Chapter 1229: Stone Statue Rumors

"No, no, I'm just curious."

Xia De defended himself, and then couldn't help but ask curiously:

"There are craftsmen who specialize in making nude stone statues?"

"Of course, and full-nude is even harder to carve than wearing clothes, after all, you have to consider the proportions and details of those private parts... Don't look at me like that, I heard it from a friend too."

Mr. Antonio said very seriously, and then said the interesting news he knew in a lower voice:

"I even know that someone commissioned a famous local stonemason to specifically carve a life-size statue of a woman, but filled the upper part with soft cotton and silk, and the lower part... ahem, you just take it as a local urban legend, don't say I said it."

For this kind of rumor, Xia De didn't even want to touch the Mithril Cube to confirm it. However, no matter in which world or era, men's hobbies really hadn't changed at all.

Because it was too dark indoors, the gas lamps on the wall had already been lit at this time, making the atmosphere at 11:00 noon look a bit like it was already night.

Xia De's gaze moved away from the oil painting on the wall:

"Let's not talk about women's statues, Mr. Antonio, but I heard that the Stonemason Society once produced stone statues that could move."

"Yes, yes, this kind of rumor appears every few years. There are many legends, such as a stonemason killing someone and disguising the corpse as a stone statue to hide it; or the soul murdered by stonemasons possessing the stone statue to take revenge on the enemy; or a girl longing for love dying of a strange disease, and the young man's longing turning the stone statue he made into a real person... There are many themes."

Mr. Antonio knew even more about this than Xia De, and these kinds of stories felt very interesting even to outsiders:

"Then what is the truth?"

"Mr. Watson, I'm just a writer, not a detective. I don't care about the truth, I care about the story... Well, I still care about the truth. Coming here today to collect material is to write a new script with a similar theme."

Xia De showed a smile:

"Sounds interesting, do you mind if I accompany you? I won't steal your ideas, but maybe I can adapt it into a popular detective story."

Mr. Antonio naturally wouldn't mind.

The playwright didn't actually have any good investigation ideas, and he was just like Xia De, coming to the Stonemason Society to wander around with a try-it-and-see attitude.

So the two went to have lunch together first, and returned to the Stonemason Society after lunch. At this time, the police officers standing at the door still hadn't left. After confirming that they had walked to a distance where they couldn't be heard, Mr. Antonio said to Xia De:

"This time, the police will definitely make the society pay the price."

"Pay what price? You mean the assassination? But it couldn't have been instructed by the Stonemason Society."

Xia De said, and the middle-aged man touched his chin:

"But so what? The police won't care who instructed it. My friend at the police station told me that the identity of the assassin has been investigated. He was a victim of the Willendale Colossus collapse more than ten years ago, permanently disabled and unable to work. His wife left home on a rainy night eight years ago, and his only child died of illness three years ago... I personally tend to think that assassinating Prince William was a private venting, but if it has to be linked to the Stonemason Society, it's not impossible."

"Because you are in the wrong, so you want to double the revenge on the victim?"

Xia De asked suspiciously, and Mr. Antonio looked around nervously:

"Watson, you can't just say things like this. Moreover, this matter couldn't have been the royal family's idea; it's highly likely that people below did it to please those above. And Prince William was attacked, so they have to find someone with weight to convict, otherwise the local police department will have to take responsibility..."

He gave Xia De a "you know" look, Xia De clicked his tongue, and turned to look at the police standing at the front door, while Mr. Antonio was still nervously reminding:

"Be careful of the Gray Gloves... These

people always have ways to find out what they want to know, let's not bring trouble upon ourselves."

After returning to the Stonemason Society in the afternoon, the two didn't continue to look at the stone carvings waiting to be sold in the hall. Mr. Antonio didn't have any clues, but when Xia De asked Miss Lathers for help collecting information, he investigated that someone in the Stonemason Society claimed to have seen a moving stone statue, and that was last year's matter, so the two decided to visit that eyewitness.

The target this time was the middle-aged stonemason Mr. Peter Tolford in the Stonemason Society. He didn't have his own separate workshop but worked in the Stonemason Society.

When Xia De and Mr. Antonio met him, this stonemason with dark skin and exaggerated muscle lines was counting goods in the warehouse with his two young apprentices. He originally didn't want to waste time chatting with strangers, but after Mr. Antonio threw out a coin, he stood among the densely packed stone statues and answered the two's questions very enthusiastically.

"Yes, moving stone carvings. Last year, 1853, I can't remember the specific time, it was probably also this late winter season, I was drunk... I mean, after I came out of the tavern, I remembered that I had to take the apron I used for work home to wash, so I greeted the gatekeeper and came to the backyard warehouse, probably in this position."

He pointed to the shelf against the wall, and a row of hooks for hanging things was welded to the side of the shelf:

"After I got the apron and wanted to leave, I saw a black shadow wandering in the warehouse. Oh, I was woken up by fright at that time."

Mr. Tolford probably had the talent for telling horror stories. After he got old and stopped being a stonemason, he could also rely on telling stories in the tavern to make money:

"Gentlemen, you are all decent people, you definitely can't imagine what the warehouse looks like at night. To prevent fire,

the gas pipes in the warehouse are turned off at night, so the gas lamps can't be turned on. I was holding a kerosene lamp at the time, God, at that time, there were densely packed people in the shadows looking at me from all directions."

"Sorry, I'm not doubting your story, but are you sure what you saw were moving stone statues, not shadows swaying because of the kerosene lamp in your hand?" Mr. Antonio asked suspiciously, and the middle-aged stonemason shook his head very firmly:

"I am very familiar with these stone statues, how could I mistake shadows for stone statues? It's not a shadow, nor was I dazzled, so it must be a moving stone statue!"

He had told this story to many other people, so he told it quite carefully.

"Be careful! Don't you know this ground is uneven? Which bastard's cart didn't tie it up again?"

Suddenly, the roar of the warehouse manager came from the side of the three, and then they all saw a nun stone statue slide automatically to the warehouse door, but fortunately, the flat cart under the stone statue was pulled in time.

Mr. Tolford was a bit embarrassed, but still emphasized:

"It definitely wasn't this situation at the time, I definitely didn't see it wrong... nor was it because I was drunk, I know my drinking capacity."

He explained it this way, which made his story even more suspicious.

"Then what is your guess about this?"

Xia De asked again, and Mr. Tolford nodded again:

"It must be 'Silent Old Fleming' who appeared again!"

"What is that?"

Mr. Antonio pursued, and Mr. Tolford explained:

"Old Fleming was one of the founders who co-founded the Randall Valley Stonemason Society in 1108 of the General Calendar. He didn't like to talk and only focused on his craft. The stone carving works he created were absolute works of art. A few years ago, someone even auctioned one, and it sold for a lot, a lot of money."

He probably didn't know the specific number, just heard people say there was a lot of money.

"This gentleman was low-key by nature, and there were no cameras in that era, he didn't even leave an oil painting. He carved stone statues for countless people in his life, but he didn't carve one for himself. It is rumored that Old Fleming disappeared accidentally one day, and since then no one has seen him again. But it was also from that time that people occasionally saw moving stone carvings in the society at night. This is Old Fleming coming back, he wants to see the place where he worked before he died again."

"I am also a local, why haven't I heard that there is a person named Fleming among the founders of the Stonemason Society."

Mr. Antonio raised his own question, and the middle-aged stonemason said embarrassedly:

"These are all rumors from the stonemasons of the society, I just heard it from the old people, as for whether it is true, I don't have the ability to investigate it clearly. If the stone statues at the auction are nameless ancient stone statues, they will all be named Fleming... But I have always believed that there is definitely a person named Old Fleming!"

This made all his words just now even less credible.

"Is there any reliable news?"

Xia De asked, his hand touched the silver cube in his pocket, and there was no reaction at all. Seeing the other party rubbing his rough fingers again, he snorted:

"I want to hear the news first, it must be confirmed news, not your drunken observations or hearsay stories."

The stonemason rubbed his hands embarrassedly:

"Reliable news... of course there is. Some time ago, someone said that the new gatekeeper was turned into a toy puppet, you can go and ask him."

Xia De knew this matter very well without asking others:

"We are here to investigate stone statues, not puppets."

He emphasized, and Mr. Antonio was not distracted by this either.

So the middle-aged stonemason thought hard for a long time again before clenching his right fist and smashing it into his left palm:

"I remember, last autumn, the Sun Church sent several priests to conduct an investigation throughout the society and even performed an exorcism ritual in this warehouse. I was here at the time and watched the fun for a long time."

--Continue to view ===== CHAPTER 1230 =====

"I heard it from people in the Society. It's really something to still be remembered by others." He revealed a satisfied smile.

--Proceed to view