War Photographer's Notebook

In the study room bathed in bright sunshine, Wei Ran asked puzzledly after a moment of silence, "But Mrs. Kate, does this mean anything? I mean, why do you and Mr. Henry care so much about this matter?"

"Because of Henry's grandmother," Kate sighed, "If it weren't for her blocking, I should have married Henry."

"Henry's grandmother?" Wei Ran was a little confused for a moment, and felt that the relationship between these characters seemed to be getting more and more confusing.

"That farm was a special family, and the owner's name was William Harrington."

Mrs. Kate explained, "My father, Henry's father, and Sean's father, they grew up on that farm, but only Sean and his father's surname was Harrington. My father and I His last name is Klinsmann. Henry’s last name is Speer."

"So only Sean is related to the rancher?"

Wei Ran couldn't help but grin to himself. He just thought that Mrs. Kate and Sean were registered as specialists in German orthopedics.

Mrs. Kate nodded, "Although we are not related by blood, both my father and Henry's father called William as father, and the three of us also called the kind old man after grandfather."

"So Henry's grandmother"

"She was not William's grandfather's wife"

Kate pinched the corners of her eyes, "Even so, we are still used to calling her Grandma, Grandma Heidi. That is a crazy woman, and her sanity is not always clear.

Grandma Heidi was always very hostile to me and my father when she was awake. She always calls me and my father using terms such as 'executioner's child' and 'devil's bastard'.

But when she was unconscious, she treated us equally and kindly. Even because I was the only girl among three peers, she was kinder to me than Henry when she was unconscious. "

Hearing this, Wei Ran, who already had some guesses, asked carefully, "So the reason why you weren't with Henry back then was..."

"When Henry confessed his love to me, Grandma Heidi saw it, and she happened to be sane."

Kate sighed, "She stuck a kitchen knife into my stomach, and then she was shot to death by my mother. Although I survived after resuscitation, the Henrys moved away."

"that year."

"I was 18 and Henry was 16."

Mrs. Kate smiled bitterly, "I don't blame Grandma Heidi, let alone Henry, just like neither Henry nor Henry's parents blame me and my parents. But their family still moved away from the farm Even Grandpa William didn't know where his family had gone.

Not long after I recovered from my injury, our grandfather William also passed away. Before he died, he called me into the room alone and told me that it was not my fault and asked me not to blame myself.

It was also at that time, after my questioning, that he told me that all that was left of my real grandfather was the finger, and he wanted me to keep this secret forever. He also hoped that I would protect the buoy, but he didn't even have time to tell me what exactly happened. "

Looking at Mrs. Kate with red eyes across the table, Wei Ran sighed, bent down and took out two tissues from the table and handed them to the other party. Then he stood up and walked out of the room, helping Mrs. Kate who was crying uncontrollably to close the door.

"Sir, is grandma crying?" Outside the door, the not-so-pleasant but extremely polite little fat man asked in stumbling French.

"Let her stay alone for a while." Wei Ran knelt down and asked, "Little guy, what's your name? Who did you learn French from?"

"William"

The little guy politely replied, "Our school already has French courses, and my grandmother often helps me with French lessons."

"Where's your mother?" Wei Ran asked with a smile, "Ms. Alice, can you speak French?"

"My mother doesn't speak French. My grandmother said that my mother is not a person who likes to learn, especially languages."

The little fat man named William spread his hands like an adult, "Sir, your French is better than that of my French teacher. My grandmother always said that my French teacher's accent is like spoiled French red wine." The smell, makes you sick and drowsy.”

"Thank you for the compliment. Besides, your grandmother's description is very interesting."

Wei Ran asked casually, "William, what does your mother Alice do?"

"She's half a forensic scientist," William said, scratching the back of his head. "She's my father's assistant."

Forensic?

Wei Ran smiled and said, "William, can you take me to find my companion?"

"Please come with me"

Fatty William nodded and glanced worriedly at the door that had been closed behind Wei Ran before taking him downstairs and into a sunroom with glass on three sides and the top of his head.

At this time, Alice, lawyer Carlos, Marta and Luxinda were sitting around the tea table drinking tea and snacks, chatting by the way.

"Are you done talking?" Lawyer Carlos was the first to say hello.

“We’re done talking for now.”

Wei Ran nodded and sat next to Carlos' lawyer, "Let Mrs. Kate stay by herself for a while."

"Mr. Victor, did my mother say anything to you?" Alice asked while pouring tea for Wei Ran after her son finished whispering into her ear.

After Marta, who was sitting on the other side, finished translating, Wei Ran said apologetically, "Sorry, Ms. Alice, I need to keep the conversation I just had with Mrs. Kate confidential, so I can't answer your question."

"It's okay." Alice seemed to have expected such an answer. She just pushed the tea cup to Wei Ran and said, "Please have a cup of tea."

After Marta finished translating, Wei Ran thanked her and picked up the cup, saying that they could continue chatting and there was no need to translate for him.

It was through the opportunity of eavesdropping due to "not knowing English" that Wei Ran also learned from a few words that Alice was a forensic assistant working for the London Police Department, and her ex-husband worked in the same office. of forensic medicine.

In other words, although the couple is divorced, they still see each other and are still working partners. Obviously, although forensic doctors and field doctors face different customer groups, Alice and Marta can still find enough topics to talk about.

What's more, the wonderful marital status of her and her ex-husband is also a topic that can quickly bring women closer and talk about it all day long.

Listening to the topic becoming less and less nutritious, Lawyer Carlos also quit the group chat. After winking at Wei Ran, the two of them left the beautiful reception room one after another and walked through the small area next to it. I opened the door and walked into a garden full of flowers and plants.

"I helped Mrs. Kate and Ms. Alice get their share of the inheritance, and I received a commission of about £6."

Lawyer Carlos whispered as he walked towards the antique truck that once belonged to Henry not far away, "Of course, this commission also includes the cost of bringing you here and the cost of sending the black man to prison."

Before Wei Ran could say anything, lawyer Carlos added, "Mrs. Kate got this mansion from Mr. Henry's estate, as well as another villa also located in Brighton, and the farm. Of course, And all of Mr. Henry's collection.

As Mr. Henry's adopted daughter, Lady Alice received a cash inheritance of nearly one million pounds. In addition, while Mr. Henry was still alive, he bought her an apartment in London less than 100 meters away from the police station where she worked. "

"Mr. Henry is really a real rich man," Wei Ran said with emotion as if he didn't understand the hint that the other party was revealing Kate's mother and daughter's family background.

"This is just a small part"

Attorney Carlos stopped at the front of the truck, "Mr. Henry's other children shared the stock options held by Mr. Henry and some real estate in New York. Generally speaking, it is a fair way to distribute the inheritance. .”

At this point, lawyer Carlos turned around and looked at Wei Ran and said, "Victor, do you see the door leading to the underground garage in the distance?"

"saw"

While Wei Ran responded, he also leaned on the slightly dented front bumper of the truck, took the cigarette from the other party and lit it.

"Mr. Henry's collections are all stored in the underground garage. This is what Alice told me when you were communicating with Mrs. Kate just now. She even took us to have a look in the underground garage."

"so."

"She asked me to ask you if I can use those collections as your reward."

Lawyer Carlos said in the thick smoke, "If you want, except for the things related to the rescue buoy and this truck, you can take away the rest of the military collection."

"All of them?" Wei Ran was stunned. He hadn't encountered such a generous customer for a long time - even though he didn't know the total number of Henry's collections.

"Yes, all."

Lawyer Carlos nodded, "This is what Mrs. Kate means. She has no interest in these things collected by Henry at all. Instead, she will think of Mr. Henry's misfortune. In this case, it is better to leave it to you, a historian."

Looking up at the floor-to-ceiling windows of the study room on the second floor, Wei Ran pondered for a moment and then put out the cigarette he had only taken a puff on. "If you can, take me to see those collections."

"Come with me"

Lawyer Carlos said as he also put out the cigarette in his hand and led Wei Ran towards the door leading to the underground garage.

Of course, nothing could be seen from the outside of the underground garage, but when the two of them walked in, they realized that the area of ​​​​the garage was almost as big as the yard above the ground.

In this large underground space, the farthest corner is a small shooting range, and only less than half of the rest of the area is functioning as a garage. The other half is just a small underground gun store.

Compared with the various types of individual weapons from various countries during World War II, Wei Ran was more interested in the several exceptionally beautifully decorated Volkswagen T1 vans parked in the garage.

Unfortunately, before he could walk over, he heard lawyer Carlos say, "Except for those Volkswagen vans, you can take away the rest if you like."

Hearing this, Wei Ran grinned and walked non-stop through the unreachable parking lot and walked to the underground armory surrounded by shelves and barbed wire.

On these shelves that go straight to the ceiling, there are four categories: pistols, submachine guns, rifles, and machine guns.

In addition, there are several shelves with various radio stations, optical equipment such as telescopes and sights, and even cold weapons such as bayonets, engineering shovels, and gas masks. , various types of kettles and other miscellaneous individual equipment.

In the innermost part, there is actually a Flak 38 20mm single-barreled anti-aircraft gun equipped with a shield and a shell recovery basket, and an Oerlikon rapid-fire gun of the same caliber, but the ammunition is not universal.

Compared with the personal equipment that Wei Ran had personally used or had never used, when the two of them walked into the center of the firearms warehouse, they found that there were several small lathes, milling machines, etc. that had been wiped and wiped extremely clean. Boring machines and various woodworking tools.

Forget it, there are two large wooden boxes on one side of the workbench. In one of the boxes, there were forty or fifty Enfield rifles that were not in good condition. And in another wooden box next to it, there were actually dozens more Delisle silent carbines!

Lawyer Carlos reached out and picked up a Delear carbine and said regretfully, "Mr. Henry was killed by this gun." "No wonder." Wei Ran muttered subconsciously, "It turns out that these guns were forged by Mr. Henry himself."

"What did you say?" Lawyer Carlos looked up at Wei Ran.

"I said these guns were all forged by Mr. Henry himself."

Wei Ran also picked up a Deliar carbine as he spoke, "The production of this silenced weapon is very small, and each one is very rare and very expensive. I have always been surprised that when I first met Mr. Henry, he How could you decide so casually to give me such an expensive weapon as a gift?"

"Forgery? Does he still lack this little money?" Lawyer Carlos couldn't help but muttered.

"You do not understand"

As he spoke, Wei Ran put down the perfectly reproduced weapon in his hand and continued to visit while explaining, "Mr. Henry, who likes to lie, is a military fan. Well, military fan who likes to lie may be more accurate. For him, In other words, rather than profiting from counterfeiting, he may be more addicted to the fun of the fact that others cannot tell that this is his replica carbine."

"Is this equivalent to recognition of his craftsmanship?" Carlos also put down the carbine and asked, "Have you accepted that weapon?"

"That's pretty much it, but I didn't confiscate it at the time. Private possession of silenced weapons is not allowed in Russia."

After Wei Ran finished speaking, he turned around and pointed at the surrounding shelves to change the topic, "Mrs. Kate and Ms. Alice, are you saying that these weapons are all mine?"

"If you can investigate the truth, these things can be yours." After lawyer Carlos added the core conditions, he asked, "How about it? Are you interested?"

"Of course, of course I'm interested."

Wei Ran replied without thinking. Just looking at it, the individual weapons from various countries in World War II are in very good condition. They can be used for shooting with bullets loaded, and they can be used as decoration without bullets. kind of.

These antique weapons alone, even if sold to Mr. Alexander in Volgograd, can easily be exchanged for more than ten to two to three million US dollars, not to mention those military equipment such as antique radio stations, and those few that look different. Cheap high-precision machining equipment, and even the two 30mm cannons, are not bargains.

To put it bluntly, this is just a picker, a picker who picks up Mrs. Kate and Alice who don't understand these things and look down on these scrap metals.

But the problem is that it's obviously not that easy to transport these things back to Russia, especially if he doesn't want to trouble the teachers at the Hongqi Forest Farm for this trivial matter.

"Since there is interest, let's sign the employment agreement first."

Lawyer Carlos said as he walked out, "Then you can start your work as soon as possible, and I can go back to the United States to deal with other things first."

"It's not urgent," Wei Ran said as he followed the other person out, "Before that, I need to make a call first."

"I'll wait for you in the reception room." Lawyer Carlos said casually.

After walking out of the underground garage a little faster, Wei Ran took out his cell phone, thought about it and called Mr. Alexander in Volgograd.

"Victor, is there any good news?" As soon as the call was connected, Alexander on the other end asked with a smile.

"I'm looking for help from Mr. Alexander," Wei Ran responded with the same smile.

"Tell me, what do you need me to do for you?" Alexander on the other end of the phone asked particularly cheerfully.

"I got a batch of antique World War II weapons in the UK. They are basically individual equipment. The biggest one is just a Flak38 anti-aircraft gun."

After a pause, Weiran continued, "It's just that the quantity is quite large. Mr. Alexander, is there any way you can legally get these weapons back to Russia?"

"this is very simple"

Alexander said without thinking, "My museum can help you apply for it, what? Do you also want to build a museum?"

"I don't have that much energy. These things are actually my commissions. I plan to use those antique weapons to support Aurora's business, such as opening a shooting range or something."

What Wei Ran just said was the truth. Although he was a historian, he would not build a military museum even if he only considered his own life.

Of course, he himself is not without benefits. Among other things, with a shooting range, he can openly purchase various military surplus ammunition in the future.

"There are actually people using this kind of thing to pay commissions, and you actually agreed?"

Alexander muttered something rather strange, and then said happily that he would help get those things back, and all Wei Yan needed to do was to pack those weapons into the container.

After solving the biggest problem, Wei Ran caught up with lawyer Carlos and followed him into the living room with a great view.

In a short while, Mrs. Kate had also come downstairs and was drinking tea and chatting with her daughter Alice, Martha and Lucinda.

"It seems that Mr. Carlos has already taken you to see those things," Mrs. Kate said gently after regaining her composure.

"It is true"

Wei Ran nodded, "Mrs. Kate, I have no reason to refuse those military antiques, so I am willing to take this job."

"In that case, I'll leave it to you."

Mrs. Kate said gently, "In another house, there are also many things left by Henry. Let Alice take you to see them later. If you like them, take them with you."

After speaking, she switched to English and gave Alice some instructions, and then said, "Mr. Carlos, I leave the legal work to you."

"This is what I should do," Lawyer Carlos agreed gently.

Nodding slightly, the old lady smiled and continued in English, "I haven't chatted with young people for a long time, so if you are satisfied with this place, then you can live here. I will know how to taste a few delicious dishes." It’s a good French dish, I can make it for everyone to try for dinner.”

"Then we're welcome"

Wei Ran waited for Marta to help translate and agreed happily, and then said, "Ms. Alice, if it is convenient, I will start the investigation early tomorrow morning, right?"

"No problem." Alice nodded happily after Marta translated it into English. "I took half a month's leave, and I will stay with you during this period."

Now that the deal was concluded, everyone stopped delaying. Marta and Luxinda accompanied Mrs. Kate to the large and exaggerated kitchen to prepare dinner.

Lawyers Wei Ran and Carlos, after Alice drove out all the classic cars in the garage, sealed all the entrances and exits of the underground garage with homemade seals written with Chinese characters.

This was not over yet. Under the leadership of Alice, the two of them rushed to the villa where Mr. Henry hosted Wei Ran and others. They also sealed the radio stations and other items collected here and took photos for documentation. .

By the way, Weiran also temporarily brought back the vacuum-preserved Owen-style skydiving suit and the P38 pistol that Henry had displayed to Mrs. Kate's home.

That evening, the French food prepared by Mrs. Kate herself was equally popular as the Slavic food prepared by Marta.

During the chat among these women of different ages at the table, Wei Ran also learned that Mrs. Kate's mother had been a telegraph operator, and even Kate herself had worked in the telegraph office for a very long time.

As for Sean, his parents did inherit all the work on the farm, and Sean's father was indeed a milkman.

No matter how much moisture there was in Henry's words at the beginning, when Wei Ran opened the curtains of the guest room early the next morning, he found that it was drizzling outside, and even the weather was gray with an annoying coldness. .

"It's a good weather to sleep in, what a pity," Wei Ran muttered regretfully and reluctantly got up.

Skipping breakfast, Wei Ran called Lu Xinda, who had already woken up due to jet lag, and took Alice's car to the farm where she had been.

In just a few short months, many crops have been planted on this farm. Under the drizzle of water, the crisp green buds are particularly beautiful.

"Tell Ms. Alice that she doesn't have to stay with me during my investigation."

Wei Ran said, already carrying the Owen-style skydiving suit and the P38 pistol in the holster and getting out of the car, "You too, if you feel bored, you can go back with Alice. I'll help you if anything happens." I called you."

"Sister Aurora asked us to keep an eye on you to prevent you from running around secretly."

After Lu Xinda finished speaking, she translated Wei Ran's words to Alice. Then she opened her umbrella, carried Wei Ran's briefcase, and ran into the barn with a bang, while she kept saying , "Boss, boss, Alice just said that she will deliver lunch to us at noon."

"Aren't you going to go back with us?" Wei Ran put the things he was carrying on the hood of a farm tractor as he spoke.

"I won't go back."

Lu Xinda put down Wei Ran's briefcase and said with a grimace, "I won't have the chance to go shopping after I go back. I will definitely be forced to learn Russian by Sister Marta."

"In that case, you can search in the barn and the house outside to see if there is anything wrong."

"thank you boss!"

Lu Xinda immediately agreed happily, and then she didn't go far, just touching here and there in the barn.

Seeing this, Wei Ran couldn't help but smile. Speaking of which, this little girl was only seventeen or eighteen years old, and now was the time to be playful.

In other words, if this little girl is allowed to eat and drink as Suisui's follower, she will definitely be happy. But if she is forced to learn something, especially the most boring language, it will really kill her at the age of 17.

After the little girl ran away, Wei Ran looked around and made sure there was no surveillance equipment in the barn. Then he took out the wire cutters under the cover of his briefcase and easily opened the two locked doors. Tin cabinet.

"Who has wire cutters in their briefcase?"

While Wei Ran muttered secretly, he used the cover of his briefcase to put the wire cutters back into the metal book. Then he climbed up the buoy and called Lu Xinda back, asking her to help hand over the things in the cabinet one by one. He personally delivered them into the rescue buoy and placed them in various cabinets.

This was not over yet. Then, with the help of the little girl, he temporarily moved out the small refrigerator, TV and game console, and other things that did not belong in the buoy at all.

After sending away the little girl running errands again, Wei Ran walked into the buoy carrying the flight suit and the German pistol, and closed the iron door at the top.

"pat"

The light inside was turned on. Wei Ran stepped down the ladder step by step and put the things in his hands on one bed. He sat on the other bed, took a few deep breaths, and reached out his hand. He took out the metal book.