March 3rd.
Major bookstores have finally started selling The Mysteries of Detective Poirot.
When the novel was officially released, Jin Mu, as Lin Yuan's agent, had already seen and read most of Chu Kuang's serialized content in advance: "The advantage of being an agent for the boss is that I can read the updates earlier than ordinary readers..."
At this point, he opened the last story in the Poirot series.
The name of this article is "Curtain".
There is a parenthesis next to it, "The final case."
Jinmu's mood suddenly became complicated.
And when he saw the opening content of "Curtain", his mood became even more complicated.
Poirot invited Hastings back to Styles Manor -
This is where Poirot and Hastings first meet.
Unlike the high-spirited appearance when he first went on a business trip, Poirot was now very old and even confined to a wheelchair.
According to the timeline of the story, this is a normal thing, everyone will grow old.
But as a reader, Jinmu can't help but feel a little sad...
With this sadness.
Kaneki continued reading.
Times have changed.
Today, the manor where Poirot and his assistant first met has been converted into a luxury hotel.
There are all kinds of people living in the hotel.
This is the most classic case opening in the Poirot series -
A group of people are arranged in a fixed space, and Poirot needs to find the murderer among them. Poirot never fails!
really.
When he met his assistant Hastings, Poirot took out a stack of newspaper clippings reporting five murders.
Poirot said:
"There is some connection between these people staying in the hotel and between them and the parties involved in the previous murder cases."
Classic start!
It is so familiar that it feels like home. The latter part should also be a classic Poirot-style case-solving technique.
This is very Poirot!
Kaneki thought so, and an expectant smile crept up the corners of his mouth.
But the subsequent development of the story suddenly stunned Kaneki.
A victim appears whose death is suspicious.
Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that the victim was murdered, but Poirot insisted that the victim committed suicide!
Poirot even had an argument with Hastings over this.
"Why?"
The intimacy is gone.
Jinmu suddenly felt a little suffocated.
There was something strange about Poirot, so strange that it was unlike him.
Is it because Poirot is old and his thinking can’t keep up
Kaneki gritted his teeth.
This story is a bit heavy.
But at this moment, the following description made Kaneki suddenly feel cold all over, as if he had suffered an unexpected critical hit!
Poirot is dead!
When the mystery of several cases has not been solved, Poirot suddenly -
Dead!!
Heart attack!!!
At this moment, Jinmu's hand holding the book suddenly trembled, and then he subconsciously screamed:
"impossible!"
The last case had just begun and the case hadn't been solved yet, but Poirot was dead
What kind of bizarre development is this!
The boss actually killed the male lead!!
His nerves were numb and stiff, and Jinmu's breathing began to quicken. He couldn't help but stand up and walk back and forth for a long time before he could barely calm down his inner emotions.
Finished!
Kaneki knew very well what it meant to readers when his boss killed off the super popular male protagonist Poirot!
Impact!
The more readers who like Poirot there are, the more terrifying this shock will be. No one will remain indifferent to Poirot's death!
Even he could not accept Poirot's death at this moment!
But Poirot is dead—
There is no narrative trickery; the story simply and clearly tells all readers that Poirot has died.
His body is cold!
There was even a funeral!
A huge sadness instantly swept over Kaneki's heart. He was not only his boss's agent, he was also a fan of Poirot.
He could only force himself to keep watching.
He wondered if there would be a new twist to the story—
Sure enough, there are new changes.
Poirot's death may have been a homicide.
Because Hastings discovered that the bottle of medicine for Poirot's heart disease was missing.
Heartbroken Hastings decided to find out the truth.
The air was infinitely oppressive.
In the past, it was Poirot who went to find the truth.
But this time, Poirot became the victim.
As Poirot's assistant, Hastings needs to find the truth on his own.
final.
Hastings was unsuccessful.
The person who solved the case was still Poirot himself!
Poirot was indeed dead, and that could not be changed, but he left a suicide note to Hastings.
This suicide note reveals all the truth:
It turns out that Poirot had already found the real murderer.
But this murderer is very strange. He never kills people himself. Instead, he takes advantage of other people's psychological weaknesses and cleverly encourages them to kill.
These crimes were planned and committed by him.
But he always stood outside the circle and was not suspected—
In other words, he can keep himself outside the circle and avoid suspicion.
Because this man told a story about an accidental shooting, the innkeeper pretended that his shotgun went off accidentally, injuring his wife who had been suppressing him. However, he was too soft-hearted when the time came, and failed to hit the other party's vital point.
It was this person who encouraged Mrs. Franklin to murder her husband so that she could remarry.
However, because the table was turned, Mrs. Franklin drank the poisoned coffee herself. In order to avoid suspicion of innocent Franklin and Hastings' daughter Judith, Poirot ruled that the woman committed suicide...
Yes.
Poirot argued with Hastings only because he wanted to protect his friend's daughter.
then…
This person made Hastings misunderstand that his daughter was seduced by the villain, so Hastings wanted to kill the villain!
Fortunately, Poirot discovered it in time and drugged Hastings to make him fall asleep early, so he failed to take action.
Poirot was angry.
The honest and kind friend was exploited by the murderer's psychological tactics and almost became a murderer!
Poirot felt that he could no longer bear it!
Unable to use legal means to punish the murderer, Poirot made a horrible decision!
He wanted to personally kill the murderer behind all the crimes—
Norton!
After killing the murderer, Poirot hid his heart disease medicine and allowed himself to die of the disease.
He was ready to accept the judgment of God.
Yes, after killing the murderer, Poirot chose to commit suicide. In a sense, Poirot was also one of the murderers.
Jinmu felt upset.
When he saw Poirot's last message to his assistant, his chest felt even tighter:
"Hastings, I don't know whether what I did was right or wrong. I am confused. I don't think a person should take the law into his own hands... But on the other hand, I am the law! I remember many years ago, when I was still a policeman, I once shot and killed a desperado who was sitting on the roof and shooting at people below. In an emergency, martial law should be declared. By taking Norton's life, I saved other lives - innocent lives.
But I still don’t know…
Perhaps it is better that I do not know, I am always so sure - too sure... But now, I am so self-conscious, I can only say to you like a little child, 'I do not know... 'Goodbye, dear friend. I have taken the ampoule of amyl nitrite away from my bedside. I would rather put myself in the hands of God. He may punish, or he may forgive, may it come soon! We will not punish criminals together again. Our first criminal investigation was here, and our last was here... Those were good times. Yes, they have always been my best times..."
Click.
There are tears falling.
At some point, Kaneki's eyes burst.
————
ps: Thanks to the leader Jianwu Zhantian for the fresh update. Regarding Polo's death, it was actually very sad for me too when I read it, so the plot description in this chapter is a little more detailed, because it is indeed quite cruel.