232. Cause and Effect
"So how exactly did you do it?" Gregson's face was filled with disbelief.
The murderer just came running off to "confess" like that?
"It's simple. After confirming that the murderer was looking for this wedding ring, it was basically safe to assume it was a crime of passion. So I sent a telegram to the Cleveland Police Chief, specifically inquiring about Drebber's marital status."
"And in his reply, he mentioned that Drebber had sued a rival and applied for legal protection. The rival's name was Hope. From this, I knew that he was most likely the murderer."
"Then I asked some of the local homeless people to help me find him at the coachman's shop, needing him to pick me up. He naturally showed up." He shrugged, calmly recounting the events.
"How did you know he wouldn't choose to flee the city and continue working as a coachman?" Gregson asked at this point.
"It's simple. He's a coachman. A criminal wouldn't just commit a crime and then quit; that would attract too much attention, wouldn't it?" he said matter-of-factly.
Gregson couldn't refute this. If he were the murderer, he certainly wouldn't have left so easily; he'd be too conspicuous.
"I have a few more questions about the case. Would it be convenient for me to speak with Mr. Hope?"
He suddenly made an unexpected request.
"Sure." Gregson had no reason to refuse.
Because Gregson understood perfectly well that the man before him was obsessed with solving the case, he wouldn't stop until he got to the bottom of it.
Soon, he gained some time alone with Hope.
"Would it be convenient for me to ask what happened between you, Drebber, and his assistant, Stangerson?"
He looked at the man before him with sincerity.
Hope seemed to relax as well, showing no hostility towards the man who had grabbed him.
Hope smiled, a smug smile, for he had nothing left to lose.
"Forty years ago..."
In May 1847, a traveler named John was walking along a desolate mountain path with a child who had lost both parents.
Their food and water had long since run out, and all that remained were jagged rocks. Just as they were resigned to death, they encountered Mormons.
The Mormons were willing to help them, but only on the condition that they join the Mormon Church.
To survive, they had no choice but to agree.
Twelve years passed. John, shrewd and capable, had become a small-time wealthy man in the area.
The girl had also grown into a beautiful young woman named Lucy.
By chance, she met Hope, a cowherd from out of town.
Although Hope was not a Mormon, a spark ignited between them.
Mormon doctrine only allows marriage within the Mormon community; Mormons are not permitted to marry outside the community. Therefore, Hope and Lucy's love could only be carried out in secret.
However, their affair was soon discovered, and the Mormon Church expelled Hope.
The Mormon elders also ordered Lucy to choose one of their sons, Drebber and Stangerson, as her husband, giving her a month to consider.
But both Drebber and Stangerson already had several wives. John, unwilling for Lucy to suffer as a concubine, secretly informed Hope of this.
Hope arrived just before the deadline, prepared horses, and secretly led the two away.
However, during their journey, running out of food, Hope had to go hunting nearby.
At that moment, the Mormons caught up.
They killed John and abducted Lucy.
Hope was devastated and vowed revenge.
He secretly observed from the vicinity, waiting for his opportunity. He later learned that Lucy had been abducted by Drebber and forced into marriage, dying of grief only a month later.
On the eve of Lucy's burial, Hope secretly entered Drebber's house for a final look at his beloved Lucy, removing her wedding ring.
Determined to exact revenge, he temporarily left, seeking a living in the mines.
Later, his enemies, Drebber and Stangerson, due to internal sectarian strife, had both left the Mormon Church and left Utah, their whereabouts unknown.
After countless searches, they were finally found in Cleveland. However, Drebber recognized Hope immediately and devised a scheme to imprison him.
After Hope's release, he discovered that Drebber and Stangerson had fled to Europe. Hope then traveled to Europe, finally catching up with them in London.
To make a living, Hope became a coachman, which provided him with easier means to track down his enemies.
One day, Drebber, drunk, left Stangerson and returned home alone. He harassed the landlady's daughter, only to be caught in the act by the landlady's son, Arthur Charpentier, who beat him up and kicked him out. This was what had happened not long ago.
Meanwhile, Hope finally found his opportunity. He patiently waited outside the tavern for Drebber to come out.
His patience paid off. When Drebber got into his carriage, he took him to the deserted villa.
"You know what? I prepared two pills, the same, identical in color and smell."
"But one was highly poisonous, and the other was non-poisonous. I let him choose first, and then I swallowed the other one."
"Perhaps it was fate. That bastard died from the poison, while I could continue my revenge."
"I just didn't expect the ring to fall off. When I tried to retrieve it, the body had already been discovered by the police. I had to pretend to be a drunkard to get away with it."
Hope knew his time was running out. Once Stangerson discovered him, he would definitely try to escape. So, the next morning, he confronted Stangerson, intending to kill him in the same way.
But Stangerson wasn't going to sit idly by and fight with Hope.
Hope could only pierce his chest with a knife.
Hearing the police investigating the landlady's son outside, he immediately slipped away through the window, not even having time to grab the pills.
That's the whole story.
"Great Detective, do you think these two deserved to die?" Hope suddenly asked.
"From your perspective, they certainly did."
He didn't stand on moral high ground to judge Hope's right or wrong; on the contrary, he actually agreed with Hope's point of view.
However, his eyes were unfathomable, making it impossible to tell if he was lying.
"Heh…heh heh heh…if I had met you sooner, perhaps we could have become friends." Hope smiled.
Suddenly, he coughed violently, blood gushing from his mouth and nose.
"I…I didn't have much time left…now that I'm dead…it's for the best…Uncle John…Lucy…I've avenged you…"
Hope's face contorted with pain, but he maintained his smile.
He looked up, trying to hold back his tears.
"Phew…thank you." He stood up and left.
He didn't press Hope's comrades' whereabouts; this man of honor and loyalty would never reveal anything about his comrades.
Hope's eyes told him this.
That very night, Hope died in prison from a ruptured hemangioma, a tragic end.
In the dim light, he held a pen, lightly touched his forehead, and then wrote a sentence on a piece of paper.
"The fire of revenge burns in my heart, never to be extinguished, until you pay your debt, until it burns out, until everything is destroyed!"
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