The Interior

14

SILENTLY DAVID AND HULAN WATCHED AS PEARL AND GUY stepped into the elevator and the doors closed. David didn't know what to say. What he'd thought of as a bad situation out at Suchee's house had just gotten much worse.

"If Pearl really has a copy of Miaoshan's papers," Hulan said at last, "then she knows no more than we do."

"But she's not going to stop until-"

"We have a lot to talk about. Let's not do it here."

In their room, David asked what Guy had said in Mandarin. Hulan told him, then added, "I knew I couldn't ask him in English. It was too private, and I didn't think he'd tell me in front of you or that woman."

David sat down on the edge of the bed. "I'm in trouble."

"Maybe, maybe not. In the last few hours we've been deluged with facts and innuendoes. We have to sort through them."

"Why? It's clear that Pearl Jenner has an agenda and I'm part "of it. As she said, it doesn't matter whether I participate in her story or not. She's still going to write it."

"And destroy your reputation?"

"It's not just my reputation," he said. "It's who I am."

Hulan knelt before him, put her hands on his knees, and looked up into his face. "You know that what I have always loved most about you is your integrity, but ethics and honor are easy to live by as long as they aren't tested. This is your test."

"But I did nothing wrong. I'm just a lawyer who's bound by client confidentiality. That's not my fault."

"David, you know I love you, but maybe it's your fault in the sense that you chose not to know." Before he could say anything, she put a finger on his lips to keep him from speaking. "You took the job at Phillips, MacKenzie without asking enough questions. You took on the Tartan matter without knowing all the details. You agreed to represent Governor Sun without finding out what his problems were. Now that you represent him, you still don't know what it is exactly that he wants from you. I understand why you didn't ask. You wanted to be here with me. And I know this isn't the right time to say this, but you came here without even asking me if this was what I wanted."

Everything she said was true. He had put his wanting to be with Hulan before anything else. His love for her had always blinded him, but knowing this didn't change the way he operated. If anything, he'd always had to act for both of them. That's why he hadn't asked her if she wanted him to come. (What if she'd said no?) That's why when Hulan had run away from him during dinner, he'd gone straight back to the hotel, rousted Lo out of bed, and made the investigator drive him out into the pitch black of the countryside to Suchee's hovel. He could have said something about the poverty of that place, about the filth, about Hulan's sanity in risking her health and that of their child's by being there. He could have also demanded an explanation from Hulan about why she'd run away from him. But he did none of those things, because he really didn't want to know the answers. His desire not to know had gotten him into deep trouble both professionally and personally.

He looked down at Hulan and felt a deep despair. What if his actions and inactions had cost him everything?

"We're going to sort this out," Hulan soothed. "Too many things are happening here. What's going on in the factory. What Henry Knight may or may not know about all that. What Miaoshan's papers are and what they have to do with the ones that Governor Sun gave you. You're the smartest man I know…" He felt the warmth of her hand as she put it on his chest over his heart. "But you're dumb here. So now all we can do is try to work our way out of it."

"Where do we start?"

"There's only one place to start. With Miaoshan." Hulan rose and sat next to him.

"She got around," he noted dryly. "Tsai Bing, Guy Lin, the American in the factory."

"It's weird, isn't it?" Hulan said. "Our culture is repressed in many ways. Sex out of marriage… well, it's against the law in a lot of instances. But Miaoshan didn't seem to care. She was almost predatory about it. I want to believe it's because she was young or that she had a hard life, but that could apply to millions of women here."

"Maybe her promiscuity goes back to that earthiness you were talking about earlier," David offered. "If you grow up in the countryside everyone-even children-knows about animals mating. They see it with their own eyes; they participate in the breeding."

"Yes, and they joke about sex and go to the herbalist to increase their sexual prowess or fertility, but chastity is considered the highest female virtue. It's a weird double standard, but that's how it is. So at first when Captain Woo and Siang said Miaoshan had a bad reputation, I didn't believe it, because there are always village gossips willing to spread lies. But now how can I not? She was having sex with Tsai Bing recently enough that he thinks he was the father. Poor Guy Lin believes he was the father and maybe he was, but it could also have been Aaron Rodgers."

"That kid? Why him?"

"You should see 'that kid' with the young women in the factory."

"That doesn't mean he was fucking her."

"Believe me, David, he was. I see that now. Today Peanut said something about Tang Siang going off to rendezvous with Aaron in the context of talking about Miaoshan. When she said it was strange, she must have meant that Miaoshan and Tang Siang not only shared Tsai Bing but Aaron Rodgers as well."

"Three men, one woman. There are plenty of motives for murder in that setup."

"Yes, but there's more to Miaoshan than her promiscuity," Hulan said. "I think that in each case she used sex as a means to an end. With Tsai Bing she had to keep up appearances. More than that, she knew that Siang loved him and probably used sex in the most petty way to get back at her rival. I think she saw Guy Lin as a ticket out, but to keep that relationship she had to give him information. That meant seducing Aaron Rodgers, although having watched him in action, I don't think she had to work too hard to do it. But she didn't stop with Aaron. The way that she went about getting other information from the women in the factory fascinates me. Guy said she repeatedly asked the women questions. Even Peanut complained about it, but I didn't know what she was talking about at the time."

"Why does it matter?"

"Because it shows such bad manners in our culture," Hulan responded. "If you ask a question and don't get an answer or you get an evasive one, you're supposed to drop the subject. When Miaoshan didn't, she was going beyond rude. I myself haven't asked many questions about Miaoshan in the factory, but you might expect stories about her to circulate. Apart from ridiculous ghost stories, I don't think there was any grief when she died. Neither Tang Siang nor Peanut liked her. So I've wondered, was it just jealousy or was it something else? I'm beginning to think that she was too foreign to them."

"Because of the way she looked."

"Yes, she was beautiful but in a foreign way. I think she played that up, buying Western-style clothes-"

"Or they were given to her by whomever it was in the factory who was helping her."

"Oh, absolutely. Even now, more than three weeks after her death, I can smell White Shoulders perfume on her bunk." When David frowned, she said, "Oh, you've smelled it before. It's strong and very sweet. I remember it from the States. I always hated that smell."

As David looked at her incredulously, Hulan went on. "And it's not something you can just pick up in the company store, in a dry-goods shop in Da Shui Village, or even here in Taiyuan. Which brings us to the papers Sun gave you."

"I can't show them to you."

"I understand."

David got up, sorted through some piles on the desk, then spread out

Sun's papers while shielding them from Hulan's view. Although they looked superficially the same as Miaoshan's, these weren't copies. Where the names of the action figures had been, now were the names of various companies-Toy World, Plush Supply, Mega Soft, and the like. To their right were account numbers and deposit dates. How did this material fit into the big picture? Had Sun sent these over knowing this moment was imminent, that as David's client he'd be protected, because instead of evidence these documents would fall under the rubric of privileged information?

What was very clear was that David and Hulan were now on different sides. She loved him and knew how to read him, so as much as he tried to cover his emotions, the look on his face as he read through the papers said much about Sun's guilt. So now her job was to garner information from David; his was to protect his client. Her job was to pin down the crime; his was to point suspicion elsewhere. He was fully aware that cooperation was a cornerstone of the legal system in any country. (Smart criminals hired attorneys with good relationships with investigators and prosecutors. Was this part of Sun's plan for David with Hulan?) David could speak to Hulan, of course, but only in hypotheticals, while she would try to pry as much information out of him as possible without him shutting her out completely.

"What are Miaoshan's papers actually proof of?" David asked. "What's the crime? I see so many levels, but which is the right one?" He paused, then said, "You didn't tell me before about the child labor."

"I didn't think it mattered. It's not really a prosecutable offense." She shook her head, then clarified, "What I mean is, child labor is against the law. The official labor age is eighteen for government factory work, but private companies can hire younger people."

"How young are we talking, Hulan?"

"At Knight I'd say the youngest I've seen is about twelve, but, David, you have to understand that if this was reported, Knight might be fined and those girls let go. I think the only way an owner might go to jail was if there was an international scandal, a story in the press…" Her breath came out in a disgusted rush. "Pearl Jenner."

"But Guy Lin said Miaoshan's papers were 'proof.' They may be proof of something, but it isn't child-labor violations. And despite the SUN CAN code, I see nothing that would tie my client to child labor. Neither are the papers proof of the factory's conditions. You and I and Guy Lin may think they're deplorable, but they're still within Knight's rights, which means, I hate to say it, they're also within Tartan's rights. Then there's the dangerous machinery and the possibility of improper chemical use. But again, I didn't see anything in Miaoshan's papers that pointed to that or to my client."

Very aware that Sun's papers were just a few feet away from her, Hulan ventured, "Maybe the products themselves are somehow dangerous and the papers have to do with shipments or something."

"I don't think so. If there was a defect in Sam amp; His Friends, it would have been all over the American press. That's something they really can't cover up."

"The next level of crime would have to be the bribery," Hulan said. "Except we know that Pearl made that up."

David didn't respond.

"I'm going to lay out a scenario for you," she said. "Let's suppose Pearl was right but didn't know it. Could Sun have taken a bribe?" She held up a hand. "You needn't answer, but consider this: Would your client not take one? This is China and Sun's a smooth operator. If that's the case, then how did Knight hide it in their financials?"

David thought he knew the answer: Knight disguised the bribes as payments to dummy corporations. Hulan was close to the truth. Where would she go next?

"I'm guessing they did it with the skim," Hulan said suddenly. "We were told we'd be paid five hundred yuan. We actually get two hundred, which leaves three hundred yuan a month extra." She reached over and grabbed a notepad off the nightstand. "Let's figure some people do get paid more, because Knight has to promote sometimes, don't you think?" She didn't wait for an answer. "So let's take an average of two hundred yuan off the salaries. With a thousand workers…" She scribbled furiously, then announced, "That would be a little over twenty-four thousand U.S. dollars a month, or almost three hundred thousand dollars a year."

She put the notepad down. "Would your client have killed Miaoshan if he thought she had papers that implicated him in a scheme that netted him hundreds of thousands of dollars a year?" Hulan asked, then answered the question herself. "Yes."

"You're jumping to huge conclusions," David countered. "Let's remember that we still don't know what Miaoshan's papers actually mean. They don't give a complete picture."

"Well, I'm guessing you're holding a list of dummy corporations-"

"You've got deposits and dates and toys that spell out a code name, but where is the money actually going?" David interrupted, trying to keep Hulan focused on Miaoshan's documents. "All this"-his motion included the papers before him-"proves nothing unless you know where the money is. It could be down at the corner bank, in Beijing, or in Switzerland for all you know. And it could be going into anyone's account. What if Sun's been set up? You have to admit that was a pretty stupid code."

What he said next took Hulan completely by surprise. "We have to find a way to link the deaths of Miaoshan, Xiao Yang, and Keith." He amazed her again by focusing first on Xiao Yang. Then, as he spoke, she realized that he was laying out a defense-one in which he pointed blame everywhere but at his client-as clearly as if he'd been in a courtroom before a jury.

"Let's assume that the woman in the factory was killed as you suggested earlier tonight." David thought back to just three hours ago when that idea had seemed inconceivable. Now her death had become one more piece of the puzzle. "Was it to cover up the fact that Knight doesn't use safety precautions with its machinery? Was it because she saw something? Was it because she made financial demands on Aaron Rodgers or someone else in the company? Was she one of Aaron Rodgers's girls and now that he'd seen… what's the new girl's name?"

"Tang Siang."

"Now that he'd seen Tang Siang, he wanted to get rid of Xiao Yang. Maybe he's a serial killer who makes love to girls, then murders them when he's ready to move on." His questioning tone belied the implausi-bility of this scenario.

Hulan asked gently, "And where does Keith fit into all this?"

They hadn't talked much about his death. Just after the accident David hadn't been in contact with Hulan. Then when she'd finally called, they'd mostly talked about his coming to Beijing. Once he got there, he had been too happy to bring up Keith's gory death.

"I saw him die," David said. He stood and began to pace. "I accepted responsibility for that. The FBI, Madeleine, Rob, we all believed I was the target. But what if we were wrong? What if someone believed that Keith truly was the subject of a federal investigation as Pearl had written?"

"But what she wrote wasn't true."

David stopped in his pacing. "It doesn't matter. People believe what they read in the papers." He resumed walking, crossing the room in four long strides before pivoting and crossing the way he'd come. "And even if our murderer didn 't believe the story, what if he saw right through to the fact that Keith was about to become a whistle-blower either about the conditions in the factory or about the bribery you're alleging?"

"But you don't know that he was."

"On that night he was worried about something. Maybe it was that he was going to be a whistle blower; maybe it was that he was going to violate attorney-client privilege. Either way, an ethical issue had torn him up. What if the killer or killers knew that?"

"But the deaths were on two continents. Are you suggesting a network of some sort-a gang, the triads, some form of organized-crime syndicate-operating in China and Los Angeles that goes beyond Sun and Knight?"

"It could just as easily be a couple of greedy people. Remember, the Knights, Aaron Rodgers, Sandy Newheart-all of them travel back and forth. They all had opportunity."

"Sun also travels," she pointed out. "He also had opportunity."

But listening to the facts the way David had laid them out had shifted Hulan's view. It was too easy, too obvious, to accept Sun as the guilty party, although she already had enough evidence for a conviction under Chinese law. Is that what the killers had planned all along?

Even if Sun was innocent, David was still in an ethical bind. He'd presented different possibilities. If Keith had been bothered by an ethical issue, as David suggested, then that pointed to Tartan's involvement. Tartan was David's client, as was Sun. If, on the other hand, Henry Knight or the Knight company was the guilty party, then David had no obligation to keep quiet. In fact, he would need to expose whatever had happened to his client, Tartan. Although if Sun had accepted payments from Knight, then David was back in his ethical quandary because he couldn't expose one client to another.

"It seems to me I have four choices." David held up his forefinger. "One, I can finish the deal and walk away. No one but you, Sun, Henry Knight, and I will be the wiser. That would be the easy way, maybe even the sensible way, but that's not going to happen." He held up a second finger. "I could tell Tartan an edited version of events. Obviously I wouldn't be able to tell them anything about Sun." He stopped. "I'm not saying he's involved…"

"I understand."

"So that would limit me to the child-labor issue and the unsavory working conditions, both of which may or may not be illegal in China. Three, I can go forward, continue representing Tartan and Sun, but ask the governor and the Knights straight out what this stuff is. Because here's the thing: What if you're wrong about the bribery? These papers could be nothing. Maybe Miaoshan committed suicide because she was pregnant and didn't know who the father was. Maybe Xiao Yang, in shock from loss of blood, wandered out on the roof and fell. Maybe I was the target when Keith died, or maybe it was just a random drive-by and Keith truly was an innocent victim. Maybe Keith knew none of this stuff. That last night he said he was torn up about something personal and ethical, but maybe it was just his girlfriend's death. I know I wouldn't be able to think straight if anything happened to you. What if we're seeing crimes where none exist because that's what we've both been trained to do? What if there's some logical explanation? I'll admit it's a remote possibility, but what if?"

Before Hulan could say anything, David held up a fourth finger. "Four, I confront Henry and he tells me: (a) it's none of my business, or (b) his company doesn't have internal practices that are up to my standards, but so what? I go to Sun and he admits to crimes galore. Whatever he says is still privileged information."

Hulan waited as David thought. At last he said, "Again things are complicated by representing different clients doing and wanting vastly different things. In the U.S. we have a couple of exceptions to privilege. One is the crime-fraud exception, which is if you think your services are being used to help commit a crime-meaning if you have actual knowledge that a crime or fraud is occurring-then you can come forward. The problem is that I don't have actual knowledge of that."

"What about the machinery?"

"One machine, one injury. Maybe Xiao Yang didn't know how to use it properly. Maybe she was tired. No, it's not enough on its own. It's probably not even a crime. Anyway, Knight isn't using my services to do anything, and my client has no knowledge of the problems with the machinery. I could try and get Henry to admit he's injured, dismembered, and murdered employees. He's not a client, but even if he was, I'd be compelled to protect others. Besides, do you honestly believe he'd admit such a thing?"

David didn't wait for an answer. Instead he moved to a second option. "I can try to withdraw as counsel for Tartan and Sun, but I still wouldn't be able to say anything, because privilege goes with the firm. Finally, I have to remember that there's a financial transaction going on. Knight International is a publicly held company. The Securities and Exchange Commission expects the lawyers to sign off on the truth of the disclosures of a company in the event of a sale. Maybe I just won't be able to sign."

"What about Sun?"

"I don't know, but I think I need to find someone who really understands the subtleties of Chinese law." He sank back down on the bed. "It seems to me I can either let it all go, in which case I'd have abandoned any personal integrity that I ever had-"

"Or you could go to the press-"

"Pearl Jenner?" David asked, shocked.

"The New York Times. The Washington Post."

"That only happens in the movies. This is real. I can't go to the press. I'd lose all control of the situation, and it would be totally unethical. If this is something more and somehow Tartan or Sun is connected to the deaths of Miaoshan, Xiao Yang, or Keith-I'll lose my license to practice law, for I will have violated the law's most sacred trust." He seemed at a loss for words, then added, "And if any of this stuff is true, it's going to be dangerous. We'll be dealing with people who have no compunctions about killing."

"What should I do?"

"Are you asking as an investigator or as the woman I love?"

"I don't know," she admitted.

His first suggestion seemed banal given what was at stake. "Look up everyone's travel schedules. At least we'll know where everyone was on the crucial dates."

"Including Sun's?"

"I know you'll do that whether I ask you to or not. It's your job."

"Okay then, I'll do the travel inquiries as soon as we get back to Beijing."

"And Miles will arrive there tomorrow afternoon. He's nothing if not a good lawyer. He'll know what to do." His meaning was clear to both of them. David would be able to confide everything to Miles because Tartan and Sun were firm clients. He kept his gaze steady on her to gauge her reaction to his next question. "Can you go back to the factory tomorrow?"

"I'd already planned on it," she said.

"We need to know more about Miaoshan, about the way she was speaking to the women, about what she really had in mind with her inquiries. Did she love any of those men? Did one of them fit into her future plans? You can also watch and ask about Aaron Rodgers." He hesitated, then added, "If you smell anything…"

David saw his apprehension mirrored in Hulan's eyes as she put a hand protectively over her stomach. "I'll get out somehow." Her face made a subtle adjustment as she buried her feelings, then said, "I also want to see Suchee again. As soon as I'm free to leave, I'll go to the farm." Then she asked, "When's our flight?"

"Henry said we should all meet at the airport at five o'clock."

Thinking aloud, she said, "I'll have Lo pick me up at Suchee's at four; then he can drop us at the airport before driving back to Beijing. Wait! Can you even have me with you? Is that ethical?"

"I won't let you ask any questions."

"Agreed."

"How will you introduce me?"

"As my fiancee," he answered. "But I mean it, Hulan, no questions. No investigating in front of me."

She agreed to his terms, then asked, "Where will you be tomorrow?" He smiled grimly. "Randall Craig and others from Tartan are arriving tonight. Tomorrow there's some sort of celebration; then we have more meetings before flying to Beijing." He thought for a moment, then added, "I'll try to talk to Randall first thing in the morning. Later I'll try to see Sun. You never know. He may just tell me what's happening."

They had a plan, but they'd left much unsaid. For both of them there was no question that they should go forward no matter what the physical, psychological, or professional danger. But they were on separate tracks now, on opposite sides. The more they pursued their own investigations, the more obvious they would become. The more they asked questions, the more likely they would be targeted just as Keith and Miaoshan had been.