high heels of cowboy riding boots.Still just a guess. Or a woman's footprints?Trager said. Gregory was lost in thought.Perhaps so, he replied hesitantly, and we'd better go back to the building. When they entered the building, the phone rang, but no one answered.Wilma.Staller was attending to Dr. Kenward's leg injury, and Dr. Kenward, with a detached face, sat directing Nurse Wilma.

Gregory went to the phone, picked up the receiver and said: What's the matter? Is it sir? Yes. This is St.Police headquarters in Ciudad Roberto.The police car has just received a report of an arsenic poisoning incident in the skyscraper area, and the poisoned people are being sent to the charity hospital. Can you talk about it in detail?asked Gregory. A vintage car loaded with camping gear, with a mobile home trailer towing.The car ran a red light and the police car followed it.The driver said his name was Powers, and his partner in the trailer was dying of arsenic poisoning, and he had driven to Dr. Kenward's house, but he wasn't there, and Powers drove to the hospital.The police car cleared the way, Bowers said it was related to another poisoning incident, let us inform you.There were two people in the police car, one reporting the situation and the other driving.They are connected within seconds, do you need to contact the car?

Well, said Gregory, tell them we meet at Charity Hospital. He put down the phone, turned to Trager and said, "Banning.Clark was in a mobile home trailer, and the car was a salt dinger.Bowers drove.Clark was dying of poison and was on his way to Charity Hospital.want to go?We'll leave the deputy here. Walk!Trager said. They ran across the living room, the crisp sound of waxed floor tiles echoing in the silent building.Out the front door they got into Gregory's car, and Gregory shifted into gear and sped down the graveled driveway to the street.The car's siren blared harshly.

Trager sat between the front seat and the dashboard, settled himself with difficulty, and protested, "Anyway, Brother Sam, there are four wheels, and you'd better use all four of them, not just two at a time." indivual. Gregory smiled, turned another corner, and the car was still accelerating. He said while driving: When you were in the city, you drove through the traffic in the car, and I was scared to death.It's nice to make you feel a little nervous this time around, but you'll get used to it.There are many bends on the country road, and there are many cars on your side. However, grabbing an extra half a minute will not help.Trager said. They said Banning.Clark is dying, and I don't want to wait until he's dead to take testimony. He won't know who poisoned it. You will be amazed.Gregory finished and they stopped talking.The car passed the curve quickly and got on the straight road at the foot of the mountain.The car's siren was blaring, roaring through St.Residential area of ​​Ciudad Roberto.The car quickly entered the ambulance channel of the hospital. The car's red spotlights were shining on the rear of the trailer, which was stained a wine-red color, and several people were standing in the doorway.Gregory stopped the car and opened the door, and a nurse and a doctor in a coat and a stethoscope stepped out of the trailer. Gregory rushed forward and said: Doctor, is there any hope for him to survive? The doctor said calmly: No. you mean him died. Sam.Gregory let out a long and exhausted breath. Was it arsenic poisoning?When he said this, he sounded like a person who already knew the answer to a question, but was still repeating the same question over and over again. Clearly, the doctor said quietly, a .38 pistol bullet fired at close range, almost directly into the heart.Before being shot, this person had eaten a large amount of arsenic.From the state of his heart which his friend, Mr. Bowles, had told him, there was every reason to think that the progress of the symptoms was too rapid for any remedial measures to be of any use.So, the bullet is nothing more than a few seconds ahead of the final ending. Trager turned to Gregory and said: Lian Perry.Isn't it a nice legal puzzle that Mason is also involved in the case?When you see the District Attorney, don't forget to give him my condolences.