“他被谋杀了？”海伦低声问道。
“He was murdered?” Helene asked in a whisper.
“他们告诉我那不是谋杀，”伊迪莎·文宁说。她的声音非常低。“他们告诉我那是一场意外。一定是。”她深深地叹了口气。“迈克尔和图伊兹兄弟在新加坡相识，迈克尔同意在一项进口生意上支持他们。那是十万美元的事。当时我就有点怀疑迈克尔被骗了，但那是他的事。”
“They told me it wasn’t murder,” Editha Venning said. Her voice was very low. “They told me it was an accident. It must have been.” She drew a long, sighing breath. “Michael and the Tuesdays became acquainted in Singapore, and Michael consented to back them in an importing business. It was a matter of a hundred thousand dollars. At the time I rather suspected Michael was being taken in, but it was his affair.”
“他在 1921 年和杰拉尔德·图伊兹一起回到了这里，对吗？”马龙说。这更像是一个陈述而不是一个问题。
“He came back here with Gerald Tuesday in 1921, didn’t he?” Malone said. It was more of a statement than a question.
她点了点头。“你知道迈克尔的钱是如何被遗嘱束缚的。他不得不一路回到这里和受托人打交道。杰拉尔德和他一起来了。我留在了新加坡。那是一次匆忙的旅行——没几个人知道。然后我收到一封电报说迈克尔要回来了。就这么多，没有别的了。后来又有一封电报，要我在东京和他碰面。我去了那里，当他的船靠岸时——走下跳板的是杰拉尔德·图伊兹。他告诉我迈克尔死了。”
She nodded. “You know how Michael’s money was tied up by the will. He had to e all the way back here to deal with the trustees. Gerald came with him. I stayed in Singapore. It was a flying trip—not half a dozen people knew about it. Then I got a cable saying Michael was returning. Just that, no more. Later there was another cable, asking me to meet him in Tokyo. I went there and when his boat docked—it was Gerald Tuesday who came down the gangplank. He told me Michael was dead.”
海伦倒吸了一口气，想说什么又沉默了。杰克轻轻地捏了捏她的胳膊。
Helene gasped, started to speak, and was silent. Jake squeezed her arm gently.
“杰拉尔德说——那是他们到达的那天发生的一场意外。那是夏天——他们去了位于枫树公园的文宁庄园。那里只有管理员，没有别人。上楼梯的时候迈克尔绊了一下，摔了下去——摔断了脖子。杰拉尔德秘密地把他埋在了那里。然后他拿走了迈克尔的护照——他们长得足够像，所以他能蒙混过关——练习模仿迈克尔的签名，然后开始返回东方。”
“Gerald said—it had been an accident—the day of their arrival. It was summer—they went out to the Venning estate in Maple Park. No one was there but the caretaker. Going up the stairs Michael tripped, fell—and broke his neck. Gerald buried him out there, secretly. Then he took Michael’s passport—they looked just enough alike so he could get away with it—practiced writing Michael’s signature, and started back to the Orient.”
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