The Freeman family now lives on the second floor of an apartment along the street. Although the area of the house is not as large as before, at least it is clean, tidy and safe. It is no problem as a temporary place to stay. But after all, the man of the house is dead.
I'm afraid their lives will be even more difficult in the future.
The two children were studying in the public middle school in the city. There was also summer vacation in the steam era. They were at home with Mrs. Freeman. Mrs. Freeman asked the children not to disturb them, and then entertained the two of them in the living room. Priest August returned the
After receiving the key, he introduced Shade to the somewhat haggard woman with yellow hair and a high nose:
"This is Detective Shad Hamilton of St. Teresa's Square, a friend of mine. He heard about Mr. Freeman from me and went to Hangleton Garden Street with me today."
"Good afternoon, madam, this investigation is just my personal curiosity and there is no charge. It happens that my writer friend is writing a detective novel, and I want to help her collect some materials."
Shade handed over his business card as he spoke. The name "Detective of St. Teresa's Square" was very bluffing. In addition, he was a friend brought by Priest Augustus, so Mrs. Freeman naturally wouldn't mind.
his appearance.
After thanking Shade in a low voice, Priest Augustus talked about their experiences in the morning. When asked about the attic, Mrs. Freeman also recalled the oil paintings:
"Those are my husband's scrap manuscripts. Usually these works are burned to prevent them from being sold on the market. He passed away too suddenly and did not have time to destroy the last batch of scrap manuscripts. I originally planned to take them away, but I probably forgot.
It's in the attic."
Shade actually sympathized with this middle-aged woman. She had no legitimate income, and her whole family relied on the dead painter. When she hurriedly moved out of the house, she even left her luggage behind. In the days that followed, she sold the house
From now on, they will have to survive on their own with the few remaining paintings at home.
"I want to confirm whether there were any blood stains in the attic when Mr. Freeman suffered an accident?"
Shade asked. Mrs. Freeman nodded with a sad look on her face:
"Yes, there were cuts on his palms. In addition, there were five or six old non-fatal wounds on his body. The police at Ridwich Field also discovered this when they examined the body, but
No matching knife was found in the attic, and it was later speculated that he hit something sharp when he fell."
"I do not know you"
Shade wanted to ask Mr. Freeman what the woman in front of him was doing when the accident happened, but the words came to his lips but he couldn't say it. The experience of a young foreigner is not as good as that of an old priest. Priest August said another way.
:
"How long after Mr. Freeman's accident did you discover him?"
"About half an hour later, the children were playing in the garden and I went to buy bread. We thought he was collecting old drawings in the attic, but we didn't expect it."
Even though a week has passed, the woman still forgot the horrific scene that day.
Shade and the priest, who were sitting on the sofa, glanced at each other. The priest said cautiously:
"What happened to Mr. Freeman seems to have nothing to do with the generally recognized haunting incident in the church. However, within a week or two after Mr. Freeman's mental state changed, did he come into contact with anything strange?
For example, antiques bought from nowhere, strange potions, or bone ornaments accidentally obtained from vendors?"
"No, he has been busy painting all summer and rarely produces anything. If it is really strange, it can only be half a month ago. A friend he met in Kasenlik when he was young sent it from the south.
Some of his oil paintings. An old local painter passed away, and his collection of worthless old paintings were sold in batches. My husband commissioned a friend to buy a batch, hoping to find some inspiration from other people's painting styles."
Shade looked at the priest again. In this way, their original thinking was wrong. It was not the evil spirit occupying the house, nor was there any secret in the house itself. If Mr. Freeman's death was really involved
Mysterious, then it is probably related to those paintings.
When they moved, Mrs. Freeman also took those paintings to the new rental apartment. Because the family only lived here temporarily, and planned to wait until the previous house was sold, then move to a cheaper neighborhood in Tobesk North District.
Therefore, most of the luggage was not unpacked but stored in a separate room in the apartment.
Most of the wooden boxes stacked in the corner are paintings collected by Mr. Griemann during his lifetime. It is a pity that these relics are not valuable, otherwise the family's life could be improved.
Mrs. Greenman quickly found the wooden box where the oil paintings were stored. The wooden box had been opened, and a very professional cardboard picture folder was used to store the oil paintings.
Priest August took the folder and started rummaging through it, while Shade stood aside and chatted with Mrs. Freeman:
"I noticed that this wooden box has been opened. Has anyone touched the contents?"
"The children may have rummaged for toys inside. After moving here, I have been dealing with things all day long and rarely take care of them."
"Shadow!"
The priest suddenly shouted, and Shade turned around quickly:
"What's wrong?"
"One piece is missing, one picture is missing."
He opened the white cardboard picture folder, and one of the pictures in the middle was actually blank. These were not the front and back ends, but the two pictures adjacent to this page were also there, so a picture was indeed missing here.
"Maybe the children moved it"
Seeing that both Shade and the old priest looked wrong, the middle-aged woman who didn't know what was going on said in a panic.
The priest immediately gave her the picture folder:
"Mrs. Freeman, please confirm which painting is missing here and recall the content. Shade, you go find the older boy, and I will bring the little girl over."
"clear."
The rental apartment was about the same size as Room 1 on the second floor of Sha De's house. After leaving the room where the cardboard boxes were stored, Sha De walked forward and crossed the bathroom door, then reached out and knocked on the closed door:
"Please open the door. Your mother has something to do with you."
But there was no sound from inside. Shade turned his head and saw that Priest Augustus had led the little girl holding the rabbit doll out of the room, and Mrs. Grimman, who was holding a picture folder, also came outside, with a look on her face. Somewhat dazed:
"The lost painting, I remember, seems to be a painting of the sundries placed on the table. A rotten black apple, a plaster statue of two heads on the front and back, a toy wooden model of a three-story house, a golden pendant and a An antique vase with a weird pattern. I have no deep impression of this painting. If you hadn’t mentioned it, I wouldn’t have even remembered that I knew this painting existed.”
There was a puzzled look on her face, obviously she had doubts about her memory.
In Mrs. Freeman's account, everything on the picture sounded problematic.