More than a dozen police officers, plus special agents from the intelligence service, conducted door-to-door searches.
"If we continue searching like this, we won't be able to finish the search even at dawn..." a policeman complained in a low voice.
Shen Zhifeng thought, the police are most familiar with the surrounding environment, they may have a good idea, so he turned around and asked: "Then what do you think we should do to search? Don't be afraid, it doesn't matter if you are wrong."
The policeman hesitated for a moment and said, "Li Dalu was unarmed. I guess he didn't have the guts to break into other people's homes. There's no way to hide people on the street, so he most likely hid in an empty house."
Shen Zhifeng thought for a while, nodded slightly, and said, "That makes sense... Are there many vacant houses on Canal North Street?"
"Not many. There are two or three here, more over there, almost five or six..." the policeman said, raising his hand and pointing a few times.
He is a police officer in the area and often patrols this area. He basically knows which households have a few people and which ones have been empty for a long time.
"Okay, let's focus on searching the empty houses that no one lives in!" Shen Zhifeng walked towards the alley.
Under the guidance of the police, we soon arrived at the alley.
"There has been no one in this house for the past month. I heard from neighbors that they seem to have gone to Hebei." The policeman said at the side.
Wang Xinrui took a flashlight and looked around. The beam of light fell on the steps at the door. There was a drop of dark liquid on the steps.
Wang Xinrui knelt down, reached out and dipped a little, smelled it, and said to Shen Zhifeng, "It's blood."
They all knew that Li Dalu had just been tortured and must have been injured, and they were simply treated when he came out.
After being soaked in water in the underground tunnel, the leg wound began to bleed again. Because it was a skin injury, there would only be an occasional drop of blood.
Shen Zhifeng waved his hand and ordered: "Block the back door and the rear window, and open the door!"
The police brought a hammer, and with a bang, the lock was broken open.
"Deputy Director Shen, there seems to be no one in the room..."
"Then what are you waiting for? Rush in!"
Several policemen raised their guns, kicked open the door and rushed in. They were afraid of being attacked by Li Dalu, so they shouted: "Don't move, I saw you!"
Snap!
Wang Xinrui turned on the light.
Shen Zhifeng secretly admired that this woman's psychological quality was strong enough. While everyone else was looking for cover, she could find the djinn with extraordinary calmness.
On the kitchen table, there were unwashed rice bowls and half-eaten carrots.
There were two sets of dirty clothes thrown in the trash can, one of which was stained with blood. After some identification, it was confirmed that it was the clothes Li Dalu had worn.
"They are indeed prepared, and they actually arranged for people to meet Li Dalu here." Wang Xinrui said to himself.
Shen Zhifeng looked around and said, "The problem is, for a dispensable little person like Liu Dalu, why didn't the Communist Party make such a big effort to rescue him?"
"Yeah, it really doesn't make sense..." Wang Xinrui murmured.
"From a logical analysis, there seems to be only one possibility - for the Communist Party, this Li Dalu is of great use."
"Great use..."
"Yes! Otherwise, the Communist Party would not have gone through all the trouble to rescue him."
Shen Zhifeng continued: "Also, Li Dalu and the people who responded changed clothes here. If they are ordinary people's clothes, changing them is the same as not changing them. Therefore, they must have changed clothes that can get away with it."
Inspired, Wang Xinrui blurted out: "For example, military uniforms or police uniforms."
"That's right, only these two types of clothing can evade interrogation on the street."
"Deputy Director Shen, what should we do now?"
"Go to the checkpoint!"
At the street checkpoint, Shen Zhifeng asked: "Who is in charge here?"
Even if you don't know Shen Zhifeng, just by looking at his demeanor, anyone with some brains can guess that this person is definitely a big shot.
The police sergeant hurriedly came forward and said politely: "Excuse me, who are you, sir?"
The agent next to him said: "This is Deputy Director Shen of the Secrecy Bureau."
"Are you Deputy Director Shen?" the police chief said in surprise.
Shen Zhifeng took out his ID and handed it over. The police chief took it and took a look at it. He immediately handed it back with both hands and said, "Deputy Director Shen, it's not that I don't believe you. The main thing is that I admire you."
"Well, how can I be worthy of your admiration?"
"You are the most famous honest official in Yanjin... This is not what I said. In private, everyone said so."
Seeing Shen Zhifeng's face sinking like water, he seemed to want to call for an investigation. The police chief also responded to the situation and hurriedly handed over a top hat.
As the saying goes, reach out and don't hit someone with a smiling face. This has been true for thousands of years.
Shen Zhifeng was no exception. He kept complimenting himself, so he had to give the other person some face, so he asked: "Is there anything unusual here at the level?"
"No. Don't worry, I have personally compared the photos of every person and every car. There is no way they can escape on the main road!" the police sergeant said confidently.
"Not only ordinary people, but also police, soldiers, and government officials need to be inspected. Have you done it?"
"done."
Shen Zhifeng suddenly realized that he had made a mistake, not too big or too small. Even if someone was let out without passing the inspection, the police chief would not admit it.
He thought for a moment, called the police chief aside and said, "You have more than one pair of eyes here, so you'd better tell the truth."
The police chief said: "Deputy Director Shen, what I tell you is the truth. If you don't believe me, you can ask my subordinates."
"Time is tight, I don't have time to ask them."
"Then you..."
"You just need to tell me if you have found any suspicious soldiers or police officers."
The police chief hesitated for a while and said, "Yes."
"Go on."
"At around seven o'clock, a police car came from the Hongqiao Police Department. It said it was going to Gongshi Road to search for communists. However, I just learned that the car was stolen an hour ago."
"Why don't you report such an important situation!"
"I just heard about it and am planning to verify the situation with the bureau..."
"Did the people in that car check it?"
"Checked."
"Didn't you find Li Dalu?"
"No."
The police chief could only say this bravely. If there was really something wrong with that police car, it would be a serious act of malfeasance. He might have to go back to his hometown to farm.
Although it was Jiang Xinyu who gave the order, it was still unfounded. If he didn't admit it, he would be the unlucky one in the end.
Shen Zhifeng thought to himself that when he saw a policeman in the car, it was inevitable that the sergeant would be negligent. It would be the same for anyone else, so it would be useless to scold him.