Chapter 125 Nazi Art Dealer

If this Cornelius Gurlitt was truly the protagonist Wang Xiuyuan had read about in the news, then he had really struck gold this time.

If he remembered correctly, this fellow possessed over 1,400 world-famous paintings, and by 2010, the total value of these paintings exceeded 1.1 billion US dollars.

Among them were works by famous painters such as Picasso, Renoir, Monet, Matisse, Chagall, and Beckmann; it was a significant fortune.

The process by which these paintings were discovered was very interesting.

In 2010, German Customs officials stopped Cornelius Gurlitt, the only son of Hildebrand Gurlitt, during a routine inspection on a train departing from Switzerland.

This Cornelius Gurlitt had never worked a day in his life, so no records of social security contributions, insurance payments, or tax filings could be found for him.

If it weren't for the fact that Cornelius Gurlitt's personal information could indeed be found in the computer systems of the German Ministry of Civil Affairs, one could easily claim he had never existed.

Yet, this man who had never worked or paid taxes was carrying nine thousand euros in cash and a stack of empty envelopes.

To evade taxes, many wealthy Europeans choose to deposit cash into a Swiss Bank.

Consequently, customs officers in European countries frequently intercept trains coming from Switzerland for spot checks, and that was how Cornelius Gurlitt got caught.

Coupled with Cornelius Gurlitt's extremely nervous behavior at the time, German Customs and German Tax Authorities issued a search warrant and then raided the house Cornelius Gurlitt rented in the suburbs for six hundred euros a month.

Ultimately, German Customs and tax officials found a large number of crates behind a shelf filled with expired canned goods, allowing these 1,400-plus famous paintings to see the light of day once more.

Although Wang Xiuyuan could not yet be certain if the Cornelius Gurlitt before him was the same protagonist from the news, the high degree of overlap in their information made it well worth looking forward to.

Wang Xiuyuan's idea was simple: he would just go and take a look around the man's house, and then he would know everything.

"I plan to head over to Cornelius Gurlitt's house tonight to have a look. Based on your observations during this period, when do you think is the most appropriate time?"

Holt flipped through a notebook on the table, which contained detailed records of Cornelius Gurlitt's daily movements.

"Boss, if you must go see that house, there are two ways.

Cornelius Gurlitt goes out to walk his dog for half an hour every day after dinner, usually between seven and eight o'clock.

This is the suburbs, and there aren't many people on the streets at that time. As long as our luck isn't too bad, there shouldn't be much of a problem, though there is still a slight risk of being spotted by passersby.

Alternatively, we could wait until the middle of the night. This guy is forty-eight years old this year; his sleep quality probably isn't great.

Furthermore, he keeps a German Shepherd, so we might have to use some violent methods when the time comes."

The corner of Wang Xiuyuan's mouth twitched involuntarily. It wasn't that he thought these two methods were bad, but rather because Holt was becoming increasingly proficient at doing bad things.

In the past, Holt would have hesitated somewhat, but now, Holt was ready to jump into such minor matters without a second thought~

"Let's go when he's out walking the dog. Arrange for someone to help me pick the lock then."

"Understood, Boss."

As dusk fell, under Wang Xiuyuan's expectant gaze, the gray-haired Cornelius Gurlitt stepped out with his German Shepherd.

Once the figures of the man and his dog disappeared around the corner, Wang Xiuyuan and his Bodyguard quietly approached the back door of Cornelius Gurlitt's house.

"Boss, please wait a moment. This kind of door lock is relatively simple to open; I can have it done in three minutes."

The Bodyguard was very confident as he took out his tools and began to pry at the back door of the house.

"Take your time, don't rush. Try not to leave any traces."

While the Bodyguard was focused on the lock, Wang Xiuyuan didn't stay idle and began wandering around the backyard on his own.

And it was at that moment that an awkward situation arose: the house's dining room had a floor-to-ceiling sliding glass window facing the back garden.

Perhaps because Cornelius Gurlitt had just finished dinner in the dining room, this sliding window was not fully closed, allowing anyone to enter or leave the house at will.

"Stop your work, Louis. This fellow didn't close the house properly before he left. I can go straight in from here; you stay here and keep watch."

Louis, who was focused on picking the lock, was rendered extremely embarrassed by this sudden news, standing there not knowing what to say.

The house Cornelius Gurlitt rented wasn't large; it was only one story and had no basement.

In addition to the kitchen, dining room, and living room, there were two bedrooms, a study, a garage, and a utility room.

After entering the house, Wang Xiuyuan headed straight for the garage and the utility room; he clearly remembered that those paintings were hidden behind a shelf piled with expired canned goods.

Expired cans and shelves—these two elements generally wouldn't appear in places like the kitchen, bedroom, or study.

After excluding those options, it could only be the garage or the utility room. However, given the volume of over 1,400 oil paintings, the garage definitely couldn't hold them all, so the answer was obvious.

Pushing open the door to the utility room, he saw some household miscellaneous items that weren't currently needed near the entrance, but deeper inside, wooden crates of various sizes were stacked in layers.

A layer of waterproof and moisture-proof tarpaulin was spread over the bottom and top of these wooden crates. From this alone, one could judge that the contents of the crates were relatively fragile; otherwise, they wouldn't have emphasized moisture protection so much.

Bypassing the clutter at the door, Wang Xiuyuan lifted the lid of a wooden crate that had already been pried open. A dozen items, tightly wrapped in moisture-proof paper, were neatly arranged inside.

From the shapes of these moisture-proof paper wraps, it wasn't hard to tell that they contained oil paintings. Wang Xiuyuan couldn't imagine what else they could be.

Right next to this crate full of oil paintings, a claw hammer was tossed aside carelessly. It looked as though Cornelius Gurlitt frequently relied on selling these paintings to make a living; otherwise, why would he specifically keep a claw hammer in the utility room?

Wang Xiuyuan used the claw hammer to pry open several more crates. These crates were just like the first one, filled with paintings wrapped in moisture-proof paper.

Furthermore, the surfaces of these moisture-proof wraps were covered in a fine layer of dust; clearly, these crates had not been opened for many years.

As time was pressing, Wang Xiuyuan quickly stored these crates containing the oil paintings into his space ring.