bookbashuk Chapter 137 The Photo Scandal Shakes the Concession
Chapter 137 The Photo Scandal Shakes the Concession
In the depths of winter in Shanghai, a cold wind carrying a damp chill swept through the foreign concessions.
Consulates of various countries have been receiving a series of bizarre reports.
Within a month, several women of different nationalities disappeared without a trace.
Shen Qingyuan, a student at St. John's University, was last seen by her classmates outside the library.
She had told him she was going to see her lover, Wen Jingran, a science teaching assistant, and then she disappeared without a trace.
Natalia Georgieva, a translator at the Soviet consulate, mysteriously disappeared on a street corner after get off work while shopping for household goods on Avenue Joffre.
Dr. Ira Carter of the American Missionary Hospital did not return to her residence after finishing her night shift, and her colleagues searched the entire concession area without success.
Edith Brown, a clerk at the British Consulate, took half a day off to go to the bank, but disappeared after leaving the bank.
Hannah Hoffmann, an intern at the German Expatriate Hospital, went missing on her way to Nanjing Road to buy medicine.
After completing the handover of documents, Yukio Matsuura, an administrative clerk at the Japanese consulate, also disappeared without a trace.
Initially, the consulates of each country treated the case as an independent disappearance and conducted their own investigations, but made no progress.
It was deep winter, and the chill was growing stronger, so rumors of disappearances began to circulate within the concession.
A Jewish-run pawnshop on Jiujiang Road in the French Concession became the flashpoint for the turmoil.
Jacob, the pawnshop owner, was cautious by nature. While sorting through an old camera pawned by a Japanese businessman, he discovered that the film had not been fully exposed.
Out of curiosity, he developed the film and, upon seeing the image, couldn't help but exclaim, "My God..." The image on the developing disc was shocking.
He immediately recognized the blonde woman in the photo as Dr. Ella Carter, who had treated his wife for pneumonia last year.
Ella's eyes in the photo are unfocused, clearly indicating she is under the influence of drugs.
She lay in a humiliating posture in a room decorated with ukiyo-e prints and Japanese swords.
The men in the picture are all wearing Noh masks.
However, the watch peeking out from the kimono sleeves, the family crest on the obi, and the fragments of Japanese newspapers scattered along the edge of the tatami mats all clearly point to the Japanese identity.
Jacob was filled with anxiety and hesitated for three whole days.
Ultimately, he anonymously sent a set of washing equipment to the U.S. consulate.
The other set was sold to Carlos, a Portuguese broker who specialized in "special intelligence."
The news spread like a plague through the concession.
Replicas of the photo quickly appeared on the black market.
Rumors quickly spread: "The Japanese kidnapped people, drugged them, and sent them to secret hideouts to satisfy the lust of officers and civilians. Those strange behaviors were all forced upon them!"
The black market vendor, clutching the photos, whispered to the buyer, "There are not only Americans in here, but also Chinese, Soviets, British, and the Japanese have really stirred up a hornet's nest this time!"
Few people know that these missing women had already been secretly moved by Yan Shuo to a hidden stronghold.
To the outside world, they were all uniformly declared to have died "accidentally." In addition to the six mentioned above, many others were hidden away.
These included Fang Nianci, a field reporter for the Chinese newspaper Shen Bao; Meng Wanying, a nurse at Renji Hospital; and Gu Shuyao, a teacher at Huxi Primary School.
Also included were Anna Petrova, a medical assistant at the Soviet consulate; Emily Taylor, a nurse at the British Renji Hospital; and Elena Rossi, a nurse at the French Ciudad ...
Among them were Yomiuri Shimbun reporter Kiriko Iwasaki and Fatuma Ahmed, an apprentice at an Ethiopian church hospital.
They came from different countries and social classes, yet they all became glaring victims in the photos, and their relatives and colleagues did not give up the search.
Lu Jingchen, a photographer for the Shen Bao newspaper, gripped his camera and inquired one by one in the streets and alleys of the concession.
When he ran into his colleagues at the newspaper, his eyes reddened and he gritted his teeth: "Nianci couldn't have died accidentally. The person in the photo must be her. I'll search the entire concession to find a clue!"
Renji Hospital surgeon Qin Yanzhi used his position to investigate Japanese-run hospitals.
When stopped by the guards at the gate, he said coldly, "I am a doctor at Renji Hospital. It is my duty to check on missing patients. Are you hiding something from me?"
The agent was speechless after being confronted, but still stubbornly refused to let him in.
Vladimir Georgiev, the consular assistant at the Soviet consulate, stared at Natalia's face in the photograph.
His face was ashen as he told his subordinates, "This must be reported to Moscow immediately. This is an intolerable violation of our citizens and must not be let off lightly!"
Three days after the photos were leaked, the concession was thrown into complete chaos.
The front page of the newspaper "Shen Bao" directly published photo excerpts and reports, with headlines pointing directly to the atrocities committed by the Japanese army.
The Shanghai bureaus of the North-China Herald and The New York Times followed suit.
Ruth Thompson's additional footage of protests in the concessions, coupled with Susie Miller's commentary, instantly ignited public opinion, prompting expatriates from various countries to take action.
American expatriates surrounded the consulate gates, banging on the doors and shouting, "Dr. Ella is innocent! The Japanese must hand over the murderer!"
The British Chinese community jointly wrote a letter.
Consul General Sir Archibald Clark, unusually losing his composure, angrily rebuked his subordinates: "Immediately contact the Japanese consulate and give them an explanation within three days, or else we will jointly pressure Tokyo to pursue this matter to the end!"
Sergei Vasilyev, representing the Soviet expatriate association, stormed the Japanese consulate.
He slammed his fist on the table, warning, "Anna is one of ours. If we don't find the truth and catch the murderer, Su Qiao will not let this go!"
French and German expatriates launched a strike and rally, and the outcry swept through the entire concession.
The German business delegation was already dissatisfied with Hannah's disappearance, and the representative of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai sent a telegram directly to Berlin, stating that "the actions of our Japanese allies are harming the interests and dignity of German citizens in China."
Even the Chinese community spontaneously boycotted Japanese goods, and shops removed all Japanese-owned products overnight, leaving Japanese goods stores deserted.
What truly propelled public opinion to its peak was the front-page report in the Shanghai edition of The New York Times, with the headline: "Several foreign women kidnapped in Shanghai concessions, suspected of being part of an organized crime."
Although the article did not directly name Japan, it described in detail the "Oriental decorative style" and "what appeared to be kimono" in the photos, guiding public opinion to point the finger at the Japanese army.
Under immense pressure from international public opinion, Japan completely panicked.
Japanese Consul General in Shanghai, Mikichi Horiuchi, initially denied the allegations publicly.
He stated, "This is malicious slander, a rumor spread by individuals with ulterior motives to undermine Japan-China friendship!"
However, when the American consul arrived with the original photos, the other party pointed out that the scar on the wrist of a man in the photos matched perfectly with the scar left by Lieutenant Kobayashi, the consulate's military attaché assistant, in a kendo competition last year.
Horiuchi's face turned deathly pale instantly, and his voice lost its confidence as he tried to defend himself.
The Japanese side hastily convened a press conference, where Consul Tomoya Morimoto, forcing a smile, repeated the lies: "These photos are all fake; Japan would never do such a thing!"
No sooner had she finished speaking than a reporter, holding up a photo, pressed her for an explanation: "The cherry blossom patterned kimono in the photo is Ms. Kiriko Iwasaki's personal item, and the room's furnishings are also in a Japanese style. How do you explain this?"
Morimoto was speechless when asked the question and had to hastily end the press conference.