Old Hunter’s lecture was interrupted as the waitress came back into the room bearing a lacquer tray with an exquisite white china teapot and a single cup. The bubble tea came in a long paper cup with an extra thick straw sticking out of a plastic lid.
The Mountain Mist tea looked good. Chen could tell by the green tea color in the white cup. He took a sip of the bubble tea through his straw. A tiny sticky ball rolled on his tongue. The size of a small marble, but with the rich taste of milk, soft, slippery, almost sensual. But was this really tea?
Perhaps he, too, was antiquated, like Old Hunter, who spit a tiny tea leaf into the cup before continuing. “How can things get into such a mess? Pure and simple. Some of our high-ranking cadres are black-hearted. They take money from the gangsters, and cover up for them in return. Have you heard a story about Party Secretary Li’s brother-in-law?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Well, that brother-in-law had a bar on Henshan Road. The diamond area of the city. A swell business. How he got the license and lease, people never knew or asked. One day, someone got drunk, smashed a table, and slapped him. The next day, the drunkard came back, knelt on the floor, and slapped his own face hundreds of times. Why? The Blue is behind it. That triad has more power in this city than the government. If the drunkard had not done that, his whole family would have been killed. After this, no one has dared to make any trouble in the bar.”
“It could be a gesture to Li,” Chen said reluctantly, as he was aware of Old Hunter’s grudge against Li. The two had joined the force at about the same time. One did nothing but police work, and the other did nothing but politics. After thirty years, the gap between the two had grown huge. “Yet Li himself might have nothing to do with it.”
“Possibly,” Old Hunter said, “but you never know. Things are really out of control.” The old man continued in indignation, chewing at a tea leaf with his tea-stained teeth, “Now about the dead body in Bund Park. It’s unusual. If it happened in those coastal areas close to Hong Kong, or in Yunnan Province where the drug traffic moves across the borders, I would not be so surprised. Since President Jiang was formerly the Mayor of Shanghai, the gangsters keep a low profile here. They do not want to twist the tiger’s whiskers. Before this, I cannot remember having heard of any blatant triad killing in Shanghai.”
“It may have been the work of organizations from outside Shanghai.” Chen nodded, taking another long sip of his tea. “Perhaps to send a message to people here.”
“So I suggest you have another story placed in the newspaper. Give vivid details concerning the ax wounds to the body. See if a snake will crawl out of the cave.”
“That’s a good idea.”
“If you’re going to deal with those gangsters, Chief Inspector Chen, you cannot do it in your white way only. You have to be very flexible. It is necessary for you to get whatever help you can. Say, from someone familiar with both the black and white ways, and with street connections, too.”
It was the old man’s way of offering help, Chen realized. The retired cop was an old hand, with contacts of his own. “I cannot agree more. In fact, I was thinking of asking for your help, Uncle Yu.”
“Whatever I can do, Chief Inspector Chen.”
“I have two cases on my hands. They are not related, but each may have something to do with the black as well as the white way. I doubt that Qian Jun is experienced enough to do a good job, and Party Secretary Li, as you know, won’t want to become involved for his always politically correct reasons.”
“Give me all the details. Forget about Party Secretary Li.”
“First, with respect to the victim in Bund Park, we have not identified him yet, but the initial report from Dr. Xia supports our hypothesis.” He handed a copy of the report to Old Hunter. “He was killed shortly after having had sex with someone, still in his pajamas. So possibly he was killed at home or in a hotel. If in a hotel, I don’t think it could have happened in a state-run five-star one, which would have had to report, but there are so many private places, massage parlors and the like.”
“And underground brothels, too, Chief Inspector Chen. You will not find anything about these places in the bureau’s data files.”
“Second, there is Wen Liping’s case. Yu is working on it in Fujian. A former educated youth from Shanghai, Wen may have come back to the city.” He produced a picture of Wen. “If she’s not staying with a relative, those cheap private hotels without a business license would also be her choice.”
“Good, I will check all the possible places. I’m old, but I can still do something.” Then the old man added seriously, “Don’t ever underestimate these thugs. They can haunt you like demons lurking in the dark, striking at a moment you can never anticipate. Last year, an old colleague of mine disappeared in the middle of a gang investigation. His body has never been found.”
“I’m sorry to drag you into it, Uncle Yu.”
“Don’t say that, Chief Inspector Chen. I’m glad to be useful. I have nothing to worry about, a bag of old bones. Whatever comes, it’s not a bad bargain at my age. You are young, and you still have a long way to go. You cannot be too careful with the triads.”
“Thanks. I will be very careful.”
After he parted with Old Hunter outside the Moon Breeze, Chen called Inspector Rohn. “We are going to interview Wen Liping’s elder brother, Wen Lihua, tomorrow morning.”
“So the answer is a straightforward yes?”
“According to Confucius, ‘A man is not fit to stand if incapable of keeping his word.’”
“ ‘So you start panting for breath,’” she said, laughing, “ ‘the moment people say you’re fat.’”
“Oh, you know that Chinese expression too!” It was an idiomatic one he had heard only once among old Beijingese. Inspector Rohn had an exceptional command of Chinese proverbs.
“When do we start?” she said. “I’ll wait for you in front of the hotel.”
“No, you don’t have to do that. Traffic can be terrible. Around eight, but I’ll call your room.”
“Fine, I’ll be waiting.”
As he turned off the phone, something he had just said flashed across his mind.
Traffic.
Because of the terrible traffic in the area around the Peace Hotel and strict speed limits, vehicles literally crawled. And it was there, that morning, as they stood on the corner of Nanjing and Sichuan Road, that the motorcycle had come out of nowhere, racing right at her. Sichuan Road was not a street frequented by motorcyclists. He seemed to remember having heard a sputtering sound as they stood talking there on the street corner. The motorcycle had nearly run her down. It must have started up nearby, which made the incident even more suspicious. If the rider had just started his engine, why else would he have accelerated like that?
Inspector Rohn had just arrived in Shanghai. Only three people were aware of her mission. Could the Fujian triad have struck so fast? What was he confronting in his search for Wen? For the first time, he had an ominous feeling about this investigation.
Was it because of Party Secretary Li’s emphasis on Inspector Rohn’s safety?
Or because of Old Hunter’s lecture on the black way?
He was disturbed by the memory of clutching Inspector Rohn, to keep her out of the reach of a crazy motorcyclist. If it was no accident, what further threats to Inspector Rohn’s life might there be?