第8章 花园血案之谜5（第1页）

第8章花园血案之谜（5）

"Therearefivecolossaldifficulties，"saidthedoctorquietly，"likehighalls。Don'tmistakeme。Idon'tdoubtthatBray;hisflight，Ifa。Butastohowhedidit。Firstdifficulty:Whyshouldamankillahagreathulkingsabre，whenhealmostkillhimoifeandputitbahispoddifficulty:Whywasthereanohereupwavingasdofferhirddifficulty:Aservahefrontdooralltheevening;andaratotgetiin'sgardenanywhere。Howdidthedeadmahegarden?Fourthdifficulty:Giveions，hetoutofthegarden?"

"Ah。"saidheyesfixedontheEnglishpriestwhowasingslowlyupthepath。

"Isatrifle，Isuppose，"saidthedoctor，"butIthinkanoddosawhowtheheadhadbeenslashed，IsupposedtheassassinhadstruckmorethaoionIfoundmanycutsacrossthetruion;inotherwords，theywerestruckaftertheheadwasoff。DidBrayehisfoesofiendishlythathesthisbodyinthemoonlight?"

"Horrible!"saidO'Brien，andshuddered。

&lepriest，Brown，hadarrivedwhiletheyweretalking，andhadwaited，withcharacteristiess，tilltheyhadfihenhesaida>

"Isay，I'msorrytoi。ButIwassehe;

";repeatedSimon，ahimratherpainfullythroughhisglasses。

"Yes，I'msorry，"saidFatherBrownmildly。"There'sbeenanothermurder，youknow。"

Bothmesprarog。

"And，what&#erstill，"uedthepriest，withhisdulleyeontherhododendrons，"it'sthesamedisgustingsort;it'sanotherbeheadihesedheadactuallybleedingintotheriver，afewyardsalongBrayne'sroadtoParis;sotheysupposethathe-"

"GreatHeaven!"criedO'Brien。"IsBrayneamonomaniac?"

"ThereareAmeridettas，"saidthepriestimpassively。Theheywantyoutoetothelibrarya;

andantO'Brieherstowardsthei，feelingdecidedlysick。Asasoldier，heloathedallthissecretiveage;whereweretheseextravagantamputationsgoingtostop?Firstoneheadwashackedoff，aher;inthisselfbitterly）itwaswoheadswerebetterthanone。AshecrossedthestudyhealmoststaggeredatashoValentin'stablelaythecolouredpictureofyetathirdbleediwastheheadofValentinhimself。AseitwasonlyaNationalistpaper，calledTheGuillotine，whicheveryweekshowedospolitientswithrollingeyesandwrithiafterexe;forValentinwasananti-eO'BrienwasanIrishman，withakindofchastityeveninhissins;andhisgainstthatgreatbrutalityoftheiwhigsonlytoFraParisasawhrotesquesohicchurchestothegrosscaritheneers。HerememberedthegigaheRevolutiohewholeeuglyenergy，fromthesanguigoin'stableuptowhere，aboveamountaioyles，thegreatdevilgrinsonNotreDame。

Thelibrarywaslong，low，anddark;whatlightefromunderlowblindsandhadstillsomee。ValentinaIvaiheupperendofalong，slightly-slopingdesk，onwhichlaythemortalremains，lookingenormousi。Thebigblackfigureandyellowfaanfoundinthegardenessentiallyuhesedhead，whichhadbeenfishedfromamongtheriverreedsthatm，laystreaminganddrippi;Valentin'smeillseekiherestofthissedcorpse，osedtobeafloat。FatherBrown，whodidoshareO'Brien'sseheleast，wentuptothesedheadahhisbliwaslittlemorethanamopofwetwhitehair，frihsilverfireintheredandlevelmht;theface，whichseemedofanugly，empurpledandperhapsaltype，hadbeenmuchbatteredagaioossedier。

"G，andantO'Brien。"saidValentin，withquietcordiality。"YouhaveheardofBrayne'slastexperimentinbutchery，Isuppose?"

FatherBrownwasstillbeheheadwithwhitehair，andhesaid，withoutlookingup:

"IsupposeitisquitethatBrayoffthishead，too。"

"Well，itseemso;saidValentin，withhishandsinhispockets。"Killediheother。Foundwithinafewyardsoftheother。Ahesameeknowhecarriedaway。"

"Yes，yes;Iknow，"repliedFatherBrownsubmissively。"Yet，youknow，IdoubtwhetherBraynecouldhavecutoffthishead。"

"Whynot?"inquiredDrSimon，witharationalstare。

"Well，doctor，"saidthepriest，lookingupblinking，"cutoffhisownhead?Idon'tknow。"

O'Brieaninsaneuniversegabouthisears;butthedforwardwithimpetuouspractidpushedbackthewet>

"Oh，there'snodoubtit'sBray;saidthepriestquietly。"Hehadexactlythattheleftear。"

&ive，whohadbeehepriestwithsteadyandglitteringeyes，openedhischedmouthandsaidsharply:"Youseemtoknowalotabouthim，FatherBrown。"

"Ido，"saidthelittlemansimply。"I'vebeenaboutwithhimforsomeweeks。Hewasthinkingofjoiningourchurch。"

&arofthefanatigiirodetoriestwithds。"And，perhaps，"hecried，withablasti;perhapshewasalsothinkingofleavingallhismooyourchurch。"

"Perhapshewas，"saidBrownstolidly;"itispossible。"

"Inthatcase，"criedValentin，withadreadfulsmile，"youmayindeedkdealabouthim。Abouthislifeandabouthis。。。"

andantO'Brienlaidahain'sarm。"Dropthatslanderousrubbish，Valentin，"hesaid，"ortheremaybemoreswordsyet。"

ButValeeady，humblegazeofthepriest）hadalreadyreself。"Well，"hesaidshortly，"people'sprivateopinionswait。Yougeillboundbyyourpromisetostay;youmusteonyourselves-aher。Ivaellyouanythitoknow;Imustgettobusinessaheauthorities。We'tkeepthisquietanylonger。Ishallbewritinginmystudyifthereisa;

"Isthereanymorenews，Ivan?"askedDrSimon，asthechiefofpolicestrodeoutoftheroom。

"Ohing，Ithink，sir，"saidIvan，wrinklinguphisgreyoldface，"butthat'simportant，too，initsway。There'sthatoldbufferyoufoundonthelaoipretenceofreverehebigblackbodywiththeyellowhead。"We'vefoundoutwhoheis，anyhow。"

"I;criedtheastoor，"andwhoishe?"

"HisnamewasAr;saidtheuive，"thoughhewentbymanyaliases。HewasawaofsdisknowntohavebeehatwaswhereBrayhiskohim。Wedidn'thavemuourselves，forheworkedmostlyinGermany。We'veunicated，ofcourse，withtheGerma，oddlyenough，therewasatwinbrotherofhis，namedLouisBewehadagreatdealtodowith。Ioguillotinehimoerday。Well，it&#，gewhenIsawthatfellowflatonthelawnIhadthegreatestjumpofmylife。IfIhadn'tseenLouisBeckerguillotihmyowneyes，I'dhaveswornitwasLouisBegthereihen，ofcourse，Irememberedhistwinbrermany，andfollowinguptheclue。。。"

&oryIvaheextreasonthatnobodywaslisteningtohim。TheandaorwerebatFatherBrorungstifflytohisfeet，andwasholdiightlikeamaninsuddenapain。

"Stop，stop，stop!"hecried，"stoptalkingaminute，forIseehalf。WillGodgivemestrength?Willmybraiheonejumpandseeall?Heaveoodatthinking。IcouldparaphraseanypageinAquinasonce。Willmyheadsplit-orwillitsee?Iseehalf-Ionlyseehalf。"