Chapter 359: A Friend's Old Painting

The Freeman family now lived on the second floor of an apartment along the street. Although the size of the house was not as large as before, at least it was clean, tidy, and safe here, and it was no problem as a temporary foothold. But after all, the master of the house had died, and their days in the future would probably be even more difficult.

The two children were attending a public middle school in the city. The steam era also had summer vacations. They were at home with Mrs. Freeman. Mrs. Freeman asked the children not to disturb them, and then hosted the two in the living room. After returning the key, Priest Ao Gu Si introduced Xia De to the somewhat haggard woman with a high nose and yellow hair:

"This is Detective Xia De Hamilton from St. Deran Square, a friend of mine. He heard about Mr. Freeman from me and went to Hangerton Garden Street with me today."

"Good afternoon, Madam. This investigation is just my personal curiosity and is not charged. It just so happens that my writer friend is writing a detective novel, and I want to help her collect some material."

Xia De said as he handed out his business card. The title of "Detective from St. Deran Square" was very intimidating, and plus he was a friend brought by Priest Ao Gu Si, so Mrs. Freeman naturally wouldn't mind his appearance.

After whispering thanks to Xia De, Priest Ao Gu Si talked about the two's experience in the morning. When asked about the attic, Mrs. Freeman also recalled those oil paintings:

"Those were my husband's waste drafts. Generally, these works have to be burned to prevent them from falling into the market. He died too suddenly and didn't have time to destroy the last batch of waste drafts. I originally intended to take them away, but I probably forgot them in the attic."

Xia De actually sympathized with this middle-aged woman very much. She had no legitimate income, and the whole family relied on the deceased painter for support. When moving out of the house in a hurry, even luggage was left behind. And in the days to come, after selling the few paintings left in the house, they would have to survive on their own.

"I want to confirm, when Mr. Freeman encountered the accident, were there bloodstains left in the attic?"

Xia De asked. Mrs. Freeman nodded, showing a sad expression:

"Yes, there were traces of cuts on his palms. Besides that, there were five or six non-fatal old wounds on his body. The police from Ridgewich Field also discovered this point when checking the body, but they didn't find matching knives in the attic. Later, they guessed that he hit something sharp when falling."

"I don't know if you..."

Xia De wanted to ask what the woman in front of him was doing when Mr. Freeman had the accident, but the words couldn't come out when they reached his lips. The young Outsider's experience couldn't compare to the old priest's. Priest Ao Gu Si changed his way of saying it:

"How long after Mr. Freeman encountered the accident did you discover him?"

"About half an hour later. At that time, the children were playing in the garden, and I went to buy bread. We thought he was tidying up old painting drafts in the attic, but didn't expect..."

Even though the matter had passed for a week, the woman still couldn't forget the terrible scene that day.

Xia De and the priest sitting on the sofa looked at each other. The priest said very cautiously:

"Regarding Mr. Freeman's matter, as far as it looks now, it should have nothing to do with the haunting events generally recognized by the church. However, within the one or two weeks when Mr. Freeman's mental state changed, did he come into contact with anything strange? For example, antiques bought from nowhere, strange potions, or bone-product decorations accidentally obtained from vendors?"

"No, he was busy painting all summer and rarely went out... If there really was something strange, then it could only be some oil paintings sent to him from the south by a friend he knew in Karsenrik when he was young. An old painter in the local area passed away, and the old paintings he collected were sold in batches. My husband entrusted a friend to buy a batch, wanting to find some inspiration from other people's painting styles."

Xia De looked at the priest again. In this way, the original train of thought of the two was wrong. It wasn't a vengeful spirit occupying the house, nor did the house itself have any secrets. If Mr. Freeman's death really involved mystery, then it was likely related to that batch of paintings.

When moving, those paintings were also brought to the new rental apartment by Mrs. Freeman. Because the family was only staying here temporarily, intending to wait until the previous house was sold before moving to a street block with cheaper housing prices in the northern district of Tobesk, most of the luggage wasn't unpacked but stored in a separate room in the apartment.

In the wooden boxes stacked in the corner, most were paintings collected by Mr. Freeman during his lifetime. Unfortunately, these relics weren't valuable; otherwise, the family's life could be improved a bit.

Mrs. Freeman soon found the wooden box storing those oil paintings. The wooden box had already been opened, and a very professional cardboard painting folder was used to store those oil paintings.

Priest Ao Gu Si took the folder and began to flip through it, while Xia De stood by and chatted with Mrs. Freeman:

"I noticed that this wooden box has already been opened. Has anyone moved the things inside?"

"The children might have rummaged for toys inside. After moving here, I have been dealing with things all day long and rarely took care of them..."

"Xia De!"

The priest suddenly shouted. Xia De hurriedly turned around:

"What's wrong?"

"One is missing, one painting is missing."

He pulled open the white cardboard painting folder, and a certain one in the middle was actually blank. This wasn't the front or back end; the two paintings adjacent to this page were also there, so a painting was indeed missing here.

"Maybe the children moved it..."

Seeing that the expressions of Xia De and the old priest were not right, the middle-aged woman who didn't know what had happened said somewhat flusteredly.

The priest immediately stuffed the painting folder to her:

"Mrs. Freeman, confirm which painting is missing here and recall the content on the picture. Xia De, you go find that older boy, I'll bring the little girl over."

"Understood."

The size of the rental apartment was about the same as the first room on the second floor of Xia De's house. After leaving the room storing the cardboard boxes, Xia De walked forward, crossed the door of the washroom, and then reached out and knocked on the tightly closed bedroom door:

"Please open the door, your mother is looking for you for something."

But no sound came from inside. Xia De turned his head and saw that Priest Ao Gu Si had already led the little girl holding a rabbit doll out of the room, and Mrs. Freeman, who was holding the painting folder, had also come outside, her expression somewhat dazed:

"The missing painting, I remember it seemed to be painting the sundries placed on the table. A rotten black apple, a plaster bust with two heads, a toy wooden model of a three-story house, a golden pendant, and an antique vase with strange patterns... I don't have a deep impression of this painting. If you hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't even remember that I originally knew this painting existed."

She had a puzzled expression on her face, clearly doubting her own memory.

And in Mrs. Freeman's narrative, every item on the picture sounded problematic. ===== CHAPTER 360 =====