A Loyal Character Dancer

Chapter 14

It never rains but it pours.

Chief Inspector Chen’s phone started ringing.

It was Mr. Ma. “Where are you, Chief Inspector Chen?”

“On the road back from Qingpu.”

“Are you alone?”

“No, with Catherine Rohn.”

“How is she?”

“Much better. Your paste is miraculous. Thank you.”

“I’m calling about the information you wanted yesterday.”

“Go ahead, Mr. Ma.”

“I’ve got a man for you. He may know something about the woman you are looking for.”

“Who is it?”

“I have one request, Chief Inspector Chen.”

“Yes?”

“If you get what you need, will you leave him alone?”

“I give you my word. And I’ll never mention your name.”

“I do not want to be a stool pigeon. It’s against my principles to provide information to the government,” Mr. Ma said earnestly. “His name is Gu Haiguang, a Mr. Big Bucks, the owner of the Dynasty Karaoke Club on Shanxi Road. He has his connections in the triad world, but I don’t think he is a member. In his business, he has to be on good terms with the black way.”

“You’ve taken a lot of trouble for me. I appreciate it, Mr. Ma.”

He turned off the phone. Chen didn’t want to discuss Ma’s information with Catherine immediately though he knew she must have overheard some of the conversation. He took a deep breath. “Let’s stop here, Inspector Rohn. I’m thirsty. What about you?”

She said, “A fruit juice would be fine.”

He pulled up at a convenience store, where he bought some drinks, together with a paper bag of fried mini buns. As he entered, another car drove by slowly, then reversed and pulled into the lot.

“Please help yourself,” he said when he returned, holding out the buns covered with minced green onion, colorful, but greasy.

She took only the drink.

“The call was from Mr. Ma.” He opened his cola can with a pop. “He asked about you.”

“It’s very kind of him. I heard you thank him a couple of limes.”

“Not just that. He has found someone connected with the gang who will speak to us.”

“A Flying Axes member?”

“No, probably not, but we should interview him, if you’re no longer mad.”

“Of course we will interview him. It’s our job.”

“That’s the spirit, Inspector Rohn. Please eat some buns. I don’t know long it will take. Afterward, I will buy you a better meal-one fit for a distinguished American guest.”

“There you go again.” She picked up a bun with a paper napkin.

“Whatever I say during the interview, Inspector Rohn, please don’t jump to conclusions.”

“What do you mean?”

“For one thing, the tip came from Mr. Ma. I do not want to bring any trouble down on him.”

“I see. You must protect your source.” She stuffed a bun into her mouth. “I’ve no objection to that. I owe him a favor. Who is this mysterious man we are going to see?” She added, “And what will my role be?”

“He is the owner of the Dynasty Karaoke Club. It’s a hot place for young people. To sing along, to dance along. You won’t need to do anything. Just relax and enjoy the place as our American guest.”

They pulled onto the road. He checked his rearview mirror from time to time. A half hour later, they reached the intersection of Shanxi and Julu Roads. There, he made a right turn and pulled up by the half-open gate to a wall-enclosed mansion. A vertical white sign read: shanghai writers’ association. The doorman recognized Chen and opened the gate wide.

“You’re bringing an American guest today?”

“Yes, for a visit.”

She looked at him in puzzlement as the car rolled along the driveway to a stop alongside of a parked car. “Did you want to show me around the Writers’ Association first?”

“There’s no place to park near the Dynasty. We’ll leave the car here and take a shortcut through the back. It’s only a two or three minutes’ walk.”

It was only one of the reasons for leaving the car at the Association. Chen did not want to park a car with a bureau plate at the club. It might be recognized. And he could not shake off the feeling that they had been followed, though he wondered how a Fujian gang could have been so resourceful so far from their home territory. As they drove, he had been checking in the rearview mirror, but with such heavy traffic, it was difficult for him to be sure.

He let her through a hallway, and then out of a back door.

The new five-story building of the Dynasty Karaoke Club came in sight. Entering the spacious lobby, they found themselves standing on a vast marble floor that shone like a mirror. At one end of the main room, there was a stage with a band sitting underneath a huge TV screen, which showed singers performing along with the captions. In front of the stage were about thirty tables. Some people were sitting, drinking, while others were dancing in the space between the stage and tables. At the other end a marble staircase led to the second floor. This was different from the arrangement of the other clubs Chen had visited.

A young man in a white T-shirt and black jeans appeared on stage and made a gesture toward the band. The band started playing a jazz piece adapted from the modern Beijing Opera Taking Tiger Mountain by Surprise. It had been extremely popular during the early seventies, and told of a small detachment of the People’s Liberation Army fighting the Nationalist troops. Never had Chen imagined that a melody about PLA soldiers chasing tigers and bandits in snowstorms could be adapted so successfully into a piece to dance to.

“Chairman Mao’s words warm my heart,/ bringing spring to melt the snow away…”

How many times had he heard this refrain, sitting with his high-school friends in the movies? For a second, the past and the present were fused into one swirling scene. The fashionably dressed dancers, but also the soldiers in uniforms, pranced frenziedly before his eyes-trendy young people doing wild, exotic steps.

Then a stout, unshaven man glided to the center of the floor, clicking his fingers, drawing a great roar from the bystanders. The dancer’s features were oddly similar to Comrade Yang Zirong, the hero of the original Beijing Opera.

Chen gestured toward a young hostess in a purple velvet dress, who came over, bowing. “What can I do for you?” she inquired.

“We need a private room. The best.”

“The best, of course. There’s only one left.”

They were led upstairs, and along a curving corridor lined with private chambers, into a lavishly decorated room, with a flat Panasonic TV screen set into the wall. A high capacity Kenwood stereo system with several speakers stood beside it. A remote control and two microphones lay on a marble coffee table in front of a black leather sectional sofa.

The hostess unfolded a menu for them.

“Bring us a fruit platter. A coffee for me and a green tea for her.” He turned to Catherine. “The food here is okay, but we’ll dine later at the Jing River Hotel, a five-star hotel.”

“Whatever you say,” she said, intrigued by this proclamation of extravagance. And how did he know if the food was good or not?

The room was decorated like a rendezvous for lovers. A crystal vase on the corner table held a bouquet of carnations. The floor was thickly carpeted. There was also a liquor cabinet on the wall, whose glass shelves displayed bottles of Napoleon brandy and Mao Tai. The light was lambent, adjustable to different intensities. The floral-papered walls had been specially soundproofed. With the door closed, they could not hear any noise from outside, though all the other rooms must have been occupied by karaoke singers.

Little wonder business was thriving, even at a price of two hundred Yuan an hour, Chen thought. And this was not the peak time-period price. From seven p.m. to two in the morning it could be as high as five hundred Yuan an hour, according to Old Hunter.

The hostess brought them another sort of menu-a list of song titles in both English and Chinese. Underneath each name was a number.

“You may choose any song you like, Catherine,” he said. “All you have to do is push the number on the remote control, and sing along with the captions on the screen.”

“I did not realize that karaoke was so popular here,” she said.

Karaoke had been imported from Japan in the mid-eighties. Originally, it had been confined to a few large restaurants. Then entrepreneurs saw an opportunity. They converted restaurants into karaoke halls, open twenty-four hours a day. Next, the private room came into vogue. The hall was partitioned into many small chambers, each nicely furnished to give a sense of privacy. Some entrepreneurs went so far as to have a whole building redesigned for the purpose. Soon, people came not just for the karaoke, but for something else in the guise of karaoke.

With hotels still requiring I.D. and marriage certificates before people could check in, these private karaoke rooms, with their locked doors, met the understood yet unstated needs of the city suffering from a housing shortage. People did not have to feel awkward here. Ostensibly, they were only attending a karaoke party.

Karaoke girls, often abbreviated as K girls, also appeared. Nominally, they were supposed to sing with a customer who did not have a female companion. When the door was locked, however, the other services the K girls provided could well be imagined.

Chen did not see a single K girl that afternoon. Perhaps this was due to the time of the day. Or perhaps it was because he was with someone already.

He did not explain any of this to Inspector Rohn.

When the hostess came back with their order, he said. “Who is your boss?”

“General Manager Gu.”

“Tell him to come here.”

The hostess asked in astonishment, “What shall I say to him?”

He cast a glance at Catherine. “I have some international business opportunities to discuss with him.”

Almost immediately, a middle-aged man appeared, wearing a pair of black-rimmed glasses, sporting a beer belly as well as a diamond ring on his finger. He held out his business card to Chen. It read: Gu Haiguang.

Chen handed over his card in return. Gu seemed shocked, but he controlled himself, quickly waving the hostess out of the room.

“I’m here to introduce myself to you, General Manager Gu. This is my friend Catherine. I wanted to show her the best karaoke club in Shanghai.” Chen continued, “There’s a lot we can do for each other. As the old saying goes, ‘The mountain is high, and the river is long.’”

“Indeed, there are many possibilities in the future. I’m so honored to meet you today, and your beautiful American girlfriend. I have heard about you, Chief Inspector Chen. Your name has been in newspapers headlines. Your honorable presence lights up our humble place. Today is our treat.”

This would not be a small sum. Chen believed. For a couple of hours in a private room, plus the food, the bill could run to a month’s salary for him. Most of the clients must be newly rich or officials spending government money.

“You are most kind, but that’s not why I wanted to meet you, General Manager Gu.”

“Sergeant Cai is also a regular client of ours. He patrols the area.”

Chen had heard about cops accepting graft in the form of free entertainment from karaoke clubs. After all, a Cop deserved to sing a few songs, too. One problem with graft was, however, that it snowballed.

“As a chief inspector, I want to do a good job.” Chen took a leisurely sip of his coffee. “But that will be difficult without people’s help.”

“It’s the same in our business. As one of our old sayings goes, ‘At home, you depend on your parents, and out in the world, you rely on your friends.’ I am so pleased that we have become acquainted today. Your help will be invaluable to us.”

“Now that we’re friends, General Manager Gu, I would like to ask you a couple of questions.”

“Gladly, I will tell you anything I know.” Gu was all smiles.

“Has a gang called the Flying Axes contacted you?”

“Flying Axes? No, Chief Inspector Chen,” Gu said, his eyes suddenly alert. “I’m a decent business man. But a karaoke club has visitors from all walks of life. Occasionally from those secret societies as well. They come here like other customers. To sing, to dance, to have a good time.”

“Oh yes, there are a lot of private rooms here. Private services, too.” Chen stirred his coffee spoon deliberately. “You are a clever man, General Manager Gu. We can talk plainly. Whatever you pass on to me as a friend will be kept confidential.”

“I’m so honored that you consider me a friend.” Gu seemed to be stalling for time. “Really. I’m overwhelmed.”

“Let me tell you something, General Manager Gu. Lu Tonghao, the owner of Moscow Suburb, is an old pal of mine. When he first started his business, I managed to get a loan for him.”

“ Moscow Suburb! Yes, I’ve been there. To get along in today’s society, people really have to rely on their friends. Especially a friend like you. No wonder the restaurant enjoys such success.”

Chief Inspector Chen was aware of the close attention Inspector Rohn was paying to the conversation. Still, he went on.

“Lu has a bevy of Russian girls walking around in their mini slips. No one gives him any trouble. It’s so easy for people to find problems, you know, with a restaurant or a karaoke business.”

“That’s true. Fortunately, we do not have any problems with ours-” Gu said more slowly. “Well, except for the parking lot behind our building.”

“Parking lot?”

“There’s a space behind our building. For our location, this is really a godsend. So convenient for customers to park their cars there. The Shanghai Metropolitan Traffic Control people have come to us several times, saying that the space has not been zoned as a parking lot for the club.”

“If it’s a matter of a zoning problem, I can give them a call. Perhaps you may not know that I served as the acting director of Traffic Control last year.”

“Really, Director Chen!”

“Now about the gang-from Fujian.” Chen put down the cup and looked Gu in the eyes. “Does that ring a bell?”

“A Fujian triad. I don’t know. Oh, now I remember something else. Someone came to me yesterday. Not from Fujian, but from Hong Kong. A certain Mr. Diao. And he asked me if I had hired anyone from Fujian. A woman in her mid-thirties, three or four months pregnant. That’s so unlikely. Most of the girls working here are under twenty-five, and we have more good-looking young women applying than we can hire, let alone a pregnant one.”

“Did Mr. Diao give you any description of the woman he was looking for?”

“Let me think.” Gu said. “Not particularly nice looking. Sallow, wrinkled, a lot of sadness in her eyes. A woman who looked like a Fujian farmer.”

“Are you sure that Mr. Diao’s not a gangster?”

“I don’t think so. He would have stated his organization and rank when he introduced himself.” Gu added, belatedly, “And he would not have come to me if he were a gangster.”

“Your club is not a likely place to find such a woman. Mr. Diao must have known better.” Chen said. “Why did he come here?”

“I don’t know. He must have been desperate, bumping everywhere like a headless fly.”

“Do you know where he is staying?”

“He did not leave his address or phone number. He said he might check back.”

“If he does, find out where he can be found and give me a call.” Chen had written his cellular phone number on the back of his card. “Any time.”

“I’ll do that, Chief Inspector Chen. Anything else?”

“Well, another thing,” Chen said. Gu seemed to be quite cooperative now that he had played the bargaining chip of the parking lot. The chief inspector decided to push his luck a little further. “A body was discovered in Bund Park a few days ago. Possibly a triad killing. There were many ax wounds to the body. Have you heard anything about it?”

“I think I read about it in the Xinming Evening Newspaper.”

“The victim could have been murdered in a hotel room, or in a place like yours.”

“You cannot be serious, Chief Inspector Chen.”

“I’m not saying it happened here, General Manager Gu. I make no accusation. But you are well-informed and move in the right circles. The Dynasty is the number-one karaoke club in Shanghai,” Chen said, patting Gu’s shoulder. “Some clubs or other places stay open all night, and they do not do a proper business like yours. The victim was in his pajamas, having just had sex. You see, I’m giving you all the details, in confidence.”

“I appreciate your trust, Chief Inspector Chen. I will try my best to find out for you.”

“Thank you, General Manager Gu. As it is said, ‘Some people can never understand each other all their lives, not even when they are white-haired, but some do the moment they take off their hats.’” Chen rose to his feet. “I’m glad that we have met today. Now I have to leave. Please give me the bill.”

“If you consider me a friend, don’t talk about payment. I cannot bear to lose face like that.”

“Oh no, you cannot let him lose face, Chief Inspector Chen,” Catherine said.

“Here are two VIP cards,” Gu said. “One for you, one for your beautiful American girlfriend. You must come back again.”

“Of course we will.” Catherine smiled, taking Chen’s arm as they walked out.

This was a carefully calculated message for Gu: Chief Inspector Chen had his weaknesses. She did not let go of his arm until they lost themselves in the crowd. They did not start talking until they got back to the car.

The Flying Axes were looking for Wen, not only in the Fujian area, but elsewhere, desperately, “Bumping everywhere like a headless fly-” just as they were. By April twenty-fourth, however, failure to locate Wen would be a success for the gangsters.