Living The Art Agony Chapter 2

Torry didn't lazily start charging his phone until he got to work at 9 o'clock. He didn't like his phone, let alone rely on it. If it wasn't for the fact that he could have a drink with it and have fun, he would never indulge himself in wasting his time on a thing that didn't arouse his appetite or animal desires.

Mobile phones are like high-level colonizers and capitalists. They clearly occupy and exploit people’s time, but they have the ability to make people follow them, feel grateful to them, and miss them day and night. It is better to spend time with your mobile phone than with your parents.

Two minutes of charging can bring spring back to the dead colonists and resurrect the capitalists. He took a listless look and found that Comrade Liam, the head of the Criminal Investigation Brigade of the Municipal Bureau, had condescended to ask four questions in a row, like chasing a little girl: "How are you doing recently?" "What are you doing?" "Where are you?" "Why don't you return my call?"

Torry followed his logic, thinking that he might ask "Do you love me or not?", and followed his prompt to check the call records. It didn't matter. Captain Lu called him 18 times, from 9:30 last night to 5:30 this morning. He suddenly wondered why Liam was still single. Did the consciences of the people he pursued be eaten by huskies?

Torry was very moved. He then threw down his phone and continued to set out the purple clay teapot to make tea as planned.

After three seconds of hesitation, he chose Pu'er. He took out the tea cake, broke off a piece, smelled it, and felt refreshed. He poured hot water and the tea came out immediately. While pouring out the deep red tea, he slowly dialed Liam's number.

Although Liam felt as excited as a middle-aged c0ncubine who was suddenly picked by the emperor, his voice still revealed deep fatigue. Torry held the teacup and felt that what he drank was not Pu'er, but sin. He interrupted Liam's greeting and said, "Captain Lu, just say what you want to say. Don't be polite to me."

"I'm dealing with a very difficult case right now. The investigation has already begun, but there are some questions that only you can help me with."

"Grace's case?"

"how do you know?"

"I'm not a caveman. Even a popular star changing her hairstyle can make it to the hot search list, let alone this woman's death in such an innovative way. The two girls in our department have been talking about it for a long time." Torry looked at his colleagues who had already started working hard, tiptoed out of the office, and continued in a low voice, "I thought you were busy accepting enthusiastic interviews from reporters."

"Stop joking with me, I'm talking to you about serious matters."

"No, I just don't understand why you have to find me for such a case? You are worth ten people, not to mention Noel and Zhang Lei."

"Grace's murder itself is not a strange case, but the public still doesn't know about it. Yesterday morning, we found a painting of "Fuchun Mountain Residence" made of blood and hair at the door of the underground storage room of the Provincial Museum. Now we have reason to suspect that this painting was made by the murderer using Grace's blood and hair as raw materials. And I have a strong feeling that the murderer wants to use this painting to illustrate something. We can solve some technical problems here, but when it comes to painting, the people in the team don't even know the basics."

"Oh my god, using blood to paint is really unique and original. Did you encounter a perverted killer?"

"It's very perverted, most people can't stand it."

"How's the painting?"

"You are indeed not an ordinary person."

"Then I'll go check on the team after get off work."

"By the time you get off work, the daylilies will be cold! I'll pick you up right away."

"No, no, my boss will definitely scold me for leaving my job without any reason. I am already walking on thin ice here, and you encouraged me to be so presumptuous. What's more, you are a policeman, and I was taken away by a policeman in broad daylight. This..."

"I said you were going to cooperate with the investigation." Halfway through his words, Liam realized that he had used the wrong wording, "Oh, to assist in the investigation. Oh, no, I said you were our consultant!"

"Okay, okay, just tell me to cooperate with the investigation." Torry rubbed his nose. "I keep my head down every day in the company. The police have classified me as a criminal suspect. I guess no one will dare to touch me in the future." At this point, the young man let out a devilish laugh.

"Then you just get ready, I'll pick you up right away."

"Okay, I'll take care of today's urgent matters first..." Halfway through his words, Torry felt a demonic aura approaching him. He was so scared that he hung up the phone without even saying goodbye.

"Torry, you're not working properly during work hours, but you're talking on the phone for so long outside!" It was Liu Qingde. When he spoke, all his nose hairs whirred and fluttered, as if there were two high-powered fans behind his nostrils working endlessly.

"I'm sorry, Director Liu, I'll get to work right away." Torry is well aware of the ancient saying "bend to survive", and admitting one more mistake means ten fewer scoldings.

However, Director Liu was unwilling to swallow back the words that had already jumped out of his mouth: "I am not targeting people, but the matter."

Torry knew that once the boss said "don't be objective", he would immediately start to attack people.

Director Liu said, "You have been working at Zhongyi for two years. Look at what you have done in these two years! At first, when they saw you were from W University, several leaders looked up to you. What happened? Don't think you are great just because you graduated from a prestigious university. What era is it now? There are undergraduates everywhere, masters are everywhere, and returnees have nothing. Which of their diplomas is not better than yours? Look at you. You have been working at Zhongyi for a long time, but you have not signed many new painters, and the growth of overseas customers is so slow. You are just working in a state-owned enterprise. If I had opened a company myself, I would have asked you to pack up and leave long ago!" As the volume increased, Director Liu's eyes seemed to be as big as bowls. "They all say you are capable. If you are really capable, you should do a few big orders to prove yourself, or stop occupying the toilet without doing anything!"

As soon as Director Liu raised his but.t, Torry knew what he was going to do. Just before he stood at the door and started to curse, he deliberately hooked his foot to open the office door. His movements were so familiar that he could kill the national football team in seconds. And every word he uttered was full of Dantian Qi. His skills were like the black face who roamed around the country and performed on stage. It was obvious that he wanted all his subordinates to hear his roar and make Torry, the one with the highest education, lose face.

Torry then obediently cooperated with his tyranny, bowed his head deeply, as if to repent for his uselessness, which not only affected the performance of the department, but also caused damage to the internal organs of Director Liu and the disharmony of his husband and wife. It was really a heinous crime. Although Director Liu's saliva had already hung like Niagara Falls, Torry still had to imagine that he was enjoying a hot shower, so comfortable that he couldn't say a word.

Torry graduated from W University two years ago and went straight to work at China Arts and Crafts Import & Export Co., Ltd. The reason why this state-owned enterprise, abbreviated as China Arts and Crafts, chose Yudong instead of the capital is mainly because of Yudong's special cultural status in China. For historical reasons, the city has many top painters active all year round. It is also one of the largest distribution centers for calligraphy and painting and stationery in China, and the art market is mature. In addition, there is also a university like the Qianqin Provincial Academy of Fine Arts, which is comparable to the Central Academy of Fine Arts, providing a steady stream of experts and talent support to the market.

Torry studied at W University, which ranked first in the country in terms of English major. It was directly affiliated with a certain ministry, with small classes and elite teaching. When he graduated, he had many good choices, but after careful consideration, only this job could combine his interests with his major.

His mother is a famous flower and bird painter in China. The good family art education made him obsessed with calligraphy and painting since he was a child. Although he did not graduate from an art major, he has already stepped into the art circle. However, what he did not expect was that after entering the company he thought was very good, he could not avoid being involved in office politics.

Director Liu graduated from a fake school, and he was inexplicably upset about it. Although he was in the middle level, he saw that his subordinates had higher education than the others in recent years, and he couldn't help but feel turbulent. The appearance of Torry made the turbulent waves in his heart completely crash against the shore.

Torry couldn't understand why Director Liu, as a leader, would compete with him as a grassroots citizen instead of competing with him. Before, Torry was very capable at work, so Director Liu called him arrogant; later, he was just muddling through at work, so the director called him incompetent. The young man couldn't help but sigh that it was hard to be a person and hard to eat.

After weighing the pros and cons, he still chose to keep his tail between his legs. After all, he had his own romantic affairs to attend to after work, and he had no interest in getting promoted and getting rich in the eyes of Liu Qingde. Moreover, being scolded and regarded as a threat was also inevitable to capsize in the gutter; making people feel incompetent, but fulfilling Director Liu's psychological desire to look down on others. People say they want to fire you, but they need you in their hearts.

Interestingly, Liu Qingde had just scolded Torry for wasting work time, but now he had to waste more time to hone his eloquence. Although Torry thought that the half-hour spit shower seemed a bit long, he just thought that his leader was reciting Allen Ginsberg's "Howl" with great emotion - and he recited the whole text incorrectly.

At this time, the automatic induction glass door behind Liu Qingde slid open gently, and Liam walked in. When Torry saw that it was Liam, he felt even more nervous than if he had been scolded.

Liu Qingde was just about to change his sentence structure to an inverted one to make his curse more unique, but he suddenly felt someone pat his shoulders twice. The breath he had just raised was like a mouse being swallowed alive, struggling and stuck in his chest.

Just as Director Liu turned around to speak, he heard the other party introduce himself: "Hello, I'm Liam from the Criminal Investigation Brigade of the Municipal Public Security Bureau." As Liam spoke, he flipped open his police ID and held it in front of Liu Qingde.

If it was a small policeman, Liu Qingde would not take it seriously. But Director Liu was very perceptive. He looked at the three words "Team Leader" on the witness. He was a leader! The wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and lips suddenly blossomed like chrysanthemums. He was so flattering without even a word of negotiation that people suspected that he had learned the face-changing technique of Sichuan Opera.

"Hello, police officer. Thank you for visiting our company. What can I do for you?"

"We have come across a murder and dismemberment case, and we need Torry to come to the bureau to cooperate with the investigation. You are the leader, right? Please give me a favor." Liam saw his superior scolding Torry like that, and decided to take the trouble to scare him.

As expected, upon hearing that Torry was involved in a murder and dismemberment case, Liu Qingde, who had been so arrogant not long ago, staggered back two steps. His face was as pale as mung bean soup just out of the pot, as if he would be the next one to be dismembered.

"Comrade police, what have I done wrong? Why are you arresting me?" Torry said in a pretentious tone.

"Come back to the bureau with me!"

Torry sat in the passenger seat and complained that Liam didn't take out the handcuffs and acted out the scene to the end, which was a lack of basic actor quality. Liam mocked Zuo Shaoye, who was so romantic and handsome outside, for being so coquettish in the workplace.

"The 'corpse dismemberment' just now was quite good." Torry was not overly stingy with his praise.

Liam didn't want to argue with him: "When you see the murderer's masterpiece, you won't think dismemberment is that great."

"Tell me about the case!" Torry was still very excited about being involved in the case.

"No hurry, let's talk about it back at the team." Liam glanced at Torry with his peripheral vision, "You should have gone to the police academy and studied for a few years, and then joined the team and became our colleague. This would be the best for you."

At this point, Liam felt the people around him suddenly lowered their heads and fell silent.

"Don't blame me for being ignorant, I'm just telling the truth." Liam said lightly.

"Are there any sensible people who speak the truth?"

"Oh, boy, you know how to teach people a lesson."

Torry smiled helplessly, turned his head to look out the window, and said to the rapidly receding street scene: "I am also an adult, there are no scars that cannot be exposed. After my father and Chi Yan got into trouble, my mother naturally refused to let me call the police. I had a quarrel with her at that time, but now I have thought it through. I understand her. She has already lost her husband. If she loses her son, will she still want to live? If I were in her place, I would not let my son engage in such a high-risk job."

"But you are a criminal investigation genius!"

"Come on, don't use this kind of words to hold me hostage. I'm just a good student of my father at most." Torry sank down, sighed softly, and closed his eyes comfortably. "Besides, there's nothing wrong with my current life. I have something to do, so I'm not too busy to have time to paint."

Liam wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't.

Liam had said that the meeting would start soon, so when they walked into the meeting room, everyone was already there. As the son of former director Zuo Mingyi, Torry had been to the bureau quite often since he was a child. Except for the newcomer Li Yufei, everyone present knew him.

Zhang Lei has completed the soil comparison and confirmed that Binhu Park was not the first crime scene. Noel has completed the DNA comparison. The hair and bloodstains on the "Fuchun Mountain Dwelling" can be identified as the same as the samples extracted from Grace's body, and the five blood fingerprints on the painting are consistent with the fingerprints of Grace's five fingers on her right hand.

The two cases were formally merged.

Liam asked Owen to introduce the case and the latest investigation results to Torry. Torry bit his lip, frowned, and accepted the faint blood light in the slide.

"The Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains and the body found on April 30th... So that's how it happened." Torry recalled the time when he and Leo were kicked out of the exhibition. "That day I happened to be at the provincial museum with my friends, and we were suddenly kicked out."

"Are you interested in seeing the murderer's original work?" Owen raised his eyebrows at him. "He calls himself a 'great painter'."

Torry smiled wryly and followed him into the evidence room.

Although he had just seen a photo, Torry's heart still skipped a beat when he saw the scroll in person. It was so similar! This was not a resemblance that was exactly the same, but a resemblance in spirit. This "great painter" highly summarized the spirit of Huang Gongwang's brushwork, from the small use of the brush to the great artistic conception, and explained everything Huang Gongwang wanted to tell the world.

(Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (The Scroll of Wuyongshi), Yuan Dynasty, Huang Gongwang, height 33cm, width 636.9cm)

(Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (Remaining Mountain Scroll) by Huang Gongwang, Yuan Dynasty, 31.8cm in height, 51.4cm in width)

"It's a delight to the eyes." Torry was silent for a long time and could only utter these four words.

"This is human blood!" Liam broke out in a cold sweat after hearing what Torry said.

"If blood is regarded as ink, then the thickness, dryness and wetness are all in place, and the technique is sophisticated. In my opinion, the feeling found by this 'great painter' is even more accurate than the fake Ziming scroll approved by Emperor Qianlong."

"What is the 'Ziming Volume'?" Liam was confused.

"This is not important to the case. Simply put, it is a fake, but the painting is not bad. Emperor Qianlong got the Ziming Scroll and thought it was the real thing. He wrote all over the fake like painting a wall. It was so stupid that it made people despair. A year later, he got the real thing. I don't know if he really didn't understand or for the sake of face, but he specially summoned ministers and insisted that the fake one was real and the real one was fake." Torry pointed at the blood painting and said, "Although the brushwork of the Ziming Scroll tried hard to imitate Huang Gongwang, it still couldn't get away from the clichés of predecessors Dong Yuan and Ju Ran. The texture lines are mostly long lines arranged neatly and evenly, and the brushstrokes are relatively rigid. From the perspective of rendering effect, it is far less pleasing to the eye than the original. And look at the imitation of this 'great painter': he pays great attention to the thickness, weight, density, dryness and wetness, and light and dark changes of the texture lines, highlighting the calligraphic aesthetics of the lines..."

"Stop, stop, stop!" Liam felt that he couldn't afford the tuition for this Chinese painting class with his salary. "Teacher Zuo, what you said is very good, but what does this have to do with this case?"

"Captain Lu, you still don't know who did that fake painting, right?" A toad would never pay attention to the beauty pageant champion in the turtle world. Torry directly determined that he didn't know, "It's very likely that it was done by Dong Qichang. You don't know who Dong Qichang is, right? He is one of the most famous calligraphy and painting masters in the Ming Dynasty."

"so what?"

"You say, can this 'great painter' who can understand it better than Dong Qichang and paint better, be an ordinary person? How many of them can there be in the whole country? How many of them can there be in Yudong City?"

Liam woke up as if from a dream. These words greatly narrowed the scope of investigation.

Seeing that Liam and Owen were ready to make a move, Torry said calmly: "Don't be in a hurry, let me take a few more looks." After that, he continued to watch with frowning and squinting eyes.

"Ah!" After a long while, the silence in the evidence room, which could only be heard after watching a horror movie, was broken by Torry's scream, which could only be heard after watching a horror movie.

"Master Zuo, could you please stop being so jumpy?" Owen covered his heart, "What did you find?"

"This is a mimicry genius!" Torry pointed at the inscription on the painting, "These words are exactly the same as Shen Zhou's. Do you know Shen Zhou? Oh, anyway, you don't know. But there is an inscription on the original "Fuchun Mountain Dwelling" that was written by Shen Zhou himself. This guy not only practiced Huang Gongwang, but also copied Shen Zhou!"

"So, the scope has been narrowed further?" Liam asked in surprise.

"No, on the contrary, I think the screening criteria have become vague again." Torry hesitated.

"Why?"

"Generally, people who learn to paint will focus on copying one style. Once they have mastered it, they will slowly copy all the styles. However, after copying many styles, they will either be stuck in the same style and become more and more rigid, or they will learn from its strengths and overcome their weaknesses, and forge a smooth road with their own style. This 'great painter' is very interesting. His paintings of Huang Gongwang look very much like Huang Gongwang, and his paintings of Shen Zhou look like Shen Zhou's reincarnation. Of course, you can think that he only knows these two styles, but I have a hunch that his skills are not limited to these. You can also think that he is showing off his ability, but I am almost sure that in addition to showing off, he wants to hide his personal style and escape handwriting identification. This is no different from finding an A4 paper and printing out a paragraph you have typed in Song font."

"You mean, there's no way to determine the author through handwriting analysis?" Liam felt lost.

"It's difficult, he has hidden his personal style very well. The only good news is that there must not be many people who have such a strong ability to imitate. As long as we investigate carefully, we should be able to find some clues." Seeing Liam was about to make another move, Torry hurriedly held his hand and said, "Also, 'Painting also has Feng Shui', this sentence makes me shudder. Because on the day of the exhibition, I said the same thing to my buddy. These words come from Huang Gongwang's "The Secret of Painting Landscapes", which is the most inspiring sentence in the whole article. I can't judge the deep meaning of the 'great painter' choosing this sentence as the title. But great minds think alike. At least I can see that he is at a very high level, just like me."

Liam pulled his hand out from under Torry's palm: "I've never seen anyone so shameless as you."

"God is unfair to me. While forcing a handsome face on me, he also took away all my shortcomings." Torry said, "Let the others come to the evidence room for a meeting."

Although Captain Lu secretly complained about Teacher Zuo's meddling in other people's affairs, he had no intention of arguing with him.

When Torry was still a junior high school student, he loved to comment on the cases in the bureau. Although the kid didn't keep his word, he did contribute a lot of wonderful ideas to his father over the years, and everyone in the bureau liked him very much.

In fact, his intelligence itself is not dazzling, but what is surprising is that he showed his talent in this area too early. When he was in his senior year of high school, Zuo Mingyi, the director, died in the line of duty, and Torry rarely stepped into the police station since then. But three years ago, a serial murder case occurred in Yudong City. The murderer claimed to kill ten people, but he was caught just after killing the second one. At that time, Liam successfully identified the murderer based on the analysis of Torry, who was still a senior. Since then, the whole team has obeyed him, and he has repeatedly become a guest of honor at the after-get off work gatherings of the criminal police team.

"I will not elaborate on the achievements you have made. After comprehensively analyzing what the murderer showed us, I think there are several doubts that need to be clarified. First, there is clearly a simpler way to kill someone, so why did the murderer choose to bury Grace alive? Is there really a blood feud between them, or does the murderer have a perverted habit, or is he trying to imply something? Second, why did the murderer knock out Grace's teeth? Third, why did he paint "Fuchun Mountain Dwelling" instead of something else? I don't think he is just riding on the popularity of the recent exhibition. Fourth, why did he write "Painting also has Feng Shui in it" instead of something else? Fifth, why were there five blood fingerprints instead of three or four? Whether from the perspective of composition or from the perspective of imitating the layout of the seals of the original work, this is unreasonable."

"It seems very suggestive." Liam said.

"Yes. The murderer not only showed off to us blatantly through the corpse in the park and the high-quality imitation painting, but also left many hints through these highly symbolic elements." Torry was sure of this, but at the same time he felt helpless, "But based on the information we have now, it is difficult for us to infer any valuable conclusions based on these scattered hints. At present, all we can do is use the most basic criminal investigation methods - checking surveillance, investigating the deceased's social relationships, and studying the body and physical evidence."

Liam glanced at Finn, who said hurriedly, "We haven't found any suspicious people or vehicles near the exit of Zhongxiang. After a carpet search, we haven't found any suspects in any corner of Zhongxiang. The probability of losing them is high. The two brothers are watching the surveillance of Binhu Park and should be able to give results soon. As for Grace, we found that a few hours before the accident, she and a young man checked into the Haobao Hotel in Xijiao Film and Television City..."

"Why didn't you mention that in the meeting?" Liam asked angrily.

"The meeting started before I had time to investigate further. I had planned to report back when I had more information."

"This Grace is really not a serious person!" Torry muttered.

"It seems that the semen in the body of the deceased is very likely from this man. I don't think the murderer would leave such clues." Noel said, "It seems that this line is broken."

Torry frowned: "Is it possible that the man committed the crime?"

"In any case, we have to continue investigating the clues that have not been broken. Finn, continue to follow the surveillance of Binhu Park. Owen, contact the hotel and find out the identity information of the man who checked into the room with her, and at the same time determine whether the room has been cleaned after the incident. Torry and I will go to the hotel now and find the man later. When you find his address, send it to me, and start surveillance at the same time, and control him if necessary. Of course, it would be best if you can bring him to the hotel to find us."

"Understood sir!" Owen was glad that he didn't have to go out this time.

"By the way," Liam stopped everyone who was about to leave, and turned to look at Torry, "I have asked the bureau for instructions. Considering the professionalism and particularity of the 'Great Painter' case, I suggest setting up a special case team and hiring Comrade Torry as our bureau's calligraphy and painting expert. The current bureau leaders have preliminarily agreed to this suggestion. Torry's responsibility is to give us guidance on solving the case from an artistic professional perspective, as a reference for our decision-making. In principle, Torry does not comment on case analysis and decision-making outside of his profession, but... considering Comrade Torry's past criminal investigation experience, we are also willing to actively listen to Comrade Torry's views. Li Yufei, the relevant procedures can be carried out."

Torry was stunned when he heard this, and when he realized what was going on, he slammed the table and said, "Why didn't you ask for my opinion?"

"This is not your area of expertise, dear expert."