However, every time this person met Gu Zhengqing, he was always disguised and made some kind of disguise, and each disguise was slightly different, so the managers and waiters described him differently, but in their descriptions, this person's height was always the same.

This is a master of disguise!

Ning Zhiheng secretly concluded that the other party was also very cautious, always disguising themselves before meeting Gu Zhengqing, so as not to leave a clear impression on others.

Finally, Ning Zhiheng gave up on his plan to draw a portrait, reluctantly put down his pen and paper, and then asked, "How long do the two of you talk each time you meet?"

The answers I received this time were also different. I only remembered two of the waiters. One said it would take about two hours, and the other said it would take about three hours.

Upon hearing their response, Ning Zhiheng's eyes flickered. The time that intelligence team members spend meeting should be as short as possible. Generally, they should separate as soon as they finish exchanging information to ensure safety. Even if they are talking about business, it should only take ten or twenty minutes at most. However, it is not normal for these two to stay in a room for several hours.

This doesn't look like a rendezvous; it looks more like a lovers' date!

Ning Zhiheng's mind raced. According to the hotel manager and staff, Gu Zhengqing had been in contact with his superior for the past six months, sometimes for seven or eight days, sometimes for more than ten days, and the longest this time was only a little over a month.

Even though Gu Zhengqing was a core member of the decryption room, he only dealt with some unknown codes. There was no need for him to transmit so much classified information, and he didn't need to have such frequent contact with his superiors.

Considering the previous assessment, this contact was skilled at disguise, and each meeting lasted two to three hours.

Ning Zhiheng suddenly realized that this person on the other end of the line must be a woman. She and Gu Zhengqing were not meeting, but dating, or rather, meeting while having a romantic date.

However, this is only a guess, and everything still needs further verification. With that in mind, Ning Zhiheng quickly walked to Gu Zhengqing's body and began to examine it carefully.

Gu Zhengqing was stabbed in the chest, but he died face down. This suggests that the murderer attacked Gu Zhengqing from behind, causing him to fall forward and end up in this position.

The advantage of doing this is that the murderer can launch a surprise attack, catching Gu Zhengqing off guard, while avoiding a direct assassination. You see, a direct assassination would easily result in Gu Zhengqing's blood being sprayed on the murderer, and the murderer would be seen during the retreat, thus revealing a flaw and making it easy for others to discover.

Ning Zhiheng turned to Yu Cheng and asked, "When the murderer made his move, didn't you hear any noise in the next room?"

Yu Cheng shook his head awkwardly and replied, "No, I didn't hear a sound at all."

"How long was the hair of the waiter you saw?"

"Hair? His hair was wrapped up, so you couldn't tell how long it was."

People in Sichuan have a custom of wrapping their heads with cloth, and you can see men and women with wrapped heads everywhere on the streets, making it difficult to distinguish them.

Ning Zhiheng was somewhat disappointed. He then asked, "How tall is he, approximately?"

Yu Cheng thought for a moment and then said, "He wasn't very tall, probably..."

He looked around and then pointed to a waiter, saying, "About the same as him."

The waiter was not tall, only about 1.62 or 1.63 meters, which is relatively short for a man, matching the description given by the hotel manager and other staff.

Ning Zhiheng turned his head and looked at Gu Zhengqing's body. He estimated Gu Zhengqing's approximate height, then squatted down and carefully examined Gu Zhengqing's coat collar and shoulders.

Gu Zhengqing is about 1.73 to 1.74 meters tall, while the murderer is about 1.62 meters tall. If the murderer attacked him from behind and wanted to ensure that Gu Zhengqing would not make a sound, then one hand would cover Gu Zhengqing's mouth from behind, while the other hand would hold a short-bladed dagger, go around the body, and stab upwards, close to the ribs and into the heart, while twisting the dagger to widen the wound. Doing this would make Gu Zhengqing lose his ability to resist in a very short time.

If this is the position, given the murderer's height, his head must be close to the back of Gu Zhengqing's neck or shoulder. If the murderer is a woman, she may have makeup or perfume on her face, which might have stained Gu Zhengqing.

Ning Zhiheng carefully examined the two areas and sniffed them. Although Gu Zhengqing's body was covered in blood and smelled of blood, there was no blood on the back of his collar and shoulders. Ning Zhiheng's eyesight and sense of smell were far superior to ordinary people, and soon he could smell a trace of perfume.

In particular, he discovered a very faint red mark on the back of Gu Zhengqing's collar. Upon closer inspection, it was not the same color as blood, but rather resembled the shape of a lip.

That makes sense. The murderer must be a woman. Although she made some changes to her appearance, she didn't completely eliminate some of the characteristics of a woman. The lipstick on her lips wasn't wiped off. While she was tightly strangling Gu Zhengqing's neck, her lips were stuck tightly to the back of Gu Zhengqing's collar, leaving a very faint mark.

With this judgment, Ning Zhiheng felt much more at ease, as everything made sense.

Gu Zhengqing's contact was a woman, and the two of them were lovers. When Gu Zhengqing first contacted this contact, it was more like a date.

However, they met less and less frequently afterward, especially after Yi Dong's death, when they completely lost contact. It is likely that the Japanese put Gu Zhengqing into hiding to avoid internal investigations by the Military Intelligence Bureau. After all, they could not guarantee that the Military Intelligence Bureau would not become suspicious of Yi Dong's death.

But why did this contact suddenly try to kill Gu Zhengqing during this meeting? Why would such an important intelligence agent be given up so easily? What exactly happened? Ning Zhiheng pondered deeply but could not find the right answer.

______

Changfeng's new book, "Secret War Without a Trace," tells the story of Chen Miao, also known as Chen Sanshui, a comrade of our Party who infiltrated the Kuomintang's Military Intelligence Bureau. He unexpectedly entered No. 76 and was mistakenly regarded as a shameful "traitor." In reality, he was ordered by the Party organization to infiltrate No. 76 to secretly collect intelligence, protect our underground Party comrades and other anti-Japanese fighters, and engage in a hard-fought and arduous battle of wits and courage with his comrades against the Japanese and their puppet regime.

This book is also known as: Without a Trace