Chapter 28 Chapter Twenty Eight

At lunch, Totsukawa and Kamei met Ogoshi in the restaurant of the hotel. "Has your Madam gone to Grenoble?" Totsukawa asked. "An hour ago, the car over there picked her up. My wife is also very happy." Da Yue said in a calm tone. "After dinner, will you go sightseeing in the city as originally planned?" "Of course. This is the greatest pleasure of my trip to Paris." "Where are you going today?" Kamei asked. "Depart from here at 2 p.m., and want to go to Montmartre first." "Still going to the Sacred Heart Church?"

Totsukawa asked with a map of Paris in mind. "No. There's always a group of young painters gathered in Telutauru Square, who make a living doing portraits of passing tourists. I'll look for them. There may be some up-and-coming people with real talents among them. .If possible, I would like to find such young painters and give them a sum of money. It doesn’t matter which country they are from.” Da Yue said enthusiastically. Miura added from the side. "The president has the ability to identify people with potential drawing talent." "I can't paint well myself, but I can appreciate other people's paintings."

Dai Viet said. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, a large luxury Mercedes-Benz arrived. "I wanted to invite Mr. Totsukawa to go with the car, but that would make me feel awkward." After speaking, Ogoshi got into the car driven by Miura and set off from the hotel. Totsukawa and the others also boarded a taxi and headed for Montmartre. The car passed through the Arc de Triomphe, passed the new opera house, and drove north. Montmartre is located in the northeast of Paris, and is a hill with an altitude of 130 meters. There is a building surrounded by white walls on the top of the mountain, which is the Church of the Sacred Heart.The stone steps and cable car leading to the church often appear in movie shots, so they become a tourist attraction.

Inside the Sacred Heart Church is Telutauru Square.It is what Dai Viet said, the place where portraits are painted for tourists.There are many painted pictures on the stone steps. Ogoshi and Miura parked the car under the stone steps. I thought they would take the cable car up, but unexpectedly they climbed up the stairs energetically. Totsugawa distanced himself from Kamei and Ike and stepped up the stone steps. The steps are steep and lined with lampposts on one side.Climbing to a certain height, the streets of Paris will gradually appear under your feet. "Where are Pierre and Barthes?"

While climbing up, Kamei inspected the surroundings. "Watch out somewhere." Totsukawa said. Just as foreigners can't tell the face of a Japanese, Totsukawa and the Japanese can't tell the difference between a foreigner.Naturally, there are mostly French people here. The youth walking down from the top may be the criminal police of the Paris Police Department, and the tourists who look like lovers may also be police detectives. In front of the magnificent Sacred Heart Church, it was crowded with tourists. Some people sat on the steps, and some took pictures with the church as the background.Naturally, there are some Japanese among them.

Totsukawa and Kamekina quickly searched for Yayoi Shimazaki among these people, but they couldn't find anything as far as they could see. Okoshi and Miura walked quickly past the Sacred Heart Church towards Telutauru Square. As soon as you enter the square paved with stones, ah, the scenes you have seen in movies and photos immediately come into view. All the young painters gathered here, some of them placed their own paintings on the steps, and some of them set up their easels and were painting portraits. The square is surrounded by quaintly decorated restaurants and cafes. Boisterous tourists sit crowded around tables set up on the terrace of the café.

Only English, French, and occasionally Japanese are heard, which is very lively. It was a pair of American couples who yelled loudly while asking for portraits. After walking for a while, Da Yue squatted down to look at the paintings on the steps.At this time, someone persuaded him to draw a picture, so he simply sat on a chair and asked the person to draw. (I can't help him!) Totsukawa smacked his lips anxiously. It seemed to them that he had come to this square only to be a target. The portrait of Dai Viet was a 30-year-old oriental painter. It is unclear whether he is Japanese or not.

Totsukawa looked around. This place is very similar to Takeshita Street in Harajuku, Japan, full of bustling tourists. He noticed that a big and sturdy man stood out from the crowd and was looking this way with his head exposed.He is the Bart detective wearing sunglasses. Sergeant Pierre sat at the coffee table, watching Dae Viet closely. Totsukawa whispered to Kamei, "Please!" and came to Pierre. Pierre greeted a little boy who brought a spare chair from inside. Then, he ordered another cup of coffee for Totsukawa, and said: "There are 10 police officers on the square. If the murderer wants to do something, he will definitely be captured."

"Saw Officer Bart in New York just now." When Totsukawa said this, Pierre smiled and said: "His size is so striking." "Has anyone from Scotland Yard come?" "We'll be in Paris on the 20th. It's only a short journey from London to Paris. They can come anytime." "Are those two still here?" "Yes. Miss Elizabeth and Mr. Dennis." "Come here? Didn't see them." Totsukawa asked. "It is said that the two of them took the TGV together today. They will not participate in the affairs here." "Take the TGV?"

"They said they wanted to re-examine what happened in October last year, and Scotland Yard has been very resilient on that." Pierre smiled wryly again. "Are there no criminal police from other countries?" "Constable Mikhailov from the Moscow Police Department promised to come, but he seems to be too busy with domestic affairs to get away." Just as Pierre was speaking, suddenly, there was a crisp explosion from the crowd in front of him. Then there was another sound. The tourists screamed and wailed, and fled in all directions, turning into a mess in an instant.

Totsukawa and Pierre immediately ran towards the direction of the explosion. Everyone in the square was at a loss and just ran around. Totsukawa and Pierre pushed away the fleeing people and approached Dai Viet. Da Yue stood up from the chair and stood there blankly. Kamei rushed forward and pushed him to the ground. A few frightened young men ran over, who seemed to be Pierre's undercover detectives. Pierre yelled at them, "What are you panicking! It's firecrackers!" The explosions continued.Totsukawa also realized that it was actually firecrackers. It sounds like the kind of Chinese-style firecrackers that are thrown as soon as they are ignited.Pierre's subordinates found the blown firecrackers, held them in their hands, and loudly comforted the tourists in the square. A policeman caught a little Oriental and took him to the café. He was wearing jeans, sneakers, a jacket and a mustache on his upper lip. "He had firecrackers in his pocket." The criminal police handed Pierre the found firecrackers. "What's your name?" asked Pierre.The man just smirked to himself and said nothing. The young detective roughly searched the pockets of his jacket and the back pocket of his jeans, took them out and put them on the coffee table. These items include wallets, key rings, passports, and change. Pierre opened the passport and looked at it. "So you are Japanese." Saying that, show it to Totsukawa. This person is called Aoki Zhengfu, and he is 29 years old now. "Why do you do such a thing?" Totsukawa asked the other party. Masao Aoki said with a smile: "It's lively and fun." "No way! Did this woman ask you to do it?" Totsukawa took out a photo of Yayoi Shimazaki and showed it to him. "..." "This woman is a suspect in the murder case. Maybe you are also an accomplice in the murder case, right?" When Totsukawa asked here, Aoki, who had been giggling alone just now, suddenly became stiff and asked: "is that true?" "Of course it's true. You're on her orders, aren't you?" "Ok." "When? Where?" "The meeting was yesterday. I needed money, so we negotiated. She asked me to buy firecrackers in advance and light them on the Telutaulu Square in Montmartre." "What about the timing of the ignition?" "She gave me a sign when she said that." "Then where is she now?" "Leaving early. Left 10 minutes ago. She told me to light firecrackers and throw them in the air in another 10 minutes." "How much did she pay you?" "500 francs." "Did she suddenly appear yesterday?" "No, we met on the 20th. I showed her around places in Paris where ordinary tourists often visit. That was the first time we met." Aoki said. Totsukawa translated his words into English and relayed them to Pierre. "She will arrive in Paris on the 20th." Pierre said. "Didn't you help her find a place to live?" Totsukawa asked Aoki. "Ah, she said she would live in Paris for a while, so I lent her the apartment I live in now." "where?" Totsukawa asked Aoki to write down the address and handed it to Pierre. Pierre immediately called a subordinate and gave him the address.