Whispering Poems.

Chapter 1274 Stone Statue Rumors
"No, I'm just curious."

Xia De defended himself, and then couldn't help asking curiously:
"There are also craftsmen who specialize in making fruit body stone carvings?"

"Of course, and the whole fruit is even more difficult 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 this. I also heard from my friends."

Mr. Antonio spoke seriously, and then told the anecdote he knew in a lower voice:
"I even know that someone commissioned a well-known local stonemason to carve a one-to-one statue of a woman, but the upper part is filled with soft cotton and silk cloth, and the lower part is ahem, you just treat it as a local urban legend, don't tell me I said so."

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

Because the room was too dark, the gas lamps on the wall had already been turned on at this time, making the atmosphere at eleven o'clock seem like it was already night.

Shad looked away from the oil painting on the wall:

"Let's not talk about the stone statue of a woman, Mr. Antonio. I heard that the stonemason's association once made a movable stone statue."

"Yes, such rumors appear every few years. There are many legends, such as stonemasons who disguised their corpses as stone statues to hide after killing people; or the souls murdered by stonemasons possessed the stone statues , to retaliate against the enemy; or the girl who longed for love died of a serious illness, and the young man's missing feelings made the stone statues he made become real-life subjects."

Mr. Antonio knows more about this than Shad, and this kind of story is very interesting even for foreigners:

"Then what is the truth?"

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

Xia De smiled:
"Sounds interesting, mind if I go with you? I won't rob you of your idea, but maybe I can turn it into a pulp detective story."

Mr. Antonio would naturally not mind.

In fact, the playwright didn't have any good research ideas. Like Xia De, he came to the Stonemasons Association with the mood of giving it a try.

So the two went to have lunch together first, and then returned to the Mason Association again after lunch.At this time, the police officers standing at the door still did not leave, and when they were sure they had reached a distance that they could not hear, Mr. Antonio said to Shad:

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

"What price did you pay? You mean the assassination? But that couldn't have been ordered by the Stonemasons Association."

Xia De said, the middle-aged man touched his chin:
"But so what, the police don't care who ordered it. My friend in the police department told me that the identity of the assassin has been investigated. He is the victim of the collapsing of the Willendale Colossus more than ten years ago. Or, 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. Relationship, it's not impossible."

"Because I made a mistake, so I want to double the revenge on the victim?"

Xia De said suspiciously, and Mr. Antonio looked around nervously:
"Watson, don't dare to say such nonsense. Moreover, this matter cannot be the idea of ​​the royal family. There is a high probability that the people below are trying to please the people above. Moreover, Prince William was attacked. No matter what, we must find out who The number of people who need to be convicted, otherwise the local police department will be held accountable.”

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

"Be careful of people like Gray Gloves who always have a way to find out what they want to know. Let's not get ourselves into trouble."

After returning to the Stonemasons Association in the afternoon, the two of them did not continue to look at the stone carvings waiting to be sold in the hall.Mr. Antonio didn't have any clues, but when Ms. Shard Tolasses was helping to collect information, she found out that someone in the Stonemasons Association claimed to have seen moving stone sculptures, and that was last year, so the two decided to visit that person. eyewitness.

The target this time is Mr. Peter Tolford, a middle-aged stonemason in the Stonemasons Association. He does not have his own separate workshop, but works in the Stonemasons Association.

When Xia De and Mr. Antonio saw him, this stonemason with dark skin and exaggerated muscle lines was taking inventory in the warehouse with his two young apprentices.Originally, he didn't want to waste time chatting with strangers, but after Mr. Antonio threw out the coin, he stood happily among the densely packed stone statues and answered their questions enthusiastically.

"Yes, moving stone sculptures. Last year, 1853, I can't remember exactly when, it was probably around the end of winter. I was drunk. I mean, after I came out of the tavern, I remembered to I took the apron for work home and washed it, so I greeted the gatekeeper and came to the warehouse in the backyard, which is probably where it is.”

He pointed to the shelf against the wall, and a row of hooks for hanging things were welded on the side of the shelf:
"When I got the apron and wanted to leave, I saw a black shadow wandering in the warehouse. Oh, I was startled awake at that moment."

Mr. Tolford probably has a talent for telling horror stories. If he doesn’t work as a stonemason in his old age, he can still make money by telling stories in taverns:

"Gentlemen, you are all decent people. You must not be able to imagine what a warehouse looks like at night. In order to prevent fires, the gas pipes in the warehouse are closed at night, so the gas lamp cannot be turned on. I was carrying a kerosene lamp at the time, God Ah, at that time there were people in dense shadows, looking at me in all directions."

"Sorry, I'm not doubting your story, but are you sure that what you saw was a moving stone statue, not a shaking shadow caused by the shaking of the kerosene lamp in your hand?"

Mr. Antonio asked suspiciously, and the middle-aged mason shook his head with certainty:

"I'm familiar with these stone statues. How could I recognize the shadows as stone statues? It's not a shadow, and it's not my eyesight, so it must be a moving stone statue!"

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

"Be careful! Don't you know that the ground is uneven? And which bastard's mother didn't tie the cart?"

Suddenly, the warehouse steward roared from the side of the three of them, and then they saw a stone statue of a nun sliding towards the warehouse door, but fortunately, the flat cart under the stone statue was pulled in time.

Mr. Tolford was a little embarrassed, but he still emphasized:

"It certainly wasn't the case at the time, and I'm sure I read it right. It wasn't because I was drunk, I knew how much I was drinking."

His explanation in this way made his story even more suspicious.

"So do you have any guesses about that?"

Shard then asked again, and Mr. Tolford nodded again:
"Surely 'Silent Old Fleming' is at it again!"

"what is that?"

Mr. Antonio pressed, and Mr. Tolford explained:
"Old Fleming was one of the founders of the Randall Valley Stonemasons Association in 1108. He didn't like to talk, and he only focused on his craft. The stone carvings he created were absolute works of art. Someone even auctioned one in [-], and it sold for a lot of money."

He probably didn't know the exact figure, but he just heard people say that there was a lot of money.

"This gentleman is low-key by nature, and there were no cameras at that time, and he didn't even leave an oil painting. He carved stone statues for countless people in his life, but he didn't carve himself alone. According to rumors, old Fleming died one day Disappeared by accident and has not been seen since. But also since then, people occasionally see moving stone sculptures in the night society, this is old Fleming back, he wants to see again The place where he worked."

"I'm also a local. I haven't heard of anyone whose surname is Fleming among the founders of the Stonemasons Association."

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

"These are all rumors from the stonemasons of the association. I only heard them from the old people. As for whether it is true, I don't have the ability to investigate clearly. If the stone statues in the auction are unknown ancient stone statues, they will also be named It's just Fleming, but I've always believed that there must be old Fleming!"

This made everything he said just now even more unbelievable.

"Is there any news to believe in?"

Xia De asked, touched the silver cube in his pocket, but 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's definite news, not what you've seen or heard when you're drunk."

The mason rubbed his hands in embarrassment:

"Of course there is credible news. Some time ago, someone said that the new gatekeeper was turned into a toy puppet. You can ask him."

There is no need to ask others about this, Xia De himself is very clear:
"We are here to investigate the stone statue, not the puppet."

He emphasized it, and Mr. Antonio was not distracted by it.

So the middle-aged stonemason thought hard for a while before clenching his right fist and hitting the palm of his left hand:

"I remembered that last fall, the Church of the Sun sent several priests to investigate the entire association, and even performed an exorcism ceremony in this warehouse. I was also here at the time, and watched for a while. "

(End of this chapter)