Chapter 12 Chapter Twelve

It was a little after noon when I went to the apartment where Mr. Hai was temporarily staying.He wasn't in the apartment, so I went to the Bourbon House to mix breakfast and lunch, and then went back to the apartment to see if Mr. Hay was back. He still hasn't come back. I came to St. Charles Avenue, near the bay apartment where Fang Ludai lived.When walking through the apartment, deliberately observe the surrounding conditions.Back at my hotel, I typed a report as an office file, and carefully listed all the expenses on a table. At four o'clock, I went back to the apartment again, and Mr. Hai had already returned.

He was in a very happy mood. Come in, come in, Mr. Lai, please sit down.I think I did you a little favor by introducing you to a client. Really! Yes.A man comes here and asks about you, and I give you a good recommendation, a great recommendation in fact. Thanks. We sat down and looked at each other for a while.He said: "One interesting thing, I searched for this apartment. What are you searching for? Let's see if there are any clues that can be of use to us. She lived here three years ago. I know, and I only hoped when I searched.There's no way it's going to happen, maybe some letters or something.

Maybe. I've found a bunch of messy stuff.There were some papers and letters in the back of the desk drawer, and a whole lot of stuff was left in the back of the desk drawer.I haven't quite taken it out yet, I put the drawer back when you knocked, and I didn't know it was you. He walked to the desk and pulled the top drawer down. Do you have a flashlight with you?he asks. No. He said: I used a match to light the inside, but it was too dangerous.It's all paper, and it's likely to burn. He lit a match, wrapped it in his hand, slowly stretched it into the drawer hole, and said to me: Come and see.

There was a stack of papers in the lower part of the desk drawer, and the match went out. We pull down the next drawer too, wondering if we can get it out?I asked. No, I tried, there is a divider behind the lower drawer, do you see that? He pulled out one of the lower drawers, and he could see that the back of the lower drawer was sealed with a partition, so there was about six inches of space behind the partition. Mr. Hai said: You see, the top drawer is very deep and there is no partition at the back. The lower drawers are about half a foot shorter and have partitions at the back.If something leaks from the back of the top drawer, it falls into the space behind the divider.

Now I'm really curious.I said: Although these things have a 1% chance, they may not be related to the girl we want.But now that it's been found, it's always good to get it out and have a look. In what way? We took all the drawers down and turned the desk upside down. Mr. Hai didn't answer, and started to take down all the drawers, and removed the things on the desktop from the unique holes in the antique writing desk.Two or three bottles of ink, various dip pens, blotting paper, a few boxes of matches, and other odds and ends of the previous occupants. It's ok.he announced.

I nod. We each hold one side of the desk and move it out against the wall. Mr. Hai said: I should admit to you that I also like detective work, and I like studying human nature. There is nothing more interesting in the world than exploring people's potential personality.I remember once, when I was accepting a piece of real estate, I found an old box full of old letters from people contacted a long time ago.I spent a lot of time reading it.Let's side it, yes, slowly.Those letters belonged to an old woman who died at the age of seventy-eight.Since she was a child, she has kept all the letters she received in her life.It's the most interesting collection I've seen. Don't think that its content is boring for mothers-in-law and mother-in-law.Some are very tense and exciting, which is very interesting.Now we turn it over.Hi!There is another heavy thing in it.

There is a heavy object in the table.When the table comes sideways, it first slides along the partition to the desktop.When the table was turned upside down, the heavy object hit the inside of the table and got stuck there, unable to fall out for a while. Lift the table up a bit and shake it out.I said. The table was very heavy and it took a minute to get it at the right angle before the heavy thing fell to the floor.A lot of papers fell and fell on the carpet. The two of us were holding such a big table, and no one could see what fell. Shake again.I said. We shook the table again, and Mr. Hai patted the back of the table a few times with his giant palm: this time it was almost done.

We straightened the writing desk while anxiously watching the pile that had fallen on the floor.There were old letters and yellowed newspaper clippings and the heavy stuff. Mr. Hay and I, stood and stared at this heavy thing. It was a .38 caliber revolver. I picked it up, two of the six cartridges had been fired, and only the casings remained.The body has rust in a few places, but generally speaking it is still a good gun. Mr Hay said: "Someone put the gun on a pile of papers in the upper drawer and when the drawer was pulled open the gun fell out of the drawer to the back Not necessarily, let's see if a gun will fall from the back of the drawer.

I put the top drawer back together and observed the space between the drawer and the desk. impossible.I told him: This gun did not fall by accident at all.There is too little space above the drawer. Someone deliberately took down the upper drawer and let it fall behind the desk.Not temporarily, but hidden. Mr. Hai knelt on his knees and used two matches to prove what I said was true.He said: Yes, Lai, you are really a detective, let's look at these letters. We picked up a few old letters, nothing special.Some old bills, receipts; a letter from a woman wishing her boyfriend back; another letter from a man borrowing money from an old friend.

Mr. Hai giggled and said: I like this kind of thing, different focuses of life.From a completely irrelevant standpoint, you can see how much such a dear old friend is worth a pound.I do not believe that the person who wrote the letter will receive support.Then again, if an old friend lent him money, don't expect him to return it. I'm feeling it too.I said: I don't know what the clippings are about. He pushed aside the newspaper clippings: these are tasteless, letters are interesting.Here is a letter written by a woman. It may be written by the same woman to ask her boyfriend to return. I would like to know how it ends.

I picked up the pile of yellowed newspaper clippings and looked at them casually.Suddenly I said: Hey, it's interesting. what? We hit the jackpot. What's the meaning? I said: This clipping is related to the .38 revolver. Mr. Hai put down the letter he was reading and said excitedly: Let me take a look. These clippings are related to the murder of a man surnamed Gao.Gao Haode, twenty-nine years old, unmarried, a bookkeeper for Rocks Real Estate Company.Look, what happened somewhere?Here's the masthead, Los Angeles Times, June 11, 1937. Mr. Hay said: That's interesting, maybe the murderer escaped here after killing someone. He picked up one of the clippings and began to read.The newspaper clipping had been folded many times, and he opened the folded place, looking at the photo above, and I was looking at its contents. I heard him gasp and shout: Lai!look here. I said: I have made it very clear here. But here are her pictures. What I saw was a poorly enlarged photo of Fang Ludai published in the newspaper.The label under the photo: Fang Lvdai, 21 years old, a stenographer, was traveling at night with the victim Gao Haode at the time of the crime. Mr. Hai said excitedly: Lai, what do you think this means? I said: I can't see it. He said: I understand it. Don't jump to conclusions too soon, I don't see anything coming. But this is already obvious! Let's finish reading the newspaper clippings first, and then everyone will synthesize their opinions. We read all the clippings and exchanged some with each other as soon as we finished.Mr. Hai reads faster, read the whole thing first. what do you think?he asks. I said: Not necessarily. nonsense.Mr Hay said: "It's all too clear.Her outing with the bookkeeper might be another example of a girl trying to get a boy back, but he refuses.She found a reason to get out of the car, walked to the side of the driver's seat, fired two shots at Gao Haode from the window, hid the gun secretly, and created a story of a masked man rushing out of the grass to collect the love tax .The masked man asked Gao Hao to raise his hand, and he did so.The masked man wanted to search his pockets, but he accepted.But the masked man asked Fang Lvdai to go with him to the grass in front, which made Gao Hao couldn't bear it anymore.He started the engine, shifted gears, and tried to hit the masked man, but the masked man avoided him, and he shot Gao in the head twice. No one questioned Miss Fang's story.The news portrayed Gao Haode as a flower-protecting gentleman, a victim of love.Another reason the police believed this story was because there were more than two dozen reports of love tax victims in the same area within a few months.Many times, when the victimized girl was particularly beautiful, the gangster also ordered the girl to go with him to the grass in front.There were also two homicides Mr. Hai stopped suddenly, pointed to the revolver and said: Everything is here, it is a murder case.She has escaped once, God, she wants to escape a second time, this time I am afraid it will not be so easy. I said: not necessarily.Don't insist that just because you saw a .38 revolver, it must be the weapon that killed Gao Haode. Why do you have to defend her again and again?Mr. Hai asked suspiciously. I don't know myself, I said, maybe I don't want you to push yourself too hard. how come? I said: It is dangerous sometimes to come forward and testify that a person is a murderer.Circumstances alone are not enough unless direct evidence is available. Mr. Hay nodded. That's right, he said, of course there was no evidence to link the clippings to the pistol. I pointed out: The newspaper clippings may have accidentally fallen from the back in the drawer.No pistol, the pistol was hidden on purpose. Mr. Hai said: Let me think about it again. I said: When you are thinking, I want you to tell me why you are looking for Miss Fang Ludai, and I also want to know who entrusted you to find her. No, it has nothing to do with what's happening now. Why? Because I can't tell you why.Furthermore, I am obliged to maintain confidentiality for my clients. Your client may now expect me to be more in the situation and give him more results. Won't. It's a man, is it your client? Don't talk to me, Lai, don't try to talk to me again.I told you that your mission is to find Fang Ludai, there is no other mission. OK!Didn't I find her? But she ran away again. Finding her is always a fact. He said: I want you to find her again. I don't think you know much about Kebetha. He said: You mean Mrs. Ke? Yes, Mrs. Ke. Yes, I know she's not much. I said: She was very picky about business agreements. That's what it should be, otherwise it can't be considered an agreement, and I often stick to words. I said: Please ask our company to find Fang Ludai, and if you agree to find it within a certain period of time, you will pay another bonus. yes!He said: What's wrong with that? I said: We have found her. But you didn't keep the fruits of finding her. I said: So I ask you, do you have any experience with Ke Baisha.Mrs. Ke once told you that finding her was a business agreement.As for what keeps finding her fruit, fuck his. What do you mean, you should pay a bonus for finding her? Completely correct. My purpose was to make him angry, but he didn't.He sat on the rug, staring at the pistol and the yellowed newspaper clippings.A smile started from the corner of his mouth, and gradually giggled: I deserve it, Lai.Mrs. Ke was right.Come to think of it, I'm a lawyer making this kind of agreement.It deserves it! He looks at me. I don't say anything. He said: Our gentleman's agreement is dead, I still remember every word.He laughed out loud. I said: If you suffer a loss, you will be a good student. To suffer a loss is to take advantage of it. Well, he admitted, even if I am a big treat, I will re-invite your company to serve again, and I will still prepare a bonus.For now, we'd better contact the police and report the discovery of this gun. What do you have to report? He said: Don't worry, Lai.I will just tell them the facts.I told them I liked the antique table, I looked through the structure and came across the gun.With the intention of hoping the landlord would make an offer, I turned it over to look at the bottom and found a heavy item inside.I shook it out and the old newspaper clippings followed.Of course, I will try not to misunderstand them, saying that I am investigating a private matter that has nothing to do with me. I said: Are you really going to contact the police? yes, of course. Then the police will expect that as much as you know, he also knows as much. Why not? I said: I still don't know why you suddenly want to find Fang Ludai, and I don't know who is looking for her. I believe you have a reason. He said: Of course, businessmen don't pay a lot of money to find her just to get her to subscribe to a magazine. You don't know what I mean yet. Please clarify what you mean. Let's start with a businessman who wants to find Fang Ludai. His goal is naturally to ask her to do something for him, or tell him something, or find something from her.Here is a handful of .38 revolvers and newspaper clippings. Once you give it to the police, you will never find Fang Ludai again. Even if the police find her, you will never have a chance to talk to her. She will become the headlines of national newspapers news.At present, the police believe that Fang Ludai may be the second victim, or disappeared out of fear.Maybe she is a bit suspected of being the main murderer of Paul Qu, but it is by no means so hot.As soon as you send today's evidence upward, the police will re-investigate the closed murder case.The police in California will also try their best to find her, so California and Louisiana are scrambling to arrest her and bring her to justice. Every newspaper in the country has her photo, and there is also a photo of her at the door of the post office. Fang Ludai will see it herself.Do you think we'll still be able to find her before the national police force?Otherwise, you can try going to jail to ask her to do something for your client. He stared at me for a few seconds, blinking his eyelids every second. Suddenly, he pushed the gun in front of me: OK, the gun is in your custody. I don't care, I'm just a private investigator hired to find Fang Ludai, and I don't even know the real employer's name.You are the tycoon and you decide the policies. So, he said, as a decent lawyer, I had no choice but to call the police. I stood up from the ground and patted my pants. It’s okay, I said, I’m just helping you analyze the situation. I walked towards the door, only half way, and he called me back. Maybe I should think it over again, Lai. I didn't answer. He continued: Accusing someone of murder is also a serious matter.I should think twice. I still don't speak. In fact, he went on, my sudden connection between this gun and homicides in California just now was very rash and had no basis in fact at all.I think we should expand our investigation a little bit. There's really nothing to tell the police at the moment.We just found some newspaper clippings, and a gun that somebody hid behind a desk, not necessarily important.As for pistols, I don't know how many people have them. Well done. What did you do well? Convince yourself what to do. I'm not doing this, Lai, I'm just weighing things up. Let me know when you measure it.I went to the door again. This time, he told me to go back within three steps. rely. I turned around: what's wrong? Mr. Hai stopped talking in circles, and said bluntly: Forget it, don't tell the police about this matter. What are you going to do with that gun. Put it back behind the desk where we found it before. And after that? Afterwards, we can always rediscover it if necessary. I said: I listen to you. He nodded and gave me a wink: The more I get in touch with you, Lai, the more I appreciate you, and now I want you to do something for me. Tell me. I know the police have a witness who can establish the time of Qu Paulo's murder, the one who heard the gunshots, I think it is a young woman. Yes. I don't know if you can arrange for me to see her, not in an inquiry or official way, but a natural or unintentional arrangement. I said: It has been arranged.At nine o'clock tonight, Lantern Nightclub, teach on time, I have already explored the way. Oh, what an efficiency!You seem to have calculated every move I make.Lai, you can do it. I said: See you at the entrance of the Lantern Nightclub at nine o'clock tonight.I walk out the door. I looked at my watch, California was two hours ahead of here, and I sent a telegram to our detective agency.The telegram is as follows: Gao Haode, murdered on June 6, 1937, may be related to the ongoing case.Please collect information, paying special attention to Gao Zhi's living habits and love history.