On May 4, 1947, the early morning sun shone through the dark clouds, reflecting in chiang Kai-shek's official residence on Huangpu Road in Nanjing, and Song Meiling, who was still immersed in sleep, was also awakened by this ray of sunshine, but after waking up, Song Meiling suddenly found a big problem - her diamond ring was missing.
The diamond in this diamond ring is a 5.6 ct African diamond set in a white gold base and is valuable.
More importantly, it was given to roosevelt and his wife when the Soong Mei Ling administration visited the United States in 1944, and its political significance and value were of great importance.
Therefore, the loss of the diamond ring made Song Meiling slightly panicked.
Song Meiling searched all over the bedroom and did not find the diamond ring, so she quickly called her personal maid Chen Liya, the two recalled the situation last night, and felt that it was very likely that something sneaked into Song Meiling's bedroom in the middle of the night, and that she could avoid the patrol of the guards, she must be skilled, maybe it was still a man.
"If it's just greed for money, that's fine, if the people who sneak in want to kill them, or even have some other ideas..."
Thinking of this, Song Meiling felt a pang of fear in her heart, and couldn't help but wrap her clothes tighter.
(Overview of Song Meiling)
Subsequently, Song Meiling told Chiang Kai-shek about this matter, but what she did not expect was that this matter finally involved the entire Chiang Kai-shek's official residence and the Secrecy Bureau.
So, who could evade the patrol of the guards at Chiang Kai-shek's official residence, sneak into Soong Mei-ling's bedroom in the middle of the night, and steal this diamond ring?
How did this matter end up?
[Song Meiling's diamond ring is missing, and everyone investigates the suspect]
According to Soong Mei-ling's recollection, she and Chiang Kai-shek attended a family banquet last night, but Chiang Kai-shek was not very interested in this type of non-political activity, and after sitting for a while, she left first.
At that time, Song Meiling saw that Chiang Kai-shek had left, and she had planned to leave the table early, but because Song Qingling was also present, the sisters had a rare opportunity to reminisce about the past, so they drank with their sisters, and because of the high mood of the moment, they drank until midnight.
Around one o'clock in the morning, Song Meiling returned to the official residence with a body of alcohol, and in order to get a good night's sleep, she planned to take a good bath.
("The Three Sisters of song")
After taking a bath, Song Meiling felt that she was slightly drunk, but she couldn't sleep for a while and a half, so she leaned back on the bed and read an English novel for two hours.
Song Meiling said that during the period from bathing to reading, she did not notice anything unusual, and later observed the doors and windows, and there was no trace of being pried.
At that time, After reading the novel, Song Meiling felt a little hungry, so she asked the private chef to bring some snacks, and after eating, she hurried to sleep
She distinctly remembered that her diamond ring had been taken off and placed on the nightstand.
Because Song Meiling has studied in the United States and developed the habit of not being in bed, even if she falls asleep at three o'clock in the middle of the night, she will get up early - Song Meiling got up at 10:10, and when she woke up, she found that the ring was missing.
Therefore, Song Meiling concluded that the ring was stolen in the middle of the night.
After Chen Liya listened, she quickly looked for it again in the bedroom, but the result was still not found.
(Old photo of Song Meiling)
Chen Liya was overwhelmed, but presumably Song Meiling should be more anxious at this time, because this ring was a gift from the US president and his wife, and the value was immeasurable, and the two decided to tell Chiang Kai-shek about this matter after some discussion.
When Chiang Kai-shek learned of this, his first reaction was to "conceal the news": he felt that if people knew that the official residence had been stolen, it would not only be disgraceful, but it would be even more embarrassing if the Americans knew about it.
Faced with Chiang Kai-shek's troubles, Soong Mei-ling told him in a serious tone that if the case is not clearly investigated, the consequences will be very serious:
"If it is the work of the family thief, if it is not found out this time, it will certainly be stolen one after another in the future, and the news of the theft of the official residence will be spread sooner or later;
If an outsider steals and can run to my bedroom to steal something, is the guard of this official residence also too negligent in his duties? They can steal diamond rings today, they can steal top-secret documents tomorrow, and they may commit murder the day after tomorrow.
Moreover, once the gifts sent by the president of the United States are sold by thieves, the news will naturally spread, and if it reaches the ears of Americans, what should they think? ”
Chiang Kai-shek's sense of political smell was not bad, and seeing that his wife weighed the pros and cons and analyzed it objectively, he also realized the importance of the problem, so he immediately ordered his subordinate Yu Jishi to investigate the "diamond ring theft case."
Yu Jishi was a good friend of Chiang Kai-shek, and now he is the director of the Military Affairs Bureau and the chief of the guards of the Military Affairs Department, and Chiang Kai-shek asked this person to investigate the case, which shows how much he attaches to this matter.
After Yu Jishi accepted the case, he did not slack off and immediately began to investigate--in order to facilitate the follow-up work, Yu Jishi also found a team leader named Liu Fangluo of the bodyguard group to coordinate the handling of the case.
After the two men had deliberated, they found all the staff of the mansion: within two hours, the thief could place the ring in a conspicuous place in the mansion, and if it was returned, it would not be prosecuted.
Yu Jishi's move was enough to give the "real murderer" face, after all, he also wanted to solve the case as soon as possible, but the thief did not seem to appreciate it: until two hours later, the diamond ring did not appear.
(Old photo of Yu Jishi)
At the same time, they also invited Chiang Kai-shek's most trusted confidant, Chen Bray, to ask him to assist in the investigation of the case.
After Chen Brei learned about the situation and the case, he also felt that this matter was very strange: Song Meiling fell asleep at more than 3 o'clock in the middle of the night, and when he woke up at more than 10 o'clock in the morning, he found that the diamond ring was missing, and the theft must have occurred during this period, but the official residence was heavily guarded, and there were people under it, who in the end was able to break through the window and break the door, break in and steal the ring without being discovered?
The most likely person to do all this is, of course, the family thief.
Therefore, Chen Brei asked Chen Liya if there was any abnormal situation last night, and Chen Liya told everyone: Song Meiling ate some pastries before going to bed, and after eating the snacks, Song Meiling felt that the taste was very good, so he asked him to invite the pastry chef to the bedroom to inquire about the production process.
(Old photo of Song Meiling)
"The cook on duty last night was Tang Yichen, and when he arrived at the bedroom, Song Meiling had already taken off the diamond ring."
When everyone heard Chen Liya say this, and learned that Tang Yichen had only been working at Chiang Kai-shek's official residence for a few months and was not necessarily very loyal, they locked the suspect on Tang Yichen.
Therefore, Yu Jishi and Chen Bray began to investigate Tang Yichen.
But what happened next was far beyond the expectation and control of Yu Jishi and Chen Brei, what happened later?
[The theft alarmed the Secret Service, and the investigation began]
Yu and Chen summoned Tang Yichen and interrogated him, but Tang Yichen did not admit that he had committed theft, so the two decided to strengthen the interrogation and even punched and kicked him during the interrogation, but he still did not admit it.
During the interrogation, Tang Yichen was unconscious several times, and in order to prevent him from accidentally dying, the two suspended the interrogation, after all, without knowing whether he was the real murderer or not, they did not have the courage to kill the people in Chiang Kai-shek's mansion.
(Old photo of Chen Bray)
When the two of them saw that Tang Yichen was so resolute, they could not help but wonder in their hearts: Is it really not him who is the real murderer?
Therefore, after some deliberation, the two decided to ask the Secrecy Bureau to assist in the investigation, and Chiang Kai-shek also agreed to the request, and soon invited Mao Renfeng, then director of the Secrecy Bureau of the Ministry of National Defense.
After Mao Renfeng understood the causes and consequences, he also felt that the matter was very tricky, after all, the people who could sneak through Chiang Kai-shek's official residence to steal things and not be discovered were not ordinary people.
So Mao Renfeng also had to seek assistance, ordering Tai Weixing, the deputy director of the first colonel of the Secret Bureau, to solve the case, and only gave him five days.
Tai Weixing had followed Dai Kasa and was now Mao Renfeng's confidant, so he was highly valued and trusted by Mao Renfeng, and the day after receiving the order, he rushed to Chiang Kai-shek's official residence with several agents.
Yu Jishi, Chen Bray, Tai Weixing and others gathered together, and after some consultation, they came to a conclusion: the thieves were most likely family thieves, and they targeted Tang Yichen and Chen Liya.
(The picture shows the network material)
Due to the special situation, several people felt that they could not use ordinary methods to solve the case, because there was no entry point to check, and finally they decided to use the new gadgets in the United States at that time, the treasure of the secret bureau- the lie detector to help solve the case.
However, the final result made everyone unexpected: the test results of the lie detector showed that Tang Yichen did not steal anything.
In the face of the results of the lie detector, coupled with Tang Yichen's words, deeds and confessions over the past few days, Tai Weixing basically ruled out Tang Yichen's suspicions.
Therefore, in order to apologize and appease Tang Yichen's previous suffering, Tai Weixing specially apologized to him, invited him to eat at the "Jinling Hotel", and drove him home.
After Yu Jishi and Chen Brei knew about this incident, they also felt guilty, so they gave Tang Yichen a compensation fee and 5 days of leave, and Chen Brei also sent his own aide-de-camp to comfort Tang Yichen.
At this point, Tang Yichen's suspicions were basically ruled out.
So, will the "family thief" who stole the ring be Chen Liya? Could it be that she inadvertently lured the wolf into the house, or colluded inside and outside?
(The picture shows the network material)
Everyone around Chiang Kai-shek knows that Chen Liya's parents and Song Meiling's father are fellow countrymen, and their fathers and fathers have a lot of friendship, Chen Liya grew up in Song Meiling's parents since she was a child, and when she grew up, as a personal maid of Song Meiling, she had a good relationship with Song Meiling and was also deeply trusted by Song Meiling -- not so much that the two of them were master servants, but rather sisters.
With the protection of Song Meiling's "sisterhood", coupled with the lack of tangible evidence, Tai Weixing and others did not dare to easily investigate Chen Liya.
But without investigating Chen Liya, how could we rule out her suspicions?
Everyone thought about it and came up with a brilliant idea--claiming to investigate all the staff of the mansion, but in fact focusing on Chen Liya, this method was unanimously approved by everyone.
When all was said and done, a crowd of people immediately began to investigate.
However, this time, the results of the investigation surprised everyone once again: the lie detector reacted to Chen Liya's results, that is, Chen Liya was likely to lie.
(The picture shows the network material)
In the face of the "alarm sound" of the lie detector, Chen Liya did not seem to anticipate, she insisted that she did not steal the diamond ring, but compared to Chen Liya's "shouting injustice", Tai Weixing seemed to be more willing to believe the results of the lie detector.
When Yu Ji saw that Tai Weixing insisted on taking Chen Liya away, he proposed to ask Song Meiling, and then immediately dialed the phone, but it was not Song Meiling who answered the phone, but Song Meiling's brother Song Ziwen.
After Yu Jishi reported this to Song Ziwen, Song Ziwen was immediately furious: he told Yu Jishi that Chen Liya's family had been loyal servants of the Song family for two generations, and it was impossible to do such a thing as chicken and dog theft, and he also issued a death order not to allow anyone to move Chen Liya.
In fact, it is no wonder that Soong Ziwen has a fiery temper and an arrogant attitude, and this "uncle of the state" even dares to scold Chiang Kai-shek to his face, not to mention the people around Chiang Kai-shek?
Hindered by Song Ziwen's "road blocker", Tai Weixing could not dispose of Chen Liya for a while and a half, but he already regarded Chen Liya as a suspect in his heart.
(Song Ziwen old photo)
In fact, Tai Weixing was so suspicious of Chen Liya, and he also had his own reasons, because he learned that at more than 8 o'clock in the morning of the crime, Chen Liya had gone home once, and he felt that Chen Liya was probably going to hide the stolen goods.
He thought: Since he couldn't take people directly, if he found the stolen goods, even Song Ziwen would have nothing to say, so he settled down the current matter, and he quietly rushed to Chen Liya's house with 4 agents.
It is good that Tai Weixing did not come to this trip, but this trip had some "windfalls".
This "windfall" made this case more confusing, but it was also because of this "accident" that it affected the development of the situation, and even indirectly pulled out the "real culprit" who stole the diamond ring.
So, what exactly did Tai Weixing find in Chen Liya's house?
[The truth has been reversed one after another, and the identity of the thief is surprising]
After Tai Weixing arrived at Chen Liya's house, The idea opened the door, and several people rummaged through the boxes and cabinets in Chen Liya's house, up to the tiles on the roof, down to the dust inside the stove, several people opened it and looked at it, but they did not find the stolen goods.
(The picture shows the network material)
Wasn't it Chen Liya, was it that they had misunderstood? Tai Weixing had such a thought when he searched, but soon he was dispelled by this idea- because he found a picture of her with a man at Chen Liya's house.
Tai Weixing saw this photo and thought: Will this person be Chen Liya's boyfriend? Is it possible that the stolen goods were transferred by him?
With 3 days left to solve the case, Tai Weixing was unwilling to give up any clues, so he immediately picked up the photo and found a neighbor to inquire.
After some investigation, Tai Weixing learned a lot of information: this person was Chen Liya's fiancé, named Jiang Baolong, who had distinguished himself in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and had once shot down three enemy planes with a single machine in the Battle of Hengyang, and was known as an "air hero".
According to a neighbor, at more than 8 o'clock in the morning of the crime, Chen Liya returned home, and a few minutes later Jiang Baolong also returned home, but Jiang Baolong stayed for a few minutes and left in a hurry.
After Tai Weixing heard about it, he immediately made a judgment: Chen Liya must have transferred the diamond ring to Jiang Baolong.
(The picture shows the network material)
Therefore, Tai Weixing hurriedly returned to the Secrecy Bureau, reported the situation to Mao Renfeng, and asked for instructions for the next step, Mao Renfeng learned that there might be a breakthrough in the case, and agreed to Tai Weixing's investigation request.
However, after Tai Weixing and others took the opportunity to capture Jiang Baolong after some twists and turns, only a sum of cash, a pistol and 32 bullets were found on him, and the diamond ring was still not found.
At this time, Chen Liya learned the news of Jiang Baolong's arrest from nowhere, so she found Song Meiling crying and crying to her.
When Song Meiling saw Chen Liya pear blossoms with rain, she felt pity in her heart, and she told Chen Liya that she would call the Secret Service to ask for the release of the secret bureau, and then Song Meiling told Chiang Kai-shek about the situation.
Chiang Kai-shek learned of the arrest of his domestic servant Chen Liya, and out of trust in Chen Liya, he also felt that the matter of the diamond ring had nothing to do with her, and saw Song Meiling pleading, so he agreed to release the person, and decided not to let the Mao Renfeng Secrecy Bureau interfere in the matter anymore, but to be resolved by the police station instead.
It was Chiang Kai-shek's decision that brought out the real "pirate drillers."
(Old photo of Chiang Kai-shek)
After receiving the alarm call from Chiang Kai-shek's official residence, the police station understood that the matter was tricky and sent 6 criminal police officers to investigate and solve the case.
Among these 6 people, there is an old criminal policeman named Guo Zhenyan, although he is more than fifty years old, but has more than thirty years of experience in criminal police, rich experience, as soon as he heard the details of this case, he had doubts:
Tang Yichen was a new chef, not to mention whether he had the courage to sneak into the lady's bedroom in the middle of the night, even if he dared to steal something, there were two guard posts from the kitchen to the bedroom, how could he hide?
Chen Liya naturally could not be, because according to the later investigation, Jiang Baolong had sent a telegram to Chen Liya a few days ago, asking her to send money to herself.
If she stole the diamond ring, or if she asked Jiang Baolong to assist her in the theft, then they should have thought that the telegram would be intercepted, and if the content of their communication was about the diamond ring, it would definitely be discovered, coupled with Chen Liya's loyalty to the Song family, his suspicions were also ruled out.
It's not, it's not, so who stole the diamond ring?
Intuitive and experienced, Guo Zhenyan decided to check out the scene, and sure enough, in the gutter under the bedroom window, he found several black and dirty things—it was verified that it was rat.
Could it be that the rats took it?
Guo Zhenyan thought of this, and he had a plan in mind, so he called Yu Jishi and Liu Fangluo to communicate his ideas, and later it turned out that his ideas were indeed correct.
Two days later, Yu Jishi and Guo Zhenyan took a folk rat catcher surnamed Zhong to the back garden of the official residence and asked the rat catcher to check whether there was anything wrong with it.
I saw that the man had sprinkled some unknown drugs on the lawn of the back garden, and after a while, the rats all ran out of the shadows to smell the drug, and they followed the place where the rats came out, found the rat nest, dug it with a shovel, and found that the diamond ring was indeed in the rat's nest.
("Rat's Den")
Several people were overjoyed, and quickly told Chiang Kai-shek the news, and chiang kai-shek was also surprised and happy when he learned that the diamond ring had been lost and recovered, and immediately summoned the folk rat-catching expert surnamed Zhong, praised him, and rewarded him with a hundred yuan of silver, and also said that he could let him go to the Central Academy of Sciences to serve; Guo Zhenyan also received a bonus because of his judgment and preparation for meritorious service.
Since then, this bizarre diamond ring theft case has been detected by a police officer and a civilian master, so it seems that the lie detector may not necessarily assist the case handling personnel to find the real culprit, and the identity of the thief must have been unexpected by no one before.
Resources:
The journal "Red Rock Spring and Autumn": "Song Meiling Diamond Ring Theft Case"