Escape From the Library

【Phantom in the painting-03】

Under the moonlight, the three white skeletons seemed to be glowing with a layer of cold light, which formed a sharp contrast with the surrounding black roses. This scene was extremely weird. Ke Shaobin couldn't help rubbing the goose bumps on his body, and said: " The corpses have turned into skeletons, how do we confirm the identity? We can't do genetic identification!"

Liu Zhaoqing is a medical student. In his eyes, these skeletons are similar to the models that the anatomy teacher showed them. He didn't have the slightest fear. He took a step forward and squatted down to take a closer look.After a while, he came to a conclusion and said: "From the shape of the pelvis, there is one male and two females. Judging from the degree of bone age development, two of them have obvious osteoporosis, they are older, and the other is younger Human beings are buried in the ground, completely turned into bones, and the death time is at least 2 years."

Xu Yi said with deep emotion: "Senior Brother Liu was a veterinarian in the Ice Age and dissected ancient animals. In this class, he is also a forensic doctor analyzing corpses. He can also use gauze to heal our wounds. He is really a universal doctor."

Liu Zhaoqing looked at him helplessly; "Don't make fun of me, I have no choice but to pretend!"

Yue Xingwen asked: "Brother, can you tell the cause of death? For example, are there any marks of sharp objects left on the bones, or are there signs of the vertebrae in the neck being strangled?" He usually reads mystery novels, and he knows With some simple knowledge of forensic identification, he took a step forward and squatted beside Liu Zhaoqing to observe the human bones carefully.

Liu Zhaoqing immediately concentrated his mind and checked again: "Xingwen really hit the point! The cervical vertebrae of the three corpses all showed signs of fracture, and no injuries were found in other places, so it is very likely that all three of them are strangled!"

The other students looked at each other when they heard the conclusion.

Suddenly, Xin Yan asked in a low voice: "The corpse is buried in the ground, will it rot slowly, will the clothes on the body also disappear?"

Everyone was stunned by the question, and Yue Xingwen quickly realized the key point: "I remember that in the class of "Digital Code", the deceased was found in the attic storage room. Wrapped in the bride's wedding dress."

The scene of white bones wrapped in a bright red wedding dress is still fresh in the memory of the students who have experienced that class.

Liu Zhaoqing said: "That's right, the corpses will rot, but the clothes and fabrics on their bodies cannot disappear in just a few years. Unless, when the three corpses were buried in the ground, the murderers stripped off their clothes .”

There were no traces of cloth around the three bodies Zhang Xiaonian dug up.The only explanation is that the murderer took off their clothes when they buried them.

Ke Shaobin said, "Why did the murderer do this?"

Jiang Pingce said calmly: "I guess there are two reasons. One is that the murderer hated them so much that he took off their clothes when burying the corpse, which meant to humiliate the dead. Second, the clothes of the dead are easy to reveal. Identity-related information, after taking it off, only bones remain, and the difficulty of reasoning will be greatly increased."

Yue Xingwen agreed with Ping Ce's statement. He concluded: "The deceased were a man and two women. Their necks were strangled. The cause of death was mechanical suffocation. The death time was more than 2 years. Among them, one man and one woman were older, and the other was a girl. Relatively young. The murderer stripped their clothes and buried them in a garden full of black roses, as if they wanted to use their rotting corpses to provide nutrients for the roses. That's all the information we know so far. Let's go back to the castle to investigate .”

Everyone followed Yue Xingwen back to the castle.

Yue Xingwen said; "Start searching from the second floor."

Climbing up the spiral staircase to the second floor, I saw a painting hanging on the wall at the entrance on the second floor. Xu Feixue didn't need to tell everyone about this painting. Ke Shaobin said excitedly: "Mona Lisa's smile, Daphne Strange work, right!"

Everyone recognized this world famous painting immediately.

In darker tones, a woman in black clothes and black hair is painted. The woman in the painting has no eyebrows and eyelashes, but her facial features are not abrupt, but give people a very gentle feeling. She seems to be smiling, but her face There is no obvious smile on the painting, and everyone feels different when seeing this painting.

If you see this painting in normal times, you will not feel how scary it is.But now, in the dark castle, under the light of Xin Yan's alcohol lamp, he suddenly saw such a painting at the entrance on the second floor...

Everyone always felt chills down their backs, as if the eyes of the woman in the painting had been staring at them.

Xu Feixue said seriously: "Actually, the painting "Mona Lisa" is not that simple. There is another rumor about this painting - it is said that Da Vinci first painted a version of the Mona Lisa, and then painted On the basis of the first edition, this layer of portrait is covered, so if you look carefully, there are actually two faces in this painting!"

Ke Shaobin couldn't help being curious when he heard this: "Two faces? Where are they? Why didn't I see them..."

Xu Feixue said: "The first face was covered by the face painted later, of course it couldn't be seen with the naked eye, but later scholars found that there seemed to be another pupil in her eyes after restoring it with computer layers and magnifying it several times. That is, under this face, there is also a first version of the face."

Most painters, when they waste a manuscript, will start over with a new canvas.If Leonardo Da Vinci really painted one version first, and then painted a second one on it, covering the original figure, as the legend says, then the "second face" is indeed hidden in this painting.

The more everyone listened to it, the more chills they felt—what did it mean to put such a painting in the castle?

Just as Yue Xingwen was about to speak, suddenly, in the portrait in front of him, the corners of the woman's mouth seemed to rise slightly.

The corners of the mouth rose slightly, Yue Xingwen rubbed his eyes and looked carefully, the woman in the painting was still motionless, and did not make a "raise the corners of the mouth" movement.

Yue Xingwen asked Jiang Pingce in a low voice: "Did you see the corner of her mouth move just now?"

Jiang Pingce frowned and said, "No."

Yue Xingwen looked at the other students: "What about you?" The others also shook their heads: "It's not moving!" Ke Shaobin adjusted his glasses, and said with a stiff face: "Can the people in the painting still move? Xingwen you do not scare me!"

Xin Yan said: "Maybe it's because the flame of the alcohol lamp was blown by the wind, creating an illusion?"

Yue Xingwen nodded: "It makes sense."

How can the characters in the painting that has been drawn move?

Probably because I was too nervous and the light was dim, that's why I had the illusion.Yue Xingwen took a deep breath, changed the subject, and said, "Continue to investigate. There are two rooms on the second floor, and everyone will divide into two groups. Everyone should take an alcohol lamp and watch their feet. Once you find a clue, you can communicate on the research group channel at any time." .”

The 13 people consciously divided into two teams and each entered two rooms.

When Yue Xingwen walked to the door of the room, he always felt that someone was watching him behind him. He suddenly turned his head and looked at the oil painting "Mona Lisa" hanging in the entrance.The woman in the painting is motionless. It seems that just now was really an illusion?

Relieved, he turned and entered the house.

Just after they all walked into the room, the woman in the painting at the entrance suddenly raised the corners of her mouth, showing a weird smile, and then, her whole face instantly rotated, and a second face hidden behind the picture appeared.

On the second woman's face, a drop of blood and tears flowed from the corner of her eye.

***

The team of Yue Xingwen entered a studio.

There is a blank canvas in the middle of the studio, a large box of color paints next to it, and some discarded drafts on the ground.

Xu Feixue picked up a few drafts, unfolded them, looked at them, and said, "It's the drafts of the abstract paintings we saw downstairs. Our deduction is correct. The paintings hanging in this castle are all copies. However, to be able to copy it so much like the original painting, the artist should have very strong painting skills."

Jiang Pingce squatted down suddenly, picked up a long hair from the ground, and looked at Yue Xingwen: "Is it a woman's long hair?"

Xu Feixue looked back and said, "Not necessarily, many men who are engaged in art like to wear long hair to show their individuality, and there are quite a few boys in our Academy of Fine Arts who wear long hair."

Jiang Pingce nodded and temporarily kept the hair.

Ke Shaobin asked Xiaotu to take pictures of the scene, and said, "There are still a few paintings hanging on the walls here, what do you mean?" He pointed to the wall on the other side of the studio.

Xu Feixue immediately walked over and said, "The painting "Starry Moon Night" in the middle is a masterpiece of Van Gogh."

The starry sky mixed with blue and yellow colors is spiral and curved, full of imaginative colors.The village under the starry sky is looming, and there is a black-brown flame-like thing towering into the sky beside it.

Zhang Xiaonian pointed to the black part in the painting and asked Xu Feixue, "What is this?"

"It's a dark brown tree shaped like a huge flame. Rising to the sky, it represents the carnival of the starry night."

The flaming trees soaring into the sky and the quiet village next to it are in sharp contrast, making the whole painting a bit weird.

Xu Feixue followed up and said: "The origin of this painting is also quite special. At that time, Van Gogh had a mental breakdown and was receiving treatment in a mental hospital. He painted this painting during his hospitalization. The village in the painting is where his mental hospital is located. place."

Yue Xingwen frowned: "Have you noticed that the paintings hanging in the castle are all weird. In the "Blackboard" I saw on the first floor, the artist sat on the shoulder of a friend and scribbled casually; The Mona Lisa is said to have covered one face with a second face; The Starry Night was painted by Van Gogh while he was undergoing psychiatric treatment."

Ke Shaobin scratched his head: "These paintings have nothing in common, do they?"

Jiang Pingce suddenly said, "Actually, there are."

Everyone turned their heads to look at him, and Jiang Pingce said calmly: "The theme of this secret room should be replacement and exchange. Among the abstract paintings on the first floor, there is one called "Exchange", which uses a lot of bright color blocks; In "Mona Lisa", the second face covers the first face, which is equivalent to the latter replacing the former; in the "Starry Moon Night" hanging in the studio, the tree rising into the sky like flames contrasts sharply with the surrounding quiet village , seems to suggest the murderer's superficial calm and inner madness."

Yue Xingwen followed his words and said: "There is no one in the castle. Among the dead, a man and a woman are older, and the other girl is younger. It looks like a family of three. It is very likely that the murderer wiped out the entire family. And replace it?"

Jiang Pingce nodded: "This is just my guess. The current clues can't analyze anything too detailed."

Yue Xingwen said: "Well, we need to find more evidence. Ask Senior Brother Liu if they have gained anything." After he finished speaking, he sent a message on the research group channel: "Senior Brother Liu, have you found any clues? "

The message was sent with no response.

Yue Xingwen was puzzled: "Brother Liu? Brother Xu?"

Lan Yarong typed quickly: "Manluo Zhuofeng? Qin Lu and Qin Miao, can't you see the news?"

The research team still only had the words they typed, and no teammates from the other team responded.

Those 6 people were chatting with them on the second floor just now, what's going on?

Yue Xingwen's complexion changed, and he rushed out the door, facing the "Mona Lisa" hanging at the entrance, and the woman in the painting had changed her face!