War Photographer's Notebook

"Where did you get this?" In the collection room on the first floor, Xia Shushi put on the white linen gloves handed by Wei Ran while looking at the shell casings on the table.

"Found at an Indian friend's house"

Wei Ran also put on gloves while speaking, and placed the jar containing the ax and the ax handle sealed with a glass tube next to the shell casing.

"It's kind of interesting, there are devil's things." Xia Shushi said subconsciously when he saw the glass tube.

"What?" Wei Ran looked at the other party in surprise.

"this"

Xia Shushi picked up the glass tube that had just been placed on the table, pointed to the metal pipe pot that was tied to the handle of the ax inside, and said, "We are used to calling this thing a mouthful of incense, my little one." The devils and gentlemen used to like to use this thing."

"A sip of incense?" Wei Ran took a closer look at the small cigarette pot, "You can take a sip of this thing? Why don't you think it's troublesome?"

"Although it's called a puff of incense, it's no problem to smoke for a few minutes."

Xia Shushi turned the glass tube around, pointed to the pattern on the cigarette pot and said, "Look at the sea waves carved on it. This pattern is called the waves of Kanagawa. It is unique to devils, and it was born out of their Ukiyo-e prints."

While talking, Xia Shushi actually took out a magnifying glass with a light from his pocket, opened it and pasted it on the glass tube, pointed to the spray carved on the stem and said, "Look at the oxidized color, this stem is made of pure silver. The water droplets splashed by the waves carved on it seem to be inlaid with pure gold, and the three boats and pochibirds in the waves should also be made of pure gold.

In addition, the smoke bowl and mouthpiece of this incense stick should be made of gold without accident, and the material is very thick. "

Continuing to move the magnifying glass, Xia Shushi pointed to the three small characters near the mouthpiece and said, "Guangzheng engraved, if I remember correctly, it seems to be a devil from the Meiji era, more than 100 years ago."

"You have a lot of research on this thing," Wei Ran said in surprise.

"I can't figure it out, how can I be cheated. Cough cough! Then what, I mean I can't figure it out, how can I make friends with them?"

Xia Shushi made up his words in a serious manner, then picked up the glass jar with the ax in it, pointed to the shredded tobacco inside that was almost broken into powder, and said, "Look at these shredded tobacco, although they are almost broken, But it can be seen to some extent that this thing is much thinner than our common shredded tobacco."

"Indeed." Wei Ran nodded. Although he doesn't smoke any pipes, he has seen old guys who like to play with pipes. The shredded tobacco they use is indeed much thicker than that in cans.

"This kind of cut tobacco is specially used for this kind of incense"

Xia Shushi pointed to the hair-like floc in the corner of the can and explained, "The cigarette pot for a cigarette is too small, and only this kind of shredded tobacco can smoke normally. no."

"These things are also the relics of that veteran," Wei Ran said, pointing to the unopened sailor bag not far away.

They didn't bring this thing back by themselves, but after they left the farm, Tantu's father, Tatanka, sent it to the airport and airlifted it back alone.

After all, there are machetes and portable flare guns inside, especially body armor and two helmets.Not only is it heavy but also troublesome, so in fact, this thing arrived in Kazan one step ahead of Wei Ran and others.

"We also discovered this together?" Xia Shushi opened the sailor bag after Wei Ran nodded, and placed the contents on the long table one by one.

"Something's wrong." Xia Shushi frowned.

"What's wrong?" Wei Ran asked with interest.

"According to the engraved writing on the shell case, if these things are related to the Johnston, how did this sailor bag come from?"

Xia Shushi took out his mobile phone while talking, and tapped the screen while saying, "I remember correctly, the Johnston belongs to the Fletcher-class destroyer, and it was the main battleship of the US military in the South Pacific Theater in the later period of the war."

Speaking of this, Xia Shushi handed the phone to Wei Ran, and then pointed to the canvas hammock with black stains on the table, "Look at the picture on the screen, it is the dormitory of the sailor cabin of the Fletcher-class destroyer. Layer steel frame hammock.

In short, if it was the sailors on the destroyer Johnston, there is a high probability that they would not need such sailor bags and hammocks. It can even be said that most of the American sailors at that time no longer needed to sleep in hammocks. "

"with one exception"

Wei Ran tapped the shell casing in the middle of the table with his finger, "Lieutenant Colonel Evans, the captain of the USS Johnston destroyer, he once served on the USS Alden, a Clemson-class destroyer , Maybe you can still use hammocks on those old-fashioned warships."

"You mean, this sailor bag is Lieutenant Colonel Evans' personal belonging?" Xia Shushi looked at Wei Ran in surprise, "It would be interesting if that's the case."

"According to the information I found, of the 327 sailors on board the USS Johnston, a total of 141 were rescued, and 92, including Captain Evans, were missing."

Wei Ran knocked on the shell casing again, "According to the survivor's description, on October 1944, 10, in the last battle of the USS Johnston destroyer, Captain Evans died on the 25th of this morning. The order to abandon ship was given around 45:25, and [-] minutes later, at [-]:[-], the destroyer Johnston capsized and began to sink."

"Nearly half an hour is indeed enough to take away some things."

Xia Shushi couldn't help but nodded, "But this sailor bag is not light even if it can float on the sea. Will that captain give up the precious carrying capacity of the lifeboat to a meaningless sailor bag?"

"It's just a guess"

Wei Ran spread his hands, "And when the USS Johnston began to sink, one of the devil's destroyers made the last follow-up shot at a distance of less than one kilometer to ensure the sinking. Maybe it was bombed at that time to the sea."

"makes sense"

Xia Shushi patted his forehead, "Having said so much, what you are looking for is the whereabouts of the captain, right?"

Wei Ran nodded, "I'm currently trying to find a way to check the survivors of the Johnston destroyer and the list of dead and missing, to see if there is my friend's father's name or Indian soldiers other than the chief, By the way, check to see if anyone is still alive. So if you have nothing to do, how about staying to help for two days?"

"Can"

"Lola recently got some good quality coffee beans"

"I'm thirsty, let's have a cup of coffee first, and I'll check it out for you when I'm done!" Xia Shushi patted his chest as if he had been pumped with chicken blood and made a promise.

It was easy to keep Xia Shushi behind, and Wei Ran's investigation speeded up abruptly. It's a pity, after all, more than half a century has passed. For forgetful Americans, such a long time is enough for them to take an Indian hero Forgotten.

So after searching for several days, the useful information they could find, except for some survivors' memoirs about that war, was only a few general records in the US Navy's warship dictionary.

Even, even with the help of Anfeya, the two of them finally found the list of the so-called destroyer Johnston's seamen, there was no one that Tatanka wrote on paper and airlifted together, his father's first and last name of their family.

"I have a suggestion"

In the collection room, Anfeya, who seemed to have been deprived of sleep these days after she came back, yawned after she finished speaking.

"What suggestion?" Wei Ran and Xia Shushi put down their tablets and looked over at the same time.

"You haven't opened either the glass jar or the metal tube"

While Anfeiya was talking, she had already closed her notebook and stood up and stretched herself. She walked out and said, "The Internet is not omnipotent, I can't help you anymore, but my sister is very good at chemistry, so if If the boss is willing to open glass jars and bottles, maybe she can help find some clues."

Having said that, Anfeiya has already opened the door, "Also, boss, there is a sister's laboratory in the basement of the library. If you want her to help, you can send the things there first."

Looking at each other with Xia Shushi, Wei Ran immediately stood up, "We'll send the things over now."

"I asked my sister to go to the basement and wait for you." After An Feiya finished speaking, she took out her phone and sent her sister a message.

By the time Wei Ran and Xia Shushi came to the basement of the library with shell casings, glass tubes and cans, the place was already brightly lit, and even Anfisa, who was busy upstairs dealing with Sui Sui, not only put on I wore a white coat, and I put on rubber gloves, dust-proof goggles, and a mask early on.

The other party had prepared so thoroughly, Wei Ran naturally handed over all the glass tubes and cans to the other party with great peace of mind.

While Anfisa was busy at the side, Wei Ran was also looking at this laboratory that had only been seen through the glass since it was renovated.

In the nearly 50-square-meter room, in addition to the surrounding metal cabinets containing various chemicals and the trolley-type fire extinguisher tanks and gas masks placed on the side of the door, there are also centrifuge equipment on the central large test bench. Experimental equipment such as machines and microscopes, and the position above the head has a separate ventilation system.

"Why do you still have a laboratory here?" Xia Shushi, who was also visiting in circles, asked puzzled.

"My pleasure"

Wei Ran grinned and made a fool of himself, but in fact he didn't know why, he only knew that this laboratory was requested by Anfisa, and Sui Sui approved it. By the time he knew, this laboratory had already requested something What's up.

Before making him and Xia Shushi wait long, glass tubes and jars were opened one after another. Soon, Anfisa also brought some things on a stainless steel tray, plus a paper report.

“not much to find”

Anfisa put down the tray, pointed to the flocs in the first petri dish and said, "First of all, this is most likely not shredded tobacco, I guess it might be the fibers in the coconut shell, because I found a small piece of it inside. coconut shell."

Speaking, Anfisa picked up a piece of wood the size of a fingernail from the second petri dish with tweezers and showed it to Wei Ran and Xia Shushi.

Immediately afterwards, after she put down this small piece of coconut shell, she picked up another yellowish-white crumb the size of a matchhead from the same petri dish, "This yellowish-white one is not a coconut shell, I guess it should be Bones, and the texture is hard, not like the bones of birds."

"Where did you find this?" Wei Ran asked after translating Russian into Chinese, which was easier for Xia Shushi to understand.

"in the heart-shaped cutout in the middle of the axe"

As Anfisa said, she picked up a piece from the third petri dish, which was about the size of half a melon seed, dark brown with black hairs, "This one was also found in the heart-shaped hollow of the axe, I guess It should be the skin near the eyebrows, the bone residue just now was wrapped and stuck in the heart-shaped hollow, so I guess that bone residue might be the brow bone."

After Wei Ran finished translating this sentence, Xia Shushi immediately grinned, "Fortunately, he didn't open it."

"Next is this Indian pipe ax and this little pipe"

Anfisa pointed to the ax that was placed alone in a small plastic tray, the handle of the ax that was placed directly in the stainless steel tray, and the devil's small cigarette, "First of all, there are obvious signs of chopping on the ax blade, Next, I found fine sand clinging in the solidified tar that had accumulated under the pan of the pipe axe.

Likewise, fine sand was also found in the hollow ax handle, the feathers adorning the handle, and the small pipe. "

As he spoke, Anfisa picked up a glass slide from the tray and put it on the microscope, then raised his hand towards Wei Ran who had finished translating.

After Wei Ran moved his eyes to the eyepiece of the microscope, Anfisa continued, "It can be clearly seen through the microscope that the structure of these fine sands is basically the same, so it can be guessed that these sands should come from the same place. "

"Any other discoveries?" Wei Ran asked Xia Shushi to make way for him, and at the same time, his eyes subconsciously looked at the last petri dish in the tray.

"taken from the handle of a pipe axe"

As Anfisa said, she pulled out the black and yellow cigarette holder made of horn like on the side of the ax handle little by little.

"This cigarette holder is made of tortoiseshell and has lettering on it."

Anfisa handed the cigarette holder the size of half a ham sausage to Wei Ran, pointed to the hollow part inside and said, "I suspect that the things taken out from here are dry flowers and unknown plants. Seeds, but because there is a lot of dried smoke oil on those flowers, and the shape has changed, so there is no way to distinguish the species for the time being.”

"It's jasmine, at least those few seeds are jasmine's seeds"

Wei Ran looked at the tortoiseshell cigarette holder in his hand and said, "When I was young, my grandma's house planted a large piece of jasmine. When Aurora was about four or five years old, she used to stuff jasmine seeds into her nose. I even went to the hospital for this purpose, and since then, all those jasmine flowers have been cut off."

"Aurora has never told us about this kind of thing."

Anfisa shrugged indifferently, pointed at one end of the tortoiseshell cigarette holder with tweezers, and said, "The lettering is here, originally it was tied by a leather rope."

“赠予大酋长欧内斯特·埃文斯上尉！——第57驱逐舰分队DD-211奥尔登号——08/13/1942”

When Wei Ran turned around to look at the English lettering on it, Anfisa, who knew that his boss could not speak English, also translated it into Russian and read it out.

"So this is Captain Evans' 34th birthday present?" Wei Ran weighed the tortoiseshell cigarette holder.

"I don't know when the birthday of the captain you are investigating is"

While speaking, Anfisa picked up another glass slide and installed it on the microscope, "Next is the final discovery."

"What is it this time?" Wei Ran turned his head and asked after Xia Shushi finished translating.

"Fish scales, very small fish scales, and there are signs of carbonization."

Anfisa pointed to the leather rope that was removed from the handle of the axe. "It was found in the gap of the leather rope. There also seem to be some slight burn marks on the handle of the axe."

"It can be used to get angry. Could it be that he is really living on a deserted island?" Wei Ran muttered to himself, and then translated what Anfisa just said to Xia Shushi.

"Although a lot of details have been discovered, it doesn't seem to help us find Captain Evans much."

Xia Shushi leaned over to the microscope and glanced again, seeing that he couldn't see why, he straightened up and continued, "I think you should start investigating from the personal information of your friend's father. I'm afraid I can't find any clues at all."

"The USS Johnston is an American destroyer," said Wei Rantan, "but my Indian friend lives in the Indian reservation in Kamata."

"How can I find this?"

Xia Shushi scratched his scalp and retreated, "I said brother, or else. Or I will help you continue to check after returning to China? You see, the business you told me hasn't been done yet, we can't delay the business son, right?"

"It's because Lola ignored you, right?"

Wei Ran shook his head dumbfounded, but right now, he really can't find anything just by relying on these clues. What's more, he intended to help directly through the metal book, and now he has done the preparations that should be done. The most important thing is What's more, no matter the Katenka sisters or Xia Shushi, apart from helping to cover, they have actually done a few big favors for themselves, but they don't know it.

Among them, of course, is the detailed history of the last battle of the Johnston, which was found out these days.But the most important thing is actually the scorched fish scale just now.

The fish scale itself is of course nothing, but since it can be burnt, at least the fish must have been burnt. Since there is fire, there must be land.

Since there is land, at least the Captain Evans he was looking for may not have sunk into the sea in the end, but was buried in an unknown uninhabited island.

Seeing that Wei Ran didn't speak, Xia Shushi gritted his teeth and said, "Brother, do you think this will work?"

"Which one?" Wei Ran came back to his senses, and looked at Xia Shushi with great interest.

"I'll get to work first"

Xia Shushi took out the authenticator hanging around his neck and shook it, "When I finish my business, if you don't find the captain and his destroyer by then, I'll help you find it together. If you find the exact location , I’ll take the Philippine monkey with me, no matter if it’s a person or a boat, as long as you can dig it out or fish it out, I’ll guarantee you can take it with you.”

"Does that mean you have something to do with it?" Wei Ran asked with a smile.

"It doesn't matter to me"

Xia Shushi grinned, "But it has something to do with the second guy in the beast. Do you remember that brother Yang in Manbei last time? The bodyguard next to the beast."

"Remember." Wei Ran nodded, "We went into the mountains together to find the cemetery."

"Their security company seems to be in the Philippine monkey, and it's easy to talk."

Xia Shushi patted his chest and said, "Whether you can find it or not, I'll go back and do my work first, and then yell at the beasts to pave the way for you to go to the Philippine Monkey Pavement in advance. What do you think? Are you generous enough, buddy?"

"That's okay"

Wei Ran nodded, since the other party had said something, he naturally had to let the other party go.

"That's it!"

Xia Shushi snapped his fingers, turned his head and walked out, "I'll go up and have a cup of coffee, then I'll buy a ticket and leave."

"Let me buy the plane ticket for you"

As Wei Ran spoke, he winked at Anfisa, who had already taken off his white coat, and the latter nodded immediately, picked up the tablet computer on the table and chased him out.

Seeing that he was the only one left in the laboratory, Wei Ran hesitated for a moment, then walked towards the darkroom next door specially used for developing photos, holding the stainless steel tray in one hand and the cannonball casing in the other.

Regardless of the scumbag friend who went to the library to exchange feelings, Wei Ran returned to the house alone after leaving the basement, first went to the storage room to replenish the stock in the metal book, and then put the odds and ends in the collection room All the broken objects were put into sailor bags, carried on the shoulders, and sent to the darkroom in the basement of the library. They were taken out like a stall and placed on the table one by one.

Finally locked the door, Wei Ran took out a bottle of ice-cold mineral water from the refrigerator and drank it with his neck up, and finally mustered up his courage.