Chapter 20 twenty

It's still a while before the crooked moon rises above the horizon.Now the sky was as dark as a sea of ​​mist, speckled with stars, distant and indifferent. Della.Streeter holds a flashlight.Mason holds a long box-like device that emits ultraviolet light.The small building at the north end of the courtyard is a black rectangular silhouette against the moonlight.There was no one around the building. Mason was standing about ten feet from the wall. All right, Della, he said, turning off the flashlight. She turned off the flashlight. Mason flipped the switch.There was a low, clear hum from the inside of the machine, and after a while the night seemed a little brighter and tinged with a deep purple.

Mason aimed the UV beam at the wall.Suddenly, colorful light reflected back.Mason and Della.Streeter silently studied it carefully. Boss, have you found anything?she asked anxiously. Mason didn't answer right away.But when he spoke, there was obvious disappointment in his voice: nothing.It could be that some kind of token is just a series of spaced dots, without any special formatting as it seems. Mason looked down the wall and said: Looks like it's hopeless.Della could hear his disappointment, but how confident he had been in his own ideas. Maybe the mark is something else to do with UV light.she says.She understands how important ultraviolet light is to them, Mason can only be freed from the predicament through quick and clear thinking, and the solved mosquito mystery is just the beginning.This problem cannot be solved, let alone the others.

I can't figure out what the mark would be like, what could it be?Della, time is running out, look, what's this! Mason moved the light down the wall, stopping four feet above the ground. A straight line, Della said aloud, the glowing stones laid out in a straight line, here!Oh see! Mason moved a little to the left with the black light in hand, and a brand new wall came into view. Della said: It's like a flower, the flower is pointed, but the petals are open downward. Mason stared at it with a frown. It was obviously a flower with five petals, opening down from a slightly curved stem.He suddenly exclaimed: Really!

What?Della asked. Shooting Star Mine, Mason whispered, this is not a flower that blooms upside down, this is Shooting Star Mine, those lines must be the boundary of the mining area, the swastika is Banning.The location of the Goller Mine discovered by Clark. That's right, Della said excitedly, God, boss, I feel like I just found a canyon full of gold, and my knees are shaking. With a look of enlightenment, Mason said: That's why he sued this fraud case.Della, if he wants to get his property back from the mining company, the consequence: the clues he provides will lead Bradisson to the missing Goller Mine.But, by pretending to be fighting a losing case while trying to keep Mrs. Sims from recovering her estate, Clarke hoodwinked everyone, including myself.

So will Mrs. Sims take back the mines?Della asked. Take your time, Mason muttered angrily, I've done this, she won't take it back.I tricked Bradisson into giving a testimony that assured us of victory in an otherwise hopeless case.But in doing so, my client lost a fortune.Now I have to do a legal U-turn and overthrow my previous opinion before they know the situation and maybe someone else knows about it. Something about the star mines and lazy mosquitoes? Yes. Are you saying that the thief knew about these things? Yes. But you don't think the thief is just spying on Banning.Was Clark just lighting up the stones on the wall?And he might have been scared off before he figured out what was going on!

Yes, said Mason, but remember the thief could come back any minute.He fired after Wilma saw it, so he shot not to prevent people from seeing him, but to prevent people from recognizing him, and somebody is coming!cried Della. Come on, Della.We can't let someone catch us here.Fortunately, I did not leave the car next to the small building.After Mason finished speaking, he went around to find a place to hide behind the cactus bushes. At this moment, two dazzling beams of headlights shot directly from the direction of the gate, and the car turned into the driveway in the yard. Della.Streeter stood beside Mason, and Mason clearly felt that her fingers were almost embedded in his arm, and they held their breath and remained motionless.The car screeched to a stop.

The rhythmic roar of the engine died away, and then the headlights went off.After a while, they heard the doors open and close. Probably Yan Dinger came back, Della whispered, it sounded like his car. etc.Mason reminded her in a low voice. They heard Nell.Sims' Voice: All right, Pete.Sims, you go into the pantry, if you let my daughter poison Banning.Clark, I'll take your hood off. Pete said in the pleading and apologetic tone he usually used in his explanations: Honey, let me tell you, you don't know anything about business, and now this mining business I just knew a man who gave his wife arsenic to keep her by the sugar bowl in the pantry and he was really sick.

But listen to me, honey, I The side door of the small building was opened and closed, and the conversation below could not be heard. Mason bent down and pushed the long box-like machine in his hand into the thick thornless cactus bushes. We've got to see him, Della. What shall we do?Della asked. Go straight to the side door, no need to hide, we have to play a game of look and run.I want to meet Sims and get out before the DA arrives. They walked along the path to the back of the small building and came to the side door.Mason pushed, the door was unlocked, they walked in, and then, with Della.Streeter's flashlight shone his way and went straight to the kitchen.The lights were on in the kitchen and they could hear voices.Nell.Sims said angrily: Now look at that bag, Pete.It has been opened, Sims, and much of the contents have been taken out.

Sims said: "It's not my fault, Nell.i tell you Mason opened the door and said: Maybe you don't mind if I ask a few questions? They turned to look at him, startled, Nell.Sims still has the bag in his hand. Is there arsenic in it?Mason asked. She nodded. Is the bag placed right next to the container of sugar? Oh, not next to it, but very close. What is written on the bag? Sims hurriedly said: This is what I wrote on it in case someone gets the wrong bag, you can see, I wrote it here: Be careful, Pete.Sims, for personal use. Mason held out his hand, Pete, he said, I want to ask you a few questions.I frowned suddenly and stared at the words on the bag.

I want you to be my lawyer, said Pete, and I'm having a terrible time, Mr. Mason and The door was pushed open suddenly. Della.Streeter gasped, and Mason turned away. The magistrate Gregory stood in the doorway, and he stood for a moment with an angry face before he smiled triumphantly. Well, Mr. Mason, said he, I am now in my own district, with all the powers the law allows.The District Attorney is waiting in his office and either you go talk or I send you to jail and at least you get a warrant. Mason hesitated for a moment, carefully pondering the expression on Chief Justice Gregory's face, and then he turned to Della.Streeter said calmly: Della, you drive to court, the sheriff wants me to ride with him.