Cicada Moving

 Chapter 400 New Discovery

Zuo Zhong pressed his back against the door and closed it with his backhand, and began to carefully observe Tianfu's residence. It was a standard suite. The entrance was to the living room with several wicker chairs and Chinese coffee tables.

The area is not too big, about ten square meters, which is in line with Tianfu’s salary level at Boehringer. It is unreasonable for an ordinary academic exchange staff to live in such a luxurious house.

Although the area is not large, the orientation of this room is good. It is dark now. If there is sunshine, the large window in the living room will flood the room with sunlight. This guy really enjoys it.

With the illumination of the street lights outside, he raised his feet and walked slowly around the living room. The old floorboards kept creaking, which was very harsh in the quiet environment.

Zuo Zhong stopped behind the sofa and touched the pillows of the sofa with his hands. They were very smooth. He then looked at the wooden armrests on both sides. They were also polished and shiny. It seemed that Tianfu often sat here.

What is the reason for doing this? It is still for daily use. That window is convenient for external transmission of radio waves. Put the radio on the coffee table and add a pistol, and it becomes a workbench.

Zuo Zhong walked around the sofa and sat on it. The sofa was of good quality. Even if he wasn't sending a newspaper, it was still a pleasure to sit here and read the newspaper of the day. The target was indeed a person who pursued quality of life.

He put his hands on his knees and slowly leaned on the sofa, imagining the fragments of life in Tianfu here. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes, frowned and shook his head, something was not right.

 The living room is too spacious.

Not to mention whether the target would place the radio in his residence, even if he placed it in his residence, he would not send reports or conduct intelligence activities in the living room. There is only a door between the sofa and the corridor, which is too dangerous.

If they capture Tianfu here, the other side will have no chance of resistance, no bunker, and no room for movement. A professional intelligence officer will never put himself in this position.

 Besides, a door cannot block the operating sound of the radio. If anyone with normal hearing passes by, the target will be exposed. The sound of the electric keys is very penetrating. Tianfu will not fail to consider this.

Zuo Zhong looked at the phone on the coffee table. Could it be because he was making or receiving calls? Who was the person on the call? What was the purpose of the call? Why would a spy care about a phone call?

 Connector?

In addition to daily telegraph communication, and in emergencies such as missing person notices in newspapers, will Tianfu have other communication channels, such as telephones, to convey some special orders?

This is impossible. The target would not contact his subordinates in this way. It would be seeking death. It is even more impossible for his subordinates to contact him on his own initiative. This violates the confidentiality discipline and the contact can be eliminated.

There is another possibility, receiving orders.

Would Nandou or Tianfu accept orders from their superiors over the phone, not the two British moles Vanessa and Wang Deyong, but direct orders from the Kwantung Army and Doihara.

Zuo Zhong quickly analyzed in his mind. If this was the case, Doihara would definitely find a way to inform Tianfu in the days after the assassination. It was impossible for them to catch each other so smoothly today.

It is neither a connector nor a command. The other party is not related to the phone. What is the reason? It must not be in a daze. You should find a safer place.

He thought for a long time, and suddenly his attention was attracted by a mirror next to the door. How could anyone hang a mirror inside the door? If it was to ward off evil spirits, then the mirror should be hung outside the door.

Moreover, there was light in the mirror. Where was it? Zuo Zhong turned to look at the window. He stood up and walked to the window to look outside. It turned out to be a small factory, and the lights were still on in the guard room.

Zuo Zhong stood by the window, looked at the factory in the dark, and then looked at the mirror. An idea emerged in his mind. Tianfu seemed to be monitoring the guard room, but why.

enemy? The government's intelligence operations against Japan were all led by the Secret Service. He had not heard of any secret operations in other departments. At the same time, the state of use of the sofa could not be achieved in a day or two.

 Accomplice? The intelligence channel of the Nandou Group should be within the government. What intelligence can be accessed by the gatekeeper of a small factory requires personal monitoring by the leader of the intelligence group like Tianfu.

Both of these speculations are unreliable. Zuo Zhong frowned. There are only three relationships between people: enemies, friends, and strangers. So the spy is monitoring a strange Chinese?

Suddenly, Zuo Zhong was stunned. No, there is another possibility, which is the downline developed by Tianfu himself, a special downline, a downline that is not so reliable and needs to be monitored at all times.

The need for monitoring represents importance. In the eyes of a spy like Tianfu, what is most important is the mission and the second is safety. Combined with this guy's cautious and cautious action style, it should be safety.

 A downline related to safety can only be an observation post. I guessed it right. The target really arranged a follower outside the residence, a factory guard. Is this an early warning method for the other party?

He took out the telescope and put it in front of his eyes and observed the telephone pole next to the guard room. The black telephone wire was very conspicuous under the street lamp. There was a telephone in the guard room, which meant that the other party had early warning conditions.

 But what’s the point of this kind of early warning? Suppose someone blocks the door of Tianfu. What the guard room can see can also be seen by Tianfu itself. Calling can’t solve any problem.

 It can’t always be a record of last words.

Unless this is not an early warning for Tianfu, the observation post is established for members of the Nandou team. Once Tianfu's residence is searched or attacked, the observation post can warn others in some way.

Zuo Zhong thought thoughtfully. Fortunately, they did not carry out the search in a big way, otherwise the arrest of Tianfu might have been exposed. The person who was stalking must be caught, and he must be captured alive.

If you want to give early warning, you must have contact channels. You may be able to find other Japanese spies through contact channels. This possibility is very high, at least more likely than the possibility of getting Tianfu to speak through torture.

 No, we must take action as soon as possible. If there is a signal between Tianfu and the observation post, such as turning on the lights at a certain time and unable to see the signal, the observation post may directly issue an early warning.

 He ​​thought for a few seconds and decided not to call for support. He and Wu Chunyang would take action. Then he would ask people from the observation point to take over the place. After removing the observation post, there was no need to keep the operation secret.

Zuo Zhong stooped to the door, opened the door gently and walked out. He closed the door and immediately walked towards the road, and soon bumped into Wu Chunyang who was reading the electricity meter.

“Section Chief, have you found any clues?”

Wu Chunyang smiled and handed over a cigarette, as if greeting an old friend. He glanced at both sides of the street. He knew that if there was no problem, the section chief would not suddenly come out of the target's residence. Zuo Zhong struck a match and lit the two people's cigarettes, and whispered: "Well, there is a problem with the factory guard room behind the target residence. It may be an observation post. Let's go over and control the other party."

 “Section chief, do you need to call for support?”

Wu Chunyang was a little surprised. He was afraid that Zuo Zhong would think he was disobeying orders, so he quickly explained: "If the opponent has more than two people, the scene may not be controllable. Support can arrive here in half an hour."

"Need not."

Zuo Zhong shook his head: "It has not been long since the target was captured, but we don't know if there is a secret code between them. To avoid accidental direct action, there cannot be too many people in one observation post."

Seeing what the section chief said, Wu Chunyang no longer objected. As for the observation post, it would not be a big problem for the two of them to do it. The observation post needs to be hidden, so there won't be too many people and weapons.

The two of them walked into the branch road one after another and walked towards the small factory. Zuo Zhong had seen it carefully before. It was a small matchmaking factory. There were many such factories in Jinling and the location was relatively remote.

Even if a firefight breaks out later, you don't have to worry about hurting innocent people, and you won't attract onlookers. This is very beneficial to the operation. If the terrain is complex or there are too many residents, you will definitely need to call for backup.

Zuo Zhong did not dodge, and knocked directly on the doorstep with a mail bag on his back. In addition to guarding the factory area, the gatekeeper's office in this era had a greater role in receiving letters. It was normal for the postman to come.

 “I have a letter, please pick it up.”

He lowered his head and pretended to be searching for something in the mail bag, but only his left hand was moving, while his right hand held the pistol tightly in the bag. If the other party was too vigilant and unwilling to open the door, he might need to shoot.

 “Cough, cough, here it comes.”

 Several violent coughs suddenly sounded in the guard room, followed by the shaking of the bed board and the rustling sound of shoes being put on. The voice sounded like that of an old man who seemed to have some physical problems.

Zuo Zhong was a little puzzled as to why he was an old man. Intelligence officers were not necessarily good at maneuvering, but they needed health and a certain amount of physical strength. They couldn't carry out intelligence missions in a wheelchair.

The observation post probably didn't know what he was doing, and was only responsible for keeping track. When the door opened, he was even more convinced of this idea. The old man in front of him was too choked to walk, let alone do other things.

“Uncle, I am the new postman, and this is a letter from your factory.” Zuo Zhong stepped forward to block the door, handed over an empty envelope, and quickly looked around the interior of the guard room.

This is a small, independent house with no toilet or cubicle. You can see the bottom at a glance, even the position under the bed. There is only an old man here and no one else exists.

 “New here? Why is the envelope empty?”

At this time, the old man raised his head, his tone a little confused, but not too scared. There was nothing to worry about in a guard room, and there was only firewood in the matchmaking factory, and there were no valuable things.

 “Stop talking and stay back.”

Zuo Zhong didn't care about anything else and put the pistol against the other party: "Go in immediately. We are from the Jinling Police Station and are performing official duties. Old sir, you'd better not move around. Be careful of the gun misfiring."

As he spoke, he took the old man hostage and walked into the guard room. As soon as they entered, Wu Chunyang rushed into the house from the side, closed the door, and blocked the door, also holding a gun in his hand.

"Two sirs, the old man has a piece of ocean under his bed. If you want, take it." The old man at the gate was still calm and did not confirm whether they were real policemen. He followed Zuo Zhong's words.

 “Chunyang, search.”

Zuo Zhong remained unmoved, keeping a certain distance from the old man, and pointed the pistol tightly at his waist. There were too many capsizes in the gutter, and he could not be careless when facing the suspect.

"yes."

Wu Chunyang bypassed the two people and quickly checked all the items in the house, even lifting the bed boards and quilts. He found nothing. There were no contraband or weapons here.

This is an ordinary guard room. If it were not next to Tianfu's residence, no one would associate it with Japanese spies. Tianfu allowed the other party to keep an eye on it, perhaps because of its concealment.

"Chunyang, search yourself, put on weapons, and pay attention to safety." Zuo Zhong gave a new order, staring at the innocent-looking old man, and asked: "Do you know Kong Ji? What is your relationship?"

 “Kong Ji, I know.”

The old man finally realized that these two people were afraid that they were really police officers, so he immediately replied: "It's Mr. Kong who lives in the building in front of him. If he has done something wrong, I will help him look after his home and care for his hospital."

Zuo Zhong sneered: "Looking after the house, why did he ask you to look after the house? If there is a thief, can you still catch the thief? Let me tell you, what he committed is serious, and releasing Qianchao is a crime against the Nine Clan."

"ah?"

The old man was panicked. He didn't understand what law he was telling him, but he understood the crime of punishing the nine tribes. It was a great treason. He said hurriedly: "He told me to call a place when I see a thief."

"Where."

 “The police station in this district.”

  Two chapters, 6800 words

 (End of this chapter)