"Sickert is a painter, born in Munich, his mother is British. Not only does he have several properties in France, but he also has a residence in the East End of London. Therefore, this guy often travels back and forth between the two countries."
Hearing this, Lu Li suddenly had an idea flash in his mind, and he thought of the provocation letter sent to the police station last night.
There was an inconspicuous red spot on the letter, but I didn't pay much attention to it at the time. I preconceived the idea that it was the murderer who deliberately dripped the victim's blood in order to satisfy his morbid psychology.
Now that I think about it, the color isn't quite right.
Maybe it's the paint the artist used when drawing?
"In the afternoon, our informant bribed Sickert's neighbor. The old woman claimed that he lived an unruly life. He often played with some wandering warblers until late at night, and also painted some indecent works."
"Therefore, the informant purposely bought a few paintings from Sickert's personal gallery."
With that said, Lin Nai stopped reading, opened the briefcase under his arm, took out a few sketches, and handed them to Lu Li and George.
Is this an homage to a Renaissance master?
"Venus of Urbino"
Lu Li frowned. He felt that Sickert's painting seemed to be imitating this world-famous painting, but the colors were darker. Rain was beating on the glass window, the moon was hidden behind the clouds, and a woman was lying on her back on the bed.
"shameless!"
At this time, George, who was sitting next to him, punched hard. It seemed that he was affected by the painting in his hand.
"Mr. Detective, I feel that this guy is the most suspicious. Why don't we go to his residence first?"
With that said, he handed three paintings to Lu Li.
The first one has a name!
"Murder in a Nameless Town Part 1"
The light in the room is dim, the atmosphere is gloomy and silent. On the iron bed, there is a sleeping woman lying with curlers on her head. Her face is turned to the wall, her face is a little rosy, she seems to be slightly drunk, and there is a woman sitting on the edge of the bed. The neatly dressed man clasped his fingers and lowered his head in thought.
Murder?
From a detective's point of view, Lu Li felt that this should describe the murderer's psychological struggle before the crime, while the victim had no idea about it and had already fallen asleep.
Sure enough, when he turned his attention to the second painting, he was stunned for an instant.
"Murder in a Nameless Town Part 2"
In another secret room, a neatly dressed young man wearing a deerstalker hat sat on the edge of the bed, folding his arms and looking directly at a blonde woman. The woman's hands were tied and she was struggling hard. Her expression was very ferocious, as if her soul was trembling. , and the sheets were stained with blood spots.
Obviously, this describes the murderer interrogating the victim, acting like a superior judge.
"Murder in a Nameless Town Part 3"
The scene changed again. It was still on the iron bed. The woman was lying alone on her side with her legs curled up. There seemed to be no wounds on her body, but her face was a little blurry and she couldn't see it clearly. The white sheets were also changed to red unconsciously. , the man also disappeared.
If the painting hadn't been named a murder case, Lu Li would have thought the painting was normal, just a little weird.
Judging from the progress of the first two paintings, the last one is definitely a killer!
However, in the painter's painting, the strange woman seemed to be sleeping peacefully, and everything seemed like a dream.
Could it be hinting at the murderer's spiritual world? The man committed such a crime in the heat of the moment. After calming down, he felt no guilt and felt that he had done a good thing. The woman slept peacefully in the cradle of her Heavenly Father.
Okay, the last item is purely Lu Li's personal conjecture. Anyway, normal people cannot adopt the thinking mode of pathological artists and psychopaths.
"Mr. Lasker, don't make a decision with preconceived ideas. One whole night is enough for us to visit one by one."
Lu Li put the four paintings back into his briefcase, then leaned on the cushions and took a long breath, as if he had been stimulated.
Frankly speaking, he felt that the two known suspects were not good people. Even if they were not Jack the Ripper himself, they must be doing murder and arson behind the scenes.
"Mr. Linnaeus, please continue to tell us about the last suspect."
"Okay, several informants who participated in the interview unanimously believe that this man named Aaron Kosminski is very suspicious."
Um?
Lu Li straightened up. He hated other people's preconceptions about the problem, especially in a job like informant. Private information should never be involved. It was best to describe things objectively, so as not to interfere with the judgment of detectives and police.
However, Mr. Lasker's informant skills are very good, and he can dig out any breaking news and trivial details, which makes him have some expectations in his heart.
"Aaron Kosminski was born in the Polish town of Korodava under the rule of the Tsar. In 1881, due to economic depression and fear of the Tsar's butcher knife, his family emigrated to London."
"Soon, he and other Jewish refugees who also fled settled in the slums of Whitechapel District. It is reported that one of his sisters and two brothers also left Russia and lived in Whitechapel District. After that, his widowed mother also immigrated Stay here."
"During this period, Aaron has been working as a barber, claiming to be proficient in medical skills, and trying to provide paid services to some other refugees around him."
Barbers provide medical services?
It sounds fantastic, but it is real. Although modern medicine has begun, the concept of bacteria has been proposed, and even masks have emerged.
However, in this era, there are still many loyal believers in the bloodletting therapy advocated by ancient Western medicine.
What’s even more ridiculous is that today, barbers have developed a complete set of tools and operating systems. In addition to shaving, shaving, extracting teeth, and bleeding, they can also do the work of surgeons.
For example, amputation.
Lu Li felt that this description was a bit inappropriate. It should be said that barbers were the ancestors of surgeons.
"What evidence is there to show that he is highly suspicious?"
George was a little impatient. After hearing this, he felt that the emperor's eldest grandson was more suspicious than this refugee. Even though this guy's origins were very suspicious and his family had a very bad reputation in the Western countries, there was no substantial evidence and everything was nonsense.
"The informant said that this guy has been talking to himself a lot recently, hiding in remote corners, saying don't eat me, and seems to be delusional and afraid of being eaten by others, which drives him to pick up and eat food thrown away as garbage. He also refused to groom himself. The cause of his insanity was recorded as "self-wed," often considered a euphemism for adultery, and a poor diet that left him looking permanently emaciated."
A memo written by Inspector Melville Macnaghten, assistant to the Metropolitan Police's county chief constable, identified one of the Polish Jewish suspects as "Kosminski" (who had no name).
