Chapter 1297 Exposed
Asakusa-cho, Todai-ku, Tokyo.
Several cars suddenly stopped on one side of the road, and then a group of Japanese spies filed out of the cars and surrounded a long house. Pedestrians passing by quickly left after seeing this.
The so-called longhouse is a kind of cheap row house, usually one or two stories, with more than a dozen families living inside. The residents are mostly working-class people, manual workers, traders and other low-income groups.
Takako Ishii works as a hotel waitress and her monthly salary is limited. It is normal to live in a place like this.
Analysts from the General Staff Headquarters believe that the possibility of the other party being involved in espionage is very small, at least not a mole who gets paid to do things.
In addition, intelligence work requires a quiet, independent residence, and the sound insulation of the long house is very poor. Whatever Takako Ishii does or says can be heard by the next door, so it is not suitable for secret activities at all.
Based on the above two points, the General Staff Headquarters decided to contact Takako Ishii head-on and learn about Sorge through this woman to obtain more clues.
After blocking all entrances and exits, the agents rushed to the door of Takako Ishii's residence on the second floor of the long house and knocked **** the door.
The continuous knocking on the door made people upset. When the neighbor heard the sound and opened the door to check the situation, he was immediately scolded by the arrogant spy.
Half a minute later, Ishii Takako half-opened the door and cautiously looked out. Before she could speak, Sudou Tetsuji and his entourage squeezed into the room.
"Who are you? Please get out quickly, otherwise I will notify the police station." Ishii Takako shouted angrily and walked out of the house, preparing to shout for help.
Tetsuji Sudou stood in front of her, took out his ID and showed his identity: "Intelligence Department of the General Staff Headquarters, Miss Ishii, please cooperate with our investigation."
While they were talking, other agents had already entered the house and started searching. They opened cabinets and drawers and threw the contents everywhere.
When Ishii Takako heard Sudou Tetsuji's self-introduction, her face suddenly changed, but she still suppressed her fear and defended: "I don't know what the staff headquarters is. Please leave immediately and help."
As soon as she screamed for help, Tetsuji Sudou pulled out his gun and threatened her viciously, warning her not to scream.
The spy leader who led the team ignored this and walked into the bedroom. This long house only had two rooms, one bedroom and one living room.
There was nothing much to say about the living room. The small room was filled with common furniture such as a dining table, a rattan sofa, and a low cabinet. The agents quickly completed the search and found no suspicious items.
So the bedroom became the focus of the search. One agent tore open the bedding to see if there was anything hidden in the cotton. Others spread all of Ishii Takako's clothes on the floor for inspection, even the underwear.
Takako Ishii saw this scene through the crack in the door, and her face turned red with anger. She immediately wanted to walk over to stop the agents' rude behavior, but was stopped by Tetsuji Sudou again.
Half an hour later, Ishii's residence was in a mess. The agents even pried open the floor, but still did not find any evidence related to the spy. This made the leader of the team very angry.
"Baga, continue the search!"
The furious spy leader still refused to give up and was about to search the room again. At this time, Ishii Takako had recovered from the initial panic and sat on the sofa with her arms folded, watching indifferently.
Perhaps in order to laugh at the futile actions of the agents, Takako Ishii took out a cigarette and lit it, then blew out the smoke at Tetsuji Sudou, choking him and causing him to cough repeatedly.
Seeing that his target was so arrogant, Tetsuji Sudou showed a fierce look on his face, grabbed the cigarette from Ishii Takako's hand and threw it to the ground. Just as he was about to step on it, his eyes inadvertently caught sight of the lighter on the table.
Tetsuji Suto was shocked. The defected Red Russian agent Shelikov once revealed to the General Staff Headquarters that the Red Russian military purchased a batch of Melos micro cameras from Germany before the war and disguised them as pens, lighters, watches, and rings. , belt buckle.
Red Russian overseas intelligence agents have obtained a lot of important information with these camouflaged cameras. However, due to manufacturing difficulty and quantity, only a small number of elite agents are qualified to equip them, including the Tokyo Intelligence Group.
Sudou Tetsuji glanced at his colleagues in the room, put a cigarette into his mouth calmly, bent down to pick up the lighter, and pressed the ignition switch.
The flame rose with a pop, and Sudo slowly lit the cigarette butt. His peripheral vision quickly scanned the lighter, especially where the lens might be installed.
The lighter made of brass was extremely exquisite, with complex patterns on the surface, and a sunburst chrysanthemum on it was particularly conspicuous. He gently pushed the edge of the pattern with his thumb, and a feeling of looseness suddenly came from it.
Realizing that he had found evidence of Sorge's involvement in espionage, Tetsuji Sudo calmly returned the lighter without reporting it or acting rashly, pretending not to see anything.
Not long after the second round of searches was over, the spy leader casually asked Takako Ishii a few questions and then led his men back to the staff headquarters.
On the way, Sudou Tetsuji suppressed the excitement in his heart and had a gloomy face like the other agents, as if he was annoyed by the fruitless action. Although he was impulsive, he was not a fool. He knew that the spy leader's intention in asking him to spy on Takako Ishii was simply to prevent him from committing meritorious deeds. Therefore, even if he reported the spy camera incident, he would probably be dressing up for someone else.
In this case, why ask for trouble? He has no background and must seize the opportunity, otherwise he will always be able to perform simple tasks at the bottom.
The car drove quickly between high-rise buildings, and the constant flashes of sunlight shone into the car. Sudou Tetsuji's face was sometimes exposed to the light, and sometimes hidden in the shadows, looking a little ferocious.
—
In front of the Intelligence Ministry building, Minister Kiyotaka Okamoto looked grim. As teams of operatives returned, the good news he expected did not come.
After the agents' searches and interrogations, all targets were eliminated as suspects. The Intelligence Department's attempt to directly arrest Sorge failed. Okamoto Kiyofuku, who was eager to establish prestige in the Intelligence Department, was naturally not happy.
When Tetsuji Suto's team returned to the intelligence department, Okamoto casually asked if he had found anything. He had given up hope for this operation, but suddenly someone shouted.
"Reporting to your Excellency, Minister, I discovered the spy camera of the Red Russians." Tetsuji Suto walked out of the queue, raised his hand and shouted loudly.
The spy leader on the side suddenly turned his head, his eyes looking like he wanted to kill someone. It was really embarrassing to be blatantly deceived by his subordinates.
Thinking that this Hokkaido country bumpkin dared to deceive him, the spy leader gritted his teeth and wanted to kill him with a samurai sword.
Kiyofuku Okamoto on the stage was well aware of all this, but he didn't take it to heart. After all, "the lower level overcomes the upper level" is the Army's tradition. He motioned to Sudou Tetsuji to continue, his attitude was very kind.
Encouraged, Sudo truthfully reported what he found at Takako Ishii's residence, and repeatedly assured Okamoto that the lighter was the Red Russian spy camera.
The case that had troubled the Intelligence Department for many years finally had a breakthrough. Kiyofuku Okamoto was overjoyed, promoted Sudo's rank and position on the spot, and ordered round-the-clock monitoring of Sorge and his contacts.
Tetsuji Sudo and Sorge's old friend Hirano accepted the most difficult and sensitive task, monitoring Fuichiro Hayashi.
The agents looked at the two men with almost gloating written on their faces. Compared with other targets, Hayashi Fuichiro's profound background became the biggest obstacle to the investigation. No one would protect them if something happened.
Even Kiyofuku Okamoto did not want to have a grudge against an imperial earl and an imperial general. The latter had close ties with the royal family and could be kicked out of the reserve force with just one sentence.
But Sudou Tetsuji didn't care at all or had no choice. If he couldn't make another meritorious service, he wouldn't even have a chance to be held accountable.
Reporting beyond the next level is a taboo. Now he has to either climb over his former boss as soon as possible or die in an "accidental" operation. There is no third way.
The next day, a large net slowly unfolded around Sorge's relationship network. Dozens of experienced special agents from the General Staff Headquarters began a comprehensive investigation into the places where these suspects hung out and the people they came into contact with.
On the other side, Takako Ishii went to Sorge's residence as usual. While cleaning, she told the other party what happened the day before, except for stealing the lighter.
Sorge immediately realized that he had been exposed. He quickly walked to the second floor to observe, but did not see anything abnormal, which made his face even more ugly.
According to the Japanese counterintelligence agency's style of conduct, it will continue to monitor the target for a period of time regardless of whether evidence is found. This situation can only prove that the Japanese's actions are secretive enough, but it does not mean that he is safe.
Perhaps before he knew it, the Japanese had already searched the house. Sorge returned to the first floor and walked around the house to check whether there was any listening equipment.
He searched the bottom of the table, the lampshade, the telephone receiver, any place where the bug could be hidden, and then he paused and quickly opened a certain drawer.
When he saw the spy camera lying intact in the drawer, Sorge breathed a sigh of relief and put the lighter into his pocket, preparing to find an opportunity to transfer it.
Seeing this scene, Takako Ishii hesitated to speak, and finally lowered her head and said nothing. In fact, even if she did, Sorge would still be doomed.
The General Staff Headquarters is eager for Sorge to move. As long as the other party moves, flaws will be exposed. If there are flaws, they can follow the clues.
Ishii Takako's concealment not only destroyed the Japanese's fishing plan, but also caused Sorge and others to lose their last chance to escape.
The "Ramza" group is about to be exposed to the eyes of the Japanese, and the members of the northwest underground party behind the "Ramza" group are at risk.
Back to the time when Sudou Tetsuji and Hirano were monitoring Hayashi Fuichiro.
In the art shop near Lin Fu's residence, Zuo Zhong looked away from the car on the street, tapping his fingers on the table, thinking about how to break the situation.
