When 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, they all looked a little disappointed.
Due to their safety, solidity, strong power, and impressive appearance, Buick sedans were especially favored by the wealthy and government officials, and were widely owned throughout the Republic of China.
In this way, the possibility of using cars to investigate people is slim. 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 type of scissors is only used by photography enthusiasts and photography shops. Its 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: could he 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 was indeed a way. At the same time, he also had new guesses about the target's identity. The other party's economic conditions and social status should be quite good.
There are reasons for making this judgment, and there are two specific reasons.
First of all, for the photos taken by the intelligence investigation, it is impossible for the spy leader to send the negatives to an outside photography shop for development. He must process them himself.
In other words, using lace scissors to crop a photo is most likely done by this person casually or in a habitual way. (A certain character may not be used and will be replaced by Diao by default in the future)
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 photographic 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 activity. Expensive cameras were not mentioned for the moment. The cost of buying a roll of film alone 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.
Therefore, whether it is opening a shop, work needs, or personal hobby, 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.
Regarding 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 I like photography, or my job 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 that all shops selling photographic equipment, photo studios, and senior reporters from large and small newspapers in Qicheng be scouted and monitored.
This work was handed over to Wu Chunyang, Shen Dongxin, and Wu Jingzhong, who were originally responsible for the search. They were good at intelligence operations, and their basic skills were observing words and deceiving others.
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 me the best botanists. We need their help now.
The staff must be reliable, and it is best not to hire someone who has studied in Japan, or someone from Japan. You must hire someone yourself, and you must be quick.
If someone is unwilling to cooperate, I allow you to use coercive means. Be careful and use intimidation. Don't actually 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 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 content of the text message, Zuo Zhong frowned and asked, "Why does the underground party want this Guo Bin's information? Is the other party one of our own? Does the organization need to review it?"
Old K really thinks highly of himself. The party headquarters of the Fruit 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 national government moved westward, the Party Headquarters in Changcheng 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 Central Party Committee and higher-level agencies. They are confidential information and are really not accessible to ordinary people.
But this was easy for the deputy director of the Secret Service. There was something that Old K needed in the archives of the Changcheng Office. Zuo Zhong decided to go back and take some time to go there. He definitely didn't have time now.
Now that the case has reached a critical moment, he must put all his attention on the case and cannot be distracted. He can only push back the task of Old K.
Out of caution, he sent a message to ask the other party 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, Lao K's call back was very simple, clearly telling him when he would be free and when to check again. His safety would be the first consideration in everything, and he could abandon the task if necessary.
Zuo Zhong was relieved now. He 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. A smile appeared on his face.
Five hours later.
At the pier of the Hanyang Water Police Station, Zuo Zhong, dressed in 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 guys and have disturbed you all. I'm 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 was worried that the Japanese spies would escape if it took too long, so I made this move."
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 thinks highly of him by allowing him to take the blame. 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 special agents. They were really devoted to academics, not nerds. They sang in harmony like no one else could 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 that his surname was Qian, and his accent was from Zhejiang Province. He said that Gu Qi did not say that there were spies in school, but only 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 for glory, but more people refused the Japanese's solicitation and gave up their favorable living conditions.
Adhering to the concept of serving the country with science, they followed the national capital to move westward and carried out research in extremely difficult environments. Among these people, a large number of top scientists emerged in the future.
He solemnly apologized to several professors again,
He took the other party to an office at the Shuishui Police Station, showed the other party the fragments of photos that Wu Jingzhong had found, and asked him a question.
"Professor Qian, I want to know the species and names of the plants on both sides of the road in this photo, especially their distribution range. This matter is of great importance."
He didn't say anything unnecessary, both for confidentiality and for protection. If the Japanese spies knew that the professors were involved in the case, they might kill them and silence them.
After hearing this, Professor Qian adjusted his glasses, bent down and looked at it for a while with several others, then discussed in a low voice for a few minutes, and finally gave the answer.
"This is Amaranth, also known as poisonous bindweed. It is a plant 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.
It is widely distributed in Southeast Asia and my country. In the Republic of China, it was mainly distributed in the hills and mountains, roadside sparse forests or hillside bushes in Guizhou, Yunnan, 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 Zhong'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 spies 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.
