conspiracy crime 2

Chapter 27: Cliff Lone Pine (2)
According to Fang Lihui's son's recollection, his mother called him in Beijing about buying the painting, and said that from this painting, the mystery of his father's disappearance would definitely be solved.Then Fang Lihui didn't go home, and went directly to Qingyang City by train...

After reading this fax, Fan Tianze immediately called Xiao Meng, his amateur painting assistant, and asked him to read the fax as well, then spread out the "Sunrise Picture of Mountains and Rivers" on the table, and said, "Fang Lihui She once called and told her son that the mystery of Song Siyuan's disappearance could be solved from this painting. You know how to paint, so show me what's wrong with this painting?"

Xiao Meng bent down to look at it seriously, and said: "This is a fine brushwork painting in traditional Chinese painting. The brush and ink are concise, combining hardness and softness, and the scene is unique. Especially the red glow in the background and the rising sun that has not yet appeared are even more unconventional. The way of expressing Chinese paintings is quite modern..."

Fan Tianze frowned, and said, "It's useless not to mess with me. I'm not asking you to flatter this painting, I'm asking you to see what mystery there is in the painting, which can be related to Song Siyuan's disappearance and Fang Lihui's murder .”

Xiao Meng scratched the back of his head and said, "I didn't see that."

Fan Tianze pondered and said: "If there is no special mystery in the painting, why would Fang Lihui say that this painting alone can solve the mystery of her husband's disappearance? Also, why did she go up to the Jade Emperor Peak to watch the sunrise? Will she still be carrying this painting with her? Obviously, she wants to prove something by comparing it with this painting through the real scene, right?"

Xiao Meng glanced at him with admiration, nodded and said, "That's right, it should be like this."

Fan Tianze paced back and forth in front of the painting, pondering, "So, what exactly is she trying to prove? Does the incident she wants to prove have something to do with her murder?"

Xiao Meng said: "Boss, it's useless for us to think about it here. Why don't you take this painting to the top of the Jade Emperor tomorrow morning to have a look, maybe you can find something."

Fan Tianze patted the table and said, "Okay, let's go to Jade Emperor Peak to watch the sunrise tomorrow."

The next morning, before dawn, Fan Tianze and Xiao Meng brought the painting to Yuhuangding.

They waited on the top of the mountain for a while, and saw that the gray oriental sky gradually turned into a soft fish-belly white, and then the silvery white dawn gradually turned crimson, and the morning glow was reflected on a solitary pine tree about as thick as the mouth of a wine glass on the top of Yuhuang. , a round of rising sun is about to burst out... All the scenery is exactly the same as that in the painting.Especially the solitary tree on the top of the mountain, regardless of its height, thickness, branches and leaves, and the inclination angle of its trunk, are all exactly the same as the one on the picture. At first glance, it looks like it was photographed with a camera.

Looking at it, Fan Tianze suddenly stamped his feet and shouted: "No, no."

Xiao Meng said strangely: "The painting on the screen is exactly the same as the real scene of sunrise at Yuhuangding. There is nothing wrong with it."

Fan Tianze said: "It's because I can't see anything wrong, so I feel something is wrong. Fang Lihui clearly said that from this painting, she can find clues about her husband's disappearance, and she is going to take this painting to the mountain to prove something. Why can't we see anything?"

Xiao Meng scratched the back of his head and was speechless.Fan Tianze kicked the stones on the mountain with his feet in frustration, while turning his head boredly to look at the pine trees growing around the top of the mountain.Those wild pine trees grow very well. The big ones are as thick as a child's waistline, and the smallest ones are as thick as the mouth of a bowl.

Fan Tianze seemed to have discovered something suddenly, raised his eyebrows, pointed to the lone tree on the top of the mountain and said to Xiao Meng: "Xiao Meng, take a look, what is the difference between this lone tree and the surrounding pine trees?"

Xiao Meng looked at it and said inexplicably, "It's not the same, except that it's shorter and the trunk is smaller, everything else is the same."

Fan Tianze asked: "They are all native wild pine trees, why is there such a big difference?"

After his reminder, Xiaomeng also felt something, nodded and said: "Yes, from the topography, these should be pine trees grown in the same batch, and the geology is the same, why is there such a big difference? ? Unless, unless..."

"Unless this solitary tree was planted later!"

Fan Tianze and Xiao Meng shouted out at the same time.

The two immediately called the ranger of the scenic spot and asked about the solitary tree on the top of the mountain. The ranger smiled and said, "You two really guessed it right. It turns out that there is a waist-thick pine tree growing on the top of the Jade Emperor. Tourists It is said that it was a pillar supporting the sky. Later, the big pine tree was struck by lightning and died. In order to fill the gap, we had to transplant a small pine tree from elsewhere. Pine trees grow very slowly, for a long time, I didn't see how much I grew up."

Fan Tianze hurriedly asked: "When did you plant new trees?"

The forest ranger recalled and said, "It should have happened more than a year ago, yes, it was planted last spring."

Before the ranger could say anything, Xiao Meng cried out, "Oh, this painting was painted five years ago."

5
Back in the bureau, following Fan Tianze's instructions, Xiao Meng immediately collected information, compiled Ning Zechen's biography and death history into a document, and sent it to Fan Tianze.

Ning Zechen, male, was born in the late 60s in Liwan District, Guangzhou. After graduating from the Academy of Fine Arts in the early 90s, he entered a middle school as an art teacher. Later, because he was obsessed with art and loved painting, he resigned at home and became a professional painter. , created a large number of excellent works of traditional Chinese painting, but due to lack of appreciation and recommendation, they have been unknown and have not attracted the attention of the art world.

Ning Zechen was once depressed because of this, and even had the idea of ​​giving up on himself and committing suicide.

In August three years ago, Ning Zechen's wife, Zhen Lan, saw that her husband had been depressed recently and was having trouble dispelling it, so she persuaded her husband to travel with her to Zhangjiajie to relax.

On the night of the third day after arriving at Zhangjiajie scenic spot, Ning Zechen visited Tianzi Mountain alone at night, and committed suicide by jumping off a cliff while his wife was not around.

It was not until two days later that someone found his body under the cliff.

It was later confirmed by the police that Ning Zechen died on the spot because his head hit a sharp rock when he fell off the cliff, resulting in brain contusion.

According to eyewitnesses, when the body was found, it had been slightly decomposed, and its face was covered with blood, and its brains were gushing out, which was very horrific.

It was confirmed by his wife Zhen Lan that the deceased was indeed her husband Ning Zechen.

The police found a written suicide note in Ning Zechen's pocket, so it was determined that Ning Zechen committed suicide.

Two days later, Ning Zechen's body was cremated.

The news of the painter Ning Zechen committing suicide due to his lack of talent and anger, and the sharply worded suicide note immediately caused an uproar in the art world after it was published in the newspaper.

Immediately afterwards, two works created by him before his death were picked up by his agent, and they were auctioned by Tianjin Auction House.

As soon as the news came out, it directly drove Ning Zechen's other works to greatly appreciate in value.

Since then, some works left by him during his lifetime have been published one after another, and each painting has been favored by collectors, and the estimated price is generally between 30 and [-] yuan.

In the three years after Ning Zechen committed suicide, more than ten posthumous works were discovered every year and entered the field of vision of collectors.Some people once doubted whether these works were forged by others. Authoritative experts in the art field later identified Ning Zechen's works with elegant artistic conception, rigorous structure, strong brushwork and self-contained style, which are absolutely difficult for ordinary people to imitate.Judging from the published works, no forgery has been found.

In July this year, Ning Zechen's posthumous work "Sunrise of Mountains and Rivers" was bought for a high price of 7 yuan as soon as it was published.It can be seen that the charm of Ning Zechen's paintings is indeed extraordinary.

After reading it, Fan Tianze asked Xiaomeng: "When did Fang Lihui's husband Song Siyuan disappear in Zhangjiajie?"

Xiao Meng said: "It was also three years ago, and it was also August."

Fan Tianze frowned and said, "Looking at the time, the time Ning Zechen jumped off the cliff to commit suicide was exactly the time Song Siyuan disappeared in Zhangjiajie. This should not be a coincidence."

Looking at his expression, Xiao Meng knew that he must have figured something out, so he asked excitedly: "Captain Fan, do you have any clues about this case? Who is the murderer? When will you arrest him?"

Fan Tianze nodded his head and said: "I have basically figured out the facts of the case, but there are still some details that we need to confirm. As for who the murderer is, you will know by then. You hurry up and buy three tickets tonight." Guangzhou train ticket, let’s go meet the artist who Ning Zechen Ning Ning.”

Xiao Meng was taken aback, and said, "Isn't Ning Zechen already dead?"

Fan Tianze smiled slightly, and said: "If he is really dead, then let's go meet his wife Zhen Lan. By the way, before you go to buy train tickets, send an investigation notice to your counterparts in Guangzhou, please They helped us find out about Zhen Lan, a woman. I have a comrade-in-arms who happens to work in the Liwan District Public Security Bureau, and I heard that he even became a petty officer. His surname is Gu and his name is Gu Daju. Just call him directly."

Xiao Meng was confused by him, wanted to ask something, but didn't dare to ask, so he had no choice but to go away silently.

That night, Fan Tianze took Xiao Meng and a female colleague on the express train to Guangzhou.

The next morning, the three arrived in Guangzhou.

At the Liwan District Public Security Bureau, Gu Daju, who was in charge of receiving them, told them all the information about Zhen Lan collected overnight.

Zhen Lan, 38 years old this year, was originally a dance teacher in an art vocational secondary school.

After her husband Ning Zechen committed suicide three years ago, she resigned and rested at home for a while, then opened a clothing store, and the business was pretty good.

Fan Tianze asked: "After her husband died, did she find another man?"

(End of this chapter)