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"So the only clues that can be provided are three photos and a story?" Wei Ran asked looking at Diane sitting opposite.

"Of course not, there is also this"

It was only then that Diane completely opened her briefcase and took out a tattered hard-cover notebook with mold spots and yellow hair, and a knife that was at most 20 centimeters long.

There is nothing special about this knife. More than half of its length is an antler handle with a one-piece keel structure. It is a typical Finnish knife shape. The mottled rust and remaining small holes on it really look like they were made of horseshoes.

As for the hard-cover notebook, just by looking at the stubby hair, you can tell that it is made of horsehide. It is the same material and craftsmanship as the waterproof horsehide jacket used by the Rollei camera in the metal notebook. It was also made in the early days of World War II.

, common processes and material selections for making military waterproof backpacks in Germany.

Under Wei Ran's gaze, Diane gently untied the leather strap of the hard-cover book, then opened the horse fur cover and pushed it to Wei Ran.

Inside this 32-karat notebook, a regular round hole is dug out on the page in the upper left corner. Inside the round hole, a small silver piece that is about the size of a beer bottle cap is tightly fixed.

pocket watch.

On the case of this pocket watch, the words "Army Engineer Second Lieutenant Toshiro Koyama" are clearly engraved in Japanese Chinese characters that are completely compatible with traditional Chinese characters.

Looking up at Diane, Wei Ran reached into his pocket and took out a pair of rubber gloves he carried with him and put them on, and then easily opened the silver watch case that was slightly higher than the page.

To his expectation, there was actually a compass inside the watch case. Not only did it have clear and complete directions, it also had a level that was about the thickness of a match head.

After trying to take out the pocket watch-style compass to no avail, Wei Ran simply turned to the last page and saw that the bracelet and back case of the pocket watch were made of an unknown material.

It was firmly stuck to the horsehide on the last page.

Turning back to the first page, and carefully wrapping the compass around the holes on each page, Wei Ran looked at the content on the page.

On the first page, there is a map that seems to be hand-drawn with a pen. Not only is the location of the logging camp and the Yenisei River clearly marked in German, but it also has some five-pointed stars or triangle marks. And on this map

At the bottom edge of the map, a horizontal winding line is drawn, and on the edge of this line, the words "Siberian Railway" are written in German.

The second page is still a hand-drawn map, but this map accurately depicts the layout of a lumber camp. The purpose of each building is clearly marked in German.

“This is where reindeer are kept in captivity”

Diane pointed at the drawn circle of fence, which was not much bigger than a fingernail, and introduced, "The wooden house next to it is the residence of Second Lieutenant Mesut, and it is also a maintenance station.

According to Yin Hall, whether it was horse shoeing or repairing some broken sleighs, they were all done in this wooden house.

Both the Soviets and prisoners of war recognized that Mesut's craftsmanship was very good and his work was very meticulous."

"This Second Lieutenant Mesut is really versatile," Wei Ran said pointedly.

"Mesut's hometown is located in Holzkirchen under the Alps, less than 30 kilometers away from Munich."

After a pause, Diane continued, "His family has been running a small factory producing ski equipment since before the First World War.

Although this factory had moved to Innsbruck, Austria before the 1964 Winter Olympics, it is still operating a high-end customization business for ski sports equipment."

A family craft?

Wei Ran turned to the third page while beeping, as if to confirm Diane's introduction just now, what was drawn on this page happened to be a structural diagram of what seemed to be a sled.

Different from the sleds Weiran has seen and used before, the hand-drawn sled in the picture is extremely slender according to the numbers marked on it.

With a length of 1.9 meters and a width of only 80 centimeters, such a slender body means that the speed of this sled is definitely not too slow, not to mention that there are three shafts extending from one end of the sled.

This undoubtedly implies that the sled was originally designed to be pulled by two or four animals, which also further increased its speed.

Continuing to turn back, the next four or five pages are almost all detailed drawings of various parts of the sled. Especially the three three and a half meter long shafts, which are marked on a separate page, and it seems that they can be removed.

Use as tent poles.

On the next two pages, there are designs for a pair of skis and matching ski poles.

Moving on to the next two pages, dark blue German pen writing finally appeared, but what was recorded was an extremely detailed list.

From tents, canvas, animal skins, clothes, to food, medicine, tools, even cooking utensils, etc., there are all kinds of items listed on the front and back of two pieces of paper, and there is a check mark behind each entry.

Seeing that Wei Ran was deep in thought, Diane put down the coffee cup and added, "When Mesut's wife was alive, she confirmed that this was her husband's handwriting, and it was also in line with her husband's rigorous work habits."

Wei Ran nodded noncommittally and continued to flip through the pages. The following pages described an escape plan in a few concise German words.

“Yenisei River—Siberian Railway—Leningrad—Finland—Port of Narvik—Captain Kaler”

"Who is Captain Kaler?" Wei Ran raised his head and asked.

"Not sure"

Diane shook her head, "Neither Mesut's son, wife, nor the recruitment survivor Yin Hoer, they know who this Captain Kaler is, but according to the files that can be found, Mesut

He was actually stationed in Finland for a while."

He nodded and continued to turn back, but the next few pages were blank, and it looked like the middle pages had been torn out.

"I have a few questions." Wei Ran pushed the notebook to the middle of the table, took off his gloves, and looked up at Diane.

"Please speak," Diane said, picking up the coffee cup again and taking a leisurely sip.

"First question," Wei Ran asked, waiting for the other party to put down his cup. "Let me briefly introduce Mesut's wife and son."

"Mesut's wife was from Innsbruck and passed away in 1975. After the end of World War II, she had been running the Gotze family's small factory. It was also under her leadership that this small factory was on the verge of bankruptcy.

He moved to Innsbruck smoothly and made his first fortune with the 1964 Winter Olympics."

Diane paused and continued, "Mesut's son is called Little Mesut. He was born in 1943. He took over the factory in 1970 and began to search for his missing father on his mother's behalf.

Although he has not found Second Lieutenant Mesut for so many years, and the factory has not developed or grown in his hands, the reputation of his factory and his person has always been very good, especially in the 1990s, there were many

Skiers have come to him to customize their ski equipment.”

"second question"

Wei Ran pointed at the notebook between the two of them, "According to common sense, since you have already started running away, why would you leave such an important notebook behind? Especially this pocket watch compass, which is obviously used to attract nuclear power and attract silk.

Equipment, how was it brought to the labor camp?”

"According to Yinhor, Mesut had already found the Yenisei River before he separated from him. Next, he planned to go south along the Yenisei River. He no longer needed these things, so he kept this notebook

Gave it to him in exchange for the ID that Yin Hool snatched from the guard and a pistol that the hunter snatched."

Diane spread her hands, "Yin Hoer had already lost several of his toes from the cold and could no longer run. He exchanged this notebook in the hope that it would be used when he escapes next time."

"What about this?" Wei Ran pointed to the pocket watch compass.

"Yin Hoer said that it was preserved after he hid it in his body when he was captured. It was precisely because he had a compass that Mesut was willing to cooperate with him."

"In the body?" Wei Ran was stunned and subconsciously glanced at the rubber gloves he had just taken off.

"Just like you thought"

After Diane finished speaking, she gestured with both hands, "Although the behavior is disgusting, in order to survive, it makes sense. Of course, all this was said by Yin Hoer. Not only the authenticity needs to be verified, but also Yin Hoer said

Hall is dead."

"last question"

Wei Ran asked a seemingly insignificant question, "What did Yin Hoer do for a living during his lifetime, where did he live, and does he still have any family members alive?"

“It’s not a problem”

Diane reminded Wei Ran in a joking tone, and then answered one by one, "Before Mesut's wife passed away, Yin Hall made a living by selling ski equipment imported at low prices from their factory.

He is from Hokkaido, and his store at that time was in Sapporo.

After Mesut's wife passed away, little Mesut immediately stopped this kind of preferential treatment. Because there was no low-price supply of goods, Yihor's store closed down soon and became a residence. In the following years, it has been relying on intermittent sales.

Lieutenant Mesut's memories and half-truths and half-truths were used to extort some money from Mr. Mesut.

In addition, Yin Hoer once had a son alive, but he passed away due to an accident in the last century. His only living granddaughter also got married a few years ago, and he has no valuable information at all.

The only thing left is Yin Hall's house in Sapporo. Before his death, that house was sold to Mr. Mesut Jr. in an almost begging manner. But as far as I know, there is nothing of value in that house.

clues."

Having said this, Diane tore off a piece of paper from her own notebook and pushed it to Wei Ran, "The coordinates above are the specific location of the labor camp site, which was completely abandoned soon after Mr. Khrushchev came to power.

Already.

The address below is the address of the store in Sapporo just mentioned. It is also in a semi-abandoned state now.

Mr. Victor, as long as you are willing to help find Second Lieutenant Mesut, no matter which address you want to visit, Mr. Mesut will be willing to bear the round-trip travel expenses."

"Mr. Mesut is really kind," Wei Ran complimented casually.

"In fact"

Diane hesitated for a few seconds, and finally said, "In fact, because of Yin Hall's influence, Mr. Mesut has no good impression of all people with yellow skin and black hair. Well... maybe I should say

It's filled with irreparable resentment.

Frankly speaking, after you investigated the Liuban Forest Guerrillas, I recommended you to him, but after learning that you were Asian, he simply refused."

After a short pause and seeing that Wei Ran's expression did not change, Diane continued, "If your attack hadn't been on the news this time, I'm afraid Mr. Mesut would still be unwilling to cooperate with you.

And even if he is now willing to offer a high commission of 150,000 euros, he does not want to meet and communicate with you directly. He said..."

Diane, who seemed to have spilled the beans, stopped the car in time, with an expression of apology on her face.

"It's okay." Wei Ran smiled, "I'm very curious about what he said."
To be continued...