A few long tables, greasy and thick enough for diners to carve words on them; Dozens of chairs with broken legs and broken arms, and the ground was also dirty, and I don't know how many people had left stains on them. Some of the guests were chatting with each other, and some were gulping down. The smell of sour liquor, mixed with the smell of vomit from drinkers, is extremely uncomfortable to inhale.

Most of the taverns along the main road leading to the provinces in Paris are like this.

Most of the diners inside were untidy, but they were in harmony with the atmosphere of the tavern. Like an old man in the corner.

Although he is an old man, he doesn't look very old and doesn't have many wrinkles. But his sallow face and cloudy eyes still made him look very old. He wore leather shoes with tin buckles, socks with unthreaded threads, silk trousers that had changed color, a small waistcoat, and a shirt that had been excessively white from many washes, and beside him lay an old tweed coat that had been maroon and now green.

Generally speaking, no one is running around with an overcoat in the summer, except for those who are homeless and wandering around with only a little possessions.

He didn't talk to anyone else, and since he entered the tavern, he had only been drinking, his face was a little nervous, and he swept his gaze over the door from time to time.

"This can't be a fugitive, right?" Some people muttered in their hearts.

But it was none of his business, and no one cared about him, but he sat down seemingly naturally away from him—and this was what the old man wanted.

It was approaching evening and the sun was about to set.

The door to the tavern was opened, and two men walked in. They looked like travelers from afar, but they were neatly dressed, which was very incompatible with the atmosphere of this tavern. When they came in, they first glanced at the old man, then went to the boss and asked for some wine, and then they sat down next to the old man.

As if sensing that something was wrong, the old man's face suddenly turned a little pale, and then he suddenly stood up and walked out.

However, as soon as he walked out together, the two new people immediately stood up again.

The old man hurried out and slammed open the tavern door, and the two men behind him chased him out.

A few of them sensed that something was wrong and looked away from the door, but quickly moved away - no one was interested in getting involved in the affairs of strangers they didn't know, perhaps the bandit group was fighting among themselves!

The poor man possessed by fear burst into an astonishing potential, running forward desperately, stumbling into quite a few people along the way.

It didn't take long for him to discover that another person was in his way.

"Get out of the way!" He shouted, and continued to charge straight ahead. The man in front obediently got out of the way.

He rushed over, but suddenly felt a pain in the back of his neck, his whole body suddenly became sore, and the scene in front of him turned completely black, and he fell softly.

The pursuers from behind also caught up, and the three of them carried him up to a carriage parked next to the main road. Then the carriage went off to the middle of nowhere, and then came to a stop on a bridge.

In the carriage, Charles woke up the old man.

The old man opened his eyes and looked at Charles in confusion and slightly frightened. "Who are you! weishenme is going to catch me! ”

"It doesn't matter who we are, it's who you are." Charles replied. "Are you the Monsieur Jean-Gunsdown I am looking for?"

A hint of fear flashed through the other's eyes. "I'm not! My last name is Rivar! You've found the wrong person, please let me go! ”

"Isn't it?" Charles frowned, "Really, isn't it?" ”

"Not really!" The old man looked like he was almost crying.

Charles sighed. "If you're not, it's no use to us at all, we'll just ......"

Then he pouted, and the man next to him grabbed the old man and dragged him out.

The fear of death made Gunsdown almost cry out. "Alright! I'm the Jean-Gunsdown you're looking for! ”

"Which Jean-Gunsdown is it?" Charles asked, "The one who drove the car for the Duke de Plasland?" ”

"Yes! Yes......" the old man had lost the courage to resist, "I am, don't kill me!" ”

"It would have been nice to admit it earlier." Charles motioned for someone next to him to let him go. "There's something I want to ask you."

"What's ......," asked Gunsdown, the coachman, gasping for breath.

"Tell me everything you know about the Duchess's death." Charles asked softly.

Hearing Charles mention the word Duchess, the other party's pupils suddenly shrank.

"I don't know anything!" He almost shouted, "Please let me go, I really don't know anything?" ”

"Don't know anything?" Charles sneered, "Then you want to go away incognito?" And ......"

He stood up and suddenly kicked the other man in the waist.

"Ding!"

There was a crunch of coins colliding.

"Where does all this money come from? Was it stolen? ”

"I really don't know anything......" the old coachman still muttered to himself.

"Looks like you really want to die." Charles sighed.

The man next to him grabbed Gunsdown and dragged him out.

"Remember to wait and tie a big rock, don't let him float easily!" Charles gave a slow admonition.

Just as he was about to be dragged out of the carriage door, Gunsdown finally collapsed.

"Alright! All right! I say! I know everything! ”

"It's long overdue to be so honest." Charles nodded approvingly.

Gunsdown sat back down across from Charles, gasped for a few breaths, and then looked away.

Charles pulled out his pocket watch. "You have one minute, and one minute later, no matter what you say, even if you sing hymns, it's useless."

Gunsdown bowed his head.

"Alright! I'll tell you all! I've been working as an errand boy in the lord's mansion for more than ten years, and I've been working as a coachman for them......"

"We know that."

"The lord and the lady often quarrel, I have seen it many times, the lord thinks that the lady is not well-educated and often makes him lose face, and rarely takes her into the court or attends social gatherings; The lady blamed the lord for spending money excessively and relying on his wife's dowry to support the scene...... It's a lot of noise every time......" Gunsdown sighed suddenly, "sir, have you ever heard of a duchess screaming, and there is no difference between it and the ladies in the street!" ”

"And then?"

"And then that day......" he sighed again. Not knowing Weishenme that day, they quarreled again. We, the people, are all working in our own places and pretending not to hear. I was a coachman, and I was taking care of the horses in the stable of **, and I could faintly hear some sounds. It was about eight or nine o'clock in the evening when I heard a particularly loud shout: 'I'm going to denounce you!' Then another scream...... However, the scream was short, and soon disappeared, like a hallucination......"

"And then?!"

"A few more minutes passed, maybe a quarter of an hour, maybe longer, and I don't remember too well...... It was then that Mr. Duke suddenly walked to the stables and called me, urging me to prepare the car. God, his face was as white as a dead man! ”

"Where?"

Gunsdown bowed his head.

"Where to go!" Charles accentuated his voice.

"I went to the private residence of the Prime Minister...... "Gunsdown's whisper, "and it was very late, probably in the early morning, before the Duke returned, but he was followed by two policemen...... I didn't know anything at the time, I just obeyed the order to drive, but the next day, everyone told me that my wife had committed suicide! He bit his lip, "Oh my God, I killed myself!" ”

Charles was silent for a moment.

"And then?"

"At noon the next day, the Duke summoned us to his study, and said to me, 'You have served our family so long, and now it is time for you to go home. Although we pay you a lot on weekdays, there is still some money here as your severance pay. Then he gave each of us a pack of gold coins...... There was also a policeman next to him, and the policeman also specially told us not to make noise about everything we heard last night, and if there was any leakage outside, we would go in and eat in jail! Of course, we didn't want to go to jail, so we took the money and ran away, as if nothing had happened! ”

With that, Gunsdown looked up.

"That's all I know, I don't know anything else!"

"You know enough."

Charles picked up a page from his coat pocket, then a pen, and then placed the paper on the wheel under the lantern and wrote it down quickly.

"I, Jean-Gunsdown, the former coachman of the Duke of Prasland, vouch for God and my own honour, testify that on July 19, 1847, the Duke of Praslan murdered his wife because of a quarrel between the husband and wife. And, that night, he urgently asked to see the Prime Minister, and bribed the Prime Minister to instruct the police to conceal the matter, and closed the case with the Duchess committing suicide. If this murder case cannot be revealed, the unjust soul will have to wander outside the kingdom of heaven forever.

God testifies that there is no falsehood in what I say. ”

Charles then handed the note to the other party.

"Please sign it."

Gunsdang grimaced. "Mr. ......"

"Or do you want to sink to the bottom of the river with a big rock tied to your body?" Charles raised an eyebrow, threatening his life again.

"But I'm ...... But I can't write my name, do I? He whispered.

Charles sighed. "Then leave a handprint and stretch out your hand!"

Gunsdown held out his hand in obedience, and Charles slashed his thumb with a small file, leaving him with a bright red fingerprint at the end of the page.

When he was done, Charles took the confession he had signed and let out a long sigh of relief, then folded it and put it in his pocket.

"Thank you for your help, Mr. Gunsdown, and you'll be free in a minute."

"You're not going to break your word, are you?" Gunsdown was still a little scared.

"Of course we don't kill people needlessly......" Charles shook his head, then looked at each other with a smile. But if I were you, I would leave France forever. ”

"Leaving France?"

"You have now left your mark on a very deadly document that is as deadly to others as it is to you."

"But......" The other party still seemed to hesitate.

"It's nothing, you betrayed your former employer, if only you betrayed it, but you did it against the police's warnings......" Charles interrupted him, "go to England, or whatever, lest you get into trouble." ”

"But...... Mr. ......"

Charles pulled out a small stack of bills from his pocket and handed it to the other party.

"Monsieur Duke gave you a bag of gold louis, didn't he? It would be worth a thousand francs or two, and I will give you a thousand francs as your reward, which, together with your own savings over the years, is a great sum of money. This money is almost a hundred pounds away from the port for British money, right? With this money, you can go there and start a new life, you can find a family to be a coachman, or you can go to be a chariot rentaler, of course, you have to change your name......" Charles smiled. "Maybe you can make a home with your new identity there......"

[The gold louis refers to a gold coin issued during the old Bourbon dynasty, which was worth about 24 francs at the time.] At that time, the economies of Western Europe all adopted the gold standard monetary system, and calculated that a pound was worth about 7.32 grams of gold at that time, and a franc could be exchanged for 0.29 grams, which was equivalent to about 25 francs for a pound sterling, which was about the same as the value of a gold louis. 】

With this confession in hand, Charles returned to Paris at night, his heart full of passion and joy.

Until the next morning......

"What? Duke Plasland also committed suicide? ”

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