Dressed in the shorts and a white tank top she wore to bed, Shanshan stood up, still holding the phone, and moved to the door.
“Think about it, Shanshan,” Chen said. “Come over this afternoon or evening, whenever you like. Also, if you happen to think of anything unusual that you noticed about your company-anything you hadn’t thought to mention before-call me.”
They said their good-byes, and Shanshan hung up. Chen’s last line about calling him reminded her of something she’d heard in a popular police drama, she mused, before her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.
Opening it, she was surprised to see two strangers standing there. One was tall and stout, and another, short and thin. Both were dressed plainly yet were ferocious-looking, as if emerging out of Shanshan’s half-forgotten nightmare.
The tall man flashed something like a police officer’s badge at her, then handed her a business card that identified him as Ji Lun of Internal Security.
“Han Bing, my partner, is also from Internal Security,” Ji said, pointing to his companion. Neither made a move to enter her dorm room. Ji continued, “Our car is parked outside. Follow us.”
She had no idea what Internal Security could possibly do to her, but the two men standing outside her door meant that she was in trouble, far more serious trouble than she could have imagined.
“Can you wait there for one minute? Let me put something else on.”
She closed the door and when it opened again, she was dressed in a short-sleeved white blouse, jeans, and sandals.
They led her outside to a new black Lexus. She went without protest. Resisting would only make things worse, she supposed, as some of her neighbors were hanging around outside, watching while holding their breakfast in their hands.
They drove in silence, the only sound an occasional screech of the tires on the stretch of gravel road before the car turned onto the main road. The inside of the car was wreathed in cigarette smoke, both men smoking heavily.
It took them fifteen minutes to arrive at a towering hotel, somewhere close, though she had never been there before. It was a sprawling multistory building, squatting like a surrealistic monster over the lake.
The two officers nodded at the people manning the front desk, and they took her directly to a grand suite on the top floor. Ji Lun motioned her to a gray chair in the living room, while he and his comrade seated themselves opposite her on a velvet sectional sofa.
“You’d better come clean immediately, Shanshan,” Han Bing started.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Officer.”
“Don’t kid yourself into thinking that you can get away with it. There’s no way, Shanshan,” Ji said. “Stop dreaming your spring-and-autumn dream. Jiang has already confessed. Spill everything now, or it will be too late for you.”
“I parted with Jiang about half a year ago. Whatever he’s done since, I have no knowledge of.”
“But you provided him with the industrial pollution data on the lake, which he still uses against the interests of the government. That’s something you can’t deny.”
“That’s not a state secret. All the data was gathered from official publications. As for the pollution in the lake, all anyone needs to do is look at it for themselves.”
“Not a state secret? The document you provided him was marked ‘inside information.’ We’ve already double- checked that. It is very much a state secret. There’s no mistaking it. ”
It was like a recurring nightmare, except that it now was Internal Security, not Liu, who was accusing her of “giving away state secrets.” It was a deadly serious charge and even more so coming from Internal Security.
“How am I supposed to have obtained secret documents? The ‘inside information’ stamp is just something routinely printed on the front cover of the newsletter. It only means that it’s the newsletter for company employees.”
“Well, that’s your interpretation,” said Han.
“That’s a serious crime in itself,” Ji went on wildly. “Has Jiang discussed with you selling state secrets abroad?”
“How much has he made selling secrets?” Han pushed further.
“Jiang told me nothing. We only went out a couple of times and then we parted, as I’ve already told you.”
“I’ll tell you something! He’s going to be convicted and sentenced for the murderer of Liu. And you, too, will be punished as his accomplice.”
“What are you talking about, Officers?”
“Jiang blackmailed Liu using the state secrets you gave him, and then killed Liu when he refused to give in,” Ji said deliberately, each word pronounced in a serious, official way. “If you’re not an accomplice, then who the hell is?”
By such logic, she was unquestionably involved, guilty no matter what explanation she offered. There was no use arguing about it.
“And you called him after Liu’s murder,” Han chipped in. “Do you still claim that you had already broken up with him?”
Her heart sank. What Chen had told her was all true: she had been under surveillance and her phone bugged for a long time, including her phone call to Jiang just a few days ago-the call he had not picked up.
“Didn’t you tell Jiang about Liu’s schedule that night-that he was going to be at his home office?” Ji snarled. “You not only called him, you were also seen meeting with him near the company just the day before Liu’s murder.”
“No, I didn’t,” she said emphatically. That was definitely not true.
“You two met secretly in a small eatery close to the company. We know everything about you, Shanshan. The monkey cannot escape the palm of Buddha. You can be assured of that.”
It dawned on her that it was Chen they were talking about, the time she met him at Uncle Wang’s place. There was actually a slight resemblance between Jiang and Chen.
Whoever had been following her made a mistake. She decided, however, not to contradict them. Chen couldn’t be dragged into this mess, or she would never forgive herself.
“But we are still willing to give you one more chance. Work with us, Shanshan,” Han said, tapping his cigarette into a makeshift ashtray in the non-smoking room. “Tell us what Jiang has done.”
“But he’s confessed. You just told me he did,” she said, biting her lips. “Why do you need me?”
“Don’t think you have a wise head, young woman, or you’ll wash your face with rueful tears all the day long. All the year long,” Ji snapped again. “And I’ll see to it personally.”
“Now, you might think that you’ve got someone in the background who could help you out of this mess,” Han said in a more persuasive tone. “You’re wrong. In a murder case like this one, no one can possibly help you. If anything, you’ll make things worse by trying, and get him into trouble too, no matter how capable he might be. We are your only chance.”
With one playing the red face, and the other, the white face, the two Internal Security officers had set up a subtle division of labor in their efforts to intimidate her. Their talk about this “someone in the background,” however, worried her more than anything else, even if they seemed not to be sure who he really was. Chen had been justified in taking all the precautions he had. If it weren’t for the newly purchased cell phone, his identity might have been revealed. But did Chen know that Internal Security was already aware of his existence and possibly of his interference?
As for Jiang, she didn’t think they had anything solid on him. At least not yet. That was why they wanted her to cooperate.
“Everything depends upon your attitude,” Ji concluded. “Use your brains, young woman.”
“Attitude” meant whether or not she cooperated with Internal Security, and it was entirely up to their interpretation.
“This is my cell number,” Han said, writing the number down on his business card and handing it to her. He stood up to open the door for her. “But we won’t wait long. Jiang will be convicted, with or without your cooperation. Working with us is in your own interest.”
