War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 358 A Basement Worth 20 Euros

In the old small hotel in the city of Vladivostok, the ringtone of the mobile phone seemed to wake up Wei Ran who was sleeping soundly.

Staring blankly, he picked up the phone and glanced at the unfamiliar caller number. He directly pressed the volume button, then threw it aside, covered himself with a quilt and closed his eyes again.

However, soon, the phone next to the pillow rang again, and Wei Ran, who was woken up for the second time, opened his eyes helplessly, picked up the phone and pressed the answer button.

"Victor, it's really not easy to get through your phone." On the other end of the phone, an old voice teased in German.

"Sorry, I just drank a lot of wine and haven't woken up yet." Wei Ran replied sleepily.

"It's me, Hans from Berlin, Germany. Do you still have any memory? Hans next to the Moltke Bridge." The old man on the other end of the phone said helplessly, "Or I will call you later?"

"Mr. Hans, of course I remember you." Wei Ran struggled to get up and said, this Hans is the son of that idiot Mario during the Battle of Berlin, of course he will not forget.

"I have a business here, I wonder if you are interested?" Hans asked on the other end of the phone.

"What business?" Wei Ran yawned, "Mr. Hans, if it's convenient, can you wait for me for a few minutes? I'll wash my face and wake up, and then call you?"

"Just call this number." Before the words finished, Mr. Hans on the other end of the phone hung up the phone.

"This is another fat sheep delivered to the door?" Wei Ran weighed the phone, muttered something to himself, got up and walked into the bathroom.

After washing his face with cold water to wake himself up completely, he opened the window and waited for the cold wind mixed with snowflakes outside to take away the warmth in the room before he dialed the phone back.

"Mr. Hans, now we can talk about the business."

"I have a friend"

The old Hans just started to correct himself, "Maybe he is not a friend for the time being, more precisely, he is an old guy I met at the auction not long ago, he listened to my father After the story, I also want to ask you to help investigate some things."

"Can you tell me more about it?" Wei Ran asked after a little hesitation.

"Simply put, he found a radio set in the basement of his home."

Hans seemed to feel that his explanation was too simple. He paused and continued, "His home is near the Port of Kiel. Do you know the Port of Kiel?"

"of course I know"

Wei Ran replied without thinking, that port was one of the main ports of the German Navy in the mainland during World War II, "Mr. Hans, let's call this your friend for now, what does your friend want to investigate? "

"In that basement, in addition to the radio station just mentioned, he also found some British passports, American passports, and even ID cards from the Soviet Union, Germany, and even Switzerland. All the photos on those ID cards belonged to his father."

Mr. Hans paused, and followed up with some irony, "That friend suspected that his father was a spy. After I invited him to visit the basement left by my father a few days ago, he wanted to ask you to help him investigate. Find out if his father is a spy, and if so, which country's spy it is."

As if he was afraid that Wei Ran would refuse, Mr. Hans continued without waiting for Wei Ran to speak, "For this, he is willing to pay at least 20 euros. This is what I negotiated for you. Of course, you don't have to pay for my introduction fee."

"The basement again? 20 euros?" Wei Ran secretly swallowed, this is not a small amount, and to put it bluntly, it is not easy to meet such a rich wallet.

"At least 20 euros," Mr. Hans said proudly, "I told him that your minimum fee is 20 euros."

After closing the window that kept blowing the cold wind into the room, the calm and thoroughly awake Wei Ran turned on the tablet and asked cautiously, "Mr. Hans, in the basement you just mentioned, apart from the radio station and those documents , is there anything else?"

"Yes, of course there is."

Hans paused for a moment, and said in detail, "In addition to the things just mentioned, there are a lot of manuscript papers, some outdated slide rules and radio accessories in that basement. In addition, there are some weapons, Expired medicines and some gold bars."

"Is there any more?" Wei Ran asked while using the tablet to record.

"There was also a coffin containing the body of a woman."

Wei Ran was stunned by Hans' words, "A coffin? A woman's body?"

"right"

Mr. Hans paused and said, "That's all, nothing special, Victor, if you're interested, I can send you a photo of the basement."

"Okay, I'll send you the email address later." Wei Ran quickly responded.

"So, are you willing to take this investigation?"

Wei Ran hesitated for a moment, and replied cautiously, "I will give you and your friend an accurate answer only after seeing the photos."

"Okay, I'll send you the photo first." Mr. Hans hung up the phone after finishing speaking.

And less than five minutes after Wei Ran sent his email address to the other party, he received an email.

Clicking on the two photos attached to the email, Wei Ran's doubts in his heart increased. In the first photo, there is a panoramic view of the basement. It can be seen that the area of ​​the basement is very large, at least 30 The surrounding walls are all wrapped with wooden boards, and even in the direction the camera is facing, you can see a delicate fireplace.

In another photo, it is a table. This wooden table is filled with stacks of manuscript papers. In the photo, the upper left corner is against the wall, and there is also a table placed on two chairs against the wall. European coffin.

Almost at the same time he was looking at the two photos carefully, Mr. Hans called again, "Victor, are you interested in coming over to take a look?"

"Mr. Hans, I have a question."

Wei Ran thought about it and said, "As far as I know, the port of Kiel was basically completely destroyed by the bombing of the Allied forces during World War II. How did this basement survive?"

"I'm afraid the gentleman and I can't answer your doubts."

Mr. Hans explained, "According to the other party, the house above the basement was built after the end of World War II. He never knew that there were these things underground, and his father never mentioned it when he was alive." .”

"Is the other party in a hurry?" Wei Ran asked the second question.

"If you want to take this investigative job, how about at least coming over first?"

"Give me the address, and I'll rush over there as soon as possible." After Wei Ran finished speaking, he added another sentence, "As for whether to follow up, I can't give a definite answer yet."

"It's okay, I'll send you the address right away."

After hanging up Mr. Hans's phone call, Wei Ran completely lost sleepiness. Speaking of which, he hadn't made any income for a while. Although he helped the museum investigate the Lezhev battlefield before, he even went to Bear Island in the Cold War era to conduct research. took an adventure, but both times there was no cash income.

In addition, it cost a lot of money to help Katenka buy a house in Turin, Italy. For various reasons, this investigation worth at least 20 euros came at the right time.The only regret is that the time to go home may have to be delayed for a while.

After he notified Sui Sui via WeChat that he might have to play for a few days before returning home, Mr. Hans also sent a string of addresses in German, along with the name of the nearest airport.

According to the address sent by the other party, Wei Ran bought a plane ticket to Hamburg at the fastest time, and then lay on the bed again holding the tablet computer, and began to inquire about the relevant historical records of the Port of Kiel during World War II.

At the same time, Mr. Hans in Berlin also left the study, sat down at the dining table again, picked up a cup and touched a proud old man sitting across from him.

"The young man you recommended agrees?" The proud old man asked, shaking the glass of red wine gently.

"He just promised to come and take a look as soon as possible," Mr. Hans replied flatly.

"He can really find out?" The doubt in the arrogant old man's tone was not concealed at all.

"Olaf, you took the initiative to ask me for help."

Mr. Hans put down his glass and responded with a more arrogant attitude, "If you doubt the person I recommended, you don't have to come to me. You can find a way to wake up the woman lying in the coffin and ask her What does it have to do with you?"

"At least there is no blood relationship"

The old guy called Olaf still looked superior, "If he can't help me find out what secrets are hidden in the basement, I won't help you open the dental clinic to Denmark."

"Denmark is not your home"

Mr. Hans retorted flatly, "You don't even have Danish royal blood, your grandfather and father were just ordinary fishermen."

"You're right." The old man shook the fancy ring on his hand intentionally or unintentionally, "But even so, if you want your business to grow in Denmark, you still need my help."

"Well, we don't need to continue these boring arguments."

Mr. Hans picked up his glass again, "Let's wait for that young man to come over and look at the basement of your house. If you are willing to pay a little more, he will speed up."

"I'll let my son wait for him in advance." While speaking, Olaf also picked up his wine glass, and lightly touched Hans who was sitting opposite, but from the beginning to the end, the bewildered arrogance on his face was not in the slightest. reduce.

As for Mr. Hans, he also returned to his indifferent expression just now, picked up the knife and fork leisurely, cut off a small piece of steak and put it in his mouth, he didn't feel that helping Wei Ran from his partner's hand was too much What's wrong with some euros.

(End of this chapter)