Spying

23 The Second String

After finding an excuse to send Lan Youyin and Shen Tong away, Li Helin stood with his back turned, staring at the map on the wall for a long time. He seemed to be comparing the feasibility of two routes—one by water and one by land—to transport Han Guizhang out of the capital.

After a while, he turned around and asked Ren Shaobai, who was still in the office, “What do you think of Lan Youyin?”

Ren Shaobai was momentarily caught off guard. Was Li Helin asking about Lan Youyin’s reasoning… or about her as a person?

“Why is she so actively involved in this investigation?”

“Wasn’t it you who assigned her to assist at the Communications Headquarters?”

“It was Shen Tong who recommended her, but Shen Tong is definitely above suspicion.” Li Helin’s tone was firm, though he didn’t explain why he was so certain, despite noticing the flicker of doubt in Ren Shaobai’s eyes. “The issue lies with Lan Youyin. I know that when the Second Department was first established, someone tried to recruit her, but she remained content in the First Department, keeping a low profile. So why, this time, did she agree as soon as Shen Tong suggested it?”

Ren Shaobai hesitated before replying, “Are you suggesting she might have ulterior motives? Like wanting to participate to understand… or even interfere with our investigation?”

Hearing this, Li Helin took a step back. “Is that what you think? I didn’t say that.”

Ren Shaobai thought to himself, That’s exactly what you meant.

“Earlier, we did speculate that Han Guizhang might have an inside contact in the Ministry of Defense. Should I look into Section Chief Lan’s records to see if there’s any possibility she knew Han Guizhang before?”

Li Helin didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he gave Ren Shaobai a meaningful look and said half-jokingly, “Don’t use this as an opportunity for petty revenge just because she criticized you a couple of times.”

“Professor…” Ren Shaobai feigned exasperation. “I’m not that narrow-minded.”

Li Helin chuckled. “Fine, go ahead and check. Report to me if you find anything suspicious. Though I doubt you’ll uncover much—she works in personnel herself, so if there were anything incriminating, she would’ve covered it up long ago. As for whether she’s Han Guizhang’s inside contact… Keep an eye on her. I do think she has her own agenda, and Shen Tong is young—she might be easily deceived.”

“Understood,” Ren Shaobai replied.

Yet, after leaving the office, his mind was anything but calm.

On the surface, Li Helin seemed to be casting suspicion on Lan Youyin’s motives, which might have given Ren Shaobai—the real inside man—a chance to hide behind her. But he felt no relief from this. If Li Helin could start doubting Lan Youyin the moment she joined the investigation, had he also begun secretly questioning Ren Shaobai when he became his closest confidential secretary?

Since the day after Han Guizhang’s escape, the temporary investigation team had been holding daily noon meetings. These briefings, meant for sharing intelligence, not only prevented redundant efforts but also allowed scattered information gathered by different individuals to piece together into the complete picture everyone hoped to see.

Today, the meeting location had shifted from the Ministry of Defense to the Confidentiality Bureau—to avoid giving the impression that the highest military authority was expending so much effort on tracking down a single person.

Or so claimed the director of the Second Department, in an act of willful ignorance.Before entering the conference room, Ren Shaobai watched as technicians tested the room's soundproofing and checked for listening devices.

Shen Tong asked curiously, "Why doesn't the Ministry of National Defense do this before meetings at their headquarters?"

Ren Shaobai replied, "The entire Ministry of National Defense building undergoes regular electromagnetic shielding, and there are no other buildings nearby, making wireless eavesdropping impossible."

The implication was that the Confidentiality Bureau was a different story.

But Shen Tong seemed oblivious to his subtext and abruptly remarked, "So Mr. Ren feels comfortable using the ministry's phone for personal matters?"

Ren Shaobai turned to look at her, only to see her smiling face, as if the question had been purely out of curiosity, with no ulterior motive.

"It was Sister Youyin who noticed while reviewing the ministry's phone records for August 7th—a call to the Zhejiang Industrial Bank's branch at Xinjiekou? What? Is Mr. Ren also keeping an eye on the real-time exchange rate between Gold Yuan and gold, eager to make a move?"

—To enforce currency reform, the Nationalist government would ban the circulation of gold, silver, and foreign currency starting on the 19th of this month. Government officials with advance knowledge of the policy were scrambling to buy. Thus, Ren Shaobai's urgent call to Peng Yongcheng, mixed in with others making calls to bank clerks during work hours, wasn't unusual.

"But don't worry, Mr. Ren, I won't report to the director that you were slacking off during work hours," Shen Tong added.

Ren Shaobai clasped his hands and bowed slightly to her, saying, "Thank you for your understanding, Miss Shen." He glanced around and asked, "Is Section Chief Lan not here today?"

"The First Department is swamped today. She said she'd be late."

"Oh, Section Chief Lan is truly indispensable, isn't she?"

Shen Tong gave Ren Shaobai a sidelong glance. "Mr. Ren, why do I feel like you're putting on an act when you speak?"

"Me?" Ren Shaobai feigned surprise. "How so?"

"You're full of knowledge but always pretend to know nothing."

Ren Shaobai raised an eyebrow, but before he could respond, the conference room was ready. Lu Peng stood up at the front, cleared his throat, and began presiding over the day's briefing.

This was the first time Ren Shaobai learned the specifics of Yang Kaizhi's assassination. When he heard about the bullet's unique properties, his mind felt as if struck by an invisible shot, exploding with realization. As Lu Peng said, "Shaobai, I assume you know where this type of bullet comes from," all eyes in the room turned to him.

Ren Shaobai nodded and said, "When I was in charge of military supplies at the Fourth Department, this special type of bullet was only issued to American-equipped forces. However, the 73rd, 74th, and 94th armies haven't completed their reorganization yet, so currently, the Ministry of National Defense has only distributed them to the 5th and 18th armies—though we don't know when the killer acquired them. If there's a bullet serial number, we could confirm it."

"The serial number was filed off," Lu Peng said regretfully.

"Then tracing the bullet's origin will be difficult."

At that moment, Shen Tong suddenly raised her hand. "In the case of Liu... Liu Kangjie from the Third Department, who was suspected of Communist affiliation, wasn't the batch of military equipment he reported allocated under the 5th Army's designation?"The meeting room erupted in an uproar as everyone suddenly realized—the weapon that killed Yang Kaizhi had been delivered right into the hands of the Communist Party by their own people.

Ren Shaobai, meanwhile, picked up his earlier train of thought, interrupted moments before—the predawn hours at the Rongji Salt Company warehouse in Puzhen over half a month ago, just before the weapons were transferred. The damp air, the metallic tang of rust, the poorly covered manhole, the nearly imperceptible breathing hidden beneath the sound of flowing water in the sewer pipes...

As the murmurs in the room gradually subsided, Lu Peng's expression turned peculiar. He first echoed Shen Tong's words: "That batch of weapons was later confirmed to have been sent to the Communist forces in Huaye. If that's the case, then it seems to confirm the killer was from the Communist Party's Action Team. But—"

The door to the meeting room swung open, revealing the tardy Lan Youyin. Seeing Shen Tong subtly beckoning her, she walked over under the watchful eyes of the others—they all knew she had deciphered the intercepted message at the Second Department's communications desk, and now regarded her with newfound respect.

Lu Peng waited until Lan Youyin had taken her seat before continuing: "But there were no signs of a gunfight or struggle at the scene. The killer shot Yang at close range, straight on. If it really had been an armed Action Team, they wouldn’t have left such a clean scene."

"Could it have been just one person firing?" someone asked.

"But Director Yang's gun was still in its holster, meaning he wasn’t on guard at all. He was in the middle of a pursuit operation—how could he have been so unprepared?"

Li Helin, who had remained silent until now, spoke up: "You're suggesting the killer wasn’t from the Communist Party—or at least, Director Yang didn’t perceive them as such."

"It was someone he knew," Lu Peng said.

The room erupted again. Lu Peng's words implied one of two things: either there was a Communist mole among Yang Kaizhi's acquaintances who had taken him by surprise, or the person who killed Yang had nothing to do with the Communist fugitive he had been chasing at the time.

At this point, Lan Youyin raised her hand and asked, "Why couldn’t it have been Han Guizhang himself?"

"That possibility was ruled out from the start," Ren Shaobai interjected, seated parallel to her with Shen Tong between them. "Han Guizhang's sidearm didn’t match the bullet. The Northwest Army’s ammunition records are clear."

"How do you know he only had one gun?"

"But he couldn’t have gotten his hands on that ammunition." Ren Shaobai helpfully slid the ballistic analysis report toward her. "That type of bullet is standard issue for the U.S.-equipped forces."

"The U.S.-equipped forces... The former commander of the 73rd Army was Li Xianzhou, who was captured in Laiwu."

As Lan Youyin's words hung in the air, not just Ren Shaobai but even Lu Peng and Li Helin were stunned—they had all overlooked this detail. Before Han Guizhang was transferred to the Northwest Military-Political Office, hadn’t he served under Li Xianzhou?

"Still impossible," Ren Shaobai reflexively countered.

"Why?"

"Director Yang didn’t even draw his gun. And while Han Guizhang may have defected, everyone here knows his reputation in the military. He wouldn’t do something like this—shooting a man in cold blood—"

"Ren Shaobai, are you defending a traitor now?"

The moment those words were spoken, Ren Shaobai fell silent.In truth, he regretted his words almost immediately after speaking them. With the intention of misleading the investigation, Ren Shaobai should have steered the team toward pursuing Yang Kaizhi's murder case to divert their focus. Yet for some reason, Lan Youyin had been pressing him relentlessly today, and under her barrage of questions, he had inadvertently revealed some of his true thoughts.

Just as Ren Shaobai fell silent, Li Helin, who had remained quiet until then, slowly spoke up: "This type of ammunition caused controversy in Taiwan last year—

Referring to the "February 28 Incident," a conflict between officials and civilians in Taiwan from February to May 1927, during which the Republic of China government deployed military force to suppress the unrest.

Due to its tendency to fragment inside the human body, it has extremely high lethality. At the time, Communist Party newspapers even used it as propaganda, arguing that such ammunition should never be used by the military. Would Han Guizhang, someone who intended to defect to the Communist Party, openly act in a way that contradicts their stance?"

His words opened up a new perspective, indirectly supporting Ren Shaobai's earlier point.

Amid the murmurs of agreement, Lan Youyin could no longer press further.

"However, discussing this now seems redundant," Li Helin added, waving his hand dismissively. "Once we locate Han Guizhang and the Communist Party operatives assisting him, we’ll know whether they killed Director Yang. So I suggest we pause this line of inquiry for now. Shen Tong, update us on the progress regarding the escape route."

"Yes." Shen Tong nodded and began relaying information deciphered from intercepted coded telegrams by the communications headquarters—Han Guizhang planned to take a ship from Nanjing to Dalian.

She had obtained the passenger and cargo ship schedules for Dalian from the shipping administration and requested personnel from the Confidentiality Bureau and the police department to deploy at Zhongshan Wharf for the arrest.

Later, Li Helin had Ren Shaobai share his theory that Han Guizhang might attempt to leave the country under the guise of a fake documentary crew. Unsurprisingly, it sparked debate among some.

"Where would they find so many foreigners willing to take such risks?"

Lu Peng, however, promptly voiced his support for his junior colleague: "Shanghai is full of impoverished foreigners. Pay them enough, and they’ll play along."

Ren Shaobai shot him a grateful glance and produced a registration record obtained that morning from the hotel where the "documentary crew" was staying.

"The Canadian leading the group is an English teacher at a Shanghai high school. He’s been under surveillance by the Shanghai station due to ties to the Canadian Communist Party. Recently, he took leave from school and disappeared."

This added credibility to Ren Shaobai’s theory.

After the meeting concluded, the operatives dispersed to their assigned positions.

At Zhongshan Wharf, every crew manifest and boarding sailor for outgoing ships underwent thorough scrutiny, and the vessels themselves were inspected—especially hidden compartments below deck or any suspicious structures. Surveillance on the fake documentary crew proceeded methodically; according to their itinerary, after filming staged scenes across Nanjing’s streets, they would board the Tianjin-Pukou Railway northbound from Pukou Station on the evening of August 12.It turned out that Li Helin had no intention of putting all his eggs in one basket. He had no preference as to which route Han Guizhang would ultimately choose, because making a choice himself might lead him straight into the Communist Party's trap. However, in his view, this farce of planning the transfer of a defector could very well be over before August 13th arrived.