“Which entourage? I have staff in China, and here with me.”
“Those here in the United States.”
“Myself. My secretary. My chief of staff. My travel affairs assistant.”
“May we have their names?”
Ren Yun rattled off the names, and Chee Wei wrote them down on his pad. He handed the list over to Ryker. He read it without any sign of emotion, then handed the pad back to Chee Wei. One of the names suddenly tickled his memory.
“This person named Shi. It’s a woman, right? Does she go by the name Maggie in the West?”
“She is my travel affairs assistant. Also my primary English translator when I travel abroad. And yes, she uses a Western name when traveling.”
“She met Lin Jong?”
“Of course.”
“What of Lin Dan?”
“I do not know. I very much doubt it. You can’t tell me you suspect her? Her record is impeccable.”
Ryker ignored Ren’s protest. “Did she arrive with you?”
“No. She arrived much earlier, to prepare things in advance of my arrival. She…” Ren stopped suddenly, a confused expression crossing his frog-like features. He puffed on his cigarette, a bid to buy time. Ryker felt a flash of anticipation surge through his gut. He was on the right track, and he knew it, knew it deep down. He leaned forward in his chair.
“Continue, Mister Ren. Tell me about Shi’s arrival date.”
Ren puffed on the cigarette furiously and stabbed it out in the ashtray. He leaned back in his chair and looked at Ryker with an expression of disgust.
“It’s coincidence only,” he said.
“Explain that, Mister Ren.”
“She left for the United States the night Lin Jong was believed to have been murdered…or at least, that’s what the Shanghai police think. But it’s coincidence. Complete coincidence.”
“I met this woman last night, Mister Ren. Now that I look back upon it, I very much think she is someone we would be
Ren reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone. “I will call her.”
“That would be wonderful, but don’t mention the police.”
Ren nodded. “I understand.” He hit a speed dial combination and put the phone to his ear. He listened for a moment, then shook his head at Ryker as he spoke. He didn’t talk for long and disconnected quickly.
“Voice mail,” Chee Wei said.
“Where might she be, Mr. Ren?” Ryker asked.
“I dismissed her last night. I won’t require her services again until next week, when I meet with a committee representing the San Francisco Bay.”
“Do you know where she’s staying?”
“Of course. At the Grand Hyatt in San Francisco. Room seven one three. Do you want me to call the room?” Ren raised his cell phone.
“No. We’ll attend to that. Mister Ren, it’s very important that you search your memory and try to remember if there was any interchange between this Shi woman and Lin’s son in Shanghai. Did anything unusual happen? Anything at all. Amorous, contentious, whatever.”
Ren listened to Chee Wei’s translation and thought about it for some time. Finally, he shook his head. “The only thing that I can tell you is that she seemed unimpressed,” he said slowly. “I did not pay much attention to her during our meetings with Lin Jong. You understand? She works for me. So long as she does her job, I don’t care about anything else. But the other women in the area all seemed impressed with Lin Jong. He was a handsome man, as I said before. But Shi Meihua…maybe not so much. She’s met many men who are just as handsome, and some who are more powerful. And Lin Jong did not seem to notice her either way.”
“Mr. Ren…where did Miss Shi grow up?”
Ren looked puzzled by the question, and he took his time in answering. “I believe she is from Hong Kong, or immigrated there.”
“Are you sure she’s not from Shanghai?”
“She knows Shanghai as well as many people who work for me but who do not live there, Detective Ryker.”
“Is there any chance her family might have been from Shanghai?”
Ren looked at Ryker directly now, but he listened to Chee Wei’s question intently. He took some time to answer, searching his memory for the information Ryker requested. At last, he shook his head. “I’m sorry, I just don’t know the answer to that question. Why is this important?”
“James Lin oversaw the purges in Shanghai. More than a few innocent civilians were sent to hell by that man. There are more than a few reasons to hate him.”
Ren said nothing.
“Can you call your office to find out if someone can get that information on Miss Shi? Regarding her parentage, where she was born, so on?”
“Of course. I’ll do it immediately.”
“Last question. Where’s Lin?”
“He left early this morning, with his guard Manning. Where they went, I do not know.”
“Left with Manning, huh?” Ryker thought about that for a moment, then shrugged. “Has Lin spoken to you about the deaths of his sons?”
“Of course.”
“And?”
Ren reached for his pack of cigarettes but didn’t shake a smoke from the pack. Yet. “He is upset. His sons were all he had. His wife died years ago. He is a lonely man, now made even lonelier by an assassin who won’t attack him directly.”
“Mister Ren…did Lin ever tell you anything about the circumstances of his son’s death?”
“I know everything about Lin Jong’s…demise. Lin Yubo informed me Lin Dan met with an identical fate. The mutilation. The desecration.” Ren stirred uncomfortably, and Ryker found his discomfiture hypocritical at best. From what he had seen, Ren had participated in the deaths and displacements of thousands, perhaps millions. And here he sat, uneasy discussing the particulars of two deaths he hadn’t even partaken in.
“What else do you know about the murders?” Ryker asked instead.
“Nothing.”
Ryker nodded and checked his watch. Mid-afternoon was afoot, and he wanted to get to the downtown hotel in San Francisco and start tracking Meihua Shi. He wasn’t convinced she was the best candidate for the murder of Danny Lin, but she was the only lead they had. He rose to his feet.
“Thanks for your time. If you could check with your people in Shanghai about Shi’s background, that might be very helpful. Please contact Detective Fong with the information, whenever it arrives. Chee Wei, give the man your card.”
Chee Wei repeated what Ryker had said, and then handed Ren his card as instructed. His face was a blank mask, and Ren accepted the card with a similar expression. Chee Wei pointed out the telephone number, and turned to Ryker.
“You want to tell him anything else?”
Ryker considered it for a moment, then shook his head. “No. Tell this cock-sucking, dog-fucking, inbred son of a whore I don’t have more to say to him.”
Ren’s eyes widened slightly, and Ryker laughed. Some words truly had international meaning.
On the way back to San Francisco, Ryker called in a phone warrant giving him the ability to search the hotel room registered to Maggie Shi. He then called Morales, still on babysitting duty with the Zhu woman and gave him a
