My spy diary

Chapter 467: Deja Vu (asking for monthly ticket)

Zhang Yi entered the house and a haggard man appeared in front of him. It was Li Aiguo who was temporarily arrested here.

He was originally lying on the bed with a pale face and dazed eyes. The appearance of Zhang Yi suddenly woke him up. His breathing became more and more rapid, and his body began to tremble involuntarily.

Zhang Yi's intimidation only played a part in making the man look like this in an instant; the more important reason was the opium.

Zhang Yi glanced at the pipes and tobacco paste on the table. It was obvious that before he came in, this guy was having a hallucination and was high.

He opened the window a crack, then picked up the teapot on the table and poured the tea to wake Li Aiguo up.

Li Aiguo started and tried to sit up, but because he had smoked too much, he stumbled and fell under the bed.

"Inhale less next time. This time your legs were weak and you couldn't stand. Next time you will die." Zhang Yi looked down at him.

Li Aiguo wanted to get up, but after struggling for a few times he gave up. He wiped the water droplets off his face and said weakly:
"This is my first time. The first time I sucked so hard."

"You said it as if it were true. Have you thought about it?"

"I, my mind is very confused right now, you, please let me think about it again."

Seeing that this guy was like a dead pig that was not afraid of boiling water, Zhang Yi sneered and directly pulled out a gun and put it against his head:

"You haven't thought about it yet, right? I have done everything I promised you. Since you are unwilling to cooperate, I can only take you to the hospital."

"Why go to the hospital? My hand can't be reattached."

"That's a nice thought. Do I look kind?"

Zhang Yi's words made Li Aiguo's face even paler, but he still said, "I'm very confused. Let me think about it again."

"Let's save this discussion for when we get to the hospital, so that Dr. Lin Xiaolin can hear it, too."

As soon as these words came out, Li Aiguo trembled all over, raised his head suddenly, and asked with trembling lips:
"You, you know everything?"

"What do you think? Humph, to tell you the truth, I have been keeping an eye on him for a long time."

Li Aiguo shuddered again, staring blankly, and asked hysterically, "Then why don't you arrest him?"

Zhang Yi looked at him and did not answer directly: "Tell me about your story first, the more detailed the better."

Li Aiguo, however, kept asking, "He ran away, didn't he?"

"Can you run away?" Zhang Yi sneered, his eyes fell on Li Aiguo's bloody severed finger, "You should take care of yourself first. He is a big shot in your eyes, but he is nothing to me. What I value is the person behind him, understand?"

Li Aiguo glanced at Zhang Yi, then lowered his head, remained silent for a while, and asked:
"If I am willing to cooperate, what will be the outcome?"

"What do you think?" It is human nature to seek benefits and avoid harm. Seeing that this guy has already planned a way out, Zhang Yi smiled and continued, "You are just a coerced follower, which is a good thing. I just said that I don't want you, nor Lin Xiao, do you understand what I mean?

Of course, I won't lie to you. It's impossible for you to get away cleanly. You will have to stay in prison for a few years, right?
As for me, I happen to be in charge of the prison detention center. As long as you cooperate sincerely and help us catch the person behind the scenes, I will say hello to the detention center and make sure you have enough food and sleep and no one bullies you."

Li Aiguo opened his mouth slightly, wanting to say something, but in the end he closed his mouth and chose to remain silent.

"My patience is limited. I'll ask you one last time!" Zhang Yi said, and released the safety of his pistol with a click.

Li Aiguo shuddered: "I have a condition."

Zhang Yi didn't say anything, just kept talking to himself: "3, 2"

"Just one condition. I want a woman. As long as you give her to me, I'm willing to say anything." Li Aiguo became more and more anxious.

"1!" As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Yi pulled the trigger. Li Aiguo could no longer hold back. He staggered over and hugged Zhang Yi's legs, crying bitterly:

"Please, don't shoot. I'll tell you everything I know."

Zhang Yi then released the trigger, but the pistol was still pointed at Li Aiguo's head, waiting for what would happen next.

Li Aiguo screamed anxiously: "Japanese, it's the Japanese!"

He gasped: "I saw him, he is Japanese."

Zhang Yi then put away his gun, got rid of the other party's restraints, sat aside, and threw a cigarette to Li Aiguo: "Get up."

Li Aiguo slowly got up, lit a cigarette with trembling hands, and took long puffs. After a while, he told his experiences of the past few days in a fragmented manner.

"Your fingers were cut off by Lin Xiao because you were caught eavesdropping?"

"Yes." Li Aiguo gritted his teeth.

"It's obvious that they have been using you as a pawn from the beginning. Now that they found you eavesdropping this time, they will be more cautious about you in the future."

"Then, what should I do?"

"You are still alive, which proves that you are still valuable."

"Of course, where else can they find someone skilled in bomb-making besides me?"

"Them? Besides Lin Xiao, who else have you seen?"

"The Japanese guy I mentioned."

"Did you see him?"

Li Aiguo shook his head: "No, the door was too narrow, I could only see a silhouette and back."

"From the sound of his voice? How old is he?"

"Thirty? Probably more than thirty. Lin Xiao was very respectful to him. I couldn't hear anything else."

Zhang Yi instantly became interested in this Japanese man. After thinking for a while, he asked, "What else did they say?"

"No more." After saying this, Li Aiguo suddenly raised his head and said excitedly: "As long as you keep an eye on Lin Xiao or that house, you can catch him when he comes again. I..."

Zhang Yi interrupted him: "You don't have to worry about this, you should go back now."

Li Aiguo was startled: "Where to go back to?"

"A new safe house." Zhang Yi glanced at him. "If I'm right, Lin Xiao will move to a new base soon. Remember to let me know where he is."

Li Aiguo looked desperate: "I won't go back. If he knew that I betrayed them, I would die."

Zhang Yi sneered: "You are afraid of them, but not us? Or have you just betrayed a gang, and you want to betray our team again?"

"us?"

"Yes, you are mine now, and I will naturally protect your safety. Go back with peace of mind. You can tell him everything that happened today, including the driver, the clinic, and even here. Even if he comes to verify, he won't be able to ask anything."

On the other side, Li Shizhen hurriedly knocked on the door of Chen Tumu's office and said, "Brother Xiuci, the bicycle was found."

"What?!" Chen Tumu was overjoyed. He didn't expect Li Shizhen and his men to be so efficient.

After the meeting, Li Shizhen immediately organized people to conduct a detailed investigation of the homes of the guards and drivers who had been silenced. Still nothing was found at the scene, and the murderer did not leave any trace at all.

But later, during the investigators' visit, the driver's neighbor provided a very valuable clue - on the night of the incident, he saw a man wearing a raincoat and riding a bicycle sneakily appearing downstairs of the driver's house.

Because it didn't rain that night, he found it very strange and looked at him a few more times. Although the man lowered his head and couldn't see his face clearly, he noticed that there was a red ribbon tied to the bell of the bicycle.

After getting this clue, everyone was a little skeptical. The mountain city is so big, there are at least hundreds or even thousands of bicycles. Once the suspect unties the red ribbon, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack to find it, so they didn't hold out much hope.

But some people don't think so. They point out that there is a folk belief that the color red can ward off evil spirits. Since the owner tied a red ribbon on the car, it means that he is a devout superstitious person and will not take it off easily. As long as the car is found, maybe they can find clues.

Someone else asked, what if the bicycle was stolen by the murderer?
In the end, it was Li Shizhen who made the final decision. Regardless of whether the bicycle was stolen or not, he would dig deep into the ground to find it. Even if there was more than one bicycle tied with red ropes and red cloth, they would be checked one by one. When Chen Xiuci heard this, he was a little skeptical, but he didn't expect that the bicycle would be found after only a few hours. He hurriedly asked:
"Where is he? Has he been caught?"

Li Shizhen nodded and said, "We caught the man red-handed! The owner insisted that the bicycle was his and had always been his."

Chen Tumu was a little confused. Was this man really the murderer? And he admitted it so thoroughly? But even if he admitted it, how could he guarantee that this bicycle was the murderer's?
After thinking for a while, he asked, "Where did you find the car? How did you find it?"

Li Shizhen: "It's not far from the crime scene, just a few blocks away. According to the report from the people below, it was also luck. After the clue was sent to the police station, two patrol officers accidentally saw this study cart outside a grocery store during their patrol. What's more suspicious is that this person ran away when he saw the patrol officers. It was not easy to catch him."

"Feeling guilty?" Chen Tumu frowned and asked, "Where is the person? Let's go and check."

"Yuzhong Branch."

The two immediately drove to the Yuzhong Branch and walked into the detention room. The two guards inside stood up and saluted in unison: "Hello, sir."

Chen Tumu nodded slightly: "What did you find out?"

One person said: "At first he said the bicycle was his own, but then he changed his story and said someone sold it to him, but he couldn't remember who it was and what it looked like."

Chen Tumu frowned and waved his hand: "Okay, you've worked hard, you can go out first."

"Yes, sir."

After the two men left, Chen Tumu took a step forward and looked at the suspect inside through the rusty iron fence.

The man was about thirty years old, had an unshaven beard, was dressed very poorly, and had messy hair. His first impression was that this man was definitely not the murderer.

Although he was not good at solving cases, he boasted that he had some insight into people. The murderer he imagined should be a well-trained and extremely cautious master. Since he had to interact with the driver and guard of the Presidential Palace, he would definitely disguise himself as a well-dressed person, not the horrible appearance before him.

The man lowered his head and remained silent, occasionally uttering a low groan.

There was a bicycle parked next to the detention room. Chen Tumu took a quick look and saw that there was indeed a red ribbon tied to the bell, which was consistent with the clue.

While I was thinking, a fat man in a high-level police uniform pushed the door in in a panic: "Chief Chen, Director Li, I am a little late."

Chen Tumu interrupted him: "Did you torture me?"

The fat man nodded, his face filled with righteous indignation: "This guy is extremely dishonest. We have no choice but to resort to some tricks."

"You want to force a confession?"

"You're joking. I'm really sorry. I just used a little detective tricks."

Chen Tumu snorted, glared at the fat man, and then said to the man, "Raise your head."

The man raised his face, his nose was bruised, his eyes were swollen, the corners of his mouth were broken, and he looked frightened.

Chen Tumu asked: "You first said the car was yours, but now you say someone else sold it to you. Who sold it to you?"

The man burst into tears, opened his mouth with a missing front tooth, and trembled as he said:
"Sir, I really can't imagine what the person who sold the car looks like. Please, don't hit me."

Chen Tumu's face darkened: "Did they torture you to extract a confession?"

"Yes, sir, I didn't do anything wrong, why did they arrest me? They even beat me. Please, let me go."

The fat chief interrupted: "You haven't done anything wrong, why are you running away?"

The man said, "How can I not run if you guys are chasing me?"

Chen Tumu sneered when he heard this, looked at Li Shizhen who was embarrassed, and left the detention room with a flick of his sleeves.

When he got outside, he could no longer suppress his anger:

"Brother Menglong, is this how your police station usually handles cases?"

Li Shizhen smiled awkwardly and sighed, "Brother Xiuci, since ancient times, there has never been a trial without torture."

Chen Tumu shook his head seriously, "I'm not that pedantic. I don't oppose torture, but I must not force a confession. I don't care about other things, but this case must be handled as an ironclad case that can stand the test, otherwise the consequences will be unpredictable. Not to mention that it will be difficult to explain to the chairman, Dai Yunong will not let us go either."

"I understand." Li Shizhen nodded and assured, "Don't worry, Brother Xiuci, I will personally review it, and there will be no mistakes."

On the other side, Zhang Yi settled Li Aiguo down and rushed directly back to the headquarters.

As he went up the stairs, he saw some furniture piled at the door of his office and walked over with some confusion.

When I walked to the office door, I saw two plainclothes officers painting the walls and another man on a ladder installing a crystal chandelier.

The office chair was also replaced from mahogany to leather, and a set of imported leather sofas was added next to it, and a record player was placed in the corner at the back.

Secretary Liu was standing in the middle of the office at the moment, looking up at the position of the chandelier, and said to the plainclothes officer, "Just a little more to the right, that's about it, OK."

After he finished speaking, he turned around and saw Zhang Yi standing at the door. He was stunned for a moment, then said respectfully:

"Director, you're back?"

Zhang Yi looked at the newly decorated and brighter office, especially the record player. He felt like he had seen it before and frowned as he asked:
"How is this going?"

"You're talking about this." Secretary Liu said happily, looking very proud. "Director, you were not here just now, so you may not know that the Inspection Department has cracked a major smuggling case and sent all the good stuff to the General Affairs Department. Boss Dai asked Director Mao to distribute it, and each director will have a share. These were sent here first. If you don't like them, I'll ask them to change them right away."

Zhang Yi gave him a meaningful look and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Secretary Liu."

He sneered in his heart, since you are so eager to die, don't blame me for being ruthless.

"Director, you are too kind. I am your humble servant." When he said this, footsteps were heard outside the door. Seeing He Zhiyuan appear at the door, he quickly stopped talking, acted like a half-host, and enthusiastically stepped forward to welcome He Zhiyuan in.

"Director He, why are you here? If you have anything, just give me a call and I'll come over." Zhang Yi asked.

"I'm busy in the office, so I thought I'd go out for a walk. I just happened to want to talk to you about something."

"Is it still about the case?"

"Yes, we arrested more than a dozen suspects, but after interrogation we found that none of them were the suspects. Now there are no new clues. Can you help me analyze it again?"

"You're welcome." Zhang Yi smiled, invited him to sit on the new sofa, and asked Secretary Liu to make tea.

"Director He, please have some tea." Secretary Liu served the tea, then walked aside with his head lowered and started fiddling with the record player, with no intention of leaving.

Zhang Yi pretended not to care about him.

He Zhiyuan didn't care. He took a sip of tea and frowned as he said, "It is said that the police station on Minister Chen's side has already caught the suspect. If we don't have any clues, we will be passive. The director seems to be relieved, but he is keeping a close eye on us in secret."

"My informant did provide some clues."

"Informant?"

"Yes." Zhang Yi smiled, then glanced at Secretary Liu, seeming to want to say something but stopping himself.

He Zhiyuan gave him a strange look and immediately pointed at Secretary Liu: "You go out first."

He was not his secretary, so he was not polite at all. Secretary Liu looked unhappy, knowing that it would be rude of him to stay here any longer, so he immediately bowed and said:

"The two officers are busy, so I won't bother you any more."

Having said that, he stepped out.

But he didn't really leave, instead he hurried to the next room. There was a full set of monitoring equipment in the room, so he put on headphones, took out the small notebook he carried with him, and prepared to start recording.

(End of this chapter)