War Photographer's Notebook

In the quiet ward, the elderly Dominic stretched out his hand to gesture towards the sofa against the wall, and said weakly, "Sit down and talk, young man, what do you want to ask?"

"first question"

Sitting on the sofa, Wei Ran waited patiently for the other party to steer the electric wheelchair to an angle facing him, and then continued, "Mr. Dominique, why are you so sure, your family members, or more precisely, you Your parents brought your younger brother and cousin to the United States?"

"anymore question?"

Dominique asked slowly, "My memory is not bad, so let's ask together. After all, you only have 10 minutes, but my answer is not within these 10 minutes."

Hearing this, Wei Ran smiled, and continued the question and answer unhurriedly, "Thank you for your generosity, Mr. Dominique, the second question, you really made your fortune with a lottery ticket that exchanged a reward of 27 US dollars Is it?"

"Keep asking if you have any more questions," Dominique said again, "don't let me rush you."

"The third question, can you talk about your combat experience in the Hurtgen Forest? Of course, what was the combat mission of you and your uncle at that time."

After a short pause, Wei Ran continued, "The fourth question, after the war, no, to be more precise, after you and your uncle surrendered and walked out of the Hürtgen Forest, did you still meet?"

"One last question"

Wei Ran paused for a longer time this time, until the other party couldn't help urging, then he asked with a smile, "Mr. Dominique, why didn't you mention looking for your uncle?
"Is that all?" Dominic's old eyes finally showed some surprise. "These are the only issues at the moment"

Wei Ran smiled, "Of course, it would be best if you could provide some relics of you, your uncle, or your parents and family, maybe I can find some clues and ideas.

"I believe Carlos now that you might actually help me find my family.

Dominic muttered something endlessly, and then asked with a smile, "Tell me about your guess?" "You and your uncle should have been in contact after the war, right?"

Wei Ran got up and walked to the French window, "Let's guess a little more boldly, did the $27 also come from your uncle? Of course, and the reason why you are so sure that your family is in the United States should also be your uncle." Did I tell you?"

"Why such a guess?" Dominique asked calmly.

"It's a fluke for an underage child to come out of the Hürtgen Forest alive and choose to surrender, and perhaps it's just as lucky to be able to come out of the Rhine Camp alive.

Wei Ran turned around at this point, and leaned his back against the floor-to-ceiling windows to look at the old man who was also manipulating the wheelchair and turned to face him, "But even if he had such luck, in the fifth year after the war, he wanted to travel from West Germany Immigrating to the United States is definitely not an easy task. At least in this matter, there must be someone to help

"What else?" Dominic asked while an undisguised smile appeared on the old face.

"Since someone helped this young man immigrate to the United States, and he accidentally became a billionaire while searching for his family all his life, but he didn't find his uncle who fought side by side with him."

Wei Ran smiled, and finally asked the obvious conclusion with an affirmative tone, "Mr. Dominique, your uncle survived at that time, and it was he who helped you immigrate to the United States from West Germany. He was the one who secretly searched for your family with you. , even the $27 you bought with the lottery ticket, and even your gold mining business, there are his shadows in these things, right?"

"Carlos finally found me a smart guy"

The aged Dominic first euphemistically affirmed Wei Ran's guess with an exclamation, and then explained, "You almost guessed all the answers to the questions you asked, but for some reason, I can't answer the questions you just asked. any questions. So, young man, will you help me find my family now?"

"Of course, it's my pleasure."

Wei Ran replied with a smile, although the other party obviously concealed some things, but for the sake of the high investigation fee, he didn't mind these trivial things at all.

"In that case, take this."

As Dominic said, he took out a shiny key from his pocket tremblingly, raised his arm with difficulty, and handed it to Wei Ran.

"What is this?" Wei Ran asked puzzled.

"The key to my coffee plantation collection in Hawaii"

Dominique said slowly, "I will ask Carlos to take you there later, and you can live there. The relics left by my uncle are in the collection room. In addition, the content of the conversation just now, and the things in the collection room , I don’t want the third person to know.”

"Of course, please rest assured that I still have professional ethics." Wei Ran made a promise while putting away the keys.

"Okay, 10 minutes is up, I'm going to rest.

While speaking, Dominique moved the electric wheelchair to the French window again, looked at the coastline at the end of his sight and said, "Before I die, if you can give me a satisfactory result, I will also give you a satisfactory reward. "

"If I need to go somewhere during this period, can I use your private jet?" Wei Ran asked before getting up to leave.

"Just go to Carlos for such a small matter."

Dominique took a deep breath, and then continued, "Okay, you can leave, let Carlos come in by the way.

"

"Goodbye, Mr. Dominique." While Wei Ran was speaking, he had already stepped out of this advanced ward.

"how is the situation?"

Before he could close the door, lawyer Carlos who was sitting on the lounge chair outside stood up and asked in German.

"Mr. Dominique, please go in." Wei Ran said with a smile, "I'll wait for you downstairs first."

"See you later" Carlos walked to the door of the ward immediately after saying that, first knocked lightly on the door, and waited for a second or two before pushing open the concealed door and walking in.

After the other party closed the door from the inside, Wei Ran turned around and went downstairs, meeting Sui Sui and others who were still waiting in the commercial vehicle.

"How's the situation?" Spike asked, yawning.

Squeezing the keys in his pocket, Wei Ran responded with a smile, "Just chatted a few words, the rest will wait for Mr. Carlos to come back."

"We have already planned where to go for the next few days. Ah, no! I mean field trip, yes, field trip!" Sui Sui had already taken the tablet from Anfisa's hand, and said expectantly, "We plan to go around all the islands in Hawaii!"

"Aren't you taking me?" Wei Ran asked jokingly.

"Make good money!" Sui Sui raised her chin as a matter of course, "At least two hundred and seven hundred thousand US dollars! If you earn this amount, you will be able to eat and drink for the rest of your life."

Hearing this, Wei Ran shook his head secretly, he didn't think the money was so easy to earn, and now he could only hope that he could find something in the plantation that he was about to go to.

It was just beyond their expectation, after about half an hour, lawyer Carlos came down from upstairs.

Not only that, after the old lawyer got into the carriage, he even handed over an agreement to Wei Ran, and at the same time explained in German, "This is an employment agreement. Mr. Dominique hopes that you will sign it before signing it." Start investigating."

After a short pause, Carlos added with a look of embarrassment, "He also said, if you refuse to sign this agreement, just have a good time in Hawaii for a few days, and if you have enough fun, I will send you back to Kazan, and there will be an extra $[-] for your hard work."

"Really generous"

Wei Ran mumbled and took over the agreement and glanced at it, only to find that it was a completely handwritten German employment agreement.

In this brief agreement, it not only lists the details of the remuneration that Wei Ran may receive, the method and time limit for receiving the remuneration, etc., but also lists an additional requirement:
As for the results of the investigation, the investigation process and results are completely confidential and must not be disclosed to anyone other than the employer.

Even, Cross specially translated this article in English to Sui Sui who watched the excitement.Even without the temptation of the $270 million, the girl Sui Sui immediately withdrew her curious gaze when Wei Ran took the pen from Carlos.

"Victor, let me remind you."

Lawyer Carlos reached out to stop Wei Ran who was about to sign, "I am not only Dominic's personal lawyer, but also a notorious American lawyer. If you violate this agreement, even if Mr. Dominic passes away, I will Initiate a lawsuit against you according to the agreement. Believe me, you may go bankrupt due to breach of contract by then.”

"As long as you don't set a trap on this employment agreement, I will not breach the contract." Wei Ran confidently made a promise.

Of course, Carlos didn't know that Wei Ran's confidence was far more than that he could keep a secret. He was even more confident that this notorious lawyer would never be able to speak—even if it was the last step of last resort.

"I can swear by the friendship between Mr. Chen Qi and my father." Carlos raised three fingers solemnly, "this employment agreement."

"It's okay to swear"

Wei Ran stopped the other party from swearing before casting a spell, picked up a pen and signed the name Victor in Russian on the lower right corner of the agreement, and then wrote down the date.

At the same time, Anfisa, who was sitting behind him, had already raised his mobile phone and took pictures of the content of the agreement and Wei Ran who was signing.

As for whether the name "Victor" written by Wei Ran in Russian has any legal effect, obviously everyone in the car subconsciously chose to ignore it for some reason.

After each put away the duplicate agreement, Carlos immediately snapped his fingers at the driver and said "go to the plantation" in English.

Upon receiving the signal, the taciturn middle-aged driver immediately stepped on the accelerator slowly and steered the commercial vehicle away from the medical center.

However, this time the drive was far longer than expected. It took this commercial vehicle more than an hour to drive from the easternmost side of the island to the west, and it seemed that it was about to drive to the extreme end of the island. On the west side, they drove along a road to the mountains outside the urban area, and finally stopped at a half-mountain plantation that was clear enough to see the coastline.

"Here it is"

Carlos was the first to get out of the car, pointed to the only house in the distance and introduced it in English, and then introduced it to Wei Ran in German, "It's only 10 acres in size, and all the plants are The coffee is not sold outside, but Mr. Dominique basically enjoys it for himself and gives it to friends as gifts. Of course, all the coffee I often drink comes from here.”

"Did Mr. Dominique live here before?"

Wei Ran followed the other party to the house in the middle of the plantation while asking questions, while the other three girls, and even the three pets who jumped out of the car followed, looked at everything around them curiously.

Although this plantation is all about coffee in name, it is very beautifully managed. In addition to coffee, there are various tropical and subtropical plants and flowers as far as the eye can see. Even, it is about a hundred meters away from the house. There is a helipad at a distance of [-] meters, and there is still a small squirrel helicopter parked quietly on the helipad.

"In the past, Mr. Dominique would come here to spend the winter every winter, and live in Houston at other times."

Carlos explained, "But two months ago, he was sent to the medical center we just visited for physical reasons, and he has never been able to leave that ward since then."

Speaking of which, Carlos has already taken out a door key from his pocket, opened the door of this luxurious building in the center of the plantation, and said while leading Wei Ran and others inside, "Mr. Dominique said, in You can stay here until the investigation is over or until he dies."

"It's really the life of the rich." Wei Ran looked up at the crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling on the second floor of the hall and couldn't help but admire.

"Mr. Dominique is a man who knows how to enjoy life
'

Carlos said, pointing to the rooms on both sides of the door and said, "These four rooms are the housekeeper and personal doctor, as well as the nanny and driver's room. They are either staying with Mr. Dominique in the hospital or already on vacation.

In other words, except for these four rooms on the first floor, other rooms, including the cars in the garage, can be used at will.

Of course, if you want to take that helicopter around the island, you can call me and I will arrange for the driver to come, and he lives in the community at the foot of the mountain. "

"Can we go to the second floor too?" Wei Ran asked, pointing to the top of his head.

"Of course, come with me, the elevator is here." Carlos said, leading Wei Ran and others to the side of an elevator.

"It's an exaggeration..."

This time it was Sui Sui who expressed admiration. It is an exaggeration to install an elevator in such a building with only two floors, but it is too much for the elevator to be big enough to fit a whole bed.What is even more exaggerated is that there is actually an AED defibrillator hanging on the wall in the elevator.

In contrast, Carlos was obviously used to this place for a long time. After the elevator reached the second floor and opened, he immediately led everyone out, pointed to the room facing the elevator door and said, "There is Mr. Dominique's study room. Next to it are his bedroom and collection room, except for these three rooms, the rest of the guest rooms can be used as you like.”

After finishing speaking, Carlos stopped in his tracks, pointed to the elevator behind him and said, "That elevator can also lead to the basement, where there are a lot of good wine and roasted coffee beans stored, you can enjoy them casually, I won't take you on a tour.

Victor, until the end of your investigation, I will be on this island. If you need me to do anything, you can call me at any time.

"You don't live here?" Wei Ran asked in surprise. "I'm going to stay with Mr. Dominique"

Carlos said apologetically, "He said he felt that he was going to see God at any time, and before meeting God, he might have to change his will at some point, so I had to be by his side.

Knowing that this was deliberately arranged by that Dominique, Wei Ran didn't say anything more, but after some polite sighs, he politely watched the other party drive from the garage in the driver who brought them here. An SUV came out and drove straight down the mountain.

Without waiting for the car to disappear completely, Sui Sui cheered, turned around and ran with two big-eared foxes like a large tropical flower and green plant not far away, waving the sun hat originally worn on his head, and greeted Ask Wei Ran to take pictures for her.

After winking at Sister Kajianka, Wei Ran took the mirrorless camera hanging from Anfeiya's neck, and pointed the camera at the girl smiling brightly not far away.

At the same time, the Katenka sisters also took the suitcase out of the car and got into the house, and took the opportunity to conduct a detailed inspection of the house.

When Sui Sui, who had taken enough photos, followed Wei Ran into the room, Anfeya immediately called Sui Sui to the rooftop garden she had just discovered, and Anfisa closed her eyes with one hand and closed the other with Wei Ran. Ear safe gesture.

"Let's take a stroll around first." Wei Ran said to Sui Sui who was about to go upstairs, "I'll be busy for a while."

"You're busy." Sui Sui, who was already running down the stairs to the top of the building, bent down and asked, "Would you like to go to Pearl Harbor later? Didn't you say on the plane that you wanted to see the Battleship Missouri?" ?”

"Battleship Missouri" Wei Ran said with a smile, "Tomorrow! We have plenty of time, let's take a break from the jet lag today."

"You can talk about it when you're done."

Before Sui Sui finished speaking, she had already followed Anfeisa to the top of the building, and right after that, Wei Ran heard the girl's exclamation and yelling for Anfeisa to go up quickly.

Regardless of the over-excited girl, Wei Ran took out the key given to him by Dominique, and successfully opened the door of the collection room.

However, beyond his expectation, compared to this luxurious big house, this collection room is pitifully small.Not only is the area small, but there are really not many things in this collection room.

As far as the eye can see, besides the only window next to a pair of old-looking oil paintings hanging on the wall facing the door, there is only the one next to the window sill left in this room. A few things on the table.

Looking at the same thing, the most conspicuous is a G43 rifle with a scope and a Stg44 assault rifle placed side by side on the gun rack.

However, compared to the exquisite workmanship of the former, the latter is much rougher and simpler, and many details can be saved.Obviously, this epoch-making assault rifle was a product of Germany at the end of World War II.In addition to these two weapons, there are three American products on this slightly worn-out wooden table.

One of them is the Model 520 Field Gasoline Stove produced by Coleman for the foolish young soldiers.The other piece is a rare 225Q fighting knife.

Of course, Wei Ran is more willing to call it a logistics knife than a "fighting knife", because to put it bluntly, this object is a combination of a crowbar, a knife, and a hammer.

As for whether it is easy to use or not, if you have to choose one, Wei Ran would rather choose the Mark 2 fighting knife poked on the table, at least it is easy to hold.

Perhaps out of the same consideration, there are still a lot of traces of use on this Mark2 fighting knife that has been poked on the table for an unknown period of time. Even the original leather handle has been replaced by a piece of antler with patina.But what puzzled him was that in the center of this shabby-looking table, a 50-fennie tank coin was nailed to it with a rusty nail, and a cup was pressed under the coin and was A European-style antique copper key with nails passing through the hollow pattern of the key handle.

Kneeling down to look at the back of the table, the nail that firmly nailed the coins and keys to the table, after passing through the table board, was bent to one side, and firmly sunk into the table.

After thinking for a moment, Wei Ran took out his mobile phone, first took a photo of the rather retro key, and then pointed the camera at the oil painting hanging on the wall.

This oil painting depicts a man with a curled beard. There seems to be something similar to a medal pinned to his chest. However, it is not known whether it is improperly preserved or for other reasons, but it happens to be in the place of the medal. The oil paint on it became so blurry that it was impossible to see what was painted.

How to check this.
Wei Ran muttered to himself, even though the weapons on the table might send him back to World War II, what he was looking for was not Mr. Dominique's comrades in arms, but his family.

And his uncle.
Wei Ran looked at the coffee plantation outside the window and fell into deep thought. Even though he guessed that Dominic's uncle survived, why was Dominic so vague?And also deliberately added an employment agreement that required him to keep the investigation process confidential?

Could it be that his uncle did something shameful?Thinking of this, Wei Ran's eyes light up, it seems that only this reason makes sense.

If his uncle had done something shady, it would have made perfect sense for Dominique to demand secrecy about the process and results of the investigation.Not only does this make sense, but even the $27 seems to have a reasonable explanation.

So how on earth did his uncle get that $27?Could it be robbing a bank?This is probably the most plausible guess.
Wei Ran couldn't help but fell into deep thought. If what Carlos said at the time was true, Dominique was in the 15th year of coming to the United States, that is, in 1965, he received the huge sum of money.Regardless of whether he picked up the lottery ticket or the "lottery ticket" that his uncle cashed in for him.

At least one thing is clear, $27 was a lot of money in a time when Ford sedans cost only $[-] a car.

"Why doesn't it feel like simply finding an heir?" Wei Ran muttered to himself as he walked out of the collection room. He always felt that there was something wrong in it.

After locking the door of the collection room, Wei Ran walked to the adjacent study room, first tried to turn the door handle, and then tried the key in his hand.

What he didn't expect was that this key could not only open the door of the collection room, but also open the door of the collection room.

It can also open the locked study room.

After thinking for a while, Wei Ran gently pushed open the door of the study.Accompanied by a soft squeak, a look of astonishment appeared on his face.

In any case, he never expected that this spacious study room didn't even have a bookshelf or a table, not to mention books!Or to put it another way, this is not so much a study room as it is a studio!
As far as the eye can see, apart from the rounded, veiled French window with an easel placed in front of it, the surrounding walls, corners, and ground are almost filled with picture frames one by one.

In addition, the only piece of furniture in this room is a solid wood shelf, but what is placed on this shelf is tubes of paints of various colors and various styles of oil paint brushes and brushes. , and even rolls of unused canvas!
Even the floor was dyed in various bizarre colors by the accumulated paint over the years.The air is inevitably filled with an indescribable "artistic atmosphere".

Looking around, Wei Ran took out a pair of rubber gloves from his pocket and put them on, then took out a pair of shoe covers to put on, then walked into the room and locked the door.

Gently lifting the white cloth covering the easel, Wei Ran raised his eyebrows involuntarily.What appears to be the ruins of a castle in a forest is depicted in this unfinished oil painting.

Quite strangely, there seems to be a faint glimmer of light in a window in the ruins of this castle.

After thinking for a while, Wei Ran turned around and walked to the wall, picked up a picture frame at random, turned over and looked at the content painted on it.

Compared with the unfinished oil painting just now, this oil painting depicts a naked woman.

The drooping humiliation, the bloated belly, the thick thighs, the hands resting on the lower abdomen, and the face that is definitely not beautiful, but the expression is particularly vivid, embarrassment, impatience and faint expectations emerge, All are vividly expressed in this painting.

"I'm afraid this old thing is also a failure." Wei Ran muttered secretly, put the oil painting back to its original position, and picked up the second painting instead.

There is still a woman in this painting, but compared to the unfinished painting, the model chosen for this painting is undoubtedly much younger and more beautiful, and the poses she poses are also more confident, as if she does not hesitate to show her figure .

Continue to pick up the third painting, this time it is still a woman, even this disheveled woman is holding a banana in a very picky posture.

Thanks to the realistic and vivid painting style, Wei Ran can even easily tell that the model of this painting is the only flight attendant in the private jet that he took when he came here!
Isn't this an old pervert? Didn't Carlos say he doesn't have balls?
Wei Ran muttered and picked up the fourth painting, but what he didn't expect was that this time the content in the painting turned into the ruins of a castle hidden in the forest again.

And this time, he finally discerned from the completed oil painting that what was lit in the window of the ruined castle was not a light, but a muzzle flame that had been frozen forever! -
WAPCOM - to view