“Fleurette Sanders was Gumbril’s sister,” Malone said. “She put the girl in touch with Gumbril in the first place. After the kidnapping, Gumbril began systematically blackmailing the girl until she was all out of money. Then to keep Gumbril quiet, she got herself engaged to a wealthy young man-what was his name?”
“杰伊?富尔顿。” 乔治?布兰德说。
“Jay Fulton,” George Brand said.
“那让冈布里尔消停了一阵子。她向他承诺，一旦她和富尔顿结婚，就会继续给他钱。然后她决定谋杀冈布里尔，并解除了和富尔顿的婚约。就在同一天晚上，她住在莫娜?麦克莱恩家，自己拿了枪和暖手筒。第二天，她和冈布里尔约好了见面，这就使得冈布里尔必须走上州街去赴约。她跟踪他到了麦迪逊街的拐角处，然后开枪打死了他。接着她去了他的酒店房间，搜查了一番，销毁了冈布里尔为了勒索她而保留的任何证据。”
“That took care of Gumbril for a while. She promised him that as soon as she was married to Fulton, she’d go on paying him. Then she decided to murder Gumbril, and broke her engagement to Fulton. That same night she stayed at Mona McClane’s house, helped herself to the gun and the muff, next day she made an appointment with Gumbril that would necessitate his going up State Street to keep it, trailed him to the corner of Madison, and shot him. Then she went to his hotel room, searched it, removed and destroyed whatever evidence Gumbril had kept for the purpose of blackmailing her.”
“但是那个桑德斯女人，” 冯?弗拉纳根说着，拂去脸上的雪。
“But the Sanders woman,” Von Flanagan said, brushing the snow from his face.”
“她是冈布里尔的妹妹，记得吧，” 马龙告诉他。“她知道关于绑架和随后的勒索的所有事情。她一听说冈布里尔死了，也去了他的房间进行了一番搜查。当她看到艾伦?奥格特里策划自己被绑架的证据不见了，她就知道是谁谋杀了她的哥哥。显然她决定告诉我她所知道的事情。今天奥格特里夫人、桑德斯夫人、艾伦?奥格特里和莫娜?麦克莱恩一起吃了午饭。桑德斯夫人离开餐桌去打个电话。艾伦找了个借口去偷听。当她听到弗雷特?桑德斯在我的办公室约了见面，她就猜到了原因。弗雷特已经威胁过她了。”
“She was Gumbril’s sister, remember,” Malone told him. “She knew all about the kidnapping and the subsequent blackmail. As soon as she heard Gumbril was dead she went to his room too and made a search of her own. When she saw the evidence that Ellen Ogletree had planned her own kidnapping was missing, she knew who murdered her brother. Evidently she decided to tell me what she knew. Today Mrs. Ogletree, Mrs. Sanders, Ellen Ogletree, and Mona McClane lunched together. Mrs. Sanders left the table to make a telephone call. Ellen excused herself and listened in. When she heard Fleurette Sanders make an appointment at my office, she guessed why. Fleurette had already threatened her.
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