“Yes. Dr. H was about to start the procedure, when Qiangyu got a phone call and went out to the balcony to talk. While he was waiting, Dr. H couldn’t help casting a curious glance around, and he noticed a page spread out by the fax machine. To his astonishment, Dr. H saw my name on the page and, believe it or not, he took a picture of that fax with his cell phone.”
“What? The doctor took such a risk for you?”
“The chain of misplaced yin and yang causality can be long indeed. Dr. H believed he owed me a big favor, but that’s another story. Anyway, the fax turned out to be a proposal made by Qiangyu to remove me from my position at the Shanghai Police Bureau and to reassign me to be the National People’s Congress’s spokesman in Beijing. It would be a drastic change, though I hear that the Congress’s spokesman position carries with it the same Party cadre rank.”
“But why reassign you?”
“According to the page, Qiangyu was recommending me because of my unorthodox image and my ability to speak English. At the same time, he considered my performance in the police bureau to be innovative, yet not always in step with the political emphasis of the Party authorities. Needless to say, the transfer could be only the first step. What might follow is anybody’s guess.
“At least, that’s what Dr. H told me on the phone that afternoon.”
Lianping was at a loss for an appropriate response.
An ominous silence ensued. They could hear the water lapping against the bank outside, the screeching of white gulls hovering around the ships, and the blaring of a siren cutting through the dusk.
“In reality, this new position would be decorative at best,” Chen finally went on. “No one will pay any real attention to it. As the saying goes, out of sight, out of mind. From there, it’ll be easy for them to make me disappear completely. Such a scenario is nothing new. After getting the phone call from Dr. H that afternoon, I was reminded of a proverb: ‘When a clay Buddha statue sails across the river, it can hardly protect itself.’ So, I thought, what would be the point of dragging someone else into the muddy water with me?”
She looked up at him and said, “That’s why you suddenly wanted to go to the festival dinner instead?”
“Yes, I thought I’d better put in an appearance there, as a way of showing that I was in Shaoxing for the festival.”
“But you’ve been doing an excellent job, Chen. In fact, you were assigned to the case because of your extraordinary work—”
“It’s all because of the case.”
“How?”
“I haven’t discussed the details of the case with you, Lianping, because it’s so complicated. To begin with, the elements in the case lead off in too many possible directions. For that matter, there were too many investigators working on the case—Jiang for the city government, Liu for the city Party Discipline Committee, Sheng for Internal Security, and then the team of the Central Party Discipline Committee from Beijing, not to mention Detective Wei and me, representing the police bureau. Each of these investigators was approaching the case from his own perspective, and with his own agenda.”
“You’re right about that. Just this morning I heard stories about the possible mission of the Beijing team. But that’s probably old news to you. Please go on.”
“We can exchange notes about the Beijing team later. Regarding the Zhou case, when Wei and I first took over, I was reluctant. After all, it wasn’t unimaginable for someone in Zhou’s situation to commit suicide. Bringing me on as a special consultant might be nothing more than a political show or, as Detective Yu put it, an endorsement of the inevitable conclusion that it was suicide. For Jiang, Zhou’s shuanggui and Zhou’s death were clearly cause and effect. Detective Wei, however, didn’t think so, and he undertook his investigation in all seriousness. Wei suggested various theories about Zhou’s death as well as suspects who might have decided to bring Zhou down. It seemed to me, however, that none of them had sufficient motive to murder him in a well-guarded hotel like Moller. I have to emphasize one thing: while I was assigned to the case as a consultant, Wei did most of the work.
“Then, in the middle of his investigation, Wei died in a ‘traffic accident.’ This immediately raised the question whether or not Wei’s death was related to Zhou’s.”
“So you came to visit me at Wenhui,” she said quietly, “because of the investigation?”
“I’m a cop,” he said, avoiding her question. “I came there to check out the scene, and I wanted to talk to someone familiar with the area. What you told me while we were at the Wenhui café really helped. At that intersection, according to your analysis, it’s not likely that a parked car would go from a full stop to running him down at high speed by accident. It wouldn’t be advisable, however, for me to discuss it with you at length. I hope you understand.”