Margaret's Secret

Chapter 25: Thus Said Nostradamus (1)
Two in the morning.

Lin Hai woke up leisurely, only felt a jolt under his body, as if he was in a moving car.

The back of his head was still aching, and he opened his eyes dizzily. The sky outside the car window was still dark, but the rain seemed to have stopped.He wanted to struggle to sit up, but he couldn't move his hands and feet. It turned out that he had been tied up, so he could only pant heavily.

Then he saw the front seat, where Margaret sat with a hook-nosed man.Lin Hai saw that man in the early hours of yesterday. He was Margaret's uncle Victor.This is an eight-seater van, and there is someone driving at the front. From the back, it looks like Mr. Wenger.

Could it be that Mr. Wenger was with them, or Wenger was originally from the Lamor family?Thinking of this, Lin Hai couldn't help feeling horrified.

And what about Margaret?She said she had betrayed her own family, but in the end drew the Lamors.Yes, their goal was finally achieved. They found the real painting through Lin Hai. It turned out that Margaret was still a bait. What she said last night was still a lie to lie to him after all?

This was what really made Lin Hai's heart ache. He tried not to make a sound, but his tears couldn't stop streaming down.

However, he heard Margaret speak, and she said to her uncle in French: "Please, don't hurt Lin Hai."

"It's up to him."

"There is one more thing I don't understand. How did you find us?"

"Did you destroy the orientation sensor?" Victor sneered, his voice was chilling, "Do you think there is only this one sensor? Besides the one you know, there is a smaller sensor Sensitivity is hidden on your body."

Margaret was obviously surprised: "On me?"

Victor reached out and took off Margaret's earrings, and said with a sneer: "Actually, this pair of amber earrings is the same as the one in the oil painting, and there is a tiny orientation sensor hidden inside, which can tell your location, quickly to my computer."

Only then did Margaret wake up like a dream. She looked at the pair of earrings and said, "So you guys have already prepared it, so you didn't trust me from the beginning?"

"It's not that I don't trust you, but just in case. You also know about Mathilde's betrayal of the family 70 years ago. We have already had such a lesson. We have to guard against it." Victor sneered again After a while, he said meaningfully, "A girl's heart is unpredictable to everyone. We have already considered this situation—although Lin Hai fell into your trap, you fell into the trap of love. We must treat you Just to be on guard, that's why you put such a thing in your earrings, and now it really works."

Hearing this, Lin Hai's hanging heart was relieved again, at least he understood that Margaret had not betrayed him.

The car stopped suddenly. This is a high-end residential area, and there are probably many foreigners living there.Victor grabbed Margaret and got out of the car first, then he ran to the back of the car and took out a picture frame from the trunk, which had been carefully wrapped in canvas.

The car door on Lin Hai's side was also opened, and he saw Teacher Wenger's face in the dark, and he immediately shouted: "Mr. Wenger, why did you do this?"

Wenger looked a little embarrassed, he didn't answer, but just dragged Lin Hai out of the car.Lin Hai's hands were tied behind his back, and Wenger led him into a building.

Presumably this is where Wenger lives. It is a very spacious house with good decoration, but there is no furniture.They brought Lin Hai and Margaret into a small room, only then did Lin Hai discover that there was a painting in the room, which was the fake Margaret he had seen in the Western Art Museum.

It turned out that they really stole the painting and hid it in Wenger's house.Lin Hai shook his head and said, "Mr. Wenger, I have always respected you, but why did you do this?"

At this time Wenger finally spoke: "Because I am also a member of the Lamor family."

Lin Hai couldn't believe his ears, he looked back at Margaret.She curled up in the corner, nodded and said, "Yes, Wenger is my cousin."

Wenger said with a little regret: "I'm sorry, Lin Hai, I always regard you as the best student, but I never told you that the real purpose of my coming to China was to find the descendants of Lin Danqing. I was sent to China, and I found out that Lin Danqing used to be an art teacher in the university, so I tried every means to apply to enter the university as your French teacher. But what I didn't expect was that Lin Danqing's grandson would become my student , I secretly investigated the situation of your family. I know that your father is a stubborn old man, and it is difficult to make a breakthrough in him."

"So you've taken a fancy to me?"

"Yes, you are different from your father. I am your French teacher and I know you very well. You are naturally sentimental and dreamy. You like French literature. You like The Red and Black. You like horror movies. You You are very susceptible to our influence. Therefore, you are the breakthrough point for us to find the real product of "Margaret."

At this moment, Lin Hai suddenly realized: "I understand. The other day you said that you had a ticket for the treasure exhibition of the St. Louis Museum, and you also asked us a question from "The Red and the Black". You arranged this on purpose, right? You know that I like to watch "Red and Black" very much, and I can definitely answer this question, so that ticket is a reward for me, the purpose is to let me go to the Western Art Museum, to receive "Margaery" "Special" influence."

"You guessed right." Wenger remained calm when speaking, "Did you faint in the secret room soon after you went to the Western Art Museum?"

"Yes, is that also your arrangement?"

"Of course!" It was Marguerite's uncle Victor who spoke this time, and he said triumphantly, "Do you still remember that when you first entered the art gallery, someone walked by you?" Hit you."

Lin Hai suddenly understood: "That person is you?"

"That's right, when I deliberately bumped into you, I quietly sprayed some potion on the collar of your clothes, and then you will smell a strange smell."

"I remember! Yes, I smelled a smell. I thought it was the smell of oil painting. So I fainted because of the smell?"

Victor sneered: "Yes, if you smell that smell too much, you will faint, but you will wake up soon, it will not cause harm to the human body, and it is difficult to check it out afterwards."

"I see, you have used various means to fill me with fear and doubts after my first visit to an art museum, especially the 'Aider moi' you wrote on my palm. The second time you went to the art gallery, you took the opportunity to use the same method on me, and made me faint. Then you locked me in the toilet room, so I escaped the clearance. After a few hours, the medicine expired, I woke up and escaped from the toilet, and naturally came to the secret room where "Marguerite" was displayed, and Marguerite was already there waiting for me."

"Did you also hear footsteps at that time? That was actually my voice, and you took me for Nostradamus."

"But I still don't understand one thing. How did you break into the Western Art Museum?"

Wenger suddenly interjected: "Let me tell you. In fact, I studied computers in France and I am a well-known master hacker in Europe. Victor has been waiting in the art gallery for those days. One day before the end of the treasure exhibition, he finally Waiting for you again. He called me that night and told me that he had locked you in the toilet. So I hacked into the computer system of the museum, opened the security door of the museum by hacking, and turned off the video surveillance and infrared rays at the same time. system, and thus allowed Victor and Margaret to break into the art gallery."

"Then what about the treasure showroom? It should be fully enclosed at night. How did Margaret get in?"

"The treasure showroom does have a solid security door, and it uses retinal recognition technology, just like fingerprint or voice recognition. Only fixed personnel can open this door. It is also very simple to break this difficulty. As early as in France , we stole the retinal information of an expert from the Saint-Louis Museum through an eye hospital in Paris. This expert also came to China with the painting of the same name, and only he can enter the secret room alone, so we used his retinal information to easily Open the security door."

"So that's how it was. Later, it was said in the art gallery that a strange change had taken place in the oil painting, and a large shadow appeared in the middle of "Marguerite". It must be that you replaced a painting that had been prepared for a long time. The experts are all fooled." Lin Hai snorted half in admiration, half in disgust, "The Lamor family is really a family of thieves!"

Victor sneered and said, "Thank you for your compliment. Now we have obtained the authentic "Margaret". The family's wish for more than 200 years has finally come true. That big secret..."

"Stop talking!" Wenger interrupted Victor calmly, and he turned back to Lin Hai and said, "I'm sorry, I'm not the person you imagined, all I did was for the sake of the family for hundreds of years. The mission, this oil painting was originally left by Queen Margaret to her descendants. It is also our family, and in your Chinese words, it is 'return to Zhao'."

He said the last four words in standard Chinese.

At this time, Victor poked Wenger and said, "It's getting late, what do you think Margaret should do?"

Wenger leaned down and pulled Margaret up, and said softly: "Margaret, we are going to fly back to China soon, and your passport and luggage are here with me, go back with us, you are still the same My good sister."

Margaret's expression became strangely indifferent, and she pressed her back against the wall and said, "No, I want to stay."

Victor asked loudly, "Don't you want to go home?"

"Is that home? Do you still want me to go back to the family? No, that is the cage that imprisoned me for 20 years. Now that I have tasted freedom, I will never go back."

"You are crazy!"

Victor raised his big hand again as he said that, and was about to slap Margaret, but Wen pulled him back and said flatly, "Uncle, if you have something to say, please don't do it."

Margaret walked up to Lin Hai, grabbed Lin Hai's hand and said, "Wenger, I have fallen in love with this Chinese man, let me be with him, I don't want to go back to China."

Victor cursed loudly again: "What a bitch, just like Mathilde back then!"

But Wenger thought about it calmly and said, "Margaret, my dear cousin, do you really like Lin Hai?"

"Yes, I have thought it through and I am willing to be with him."

"You would rather give up everything your family gave you?"

Margaret raised her head: "I would rather give up my own life."

Hearing this, Wenger finally sighed softly: "Well, I can't force you to go. And I also know Lin Hai, he is a good boy, you can stay with him."

Victor argued with him: "Wenger! How can you..."

"Enough, you have to think about Margaret's happiness, since she has fallen in love with Lin Hai, then even if she returns to France, she will try to escape, let her stay, we are on the way back It can also save one trouble."

Victor thought about it, so he stopped insisting. He wrapped the fake "Marguerite" painted by Lin Danqing with canvas, and said, "I booked a plane ticket at eight o'clock in the morning. I will arrive in Paris." It's four o'clock in the afternoon French time."

"Very good, let's go now."

"Then what about the two of them?"

Wenger smiled: "Actually, I have thought about it a long time ago. If they are released now, they will definitely go to the police. Therefore, we must let them stay here for 24 hours, so that when they come out, we will We have already returned to France and come out of Charles de Gaulle Airport, and no one will be able to find us at that time."

Lin Hai shook his head and said, "You want to lock us up for 24 hours, but you have gone back to France, how can you do that?"

"I said I was already ready." At this time Victor had already taken out the two paintings from the room, and Wenger walked to the door and said, "This is an automatic anti-theft door. It’s reversed, and I can set the closing time, and it cannot be opened from the inside within 24 hours, but it will automatically open once it reaches 24 hours, unless...you know the password.”

Before Lin Hai could react, he had already walked outside the room, locked the automatic anti-theft door, and then heard a few buttons pressed outside, presumably Wenger had set a 24-hour deadline.

Then Wenger said loudly through the door: "There is a small refrigerator in the room and a small bathroom. If you are hungry, you can eat by yourself. Don't worry."

At this time Margaret rushed to the door, knocked on the door vigorously and said, "Let us out!"

Wenger said coldly outside the door: "Margaret, this is your own choice, I wish you happiness forever, goodbye."

Then there was only a rush of footsteps outside, and then nothing was heard. Margaret knocked on the door hard, shouting "Aider moi", but there was no movement outside.

But Margaret was not yet desperate, she ran back to Lin Hai and helped him untie the nylon rope on his body.Lin Hai then stretched his muscles and got up, squeezed the strangle marks on his wrist, and looked outside the window. There was a solid iron fence outside, and it was absolutely impossible to escape through the window.

It was already four o'clock in the morning, Lin Hai suddenly thought of his mobile phone, he quickly touched his clothes, but the mobile phone had already been taken away by Wenger, and he had no way to contact the outside world.

He shook his head and sat on the ground again, it seemed that he had to wait 24 hours before he could go out.Margaret sat beside him, and they cuddled together like two wounded animals.

Lin Hai couldn't say anything, he just felt cold and tired, he suddenly saw a blanket from the corner of the wall, and covered Margaret with the blanket.

They were already extremely sleepy, so they simply resigned themselves to their fate, and fell asleep soon after closing their eyes...

Within a few hours, when the morning sun shone on them, Lin Hai woke up in horror, and Margaret also opened her eyes, observing the room blankly.

Rather, it is a cell, a tomb.

Lin Hai felt a little hungry. He struggled to get up and opened the small refrigerator. There were indeed a lot of bread and mineral water in it. This was the "prison breakfast" Wenger left for them.

After this special breakfast, Lin Hai finally spoke: "Marguerite, you don't go back to France with your family, but stay here with me, don't you regret it?"

"No, I never regret it."

"Is this how people's fate is changed? What happened that night when we were in father's house?"

Margaret smiled bitterly and said: "Where did you think? Nothing happened to us. After you fell asleep on the chair that night, I was worried that you would catch a cold, so I dragged you to the bed. Spent the night in a chair."

Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief, but he also said with some disappointment: "I guess this is also part of your plan?"

"Yes, to make you think that happened so that I can better control you."

Lin Hai stood up and looked at the iron fence outside the window and said, "I have another question. I saw you talking to me on the back of the "Queen Margot" DVD. Was that also what you arranged in advance?"

"Yes, we filmed it in advance and put it in that DVD, the purpose is to make you panic and then believe the absurd lies we made up."

"But why didn't the following paragraph disappear when I watched that video later?"

Margaret smiled slightly: "The reason is very simple. I switched the film. The "Queen Margot" you saw for the second time is actually another DVD."

After being silent for a while, Lin Hai stared at the sky outside the window and said, "Wenger and Victor have already boarded the plane. Why do you want to get that painting so hard? Is it just because it was left to them by their ancestors?"

"Because there is a big secret hidden in the painting. It is said that if you get that secret, you can have unlimited power and even become the master of the world."

Lin Hai took a breath: "In other words, if this secret falls into the hands of the wicked, wouldn't the world be very dangerous?"

"Maybe so."

"Then your family counts..."

Originally, he was about to say the word "wicked person", but he swallowed the words again.

"What are you talking about? A family of thieves? A family of ghosts living in the dark forest? I don't know whether they are good or bad, or there is no distinction between good and bad in the world."

"No, we can't let them get it so easily. If this secret falls into their hands, it may cause very dangerous consequences, right?"

"Then what do you want to do? We can't go out now. By the time we go out, they have already returned to France and hid somewhere where no one can find them."

Lin Hai paced around the room and said, "We can find a way to escape."

"We don't have wings, how can we escape?"

"Didn't Wenger say before he left that the door can only be opened unless there is a password."

Margaret walked behind the automatic anti-theft door, looked at the password button on the door and said, "But do you know the password?"

"We can give it a try. Don't we also know the password to the bank safe left by grandpa?"

"Is it still the date in "The Red and the Black"?"

"April 1574, 4—the day when Marguerite was buried with Larmor's head in her arms." Lin Hai closed his eyes and thought for a while, "I hope Wenger set this password."

Then, he carefully pressed "15740430" on the cipher.

But the password display is wrong, not the number at all.

Lin Hai's heart immediately turned cold. He looked back at Margaret, and the expressions of both of them returned to despair.

(End of this chapter)