Chapter 173 Paint Clues
"Nonsense."
Han Xianghui scolded, and many people from the inspection department looked over here. Liu Dazhuang's mouth was blocked, and he couldn't make any sound, so he could only whimper.
"Don't leave, I'll call Henian."
Han Xianghui said this as he walked into Liu Dazhuang's office, ready to call Henian directly using this phone.
"Section Chief Han, this is the task assigned to me by the Director."
Chu Lingyun walked over and whispered. Han Xiangdong's outstretched hand stopped instantly and he looked at Chu Lingyun in surprise and suspicion.
He may not care about Chu Lingyun, but if it is something assigned by the Director, he must be cautious.
How could the director assign a task directly to the team leader? Han Xianghui immediately recalled the traitor case that everyone in the department was talking about more than a month ago.
He had received a notice from Secretary Qi that he must cooperate with Chu Lingyun when investigating the traitor.
So much time has passed, and many people thought that there was no traitor in the department, or that he could not be found. Unexpectedly, the Operations Department suddenly took action at this time and arrested his man.
Is Liu Dazhuang a traitor?
Han Xianghui immediately thought about it. If Liu Dazhuang was really the traitor, then he was in big trouble this time. Liu Dazhuang was his man, and he had appointed him as the deputy team leader. Han Xianghui was very optimistic about Liu Dazhuang and planned to promote him to team leader in the future.
What would Virgo think if his trusted subordinate turned out to be a traitor?
"Team Leader Chu, are you sure?"
Han Xianghui asked slowly, and Chu Lingyun shook his head: "We can't be completely sure at the moment, but he is highly suspicious."
He understood what Han Xianghui meant, but he had no evidence. It was just an urgent telegram from Chu Yuan. He couldn't directly conclude that Liu Dazhuang was a traitor based on this telegram.
"I'll keep an eye on this case."
Han Xianghui withdrew his hand. Since Chu Lingyun was investigating a traitor case, he could not stop him. Otherwise, if Liu Dazhuang was really a traitor, he would never be able to clear himself even if he jumped into the Yellow River.
He can't stop the investigation, but that doesn't mean he won't ask anything.
"Thank you, Chief Han." Chu Lingyun led his men away quickly.
Time was urgent and Chu Lingyun had no time to explain anything to Han Xianghui. The sudden phone call just now was very important. The call had just been made and now was the best time to investigate.
As for Liu Dazhuang, there is no need to rush into the trial. We can wait until we have a clear understanding of the situation.
The phone call to Liu Dazhuang's office was, as expected, a public phone located in a relatively prosperous area in the east of the city.
The phone belongs to a hotel. The hotel is not big, and there are many such hotels in Nanjing.
When Chu Lingyun arrived, it was only more than thirty minutes since he received the call.
The hotel's registration desk was on the first floor. There was a young man sitting at the counter. It was not the peak check-in period, so there was no one inside. Only the waiter was flipping through a newspaper boredly.
Chu Lingyun and others came in. The waiter took a look and slowly put down the newspaper. The next moment he immediately sat up straight.
In order to investigate Liu Dazhuang, Chu Lingyun specially called back the busy Loach.
At this moment, Loach took out a pistol and pointed the muzzle at the guy.
"My dear friends, we don't have much money here. Take it all if you want. But don't shoot. There are a lot of police around here. If you shoot and attract the police, you won't be able to escape."
The young man spoke tremblingly. Although he was nervous, his words were fluent and his meaning was clear.
"We are not robbers. We are asking you something and you must answer honestly."
Loach glared at him without explaining his identity. There were many robbers in that era, but not many in the city, and even fewer in Nanjing.
This is the capital city after all. If you rob here at will, you will not be able to escape unless you are a very capable bandit.
"Okay, if you ask, I will definitely tell you." The young man nodded hurriedly.
"About half an hour ago, someone made a phone call here. It was a man. What did he look like?" Chu Lingyun asked.
In order to find the person who called, Chu Lingyun specially brought Yang Jian here. Yang Jian is now living a comfortable life. He doesn't have to do anything and has a good salary every month to support him.
Now is finally the time to use him.
"Half an hour ago?"
The young man looked at the clock in the shop and immediately said, "Someone just called. He was on the phone for a short time and then left. I didn't notice what he looked like."
The content of the phone call to inform Liu Dazhuang was just one sentence, and it was indeed very short.
"Didn't you see what he looked like?" Chu Lingyun frowned.
"No, really not. He was wearing a hat and had his head down. I didn't pay any attention to him. He paid the bill after the call and left without waiting for my change. His money is still here."
The clerk took a note from the cash box.
Chu Lingyun reached out and picked up the banknote. It was just an ordinary banknote, a bit old. It was almost impossible to find the person who called through the banknote.
"What are his characteristics?" Chu Lingyun looked at the waiter.
"It doesn't have any special features, just a hat." The guy was a little stunned.
"Recall carefully what style and color of hat he wore, what clothes he wore, and how tall he was."
The guy didn't remember the face, and it was useless to bring Yang Jian with him, so he could only ask about the caller's external features.
In fact, even if we knew these characteristics, they would not be of much use. The person who came must be aware that this was an emergency mission and would not wear anything too obvious, and this kind of clothing would probably not be used again in the future.
But no matter whether it is useful or not, you still have to ask.
"A black hat, the kind you see in the movies, I don't know what it's called, and a blue robe, average material, about the same as someone like me, but he must be a rich man, and he deliberately dresses poorly."
The guy quickly replied that he couldn't tell the style of the hat, but the blue robe was a style that many people liked to wear in this era, and it was also a very common piece of clothing. If the police were to go out, they would probably catch a lot of people like this.
"Why do you say he is a rich man?" Chu Lingyun did not give up and kept asking.
"He made a phone call without needing change, and he was riding a very new bicycle, so he must have money."
A bicycle is a bike. In this era, it has many names for it, such as automatic car, foreign car, and pedal bicycle, all of which refer to bicycles.
"Did you see the license plate on his bike?"
He came on a bicycle, which is a clue. Bicycles in this era, like the earliest ones in later generations, need to be registered, and each bicycle has its own unique number.
The guy replied, "The license plate number is 378, and he's riding a Lantoll bicycle. It's definitely new, so that's why I say he's rich."
"How do you know it's the Orchid Token?" Chu Lingyun asked immediately.
Bicycles were very expensive in this era. In the early years, they cost more than one hundred dollars. Now they are cheaper, but don’t even think about buying a brand new bicycle without one or two hundred French francs.
Even second-hand goods are not cheap, and the tattered ones can cost dozens of dollars.
"My home is far away, and I've been saving money to buy a bicycle to save time. I've researched a lot of bikes, including Lanling, Xinbingchuan, Taylor, and even Wuqi. Unfortunately, I can't afford a good bike like that, even if it's a used one."
The guy answered honestly, and Chu Lingyun immediately understood that he was a bicycle enthusiast.
Just like car enthusiasts in later generations, no matter whether they have a car or not, they can talk about all kinds of cars like the back of their hands. They know many things that many car owners don’t understand.
"Are there any other characteristics on his body or in the car?"
Chu Lingyun asked finally, the more detailed the questions, the more help it would be in tracking down this person, and he wanted to find out everything the guy knew.
"I didn't really pay attention to him, but he didn't take good care of his car. I saw paint stains on the back of his car seat and he didn't even wipe them off. It's such a nice new car, he really didn't take care of it."
The guy shook his head as he spoke, as if his own car was stained with paint.
"Go find a bicycle."
Chu Lingyun instructed Loach, then turned around and continued to ask: "Where is the specific location? What shape and color is the paint? Is it dried or fresh?"
There was paint on the back seat of the car, which was a very important clue. The paint was probably accidentally stained on the car by him, and what he had done before was probably related to the paint. These conditions could greatly narrow the scope of the investigation.
"It's dark yellow, and I can't quite describe its shape, but it should be fresh."
Loach went out and put away the gun aimed at the waiter, but the waiter did not dare to be careless and quickly answered Chu Lingyun's questions.
Soon, Loach collected a bicycle outside, and the owner followed eagerly, very worried that his bicycle would be stolen.
"Come out and show me the exact location and size."
Chu Lingyun called the waiter out. The waiter came to the bicycle, touched it first, looked it up and down, then pointed to the edge of the seat and drew a small oval and said, "This is it. It's about the size of a thumb."
"I understand. Don't tell anyone about what happened today."
Chu Lingyun wrote down the shape and location described by the waiter, let the waiter go back, and returned the car to the passerby.
"Team leader, I'll go investigate that license plate number." Loach volunteered.
"Go ahead and report to me anytime you find out." Chu Lingyun nodded.
It is not difficult to check a car with the license plate number, but there is little hope of finding the Japanese spy based on the license plate alone. Chu Lingyun knows very well how cunning Japanese spies are. It is impossible for them to come to report on a bicycle that can expose their identity.
If Japanese spies were really so stupid, there wouldn't be so many of them lurking around now, and they would have been caught long ago.
But what needs to be investigated still needs to be investigated. The more detailed the investigation, the more helpful it will be to the investigation. Chu Lingyun did not refuse Niu Qiu's request for action.
"Team Leader, this is a message from Captain Chu Yuan."
After returning to the office, the team member guarding the radio station immediately brought a long telegram to Chu Lingyun.
The previous message was an emergency message to inform Chu Lingyun to take action as soon as possible to prevent Liu Dazhuang from escaping. The content was very brief. This time it was a summary of the detailed situation sent by Chu Yuan.
Liu Dazhuang's parents are not his real parents, they are all fake.
The bombing of their village was also very strange. There was no damage to the surrounding area. There was no military stationed there or any military equipment. It was just a small village, but it was bombed very badly.
While Chu Yuan was investigating, he was attacked by strangers again, and even Chu Yuan himself was injured.
In addition, Liu Dazhuang's parents had been to and from the Japanese-occupied areas. Now many places in Shanghai are actually controlled by Japan. What were they doing in these places?
Ordinary people are unwilling to go to areas occupied by Japan, not to mention that their identities have nothing to do with the Japanese-occupied areas. These circumstances indicate that it is very likely that Liu Dazhuang is a traitor.
The most important point is that the people who attacked Chu Yuan spoke Japanese.
After understanding what was going on, Chu Lingyun felt relieved.
"Ring, ring, ring."
Just after he finished reading the telegram, the phone on the table rang. It was Henian calling to ask about his situation.
Chu Lingyun took the telegram and went to Henian's office immediately.
After Chu Lingyun took Liu Dazhuang away, Han Xianghui took the initiative to come to Henian to inquire about the situation. The case was urgent and Henian knew nothing about it. After comforting Han Xianghui, he immediately called Chu Lingyun.
Chu Lingyun was not there at the time. This was the third call Henian made. Chu Lingyun finally came back.
"The whole family is fake. It's amazing that they came up with such an idea. These Japanese spies are really omnipresent." After reading the telegram, Henian snorted coldly.
As soon as Han Xianghui arrived, he realized that Liu Dazhuang's problem was not small. Chu Lingyun was an extremely steady person and would not act rashly without being sure.
Since Chu Lingyun went to arrest people without even reporting, it means that Liu Dazhuang is very likely the traitor.
"Section Chief, just as I arrived at Liu Dazhuang's office, someone called him in code, probably to notify him to retreat."
Chu Lingyun quickly said that the call was made five or three minutes earlier, and perhaps Liu Dazhuang had already run away.
There is no ubiquitous surveillance in this era. Once he escapes from the Military Intelligence Department, it will be difficult to catch him outside. Even if a large-scale city lockdown is carried out to search for him, he may not be found.
Chu Yuan sent that telegram very timely. Fortunately, Chu Lingyun arranged people to keep the radio station turned on and wait. Otherwise, if they missed it, Liu Dazhuang would still be able to escape.
"Yeah, thank goodness you were one step ahead. It would have been troublesome if he had gotten away."
He Nian was very lucky, as the traitor might have been missed in just a few minutes. Chu Lingyun's men knew the seriousness of the matter and sent him a message immediately, thus preventing the traitor from escaping.
If the traitor really escapes, Virgo will definitely not be satisfied.
"How's the phone check going?" Henian asked again.
The person was arrested, but Chu Lingyun was not at the station. He must have something more important to do. Apart from checking the phone number for the notification, he had nothing else to do.
"It's a public phone, but the caller arrived on a bicycle. I've asked Mudfish to investigate the bicycle's information."
Chu Lingyun replied quickly, and He Nian stood up: "Let's investigate the person who called slowly. Now that he has shown up, don't let him escape. Let's go and interrogate Liu Dazhuang together."
With so many suspicions, it is impossible for Liu Dazhuang to clear himself. Getting Liu Dazhuang's confession as soon as possible and confirming his identity is the most important thing for Henian at the moment.
Only in this way can he report to the Virgo.
Liu Dazhuang was hung up in the interrogation room. He was not unfamiliar with this place. He had been here many times as an examiner for the interrogation team.
When he came here before, he had thought about whether he would be locked up if he was exposed.
He knew that Zhu Lihua was a traitor. He felt sympathetic and sorry for what happened to her. He also knew that without Zhu Lihua, the higher-ups would use him sooner or later.
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