Chapter 20 Twenty investigations

Poirot stood on the cliff again, overlooking the sea beating against the rocks.People found the bodies of a couple here, and it was also here that three weeks before the murder, a woman slipped and fell off a cliff to her death while sleepwalking. Why do these things happen?This was Director Glowe's doubts at the beginning. What is it for? It was an accident first, and after three weeks, the husband and wife both found fault.The sins of the past left a long shadow, leading to a tragic end many years later. Those gathered here today are a pair of young men and women who are looking for the truth, and two people who know the truth.

Hercule turned and walked down the path to the house that had once been called Cliff Heights. The villa is not far from here, only a few cars parked by the wall.He saw the silhouette of the villa against the sky, and the dilapidated house looked like it needed to be painted.The agency put up a for-sale sign in front of the property that read: Desired Property.The words "Cliff Villa" on the door have been painted out, replaced by "Five Houses".Poirot stepped forward to greet Desmond.Burdenka and Celia.Ravenk. Desmond said: I said we wanted to see the house and get a permit from the agency.If you want to get in, I have the key.But the house has changed hands twice in the past five years, and there is nothing to see in the house.

Celia says: Yes, many people have lived here anyway.The first buyer called it Arrow, the second called it Fallow, and they said the house was so desolate that the current owner wanted to sell it again.Maybe the house is haunted. Do you really believe in haunted houses?asked Desmond. Of course not.Celia said: But it's possible with this house, isn't it?Think what happened here, what kind of place it is I don't think so.Poirot said: There has been sorrow and death here, but there has also been love. A taxi drove up. I think it's Mrs Olivier, Celia said: She said she'd take the train and take a taxi from the station.

Two women got out of the car, one was Mrs. Olivier, the other was tall and elegantly dressed.Poirot, who had known in advance of her coming, was not surprised, and watched Celia's reaction. oh!Celia rushed forward. She greeted it with joy. Zili!She yelled: Is that Zili?It's really you!Oh, I'm so happy, I didn't know you'd come. Hercule.M. Poirot invited me. I know, Celia said: Yes, I think so.But me, I don't She turned her head and looked at the handsome young man beside her and said: Desmond, is it you or is it you? Yes, I wrote to Miss Moohher, and I'll call her Zili if I can.

You can always call me Zili, you can.Qi Li said: "I have been hesitating whether to come, not knowing whether it is wise to do so.I'm still not sure, but hopefully I'm right. I want to know the truth, Celia said: We both want to know, Desmond thinks you can tell us. Mr. Poirot came to see me, Qi Li said: He persuaded me to come. Celia had Lady Olivier on her arm. I want you to come too, because you made it happen, didn't you?You enlist the help of M. Poirot, and you discover many things yourself. They told me a lot, Mrs Olivier said: I thought they all remembered.Some people do remember, but some remember rightly and some remember wrongly.It was confusing, but Mr. Poirot said it would have no effect.

is no effect.Poirot said that the important thing is to be able to distinguish what is hearsay and what is the truth.Because even in messages that aren't quite true or explained well, the truth can be found.You heard it from me, madam, and from your elephant, said Poirot, laughing. What elephant?Zili asked puzzled. That's what she called them.said Poirot. Elephants have a good memory.Mrs Olivier explained: "It was with this in mind that I started my investigation.Some people, like elephants, can remember things that happened long ago.Of course not everyone remembers, but there is always something, and there are quite a few people who do.I told M. Poirot all that I had learned, and he proceeded like a doctor.

I made a list, and Poirot said: Make a list of the facts.I should read it over and see if you can catch the meaning.Maybe you can't see the reason, maybe you can see through it at a glance. My concern, says Celia, is whether they committed suicide or homicide, whether another person killed my parents and shot them for reasons we don't know.I've been thinking about it, it's sad, but I think we are here, Poirot said: there is no need to go into the house. Others have lived in this house, and the atmosphere is different.We want to go in and go in after we finish our investigation meeting.

This is the investigation meeting?asked Desmond. Yes, investigate what happened many years ago. He walked to the iron stool under the shade of the magnolia tree next to the house, took out a piece of paper full of words from the suitcase, and said to Celia: Is this all for you?Either suicide or homicide? Must be one of them.Celia said. Both are true, but more complicated.It seems to me that there are not only murders and suicides, but also executions and tragedies.The tragedy is that two people love each other, but both die for love.The tragedy of love does not only belong to Romeo and Juliet, nor does it only happen to young people who suffer from love and devote themselves to it.No, it's not that simple.

I don't know.Celia said. You won't understand now. Will you understand in a moment?Celia asked. OK.Poirot said: I will tell you what I think, and how I deduce it.What first caught my attention were things that the police couldn't explain, something so commonplace that the average person wouldn't take it as evidence.Such as Margaret.Among Ravenk's relics are four wigs.He emphasized again: Four wigs! Then he stared at Qi Li. She doesn't wear wigs very often, Zili said: only when traveling or when her hair is messy and in a hurry to get it straightened out before going out, and occasionally worn with dinner clothes.

Yes, said Poirot.At that time wigs were popular.Of course you have to take a wig or two with you when you travel, but she has four, which seems like a lot to me.I wondered why she needed four tops, I asked the police and knew she had no signs of baldness, her hair was healthy and well maintained.Anyway, I'm curious.I heard later that one had strands of gray hair, as the hairdresser had said; the other was curls, which she wore when she died. What does this mean?Celia said: "It doesn't matter which one she wears." Maybe so.In addition, the housekeeper told police at the time that she had been wearing the wig for several weeks before the accident, and it appeared to be her favorite.

i still don't understand In addition, Director Glowe quoted a sentence: different hats, same people, which made me think hard. Celia added: i still don't understand Another clue comes from the dog.said Poirot. Dog, what did the dog do? It bit her and the dog is said to have been loyal to its mistress but betrayed her before she died and bit her badly. You mean the dog knows she's going to kill him?Desmond's eyes widened. No, it's much simpler than that. I don't Poirot continued: The dog seemed to know something that everyone didn't. He knew that she was not the mistress, but just looked like the mistress.The butler, who was blind and deaf, saw a man in Molly's clothes and a curly wig, Molly's most recognizable wig.The housekeeper only said that the mistress had behaved erratically in the weeks before the accident, and Gloway therefore said that the hat was different, but the person was the same.At that time, I had an idea, a belief: the same wig, different people.The dog knows because he can smell that it is not the same person, not his beloved mistress, whom he loathes and fears.I thought, if she wasn't Molly.If Ravenk, who would it be?Could it be Dolly, her twin sister? This is impossible.Celia said. Not impossible, anyway, remember they are twin sisters.What Mrs. Olivier mentioned was also interesting.She had heard that Mrs. Ravenk had been in a hospital or a nursing home not long ago, suspected of having cancer, but the medical records did not.Of course, she may just be suspicious, but she is not actually sick.Then I gradually learned about her experience with her twin sister.Like many twin sisters, they loved each other, wore the same clothes, did the same things, got sick at the same time, and married within a short time of each other.Later, like many twin sisters, the two began to do opposite things, try not to be the same as each other, and there was even unhappiness between the sisters.Not only that, but there was a cause earlier.Alistair.When Ravenk was young, he fell in love with Dorothy, the elder sister of the twin sisters, but later fell in love with his younger sister Margaret and married her.Undoubtedly, this inevitably aroused jealousy and alienated the two sisters.Margaret still loves her sister deeply, but Dorothy does not, and this alone is enough to explain many problems. Dorothy is a tragic figure, and it's not her fault, it's her genes, hereditary traits.She was born with a mental disorder and, for whatever reason, hated children from a young age.We have every reason to believe that she caused the accidental death of her young boy, and despite the lack of evidence, doctors advised her to undergo psychiatric treatment, and she spent many years in a mental institution.Later, the doctor said that she had recovered and could return to normal life. She often went to live with her younger sister, and even went to live with her younger sister's family in the Malay Peninsula.There, another neighbor's child was accidentally killed.Although no sufficient evidence was found, it was also Dolly who was most suspected.General Ravencke sent her back to England, where she was admitted to the hospital again.She seemed to recover from the illness later, and after psychotherapy she was able to go home and lead a normal life again.Margaret believed that she was really fine this time. She thought that her sister should live with them so that they could take care of them nearby and observe whether there were any signs of recurrence.I think General Ravenk objected to this. He should have firmly believed that, like other birth disabilities, Dolly's brain was inherently abnormal and could have seizures at any time, and she needed to be supervised at all times in case something happened. You mean, Desmond asked, she shot the Ravenkers? No, said Poirot: that is not my answer.I guess Dorothy killed her sister Margaret.One day when they were walking together on the cliff, Dorothy pushed Margaret off the cliff.This younger sister, who looks exactly like her, is normal and healthier than herself. The hatred that has been dormant for many years has accumulated more and more. Hatred, jealousy and desire to kill control her like a volcanic eruption.I guess someone else knew and was there when it happened.I guess it's you, Miss Zilly. Yes, Miss Mooh said: I know, I was at Cliff House.The Ravenkles have been worried about Dolly because she has tried to hurt their young son Edward.Edward was sent back to school, and I took Celia back to my boarding school.When I came back after I had settled Celia, the big house seemed empty, and there were only four of us, General Ravenk, Dorothy, and Margaret, living in peace.But one day something happened.That day the two sisters went out for a walk together, but Dolly came back alone.She seemed nervous and acting strangely.She came in and sat at the table, and General Ravenk, seeing the blood on her right hand, asked her if she had hurt herself, and she replied: Oh, it's okay, it's okay, just getting pricked by a rosebush.But there are no roses in this part of the world, so obviously she is talking nonsense, and we might believe her if she said it was a gorse bush.We were very worried, and General Ravenk immediately went out, and I followed.He said worryingly all the way: Something happened to Margaret, something must have happened to Molly. We found Molly on the reef below the cliff, she was bruised and bruised from the rocks.She was still awake but bleeding profusely.We were at a loss and dared not move her.We wanted to get the doctor right away, but she held on to the general and said, out of breath, "It was her, it was Dolly, she didn't know what she was doing, she didn't know!"Alistair, don't blame her.She never knew what she did or why she did it, she couldn't help it.Promise me, Alistair, I don't have time to live, no, it's too late to see a doctor, and it won't help.I've been lying here bleeding and bleeding and I'm dying and I know it.But promise me, promise me you'll save her, promise me that the police won't take her, promise me she won't go to trial for killing me, and she won't be jailed for life for murder.Hide me so my body won't be found.Please, this is my last request.I love you more than anything, I must live for you, but I can't live, I feel it.I climbed for a while, but I couldn't do what I wanted.Promise me, and you, Qi Li, you love me too, I know you love me, treat me well, and always take care of me, and you love children too, so you must save Dolly.You must save poor Dolly.Please, please, for the love between us, save Dolly. Then, what did you do?Poirot said: It seems that you also participated in it. Yes.She passed away, and soon after these words were spoken, she died.I helped him bury the body, and buried it a little further ahead of the sentinel wall.We moved her to an area with lots of rocks to cover her body as much as possible.There is no road in that place, you have to climb to get there.We buried her over there, and Alistair kept saying: I promised her, I can't break my word.I don't know what to do, I don't know who can save her.I don't know, but then we did.Dolly was still at home, terrified, terrified, and yet at the same time horribly triumphant.She said: I've known, I've known for years that Molly is the devil, she took you away, Alistair, you are mine, but she took you away to marry her, I know.I'm so afraid of what they'll do to me.What will they say?I don't want to be locked up, don't, don't, I'm going crazy.You won't let me be locked up, will you?They'll take me away, they'll say I'm guilty of murder.It wasn't murder, I had to, I had to.You know, I want to see blood, but I can't wait there to see her die, so I run away.But I know she will die, I just hope you can't find her, she fell off the cliff, everyone will think it was an accident. Terrible.Desmond said. Yes, Celia said: It's a dreadful story, but I ought to know, and better to know, no?I don't even feel sorry for her, I mean my mother, I know she's a good person, I know she's not guilty at all, she's so good.I can also understand why my father didn't marry Dolly in the first place. He married my mother because he loved my mother, and he had already noticed that Dolly was mentally abnormal, evil and paranoid.But then what do you do? We made up a lot of lies, Zilly said: We hoped the body wouldn't be found so she could be moved somewhere else in the night to make it look like she fell into the sea and died.Later we made up a sleepwalking story, and what we had to do was very simple.Alistair said: "You know it's scary, but I've promised, I promised Molly before she died, I will fulfill her last wish.As long as Taoli cooperates, there is a way to save her, I don't know if she can do it.I asked him what the solution was, and he said: let her pretend to be Molly, and said that Dolly fell off a cliff and died while sleepwalking. We started arranging and I took Dolly to a spare shed for a while.Alistair reveals that Molly is in the hospital, having been devastated by the accident in which her sister fell to her death while sleepwalking.Then we took Dolly home, called her Molly, and made her wear Molly's clothes and Molly's wig.I went and ordered two more wigs, and the curls covered her well.The old butler Jenny has bad eyesight, and Dolly and Molly look alike, even with the same voice, everyone thinks she is Molly, but because she is overly shocked, sometimes she behaves a bit weirdly.Everything seems so natural, it's frightening that But how could she not show her feet?Celia asked: It's not easy. No, she didn't find it difficult.As she wished, she finally got Alistair. But what about Alistair?How could he stand it? On the day he arranged for my return to Switzerland, he revealed it to me.He told me what to do, and told me his plan. He said: "I have only one thing to do.I promised Molly that I wouldn't turn Dolly over to the police, and no one would know that Dolly was the murderer, nor would the children know that their aunt was the murderer.There is no need to expose Dolly, everyone will think that Dolly had an accident while sleepwalking, and she will be buried in the churchyard under her own name. I asked him what he was going to do, it was unbearable.He said: I'm going to tell you my plan.Dolly shouldn't live anymore, and if she ever meets a child again, she'll hurt more lives.Poor thing, she shouldn't be alive.Qi Li, you must understand that I will pay for this project with my life.Let Dolly play my wife and we'll live for a while before another tragedy will happen I don't understand what he means, another accident?Sleepwalking again?He replied: No, people in the world will think that Molly and I have sex together. No one will know the real reason. People will guess that she thought she had cancer, or I thought so, and they will talk about it.Zili, you must help me.You are the only one who loves me, loves Molly, and loves children.If Dolly had to die, I was the only one who could do it, and she wouldn't be sad or scared.I would shoot her first, then myself.She took the gun not long ago, and the fingerprints are still on it; my fingerprints will be on the gun too.I must get justice, and I will be the executioner.I want you to know that I love them and I still love them.I love Molly more than my own life; I love Dolly because I sympathize with her, as she was born to do.He also said: You must always remember Qi Li got up and went to Celia and said: Now you know the truth.I promised your father never to let you know, and I broke my promise.It never occurred to me to reveal to anyone that M. Poirot changed my mind, but it's a terrible story I know how you feel, Celia said: Maybe you're right, but I'm glad the truth came out, it's a relief. Because we know the truth, and we don't regret knowing the truth.Desmond said: "It's a tragedy.As Mr. Poirot said, this is the tragedy of a loving couple.But they didn't kill each other, they still loved each other.One was murdered, and the other executed the killer humanely, lest she kill more children.People forgive him even if he's wrong, but I don't think he's at fault. She's always been a scary person, Celia said: "I was terrified of her as a kid, I just didn't know why, and now I do.My father's actions proved that he was brave. He fulfilled my mother's dying wish and saved her sister.I think mother always loved my aunt, I'd rather think, oh, I sound silly saying that She looked at Hercule suspiciously.Poirot added: Maybe you don't think so, I guess you're a Catholic.But the words never to be separated after death will be engraved on their tombstones forever.They didn't pass away at the same time, but I believe they are reunited now, and they were reunited after they died.They are so in love, and poor Auntie, I'll try to see her with more compassion.Poor aunt may not be able to help herself at all, she has no more to suffer.But Celia suddenly returned to her usual voice and said: She is not a good person.She's not a nice person, and you can't help but hate her.Maybe it would have been different if she had tried, but she didn't.So we had to treat her like a sick person, like she had the plague, and she should be locked up and isolated from everyone else, so that everyone would not be killed.But I will try to pity her as much as I can, and as for my parents, I will have no more doubts, they love each other, and poor, unfortunate, and all-hating Dolly. Desmond said: Celia, let's get married as soon as possible.I promise you, my mother will never know this, she is not my real mother, and she is not someone who can keep such a secret. Poirot said: Desmond, I have every reason to believe that your adoptive mother was anxious to thwart your association with Celia, trying to convince you that Celia had inherited her parents' terrible traits.But you may not know it, and I see no reason to keep it from you: your biological mother died not long ago, and she left you all her estate, and when you turn twenty-five, you will inherit this huge fortune. When I marry Celia, of course I will need money to live on.Desmond said: "I know about it, and I also know that my adoptive mother is greedy for money, even now I often lend her money.Not long ago she advised me to get a lawyer, saying that I was twenty-one and should make a will, and she probably thought she would get the money.I thought about leaving everything to her too, but now that I'm getting married to Celia, I'm going to leave Celia the property, and I hate her meddling in our behaviour. I think you are quite right in your suspicions, said Poirot: I dare say she thinks she is acting out of good intentions, and thinks Celia's family history should be known to avoid accidents, but Well, Desmond said: I know I shouldn't be so heartless, she raised me after all.If the money is enough, I will share some of it with her, and Celia and I will enjoy the rest, and we can live happily.We may be unavoidably sad now and then, but we needn't doubt any more, do we, Celia? Yes, we don't have to worry about it anymore.Celia said: "My mother and father were great, my mother took care of her sister all her life, but must have been pretty powerless because we can't change what a person is. Ah, dear children, Qi Li said: Please forgive me for calling it that, after all you are all grown-ups.It's nice to see you again and to know that the decisions I made didn't hurt you. Dear Zili, you didn't hurt us, it's nice to see you.Celia stepped forward and hugged Qi Li and said: I have always liked you. I've liked you since I've known you, Desmond said: "We were neighbors back then, and you used to play games with us. The two young men turned around. Thank you, Lady Olivier, said Desmond: You have worked so hard on this, we all know.Thank you too, M. Poirot. Yes, thank you, Celia said: I am very grateful. They leave, and the others watch them go. Well, I have to go too. , Qi Li turned around and asked Poirot: What about you?Do you have to report to anyone? I might tell a friend who is a retired police officer.He's retired and won't be involved in the case, but maybe if he's still in office. What a horrible story.Mrs. Olivier said: Of the people I spoke to, yes, it seems now that everyone remembers something, which, although disorganized, helps to discover the truth.Mr. Poirot can always find the key in such a large number of things, such as wigs, twins, and so on. Qi Li looked into the distance, and Poirot came up to her and said: You don't blame me for going to you and convincing you to come here? No, I'm happy.You are right, they are cute and well matched, they will be happy.Where we stood there lived two lovers who both passed away, but I don't blame him.It might have been wrong, and I didn't think it was right to do it, but I couldn't blame him, and even though he did it wrong, I thought he was brave. Poirot asked: You love him too, right? Yes, I have loved him ever since I came into this family.I really love him, but I don't think he knows it.Nothing ever happened between us.He trusts me and likes me.I love them, him and Margaret. I want to ask you one more thing: he loves Dolly and Molly, right? Exactly, he loved them, so he was willing to save Dolly, and Molly wanted him to do the same.Who does he love more, I don't know, and we never will. Poirot looked at her for a moment, then turned to Mrs. Olivier and said: It is time for us to return to London, we must return to reality and forget about tragedy and love. Elephants can remember everything, Mrs. Olivia said: But we are humans, but thankfully, humans forget. (End of the book)