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Washington, D.C., 2025

Zhou Jia was at a loss, his brows were tightly wrinkled together, and he sat on the bed in a daze. Pen Fun Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 info She thought to herself: I'm not the first person to see her ghost, so the rumors of a haunted hotel are always true.

The big man who fell downstairs was the cameraman in the film crew of "American Haunted Houses", and Zhou Jia remembered that he left the country in the tidbits of that film. One thing is for sure, Marianne wasn't trying to hurt him, she wanted to tell him something, just like she wanted to tell herself today.

What exactly is she trying to tell me?

Hattie got out of bed, put on the dressing gown next to her, and said to her, "I'll have them prepare breakfast and fill their stomachs, and we'll continue to be detectives!

After breakfast, Zhou Jia and Hattie sat on the sofa in the living room again. Zhou Jia didn't contact Pierre, but Zhou Jia knew that he must have been busy all night, and he was probably catching up on sleep at this time.

Hattie pointed to a large box on the sofa, and while eating breakfast, Zhou Jia noticed that it wasn't there yesterday.

Hatti said, "Go open it and take a look!"

Zhou Jia walked over and opened the lid, which contained several delicately bound albums.

She jerked her head up and asked, "Marianne's photo collection?"

"Some of them were bought directly, and some of them were borrowed from museums," Hatti said, touching his nose, "I didn't expect it to be so difficult to get these in one night." ”

Zhou Jia looked at him in surprise, it turned out that he was going to do this after he left last night. In such a short period of time, not to mention the amount of money spent on the acquisition of these antiques, such a network alone is probably far beyond the reach of people. Moreover, there are very few albums in it, most of which are scattered photos, which shows that it is not easy to contact the sellers individually and buy them from personal collectors. She glanced at Hattie with some emotion.

Hattie smiled and pointed to the white gloves in the box.

This is an antique photo that has been preserved for more than 100 years, and they are very precious, and you need to wear gloves before looking at them, which Zhou Jia understands. Putting on her gloves, she first took out the album, which was not a booklet bound by Marianne herself, but a later collector's custom-made booklet.

The cover of the booklet is made of old leather, and the upper right corner is decorated with a ribbon bow. She turned the first page, and the photo Zhou Jia saw on the Internet yesterday, it was the photo of Henry playing with the "Marquis", but this is the original version.

There are not many works of Marianne left behind, most of which were burned by Henry.

Zhou Jia looked through it roughly, but she didn't find anything unusual, in fact, she didn't have a clue what to look for.

Hattie walked over with a cup of coffee and said, "Take a break." ”

Zhou Jia put down the photo, took off his gloves, and took the coffee.

They just sat next to each other.

Zhou Jia suddenly got up from the sofa, and read what Hattie said, what are you looking for...... Looking for something, she said loudly: "Is it there!"

She placed the coffee cup on the coffee table, put on her white gloves again, and began to rummage through the photos.

"What clue did you have in mind?" asked Hatti, curious.

Zhou Jia's subordinates did not stop, flipping and flipping, and finally she found the photo she was looking for.

She stood up, placed the picture on the long table by the window, then turned to Hatti and said, "Come and see!"

Hattie walked over and looked down to see a picture of snow: it was Lafayette Square across from Henry and Marianne's house. At the bottom of the photo, you can see the curbs of the street crossing the street. There are two trees on the walking path, and the small one on the left looks like a small sapling that has just been planted for a short time, with only thin branches. The gardener erected a protective stand for it surrounded by wood, and even then, it was weak in the wind and snow, and its branches were blown to pieces. To its right, five or six paces away, there was another young tree, which had grown tall and stood tall and able to withstand the wind and snow on its own. To its right is a black street lamp more than half a person high. Behind the sidewalk is a row of black fences that surround Lafayette Square.

Behind the railing, there are two towering trees, which stand proudly despite the wind and snow. There are a lot of low grasses under the trees, all of which are evergreens of the pine and cypress type, and when you look at it from a distance, everything is covered by snow, and it is already hazy. At the end of the left corner of the picture is supposed to be the White House, but it is completely invisible, blending into the vast white.

Zhou Jia went through the photos again, and she found the second, third, and fourth ones...... The last one is in the art book. Zhou Jia put the album on the table and held it with his hand.

Hatty's gaze swept over them quickly. He said leisurely: "It's all a view!"

Zhou Jia nodded and said, "Although I can't see all her photos, I can see from the photos you collected." None of her works are the same, except for this 'view from the window'. She pointed to the photo, "From this angle, and there are all periods of spring, summer, autumn and winter." ”

That's about the second or third floor of the hotel," Hatti looked at the picture again, and he pushed open the door to the balcony. The balcony is the leftmost corner of the hotel's top floor, almost flush with the East Wing of the White House, and he takes a few steps sideways to the right. Zhou Jia also walked out of the door on the right, and they met again. The two of them moved while comparing the photo in Zhou Jia's hand, and they finally stopped and looked downstairs at Lafayette Square together.

Zhou Jia said: "This is it, she should have taken a photo from the window of her room!"

"The next question is, what are we looking for? and where is it hiding in this area?" Hatti said.

Zhou Jia took the photo and looked at the picture carefully, trying to find a feeling: photography in that era was not the same thing as now, and now he takes out his mobile phone and shoots casually, at that time, he had to wash the negatives, and he couldn't pinch the shutter at will. It will take a long time to get exposed, and the photographer will have to be very patient. She suddenly remembered and guessed, "Could it be the focus of the camera?"

"Why not try?" said Hatti.

They walked back to the room, and Zhou Jia put the photo of the snow scene in his hand back on the table. She took out her mobile phone, looked at a few photos, and retook them one by one. Then I transfer the new photos to my computer through my phone. Even without Pierre's supercomputer, with ordinary image processing software, you can quickly find the focus in each photo.

Zhou Jia printed them all. Each photo is marked with a black cross focus in the center. At the center of the focal point is a low bush that has been trimmed into an oval shape.

Zhou Jia discussed with Hatty: "I want to dig and dig secretly at night!"

Hatti raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why night?" aren't you anxious to know the outcome?"

She looked out into the square. It's early in the morning, but there are already people in the square, a few morning joggers, and tourists who look like they live nearby.

Zhou Jia said: "In broad daylight, when I go to the park to dig something, I remember whether it should be the destruction of public property, or Lafayette Square in front of the White House...... What if someone else thinks you're a terrorist with a suspicious demeanor?"

Hatti laughed at her words, and his big hand tapped lightly on her nose, saying, "Don't worry, something happened, I'm responsible." ”

Zhou Jia lamented in his heart: responsible? You yourself have diplomatic immunity, what about me? Even if you have a personal relationship with the president and have nothing to do, but what if someone takes a photograph, think about the headline of tomorrow morning's news, "The prince of the Middle East took his fiancée and played a treasure hunt in front of the White House." "This kind of negative news is too ugly!

"Don't worry, I'll ask someone to prepare clothes for us to move around. We'll go in a minute!"

Zhou Jia was speechless, and she couldn't stop this wayward prince.

After a while, the maids brought two sets of black tracksuits, two sets of sportswear for couples to be exact, the women's suit was decorated with gold stripes on the side, and the men's suit had gold letters on the chest.

The two of them changed their clothes and walked out of the hotel, and when she stood on H Street, she understood what Hattie meant by "he is in charge".

From the intersection of 16th Street on the left to the intersection of Connecticut Street on the right, H Street in the middle of the two intersections was temporarily closed. A few construction trucks were parked at the plaza entrance to the White House, and orange traffic barricades waved all the way. A large diamond-shaped orange sign reads: Construction ahead, road closed

There were a few construction workers in bright yellow vests working on the road.

Zhou Jia stood at the intersection, looking at the White House and the obelisk, and sighed in her heart: I really can't understand His Royal Highness's thoughts from the perspective of ordinary people.

She began to chase away the distractions in her mind, allowing herself to concentrate and get back to business. Because the intersection was closed, there was no one on the whole street. Zhou Jia was very surprised, Hattie didn't bring personal bodyguards, maybe they were hiding in a place where they couldn't see, but at least there was no trace of the bodyguards on the surface. Hattie accompanied Zhou Jia, and the two walked to the gap between the H Street Hotel and a nearby building. There is an arched door between the two floors, which is the exit to the hotel parking lot.

Zhou Jia looked up at the arched platform, and then at the roof, where there was a water storage tower. It was from there that the big man fell, and finally fell on the platform on the arch, where he fell to his death.

She stood where the body had fallen, looking across the street, slightly to the right. She saw almost exactly the same view as in the snow photo.

Not exactly, of course. The little sapling grew, the younger tree became thicker, and the half-human-high oil lamp on the far right was replaced by a solar street lamp with higher brightness.

The promenade is paved with red stone bricks, and the row of black fences in the photo has been replaced by a lower black fence, and there is a black pillar every few steps, and the pillars are connected by black iron chains.

"Let's go, cross the street, let's take a look!" Hatti stretched out his big hand towards Zhou Jia.

Zhou Jia nodded.

He took her hand and walked slowly across the carless road.

When he walked to the opposite side of the road, Zhou Jia glanced at the construction team next to him, there was a strong man with a familiar face, and he took a closer look at the agent who took him to see the teacher at the White House dinner that night. She thought to herself: It seems that Hattie is really ventilating with the White House, it turns out that the people who are arranged nearby are all members of the secret service team, and she is afraid in vain.

Although the strong man lowered his head, his eyes were locked on Zhou Jia. At the same time, he spoke in a voice that no one else could hear: "It's just the two of them! Boss, do you want to do it?"

A clear voice came from the invisible headset in his ear: "He can swagger out of the hotel without escorts, I'm afraid that the entire Lafayette Square, and even the White House are within the effective protection of his subordinates, and you will definitely not be able to get any cheap." Don't worry, it's not too late to wait for Mina and the others to return. Just keep an eye on them now!"

"Got it!"

"However, you can't do nothing, find a way to give them some 'gifts'!"

The strong man watched Hattie and Zhou Jia, and saw the two of them step over the iron chain on the black fence together, pass through the two leafy trees, and go straight to the place they were looking for.

Zhou Jia looked around, and the low shrub in the snow photo was gone, replaced by a carefully repaired circular meadow, and around the grass was a circle of dark green park benches.

The low cypress tree in the center of focus, trimmed into an oval shape, was also missing, and it was strange that the spot was surrounded by a very dense red fence, and not far from the red fence, there was a circular fountain made of white marble, and the water gushed out.

In the red fence, there is a low stone wall, which is very old, and the color of the stone wall has been washed away by rain and snow, and it is somewhat white.

Hatti said, "Let's go in and see!"

Zhou Jia still felt weak, she was so nervous that she looked back and forth, there were not many people nearby, and a lady in a blue shirt walked by briskly on the other side of the fountain, and quickly left the park. Two elderly people sat on the bench to rest, and it could even be said that they closed their eyes and recuperated, and they were both wearing hearing aids, and they obviously couldn't hear clearly. There is also a father who takes his child out to walk the dog, the child and the dog are playing happily, and the father looks down at the phone.

Look at yourself and Hattie again, like two couples running in the park in the morning, no one cares.

At this time, Hattie had already opened an opening in the red fence and walked in first, followed by Zhou Jia.

They circled the low wall. Zhou Jia squatted down, she touched here, looked there, looked at it for a long time, but she lost her confidence, and thought: Is there something hidden here? Everything is her own inference, and there is no basis. How deep and how big is this going to be?

Suddenly, there was a sound of footsteps, and Zhou Jia looked up nervously. A morning jogger in a tracksuit came running from a distance, and before she could see what he was holding in his hand, the next second it was in Hatty's hand. The big man ran to the other exit of the park as if nothing had happened.

Hattie had an extra military shovel in his hand, he pulled his sleeve to his elbow, as if he was going to do a big job, winked at Zhou Jia, and asked, "I'll do it, where do you say to dig?" (To be continued.) )