Part 2: Outwitting Capitol Hill (24) – Seeking the Truth
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Hatty's eyes sparkled with excitement and a look of excitement on his face. Pen Fun Pavilion wWw. biquge。 info
Zhou Jia teased: "Do you really think you're digging for treasure?"
Hatti said, "Well, it's good that it's not in the cemetery, otherwise I might have entered the role of 'corpse robber'!"
Zhou Jia shook his head helplessly and began to let him dig up from the middle line of the low wall. He swung his shovel and dug and dug and dug ......and dug It wasn't until Zhou Jia felt that too much time had passed, and Hattie had to bend his waist deeply every time he dug into the soil, almost blending in with the dirt pit. Seeing this, Zhou Jia was about to shout to stop and give up, when the next shovel suddenly made a muffled sound.
"I've touched something!" said Hatti excitedly.
Zhou Jia and Hatti looked down at the same time, he squatted down, brushed off the covered soil with the shovel in his hand, the lid was exposed first, and soon he saw a square tin box. He struck the shovel twice more, making a "thump" sound.
Hattie took out a pair of pre-prepared black gloves from his pocket, and when he put them on, he gripped the bottom of the box tightly with both hands, and when he picked up the box, he could feel that it was heavy.
Zhou Jia looked at the tin box. It was as if he were talking to himself, as light as air: "Oh my God!
"There's no other explanation, you're all right!bingo!!" Hattie said like the host of a million-dollar guessing show, opening his hands to present the ultimate prize to the winner, "a secret treasure chest!"
With that, Hattie put the box on the ground next to him, and then jumped up, he patted the dirt on his clothes, turned to Zhou Jia and said, "Let's finish the work, and leave the rest to the others!"
Hattie picked up the box and left with Zhou Jia. She turned her head to look at the huge hole in the ground, and soon several men in construction clothes walked towards the excavated pit, and she guessed that after a while, it would be back to its original state, and no one knew what had been in the soil.
Until Hattie and Zhou Jia walked into the hotel. The strong man at the intersection greeted a few people around him, and soon the blocked section of the road was restored.
As soon as he entered the hotel, a bodyguard took Hatty's suitcase. Zhou Jia had a little doubt, why did he feel that just now, Hattie deliberately did not let the bodyguards follow, and always felt that he had ulterior motives.
However, her attention quickly returned to the chest, which was apparently locked with a lock. And it's the kind of antique lock with a big lock, but the tin box is covered with mud, and the keyhole is sealed with mud.
What kind of key can open it?, Zhou Jia thought to himself.
Hatty knew what she was thinking, thought for a while and said, "Go back and wash and change clothes first, I'll let people open it, don't worry!"
Because of her profession, Zhou Jia was already a bit of a cleanliness habit, and in the past two days, she has been accustomed to the "cleaning rules" prescribed by the ******, and she thinks it's pretty good.
Both of them changed into thin white robes. It should be a kind of underwear to wear indoors, which is soft, close-fitting and very comfortable.
By the time Zhou Jia saw the box again, it had already changed. The dirt on it had been cleaned up, and the box's original color had been revealed—a gray metallic color.
It's rare for people to use such a metal box to store important documents. It's like a box for storing medicines, could it be that Mary placed those medicine boxes with developer and fixer. Zhou Jia immediately thought of an invisible poison, or something with radioactivity.
The carpet was covered with a white cloth, the lock had been opened, and it was placed on the table next to it, also lying on a white cloth.
Whoever handled the box was obviously professional.
Zhou Jia stood in front of the box. I didn't know if I wanted to open it for a while. What new clues does it bring? Bringing back that lost memory? It may hide truths, unexpected consequences that you can't even imagine. For a long time, she had a vague sense that this matter was not just about the haunting of the hotel and solving the mystery of the clover, it was definitely intimately related to her. This scared and frightened Zhou Jia, and she realized that when the mystery was revealed, she was afraid that these truths would change everything.
But things have to have a result, don't they?
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, put on her white gloves, walked to the rusty tin box, and opened the lid.
A foul smell came out, a mixture of rotten earth and damp musty.
Uncover a few more layers of oiled paper cloth, and the inside is neatly filled with crusty books.
Pick up the top one and open the hardcover cover, the paper inside is covered with mold spots, and the edges are old and yellowed.
Zhou Jia turned the crusty book over.
"To the members of the secret. In the middle of the inside cover it reads: Whether it's joining the Saturday Club or George giving me a camera, keep it a secret. But I also had to write about what I saw, what I learned, and what I experienced. It's not a big lie, and the fact that I wrote these journals doesn't mean that I want others to read it, whoever it is.
In the lower right corner is the signature Marianne Hooper Adams.
I'm reading it right now, and that's what you want me to read, Zhou Jia thought to himself.
Then, she flipped to the sentence at the beginning of the first page:
Washington, D.C., November 13, 1882
Monday, fine
Hatti walked up to her, and she was turning a page.
There is a photo on the page, and the picture is not very clear.
At the bottom of the photo, detailed data such as the time circle and shutter speed are written in standard capital letters.
On another line, it was written in Juanxiu's handwriting: It seems that I can't master it on my own, I need guidance, and fortunately I can see George tomorrow.
She flipped through the pages, looked at the dates that appeared every few pages, and exclaimed, "These are all Mrs. Clover's secret diaries!
It's an antique from a hundred years ago, and no matter what is written, whether the clover was killed or murdered, its impact will be enormous. Even if this past is history, the secrets in the diary are likely to cause irreparable ripples.
The diary was swollen, apparently with other photos posted in it.
Hattie lowered his head and looked at the box full of diaries, and said in a slightly joking tone: "It seems that this box of things can earn back the money spent yesterday!"
Zhou Jia shook his head, ignored him, and then flipped down.
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Washington, D.C., November 16, 1882
Thursday, fine
Today, I met with George.
As he drove me home, I started keeping a diary in the car because I couldn't contain the excitement in my heart. Yes, I can't wait to get home, what I saw today, I was really shocked, and despite the scribbling, I want to write down my feelings as soon as possible.
George didn't say a word when I was writing in my diary, and when I was trying to find the right words, I saw him peeking at me.
He must be snickering at my stupidity.
However, in my eyes, when it comes to photography today, he is just as silly. I mean we're all fanatical, desperate.
Last Saturday, before we parted ways at Parker's Cottage, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to go back to Boston for Saturday Club as often. More importantly, I didn't have the opportunity to learn photography from him. And George smiled and told me that we would meet in Washington. He promised George Eastman that he would buy a photography studio in Washington as an agent of the Eastman Company, where he would secretly test the results of the Eastman camera.
I knew he was cooperating with me and keeping the speed low. It's so easy for me to keep a diary.
The marquis was also very cooperative, and lay on the carpet in the back seat of the car very obediently.
The studio is some distance from where Henry and I live. Henry was out early, so I asked John Hayer next door to take me there, who happened to be there on an errand, and I asked him to take me to the hat shop some distance from the studio. I frequented that store, so no one would suspect it.
Every time I went to the hat shop, I always took the marquis with me, so he had to accompany me and became my accomplice.
I quickly dismissed the lady from the hat shop and walked across the street to the street where the studio was located.
I pushed the door open and entered, and there was no one on the counter, just a silver bell.
I took off my gloves and gently pressed the silver bell, which made a crisp sound. I looked around, and the décor of the shop was pure and elegant, the walls were a slightly pale cream white, and the interior decoration was even more so. Only one of the oldest cameras on display in the corner has a heavy body engraved with a golden lady pattern. If the camera had been so big and heavy, I don't think I would have been able to do it myself. It would take a whole wagon just to move the "set", not to mention running around and taking pictures of people.
The Marquis barked twice. I turned around and saw that George had walked from behind to the counter.
"I'm sorry," I said, "I must take the Marquis, who is obedient and will not make trouble...... Or I'll tie it up. ”
George smiled and said, "Clover...... Relax, it's just us here, you don't have to tie up the marquis. ”
"Just the two of us?" I muttered to myself.
He realized the awkwardness of his words.
"The secret is always better to know as few people as possible, isn't it?" he said after a few seconds.
The tension also disappeared with his words.
"This photo shop was hand-picked by Eastman and I together. The structure of the store is good, and the previous cameras are well maintained, so they were all acquired. Who made two mad Georges love photography and be madly obsessed with it. ”
I'm also fascinated by photography, and I think to myself. Then he said to him: "It's not uncommon to have the same name, but you have the same hobby, which is really enviable." ”
He raised his eyebrows and asked, "Didn't you set up a 'Five Hearts' in Washington, aren't they your close allies with the same ideals?"
The members of the "Five Hearts" are all the people I have the closest relationship with. In addition to me and Henry, the other three main members were: geologist and mountaineer Clarence King, John Heyer, and Heyer's wife, Clark. In addition, there were two people close to Henry, who also frequented the Five Hearts party, one was the glass painter John La Faggie, and the other was the socialite Elizabeth Cameron.
During the "Five Hearts" gathering, everyone likes to talk about avant-garde art, exotic culture and mountaineering tourism...... But more of the conversation inevitably focused on politics, which John and Henry talked about. Truth be told, it's one thing to express one's political opinions and opinions, but it's another thing to leak White House secrets. But that Mrs. Cameron was keen on it, and she always revealed some news she had heard from her husband, Donald.
You know my business very well, I pouted a little dissatisfied, and whispered, "I said it very clearly, it's a common hobby - photography!"
George didn't seem to expect me to show such an expression, and he said to me sincerely, "If you want, two George's photomaniacs will, willing to welcome you!"
"Really?"
He nodded vigorously.
I touched the camera in my bag and was happy that I was a member of the "George Crazy Photography Club". Then he whispered, "I...... I finished the negative. ”
He looked very surprised, "All the 100 shots have been taken?"
I excitedly said, "It's so good, I can barely stop." ”
He said, "All right, let's see what you do, come with me!"
I followed him through the door with a velvet curtain at one end of the hallway, and as I walked past the studio, I looked in curiously. The popular backdrop is often a luxurious room with an ornate baroque chair that will give you an aristocratic look, or a rainforest full of strange plants that will make you look like an adventurous warrior...... But here the background curtain is a monotonous oatmeal color, and the velvet blanket on the floor is so light that it is almost colorless.
"For portrait photography, I prefer a plain background that allows me to focus on my subject. George pointed to the roller shutter next to him and said, "There are also those that are flashy and flamboyant." ”
He looked me up and down, and suddenly asked, "I actually have two cameras left, why don't we take one for each other, just two cameras are developed at once." ”
I hesitated. The truth is that I like to take pictures, but I'm afraid of being photographed.
"Come on, in this process, we may be able to find a lot of characteristics or faults in each other's photos!"
Hearing this, I didn't want to shirk it and followed him into the room.
It wasn't until I sat down in front of the set that George understood why I was hesitating. I could also feel my whole face stiffening, and my expression was extremely unnatural.
He chuckled, but the voice was already coming out of his throat.
I immediately blushed with shame and slammed myself up from the stool.
George quickly stepped forward and grabbed my hand.
"I'm sorry. He said, "I was rude just now...... I just didn't expect that the perfect clover in my heart would also be something that I wasn't good at. ”
"I don't have a lot of things that I'm not good at, and sitting in front of the camera is the least good thing I'm at. I said embarrassedly. His hand was still holding mine, and I struggled a little before he quickly let go.
I'm confused. Sometimes he has an ambiguous attitude, and that's a courtship to me? What is the perfect clover in his heart.
I said in a slender voice, "Let me shoot you!"
He nodded and agreed. (To be continued.) )