In Ice City.
It's winter, and it's minus 30 or 40 degrees outside. I can't bear it without drinking some wine at night.
It was so cold that when Wu En sent Zhou Sen home, his toes in his leather boots were as cold as ice.
"Wu En, can you go back alone?" Zhou Sen asked worriedly. Wu En lives with his family in Guxiangtun outside the road, which is a bit far away.
"Don't worry, young master, I'll be fine. I can walk back on the road to Ice City with my eyes closed," Wu En said.
"Okay, then be careful on the road." After hearing what he said, Zhou Sen stopped insisting and gave an instruction.
…
After entering the door, she took off her heavy leather boots and stepped on the slippers that Irina had prepared long ago. Her toes were still numb.
"Master, dinner is ready..."
"Irina, I had dinner outside. You can eat it by yourself. You can boil some water for me later. I want to take a bath." Zhou Sen ordered.
"Okay, Master."
In fact, he had wanted to take a bath for a long time, but he just didn't have the nerve to open his mouth. After all, he was not used to ordering people around.
…
The bathtub is filled with hot water.
I took off my clothes and got in. The hot water opened the pores all over my body. It felt so comfortable. All my worries were temporarily forgotten. No wonder northerners like to take a bath.
This is not a bathhouse at home. After soaking for a quarter of an hour, the water is almost a little cold. I wipe off the water, put on a thick bathrobe, and walk into my room.
The fireplace was already burning brightly, and the temperature in the room was incomparable to that outside.
Calculating time, he had been living in place of his original body for almost three days. Although he was still figuring out some situations, he knew that his situation was not too good.
He brought back the files on Serkin's murder case, although he knew that the case was very deep and there might be many obstacles to solving it.
But he still wanted to study the case and be aware of it.
In the study room, Zhou Sen turned on the lamp on the desk, opened the file bag containing the dossier, and took out the documents inside.
A list of documents.
A profile of Serkin, including age, background, school he graduated from, political leanings, etc., is very detailed.
But this is a transcript, not the original.
There was a transcript of the inquiry made by a servant of the Serkin family, which was quite detailed. Zhou Sen read it and put it aside to analyze it carefully later.
Then there are the police instructions at the scene and the photos taken.
It records in detail who called out the police, the time and the traces found at the scene, including fingerprints collected from Serkin's bedroom and traces of someone climbing in the fireplace chimney.
The photo was taken at the scene. It is black and white and very clear. When Serkin died, his eyes were wide open. I don’t know whether it was the fear of death or what he saw before dying. People and things that frightened him.
The knife edge was about three inches on the right side of the neck. Judging from the direction in which the murderer struck the knife, he should have held the knife in his left hand. Could it be that the murderer was left-handed?
The last one is the autopsy report.
The autopsy report was written in Japanese, which Zhou Sen could naturally understand. It detailed the time and cause of Serkin's death, focusing on the description of the knife that cut through the right side of his neck.
The knife was fast, ruthless and accurate, leaving almost no chance for the victim to struggle or resist. Moreover, after the murderer cut off the artery in Serkin's neck, he quickly covered him with a quilt and pressed him hard on the bed, making him unable to make any sound, spraying All the blood was absorbed by the quilt...
The killing method was decisive and neat. There were traces of climbing in the chimney afterwards, leaving no clue at all.
The murderer must be a professional and a veteran.
Even veteran policemen who have been working for decades would be frightened when encountering such a desperado, let alone a young policeman like Zhou Sen. Even if he knew the identity of the murderer, it would be difficult to catch him.
Looking at the information on the table, Zhou Sen fell into deep thought.
When Serkin was killed, the police were dispatched by the Special Branch of the National Police Department, which was unusual in itself. Later, the case was transferred to Nangang Police Station. Lin Dakuan was so easy to talk to? And Akiyama Nosuke actually handed the case over to him, which was a little weird. It was just because the case happened in his patrol area. Did he also investigate the scene?
The reason is too far-fetched.
In addition, the attitude of "Songjiang Daily News" towards Serkin's murder was a bit strange. It was very indifferent, with a feeling of indifference and aloofness.
There are various signs that this is by no means an ordinary murder case, and there must be some unknown secret hidden in it.
But why is it myself?
No, it should be Zhou Sen's original body. Is there anything special about him?
Zhou Sen felt panic for no reason, and even a thin layer of sweat appeared on his forehead. It was about his family and life, how could he not be nervous?
No one wants to die.
He glanced at the secret cabinet in the bookcase.
Do you want to open that wooden box and take a look?
Zhou Sen finally convinced himself that he should be principled and not covet other people's privacy and secrets, even those of his closest relatives.
Now that belief is shaken.
Look!
The worst he could do was wait until Father Anthony came back and let him beat him up. Right now, this box was the only thing he could think of to solve the confusion in his heart.
He pressed the switch, opened the secret cabinet, took out the wooden box inside, and put it on the table. He hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and reached out to open the copper buckle on the box.
There was no mechanism in the box and it opened easily. Zhou Sen looked inside and saw a copper key pressed on a piece of letterhead.
He took out the letterhead and opened it. It turned out to be a letter left by Anthony's father to the original person, that is, him.
The handwriting is very sloppy and I was in a hurry when I should have been writing.
The letter on the letterhead is "Dear Wasim". Father Anthony likes to call him by his Russian name, but he prefers his Chinese name. After all, he is Chinese both inside and outside.
The letter was written in Russian.
There are not many words, only half a page is written on one piece of paper. The general meaning is that Anthony's father is going out to do something very important, and it may take a long time to come back, if he fails to return to Ice City after half a year.
Let Zhou Sen take the key in the box to the Ice City Jockey Club and pick up the things he left at the club.
Anthony's father loved horse racing. He spent a lot of money to buy a Turkic horse and kept it at the racecourse club. Although this Turkic horse called "Black Rose" did not stand out among the horse racing horses, it also brought him a lot of success. Benefit.
Zhou Sen took the copper key in the box and played with it. Horse racing is actually gambling. It was originally started by the White Russian nobles and wealthy people who fled to the Ice City. Later, the Chinese got involved. After the Japanese came, He took over strongly.
Horse racing is held from April to October every year. It is the middle of winter and no one goes to the Jockey Club at all. All horses used for competition are fostered at the racecourse and are cared for by specialized grooms.
Bingcheng Jockey Club is in Fujiadian, and the round trip only takes half a day.
Do you want to go there tomorrow?
Anthony's father gave him a time limit of half a year before he could go to the club to pick up the things left for him if he did not return to Ice City. But now it has only been three months...
This made him very embarrassed.
Bang!
A crisp sound came, startling Zhou Sen. He quickly put the letter and key back into the box and stuffed them into the secret cabinet.
It is safer to put this thing in the secret cabinet of the agency.
"Irina..." Zhou Sen stepped on his slippers, opened the door and went out, walking down the stairs.
"Master Wasim, I woke you up." Irina ran out of the kitchen in her pajamas and said apologetically.
"what happened?"
"It should be Lucy, it broke the plates in the kitchen at home again!" Irina said with a bitter smile.
"Lucy, Lucy..." Zhou Sen called out. He hadn't seen this little thing since he came back, and he didn't know where he went to play in a corner.
Meow!
A white shadow jumped out from the corner, followed the handrail of the stairs, and then got into his arms.
Her round eyes blinked at him in a flattering manner, with an expression intended to please, obviously begging for mercy for breaking the dishes at home.
"Irina, if the plate is broken, it is broken. Don't clean it up now. Clean it up tomorrow. Go back to the house and rest first." Zhou Sen said to Irina in Russian.
"Okay, Master Wasim." Irina agreed and turned back to the room.
Zhou Sen was about to return to the study when Lucy broke away from his arms, yelled, and ran downstairs again.
"Lucy..."
Lucy stopped, turned to look at Zhou Sen, and shouted at him.
Although Zhou Sen didn't understand meow language, for a moment he had the illusion that the little thing's expression clearly told him to follow it.
Whether it was out of curiosity or something else, he walked downstairs and followed him.
This is a storage room, which contains items that are rarely used and no one usually comes to it.
After Lucy brought Zhou Sen in, she turned on the light and saw two rows of shelves against the wall with various items on them, all covered with a layer of dust.
The most striking thing is that cat paw prints can be seen messy on these shelves. It seems that this is where Lucy often plays and is her territory.
He looked around at the items on the shelves, but there was nothing that caught his attention. They were all things he didn't use.
Meow!
Lucy suddenly squatted down, scratched a wall with her paws, and screamed.
Zhou Sen also felt that he was in a daze. How could he trust a cat and actually follow it? He stepped forward and picked up Lucy: "Lucy, it's too dirty here. Come on, let's go back to sleep, okay?" good?"
But Zhou Sen hugged him empty-handed, and Lucy actually dodged over and yelled at the wall again, seeming to be a little anxious.
Is there something wrong with this wall?
Zhou Sen thought of the mechanism of the oil painting in the study. He was sure that Anthony's father was no ordinary businessman. Could there be any secrets in this ordinary storage room?
I carefully observed the layout of the storage room again. Although the items were placed a bit messy, there were no obstacles at all from the entrance to the wall, and there were no shelves or items placed in front of the wall.
Zhou Sen carefully observed the wall, then reached out and knocked gently. He found nothing unusual and was about to leave again.
Suddenly his eyes glanced at the black lamp holder on the wall.
Is the secret in the lamp holder?
Zhou Sen thought about it, stretched out his hand, held the cast iron lamp holder, and when he exerted force, he found that it could actually rotate. He looked surprised and turned it hard.
The wall in front of him turned away from the middle, revealing a small secret room.
