War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 15 Reporters with Guns

"Professor, who is this person?" Wei Ran lowered his voice and asked in the ear of Professor Alexei.

"The last editor-in-chief of Pravda retired before the collapse of the Soviet Union," Professor Alexei replied in a low voice, "and he is also Mr. Polevoi's most loyal fan."

"Where did you find him?" Wei Ran asked in surprise.

Professor Alexis had a smug expression on his face, "We've known each other for a long time, but more importantly, there is a photo of him and Mr. Polevoy in those photos. Keep quiet now, and he will be able to see it soon." arrive."

Sure enough, within half an hour, Mr. Ilya pointed to a photo in the album and said happily, "This is a photo of me and Mr. Polevoy, and this photo was taken with the help of Mr. Polevoy's wife. of!"

"Really?" Professor Alexey looked over with a surprised expression, and then a series of words of praise came out of his mouth, and by the way he attributed all this to God's arrangement.

Mr. Ilya, who was flattered to the sky, was obviously very useful. He laughed and picked up the negative photo album at hand and asked, "Professor Alexei, I heard that you often help those moles and private museums investigate World War II. The historical clues of cultural relics, do you know the origin of these negatives?"

"I don't know about that." Professor Alexis pretended to be confused, "Why don't Mr. Ilya explain it?"

"Except for life photos, the rest are eliminated."

Ilya said happily, "It is undeniable that Mr. Polevoy is a great war correspondent, but even so, it is impossible for every photo he took to be published in the newspaper. The ones you found are all He has not been selected in previous reports."

Speaking of this, Mr. Ilya pointed to a photo on the album and explained, "For example, this one was taken by Mr. Polevoy in Kyiv after the end of World War II when he was reporting on the new life after the war. If you can find "Contemporaries," published in 1952, is sure to find a photo similar to it."

Wei Ran sneaked a strange look at Professor Alexei, who was suddenly enlightened. This old man can act, and he explained the origin of these photos with the same reason the night before.

For the next hour, the teacher and the student deliberately put on an attitude of listening attentively, giving Mr. Ilya enough time and opportunity to show off his knowledge, until the coffee pot on the table was emptied of the last stock, and Professor Alexei He calmly brought the topic to the transaction price.

"These photographs, of course, including these negatives, I am willing to buy for 500,000 rubles."

After Ilya finished speaking, he waved his hand, making Professor Alexei swallow back the words that were already on his lips, and then calmly pointed to the clothes and documents on the other table next to him and continued, "As for Bole I am willing to pay 2 million rubles for the relics of Voy and the press card."

Hearing this, Professor Alexei simply shook his head, "I'm sorry Mr. Ilya, the price you offered for Mr. Polevoy's relic is too low."

"How much do you want to sell?" Mr. Elijah asked unhurriedly with a walking stick.

"All of these, the ideal price is 6 million rubles." Professor Alexei opened his mouth, and directly doubled the price, and even added in the end, "And it can only be traded in cash."

"How about 300 million?"

"550 million" Professor Alexei argues, "There are more than [-] photos here, and the average photo is less than [-] rubles, and it also includes Mr. Polevoy's relics. Low enough."

"400 million, this is the highest price I can offer."

"550 million" Professor Alexis killed and no longer lowered the price.

After pondering for a moment, Ilya finally nodded, "As you said, 550 million rubles, but you have to do me a favor."

"What's the matter?" Professor Alexei asked cautiously.

Ilya raised his arms towards the assistant beside him, who immediately put the suitcase he had been carrying on the table and opened it.

The teacher and the student stared wide-eyed the moment the box was opened. There were not only stacks of rubles in the box, but also a small wooden box in the corner.

Under the watchful eyes of both teachers and students, Ilya personally opened the wooden box, took out a small PPK pistol and handed it to Professor Alexei, "I bought this at an auction a few years ago. It came down. At that time, the seller claimed that this pistol was captured by Mr. Polevoi after he entered Berlin with the Soviet Red Army. At that time, the pen used by Mr. Polevoi was also sold together, but the seller had no evidence to prove this pistol. The origin is exactly as he said.

Professor Alexei, I want you to help me find out whether this pistol is a trophy brought back from Berlin by Mr. Polevoy.It's about whether you can take 550 million rubles in cash from me. "

"This"

Professor Alexei was hesitant. He didn't take on all jobs. Unlike the T-34 that had been sent away, Ilya couldn't handle this commission at all.

"Mr. Ilya, can we just prove that this pistol is Mr. Polevoy's trophy or not?" Wei Ran asked abruptly.

Ilya looked at the young Asian who had been standing behind Professor Alexei in surprise, and nodded amiably, "It's that simple."

"If you can answer a few questions for me, maybe I can help you." Wei Ran ignored Professor Alexei's hint and said straightforwardly.

"What's your name?" Elijah asked calmly.

"Russian name Victor." Wei Ran looked at the professor beside him, "Professor Alexis helped me name it, and I am his student."

"Victor, that's a good name."

Elijah put the pistol back into the box, "Okay, let's start your question."

"As far as you know, how many pistols does Mr. Polevoy have? Or more precisely, how many PPKs?"

Ilya pondered for a moment, and said affirmatively, "Mr. Polevoy first used a Nagant revolver, and later he received a PPK pistol captured by Soviet Red Army soldiers in Berlin. And he came to the end of his life with only one grip patch in between."

Wei Ran nodded, "In this case, I can tell you with certainty that the PPK in your hand is not Mr. Polevoy's gun."

"Why?" Ilya and Professor Alexis asked in unison.

Wei Ran hesitated for a moment, but finally said truthfully, "Because his gun is in my hand."

"what?!"

"where?!"

The two old men stood up in no particular order.

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(End of this chapter)