Bourlstone is a small village located near Clamart, south of Paris. It still retains some ancient brick and wooden houses that have remained unchanged for hundreds of years. (Search on Baidu to view the latest updates of this book) In recent years, due to its beautiful scenery and superior location, many wealthy households in metropolitan areas have chosen to move here, and many nobles have also expropriated part of the land here for various purposes. Enjoy his privately built estate. Their villa is faintly visible on the edge of the forest. In order to meet market needs, small merchants and medium-sized shops were opened nearby. Later, there were several gas stations. Therefore, the future of this village is obvious... Today, it has become a small town that has been modernized and transformed into a nondescript town.
However, there are still some traditional things here that have been preserved, and that is oranges. Here is located one of the largest orange plantations in Oak County, and its output and quality are world-renowned. It’s just that the town itself is not very famous, of course this is normal. Just like many people always talk about terms like "Bordeaux wine" and talk to you about the aroma of cedar and blackcurrant, the sweetness and crunch of the taste, how many years does it take for red wine to turn garnet red, etc. , Generally speaking, if you throw this kind of person a map of France and ask him to find out where "Bordeaux" is, he will immediately fall into a lengthy silence.
In short, Bolston is a little-known place, and oranges, a specialty product, are no more attractive than red wine. Although the price of buying oranges locally is cheaper than buying them in the supermarket at your doorstep, and they are fresher, few people will. In order to save a few dollars, I went to the place of origin to buy.
On June 19, Tianyi rented a car and drove to this small town listening to the songs on the radio, whistling and humming.
What did he come for, you ask? Well, he came here specifically to buy oranges...
If he buys a few hundred kilograms of oranges, takes them back to Paris to set up a street stall, and counts the money for renting a car and gas, as well as his own labor force, and ensures that he will not be beaten to death by the Paris urban management during the selling process, he will probably be able to finally do it. A small profit of three melons and two dates.
I think after settling this account, many people will understand why only large contractors can handle the first-level wholesale of vegetables and fruits, while ordinary merchants can only handle second-, third-, and fourth-level wholesale...
Anyway... It can be basically concluded that when Tianyi came to buy oranges, he planned to eat them himself.
He drove here specially, then returned to Paris, took a few kilograms of oranges back to the hotel room, and then returned the car, as if he had bought something shameful.
Because he got up late, it was already nine o'clock in the evening when he finally returned to the hotel and faced the pile of oranges on the table.
"Ah... troublesome fruit." Tianyi grabbed an orange and muttered to himself. He really hated fruits with seeds and cores. The type of food he liked was the kind of food that could be completely swallowed after the skin was peeled off. Foods like watermelons, grapes, and oranges that you have to be careful about biting into the bitter seeds or cores and have to expend some effort to spit out when you put them in your mouth. Tianyi will usually refuse them because they find it troublesome. edible.
But tonight, he sat at the table and did something very strange. He ate four oranges in a row. He ate slowly and carefully, as if he was doing a very important task. The sound is indescribably weird...
… …
On the morning of June 20, an apartment building in Paris.
A black man in his forties walked out of his house. As he did every morning, he went to the first floor to check his mailbox, took out newspapers, threw away garbage flyers, and prepared to go to work.
But something was different today. He saw a yellowed envelope in the mailbox. There was no stamp or address on the envelope, only his name: Galas Dadan.
He tucked the morning paper under his arm and opened the envelope as he walked out of the building. Galas felt that this must be another trick of some advertisers. Recently, many insurance companies would mail some "invitation letters" in a decent manner. "Doing a door-to-door service actually means asking you to attend a symposium with the same content as a sales meeting, providing some worthless gifts, and then trying every means to sell insurance to you.
"There aren't even stamps. It seems that this time I just asked someone to stuff it directly into the mailbox. I even saved the postage. (Search on Baidu to view the latest updates of this book)" Galas muttered and opened the envelope. He took out a piece of slightly yellowed letter paper. At this time, he found that there were other things in the envelope. He took a closer look. Those things were about one centimeter long, with a light yellow-white surface and an oval shape. They were clearly orange. nuclear.
"Asshole... This is really disgusting. Did the employee of the insurance company who was responsible for delivering the letter feel dissatisfied and vomited the orange core in it..." Galas threw away the envelope and only used his index finger and thumb to touch the paper with the hand holding the letter. , as if the letter paper was not clean either.
Using two fingers on each hand, he carefully unfolded the letter and found that there was this paragraph written on it: "Hello, Garas Dadan, this is our first greeting to you, and it may also be the last time, you black man Ghosts have violated the bottom line of our tolerance, and this letter means death.kkk."
Gallas froze immediately, and it was not until the beep of the car horn and the roar of the driver that he was driven back to the roadside.
A few seconds later, a piece of information flashed through Gallas's mind. He turned around, ran a few steps, and like a madman dug out the envelope that he had just thrown in from the trash can. The orange core had already spilled out. There are only five left. He looked at the dry and small orange cores, his eyes widened, and the fear in his heart gradually rose...
That evening, the Paris police station.
Galas was sitting in the reception room, holding a glass of water in his hand, waiting nervously.
Not long after, a middle-aged police officer walked in and sat across from the desk: "Is this Mr. Dadan?"
Galas nodded: "Yes."
"I'm Officer Sezer, hello."
"Hello."
Sizer held a registration form and said while looking at it: "You reported that you were threatened?"
"Yes, officer."
Sizer took out the letter and envelope that Galas had received that morning from his pocket, and also took out a transparent evidence bag containing five orange stones.
After putting these on the table, Setzer said in an official tone: "Sir, are you sure you need to open a case for investigation into this matter? You know, almost every month, we receive several similar reports. Facts There is nothing scary at all. There may be a few hooligans. If you offend them, they will pretend to be members of a resistance organization or some kind of racist, and they will make some tricks like threatening letters, just to create some trouble for the victim. Psychological pressure, in fact, they can't do anything, the most they can do is smash other people's windows with rocks, of course, if they really do it, there are cameras on every street, and we can arrest them within half an hour."
"You don't understand, officer! This is the real Ku Klux Klan, not a joke!" Gallas said.
"Okay, okay, Mr. Dadan, why are you so sure?" Sizer said with a shrug.
"I checked, and there are no fingerprints of the sender on either the envelope or the letter, only mine. Also, the five orange cores have also been tampered with and cleaned very clean..."
"Oh, oh, oh... wait, wait, sir." Sizer lowered his head and looked at the form again: "What exactly do you do?" The occupation filled in on the form was art consultant.
"I work at the Louvre, mainly doing paperwork, editing relevant annotations for artworks, or helping the museum's commentators update information and explanations." Galas replied: "In addition, I also do some For the research and identification of artworks, we have equipment in the laboratory there... "
"So you took this evidence for testing?" Sizer asked.
"I think there's nothing wrong with that." Galas brought back the topic of using public property for personal use: "Listen, officer, I was dubious when I first saw the letter in the morning, but after testing it, I'm 90% sure. This is no joke, I and my family are in danger right now!" He said seriously.
Sizer looked at Gallas with complicated eyes for five or six seconds, then took a long breath and said, "Okay, sir, I have to record a detailed confession for you. Please wait." He went out for a while, I brought a voice recorder with me when I came back.
"Let's get started, Mr. Dadan." Sizer said: "I want to ask you a few questions. If you think of anything that may be helpful to the case, please tell me in as much detail as possible."
Gallas couldn't wait to say: "First of all, officer, I want to emphasize the seriousness of this matter. You should have some knowledge of the Ku Klux Klan, right?"
"Um... no." Sizer replied unabashedly, with no intention of pretending to understand.
After hearing this, Galas frowned, spread his hands, and showed an expression of disbelief.
In fact, Sizer's behavior was normal. It was Gallas who overestimated people's historical knowledge. In the 22nd century, racial discrimination is an issue that is rarely mentioned anymore. When most people hear the name of the Ku Klux Klan, they At most, I know that this organization is related to racism. People who join this organization will be discriminated against by everyone...
"Kukluxklan is their name, which comes from the imaginary sound that resembles the sound of a trigger firing a gun. This terrible secret group was formed by defeated Confederate soldiers after the Civil War in the 19th century, and quickly spread across the United States, that is, in the past Branches were established in various parts of the country, with the most powerful ones in Tennessee, Louisiana, Carolina, Georgia and Florida. The Ku Klux Klan used various terrorist methods to deal with black voters at the time, murdering or expelling them. People with different opinions use this to achieve their political goals... "
"Okay... Mr. Dadan." Sizer didn't want to listen to your big lecture after so many years on the job. He interrupted: "Let's stop the history lesson. I know what these guys mean. , let’s get back to the case.”
"No! I'm about to get to the point." Galas continued: "The problem is the way they carry out their atrocities. Usually before doing anything, they will first send something strange in shape but recognizable to the person who is hostile. For example, a small branch with leaves, a few watermelon seeds, or a few orange cores. This is a warning. The person who is warned can choose to give up the original point of view or flee overseas. If ignored, he will be punished. Killing, and often in some strange or unexpected way.
This is the oldest and most orthodox practice. In the 20th century, the nature of this organization gradually changed and its members continued to expand, causing them to lose the original rigor and systematicity of the organization, and similar traditions were ignored. "
Sizer looked at the orange cores on the table: "Mr. Dadan, maybe it's just because of your understanding of this period of history that you can't help but connect these things. Maybe the person who threatened you just looked up some Ku Klux Klan on the Internet. I came up with the information and used orange cores on a whim to imitate it very much."
Galas said: "Then how do you explain that the fingerprints and the orange core have been processed?"
Sizer said: "So I think... even if it is just an imitation, this intimidator is not an ordinary person. He is at least a cautious guy. This kind of person may be very dangerous and will really threaten the lives of you and your family.
Therefore, please stop worrying about the identity of the other party. Even if it is a strict organization with a long history, we still have to find the motive to solve the case. My question is, Mr. Dadan, what do you think put you in such a dangerous situation? You didn't just change your skin color today. You have a family and a family, and you haven't lived in Paris for a year or two. Why did the other party choose this time to send you a letter? "
Galas thought for a while; "I don't know..." It's not that he hasn't thought about this question, but he doesn't have a very definite answer: "My wife, she is white, and we have a very good relationship. Recently, we are discussing about getting married. A child... Could it be..." He said this while thinking.
Sizer asked: "Have you ever told your relatives and friends that you want a child? Or talked about it in public?"
"We go out to restaurants for dinner almost once or twice a week. They are usually better restaurants. We may have talked about it several times during the meal, but I am not sure whether anyone will hear it. In addition, My wife may have talked about it with her parents, siblings, we both have jobs, and my wife may have talked about it with colleagues, which is a normal thing and a good thing... "
Sizer said: "But now it seems that it may be a reason for racists to cause trouble for you."
"I have never encountered violence caused by racism, nor have I encountered problems of discrimination. I have only read about these in books." Galas said with a solemn expression: "In my opinion, those They are all from a long time ago, and are things that have been abandoned by human civilization, such as religious massacres, slavery, etc. I never expected that such a thing would happen to me today. When I saw that letter, I They’re all stupid.”
"You have to stay calm, Mr. Dadan. Those who send threatening letters have nothing to fear. If they are really capable, what you see in the mailbox should be an explosive device, not an envelope containing orange cores." Sizer Er said: "What you need now is to continue working and living normally, and don't let a letter ruin everything. If you live in fear all day long and have a heavy psychological burden, you are playing into the hands of the intimidators.
Don't worry, leave the investigation to our police. Tonight I will send two plainclothes detectives to drive an inconspicuous car to stay near your home. If there is an accident or there is a suspicious person nearby, Walk around and they will arrive as soon as possible to deal with it. You can act as usual these days. If there is any progress in the case or if you have any questions, I will take the initiative to contact you. "
Galas and Seizer discussed many details, about the situation of plainclothes police officers, how to deal with danger, and how to ensure the safety of his wife, etc. Seizer explained for a long time before Galas became pregnant. I returned home feeling anxious.
When Galas walked out of the police station, across the street from the Paris police station, a man was wearing a floral shirt, overalls, and a sunhat that covered half of his face. He had a camera hanging around his neck and a tourist guide in his hand. magazine and a map of Paris, standing there looking around, muttering: "Ah... it took so long to come out, it seems that I succeeded in persuading the police."
Tianyi closed the impurities on his hands and walked forward leisurely, thinking: This guy is also a cultural person after all, he should be able to find all the clues on the letter... fingerprints, orange cores, handwriting, letter paper, if he is today If I report the crime without finding everything, the evidence will be left behind, but the police may not be able to analyze the information I want to convey. Will we just have to intensify the threat then...
"Hey, man." A man's voice sounded next to him.
Tianyi looked back and saw that it was Officer George.
Meeting him at the door of the police station was not a coincidence. Tianyi did not show any strange expression. Although he knew George, he knew that George would not recognize him, so there was no need to panic.
"Sorry, I don't smoke." Tianyi also deliberately changed his accent. If his tourist outfit were to speak fluent French English, French Chinese or simply French, it would look very strange.
Let me explain here. In this parallel universe, the empire has unified language. Mandarin and English are taught in schools around the world. Both of these are universal languages. Minors who receive formal education must be proficient in at least one of them. . Generally speaking, if you choose English, it will be more convenient to study science knowledge in the future, but if you choose Chinese, you will be able to study arts and science, so both will naturally be the best. As for other languages, they have become something like local dialects. People's accents will still differ depending on where they were born, but not every local school will systematically teach these unofficial languages.
"Ah, it's okay." George's tone was very calm, "By the way, can I ask, sir, what were you doing walking back and forth across from the police station for nearly an hour?"
At this moment, Tianyi instinctively burst out a word in his heart, a thousand words, all in one sentence: Fake!
When George asked the question, Tianyi had already passed him by. Now Tianyi had two choices. The first was to run away, and the second was to turn around and continue dealing with him.
"Are you afraid that I will remember your face if you don't turn your head back?" George walked over as he spoke. He took out a lighter and lit a cigarette: "Huh... before I left the police station to eat, I just caught a glimpse of you, and when I came back I found you were still there, and then I kept an eye on you for twenty minutes." He took a long puff of cigarette: "Are you following the gentleman who just left the police station?"