My spy diary

Chapter 690 Confession (Continued, requesting monthly votes)

"Wait!" Zhao Deshan shouted hoarsely.

Zhang Yi ignored him and had already reached the door when the guard opened it for him.

Just as he stepped out the door, Zhao Deshan, his eyes glazed over, roared like a madman, "I'll tell you everything I know! Zhang Yi—"

Zhang Yi stopped walking, but still didn't turn around, standing there waiting.

Zhao Deshan said anxiously in a hoarse voice, "I said, Lu Zhongping, that is, Yamamoto, he just assigned me a task!"

He gasped for breath: "He told me to find a way to get the original documents such as the 'Huaxi Loan Agreement' and the 'Concession Act' from the Treasury's safe."

Zhang Yi slowly turned around:
"How do I get it?"

Zhao Deshan's lips twitched, and he said somewhat awkwardly:
“Through women, he said that there was a female secretary in the Ministry of Finance with a three-year-old child, and that the widow and orphan asked me to seduce her.”

"seduce?"

Zhang Yi raised an eyebrow, glancing sideways at Zhao Deshan, thinking to himself, "With your shifty-eyed appearance, you think you can seduce women? Of the 'handsome, rich, handsome, tall, young, and leisurely' types, which one do you possess?" He snorted coldly and continued to ask:
"How exactly do you seduce me?"

Zhao Deshan's expression had gradually changed from anxiety and fear to dejection, and he said sullenly:

"He told me to first meet her by chance, then ask her out for dinner and shopping, and to be generous with my money."

"Spend money on her? Oh, with money and time, plus some sweet talk, she's quite effective at charming women." Zhang Yi snorted. As the saying goes, flies don't land on eggs without cracks. Regardless of how this female secretary became their target, he needed to investigate her background first. He winked at Monkey, who understood and turned to leave.

Zhang Yi took out a cigarette and offered it to him: "Want one?"

Zhao Deshan's index finger was stained yellow from smoking; he was clearly a heavy smoker.

Sure enough, Zhao Deshan nodded without hesitation, took the cigarette, lit it, and after exhaling a cloud of smoke, he let out a long sigh of relief. This long-lost thrill and pleasure was simply unparalleled.

"Thank you."

Look, the Japanese are so polite! Zhang Yi lit another one for him, and Zhao Deshan greedily inhaled it.

Zhang Yi lit a cigarette, sat down at the interrogation table, and asked sincerely:

"Mr. Zhao, tell us something of value! For example, your real identity, code name, the structure and composition of your Snow White Group, and the situation of the other members."

Once the bottom line is crossed, there is no lower limit.

Once the bottom line is crossed, the underwear is no longer needed; it's someone else's business anyway. Zhao Deshan took a deep drag of his cigarette and said:
"Shin-suke Nakamura, codename: Know-It-All"

"Know-It-All? That's a novel and unique code name. It seems you've come up with this based on the story of Snow White. It suits your identity perfectly—a writer, right? Wearing glasses, knowledgeable and cultured." Zhang Yi chuckled, then suddenly remembered something. "Wait, isn't Know-It-All supposed to be the leader of the dwarfs?"

Zhao Deshan rubbed his arms, seemingly feeling a bit cold: "I don't know about that, but that's how it's arranged from above."

"Pour Mr. Nakamura a glass of warm water," Zhang Yi ordered the guard, staring at Zhao Deshan for a long time, as if trying to discern the truth in his words. After a pause, he said:

"And Xiaodie, how did you two meet?"

"She's Liu Ningxue's liaison. All I know is that she's one of us; as for anything else, it's not appropriate to ask, nor should I ask."

"Oh!" Zhang Yi tapped his fingers lightly on the table, pondering. Something felt off. Was Zhao Deshan deliberately concealing something, or did he simply not know? Just an hour earlier, in the interrogation room next door, the smug Xiao Die had said, "My subordinates saw the news and have already moved out and gone into hiding." Judging from this statement, Xiao Die's identity was likely not as simple as it seemed. When people are triumphant, their emotions are in a state of high excitement, and the brain's rational restraint mechanism temporarily weakens. What they say subconsciously is often their true thoughts without any modification or filtering. Unlike usual, they don't carefully choose their words to conceal their true feelings. Therefore, what they say spontaneously is often closer to their true feelings and more genuine.

Just then, the guard brought over a cup of warm water in an enamel mug. Zhao Deshan eagerly took it and sipped, then cupped his hands around it and buried his head in it, seemingly trying to warm himself. Across the interrogation room, he glanced at Zhang Yi almost imperceptibly, then quickly lowered his eyes again.

Zhang Yi sneered inwardly. He appeared to be deep in thought, but in reality, he was constantly watching Zhao Deshan's every move. As the saying goes, the eyes are the windows to the soul, language is a reflection of the soul, and micro-expressions are the face of the soul. In his eyes, Zhao Deshan's posture was undoubtedly a clear sign of a guilty conscience, scattered thoughts, and panic.

In terms of interrogation, there are three types of people I fear most. One type is the chatterbox, who just spouts nonsense that has no value whatsoever, completely exposing himself.

Another type of person is the die-hard, who will refuse to speak no matter what methods you use.

The last one is, he said, but the truth is mixed with lies.

Not only that, he also deliberately sets traps in his confession to trick you into saying things. If an inexperienced interrogator is not careful, he will fall into the trap and turn the initiative into the passive position.

However, as the saying goes, the devil is always one step ahead of the saint. In most cases, the initiative is in the hands of the interrogator. All your statements will be recorded on paper, and then the interrogator will use methods such as scrambling the time and order of events, repeating or even repeatedly asking questions that have already been asked, and skipping over questions to verify whether your statement is airtight and can withstand scrutiny.

Therefore, Zhang Yi sneered, told the guard to take back the cup, and slammed his hand on the table:
"You only get one chance, you should know what I mean. Let's continue with that question: how did you and she meet?"

Seeing Zhang Yi's cold expression, a stark contrast between his previous warmth and coldness, Zhao Deshan, after hesitating for a long time with his emotions running high, finally spoke honestly:

"I met her at the Beiping Secret Book Academy training class."

"Is that so?" Zhang Yi sneered again, flipping through the interrogation record in his hand with an air of seriousness. "Xiao Die didn't say that!"

As he spoke, he stood up abruptly and decisively gave the guards his orders:
"Forget it, no need for interrogation. Set up the meeting room immediately, change his clothes, take photos, notify the newspaper, and then proceed with the torture."

"Yes." The guard replied sternly and turned to leave.

Now it was Zhao Deshan's turn to panic. Rather than wait until after the torture, he figured he might as well say it now; better to die than lose his fellow Daoists. He shouted anxiously:

“I said, I said, we met in Manchuria, that is, Northeast China. We were both in the China Class of the Kwantung Army General Staff Headquarters. I was in the action team, and she was Colonel Kawamoto’s secretary.”

"Colonel Kawamoto?" Zhang Yi asked expressionlessly as he flipped through the documents.

Zhao Deshan frowned, and Zhang Yi thought to himself that things were going badly, fearing that the other party would notice. Unexpectedly, Zhao Deshan directly echoed, "Yes, he has the rank of colonel, and his real name is also Da Zuo, the Zuo of 'Zuo'."

"It should be translated into Chinese," Zhang Yi corrected. "After Xiaodie mentioned it, I immediately checked this person's information. He was a representative of the younger generation in the army and served as a senior staff officer in the Kwantung Army at the time." "Yes. Colonel Kawamoto was a proponent of conspiracy and assassination. He was the one who orchestrated the Huanggutun bombing. The scene was commanded by Captain Higashimiya Tetsuo of the Fengtian Independent Garrison, and Lieutenant Tongyuan Zhenshou, a Korean engineer, was responsible for installing the explosives. We were responsible for supervising the operation. The plan was originally completed perfectly, but unfortunately, it was not approved by the higher-ups and the General Staff Headquarters. Political enemies accused it of 'subordinates overthrowing superiors,' which seriously violated military and political procedures, damaged the Tanaka Cabinet's control over the army, and aroused dissatisfaction from His Majesty the Emperor and the internal authorities. Later, in order to quell the diplomatic storm and cover up the warlord's 'lone wolf' responsibility, the higher-ups actually dismissed him. When the city gate catches fire, the fish in the moat suffer, and we also became pawns."

"Dismissal? It's nothing more than a power struggle, a symbolic punishment." Zhang Yi scoffed. "Have you Japanese done this kind of thing too often?"

"At the time, we thought so too, that it was just a minor punishment to set an example and give the outside world an explanation, but..."

"But what?"

"However, the subsequent development of events was unexpected. After Colonel Kawamoto was dismissed from his post, he was placed in the reserve and appointed as a director of the South Manchuria Railway Company. He was never reinstated, which led him to harbor resentment and defect to Yan Xishan."

"Is that so?" Zhang Yi was taken aback. Yan Xishan was known for his opportunism, a man who enjoyed performing the high-stakes acrobatic feat of dancing on three eggs. Sometimes he allied with the Red Army, sometimes he opposed it; sometimes he resisted the Japanese, sometimes he allied with them; sometimes he supported Chiang Kai-shek, sometimes he rejected him. He did all this for survival, to protect his territory. It was said that Yan Xishan accepted and sheltered Colonel Kawamoto and Zhang Yixin, but was Colonel Kawamoto truly a defector? Could it be a feigned defection, a genuine attempt to induce surrender and subvert the regime?

"I just heard it from Yamamoto. According to him, the Empire has already begun its purge plan."

"Oh." Zhang Yi remained noncommittal, sensing the topic had veered off course, and changed the subject, "So, you, Yamamoto, and Kocho were all involved in the bombing back then, and then joined the Special Higher Police together?"

"Yes, we were specially recruited by Mr. Tufeiyuan."

Zhang Yi lit a cigarette, slowly processing the shock. He had only intended to ask a question tentatively, but it had unexpectedly unearthed old stories from back then.

"Tell me about Yamamoto. What kind of person do you think he is?"

Time flew by and it was already evening.

While Zhang Yi was busy with the interrogation, the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (CBIS) was also working feverishly.

Five hundred plainclothes agents, who had been urgently assembled, had quietly taken over the household registration department of the Shancheng Police Station.

The household registration office was a three-story building. The huge room on the first floor was like a library, with rows of wooden cabinets specifically for storing household registration cards. They were somewhat like the drawers in a herbal medicine shop for storing Chinese medicine. Each drawer had a sticky note with a surname written on it.

The cards in these small drawers have now been handed over in batches to plainclothes officers scattered throughout various meeting rooms.

Finding two names in a vast sea of ​​household registration data is like finding a needle in a haystack. But the advantage lies in the sheer number of people. Fifty thousand household registration records may sound like a lot, but when distributed among 500 people, each person only has a little over a thousand records.

However, this is still a complicated task.

Chen Qingzhai was somewhat restless, pacing back and forth outside the conference room for several hours.

In the hallway, a plainclothes officer had just come out of the meeting room with a water bottle when he was immediately stopped and asked:
"So, any progress?"

"No, there are over a thousand copies for each person, and we have to stare at them carefully. It's too difficult. The portraits drawn based on the information provided by Hunan are also too blurry." The plainclothes officer said, rubbing his sore eyes.

"Don't worry, the original household registration card is already on the train," Chen Qingzhai explained, offering reassurance. "Yes, this kind of work is harder than embroidery. Be patient, there's still hope, what if we really find it!"

Although Chen Qingzhai was anxious, he appeared calm and confident in front of his subordinates.

As soon as he finished speaking, a cheer suddenly erupted from one of the conference rooms in the middle.

The plainclothes leader and Chen Qingzhai were taken aback and immediately ran towards the conference room.

Beside the large table in the conference room, a female spy with a braid spoke excitedly:
"District Chief Chen, you have to keep your word. We agreed that whoever finds it will get a 500 yuan reward."

"Here, take a thousand, and the others will get one too." Chen Qingzhai was equally excited. He took the household registration card from the female agent, but found there were three of them. He frowned and asked:
"Why are there three?"

As soon as he said it, he laughed. It's perfectly normal to find a few people who look alike among hundreds of thousands of people.

He took a magnifying glass and compared the portrait with the one made from the household registration data collected in Hunan.
"Liu Qisheng, male, 46 years old, tailor. Native of No. 26, Jinling Road, YZ District, Shancheng City."

"Zhao Deshun, male, 52 years old, businessman. Place of origin."

"Li Zhihui, male, 48 years old, postman. Place of origin."

After carefully examining each person, Chen Qingzhai discovered that they all bore a striking resemblance to Guan Zuzhi's uncle, Guan Ping. He sneered and, adhering to the principle of "better to kill a thousand innocent people than let one guilty person go free," instructed his men to keep their eyes peeled and continue the search before rushing to Xu Zeng'en's office to report.

Soon, these household registration cards were handed to Xu Zeng'en, who was quite surprised:

"So fast?"

"Many hands make light work!"

Xu Zeng smiled, flipped through several household registration cards, and asked hesitantly:
"sure?"

"I wouldn't say it's a sure thing, but it's pretty close to the truth."

Xu Zeng'en placed the household registration card on the table, smacked his lips, and said:

"Worker, tailor, merchant, postman, just one of them is enough. If we confirm it's him, it will be a major breakthrough."

Chen Qingzhai immediately sought instructions:
"So, I'll arrest them?"

"Arrest them, arrest them immediately, all three at once. Not only must you arrest them, but you must do it discreetly and extremely quickly. As for the reason for the arrests, you can make it up yourself." At this point, Xu Zeng'en seemed to realize something and cautiously asked, "Has the information been leaked?"

"The specific plan is known only to a few people, all of whom are our own people and very reliable. All the agents temporarily selected to participate in the screening are gathered in the conference room under closed management, restricted from acting alone, and restricted from making phone calls. Without my order, no one is allowed to leave the police station."

Xu Zeng smiled with satisfaction.

(End of this chapter)