The Spy

Chapter 119 Tracking Again
So many days have passed and the deadline is approaching, but there is still no movement at the Hangzhou station. The director is wondering whether Cai Shifeng is really working hard.

"Yes, Virgo."

Secretary Qi went out to send a message. Cai Shifeng's misfortune had nothing to do with him, but considering that Cai Shifeng was usually sensible and had given many gifts, he reminded him.

Find the traitor quickly, otherwise Virgo will be angry with him soon.

The director hates traitors the most and will not give up until he finds the traitor. Even if he escapes this time, if he cannot find the traitor in the future, Cai Shifeng will certainly lose his position as stationmaster.

In Hangzhou, Luan Tianhe hurried into Cai Shifeng's office.

When the telecommunications team at Hangzhou Station receives a telegram, they always give it to Luan Tianhe first. He is the stationmaster's most trusted confidant, and if you don't give it to him, he will immediately find a way to deal with you.

Luan Tianhe is well-known for being petty.

"Stationmaster, headquarters called and asked if we found the traitor."

Luan Tianhe said carefully that the last time the stationmaster gave him ten days to find the traitor, but now ten days have passed and he hasn't even found the shadow of the traitor.

He first checked within the intelligence group, but found nothing.

Next came the operations team, telecommunications team, general affairs team, etc. Whenever they found a suspect, they would collect money. They collected a lot of money, but they didn't even find the traitor.

Those who were investigated by him were afraid. What if Luan Tianhe failed to find the traitor and treated them as traitors? Wouldn’t that mean they would die unjustly?
Are there not many people who died unjustly within the Communist Party?

In addition to being afraid, people could only spend money to buy safety. At first, no one dared to give money, for fear that they would be regarded as a traitor. Later, several people gave money together and found that nothing happened, so everyone started to give money.

Luan Tianhe has made a lot of money during this period, and he didn't expect that investigating the traitor could bring so many benefits.

To the extent that during this period of time, he even forgot his own duties.

Now that the headquarters was urging him, he suddenly remembered that this was a task assigned by the headquarters.

"Have you found out?" Cai Shifeng looked at him and asked seriously.

"No."

Luan Tianhe was stunned. He didn't dare to deceive the stationmaster and the headquarters about this matter.

"How many have been found? Are there any suspects?"

Cai Shifeng frowned. The time given by the director was indeed running out. If he had a target, he would forcibly arrest the person and interrogate him first.

The Virgo does not allow confessions to be forced, but if he finds the right person, there will be no such thing as confessions to be forced.

"No."

Luan Tianhe was not a suspect at all. He had basically suspected everyone in the station and then arrested them all.

"What have you been doing all this time?"

Cai Shifeng frowned. Luan Tianhe was busy every day, how could he not get anything out of it?
"I, I've been investigating, but the traitor is too cunning, and there are really no clues. I dare not conduct a large-scale search in the station to avoid putting everyone in danger."

Luan Tianhe suddenly had an idea and replied quickly. He didn't dare let the webmaster know that he had been busy collecting money during this period.

Once you know, being scolded is the least of your worries and you may end up being beaten.

"That's true, but the director has urged us to find the traitor as soon as possible. I will give you three more days. If you can't find the traitor, I will remove you from your position and investigate you first."

Cai Shifeng threatened that he had to put some pressure on Luan Tianhe. If he didn't put pressure on him now, the pressure would fall on him in the future.

Virgo is not as easy to talk to as him.

"Yes, stationmaster."

Luan Tianhe was shocked. He realized that he had gone too far and shouldn't have been doing his work.

Now I don’t even dare to be dismissed by the webmaster.

He has collected money from so many people, he would not be so stupid as to think that they gave it to him willingly. Once he was withdrawn, these people would probably attack him as a group, and the backlash would be enough to tear him into pieces.

In the last three days, he must find the traitor.

Luan Tianhe finally went to handle the case, but Cai Shifeng had a headache. How to reply to the headquarters?

I can't tell you that there is nothing. I can only say that there are clues and the traitor will be found in the near future.

Please give him a few more days, and I will give you a satisfactory answer when the time comes.

After careful consideration, Cai Shifeng personally wrote a reply and asked the telecommunications team to send it to Nanjing.

In Nanjing, the progress of various departments was continuously reported to Xu Qingyun.

Ji Shenghai from the East City Branch did not show any abnormality and he did not notice that he was being monitored.

The second suspect was named An Guocai. During the investigation, it was discovered that he had delivered supplies to the army many times.

They were not required to deliver these materials. The factory was only responsible for production. After acceptance by the Manufacturing Bureau of the Ministry of National Defense, they were handed over to the Logistics Department, who then delivered them to various troops.

But the people in the logistics department are lazy and don't like moving things around. When there is a need, they ask the factory to arrange people to go with them to deliver the things. Others are unwilling to do this kind of work which is tiring and has no benefits. An Guocai is very active and goes every time.

They are not from the logistics department, and once they arrive at the army, no one will give them any benefits.

Being able to eat something good and smoke a few cigarettes is the best treatment.

Those officials in the logistics department are the bosses.

There is no benefit, and you have to run around everywhere. If there is any problem with the goods, you will be scolded on the spot by the garrison. Of course, no one wants to do this kind of job.

"Damn it."

After listening to the report, Xu Qingyun's eyes turned cold. An Guocai was a Japanese spy. He had been to the army so many times. Not only were the garrison addresses and checkpoints completely leaked, but even more secrets had been known to the Japanese.

Xu Qingyun was not scolding An Guocai. He was a Japanese spy and an enemy, so it was normal for him to do these things.

He was scolding those parasites in the logistics department. How could they so easily let a Japanese spy get hold of so many secrets?
If they follow the procedures, will they die?
The fact that they are unwilling to abide by even these small rules shows how rotten the Kuomintang has become.

Xu Qingyun understood that many people in the logistics department would be in trouble this time.

An Guocai has been targeted and he can't escape either.

The results of his identity verification have not come out yet, but based on his current performance, Xu Qingyun is 80% sure that he will not be wrongly accused.

"Team leader, we searched everyone within 200 meters and found only one person who met the criteria, but he left Nanjing three months ago."

Fang Laibao came back to report that all the houses within a radius of 200 meters of the last photo studio had been checked.

There was only one person who fully met the requirements, but he was not in Nanjing, so it was unlikely that he was a Japanese spy.

The lurking personnel will not be evacuated casually unless they are exposed.

"What about others, multiple people, or couples with children?"

"Yes, I'll go and count them."

Fang Laibao immediately replied that all of this was recorded, but he hadn't checked it before. Now that Xu Qingyun asked, he could sort it out immediately.

There are two households with two men living together, and one household with three men living together.

But the three of them were coolies and lived together in a small house.

There are also two couples with children who also moved here three years ago.

"Immediately investigate the situations of these five households, their work, their daily performance, and especially which family passes by the photo studio every day. Find out everything."

Xu Qingyun ordered, there were situations in the other three photo studios, and he didn't believe that there were no situations nearby this one.

Except for Kong Yufa who had escaped earlier, the remaining two have been targeted.

Finding this last one is the real victory.

To escape any of them is to fail.

"Yes, team leader."

Fang Laibao left quickly. Now he was not alone. He not only had the help of his team leader brother's men, but also the assistance of people from Group 2.

With enough manpower, it was very easy to investigate five households. Yan Ming came back from outside and went to Xu Qingyun's office as soon as possible.

"Team leader, I went to the telephone office and the people there said that this kind of strange call has happened before. An operator with a good memory said that she receives such calls every month."

"I checked the phone records and found that each time it was a pay phone. I have marked all the places where this person called."

“This is the recording I got earlier.”

The telephone company does not record every call. This time they recorded the call because Xu Qingyun had instructed them to do so before.

Only this time, never before.

However, there were phone records. Yan Ming found the phone records for the past year, with calls once a month, but the time was different from Liu Qiaosheng's.

Only this time they were on the same day.

Xu Qingyun could understand that this time the order was suddenly issued from above to verify whether they were safe. If there was no response, the Japanese spies would immediately know who was in trouble and make adjustments and arrangements.

"The photos have been developed and are all here."

Yan Ming brought a lot of things with him. He placed all the tapes and photos on the table, as well as the number records he got from the telephone company and the locations of pay phones he marked on the map.

The tape was very large, completely different from what was recorded later. Xu Qingyun looked at the photos first.

There are bicycle wheel marks in the photo, and more footprints.

Yan Ming knew the team leader's ability, so he took pictures of every footprint at the scene.

Xu Qingyun looked at each photo carefully.

There were quite a few footprints. After all, it was outside, and even in remote places there were many people passing by. It was easy to leave footprints on the bluestone road, unlike the cement roads in later generations, which were swept too clean and it was difficult to leave footprints.

There were more than fifty footprints of various kinds, but these were the marks left next to three public telephones. On average, there were less than twenty footprints in each place.

Some of the footprints were obviously not left today.

This is a good sign, indicating that there are indeed not many people walking around there, and the footprints of the Japanese spies were most likely photographed.

According to the boss, all the callers were men, not too old, probably between 25 and 40 years old. Most importantly, they all wore hats and scarves, so it was impossible to accurately judge their age.

Photos of women, people who are too old, or people who are too young can be excluded first.

After removing the previous ones, about one third is removed.

Nowadays, there are still too few women who show up in public every day. Most of them stay at home to take care of their husbands and children, and go out mostly to buy groceries. These places are either hotels or some high-end shops, and not many women go there.

Old people and children rarely go to such places.

Based on their heights, Xu Qingyun went to a few more.

The three of them are not very tall, none of them is taller than 1.7 meters, so those who are taller than 1.7 meters are excluded first.

But they are not shorter than 1.55 meters, so men below this height can also be excluded.

Now there are about half left, less than thirty footprints.

The footprints of the three people are likely among them.

Then there are the bicycle prints.

Yan Ming said that two people were riding bicycles, which means that they lived not far from here. Since they were riding bicycles, once the bicycles started moving, the footprints next to the wheel marks could not belong to them.

On the contrary, the mark left by the car when it stopped is more in line with them.

After comparison, Xu Qingyun first singled out the most suspicious footprints.

First, at the first public phone, according to the boss, the person was wearing sunglasses.

Xu Qingyun inferred from the footprints that the man was a male, between 27 and 30 years old, and about 1.63 meters tall, with a reasonable error.

This height is not considered short among Japanese people.

They were undercover, and people who were too short would be conspicuous, which would be detrimental to their undercover work. Moreover, Japanese agents were selected from the elite, and people who were too short would not be wanted at all.

From the footprints, Xu Qingyun could tell that the man had been injured.

Old injury, at least five years old.

The injury is to the leg, and specifically the knee. This type of injury is most likely to leave a root of disease, such as arthritis, rheumatism, etc.

This is a useful clue.

Rheumatism and arthritis are not terminal illnesses, but they are very difficult to treat and are extremely painful.

He wanted to relieve his pain and most likely went to a clinic or hospital for treatment.

Apart from his injuries, this person weighs about 110 pounds, not fat, and has a medium build. He wears cloth shoes, which are very common, but judging from the texture, they are very common. Combined with what the boss said on the phone, this person's living conditions are below average.

Someone who is not too poor, but not too rich either.

There are the most people of this type in Nanjing, and the Japanese are also the best at disguising themselves.

After looking at this photo, Xu Qingyun continued to analyze other photos and found the second cyclist suspect.

He spent a while identifying the footprints, mainly because there were three bicycle prints in the same place.

Unlike the place just now where there was only one.

There are three bicycle prints, and we need to infer which one is the one ridden by the caller based on the direction, parking location, and footprints.

Only after confirming the bicycle can we confirm the human footprints.

These two footprints are relatively easier to find.

The hardest one is the third one, he is walking.

This place happens to have the most footprints, and many people have entered and exited the store.

In the end, Xu Qingyun left three footprints in this place. All three footprints were checked and then eliminated later.

"Yanming, let's go out."

Xu Qingyun stood up. The footprints were left before. It was a bit late to go out and investigate now, but there was no way. Everyone was busy, even him. What's more, there were no photos before, so he was not clear about the situation at the scene.

Only with photos can we select the most suitable target for investigation.

"it is good."

Yan Ming jumped up from the sofa. He drove while Xu Qingyun closed his eyes and took a rest. When tracing the traces, he needed to concentrate and try to find out the direction of the traces.

The first pay phone I went to was the one with the least people.

When Xu Qingyun arrived, there were still some traces on the ground.

It's clearer to see it on site.

The cyclist was traveling from east to west. Xu Qingyun asked Yan Ming to drive behind him while he walked forward along the trail.

The wheel marks were intermittent.

There were other tire tracks on the road.

It is safest to walk. If you are not careful when looking at the tracks on the car, you may mistake the tracks.
When they reached a crossroads, Xu Qingyun looked carefully and found that there were more tire tracks here, and the tire tracks he had been tracking before had disappeared.

We can only judge whether he is turning or going straight by his previous position and direction.

The tire tracks are closer to the right, so the possibility of turning right is greater.

Xu Qingyun walked directly to the intersection on the right. This is how tracking works. You have to make choices in some places. If you make a mistake, you have to come back and track again.

Therefore, the success rate of tracking within the city has always been the lowest and requires more luck.

(End of this chapter)