Margaret's Secret

Chapter 26: Thus Said Nostradamus (2)
He lowered his head and thought for a moment, what kind of password would Wenger set?A person like Wenger who is proficient in history and literature will definitely set a commemorative number. If it is not that date, what will it be?Is it a person's name?

Marguerite?

In an instant, Lin Hai thought of Margaret's name, but there were no English letters on the cipher, so Arabic numerals had to be pressed.

At this time, he thought of the plot seen in the story of the 19th floor of hell—using Arabic numerals instead of English letters to set the password.

Yes, if the 26 letters are arranged in order, A=1, B=2, C=3...and so on until Z=26.

Then the 11 letters of Marguerite are sorted according to the number, namely: M=13, A=1, R=18, G=7, U=21, E=5, I=9, T=20.

Putting Marguerite together is 131187215189205.

This is a 15-digit number, which fully complies with the principles of password setting.

Lin Hai took a deep breath, and slowly pressed the 15-digit number on the cipher.

"PASS"!
Thankfully, Wenger had set this code, and the automatic security door finally opened.

Lin Hai dragged Marguerite out of the room, and almost screamed excitedly, feeling like Dantès who had escaped from the cage and emerged from the sea, and was about to become the Count of Monte Cristo.

It was already ten o'clock in the morning, they ran out of the building, Lin Hai took a big breath of the air outside, took Margaret's hand and said: "Now we must call Paris and ask them to stop Wenger and Victor."

After finally finding a place to make international calls, Lin Hai immediately dialed my number in Paris.

At this very moment, Wenger and Victor are crossing Eurasia on a plane.

But the radio waves reached Paris in an instant...

In the early morning at the University of Voltaire in Paris, on the roof of the history department building, ghosts are dancing in the moonlight.

Just under the ceiling of the top floor, electromagnetic waves from thousands of miles away flew into my mobile phone and woke me up from my sleep.

I jumped up in panic, and saw an unfamiliar domestic number displayed on the phone, who was calling me in the middle of the night?But according to the time difference, it should be in the morning in China now.

After hesitating for a while, I still answered the call, only to hear Lin Hai's voice: "Are you okay?"

"Fortunately, a few ghosts were scared away by you just now."

"I have found the real "Marguerite" oil painting, but the real painting was taken away by the Larmor family."

The first sentence got me excited right away, but the second sentence left me scratching my head: "Wait a minute, I don't understand what you're saying."

Lin Hai on the other end of the phone was very anxious. He could only give a rough overview of the situation. He told me the names of the two men in the Lamor family: Wenger and Victor. Gretel" and the fake "Marguerite" are on the plane and will return to Paris this afternoon.

I immediately understood what he meant: "Lin Hai, don't worry, we still have time, I will try my best to intercept them at the airport."

After hanging up the phone, I was completely sleepy. I walked to the window and looked at the night in Paris, imagining that the large passenger plane carrying "Marguerite" was flying through the distant clouds.

It is 03:30 in the morning Paris time, and I waited nervously until dawn before calling Yu Li.

Yu Li was obviously still asleep. He was startled by my call and promised to come over soon.

We made an appointment to meet in the school cafeteria. After the meeting, Yu Li repeatedly asked me if the news was accurate.

Yu Li immediately consulted with Professor Orleans. The professor was also very surprised. He immediately reported to the French police that someone might smuggle cultural relics into the country, and hoped that the police would intercept Wenger and Victor at Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Originally, the police didn't really believe this kind of thing, but because it was a professor from the University of Voltaire who reported the crime, they immediately arranged for the police force and sent us to the airport.

It was already noon when we arrived at the airport. We checked the flight information, and sure enough, there was a flight from Shanghai that was going to land in Paris at [-]:[-] p.m.

The police checked the passenger list provided by the airline and found the names of Wenger and Victor. Their surnames were both Lamor, and they did check in two large pieces of luggage at random.Therefore, the police notified the immigration inspection department, and immediately detained Wenger and Victor as soon as they encountered them.

We waited at the airport immigration, and both Yu Li and Professor Orleans seemed uneasy.Until four o'clock in the afternoon, the airport announced that the flight from Shanghai had already landed.After about 10 minutes, I saw a large group of people come out, and two men caught my attention immediately.

One of them was in his 30s, with a gentle and elegant appearance, and the other was nearly 50 years old, with a hooked nose embedded in his face, and a fierce look.They waited for a long time at the immigration, seeming to be questioned all the time, and the younger one answered with a smile all the time, until they were all taken away by the police.

At this time, a police officer came and told us that both Wenger and Victor had been detained. The police checked their random checked luggage and found two oil paintings.

Professor Orleans cheered up immediately, and was taken by the police officer to a small room. The two oil paintings were placed by the wall and had already been unpacked.

I was stunned for a moment, this is the "Marguerite" that Lin Hai saw - the French princess 400 years ago in the oil painting was sitting upright, looking directly into my eyes with sad eyes, it really has a shocking beauty.

In this small room at the airport, Yu Li, Professor Orleans, I, and I stared blankly at the two identical paintings, holding our breaths.Although one of them is a fake, they are all unparalleled masterpieces in my eyes.

Yu Li's lips moved and said, "The secret is right in front of you."

Then the professor proposed to the police that the two paintings should be brought back to the University of Voltaire for identification to determine whether they are legal cultural relics, which can also convict Wenger and Victor.

The police officer hesitated for a while, and finally agreed to Professor Orleans' request, but the school must issue a proof guarantee.The professor immediately contacted the school, went through the guarantee procedures as quickly as possible, and took the two paintings away from the police.

The police car roared and escorted us back to the university. With the help of several policemen, we carefully moved the painting into the research room of the history department.

After the policemen left, Yu Li closed the door of the research room tightly and even drew up the curtains. Under the special light, only the three of us faced Marguerite in the two oil paintings.

These two paintings are so similar that no one can tell them apart. Which one is the real one and which one is the fake?
Professor Orleans took a magnifying glass and looked carefully at the details of the oil painting, but couldn't find any clues.

Suddenly, I remembered what Lin Hai said on the phone. Under the forgery painted by Lin Danqing, there was one of his signatures, but it was erased by the Lamor family. This is the only loophole in the forgery. .

I immediately leaned down and carefully looked at the lower ends of the two oil paintings, there was still no difference, only the lower left corner of the oil painting on the right seemed to have a small shadow.I called the professor over, and with the help of Yu Li, he checked carefully for a moment, and he thought that the shadow was indeed added later, and it was not left by the artist when he was painting.

This painting must be a forgery painted by Lin Danqing in 1936, and there must be Lin Danqing's signature under the shadow, which was later obliterated by the Lamor family.

Then the other painting is the real Marguerite!

We got under another painting, Yu Li was still sharp-eyed, and he immediately noticed that there seemed to be a line of tiny words in a very inconspicuous corner at the lower left end of the painting.

The professor took a picture with a high-powered magnifying glass, and slowly read out the line of letters—A. Archabault.

What does it mean?Yu Li nodded and said, "In this position, it is usually the artist's signature."

Yes, it is the same as Lin Danqing's signature on the counterfeit.

Then "A. Archabault" should be the name of a person, who is this person?

But Yu Li shook his head and said, "It's really a weird name. There has never been such a surname among French people."

"If it is a painter, then we need only look up the French court painters of the sixteenth century."

"good idea."

Yu Li immediately turned on the computer in the research room. It turned out that he had already prepared a lot of materials these days, including the possible author of "Margaret".

He quickly found the information of all court painters in France at the end of the sixteenth century. Among the many unknown painters, he found a person named "Alain. Archabault".

If I transliterate this name into Chinese, it will be "Alan Achabalt".

It turned out that Achabarthe was a Wallachian, which is today's Romania. He came to France to settle when he was young, and was later promoted to be a court painter, so his surname is very strange to the French.

Archabault?

Professor Orleans read it softly, then shook his head with a puzzled face, as if he still hadn't figured it out.

However, Yu Li nodded thoughtfully, looked at his watch and said, "It's already seven o'clock in the evening, let's go down to have dinner first."

So we walked out of the research room. Before we left, Professor Orleans checked the doors and windows and carefully locked the door.

Really not in the mood to eat outside, the three of them had a simple dinner in the restaurant. The professor remained silent during the meeting, as if he was always thinking about the last question.Yu Li said that there is very little information about Alan Archabarth. Except that he is a Wallachian, almost no one knows his life, and there are no works handed down to the world. It seems that it is not meaningful to use this person as a breakthrough. Big.

However, since this oil painting was left by Marguerite to her children, there must be some kind of secret hidden in the painting, and this kind of secret must not be found in the fake, and the only difference between the real painting and the fake painting is This is the signature, and I think the key lies in Archabarth.

The professor didn't have much dinner, so he went back to the laboratory early. Yu Li said that he would study all night tonight.We chatted for a while, and Yu Li said that the police wanted him to go to the police station again, because they were going to file charges against Wenger and Victor, so they needed witnesses to take notes.

After Yu Li rushed to the police station, I went back to the room on the top floor of the History Department alone.Lying on the bed for a long time, I only felt my heart beating hard, which made me sit up nervously again. I have always believed in my sixth sense. Could something else happen?

Suddenly, my cell phone rang, and it turned out to be a call from Yu Li: "I'm in the police station, I just received a call from Professor Orleans, asking me to tell you to go to the laboratory, he has something I want to show you."

Putting down the phone, I ran down the stairs immediately, only to see that the door of the research room was ajar, and a gloomy light came through the crack in the door.

I pushed open the door gently, and saw that the two paintings were still hanging on the wall, and Professor Orleans was sitting quietly in an easy chair.

There was a faint smell in the laboratory, I couldn't tell what it felt like, and it made my heart beat faster again.I walked up to the professor quietly and called him softly, but the professor didn't answer me.

I turned to the front of the professor, and saw that his eyes were tightly closed, and his expression was quite peaceful. Why did he fall asleep?I couldn't help but pat him lightly, but he still didn't respond.

The strange thing is that the professor is still holding a small button in his hand, so I found a red stain on his chest.Carefully touching it with his hand, he found that it turned out to be blood!

Professor Orleans is dead, stabbed to death while sitting in this chair.

At this time, the door of the research room was slowly opened, and the female administrator of the building came in with her head poking around, her eyes widened immediately, and a terrible scream came out of her mouth.

Only then did I notice that my hands were already stained with blood from Professor Orleans' chest.

There is no doubt that the female administrator has regarded me as a murderer!

For a moment, many images that only appeared in thrilling movies flashed through my mind, but I didn't expect that I would become the hero of this kind of movie.

Perhaps out of subconsciousness, I immediately rushed to the door of the research room, pushed the female administrator away, and ran down the stairs in a panic.

The screams of the female administrator continued to be heard behind me, and my mind went blank, and I ran out of the history department building.

No one saw me on the campus in the dark night, I walked through the path like a gust of wind, and ran out the back door of the University of Voltaire trembling all over.

Although I have run away from the university, I still feel unsafe, because this place looks relatively remote, and I am more likely to attract attention as a Chinese.So I hailed a taxi and headed straight to the banks of the Seine in the city center.

I rolled down the car window vigorously, gasping for breath in the night wind of Paris, and it seemed that the scream of the female administrator was still ringing in my ears.My God, Professor Orleans is actually dead. Who killed him?Who will come to kill him again?Could it be that he couldn't solve the problem and committed suicide?
Suddenly, I thought of what Yu Li said to me. Many scholars who studied the "Louis IX mystery" died strangely at critical moments. Could it be that Professor Orleans could not escape this rule?

I spread my hand again, the terrible blood was still on my palm, and this scene was actually seen by the female administrator, with all the witnesses and evidence, this time I became the biggest murder suspect , staying is really hard to argue.But what is the use of me escaping?The female administrator knows who I am, the police will soon want me, I am not familiar with France, and more importantly, there is a language barrier, it is too easy to catch me, then I will stop saying I don't know, they will say that since you didn't kill anyone, why did you abscond?

Thinking of this, I felt a burst of despair, as if a big stone had been crushed on my heart, and I was in no mood to look at the charming night of Paris outside.I quietly took out the napkin and wiped off the blood on the palm of my hand, but there was still a faint smell of blood lingering.

Originally, I came to Paris for the stranger Lin Hai, to solve the secrets of the mysterious parchment, and to earn a free trip to France by the way, but I never imagined that there would be tonight.Maybe by tomorrow morning, the big and small media will report on this matter, so I don't need the publishing house to help me hype it up, and I will really become a "news figure".

Oh, why am I so unlucky.

The taxi stopped by the Seine, and I got out of the car to hide among the crowd of night tourists in Paris.The world's classic mystery novels tell me that the best place to hide a leaf is the woods. In short, a place with more people is safer.

Suddenly, I thought of Yu Li, I am afraid that only he can save me now.

I immediately called Yu Li. He had already heard about the murder of Professor Orleans at the police station. He said that now I have become a wanted criminal and the police are searching for me all over Paris.

I said loudly on the phone: "Yu Li, you know me well, how could I kill someone? I am innocent."

"I believe you too, but the police don't. I think you should come back and surrender yourself. I will ask a lawyer to help you."

"Okay, I'll think about it."

Trembling, I stopped the call, and now I have nowhere to go. Looking back at the tourists by the Seine, strange faces are facing me, and it seems that someone will arrest me at any time.

My heart was beating faster and faster, I was shivering all over my body, no matter how brave I was, I didn't dare to expose myself to the light.I walked down the river bank with my head down, and walked along the embankment to a bridge next to the Seine.

Unexpectedly, there are still several homeless people curled up under the bridge hole. Could it be that I have also fallen into this end?

When I was in a state of despair, suddenly a hand stretched out from the side and grabbed my trouser leg tightly.

I was so scared that I almost screamed, but I saw a figure standing up from the darkness. He patted my shoulder and said in English: "I'm jack, your friend."

It turned out to be Jacques, I was shocked, the world is so small, this is the fourth time I met him in Paris.

Jacques asked me where I was going in broken English, but I really couldn't answer. I wanted to say that I was in danger, but I didn't dare to say it.

But Jacques took me away with "enthusiasm" and said in English, go to his house and sit down. I really don't know what kind of "home" a homeless man can have, but I am really desperate now, so I go to his place first It's also good to avoid the limelight.

So, Jacques took me across the Seine River and walked towards the northwest of Paris, passing through the streets of Paris, where many beggars greeted him along the way.I panicked for a while, it turned out that following him was more eye-catching, so I could only lower my head to prevent others from seeing my appearance clearly.

Vagabonds are all masters of race walking. Jacques walked for more than half an hour without a stretch. My leg was almost broken. Seeing that I gradually left the city center, the surrounding lights dimmed a lot. Maybe he wants to lead me to a homeless place? Shall we go to the secret place of Han men?

The surroundings became more and more remote, until Jacques stopped by a fence, and a big hole was cracked in the corner, which could just be drilled in, so he pulled me into the fence.

Inside the wall was an open field, with some big trees planted around it, and some strange stone monuments standing in the dark. The cool wind blew by, making me shudder.I tremblingly asked what this place was, and Jacques answered very simply: "Cemetery."

Although my English level is in a mess, I have heard this word before. It means a cemetery.

(End of this chapter)