cicada

Chapter 1315 Footprints
It rained heavily all night, and all the Military Intelligence Bureau agents, including Zuo Chong, stayed up all night, guarding the ditch to protect the footprints they had just discovered.

In the middle of the night, rainwater almost broke through the drainage ditch and flowed into the ditch. Fortunately, it was discovered in time and the agents cleared it in the rain, so that the only clue was not lost.

After daybreak, more technicians and equipment arrived and the footprint extraction work started.

Modern footprint identification research in the Republic of China began in 1932, when the Ministry of Justice established the Forensic Institute in Shanghai, which was the most authoritative forensic identification agency and forensic medicine research institution of the national government.

Based on the research results of the Forensic Institute, the Military Control Commission's technical department had long since mastered the footprint inspection technology through actual combat.

As soon as the technicians arrived at the scene, they first drove wooden stakes on both sides of the ditch to prevent the ditch walls from collapsing and destroying the evidence. They then used diesel generators and tungsten filament lamps to thoroughly illuminate the ditch.

After the preparations were completed, the two young agents slowly went down into the ditch, holding ropes, measuring tapes and cameras and began to take pictures and survey.

After preliminary investigation, a total of eleven pairs of footprints belonging to different people were found at the scene. Most of the footprints were in poor condition, and only three pairs of footprints were relatively clear.

"The footprints were found at the suspect A's location. The footprints were 27.3 centimeters long, 10.4 centimeters wide, 0.8 centimeters deep, and the stride was about 85 centimeters."

"Suspect B, footprint length 25.6 cm, width 9.2 cm, depth about 1.2 cm, stride length 80 cm."

"Suspect C's footprints were 28.5 centimeters long, 11.0 centimeters wide, about 0.6 centimeters deep, and 85 centimeters in stride."

While investigating, the two young spies loudly reported the situation above the ditch. The recorder quickly recorded the situation with a pen in his hand and drew a schematic diagram at the same time.

After this step, the survey work enters the next process. Professional environmental surveyors jump into the ditch with hygrometers and thermometers to measure the environmental factors on site.

Different environmental conditions will affect the shape and recognizability of footprints, so the temperature and soil moisture on site must be analyzed to assess the preservation time and deformation of the footprints.

After all the above work was completed, through some calculations and comparisons, Song Minghao took the report to Zuo Chong and reported the results of the footprint identification.

"Secretary, the soles of suspect A's shoes have bas-relief patterns in the form of cross-stripes in a distinct single pattern. The soles are worn evenly, indicating that the shoes have been used for some time, but not to an extreme degree of wear."

"Based on the length of his feet, he is estimated to be about 178-182cm tall. Based on the depth of his footprints and the width of his feet, he weighs 75-85kg. His steps are relatively even and his walking speed is normal."

Song Minghao read out the contents of the report, and Zuo Chong was a little surprised.

The weather station was bombed and the biggest beneficiaries were the Japanese. Based on this line of thought, the murderer should be a Japanese intelligence officer.

But the suspect mentioned above is considered a burly man even in the West, and is rarely seen in Japan.

Let’s not talk about whether there are such strong men in the Japanese intelligence agencies. Even if there are, such people should not become covert operations personnel because they are too conspicuous and can easily be remembered by witnesses.

While Zuo Zhong was thinking, Song Minghao continued to report the situation of B and C. Similar to A, these two suspects were also much taller than ordinary people.

B is approximately 175-180 cm tall and weighs 70-80 kg.

C is 180-185 cm tall and weighs 85-95 kg.

After Song Minghao closed the report, he asked the question in his mind: "Co-pilot, judging from the height and weight, the suspects seem to be very strong. It should not be difficult to find witnesses, but why didn't we find any?"

Yes, why didn’t you notice it? Zuo Zhong nodded slightly, looked towards the northeast, and after a moment he suddenly turned back and asked.

"Old Song, this is northeast of the weather station, right?"

"Yes, Vice-President."

"That is to say, the weather station and the ditch are both in the southwest of the Jialing River, and the ditch is located between the weather station and the Jialing River." Zuo Zhong said affirmatively: "It seems that our previous speculation was correct. The suspect did go to the weather station by water."

Song Minghao knew what Zuo Zhong meant by this sentence. The Jialing River, Tugou and the weather station were on the same line. This must not be a coincidence. He roughly outlined the murderer's route in his mind.

The murderer landed at the riverside, concealed his tracks, ran all the way to the ditch and hid there, waited until dark and approached the weather station, and after completing the mission, he returned along the same route and boarded the ship and left.

After thinking about it, Song Minghao gave his opinion: "Deputy Commander, now it depends on Chunyang's investigation. It is impossible that no one noticed so many strong men.

Even if the suspects live and eat on the boat, they still have to buy supplies or refuel and coal, and patrols on the river are so frequent, someone must have seen them. "

This is true. No matter whether the suspect comes from other places or travels from the mountain city to the weather station, as long as he takes a boat, he will definitely encounter inspections on the way. When it comes to making money, these people in the Kuomintang government can definitely be said to be conscientious.

Zuo Zhong pondered for a moment, then shouted to the young spy, "Report the results of the footprint inspection to Director Wu, and tell him to expand the scope of the investigation if nothing is found."

Shancheng, the headquarters of Gelaohui Wenren Tang (Section 899).

Wu Chunyang was chatting casually with Sun Renyi, the flag bearer of Wenrentang. Sun Renyi had cooperated with the Military Control Commission for many years and was considered a peripheral force of the Military Control Commission.

This time, when investigating the murderer, Wu Chunyang contacted the other party first. It is better to use someone familiar than an unfamiliar one. Moreover, Wen Ren Tang is much stronger now than before and has firmly established itself as the leader of the Shancheng Gelaohui. With the protection of the Military Control Commission and the National Police Agency above and huge financial support (copy of the Japanese yen) below, if this cannot make a name for itself, the Military Control Commission will have to consider changing someone to support.

Sun Renyi glanced at Wu Chunyang quietly and said flatteringly: "Director Wu, I don't know why you are looking for those people. If there is a case, I can find a few people to take the blame."

"Haha, take the blame?"

Wu Chunyang put down the tea bowl in his hand and squinted his eyes: "Are you sure you want your people to take the blame for the case that our military is investigating?"

Hearing this, Sun Renyi laughed dryly and slapped himself a few times: "I was wrong. Don't worry, I have already sent out all the people, and there will be news soon."

Being a dog requires a habit. Sun Zhangqi, who used to be somewhat unruly, completely lost all other ideas after witnessing the power of the Military Control Commission. Now he just wants to follow the Military Control Commission and reap the benefits.

At this time, a young spy walked up to Wu Chunyang and whispered a few words in his ear, and handed him a document. Wu Chunyang nodded, pushed the document to Sun Renyi and said.

"Old Sun, have your people focus on checking those with tall statures. This is the specific screening criteria. Is that ok?"

Sun Renyi took it and looked at it, then immediately patted his chest. There were three of them, all tall and strong, so it shouldn't be difficult to find them.

But something embarrassing happened. After a day, Wenrentang's brothers searched all along the Jialing River and on the ships, but still found no clues.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

Fishermen, sailors, dock workers, coal yard laborers, and even small vendors, these members of the Gelaohui who rely on the Jialing River for a living, none of them have ever seen a suspicious person who meets the criteria.

In addition, an operation to check government and military ships also ended in failure.

Upon learning that the investigation was related to the weather station sabotage case, all relevant agencies fully cooperated and handed over all the suspects, no matter who was involved in the case.

The spies questioned relevant personnel and the results showed that, except for foreign warships, all ships on the Jialing River had been inspected and the personnel had been registered before and after the incident.

If there are indeed passengers or crew members who meet the screening criteria, the agents will immediately track them down, either by visiting them in person or contacting the company to which the ship belongs.

However, after background checks and verification of their whereabouts at the time of the crime, these people were ruled out as suspects one by one, and the investigation seemed to have reached a dead end.

After receiving the report from his subordinates, Wu Chunyang looked uncertain. There were only two reasons for the current situation.

Either their speculation was wrong, and the murderer did not reach the weather station by water, at least he did not take the Jialing River.

Or the murderer was on a foreign warship.

The first one is easy to investigate. To the north of Shancheng city is the Jialing River, and to the south is the Yangtze River. Since nothing has been found in the Jialing River, let Wenrentang investigate the latter. Maybe the murderer deliberately created confusion and took the Yangtze River route.

The real trouble is the second one. Since the previous dynasty, many countries have stationed fleets in the coastal areas and port cities of the Republic of China.

After the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, some foreign ships that were originally docked along the coast and in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River returned to their homelands or colonies, while others followed the national government and moved west to the mountain city.

As of this year, there are still several British and American gunboats that have not left the Republic of China.

These warships were certainly not kept in the mountain city to protect the national government, but to protect the commercial and political interests of their respective countries. They rampaged on the river, making the fishermen of the Republic of China miserable.

When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and Europe and the United States declared war on Japan, the British and American warships stationed in Shancheng were blocked in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

Even so, the other side still acted perversely. Not only did they forcibly demand supplies from the National Government, but the sailors on the ship also harassed female students of the Republic of China many times, causing great dissatisfaction among the people.

It would be better to hope that the Japanese will withdraw their troops than to expect these bastards to cooperate with the Military Control Commission. Wu Chunyang thought about it and felt that it didn't matter if he didn't investigate.

The British's Asian colonies were being attacked by the Japanese, and they needed the government's support on Asian affairs. There was no reason for them to destroy the weather station.

It is even more impossible for the Americans to do so. The weather station was built by the Americans with the help of the Kuomintang government, and the one who died was an American expert. How could they fight against themselves?

The murderer's origin is currently unknown. The only thing that is certain is that the murderer may have bribed the British and American fleets in Chongqing to use as a means of transportation to and from the scene.

Wu Chunyang's eyes flashed, and he whispered to his men to check the financial situation of the British and American sailors staying in Chongqing, especially the officers, with a focus on whether they had large deposits in the bank or rented safes.

There are many foreign banks in the mountain city. These people would not be stupid enough to keep the cash and gold bars they received with them. They would definitely keep them in the bank, otherwise it would be tantamount to telling everyone that there is something wrong with them.

Once it is discovered that the officers of the British and American fleets have unknown income or have stored valuables in safes, the case will become clear.

Wu Chunyang was convinced that if the British and Americans had a secret deal with the murderer, they would definitely make preparations for both scenarios, such as remembering the murderer's characteristics and selling this information when necessary.

Two days later, one week before Melos left for the Republic of China, the four investigation directions determined by Zuo Zhong were basically completed, and everyone held a second meeting at the meteorological station.