Cicada Moving

Chapter 841: Turning the Clouds (4) Have a day off tomorrow

While Zuo Zhong was thinking about how to find the spy leader through photos, other people also stretched their heads. When they saw that there was no reference and no license plate, their expressions were a little disappointed.

 Buick cars were particularly popular among the wealthy and government officials due to their safety, solidity, strong power, and impressive appearance, and were widely owned throughout the Republic of China.

In this way, it is unlikely to use cars to investigate people. The Secret Service does not have the time or manpower to check all the Buick cars in the country.

Everyone was silent for a while. Only Wu Chunyang looked at the jagged pattern on the edge of the photo and thought of something. This special pattern was cut out with a tool called scissors.

This kind of scissors is only used by photography enthusiasts and photography shops. The application range is very narrow, and the patterns produced by different brands, different models, and even different batches will not be exactly the same.

 So he came up with a new idea, whether he could use this feature to find the manufacturer of lace scissors and trace the whereabouts of the spy leader through sales channels.

Zuo Zhong nodded after listening. This is indeed a way. At the same time, he also has new guesses about the identity of the target. The other party's economic conditions and social status should be quite good.

 There are two reasons for making this judgment. There are two specific reasons.

First of all, for photos taken during intelligence investigations, it is impossible for the spy leader to send the negatives to an outside photography shop for development. They must process them himself.

In other words, using lace scissors to crop a photo is most likely the person's habitual action.

Furthermore, observing the zigzag pattern itself is very smooth, and it can be seen that the operator does it in one go, without any pause, which is definitely not done by ordinary novices.

 These two points illustrate one thing, that is, the target has frequent access to professional photography cropping equipment in daily life, even to the point of subconscious use.

 In the Republic of China at this time, photography was an extremely luxurious act. Expensive cameras were not mentioned for the moment. The cost of just buying a roll of film was enough for an ordinary family to live for a month.

Even in newspapers, only a few senior reporters can reimburse the film expenses in full, and others have fixed quotas, which is not enough for people to develop the habit of using lace scissors casually.

 So whether it is to open a shop, work needs, or personal hobbies, photography requires certain material conditions as a basis.

 So is it possible that other spies developed the photos and gave them to the target?

This possibility is very small.

As for the transfer of image intelligence, the regulations of intelligence agencies in various countries are similar. They all use negatives or microfilm to prevent being discovered by enemy counterintelligence personnel.

Based on the above points, the image of the spy leader gradually became clear in Zuo Zhong’s mind.

 One is that you like photography, or your work is related to photography.

 Second, they have a good income and at least a certain social status.

He pondered for a moment and then asked Gu Qi and others if they had any suggestions. After getting no results, he immediately ordered all shops selling photographic equipment, photo studios, and senior reporters from large and small newspapers in Qicheng to conduct a search and surveillance.

This work was handed over to Wu Chunyang, Shen Dongxin, and Wu Jingzhong, who were originally responsible for the search. They are good at intelligence operations, and their basic skills are observing words and deeds and extracting information.

In addition, Zuo Zhong ordered to expand the scope of the on-site search to see if more photo fragments could be found. If the part containing buildings or reference objects could be found, a breakthrough in the case would be opened.

Song Minghao and Gui Youguang, who had nothing to do, volunteered again. Seeing that they were getting closer and closer to the spy leader, it would be too late if they didn't show up.

 After arranging these, Zuo Zhong glanced at the photo again, called Gu Qi aside alone, and quietly assigned a task.

“Lao Gu, you immediately go to the local and several universities moving west to find the best botanists for me. We need their help now.

 The personnel must be reliable. It is best not to hire people who have studied in Japan. Not even people from Japan. You must hire them yourself and be sure to be quick.

If someone is unwilling to cooperate, I allow you to use coercive measures. Be careful and use intimidation. Don't really kill the person. "

 “Botanist? Okay, I understand.”

 Gu Qi was stunned for a moment. Although he was puzzled, as an old intelligence officer, he knew he shouldn't ask and didn't ask. He nodded and turned around and walked out of the command post, got in the car and drove away quickly.

After everyone left, Zuo Zhong walked slowly to the top of the building, lit a cigarette and quietly looked at the black smoke column in the distance, reviewing the actions of the past two days and checking for any omissions.

After a long time, the mobile phone in the space suddenly vibrated slightly. He lowered his head and looked at his watch. He realized that it was time to contact Old K. He looked back calmly, and after making sure that there was no one in the corridor, he took out his mobile phone and turned on the screen.

"Check the specific information on Guo Bin's supervision by the Jiangcheng Party Headquarters, Old K." After translating the text message, Zuo Zhong frowned, underground~ Why does the party want this Guo Bin's information? Could it be that the other party is one of its own, and the organization wants it? Check it out?

 Lao K really thinks highly of himself. The party headquarters of the Guo Party usually consists of five people: secretary-general, deputy secretary-general, executive member, supervisory member, and preparatory member.

Supervision ranks high among them. After the government moved westward, the Party Headquarters in Qicheng was strengthened and the security measures for these people were improved to prevent Japanese assassinations.

In this case, Guo Bin’s personnel files are only in the possession of the Party Headquarters of the Central Committee and higher-level agencies. They are confidential information and cannot be obtained by ordinary people.

But this was easy for the Deputy Director of the Secret Service. The archives of the Changcheng Office had what Old K needed. Zuo Zhong decided to go back and take some time to go there. He definitely didn't have time now.

 The case has now reached a critical moment, and he must devote all his attention to the case. He cannot be distracted and can only push back Old K's task.

Out of caution, he sent a message to ask about the time limit for completing the task. What if it was an emergency? Xu Enzeng was like a mad dog going around arresting underground party members, so there was no telling.

As a result, Old K's call back was very simple. He clearly told him when he would be free and when to check again. His safety would be the first consideration in everything, and he could give up the task if necessary.

Zuo Zhong felt relieved now, took back his cell phone and stubbed out his cigarette butts. From a high position, he saw the bald man leading someone to jump into a pond, while the old man Song Minghao was gesticulating from the side, and he couldn't help but reveal a smile on his face.

 Five hours later.

At the pier of the Hanyang Water Police Station, Zuo Zhong, wearing a windbreaker, stood on the shore, shaking hands with seven or eight scholar-looking old gentlemen respectfully and apologizing profusely.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. Zuo’s men are all rough people and have disturbed you all. I am here to apologize on his behalf.”

After speaking, he turned to look at Gu Qi, who had his head lowered, and sighed: "Lao Gu, what do you want me to say? These professors are national talents, how can you kidnap people from the campus!"

"Yes, this is all the fault of my humble position. In fact, this case involves Japanese spies and is related to the safety of frontline soldiers. I am worried that if time goes by, the Japanese spies will escape, so I took this step."

 Gu Qi "explained" the reason with a regretful look on his face, and bowed to the other party sincerely. Not only did he not have any objections in his heart, but he was very happy.

What does a subordinate do? Of course, he takes the blame for his superior. The deputy director allows him to take the blame because he thinks highly of him. Others are not qualified to take the blame. Naturally, he is secretly happy.

The professors almost laughed angrily when they saw the performance of these two spies. They were really devoted to academics, not nerds. They sang in unison as if others couldn't tell.

Everyone didn't want to talk to each other, but when they thought that this matter was related to Japanese spies, they hesitated a little. They looked at each other, and finally one person stood up.

This person claimed to be Qian, and his accent was from Zhejiang Province. He said that Gu Qi did not say there were Japanese spies in school, but only said that there was secret work that needed assistance, otherwise they would definitely be willing to come.

Zuo Zhong believed what he said. Among the intellectuals of this era, some chose to sell their country to seek glory, but more people refused the Japanese's solicitation and gave up their favorable living conditions.

 They adhere to the concept of serving the country with science, follow the national capital to move westward, and carry out research in extremely difficult environments. Among these people, a large number of top scientists will emerge in the future.

He solemnly apologized to several professors again, took them to an office at Shuishui Police Station, showed them the photo fragments that Wu Jingzhong found, and asked them a question.

“Professor Qian, I want to know the species, names, and especially distribution range of the plants on both sides of the road in this photo. This matter is of great importance.”

He didn't say anything unnecessary. It was for confidentiality and protection. If the Japanese spies knew that the professors were involved in the case, they might kill them and silence them.

 Professor Qian adjusted his glasses after hearing this, and bent down to look at it for a while with several others. Then they discussed quietly for a few minutes, and finally gave the answer.

“This is the crocodile, also known as poisonous bindweed. It is a plant of the genus Crops of the Apocynaceae family. It is a shrub with spreading upper branches. The branchlets are cylindrical, brown or dark purple, and the leaves have gray-white lenticels.

˜Widely distributed in Southeast Asia and my country. In the Republic of China, it was mainly distributed in hilly and mountainous areas, roadside sparse forests or hillside shrubs in Guizhou, Dian, Guangxi, Guangdong and Min provinces.

Its flowering period is from March to July, and its fruiting period is from June to February of the following year. Based on the analysis of surrounding species, we unanimously believe that the plant in the photo should grow in the three provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, and Min around December. "

Gu Qi was stunned. It was amazing that these professors could see so many things from one photo. No wonder the deputy director told him to bring the person here.

Zuo Chong’s eyes were also full of joy. With this conclusion, the scope of the photo shooting locations was suddenly reduced to three provinces, which saved a lot of time for the subsequent work.

He ordered the little agents to bring tea and water to the professors, called Gu Qi to come outside the room, and said something to the other party with a serious expression. Gu Qi nodded vigorously and ran out.

 Having a day off tomorrow, I would like to thank Cao Mianzi, TerinC and other book friends for their tips. I won’t list them all here. Thank you for your support~