Propelled headlong into the relentless currents of history, Ji Yu finds himself transplanted to the tumultuous prelude to WWII.
Once an ordinary civil servant in his modern existence, Ji Yu i...
Hearing the bodyguard's answer, Li Zhiqun felt slightly relieved, but this did not completely dispel his suspicions. He then called the bartender over and asked, "Think carefully, who used that public phone around 8 p.m.?"
Upon hearing this, the waiter said with a bitter face, "Sir, I really don't know. As you can see, there are just too many people in this dance hall. The bar seats have never been empty. I've been surrounded by people all night, so I really haven't had time to watch the phone and I can't remember who made the call."
Li Zhiqun stared intently at the waiter, carefully observing his subtle movements. Finally, he nodded. He knew that under such circumstances, it was a bit of a stretch to expect a waiter to pay attention to such an insignificant detail.
"Do you know Hu Yunhe?"
“I know him; he comes almost every night.”
Was he at the bar yesterday?
"No, I can confirm that."
"Take him away!" Li Zhiqun waved him away, and the waiter's words once again confirmed the two bodyguards' account.
At this moment, only the red-clad dancer, Shen Manli, remained. This woman was also quite frightened. Ever since Hu Yunhe disappeared, she had been kept under surveillance and had not been free. Now, being watched by Li Zhiqun, she was trembling with fear and dared not speak.
Li Zhiqun asked coldly, "Were you with Hu Yunhe all night?"
Shen Manli quickly replied, "No, sometimes he goes to dance with other partners. As you know, we make a living by dancing with partners. I have more than one friend, Yunhe, and he has more than one dance partner. We've just gotten to know each other better recently. This night, I just spent more time with him; we weren't together the whole time."
This answer disappointed Li Zhiqun somewhat. There were simply too many people in the dance hall, and he couldn't possibly confirm all of Hu Yunhe's whereabouts.
Li Zhiqun inquired in detail about Hu Yunhe's usual situation, but Shen Manli didn't know much either. Her relationship with Hu Yunhe was nothing more than mutual benefit, and it was all about money. Besides, Hu Yunhe wouldn't tell her too much.
The final inquiry did not yield ideal results, and the verification of the dance hall customers also revealed no problems. Li Zhiqun had no choice but to order the team to retreat, and the group returned to the Special Agent Headquarters.
In Li Zhiqun's office, he and Luo Xingchao sat facing each other, carefully analyzing the many events that had occurred that night.
"Xingchao, what are your thoughts on everything that happened tonight? Do you have a concrete plan?"
Li Zhiqun had great confidence in Luo Xingchao's intelligence capabilities, so he wanted to ask for his opinion.
Luo Xingchao's expression was solemn. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Director, Huang Lihui's escape and Hu Yunhe's disappearance are definitely related. The call that alerted Huang Lihui came from Dahua Ballroom, which means that the leaker was in Dahua Ballroom at the time. And Hu Yunhe was in Dahua Ballroom at that time. Don't you think it's too much of a coincidence?"
Li Zhiqun agreed with Luo Xingchao's point of view. He was also a cautious and suspicious person who was suspicious of everyone. Since Hu Yunhe was so suspicious, he certainly wouldn't let him go, but he needed evidence.
So he put himself in Hu Yunhe's shoes and tried to refute Luo Xingchao's assumption from Hu Yunhe's perspective. He said in a deep voice, "You think Hu Yunhe is the leaker? But his bodyguard testified that he did not approach the bar counter all night, which means he did not make that call. In addition, he did not know about our surveillance of Huang Lihui's actions, so there is no question of him leaking information."
"You don't necessarily have to make the call yourself. It's just a warning code. You just need to instruct any accomplice to make the call. It's not difficult."
To be honest, I've always felt that those two drunkards who caused trouble were not simple people. They might have been Hu Yunhe's accomplices. Their trouble-making was to cover for Hu Yunhe's escape. From this perspective, Hu Yunhe wasn't alone in the dance hall at the time; he had accomplices.
Moreover, that's not what I'm most concerned about. Rather, it's the identity of the leaker, Director. We've been monitoring Huang Lihui for several days now, and nothing had gone wrong until tonight. So, I believe the leaker is someone who just received the information today. And this afternoon, when I went to report to you, Hu Yunhe was also present.”
Li Zhiqun, of course, remembered what happened that afternoon. After recalling it carefully, he sighed softly and nodded, saying, "I remember when you came in, you said, 'The case has made significant progress,' but then I had Hu Yunhe leave. What could he possibly know from just one sentence?"
Luo Xingchao shook his head and said, "I have been in charge of investigating the Shanghai station of the Military Intelligence Bureau for some time now. As the director of the Second Division, Hu Yunhe should know about this situation, so this sentence is enough to point him in the right direction."
At this point, Luo Xingchao seemed hesitant and unsure of what to say. Seeing this, Li Zhiqun quickly urged, "Xingchao, what's there to hide between us? Speak your mind!"
Hearing Li Zhiqun's urging, Luo Xingchao gritted his teeth and nodded, saying, "Director, actually, there's another reason why I suspect Hu Yunhe, but I'm not quite sure."
"What's the reason?" Li Zhiqun asked urgently.
“I suspect that Hu Yunhe learned about the surveillance of Huang Lihui from me.”
"What?" Li Zhiqun was shocked. Luo Xingchao was an experienced veteran agent who was meticulous in his work and whose abilities were no less than his own. How could he have made such a mistake?
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