In the Dark

Chapter 53: The girl without a pearl earring (6)

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The monitoring went well. A few days later, the robbers called and their approximate locations were finally determined. Captain Tao's group with a portable signal tracker, a small bread, and a Bora, divided into two groups on the heat-filled road, galloping in pursuit.

After the typhoon left, the hot summer came as scheduled, the air was dry at night, and the sky was bright and dark. The hiding place of the robbers was relatively remote, and it was easy to reach the place displayed by the tracker. Tao Longyue had just ordered the police officers to get out of the car to prepare for an ambush, when an earth-shattering explosion sounded.

The hot air from the explosion almost knocked the detectives to the ground. After they got up one by one, their faces were scorched red by the heat wave that rushed past them. The house where the robbers were hiding exploded less than ten meters away from them.

Tao Longyue shouted: "Hurry up and contact the fire department!"

Looking through the window, someone was trapped in the house by the fire.

Xie Lanshan didn't say a word, wet his hair with mineral water and rushed into the fire.

Tao Longyue reached out to stop him, but did not stop him, Xie Lanshan shouted at him: "The people and the paintings are in the house, it's too late to wait for the fire!"

As soon as he entered the room, he saw a man laying his head down on the ground. Xie Lanshan squatted down to examine the body, turned the person over, and his face was very familiar. He was a new security guard and one of the robbers of the Crane Art Museum.

It is a pity that it is still a step late, and people are already dead. He was shot dead, and the bullet passed between his eyebrows, leaving a scar the size of a thumb.

Xie Lanshan stood up and looked into the room through the billowing smoke. The room was a little messy, and there were three men lying on the ground, all of whom seemed to be dead. Combined with the very fresh wound on the forehead of the deceased just now, a fierce fight might have happened two minutes before their arrival.

Seeing that the men in the room were all dead and bleeding all over the ground, the fire was not big, but the smoke was billowing in the room, the flames danced and cut around the corpse, the ceiling had been twisted and crumbled, and the air was filled with The stench of melting plastic at high temperatures. Xie Lanshan's eyes were difficult to distinguish the color for a while, the fire was red, the blood was red, and everything was red.

This kind of strong stimulation made him very uncomfortable, and a burst of severe pain exploded in his head again, as if it was about to crack his skull. Xie Lanshan raised his hand and rubbed his temples, endured the headache, and searched for "Luoshen Futu" and the other three stolen cultural relics.

A clay pot was smashed on the ground, and it was broken into pieces. It should be the lost Northern Qi painted gray pottery pot, and two other famous paintings and calligraphy that were torn up, but the "Luo Shen Fu Tu" was not seen. Xie Lanshan bowed his head, trying to avoid the choking smoke, and carefully searched for possible hiding places such as the TV cabinet or under the bed. Fortunately, he found it.

Open it up and check it's intact.

Just one glance to confirm, Xie Lanshan quickly and carefully put "Luo Shen Fu Tu" back into the painting box.

These thieves are really "laymen" in Shen Liufei's mouth. For such ancient paintings and calligraphy that have been circulated for hundreds or even thousands of years, the temperature, humidity, and lighting during preservation are all very important. The museums and art galleries in the provinces and cities are all I wish I could hide it and minimize exposure and exhibitions as much as possible. How can I put it in a box so casually and throw it into a cabinet in a confused way.

Xie Lanshan put away the other two torn paintings and calligraphy, turned around and wanted to leave the fire. However, before the person could go out, his legs were hugged.

When he lowered his head, he saw a robber who he thought was dead a moment ago woke up and turned around, reaching out and grabbing his trouser legs. This man is the security guard Xiao Zhou. Xie Lanshan had photographed him several times in the Crane Art Museum. At that time, the impression was not bad. He saw that his face was covered in blood, and his lips moved as if he had said something to him, but his throat was already burnt, and it sounded hoarse, and it took a little effort to hear clearly.

"Big brother... save..." When people are about to die, their desire for life is particularly strong. The security guard Xiao Zhou crawled closer to Xie Lanshan, rubbing his vamp and trousers with his face covered with blood and tears, "Save me... help me… "

For a moment, the dying security guard Xiao Zhou found that Officer Xie's eyes became very strange, becoming indescribably arrogant, contemptuous and cold. He looked condensed, lowered his head, his eyes fell coldly on his dirty shoes, and then he looked at the man crawling at his feet again. He looked at him, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, as if he were looking at the humblest ants and the dirtiest worms.

Tao Longyue helped evacuate other residents in the building, and rushed into the fire. In the thick smoke, he saw Xie Lanshan standing still and Zhou Chen lying on the ground. The fire started to get out of control, and Tao Longyue yelled at him, "What are you doing, save people!"

Xie Lanshan seemed to be called back to his soul, his eyes returned to clarity, but his head hurt more and more. He stretched out the painting box and handed it to Tao Longyue. He bent down and carried the security guard Xiao Zhou on his shoulders and quickly left the fire.

The security guard Xiao Zhou was stunned by the thick smoke. Xie Lanshan had just lifted him up and took him out two steps, when a collapsed beam smashed into the place where he had just fallen.

The injured Xiao Zhou was taken to the hospital by ambulance in time. After the fire was extinguished, the police entered the house to conduct a scene investigation. The fire destroyed important clues and increased the difficulty of investigation, only a glimpse of the truth. The preliminary investigation result was that the four robbers in the house were fighting infighting. When the gun was drawn, the bullet hit the gas tank, which exploded and caused the fire. There was a handful of "Black Stars" left in the house, as well as a large amount of "disabled" cash, both in US dollars and RMB, and they were also burned for this fire.

Xiaoliang contacted the landlord. When the landlord heard that his house was rented to the robbers who stole the museum, the robbers killed each other and almost died, and fell to the ground on the spot. After a long while, he regained his strength, took the mineral water handed by Xiaoliang, took a few sips and then explained what happened, to the effect that this place is remote, and the so-called dual-use building cannot do business, and it is difficult to rent it out as a house , there have been no residents nearby, and a young man surnamed Zhou came later. He looked quite honest and said that he rented the house without any entanglement, so he rented the house to them, and he didn't ask any more questions after that.

Tao Longyue asked the other party in the professional spirit of doubting everything: "The art museum was robbed and people died. The police have already offered a reward for such a big case. Didn't you realize that your tenant is the robber in the news?"

The landlord was very aggrieved: "I just met a few months ago, and we signed the contract after we talked. The other party was very happy to pay, and I didn't have to worry about the follow-up, so I didn't put it on my mind. Besides, where can I remember? Living with such an unremarkable appearance, I really didn't hide it on purpose."

Thinking about it, the four robbers planned to steal the paintings, so they made preparations early in the morning.

After completing the inquiry record, he asked the landlord to go back. Tao Longyue said to Xie Lanshan: "It seems that there is an infighting. From the surveillance video of the Crane Art Museum and the street, three people are responsible for carrying out theft in the art museum, and one person is driving outside and is ready to respond at any time."

Xie Lanshan frowned without saying a word, and pondered for a while before speaking: "There is so much cash in the house, and there are national treasures that have not been traded. You can spend money to smuggle it out at any time, and you can fight for your life?"

"The loot is unevenly distributed, who knows." Tao Longyue sniffed, took the towel handed by Xiaoliang, wiped his face, and said, "I really didn't expect them to get guns. These robbers are very capable. Thinking that since paintings can be stolen from places like art museums, there should be a way to get a 'Black Star'."

Xie Lanshan was silent and seemed to be still thinking.

Tao Longyue turned his head to look at Xie Lanshan's profile, his face was blackened by the fire, but a few black marks could not hide his handsome features, but his expression was too serious, which was often the case when he was concentrating on the case. Looking at his hands again, they were also black, and his arms were burned by the fire. There was a large area of red in the white, and there were several blisters. But Xie Lanshan seemed unaware of this.

Tao Longyue asked him worriedly: "What's the matter, you were so stunned in the fire just now."

"Headache." Xie Lanshan gasped lightly. When he had a headache, all the pain on his body was made insignificant. He tried his best to answer lightly, "The sky was broken just now, and now it's better."

"Let's do our best in the murder case, anyway, this valuable national treasure has finally been recovered unharmed." After a busy night, Tao Longyue continued, "Rescue from the fire first. Send back the cultural relics that come out, and I'm flustered when I put tens of billions of things in my hands."

Tao Longyue wanted to hurry up and send the "Luoshen Futu" and the fragments of the other three cultural relics back to the Crane Art Museum. No matter what, after all, even if there are only a broken tile and a wisp of silk left, the things from thousands of years ago are still there. has its value.

However, Xie Lanshan stopped him. There was a faint worry in his heart, but he couldn't explain it clearly, and he always felt that there was still a link that had not been cleared up, so that the whole case was still looking at flowers through fog, which caused people to worry about it and get nowhere.

Xie Lanshan thought for a long time, and said, "Before returning things to their original owners, I have to go and see Shen Liufei first."

The answer was the same as he feared.

Shen Liufei wore glasses with no degree of prescription. After carefully observing and identifying the two calligraphy and painting fragments, he said that the paintings were fake.

Captain Tao has been in touch with this major national treasure case these days, and he has also worked hard to learn a lot. He knows that there are many kinds of counterfeit products, and their values are also very different. Fakes are priceless treasures. So he asked cautiously: "Is this an imitation of later generations?"

"No." Shen Liufei replied, "This is a fake painting in the true sense, this is a high-tech print."

"This is the collection of the Crane Art Museum," Xie Lanshan was slightly surprised: "You have been taking classes there for a while, but you haven't found it?"

"I didn't find it," Shen Liufei brows hard, his expression solemn, and seems to be very apologetic for his oversight, "The level of counterfeiting has also developed along with science and technology, and it is really difficult to find without a magnifying glass of dozens or even hundreds of times."

Xie Lanshan continued to ask: "What about the "Luoshen Fu Tu" that Li Guochang brought back, is it really painted by Tang Zhaozhong?"

"I can't identify it." Shen Liufei said, "Only Tang Xiaomo knows the answer."