cicada

Chapter 1355 There is no way out

Song Minghao saw the deputy director suddenly stop what he was doing and asked nervously, "What's wrong, deputy director? Is there something wrong with the yard?"

As he spoke, he looked around the ground and the door frame, and a lot of cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He was afraid that Lu Banqing had planted land mines or trip mines in his home.

"Old Song, what do you think of the location of this alley?" Zuo Chong retracted his foot, turned around and looked at the secluded alley and asked back.

How is the location?

Upon hearing this, Song Minghao looked around. This was a very ordinary alley with a narrow and winding road. The only family in sight was Lu Banqing's.

Suddenly, he seemed to have thought of something, and his eyes suddenly focused. If Lu Banqing was a Japanese spy, this place would not be a suitable residence.

There are many requirements for the residences of intelligence personnel, such as concealment and easy access, and ease of setting up observation points or guard posts. This small courtyard obviously does not meet the above conditions.

Although having only one family ensures concealment, it is not conducive to setting up a guard post and it is easy to be blocked in the house, which is extremely dangerous for intelligence personnel.

Song Minghao thought about it and hesitated, "Is it true that Lu Banqing is fine?"

Zuo Zhong shook his head and turned to stare at the courtyard again: "Don't jump to conclusions. Let's go in and take a look. There's no need for a covert search."

Song Minghao was thoughtful. It seemed that the deputy wanted to scare the target and judge whether Lu Banqing was suspected of being a Japanese spy by observing his reaction after discovering that his residence was searched.

While he was thinking quickly in his mind, Zuo Chong had already stepped into the yard. The small yard paved with stone slabs was about ten square meters in size. There were three main rooms facing north and two side rooms facing east and west in the yard. There was also a low second floor above the main room.

Compared with the houses in Jinling and mountain cities, the windows of local buildings are very small and they mainly rely on the skylight for lighting, so they appear a bit dark.

However, it can be seen that the person who built this courtyard was quite wealthy. Not only are there auspicious designs such as the Eight Immortals painted on the walls, but the patterns on wooden components such as rafters and windows are also extremely exquisite.

Zuo Chong looked around the yard, walked to the door of the main house and pushed it hard. The wooden door opened to both sides with a sharp creaking sound.

The furnishings in the main room of Lu Banqing's residence were no different from those of an ordinary home. Zuo Zhong strolled through it and quickly looked through the three rooms, but did not find anything suspicious.

There are neither secret compartments nor sensitive items in the room. If there is anything worth noting, it is that the bedroom closet is filled with many cheongsams and fashionable clothes, each of which is very expensive.

Zuo Zhong picked up a set of women's hunting suit and placed it in front of him. This was a kind of clothing that originated from British hunters. Even in Shanghai, where fashionistas were everywhere, women's hunting suits were a very rare outfit.

Thinking of what Fang Chengze said about Lu Banqing's performance during his secret meeting with the mysterious man, Zuo Zhong raised his eyebrows, threw his hunting suit back into the closet, and walked to the bed with his hands behind his back.

A person's bed can best reflect his or her personality and temperament. Lu Banqing's bed is clean and tidy, all items are neatly placed, and the bedding is folded meticulously.

This shows that Lu Banqing is a person who pays attention to details and likes to arrange his life in an orderly manner. Such people usually do things in a planned manner, are emotionally stable, and are not easily influenced by the outside world.

Zuo Zhong looked at it for a while, stretched out his hand to shake off the quilt, then slowly walked to the door of the main room and said to the alert Song Minghao: "Go back."

Song Minghao nodded, followed Zuo Chong out of the yard, locked the door again, and the two left the alley one after the other.

On the way back, Zuo Zhong whispered, "Go to the next target's residence. Temporarily list Lu Banqing as a key suspect and increase surveillance on her."

"Yes, Vice-President, do you think Lu is suspicious?"

"There are indeed some doubts."

In response to Song Minghao's question, Zuo Zhong briefly introduced the relationship between bed and personality.

Song Minghao looked thoughtful after hearing this: "Lu Banqing was very impulsive when she chased Fang Chengze before. She doesn't seem like a stable person. Do you think she is pretending to be herself?"

Zuo Chong smiled. Psychological analysis has limited effect in intelligence detection. It can be used as a reference, but cannot be used as direct evidence for identification. Everything depends on the results of surveillance.

So he replied calmly: "No matter whether she is pretending or not, first find out the suspicious persons in the suspect list, and then conduct a secondary investigation one by one."

The significance of the preliminary investigation is to narrow the scope of suspects. Otherwise, with hundreds of people in the entire expeditionary force headquarters, it would take a long time for the Political Training Department to investigate, and Zuo Zhong would not be able to stay in Yunnan Province for a long time.

In the following days, according to Zuo Zhong's instructions, Song Minghao screened out several highly suspicious persons from the suspect list.

Among them, some had inquired about information unrelated to their jobs, some had discrepancies between income and expenditure, and some had made inappropriate remarks.

It is worth mentioning that after Lu Banqing discovered that someone had entered his residence, he went to the police station to report the incident immediately. Since no valuables were lost, the matter was eventually left unresolved.

In short, with a rough scope of investigation, the Political Training Department gradually focused its investigative efforts on these people. After a large number of external investigations and surveillance tracking, some of the key suspects were ruled out, while the suspicion of others increased.

That morning, Song Minghao took the investigation results to Zuo Chong and began to report them one by one.

"Deputy Commander, we have already found out that suspect number one was involved in reselling military supplies, and the unknown money in his home was all stolen money."

"Suspect No. 2 sold the intelligence he obtained to black market traders. The intelligence contained the quantity and price of military procurement and did not involve military deployment."

"Suspect No. 3 has no connection with Ji Ni. He advocated saving the country through indirect means because his career was not going well and he was resentful."

While listening to the report, Zuo Zhong picked up his pen to make decisions on the suspects. Those who should be killed should be killed, and those who should be arrested should be arrested. The bad ideas in the army must be eradicated as soon as possible in order to rectify military discipline.

On the other side, Song Minghao's report continued: "The family of target number six is ​​missing. Rumor has it that they went to seek refuge with relatives and friends, but our people have not found their whereabouts."

Without even looking up, Zuo Zhong said, "Give the local intelligence station an order to search for the relevant personnel. We must find them alive or dead."

"Okay, I'll arrange it later."

"Also, Lu Banqing has been causing trouble for Fang Chengze recently. As for any clues involving espionage, no evidence has been found so far."

After Song Minghao finished speaking, he closed the report with a click, looking a little annoyed.

Zuo Zhong tightened the pen, handed over the result, stood up and walked aside, saying: "Call Lu Banqing to the interrogation room and hear what she has to say. At this point, we can have a face-to-face contact."

Among all the suspects, only Lu Banqing was reported by someone. I wonder how she will explain the witness' accusations.

Not long after, Zuo Chong saw Lu Banqing, who was looking angry. Song Minghao and Gui Youguang were serving as jurors nearby. The conversation was full of tension from the beginning.

"Commissioner Lu, someone said that you secretly met with a mysterious man, and you disguised yourself. Is that true?"

"Deputy Director Zuo, do you believe everything you hear in the Military Control Commission? I have never met a man like that, and I have never seen a man disguised. If Fang Chengze said this, you should ask him to come out and confront me."

"Haha, Commissioner Lu, don't be anxious. There will definitely be a confrontation, but I want to know where you were and what you did on the last day of last month." Zuo Zhong asked calmly.

He was playing with a lighter in his hand, and the crackling sound of the flint making people feel upset. Lu Banqing couldn't help but ask loudly.

"How can I remember what happened last month? Commander Zuo, I want to ask, what were you doing on the last day of last month?"

Zuo Zhong raised his eyes slightly, with a half-smile on his face: "What a coincidence, Zuo still remembers that it was the birthday of Deputy Director Xu of the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics that day, and Director Dai and I went to the banquet together. Commissioner Lu, are you satisfied with this answer?"

Lu Banqing stopped talking. She recalled for a long time before giving an answer. It was the weekend and she was resting alone in her residence without going out.

Now things get interesting. Fang Chengze and Lu Banqing's statements contradict each other. Who is lying?

Zuo Zhong knocked on the table, turned around and winked at Gui Youguang, who immediately walked out of the interrogation room and brought in several civilians.

Song Minghao pointed at Lu Banqing and asked the people opposite him in a deep voice: "Look carefully, have you seen her in the theater?"

After that, he kindly explained to Lu Banqing: "These are the ticket inspectors of the theater and the nearby vendors. Since Commissioner Lu has never been to the theater, he should cooperate with the identification work."

Lu Banqing had a cold face and allowed the witness to stare at him intently. He did not seem flustered at all and looked as if he had a clear conscience.

Looking at the witnesses again, they squinted their eyes and identified them for a long time, and finally shook their heads cautiously, indicating that they could not remember or had not seen them.

The case now reached a dead end, and the young spy asked Lu Banqing to leave. Song Minghao and Gui Youguang looked solemn and looked at Zuo Zhong at the same time.

"Okay, no need to look so sad." Zuo Zhong yawned and said nonchalantly, "If we really can't find anything, we can just go back to Shancheng. If the higher-ups ask about it, we can just arrest a few corrupt officials and be done with it."

Song Minghao and Gui Youguang couldn't believe their ears. Did the deputy director give up? They wanted to say something, but hesitated for a long time and didn't dare to speak.

As the saying goes, good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels far and wide. It didn't take long for the news that the Political Training Department's investigation was obstructed to spread like wildfire, and Zuo Zhong's remarks about arresting a few corrupt elements also spread.

All parties in the military were discussing this, and some were so angry that they were jumping up and down. They had clearly stopped the investigation, so why was it happening again?

Just when the Political Training Department was about to restart the corruption investigation, someone suddenly asked to see Zuo Zhong and reported an important discovery: someone suspected to be the mysterious man appeared!

Zuo Zhong invited the visitor to sit down and said with a smile: "Mr. Fang, tell me about the other party's situation. Don't worry, the party and the country will not forget your contribution. I will personally recommend you for the credit afterwards."

Fang Chengze smiled brightly upon hearing this, and answered the question with a nod and a bow. Zuo Zhong listened to his story, and there was some inexplicable meaning in his smile.

(End of this chapter)