Through Xiaojun's abnormal behavior of sending letters home, Xu Siqi could easily judge that they were definitely planning something extremely dangerous.
In the next few days, Qiao Zhendong went to Petain Road many times. With Citibank as the center point, he walked through the nearby streets and alleys.
Xu Siqi observed it for two days and quickly guessed the mystery, just like he had to visit the spot before committing a crime. This was obviously to familiarize himself with the terrain.
Qiao Zhendong went to the bookstore and bought a Kangxi dictionary. He hollowed out the inner pages of the dictionary and hid the Browning pistol inside. This was mainly to guard against inspections by patrolmen.
After all, he was just a student and had no experience in this field at all. The hollowed out scraps of paper were thrown into the trash can near the Volkswagen Hotel.
Under normal circumstances, no one would pay attention to a pile of waste paper.
For an experienced agent, if he has doubts in his heart, he will carefully analyze every thing that does not conform to common sense.
Why does a newly bought Kangxi dictionary look like this?
This is where it's unreasonable.
Thinking of Qiao Zhendong's frequent visits to Petain Road, Xu Siqi basically guessed the truth of the matter. There was a high probability that there was a pistol hidden in the hollow Kangxi dictionary!
There is no doubt that only engaging in assassination operations is the most consistent behavior for Qiao Zhendong!
A few students who had never even touched a gun dared to kill people on the street in the concession. This seemed very irrational, but actually there was nothing wrong with it if you think about it carefully.
Young people are impulsive and passionate, and they dare to do anything when their brains are hot.
But, where did the gun come from?
If an out-of-town student with no foundation goes to the black market to buy a gun, it won't take half a day for the police to come to his door.
Being able to ensure that the concession is in order, the patrol house is not just for free. Their eyes are spread across all walks of life, and they will know about any slight disturbances early on.
Xu Siqi can almost conclude that Zhou Weilong must have provided the gun. As for why he did this, it is still unknown.
In addition, hiding a gun in a hollow dictionary is not something that a few students could come up with, and for a veteran agent like Zhou Weilong, it is just a trivial trick.
Of course, he also told Qiao Zhendong how to hide the gun.
Just like guessing a riddle, if you want to uncover the answer, of course you have to know what the riddle is.
Therefore, even without Zhou Weilong's appointment, Xu Siqi planned to go to Petain Road to see what would happen that day.
At the Sanyuan Teahouse, when he learned that Liang Hongzhi would appear at Citibank, Xu Siqi immediately guessed that Qiao Zhendong's assassination target must be Liang Hongzhi!
At the same time, Xu Siqi also realized that Zhou Weilong claimed that he would personally get rid of Liang Hongzhi, but in fact he just didn't want people to see that there was a connection between him and Qiao Zhendong.
Xu Siqi was very curious, what on earth is this Zhou Weilong going to do? Asking a few students to kill Liang Hongzhi seems like child's play no matter how you look at it.
Xiaojun's death was an accident.
After all, it was Qiao Zhendong who was responsible for the action, and the others were just acting as a cover. It was said that there would be no life-threatening danger. At most, they would be caught by the patrol and taken back for interrogation.
No one expected that Hidejo Asano would appear halfway!
…………
A shooting occurred on Petain Road. After hearing the news, at least hundreds of police officers came to support. This incident was relatively serious. Chief Inspector Jonathan of the Petain Road Patrol Room also came to the scene.
The British inspector came forward and briefly reported the situation, and then said: "Chief Inspector, one of the gunmen was injured in the shoulder. It is estimated that he will not escape too far. I suggest that Petain Road be blocked immediately.
Conduct a thorough house-to-house search!"
Jonathan thought for a moment and said in a deep voice: "I order the entire neighborhood to be cordoned off. In addition, all hospitals and clinics within the jurisdiction will be inspected. If any patients with gunshot wounds are found, they will be arrested immediately!"
Xu Siqi walked over, took out his ID and handed it over, saying in English: "Chief Inspector, I am Xu Siqi from the Foch Road Patrol Room. I recognize one of the gunmen."
"What's his name?" Jonathan glanced at the ID but did not reach out to take it.
"Asano Hidejo."
"Are they Japanese?"
"Yes, as long as you notify the Japanese consulate, you should be able to find this person."
A patrolman came over and said to Jonathan: "Chief Inspector, we did find a Southern-style pistol shell casing at the scene."
Jonathan shook his head: "The bullet casing can only be regarded as circumstantial evidence and cannot explain anything."
He turned to look at Xu Siqi and said, "Besides you, are there any other witnesses? You know, I can't ask the Ministry of Industry to come forward to negotiate with the Japanese when there is insufficient evidence."
"I'm sorry, I don't know if there are any other witnesses. Maybe you can send someone to check..." Xu Siqi shook his head helplessly.
The timing of Asano Hidejo's shooting was such that no one would notice him. If he was wanted by the concession for this, it would be a troublesome thing in the future.
Even Xu Siqi only saw the back of the gunman at that time. If he recognized the gunman as Asano Hideki, he would definitely not chase him with bare hands.
Tao Qinghong was taken to the police station on Petain Road. Even if she could not be identified as a participant, she still had to undergo routine questioning according to procedures.
Before Xiaojun's body could be transported away, police officers set up a cordon in front of the Citibank, mainly because they were worried about onlookers damaging the scene.
Gu Qingcheng quietly bypassed the cordon and planned to go in to find Xu Siqi. The patrol officer in charge immediately stopped her and said sternly: "This is a crime scene. No one is allowed to trespass! Stay back!"
Gu Qingcheng hurriedly said: "My friend is inside, he is also a patrol officer. Here, he is the person who talked to the chief inspector."
The patrolman said with a straight face: "That won't work either."
"I am also a witness! I saw Asano shoot and kill people with my own eyes!" Gu Qingcheng spoke in English this time.
Jonathan glanced at Gu Qingcheng and said to the patrolman: "Let the lady come in."
Gu Qingcheng walked over quickly and stood side by side with Xu Siqi, with a righteous and awe-inspiring look on her face, quite a bit like a chivalrous woman who is blessed to share the same hardship.
Xu Siqi whispered: "Miss Gu, stop fooling around and go back quickly."
"I'm not messing around." Gu Qingcheng said with a pout.
"How could you see Asano's appearance in the teahouse?"
"I don't care, Xiaojun's death cannot be in vain. Besides, if you testify that the murderer is Asano Embroidery, then it must be the case. I believe you." "It's not Asano Embroidery..."
"What are you embroidering?"
"..."
Jonathan said from the side: "Miss, you just said you saw the murderer?"
"Yes."
"Do you know the murderer?"
"I do not recognize."
"Then how do you know that person is Asano Hidejo?"
"..."
"Another question, what does the murderer look like?"
"..."
"Miss, I'm warning you, this is a very, very serious matter. Please don't disrupt the normal handling of the case by the patrol room!"
Jonathan had no intention of pursuing Gu Qingcheng's attempt to give false testimony. He had stayed in Shanghai for a long time and he was well versed in the Chinese principles of dealing with things. He should be merciful and merciful.
Moreover, he actually knew very well that Xu Siqi did not need to lie, and the murderer was probably Asano Hidejo.
But what can be done? On the one hand, there is insufficient evidence. On the other hand, the senior officials of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce have already hinted that all cases related to the Japanese must be handled with extreme caution.