curse

Chapter 41

"Wen Haogu has been missing for a few days?" Ye Xiao asked calmly, looking around at the expressions of the people in the institute from time to time.

"Yesterday morning, I found out that Director Wen didn't come to work. We called his home but no one answered. Until this morning, there is still no news of him. Director Wen has always been very punctual, and there has never been such a situation. The situation has happened before, and I have never been late for work, and I come to work half an hour earlier every day. We are all very worried about him." The deputy director said nervously.

Ye Xiao looked at him, and asked in a strange tone: "I'm sorry, did you participate in the archaeological work that Wen Haogu and the others went to Xinjiang two or three months ago?"

"No, I stayed here when they went to Xinjiang. Any questions?"

"It's nothing."

The deputy director suddenly remembered something: "Also, after I opened Director Wen's office with my key yesterday, I saw a few photos on his desk."

Ye Xiao immediately interrupted him: "I'm sorry, have you touched the scene in his office?"

"No."

"That's good, take me to see right away."

They walked into Wen Haogu's office, and Ye Xiao saw seven photos on the desk, among which he recognized Jiang He, Xu Anduo, Zhang Kai, Yang Xiaolong, and Lin Zisu, and the last one was Wen Haogu.Especially the photo of Jiang He, Ye Xiao's heart beat immediately when he saw his face that was very similar to his own.But Ye Xiao didn't know the person in the first photo. It was different from the other color photos. It was a black and white photo. In the photo was a man in his 7s. Although there was a smile on the corner of his mouth in the photo, his expression was very serious.Pointing to the photo, he asked, "Who is this person?"

The deputy director replied: "It's Bai Zhengqiu, an old researcher in our institute in the past. He died in a car accident more than 10 years ago. I really don't understand why Director Wen also took out Bai Zhengqiu's photo. Maybe it is Because they are old classmates."

"Bai Zhengqiu? That's Bai Bi's father?" Ye Xiao still remembered that he had read Bai Zhengqiu's dossier not long ago, and felt strange about his death.

"Yeah, he used to bring his daughter to our institute. I still remember that little girl with fair skin. I didn't expect that this girl would marry Jiang He in our institute when she grew up. She died in a month, which is really bizarre, what a poor girl." The deputy director said with emotion.

Ye Xiao was also thoughtful. He quietly looked at the photos on the desktop. Except for Wen Haogu, the other six people were all dead, and they were arranged in chronological order of death.Bai Zhengqiu, who died in 6, was at the front, followed by Jiang He, and Wen Haogu at the end.Is this some kind of hint?He was taken aback, and said, "I suspect that Wen Haogu's life is in danger now, or..." He paused, and then said slowly, "Or he is already dead."

"You said Director Wen is dead?" The deputy director looked terrified.

"I'm just guessing, but don't be afraid. Since you didn't participate in their archaeological activities in Xinjiang, you should be safe." Although Ye Xiao said so, he couldn't be sure whether the person in front of him was still alive. dangerous.

"You mean that all the people who participated in that archaeology will die?" The deputy director thought for a while, and then continued, "You may be right. They went to six people, and five people died. , and now the only one left is Director Wen.”

Ye Xiao walked out of the office and returned to the corridor, looking around, his eyes pointed sharply at every corner of the corridor, he seemed to have smelled something, he said: "I guess, Wen Haogu must still be in this building now. in the house."

"how can that be?"

Ye Xiao ignored him and continued, "Do you have all the keys in this building?"

The deputy director nodded, and then brought over dozens of bunches of keys tied to a wooden board, and all the keys are here.

"Come on, let's go to the room where Jiang He's accident happened." Ye Xiao said coldly.He and the deputy director quickly walked through the corridor, opened the door, and walked into Jiang He's room.

There was a strange smell in the room, perhaps because it hadn't been seen for a long time.Ye Xiao saw the dead man's skull on display in the cabinet again, for some reason, he suddenly felt a little palpitating.As soon as the deputy director walked in the door, he didn't dare to move anymore. His voice was a little trembling: "Two people died in this room, Officer Ye, check it yourself."

Ye Xiao glanced at him contemptuously, and then carefully scanned the entire room. Except for the instrument, there was nothing on Jiang He's desk, and the computer had already been moved to Ye Xiao's office.There is a lot of dust here, and it looks like no one else has been there.He was a little disappointed, and looked at the windows and glass, as well as the window sills and leaves outside. All the leaves in the bushes were trembling in the wind, and some deciduous trees were already bare, stained with the color of late autumn.

He and the deputy director walked out of the room, and then checked all the rooms in this small building, and found nothing unusual.The deputy director spread his hands and said, "Officer Ye, Director Wen cannot still be here. If something happens to him, he must be outside. I hope he is fine."

"No, we missed a place just now."

The deputy director said with some doubts: "You mean the warehouse?"

"I know that outsiders can't just go in there, but if necessary, we can go through normal legal procedures to enter the warehouse."

"No, no need. If you must go, I can accompany you in. The main reason for not letting outsiders in is for safety reasons, especially the recent incident of Lin Zisu fleeing with cultural relics. But you are a police officer and you are handling the case , I can make an exception once."

When they came to the door of the warehouse, the deputy director took out the special key and opened the heavy door of the warehouse.Ye Xiao and the deputy director walked into the warehouse slowly, a cool feeling made Ye Xiao feel a little uncomfortable all over, and he seemed to smell something.There were safes in the warehouse, and he didn't know what was in them. He ignored them and just scanned every corner carefully.He continued to walk into the inner room of the warehouse and saw another door.

"What's in here? Can you open it?"

"Yes." The deputy director opened the door with a key.

Walking into this small room, under the dim light, they saw a glass enclosure in which lay a human body in white clothes.Ye Xiao remembered what Bai Bi told him, and knew that it was just a mummy, but seeing this ancient woman, his heart still trembled, and a feeling of nausea surged in his heart.

"Don't be afraid, this is just a mummified corpse of an ancient person. It was brought back by the director of Palindrome from Xinjiang archaeology for research." The deputy director said lightly.

Ye Xiao thought to himself, maybe those who do archaeology and those who do police have many similarities, they have to contact many dead people, but the police contact people who have just died, while they contact people who have been dead for thousands of years. Archaeologists and the police have to find a trace of clues from the dead or the environment in which the dead were located for analysis and research, and then draw conclusions to find the truth of history and the truth of the case.

He suddenly smelled something again, looked at the deputy director and said, "Did you smell something?"

The deputy director also said suspiciously: "It's a faint smell." The deputy director went around behind the glass cover, and suddenly, he was stunned, his face turned pale, and he cried out, "My God."

Ye Xiao immediately walked quickly behind him, and sure enough, he saw a person lying horizontally behind the glass cover——Wen Haogu.

Undoubtedly, the strange smell came from Wen Haogu's body. Ye Xiao believed that Wen Haogu was dead at first glance. He bent down and touched Wen Haogu's neck, and it was true.From the condition of Wen Haogu's skin, it looks like he has been dead for at least [-] to [-] hours, but the temperature here is low and dry, and the body is basically not damaged, but there is a slight smell of decay.

However, what surprised Ye Xiao was that Wen Haogu was lying on the ground with his hands at his sides and his legs straight, as if he was deliberately posing in this position, and his expression was also very serene, and there seemed to be a strange smile at the corner of his mouth meaning.Why did he choose to be here, beside this mummy.Ye Xiao suddenly turned his head and looked at the woman in the glass case, feeling an inexplicable tremor in his heart.

The deputy director was already frightened, he said tremblingly: "Is Director Wen dead?"

"Yes, he was long dead."

"My God, it looks like an ancient tomb where men and women are buried together."

Ye Xiao was startled, he stood up and looked again, it was indeed somewhat similar, Wen Haogu was lying on the side, and the mummy in the glass case was lying on the right, like some kind of ritual.

"Perhaps, Director Wen lost his head in studying ancient tombs, and he himself wanted to die according to the shape of ancient tombs."

Ye Xiao glanced at the deputy director again, and thought about what he said.Then Ye Xiao said to him: "Wait a while, after the police come to investigate the scene, you stay here and don't go away, and don't touch anything in the scene."

A few hours later, after the on-site inspection was completed, Wen Haogu's body was sent away, but Ye Xiao did not accompany him back to the bureau, because he could guess what Wen Haogu's autopsy results would be.

(End of this chapter)