Chapter 23 Sickert's Mask (2)
Countless times, doctors tied him tightly like an animal, while several nurses grabbed his limbs and performed corrective surgery without anesthesia.
This pain is comparable to forced castration.
The reason for this is that Sickert has a hereditary physical deformity and must undergo many surgeries before he can restore some of his functions.
At this moment, Sigurd, who was recounting his childhood experiences, looked downcast and haggard. His eyes were lowered, unwilling to look at others for fear of seeing ridicule and contempt.
When he was young, many of his playmates who knew about this problem insulted him, and even his father couldn't help but laugh at him when he was drunk.
"Sir, this is not our intention..."
Lu Li felt ridiculous. He now felt that he was extracting a confession through torture, like a weakling wielding a knife.
On the way here, who would have thought that a handsome young painter who belongs to the upper class would have such an unfortunate experience.
Perhaps, "Murder in a Nameless Town" is him expressing his own experience, but with some artistic processing.
Besides, everyone has a dark side. It would be too arbitrary to judge that Sickert is the murderer based on a few paintings.
And Mr. Lasker, who had always been wearing a black face, was also unhappy and said apologetically: "I'm sorry to remind you of those past events. Let's make an appointment and we'll visit again in the future..."
However, before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Lu Li.
"Mr. Siegel, can you take us to the studio upstairs for a tour?"
Sympathy is sympathy, and no step in the process should be missed.
If the identity of the murderer is misjudged due to the overflow of the Holy Mother's Heart, then not only will he be sent to some inferior class, but he will also be in trouble with Duke.
"Don't be too nervous, it's just a personal request."
After speaking, Lu Li stared at Sigurd closely, hoping to get some clues from his face. However, apart from pursed his lips and nodded helplessly, the painter made no other movements.
After a while, with the support of Mr. Lasker, Sigurd stood up and walked in front to lead the way, pleading in his tone: "Please help keep the secret, don't let that lady know."
"As it should be."
Lu Li immediately gave his promise, but he had already made a judgment in his heart: There is something wrong with this man!
Judging from the information currently available, the suspect seems to be deliberately establishing a persona, such as: an unfortunate childhood, a weak personality, and his body has collapsed to the point where it is difficult to move.
This is not a subjective conjecture. According to the information provided by the informant, it is actually not difficult to find out: the old lady neighbor hates Sickert, saying that he lives an unruly life and has an attitude of despising him as a human being.
There is a lot of contradiction between the two.
Click.
The door to the studio on the second floor opened.
Behind the door, the smile of the thin female model began to disappear, and her tone could not conceal her disappointment: "Sir, are you finished talking?"
"not yet."
Lu Li nodded towards her and glanced at the studio without leaving any trace.
Um……
It's strange that there are no works with a dark style, but they are indeed strange.
George Lasker, who had always been a tool man, was shocked by the paintings in front of him.
Nearly half of the dozens of works are self-portraits of Mr. Siegel, in which he is either wearing a ruffled skirt or a form-fitting dress with hip pads.
When God closes a door, he opens a window.
The only good thing about Mr. Siegel is that God gave him a face that makes women jealous, a perfect nose and chin, blond hair, and especially a pair of blue eyes without a trace of color.
Women's clothing boss?
Lu Li quickly suppressed this terrible thought and continued to look at other paintings.
Virgin and Child (religious theme)
Body Painting (Renaissance Style)
Although the clothing is very cool, it is still acceptable compared to women's clothing.
"Mr. Siegel, two last questions."
Lu Li said in a deep voice: "You said you haven't gone out these days, so what can you eat to fill your stomach?"
The female model had been waiting for a long time from the time she entered the door, and she felt a little impatient. In addition, she had already seen that Lu Li and others came with bad intentions, so she muttered dissatisfiedly: "Of course it's bread."
"Three days ago, I bought some food from the bakery on the corner. Some of them are not finished yet. Do you want to see them? They are all placed in this studio."
As he said that, Sigurd pointed to the corner of the wall.
A piece of oil paper cloth with a few pieces of white bread and an empty water glass inside.
Hearing what Sickert said, Mr. Lasker felt a little complicated: This poor painter should not be the murderer. However, Mr. Lu Li still refused to let go. He even deliberately picked up the stale bread and looked carefully. Could it be that he discovered something?
"Okay, do you mind if I ask one more question?" Unfortunately, Lu Li didn't seem to be asking for advice, and then asked: "What new work have you done in the past two days?"
Sickert made a recollection, pointing to the two drawing boards placed in the middle of the studio and said: "Yesterday afternoon, I was in relatively good health, so I drew an impromptu sketch."
"I got inspired this morning and I'm going to paint an oil painting. So I got up late in the afternoon and laid out some background colors on the painting paper. Do you want to lift the curtain and show it to you?"
"No, are there any scraps in the meantime?"
Lu Li still asked random questions.
However, the female model who wholeheartedly defended Sigurd couldn't bear it and directly warned: "What on earth do you want to do? Mr. Sigal is a decent person and very energetic."
Her limited knowledge made her think that Lu Li and others were plainclothes and were deliberately blackmailing Sigur——
Plainclothes people often appear in slums, and they extort money under the guise of investigating crimes.
"Ma'am, to be honest, I'm also very energetic."
Mr. Lasker had doubts in his heart, but his stance was always firm. However, his words made Lu Li a little embarrassed and he always felt like a villain.
On the side, the mild-tempered Sigurd was not angry. He patiently explained to a few laymen: "Mr. Lu Li, you may not know something. Stale bread can not only be used to satisfy your hunger, but it can also be used as an eraser to remove pencil marks."
print."
"I can testify."
"Two weeks ago, Mr. Siegel gave a demonstration in this studio. He also said that breadcrumbs can make the tone softer..."
It was very difficult for a wandering warbler to remember these things. She stammered for a long time and finally fell silent.
Click!
The sound of the watch hand moving forward is clearly audible.
At exactly ten o'clock in the evening, the progress of the investigation seemed to have stalled.
"Mr. Detective, it's getting late. Why don't you go take a look at the other suspects first? I'll send Linnaeus to keep an eye on him outside."
At this time, Mr. Lasker came closer and whispered in Lu Li's ear: "Besides, Professor Duke will be here soon, and it will take time to check the cause. Staggering the actions can improve efficiency."
Everyone's eyes moved to Lu Li, either confused, disgusted, or indifferent.
"Sir, please hurry up and ask the last question. If possible, I would like to complete the painting as soon as possible."
Sickert always maintained a posture of willingness to communicate and cooperate, which made Mr. Lasker feel complicated. He couldn't help but want to retract his previous comments on the carriage.
"No need, Mr. Siegel, you are lying."
Lu Li's tone was determined.
"What?"
Mr. Lasker raised his head in surprise. He felt that his IQ was not enough.
And this understatement made the studio quiet again.
"Actually, I have never learned painting. If I hadn't heard a story by chance, I might not have known you were lying."
After finishing speaking, Sigurd shrugged and replied in a very low tone: "What a story, don't be joking..."
"The Story of Bread and Painting."
With that said, Lu Li pulled out the revolver and handed it to Mr. Lasker, signaling him to take precautions.
"Miss Meacham runs a small bakery on the corner of the street. She has excellent conditions and is eager for love. Coincidentally, there is a middle-aged customer who often visits her bakery recently. This person is average in appearance, but has a neat appearance and is very handsome.
polite.
Gradually, the passionate heart of the female boss began to throb, and she secretly paid attention to this customer. Once, Miss Meacham noticed a reddish-brown stain on his finger, and immediately concluded in her heart that this customer was not yet famous.
The artist lives in poverty - he only buys the cheapest stale bread every time instead of fresh bread.
She decided to give the artist some nutrition.
One day at noon, the customer came to buy stale bread as usual. The passionate female boss secretly stuffed a large piece of butter into the stale bread, pressed the bread tightly, wrapped it in paper, and handed it back."
Having said this, Lu Li raised the white bread in his hand, which was stuffed with butter and various fruits, while Sigurd's face, which was already a bit slumped, became a little slouched, and he leaned on the sofa as if resigned to his fate.
As for Mr. Lasker, he sensed something was wrong from the suspect's facial expressions and movements. He immediately became vigilant and directly overturned the hammer of the revolver.
"After getting the bread, the customer did not become suspicious. He picked up the food with a smile and left. Miss Martha couldn't help but smile, but she couldn't help feeling a little panicked, for fear that this move would hurt the artist's fragile self-esteem.
Throughout the afternoon, her mind kept wandering about this matter. She often wondered whether the artist could understand it when he took a bite of sweet butter when he picked up bread and water for lunch. Thinking of this, Miss Meacham's face turned pale.
I blushed.
At this moment, the artist rushed in with his companions. His face turned red, he clenched his fists, shook them fiercely at Miss Martha, and roared: "You ruined me! Why?
Adding something to stale bread! Damn that old woman!"
Later, Miss Meacham learned the truth. It turned out that the man was not an artist. He was an architectural pattern designer. He was recently busy drawing a floor plan. Drawing requires a pencil to draw the draft first, and then after the ink is completed, he uses Chen
The bread wiped away the pencil marks, but when butter was added to it, everything was ruined..."
Chapter completed!