Clues II

The sun was setting.

Lu Sheng looked at the dilapidated attic before him. On the iron plaque outside the railings were the words: Hall of Curiosities.

He had originally planned to look for the library here, but he had spotted this place halfway there. His keen intuition told him that he was very likely to find the clues he wanted here.

So he stopped and decided to take a look inside.

Pushing open the iron gate, he walked in slowly. Two young people were cleaning inside, sweeping the withered yellow leaves in the courtyard with orderly strokes of their brooms.

Lu Sheng followed the main path toward the attic entrance.

A price list stood by the door.

'Ten marks per visit. Please buy a ticket before entering.'

Lu Sheng dropped ten marks into a glass case placed inside the door and walked in slowly.

The attic had a square-loop layout. Black-and-white oil paintings hung on the walls alongside explanatory texts, while certain spots displayed what appeared to be key items from the related incidents.

Lu Sheng made a circuit of the place. Most of the exhibits concerned all manner of bizarre and strange events that had occurred around Berlin, and every case began with the same sentence: Absolutely true.

'In 1855, a dairy cow disappeared from a farm outside Berlin. Three officers sent to investigate—Tom, Johnson, and Vincent—vanished that very day. To this day, no clues have been found.'

'In 1843, a murder took place in Berlin's western district. The victim's face had turned black, while the rest of his body was no different from before his death. The coroner determined that his head had been dead for several months, while his body seemed to have only just died.'

'In 1871, Paul, a painter from France who had come to