“You wanted to protect her,” Bill said. “I’m sure she understood that, even if she didn’t like the way you tried to do it.”
“Of course she did,” I said. To my surprise I found myself channeling my mother. “That’s a privilege of family. To express concern and be understood, even if the expression’s odd.”
The look Mrs. Yang gave me was definitely odd. So was what she said: “And beyond family? Can one be understood, do you think, and maybe even forgiven, for expressions of concern that are … odd?”
I didn’t know what to say because I didn’t know what we were talking about. Bill just drank his beer, so I guessed he didn’t either. Jack, though, leaned down, kissed Mrs. Yang’s cheek, and said, “Forgiveness is always possible, even without understanding. When there’s understanding, it’s inevitable. Go back to your son-in-law’s party, Yang Yu-feng.”
After a moment she smiled; then she bowed. Jack bowed back, and she left the room.
I said, “Um?”
Jack smiled as he watched Mrs. Yang make her way down the hall. “She’s the one who shot at me.”
“That’s what she wants to be forgiven for. She said he has no secrets from her. But she kept a few from him. She knew Anna had made the paintings, and what Anna and Pete were planning to use them for. That’s why the target was me, not Dr. Yang. For one thing, I’m not sure she could bring herself to shoot at him, even if no one was supposed to get hurt. For another, it didn’t matter that there are other people who do what I do. By the time Dr. Yang found and hired one of them the Free Mike Liu rally would’ve happened and the paintings would’ve been shown. She just wanted to buy time for Anna by scaring me off.”
“No, seriously? Where would Mrs. Yang even get a gun?”
“Oh, I don’t think she personally did it. She hired it.”
“Okay, then where would she get a person with a gun?”
“A gun, and a high slime factor. Right here, in the studio next to Anna’s.”
“Jon-Jon Jie?”
Jack nodded. “I’m sure Mrs. Yang paid him well. And he probably thought that this would, long-term, give him something to hold over Dr. Yang. For when he wants a show reviewed or something.”
“Gunshots in the middle of the day on Madison Avenue? He’d take that kind of risk?”
“Come on, he’s a Texas cowboy.”
Bill said, “What are you going to do?”
“About her? Nothing. I forgave her. The end. About him?” Jack shrugged.
“Jack, he shot at you!” I said.
“Can’t prove it. Besides,” he grinned, “he’s got enough problems. Every artist here knows he stole the paintings. He has an expensive lease on a Manhattan studio, and he’s about to lose his gallery. He’ll never drink white wine in this town again.”
“You don’t think Eddie To will take him on?”
“Not in this lifetime.”
Probably conjured by my magical powers, Eddie To right then passed the doorway in the company of a familiar- looking Chinese woman. He took a step backward and leaned in. “Hey! Is this you guys’ cabal office?” He led the young woman in. “Hu Mei-fan, this is Jack Lee, Lydia Chin, and Bill Smith. You need to meet them, they’re very dangerous.”
Hu Mei-fan smiled shyly, a smile that suddenly vanished when she got a look at me. Flushing, not meeting my eyes, she said, “We have met.”
In Doug Haig’s office, yes we had. “No,” I said, “I don’t think so.”
“Mei-fan’s a painter, fresh off the boat from Beijing.” Eddie said as the young woman gave me a grateful smile and an almost imperceptible bow of the head. “Really good. We’ll be giving her a show later this year, Frank and I. After, you know…” He winked and touched a finger to the side of his nose. “About which, by the way, Drs. Snyder and Lin said exactly what you said they’d say.”
Jack asked, “They’ve seen the paintings? They’re here?”
“Snyder’s here for the week’s festivities. Lin’s in Hohhot. I sent him photos. Not so easy for him to travel, you know. Though now that he’s advisor to the top dogs in Chinese contemporary, he thinks his government may cut him more slack. Listen, if you people don’t have any crimes to plan right at the moment, let me buy you a drink.”
“Drinks are free here, Eddie.”
“All the more reason to get you the best. Come on, come say hi to Frank. Lydia and Bill, you haven’t met him yet. He’s right over there.”
We started out of Francie’s studio. “You guys go ahead,” I said. “There’s someone I want to talk to. I’ll catch you up.”
“Cool.” The four of them walked away down the corridor. Only Bill gave me a lingering glance, and I gave him a tiny head shake. To which he responded with a minute nod. I was tempted to wink, just to confuse him, but the man I wanted to speak with was turning the corner and I went after him.
That man was Dr. Yang, and I found him outside. A few yards away, under a streetlight, a half-dozen people were taking a cigarette break.
“Getting some fresh air, Professor?”
