"Where is this Hesta now?" Si Lei asked.
"I don't know," another police officer replied. "From the currently public mercury needle list, we can't find this person's information, and her name is not on the graduation list of the reserve base in the past ten years."
"Why not submit an inquiry application directly to AHgAs?" Si Lei looked puzzled, "Jane Hestad was only eleven years old when the 'Robert Case' happened. We must at least get her current photos first? With that? What can this close-up of a child do - it's obviously been artistically manipulated."
"We have applied. We have applied through all possible channels, but there is no response," the police officer replied. "We called the AHgAs workstation and asked. They said that this mercury needle has a special status and needs to go through some internal review procedures first. Only then can we advance.”
"Okay," Si Lei shook his head, "Why does Viscount Nari think Hesta is the murderer?"
"Uh...he said he can't say anything yet."
Si Lei's expression froze, and she glanced at everyone present in disbelief, "...Is this what you call 'major progress'?"
All participants fell into silence at the same time.
Inspector Paul, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke up. He cleared his throat and said, "Ahem. Officer Si Lei may not know the full story of the case yet... First of all, so far, we have investigated all the cases. We are following up on all the people related to the Hoffman case who cannot be ruled out as suspects. Once new clues emerge, we will be able to grasp them at any time.
"Secondly, the reason why this case is said to have made significant progress is mainly because Viscount Rich directly gave a prediction of the next victim."
The police inspector waved his hand and motioned to his colleagues to change the slides.
Soon, Hesta on the screen was replaced by five photos of middle-aged men. Si Lei recognized the murdered Baron Hoffman in the upper left corner at a glance.
The police inspector continued: "Except Viscount Rich, the remaining three are Duke Villefort, Count Schmidt and Viscount Danglars. At present, we have strengthened the security of the residences of these four people, especially Viscount Rich."
Si Lei held a ballpoint pen in her hand. She stared at the male face on the screen and suddenly frowned, "Uh... is this Duke Villefort the 'Villefort' who often appears in church activities?"
"Yes, it's him."
"Interesting..." Si Lei murmured, "There is actually a gentleman here?"
"What?" Pauler blew his beard and glared at the little man in front of him, "Watch your wording, Officer Su Lei, Count Schmidt is our old police inspector!"
"Oh, haha." Si Lei smiled belatedly. She grabbed the ballpoint pen in her hand and clicked it on her notebook several times. "I didn't mean to say that Inspector Schmidt has a bad character." , it’s just that Duke Villefort is too famous.”
Pauler suppressed his anger and continued, "Today is the 27th. It has been five days since Viscount Rich received the first photo. However, since the 23rd, the Viscount has not received any letters. Accordingly, we There is reason to believe that the murderer's rhythm is interrupted to a certain extent by us compared with the murder of Baron Hoffmann.
"Third, since Viscount Rich raised the possibility that the murderer was a mercury needle, we believe that AHgAs should also be deeply involved in this case, just like the Fernand case. Fourth -"
"Excuse me, I'm sorry... I suddenly remembered something important, so I'd better excuse me first." Si Lei stood up.
"What...where are you going?"
"Viscount Rich's residence. Some things are best asked face to face." Si Lei opened his folder. "Can I ask him which residence he is staying in during this time?"
"The nearest one is the one on L'Enfant Avenue." The police officer on the side responded quickly. "We suggested that he leave there temporarily. We could choose a secret address for him, but he refused."
Si Lei couldn't help but laugh again - judging from everything happening in this house at this moment, the Viscount might have made the right decision.
"What are you laughing at again?" Pauler asked angrily.
"I just like to laugh, Inspector Pauler, especially when there may be a twist in the case," Si Lei took a few steps back. "I'll see you again in the afternoon."
…
In the afternoon, when Si Lei appeared in Inspector Pauler's office again, she brought back two photos, one of which was intact, while the second one was burned into gray-black residue along with the envelope, leaving only In one corner, Si Lei sealed it in a plastic bag specially used to preserve evidence.
The intact photo still showed the portrait of Viscount Rich - it was the Viscount's back in a deep alley.
"This...where did you find it?"
"In the two fireplaces of the Viscount's house," Si Lei said with a smile, "I guess the murderer climbed up the chimney of the Viscount's house like Santa Claus, and then dropped this gift."
"But how did you know there was going to be in the fireplace—"
"It's just an unexpected gain. I suggest the Viscount ask the servants to tidy up the house." Si Lei gently arranged the two photos in the shape of a "one" with his fingers. "He has not been having a good time these days. There are a lot of people guarding him." There was a mess everywhere at every entrance.”
Pauler stared at the photo in front of him. After a while, he noticed something, "...This photo was not taken in the past few days?"
"Of course not," Si Lei immediately agreed. "I asked the Viscount. He has been staying at home these past few days and has not gone anywhere. As for the specific time when these two photos were taken, I also verified it with the Viscount himself. .
"I remember that every photo received by the last deceased, Hoffman, was taken on the previous day, but Richie's photos were obviously not so particular - the first time he received the photos was October 22, and These photos were all taken much earlier than October 21."
Si Lei pointed to the photo of the Viscount's back, "This photo was taken on Narcissus Road in the afternoon of October 10th. That afternoon, Li Xi went to watch a play at the small theater over there."
Immediately afterwards, Si Lei moved his finger to the remaining photo, "This one, although the portrait has been burned, judging from the bricks on the ground, the location is obviously in Freedom Square, and in the past month, Li Xi has only been in 10 I went for a walk in that area on the evening of the 6th."
Pauler gasped.
It seems that his judgment was wrong. In fact, the murderer never stopped sending letters.
This unscrupulous assailant had already prepared two plans. If the victim went about his daily activities indifferently like Huffman, he would take real-time photos every day. If the victim stayed behind closed doors like Rich, he would deliver the photos in advance. Good photos.
Pauler counted with his fingers, "...There should be two more photos that haven't been found."
