Three Character Girl

The Death of Wu Ling

"'For example - taxi driver. From him we have information that he escorted the two men to the opium den. It gives an idea. The problem is - really the place to go" Suppose the two men leave a taxi there, go to the place, then go out the other door to go somewhere else"

Hearing my words Pearson gasped.

'Why don't you do nothing but sit and think" Can't we do something"'

"The person is very impatient, you know this. "'Monsieur, ' said Rani calmly and seriously, 'running to and fro along the crime-ridden streets of Limehouse, like a little dog of unknown origin, is not the job of commissioner Saga. Be calm. My agents are still working.'

"The next day I have something to tell him. The two men did pass by the place in question, but their real destination was a small restaurant near the river. People saw the two go in there and Lester came out alone.

"Then imagine if this happened to you, Hastings. One idea of tibatiba rules Pearson! He wasn't satisfied that we hadn't gone to the restaurant ourselves to investigate. I protested, but he didn't care. He talked about disguises, even suggested I should - I was hesitant to tell you - I should shave my mustache off! Yes, rien que ?a! I said that the idea was ridiculous and absurd. Beauty should not be spoiled just for playfulness. Besides, what's the difference between a mustachioed person or not, if he wants to suck on opium"

"Well, he gave up despite still insisting on that idea. The highlight he appeared - Mon Dieu, not playing his appearance! He wore a short coat of coarse cloth commonly worn by sailors, his chin dirty and unshaven; the smell of his scarf was very foul, stinging his nose. And, imagine, Hastings, he likes that look. Really, the British are crazy! Changed appearance. I let him do it. Can anyone argue with a maniac"

Finally we set out - after all, can I let her go alone, in that childish disguise costume?"

"Of course not" I'd say.

"Next - we got there. Pearson spoke strange English. He introduced himself as a sailor and talked about sea and ship matters that I did not understand. The room was small, the roof was low, and many Chinese were there. We ate a dish that tasted strange. Ah, Dieu, mon estomac!" Poirot patted his stomach before telling him again. "Then, the owner of the restaurant approached us. A Chinese man with a face adorned with an evil smile.

"'You, gentlemen, don't like the food here, ' he said. 'Gentlemen have come of course to enjoy what Gentlemen are more pleased with. Pipeline suction, uh"'

Pearson kicked Rani's leg hard while she was wearing sailor shoes .

'I don't mind, John. Escort us.'

"House master smiled and took us to the cellar, through the trapdoor, down a few steps, up again into a room full of cots with comfortable sleeping pads. We lay down, a Chinese boy took off our shoes. It was the best-selling time of the afternoon.

They serve opium pipes complete with cooked opium pills. We pretended to suck, then fell asleep and dreamed. But when we were alone, Pearson called me soft.

Soon he started crawling all over the floor. We stopped behind the curtains and put our ears on. Those people were talking about Wu Ling. We went into the other room, where people were sleeping and such, until then there was a conversation of two people.

"'ah! But he was caught off guard, ' said the first one again. "'He's free. The police are not sure he did that.'

"The talk continues. Then, apparently the two men headed to our hiding place. In a hurry we went back to bed. "'We'd better get out of this place, ' asked Pearson after a few minutes had passed. 'This place is not healthy.' "'You're right, Monsieur, ' I agree. 'We've been in the show long enough.' We managed to escape after paying top dollar for opium. As soon as he got out of Limehouse, Pearson took a deep breath.

"'I'm glad I got out of that place, ' he said.

'But we've got something we can trust.' "'That's fine, ' I said I agreed. 'I guess we won't have much trouble getting what we want - after tonight's disguise.'

"Indeed there was absolutely no difficulty," Poirot suddenly ended his story. The sudden end of the story sounds amazing, so I looked at him in wonder.

"But where are the documents?"

"In his pocket - tout simplement." "In whose pocket?"

"Pearson, parbleu!" Seeing my confusion, Poirot continued his story gently.

"You don't understand yet. Pearson was in debt, along with Charles Lester. Like Charles Lester, he was also gambling. And he devised a plan to steal Wu Ling's documents. He met Wu Ling at Southampton, invited to London and brought him directly to Limehouse. The day was foggy, so Wu Ling was not clear where he was invited to go. I think Pearson smoked opium quite often in that place. As a result he had some eccentric friends. I guess he didn't mean to kill Wu Ling.

The idea was that one of the Chinese should disguise themselves as Wu Ling and receive money from the sale of those documents. Up here, the plan is smooth! But, to Pearson's Eastern accomplice, the problem was much simpler to kill Wu Ling, then throw his corpse into the river.

Without consulting his superiors, they acted in their own way. Imagine how scared Pearson was.

It was possible that there were people who saw him with Wu Ling on the carriage. Murder is clearly much different from a regular kidnapping.

His safety lies in the hands of the Chinese disguised as Wu Ling at the Russell Square Hotel. If only Wu Ling's body had not been found so quickly! Perhaps the victim had already told him about his promise with Charles Lester, which was why Lester picked Wu Ling up at the hotel.

Pearson saw this as a very appropriate way to divert suspicion from him. Charles Lester will be the last person seen with Wu Ling. The disguised man was instructed to introduce himself as Wu Ling's servant, then bring Lester as quickly as possible to Limehouse.

There, perhaps once, Lester was offered a drink, which should have been drugged. An hour later, while out of the place, Lester did not clearly remember what had happened. So blurred, that upon learning of Wu Ling's death, Lester lost his guts and denied that he had ever reached Limehouse.