Chinese Whispers

IV

Li stared gloomily from his window at the evergreens shading the brown marble facade of the All China Federation for Returning Overseas Chinese on the far side of the hutong. His hands were shoved deep in his pockets, as if he thought he might find something there that would show him a way out of his predicament. But they were as empty as he was devoid of ideas. That a senior law enforcement officer, possibly even a Deputy Minister of Public Security, had murdered Lynn Pan, he had no doubt. But it had been made clear to him by two of those officers that this was a line of investigation he was not to pursue under any circumstances. He had no idea if either of them was the guilty party, but it was perfectly possible. Nothing, it seemed, was impossible any longer — except for Li to continue his investigation. For he could hardly do so without it being apparent to the very people who had instructed him not to. The best he could hope for was that Bill Hart would manage to identify ‘D’. And that if he could do that, perhaps they would be able to tell what the lie had been which had so panicked Professor Pan into her unlikely meeting with Li at the Millennium Monument. And her subsequent death at the hands of her Liar.

He turned back into his office. But there was still the problem of the Beijing Ripper, the tall man in the long coat and baseball cap captured on the EMS video. He was still out there somewhere, plotting his next killing. Planning to replicate the horrific murder of Mary Jane Kelly in precise and gory detail. He might even have chosen his victim by now. It was possible that he had already seen her personal ad in one of the nightlife magazines, or watched her in the lobby of one of the tourist hotels, or stalked her through silent streets late at night. The thought galvanised him into action.

He picked up the phone from his desk and dialled a three-digit number. ‘Qian. I need you in here. And bring Wu.’ They were his most senior detectives, men he had worked with over many years. Wu had even saved his life. If he couldn’t trust them, then all hope was gone from his world for ever.

It was a couple of minutes before there was a knock at the door and Qian came in, followed by Wu. Both looked apprehensive. Everyone in the section was aware that something was going on, but no one knew what. Li waved them to a chair and said, ‘Anyone got a cigarette?’

They looked at him, surprised. It was more than a year since Li had given up smoking. An example to them all, even if none of them had chosen to follow it. Wu tossed a pack across the desk. ‘They say it gives you cancer, Chief. And heart disease. And fucks with your circulation. But, hell, why let a few little things like that stop you?’

Li ignored him and took out a cigarette. ‘Light?’

Qian struck a match and held it across the desk. Li leaned over and sucked a mouthful of smoke into his lungs and nearly choked. When he stopped coughing, he found Wu grinning at him. ‘Never mind, Chief, stick at it. Death’s worth persevering with.’ Li went to stub it out in his empty ashtray, but Wu held up a hand to stop him. ‘Uh-uh,’ he said, and took the cigarette from between his fingers. ‘No point in wasting it. Some of us are beyond saving anyway.’

Qian said quietly, ‘What’s going on, Chief?’

Li seemed to consider what he was going to say for a long time before finally he said, ‘I’m going to tell you guys stuff that I don’t want to leave this office. Is that understood?’ They both nodded, and he added, ‘By the same token, this is information that could endanger your careers, maybe even your lives. So if you don’t want to hear it, you are free to leave, and this conversation never took place.’ He waited, and when neither of them moved, he said, ‘When I went to the MERMER demonstration at the Chinese Academy of Sciences on Monday afternoon, there were five other people there from Public Security. There was a Deputy Minister, the Beijing police Commissioner and his deputy, the head of the political department and the Procurator General.’ He paused. ‘One of them murdered Lynn Pan.’

Whatever they might have expected to hear, Li doubted if it was that. Neither of them reacted immediately. Then Qian said, ‘And you know this … how?’

So Li told them, just as he had related it to Commissioner Zhu, from the DNA mismatch to Lynn Pan’s Liar, Liar, Liar files. Then he sat back and let them think about it. If he was going to be shot down in flames by anyone, he’d rather it was by officers in his own section telling him his theory was full of holes. ‘Well?’ he said eventually, when neither of them had spoken.

The two detectives exchanged glances. ‘Shit, Chief,’ Wu said. ‘I wish I’d known what you were going to tell us before you told us. I might have taken you up on your offer to bale out.’ He grinned. ‘Only kidding.’ But his smile quickly faded. ‘We’re in a shitload of trouble, aren’t we?’

Li nodded. Qian said, ‘And you’ve been told to back off?’

‘All the way.’

‘So what are you going to do?’

Li rubbed tired eyes and said, ‘Whoever killed her can’t afford to have me hanging around running the section for much longer. They’ve got to figure that sooner or later I’m going to work out who they are. So the way I see it is this: I’ve got to get him before he gets me.’

A knock at the door made them all jump. ‘Later,’ Li called out sharply. But the door opened anyway.

It was Sang, looking flushed and apologetic. ‘Chief, I’m sorry, but I’ve got to interrupt. I knew you’d want to hear this.’

‘What?’

‘Switchboard just got a call from the local cops over at Liangma. Kid in a buggy got snatched from outside the flower market.’

‘What the hell’s that got to do with us?’

Sang looked as if he’d rather eat glass. ‘Chief, it’s your kid.’