the company is coming up, and in the midst of the persisting controversy about its dumping of industrial waste,” Chen said deliberately. “I’m stuck here on a vacation that has been pushed on me, as I’ve told you, and I really have nothing to do at the center. I think we can look into this case together-you and I.”
“You mean we can work on a case together? That would be absolutely fantastic, Chief Inspector Chen-to investigate under your supervision. I’ve dreamed of it for a long, long time.”
“No, it’s not my case. Nor is it the time for me to make a move out in the open. I’m not a cop while I’m in Wuxi. We have to make sure of that.” Chen added, with touch of self-irony, “I know you like Sherlock Holmes stories. Remember how he occasionally stays in the background and lets the police do the job?”
“Yes, he does that in several stories, Chief Inspector Chen.”
“None of your colleagues should know about my working with you.”
“Whatever you prefer.”
“But for me to work on a case, whether in the background or in the foreground, there are things I do, and things I don’t do.”
“I understand.”
“For one thing, I don’t want to crack a case by detaining and interrogating people without justification.”
“You mean-” Huang left the sentence unfinished with an edge of hesitation in his voice.
Chen knew why the young cop was hesitant, so he decided to give him another push.
“Honestly, I was surprised when I was told to come here on a vacation I don’t need. But Comrade Secretary Zhao must have his reasons.”
It was no more than the truth, but to the young cop, it hinted that Chen had been sent here for something highly confidential; something Chen himself had wondered about.
“I happened to know Shanshan,” Chen went on after a dramatic pause, “because of something said by Comrade Secretary Zhao. He read an article by her-something about environmental protection. So he wanted me to do some research on new problems in China’s economic reform,” Chen said. He thought it wasn’t too much of a fabrication. “I’m about to write a report on sustainable economic development, development that is not at the expense of the environment. It’s not at all my field, but I couldn’t say no to him.”
“No wonder you came to know her so quickly,” Huang said with an awestruck look on his face. “I really appreciate your trust in me, Chief Inspector Chen. I understand it’s highly confidential. I’ll do my best.”
“Give me what additional information you may have about the case. In particular, has the final autopsy report come out yet?”
“Yes, I’ll get you a copy too.”
“Don’t mention Zhao or me to anybody,” Chen added in a hurry, reaching for the car door handle. “It’s a very delicate situation, but you’re capable of judging how to deal with it.”
“Sure, I’ll follow your instructions.”
“Then we’ll get to work, Sergeant Huang,” he said. “I’ll discuss the first step we’re going to take soon, but in the meantime, I’m going to write a report about it for Beijing.”
SIX
On Wednesday morning, Chen called Shanshan.
“I tried to get hold of you yesterday, Shanshan. I called you several times, but without success.”
“Something happened at the company. It turned out to be a false alarm,” she said. “But they didn’t let me go until the evening.”
“What!” he said, acting surprised.
Sergeant Huang had informed him that she’d been released the previous evening. How Huang had managed it, Chen didn’t ask, but Huang mentioned that Internal Security had shifted its attention to somebody surnamed Jiang, who had been feuding with Liu. In other words, Jiang was a more likely suspect. Still, Chen had become increasingly interested in the case, whether or not Shanshan was out of the woods.
For one thing, Internal Security wouldn’t have intervened in a simple homicide case, even though Liu was an important man in Wuxi.
“I’m glad that it was nothing but a false alarm. But I think you need to take a break, Shanshan.”
“What is false or not false, I don’t know. And I am taking the day off.”
“That’s good,” he went on. “How about an excursion around the lake today?”
“We walked along the lake the day before yesterday, didn’t we, Mr. Chen?”
“Well, had we but world enough, and time-”
“What are you talking about?”
“Just a line from a poem by Andrew Marvell,” he said. “My vacation here is only for a week or so, you know. Since you’ve taken the day off, why not?”
“You’re really persuasive.”
“Good. We’ll do something to relieve shock.”
“Relieve shock?”
“Something fun, so your mind won’t dwell on the unpleasant experience. Tell you what: I haven’t yet taken a boat trip here. So let us go, you and I, drifting in a gondola.”
“What a poetic tourist.” But she then said, unexpectedly, “Where shall we meet?”
“How about under the bronze turtle statue in the park? I’ll be waiting for you there.”
Soon, he found himself standing under the bronze turtle statue, leaning against the gnarled back of an old tree trunk. It was such a scenic park. The sun hung above the tilted eaves of an ancient lakeside pavilion, gilding the water with its reflections. A line of white ducks patrolled the bank nearby. He felt he could spend the day there- in her company.
His gaze shifted toward the dock, which was as crowded and noisy as the day before. A large boat was chugging out. A young couple leaned against the white rail on the top deck, sharing one ice cream cone, beaming blissfully, as if nibbling at the world in their hands.
He then saw Shanshan coming through a gourd-shaped stone gate, tripping across the meadow dappled in the shadow of a boxwood tree, and carrying a nylon string bag of bottled water. She was dressed for the occasion, wearing a lightweight maroon trench coat over a white strapless dress and white high heels.
She was dressed for his company, he observed. Confucius says,
“It can be windy on the lake,” she said, explaining her trench coat. Her smile was radiant. She shook hands with him, and her fingers felt wonderfully soft.
Across the lake, a water bird took flight, swirling and soaring away into the distance. They started walking along the lake. It took them quite a while to find a boat they liked. Most tourists preferred the large, comfortable, modern-looking passenger ships or power boats, which were less expensive, costing only about ten yuan per person. But Chen had something different in mind.
They finally settled on a mid-sized sampan with a tung-oiled canvas awning, under which there were a couple of settees covered with indigo homespun, and a small bamboo table in between. It wasn’t quite as antique-looking as he’d hoped, but it was cozy.
There was cabin room for four, but there wasn’t another customer waiting at the moment. Chen offered to hire the sampan for the two of them and pay the difference. The sampan man agreed readily. He was a jolly one, in his fifties, with a weather-beaten face as rugged as in an oil painting, yet with a shrewd light in his eyes. He pulled out, standing on the stern and speaking with a loud voice:
“You’re a lucky man, sir, with such a beautiful girlfriend sitting beside you. Indeed, a romantic spring day in the same boat with her is worth every penny you’re paying.”
Chen smiled without commenting. He seated himself opposite Shanshan. She looked at him, her hands on the table. Her eye glinted with something hard to identify, yet appealingly enigmatic. In classical Chinese literature, there was a stock phrase describing “autumn waves” rippling in a beauty’s eye. She was still so young that the waves in her eyes were spring rather than autumn. There was a red paper cutting stuck to the cabin wall behind
