Conan Rick's Investigator

After on-site appraisal, several appraisers unanimously agreed that this was undoubtedly an authentic work of Van Gogh.

But Qin Zhibo suddenly suggested, "Why not use X-rays to scan the bottom of the painting? That would be safer..."

The auction house staff strongly opposed this suggestion.

But Suzuki Jirokichi thought for a moment and replied directly and domineeringly: "I have already paid for this painting. It belongs to me now, doesn't it?"

"X-ray scan, right? Arrange it!"

Suzuki Jirokichi decided to adopt Qin Zhibo's suggestion.

There are many museums in New York that are qualified to perform X-ray art scanning, and these museums are very happy to perform an X-ray scan of this historic painting, which is making its debut in the world.

Ultimately, the Museum of Modern Art in New York took on the job.

In the museum's X-ray scanning room, everyone carefully removed the golden frame and unfolded the canvas onto the instrument.

As the X-ray lamp continues to scan across the canvas, the situation beneath the orange paint of the sunflowers becomes clearer and clearer.

There is no sunflower under the canvas!

It was a strange composition, similar to Van Gogh's other masterpiece "The Starry Night", but it did not depict a human city, but an endless plain.

On the plain outlined by wavy lines, narrow crosses stand like tombstones.

In addition to the tombstones, one can see holes on the ground outlined with brushstrokes.

Unlike "Starry Night", there is no celestial body above the plain depicted in the painting, but rather a chaotic appearance.

"this is……"

"This drawing looks very complete. It should be depicting a plain somewhere, and a cemetery?"

“Perhaps a reflection of Van Gogh’s inner world?”

Everyone looked surprised and exclaimed that this was the scene under "Sunflowers".

Many painters of Van Gogh's time had the habit of repeatedly creating works on a piece of canvas. Even wealthy top painters would not waste canvas easily.

Van Gogh was a poor painter during his lifetime, so it is normal that his canvases were reused.

But no one present could understand what Van Gogh was painting underneath.

Except Qin Zhibo.

Isn’t this a painting of Xin’s tomb complex?

Although the X-ray scan image could not show any color, Qin Zhibo had only seen this unique landform in the Xin Tomb Group.

Qin Zhibo was very familiar with the plain filled with holes and tombstones.

In other words, the "answer in the sunflowers" that Pickman mentioned is the Xin Tomb!

Pickman went to the Tomb of Sin?

But then again, the premise of a painting within a painting is that the inner painting must be created before the outer painting.

If this "Sunflowers" is an authentic work by Van Gogh, then the tombs of Zinn in it should also be the work of Van Gogh, not Pickman.

Combined with Van Gogh's history of "madness", he underwent some mental changes during the period of living with his "good friend" Gauguin, and even followed Gauguin late at night with a razor.

But in the end he did not attack Gauguin, but cut off his own ear, wrapped it up and gave it to a prostitute.

Gauguin was frightened away by Van Gogh's crazy behavior and never returned to Van Gogh.

Van Gogh was also imprisoned in a sanatorium, which was actually a mental hospital, due to the exposure and reporting of the town residents.

Not long after, Van Gogh shot himself in a wheat field.

If we view Van Gogh's experience as a struggle between maintaining his humanity and becoming a zombie, it seems much easier to understand.

The fact that Van Gogh knew of the existence of the Cemetery of Sin proves that he had been there, either through dreams or through a spatial channel.

Pickman may have heard about the existence of that place from Van Gogh, and then slowly embarked on the path of painting zombies.

The only difference is that Van Gogh experienced inner struggle and finally chose to commit suicide as a human being.

And Pickman chose to embrace the ghoul.

He is in Xin’s Tomb now!

Chapter 1026 I became a tour guide?

The scene of the press conference.

There were countless reporters and the slightly restless crowd was obviously getting a little impatient.

"They said they'd hold a press conference as soon as they took the photo. It's already been two hours. How long do we have to wait?"

"Could it be that they didn't film it, so they're not holding a press conference?"

"No, I heard that the price of the Sunflower auction was hyped up to 6.5 million, but it was finally bought by the Suzuki Group..."

"Six, six hundred and fifty million! That much?"

"Latest news! I heard that after the auction, someone was arrested by the NYPD for attempting to destroy 'Sunflowers'!"

"What? Such explosive news! Is it true?"

"I guess it's true. I think I've been dealing with this matter recently..."

"What about the paintings? How's 'Sunflowers' coming along?"

"It seems that everything is fine. I heard that the criminal's behavior was stopped in time..."

Several people from the media circle stood in a small group to exchange information, completely unaware that a young man in a baseball cap was standing nearby and eavesdropping.

The young man has an Asian face, and his handsome face has slightly upturned corners of his mouth.

When Kuroba Kaito heard that "Sunflower" was fine, he felt much more at ease, which meant that Qin Zhibo had succeeded.

Next up is the press conference.

Yesterday, Kuroba Kaito and Qin Zhibo had agreed that once the criminal was caught, Qin Zhibo would persuade Suzuki Jirokichi to re-examine the painting.

If any special content is identified, Suzuki Jirokichi will definitely announce it at a press conference to further hype it up.

If Suzuki Jirokichi does not choose to re-identify, or does not find anything special, Kuroba Kaito will need to take action.

He has already prepared the preview card of Kaito Kidd.

It depends on what the press conference says.

Just then, several familiar figures appeared on the side of the press conference platform.

"It's here! It's finally here!"

The host came on stage first, followed by Suzuki Jirokichi, and then Suzuki Sonoko.

Flashbulbs flashed frequently, and live news was broadcast to all parts of the world along the signal.

"Dear friends from the media, thank you for waiting. Good evening..."

"First of all, we would like to congratulate Mr. Jirokichi Suzuki for successfully acquiring 'Sunflowers' for $6.5 million!"

The audience burst into warm applause.

"Next, we would like to invite Mr. Jiro Suzuki to say a few words for us..."

Under the spotlight, Suzuki Jirokichi looked contented and talked freely.

"First of all, I am deeply honored to have successfully bid for 'Sunflowers' as planned, at the highest price ever paid for a painting..."

As soon as Suzuki Jirokichi paused, a reporter raised his hand to ask a question.

"I heard someone was arrested for intentionally damaging 'Sunflowers'. Is this true?"

As soon as these words came out, the scene was in an uproar.

Because in the history of art transactions, there has never been a precedent where someone wants to destroy a work of art before it leaves the warehouse.

Suzuki Jirokichi did not deny it and said generously, "Yes, there were some minor incidents just now."

"However, the criminal's plan did not succeed. Under the protection of the famous detective Qin Zhibo, "Sunflower" is intact!"

With the personal confirmation of Suzuki Jirokichi, this rumor was completely confirmed.

There was a burst of surprise at the scene, and another reporter immediately asked, "Excuse me, who is this Qin Zhibo you are talking about?"

Suzuki Jirokichi introduced him: "He is a private detective in Japan. Although he is American, he is already quite famous in Japan and has solved countless complex and difficult cases!"

As Suzuki Jirokichi waved his hand, a figure stepped onto the stage from the side.

……

Far away in Japan, at Dr. Agasa's home.

Today is a day off, and Conan, as usual, organizes team building with the three little ones at Dr. Agasa's house.

The live news broadcast of "Sunflowers" was being broadcast on TV, and Dr. Agasa and the Junior Detective League were sitting on the sofa watching.

"Sister Sonoko looks so beautiful today!"

Looking at Sonoko in a princess dress on TV, Ayumi did not hesitate to praise her.

Mitsuhiko and Genta, who were sitting opposite the sofa, also had slightly blushing faces, with a hint of longing in their eyes.

Sonoko usually stays with Mouri Ran, and is slightly inferior in comparison. Coupled with her seemingly carefree personality, she makes people uninterested.

But as soon as she leaves Mao Lilan and enters the social circles of the upper class, the elegance of a beautiful woman in the world is revealed.

Conan looked at the elegant version of Sonoko on TV without any thoughts. He was more concerned about the news itself.

Sunflower, 6.5 million, worthy of being a big deal from the Suzuki Group...

As we were watching, Jiro Suzuki suddenly mentioned a person in response to a reporter's question.

"It's Uncle Qin!"

"Uncle Qin is also in the United States!"

"No wonder I haven't seen you at Mihua recently..."

Qin Zhibo, wearing a brown windbreaker, walked onto the stage and introduced the case under the spotlight of reporters.

Obviously, Qin Zhibo solved another case.

Watching Qin Zhibo talking on TV, Conan's mouth corners unconsciously rose slightly.

For some reason, Conan felt very relieved to see his old friend shining and warming even in a distant place.

After introducing the case, Jirokichi Suzuki continued to introduce the major discoveries in "Sunflower".

"Thanks to the inmate, we were able to re-identify and X-ray the Sunflowers, and we made a significant discovery on this painting!"

"There's another painting underneath this 'Sunflowers'!"

As he spoke, Suzuki Jirokichi turned around and signaled the staff next to him to turn on the projection.

A colorless black and white painting was projected onto a snow-white screen.

As soon as the painting was released, there was an uproar at the scene and flash cameras flashed at the painting frequently.

At this point, the narrator became Suzuki Sonoko, who generously explained the origin of the painting.

"The painting was discovered through X-ray scanning at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and has been confirmed to be an authentic Van Gogh."

"We all know that Van Gogh was poor and financially strapped during his lifetime, and he had a habit of reusing canvases."

"But until now, no painting within a painting of this high degree of completion has ever been found in any of Van Gogh's paintings."

At this time, Suzuki Jirokichi on the side joked.

"So my 6.5 million is equivalent to buying two Van Gogh paintings at once. It's a huge profit!"

Suzuki Jirokichi seemed to have said this out of spite, as he was referring to the unknown Japanese seller who had cheated him out of buying a painting at a high price.

Among the crowd below the stage, Kuroba Kaito looked at the paintings on the stage and took out the camera from his pocket to take pictures.

However, it was difficult to take a clear picture from the back, and Europeans and Americans are generally tall, so Kuroba Kaito squeezed forward.

He squeezed to the position closest to the painting, faced the curtain, and pressed the shutter to take a photo.

But at this moment, the reporter behind him hurriedly called him.