Cicada Moving

Chapter 9 Strange Case

Zuo Zhong opened the file in confusion and found that it contained a case handled by the Jinling Police Station.

 It was not a big deal. The International Red Cross visited China, and a piece of jewelry was lost in the room of the British countess who was part of the delegation.

But the problem is that in order to entertain the so-called international friends, the wife of the Chairman arranged for the visiting group to stay in Tangshan Sanatorium.

Tangshan Sanatorium is a place where military and political dignitaries recuperate and rest. It is heavily guarded and the service staff in the Sanatorium are all carefully screened and reliable, and have never made any mistakes in the past.

 How did the thief steal the jewelry in such a place? The Jinling Police Department found nothing after investigation.

What is even more strange is that the cook in the sanatorium suddenly hanged himself with the lost jewelry under his feet.

 It involved an international friend, and there was a death in a place where powerful people hang out. The Jinling Police Department was unable to find out, so the case was handed over.

When Dai Chunfeng got the case, he was also confused. He thought Zuo Zhong was smart and might be able to see some clues.

Zuo Zhong frowned. This case seemed very simple. The thief committed suicide under pressure.

 But the question is, how did he steal it, and why did he commit suicide.

There is a division of labor in the nursing home. A chef to the guest room itself is very conspicuous. Why did the police station investigate before, and then the police station couldn't find anything. He couldn't wait to commit suicide?

The file also said that because the body could not be preserved, the police station burned the cook's body, leaving only an autopsy document. The theft case has now become an unsolved case.

Zuo Zhong asked curiously: "Teacher, this case is a bit weird, but shouldn't it be a case of our Secret Service?"

Dai Chunfeng said with a gloomy face: "It's not like the gang of villains from the Secret Service Headquarters are spreading rumors and causing trouble in front of the Chairman. Naturally, the Chairman will not be fooled. It's just that the Secret Service has spent a lot of money since its establishment, and we must give an explanation to the superiors and subordinates."

 So it is, this is a battle between two secret services, but it has nothing to do with Zuo Zhong, his mind is on the case file.

In modern times, it is not his turn as a detective to solve murder cases. Now that he has such an opportunity, Zuo Zhong definitely wants to return to his old profession.

After thinking about it, Zuo Zhong had a general idea in his mind. He raised his head and said, "Teacher, leave this case to me. Is this the work of the spy team?"

"You don't need to worry about this. I will talk to Zhao Lijun. If it doesn't work, just treat it as suicide out of fear of crime. The most important thing is to resolve the matter as soon as possible." Dai Chunfeng made a decision.

 “Yes, teacher.”

 After saying goodbye to Dai Chunfeng, Zuo Zhong returned to his dormitory and thought about the case over and over without feeling sleepy. Dai Chunfeng learned that the lights in Zuo Chong's room had not been extinguished all night, and he said in his heart that Shen finally did what he had ordered.

Going to work in the morning, Zuo Zhong first went to Zhao Lijun to report, and at the same time explained the mission given to him by Dai Chunfeng.

Zhao Lijun is indeed a little dissatisfied with Zuo Zhong because Song Minghao, the deputy leader of the espionage team, gave him a lot of money for his position as team leader.

Everything was going smoothly at first, and all aspects of the Secret Service were in place, but then a Zuo Zhong jumped out and took up the position.

At this time, Zhao Lijun was numb. He had spent all the money he received. After all, Zhao Lijun stabilized Song Minghao and promised to promote him if he had the opportunity in the future.

Zhao Lijun was no longer dissatisfied with Zuo Zhong, but he did not dare to go against Dai Chunfeng's instructions. After thinking for a long time, Zhao Lijun pretended to be unyielding and said: "Team leader Zuo, the department is nervous about using cars now. Several of Corey's cars are now in use. Now, I can only work hard for Team Leader Zuo.”

Zuo Zhong was not angry, and replied with a smile on his face: "It's okay, section chief, I'm still young, it doesn't matter if I walk more."

Zuo Zhong naturally wouldn't get angry on the spot. Zhao Lijun's little tricks can only disgust people. If you don't have a car, just borrow it.

He turned around and borrowed a Laoxue Fulai from Chen Gongshu, and took Wu Chunyang to Tangshan Sanatorium, because he could not drive a car from the Republic of China period.

On the way, Wu Chunyang said excitedly: "Instructor, I didn't expect to see you again."

"Well, let's communicate more in the future." Zuo Zhong didn't know the details of Wu Chunyang, so he couldn't say anything more. He could only listen to his words and watch his actions.

The sanatorium is located about 20 kilometers east of the Zhongshan Gate of Jinling. The car was an American classic car and the roads were poor. It took a long time for the car to reach the entrance of the Tangshan Sanatorium.

Because a murder occurred, the door is now locked. There are several soldiers standing at the door, led by a second lieutenant. After registering the two people's IDs in detail, the second lieutenant checked the car before letting them go.

The co-pilot Zuo Zhong asked curiously: "Brother, have inspections been so detailed in the past?"

The second lieutenant raised his head and glanced at him: "The people here are all dignitaries. If we keep doing this, we will be scolded. However, only familiar people and cars can enter. Anyone who is not familiar with it will be checked and registered."

This is in line with reality. Many places say they are heavily guarded, but in fact they are only targeting civilians. Zuo Zhong does not believe that Dai Chunfeng will be registered and inspected when he comes. As the car drove inside the sanatorium, Zuo Zhong found that the scenery was really good. The hot springs flowing down from the mountains of Tangshan Mountain were trickling continuously. From far away, you could see the steam rising like fairy mist. No wonder senior officials like to come here so much.

There were bursts of laughter in the distance, and Zuo Zhong saw a few men who looked like young men, leading a group of prostitutes to have fun, and the patrolling sentries turned a blind eye.

Zuo Zhong frowned, why could anyone come in? Then why didn't the Jinling Police Station notice it? Even if they did, they wouldn't dare to ask these young masters.

 After parking the car, Zuo Zhong did not go directly to the leader of the nursing home, but walked around the wall of the nursing home.

From the very beginning, Tangshan Sanatorium was designed to serve military and political dignitaries. Safety was the first requirement, so the walls were not only very high but also had barb wires.

There are troops stationed throughout the Tangshan area because there is the Tangshan Artillery School and the private villas of military and political figures. For example, Bald Tou has a villa in the nearby mountains.

Under such circumstances, the thief dared to steal jewelry from the countess's room, which was considered audacious. But such a bold person was so frightened that he hanged himself.

Zuo Zhong sneered and said, "Wu Chunyang, what would you do if you stole jewelry and caused a shocking incident?"

Wu Chunyang scratched his head: "Team leader, the sanatorium is so big, you can hide things wherever you like. When the inspection is not so strict, you can just take them out."

“Yeah, that’s why there’s a problem.” Zuo Zhong clasped his hands behind his back, as if he had thought of something.

 After saying that, Zuo Zhong didn’t waste any more time and went directly to the director of the sanatorium. The director was a lieutenant colonel, and Zuo Zhong was a small second lieutenant. He would naturally stand at attention and salute when he saw someone.

The dean was very enthusiastic when he heard that Zuo Zhong said that he was the person sent by the Secret Service to solve the case. He was also under pressure if the case was not solved, so he specially sent his own secretary to cooperate with the investigation.

Zuo Zhong asked his secretary to retrieve the files of all service staff in the sanatorium. There were more than 200 people in total, and there were more than 50 people who could freely enter the guest room area at any time.

These more than 50 people are basically service staff, all women in their teens and twenties.

The files of the nursing home are very detailed and even include photos. In addition to specific personal information, there are also information about important family members. There are also records of who recommended whom as the guarantor.

Zuo Zhong browsed through them one by one and found that these girls were basically distant relatives of military and political officials. Background checks had been done when they arrived, and a clean financial background was a basic requirement.

Of the more than 100 people left in the sanatorium, their origins are complicated. The chef comes from a certain hotel in Jinling, the gardener comes from a certain official’s house, the cleaners come from victims of the Jiangbei disaster, and so on.

Zuo Zhong flipped through a few of them and lost interest. The files on these people were very simple, with no photos or background checks, only basic information such as name, age, and address.

Although there was nothing gained, Zuo Zhong confirmed an idea, that is, the work performed by the room attendants in the sanatorium is very important, otherwise the sanatorium would not put so much effort into making files.

Zuo Zhong asked the president’s secretary: “Do you often hold meetings in your nursing home?”

The secretary was stunned: "Yes, the chairman and his wife like the hot springs in Tangshan very much. Some military and political meetings are held here."

“Let’s go, take me to the room where the crime occurred.” Zuo Zhong decided to go and see the crime scene.

So the secretary took Zuo Zhong and Wu Chunyang from the office building to the guest room area. The guest room was also surrounded by a circle of walls and barbed wire. To enter the guest room area, you have to pass through an iron gate, which is also guarded by several soldiers.

How did the chef get in? Did he climb over the wall or did the guard not pay attention? But looking at the guard's laziness, Zuo Zhongcai didn't care.

 The countess and her entourage live in a Western-style house with a single courtyard. The first floor is the living room and the attendant's room, and the second floor is the master bedroom suite. This was exactly what the dossier said. The Countess was sure that she locked the door to her suite every time she went out.

Zuo Zhong arrived at the door of the suite in silence. He took a look and said angrily: "Who changed the door lock? Don't you know the simple truth of protecting the scene?"

The secretary was also stunned and hurriedly explained: "Sir, please calm down. I can guarantee that the scene is like this. The countess moved to the city after the incident. There are no other guests in the guest room area for the time being. No one else has been here except the police station."

Twisted the door lock that was working well, Zuo Zhong said nothing and walked directly into the guest room. The interior was still in the same condition as the day the crime occurred. It seemed that the Jinling Police Station was not all waste.

 Things in the room were turned around in a mess, all the drawers were opened, and even the mattress was removed. He turned left and right, walked to the window again, opened it and took a look, and found that there was nothing.

Zuo Zhong stood by the window and said nothing. Wu Chunyang and his secretary were also silent. After a while, Zuo Zhong turned on the light in the room again and carefully observed the ground.

 It's a pity that it has been many days since the crime occurred, and the footprints in the room are very confusing and nothing can be seen. Zuo Zhong walked to the bed again, lowered his head and looked at the bottom of the bed. It was very clean, as if it had been specially cleaned.

Zuo Zhong looked solemn. This was not a jewelry theft or a simple murder case. Zuo Zhong directly asked his secretary to take him to the phone room. He had important information to report to Dai Chunfeng!

 (End of this chapter)