The Sacred Spring: Chapter 13: The Inca Princess (2)
At the time this photo was taken, Professor Owen was a half-grown young man. At that time, during World War II, he followed his mentor, Mr. Green, into Lake Titicaca, the birthplace of American Indian civilization, to look for the relics of ancient civilization. The fleet encountered a storm and the archaeological team suffered heavy losses, but it was Princess Lilia's people who discovered them and gave them selfless help. Later, the archaeological team discovered the ruins of Tiwanaco on the island and unearthed a large number of precious artifacts. Teacher Green also developed an innocent love with Princess Lilia and became husband and wife. The good times did not last long, and there was a riot between the tribes on the island, and finally Mr. and Mrs. Green escaped with little Owen. After returning to the United States, Professor Owen lost contact with the Greens and has not stopped inquiring about them for many years. Two months ago, a group of mountaineers found human remains with their hands and feet tangled near a large ice reservoir in the Andes. It was later confirmed that the 'Iceman couple' who had been sealed on the snowy mountain for more than 20 years were the Green couple who had been missing for many years. The mask in the photo was the only thing Princess Lilia had brought from the island. Professor Owen lamented: "Fifty years have passed. Unexpectedly, as soon as the mask was sent to the museum, I was stolen before I could take another look at it-
As I listened to Professor Owen's reminiscences, I calculated the time span before and after. It was discovered that the time of the disappearance of the Grimm couple in the professor's mouth coincided with the time they appeared in China. According to Zhao Toad's recollections, after the foreigner transferred the house to the Zhao family's aunt and grandmother, they mysteriously disappeared. So, why did they come to China in the first place, and how were their remains found in the Andes Mountains, tens of thousands of kilometers away from Nanjing? More importantly, where did the baby in the photo go? When the Greens left China, didn't they take their own flesh and blood with them? Thinking of this, my heart suddenly tugged, and the baby corpses in glass jars in the basement of the old mansion resurfaced in front of me again. My intuition tells me that what happens here must be inextricably linked. But Mr. and Mrs. Greene are dead, and they can no longer answer my questions. But those who steal the masks may or may not have some truths that we don't yet know.
Shirley Young continued: "The Inca civilization is the culmination of the Indian civilization of South America, and is one of the three oldest and most powerful civilizations in this land. The museum's excavation and preservation of the Inca civilization has never stopped. Personally, I think that this theft was premeditated a long time ago, and judging from their modus operandi, it is not like a professional thief, but more like a well-trained special forces-
Black Helmet spread the stack of documents in his hand on the table and said to Shirley Young, "The results of the autopsy report show that the security guard's head was cut off by a special steel material. This kind of material has never been seen before, and it may be some kind of latest scientific and technological achievement. Judging from the evidence collected at the crime scene, there were three people on the other side, two men and one woman, Asian-
After he said this, he glanced at us meaningfully, and then added: "Don't you think that the timing of the appearance of these two experts is too coincidental? -
The Black Helmets had always suspected that the fat man and I had something to do with the museum theft, so they didn't buy Shirley Young's account at all, and once again questioned our identities in front of everyone.
Shirley Young tried to explain something, but I stopped him. Dealing with this kind of self-righteous person, if you reason with him, you will only make him worse. I dropped the photo in my hand, frowned and said to the Black Helmet: "If the police have evidence, take it out now." If not, I hope you leave immediately and not get in the way of our research work-
The Black Helmets didn't expect my attitude to be so tough, and they were so angry that they couldn't say anything for a while. Shirley Yang hurriedly came out to play the round: "Mr. Robert, what we have to do now is to unite to recover the stolen treasures. If the police refuse to trust our museum staff, it will be difficult for the cooperation to continue. Please understand us, and understand these two guests who have come from afar-
After hearing this, the Black Helmet groaned for a while, and finally sat down and said, "I respect the opinion of the museum, but I also hope that you will cooperate with the police as much as possible." Provide us with details of the stolen items, as well as a list of suspects with a criminal motive-
Professor Owen repeatedly promised that he would sort out all the information and send it to the police station when he returned. Shirley Yang also said that if the police need to cooperate, all personnel, including the two of us - foreign experts - will fully support. Seeing that there were steps to go down, the Black Helmet immediately stood up and said, "In that case, I'll go back first, and everyone will keep in touch." Professor Owen, I'm waiting for your information report-
The fat man was so angry that he wanted to go to the house to uncover the tiles: "Old Hu, why are you stopping me?" Such a leader of the US imperialist warlords should give him a blow to the head, so that he can know how powerful our People's Liberation Army is-
Shirley Young smiled and said to us, "You are all people of this age, why do you still look like children." Especially you old Hu, you're getting less and less serious-
When Professor Owen saw that we were going to catch up, he said to Shirley Young, "Send it to my office when the materials are ready." Let's go to the police station again tomorrow. And Xiaohu, when you have time, tell me more about the old house of the Greens, I think their trip to China may hide a huge secret-
After saying goodbye to Professor Owen, Shirley Young let out a long breath, turned his head and said sternly to me and the fat man, "This theft is not unusual, you can go and see something with me first-
Based on what I know about Shirley Yang, if she wasn't 12 percent sure, she would never jump to conclusions lightly. Looks like she must have found something out of the ordinary. We followed her through the front porch of the museum, and she led the way while giving us both a basic knowledge of Inca civilization.