Hidden Moon

6

I overslept and had to drive fast to the airport. Whether she was in the middle of everything that had happened or just wandered in, I still didn’t know. Pang, the man with the shoulders, might have figured it out; maybe that’s why he ended up floating in the river. Dead men didn’t seem to upset her; she hadn’t seemed upset when I told her that Boswell had died in the cemetery.

“It may seem cruel, Inspector, but I discovered a long time ago that he was evil, in his own way. I vowed I would never forgive him, and I never will. Anyway, that’s what cemeteries are for, isn’t it, dead bodies?” She was tidying up papers at the bank, shredding some documents, putting others in stacks on a desk. “They took away that other desk again. I can’t work when the furniture keeps disappearing, but that’s not the point. You see, Inspector, I’ve decided this banking business isn’t what I want to do.” She gave me a rueful smile, only I could tell it wasn’t rue that was driving her thoughts.

“You need any help, tidying up?”

“Thank you, I can handle it.” She gave me another smile, this one a little more positive, but she still didn’t put everything she had into it. She was concentrating on the shredding. “I’ve realized this isn’t my future, not here.”

“You’re leaving?”

“On tomorrow’s plane.”

I considered this. “You need a ride to the airport? I could swing by and pick you up.”

“That’s kind of you, but it’s all arranged. Too bad we didn’t have a chance to get to know each other better, Inspector.” This time there was no smile. “I was hoping we would. I had the feeling you were interesting, somehow. When you agreed to come to my apartment, I thought we would comfort each other.” She looked away.

“Me?” I felt combustible all of a sudden. Then the image of Pang’s body floated into my mind. She was down to one pile of papers. I didn’t think she should be shredding anything; on the other hand, Min had told me that we had been ordered to stay away from the bank, which meant I had no jurisdiction here.