Chapter 268 Goodbye Tanaka Yoshiko
The next day.

In order to avoid Wang Ba Ye who was hiding in the dark, Liu Zhiye and others disguised themselves as electricians who were doing line maintenance at the Electricity Bureau. They went to Wang Ba Ye's residence in Lishi Hutong to investigate under the pretext of doing line maintenance.

They cleverly used the help of the household owner Duomen and successfully sneaked into Mr. Wang Ba's residence.

The neighbors in the courtyard did not pay much attention to the arrival of Liu Zhiye and his party. Because Mr. Duo had informed them that the staff of the Electricity Bureau were coming to inspect the lines, everyone went about their own business.

In this day and age, the power company often goes from street to street to inspect the lines, and people are no longer surprised by this.

The insulation materials for wires at that time were completely different from those of later generations. They were all made of multiple layers of materials such as asphalt wrapped in cotton thread, iron sheets, and oil paper. Over time, they would easily age, break, and peel off, exposing the conductor, posing a safety hazard, so they needed to be inspected and maintained frequently.

Liu Zhiye and others also checked the lines of other residents, and finally pointed to Mr. Wang's residence and deliberately said, "Comrade, please open this door as well. We need to go in and check it out."

Duomen said with embarrassment: "Comrades, I have rented out this house. The tenant is not at home recently. It is locked. I can't open it even if I want to help!"

Liu Zhiye continued to play double act with him and said: "Then do you know when he will be back?"

Duomen apologized, "Oh! I don't know about that! How about you come back in a few days?"

Liu Zhiye said awkwardly: "Comrade, I am not trying to make things difficult for you. The weather is getting hotter and hotter. If we are not careful, it is easy to have fires and other safety accidents."

"If we don't check this room today, in case there are any safety hazards, it will be no joke. Besides, this family has not been home for a long time, what if..."

When the neighbors heard this, they all agreed. They thought that they couldn't give up the inspection just because Wang Ba Ye was not at home. If there were any safety hazards, it would not only be Wang Ba Ye who would suffer, but the neighbors would also suffer.

Duomen was persuaded by everyone, and they reminded him one after another: "Mr. Duo, just open the lock! When Mr. Wang Ba comes back, we will testify for you. We can't be careless!" Everyone spoke in a firm tone, and their eyes were full of concern and worry.

"It's, it's..."

When Duomen heard this, he was secretly delighted and said, "Okay! That's what I've been waiting for you to say." With everyone testifying, if Mr. Wang came back and found something unusual, he would have an explanation to fool people.

Now we are only suspecting Wang Ba Ye, and there is no conclusive evidence to prove that he is the mastermind behind the "migratory birds". Therefore, the investigation still needs to be conducted in secret and we must not alert the enemy.

Duo Ye used the lock-picking skills taught by Qilala. He just used a piece of wire to gently poke the keyhole, and the copper lock was easily opened.

This scene is amazing and shows Duo Ye's superb skills.

When the neighbors saw the door open, they dispersed. They were not interested in the rest.

This was exactly what Liu Zhiye and the others wanted, as they would not be afraid to act when someone was present. Liu Zhiye led the others into the room, only to find that no one was inside.

Liu Zhiye reminded everyone to put on shoe covers and gloves first, and then he gently touched the dust on the table.

"Master Duo, judging by the dust, no one has lived in this room for more than ten days."

Duomen was an old hand in this area, and he saw the trick at a glance. He nodded in agreement, then put his hands behind his back and carefully examined the interior layout.

He has developed a pair of keen eyes and pays attention to every detail, trying to find some hidden clues.

"He has never come back since he left that night. Oh, this is a big problem. So many days have passed, and this old guy is still so cautious and refuses to show up."

Chen Wusheng also came to the scene. He carefully knocked on the walls, the kang, and the floor tiles, listening to the sounds and trying to determine whether there was a hidden space such as a secret compartment or a secret room.

The house that Mr. Wang rented had a living room and a bedroom each occupying half, with a total area of ​​only about 17 or 18 square meters, which was really not very big.

The furniture was even smaller than usual, and there were several tattered quilts and mattresses piled on the kang. Everything in the room seemed so crowded that it seemed difficult to even breathe.

This situation seems to be consistent with his identity as an old gangster. Unlike some spies, who appear to be dressed in rags but live in luxurious houses, which turn out to be a different story upon investigation.

In such a small place, several people surveyed for a long time but did not find anything unusual.

Everything here seemed normal, except for a dozen unused envelopes and a few ordinary stamps under the kang mat, which seemed a little strange.

Duomen picked up the envelope and examined it carefully for a long time, but still found nothing.

"This is a dozen new envelopes. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with them." Chen Wusheng took the envelopes and looked at them carefully.

Liu Zhiye frowned and stared at the envelope in a daze. He always felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

Chen Wusheng noticed his expression and asked, "Zhiye, did you find anything?" Liu Zhiye expressed his doubts and said, "Look, this bastard is a gangster who has been hanging around near the overpass since he was a child, right?"

Domon responded to him: "Yeah, what does this have to do with it?"

Liu Zhiye said, "That's unreasonable. How can a hoodlum like him recognize a few characters and write letters? Look at this pile of envelopes. Who would buy so many envelopes for no reason?"

"If it wasn't for the fact that he often writes letters, I would never believe that he bought it for fun!"

When Duomen and Chen Wusheng heard this, their eyes lit up and they said, "Yes! What you said makes sense. However, even if it doesn't make sense, these empty envelopes are useless."

Liu Zhiye shook his head slightly, smiled, and said, "You are confused because you are involved. Take a closer look at the envelope to see what is different."

Duomen and Chen Wusheng picked up the envelope again and stared at it for a long time, but still could not see any clues. They urged: "There is nothing wrong with this, tell us quickly, don't keep us in suspense." They spoke with some urgency and helplessness.

Liu Zhiye rolled his eyes helplessly and had to tell the suspicious points he found, so he said: "Where did you buy this envelope?"

"【Wenkuitang】, what's the matter with this?" Chen Wusheng asked doubtfully.

"Yes, it is the seal of the Fulong Temple Wenkuitang Bookstore in Beiping City. This is the envelope produced before the founding of the People's Republic of China. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was renamed the seal of the Fulong Temple Wenkuitang Bookstore in Beijing City."

"That is to say, he bought these envelopes in bulk before the founding of the People's Republic of China. At that time, an envelope from Wenkuitang was not cheap. What did you think a gangster like him would do with so many envelopes?"

"Well, you can say that he might have picked them up or stolen them. But it's hard to say where these new stamps came from. These are new stamps that were issued in the past two years. How can they be said to have been picked up?"

Duomen slapped his forehead and said with sudden enlightenment: "Oh! I am so old. I didn't even notice such an obvious doubt."

Chen Wusheng also said with a look of annoyance: "That's right! I didn't think of that either."

It's not their fault that they didn't notice it, it's just a habit. People in Beijing who have been calling the capital "Beiping" for decades have not noticed the wrong name.

But Liu Zhiye came from later generations, which was exactly the opposite of the other two, so he could tell at a glance that this was not something that came after the founding of the People's Republic of China.

After noticing the unusualness of the envelope, they realized that the envelope must be hiding an unknown secret, or perhaps it was used to convey some important message.

Liu Zhiye asked Duomen again, "I remember in the case report, you said that [Migratory Bird] activated [Cold Chess] by using a dead letter, right?"

Duomen nodded in agreement and continued, "Yes, we checked the post office information at the time, but unfortunately there was only an incorrect recipient's address and name, not the sender's name and address."

Chen Wusheng looked at the envelope and suddenly remembered something. He asked, "Zhiye, do you still remember Tanaka Yoshiko?"

Liu Zhiye nodded and said, "Of course I remember. What happened to her?"

Chen Wusheng said seriously, "At the beginning, her family randomly found such a letter. There was no sender, and the address and name were all wrong. There was even a blank piece of paper inside the letter."

Liu Zhiye was overjoyed when he heard this and asked, "Where is Tanaka Yoshiko being held now?"

Chen Wusheng responded: "Qincheng Prison!"

Liu Zhiye smiled and said, "Let's go to Qincheng Prison." He was really happy. He thought he had returned empty-handed, but unexpectedly, things took a turn for the better. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart, there is always light at the end of the tunnel!

………………

Qincheng Prison is the most famous prison in China. It was established in 1958 and is located in Qincheng Village, Xingshou Town, CP County, Jingcheng City.

This place is located in CP County, a remote suburb in the northwest of Beijing, at the foot of Yanshan Mountain and connected to the Ming Tombs.

To the south is the natural hot spring Xiaotangshan, to the east is the Taoyukou Reservoir, and to the west is the well-connected Datangshan.

This place is far away from the city, backed by mountains on one side, with a sparse population. The geographical environment is suitable for the reform and detention of prisoners.

The main prisoners held here were important Qing Dynasty officials, Kuomintang prisoners of war, Japanese war criminals and other important prisoners.

After Chen Wusheng and his team arrived at Qincheng Prison, they immediately found Yoshiko Tanaka, who was serving her sentence and participating in labor reform.

(End of this chapter)