White Tiger

“Tell us about last night, Miss Zhu,” Ryker continued.

“And if I don’t?”

“Let’s not go there. You can make this as hard or as easy as you like, ma’am. It’s all up to you.”

“Am I a…a suspect?” she asked.

“For certain,” Ryker replied.

Xiaohui looked at her sister and snapped off something in her native dialect. Mabel hesitated, then left the room, her face composed into lines of worry. She disappeared into the kitchen. Dishes rattled.

“My sister is a simple housewife with a family,” Xiaohui said. “She does not need to hear these things.”

“We understand that,” Ryker acknowledged.

She nodded, and looked down at the ratty, off-pink carpet. As if deciding it was too cheap for her exotic feet to come in contact with, she curled them beneath her on the couch.

“Lin Dan and I were lovers,” Xiaohui said softly, her eyes downcast. “I did not like him much as a person, but he took very good care of me. Do you know what a ‘kept woman’ is, sergeant?”

“I do,” Ryker said.

“In China, it has a stronger meaning than here in America. Kept women are provided for, given everything they desire. Lin Dan did that for me. He was my benefactor, but that was all he was. A means to an end.”

“But you didn’t like him,” Ryker pressed.

Xiaohui raised her eyes and met his gaze.

“I did not like him much, I said. But I would never destroy that which gives me what I need, and Lin Dan did just that. I am not like my sister, sergeant. I have different desires, and a simple home and family are not what I want. Not ever.”

Ryker nodded. He glanced over at Chee Wei, who was busy writing notes. He looked back at Xiaohui.

“So you’re an escort, then?” he asked.

“Not any longer. Lin Dan provided more than enough for me to leave that life behind.”

“Very well. About last night…?”

She sighed, and for an instant she appeared to be very, very weary. Ryker stared at her, watchful for any changes in her body language which might contradict what she would say. He detected nothing overt, but that meant nothing at this point.

“We met at the Mandarin Oriental. We would see each other only fairly occasionally, though he needed to be discreet because of his wife. She is not a very jealous person, but because of his troubles, he wanted to avoid making a spectacle of our relationship.”

“What troubles?” Chee Wei asked. Ryker didn’t react to the interruption, because it meant that Chee Wei was engaging his professional self, and he had skills to bring to the table.

Xiaohui looked over as if she had forgotten he was there, then redirected her gaze to Ryker.

“You know which troubles, sergeant,” she said. “I do know some things about what went on in Lin Dan’s life, and your name is familiar to me.”

“He told you about Shannon Young, did he?”

“He told me that you were interested in making him the guilty party. But that’s not very important any longer, is it?”

Ryker shrugged, and motioned for her to continue.

“We had sex. After that, I went to the bath. I soaked in the tub, and listened to music. Wong Fei. When I called for Lin Dan to bring me a towel, he did not. I thought he had fallen asleep, even though he had promised he wouldn’t. So I got out of the tub, dried myself, and then”-she abruptly lowered her gaze to the floor once again-“I found him in the bed.”

“And then?”

She snorted humorlessly, and when she looked up at him, Ryker could see the fear in her eyes. What she had seen in the hotel suite the previous night had cracked right through what he figured was a normally unflinching demeanor as effortlessly as a high-velocity bullet would pass through rice paper.

“I got out of there,” she said. “What did you expect?”

“I would have expected you to call the police,” Ryker told her.

Xiaohui shook her head, laughing humorlessly. The sound had a nervous edge to it.

“Oh no. No, I was not about to call the police. I was going to go home, to Shanghai, and forget all about this place and Lin Dan.”

“That’s not going to happen now, Miss Zhu.”

She nodded, and hugged her knees to her chest. Her fingernails were painted a fiery red, as were those on her toes.

“I know that,” she said softly.

“Miss Zhu, if you didn’t kill Mr. Lin, then who might have?”

“I have no idea. I never thought Lin Dan was a very smart man. He was good for making money, I suppose, but he likely offended many people. He was crass and not exactly astute in social situations. But I wouldn’t know who his enemies were. We didn’t speak of those things.”

“Why not?”

She looked up at him again.

“We were lovers, but I did not love him. I really didn’t care what went on in his life, so long as I got what I wanted from him.”

Class act, sister. “So you would have no idea who would want Lin Dan dead?” Ryker kept his tone disbelieving even though his gut told him it was the truth. “Funny, his wife said the same thing. Lin Dan was certainly an international man of mystery, wasn’t he? Or is it just a common trait in Chinese women, to be so dismissive of the men in their lives?”

“I do not know Lin Dan’s wife, so I can’t speak for her, sergeant. Lin Dan was not dismissive of me, but yes, I was of him. He served a single purpose for me, and that was all.”

“So you won’t be mourning his passing then,” Ryker declared.

Xiaohui paused. She took a deep breath and let it loose in one long sigh.

“I never wished him dead. The way he died looked quite horrible. But all I can think of is, he must have brought it upon himself. And whoever did it was very professional, I would think. For me not to have heard anything-”

“Did he have an orgasm, Miss Zhu?”

The sudden swerve in the line of questioning knocked her off balance.

“I’m sorry?” she asked, blinking her eyes.

“I asked, did he have an orgasm. With you?”

“Yes. I’m sorry, what does this have to do with-”

“Indications are that he was apparently in the midst of ejaculating when he died,” Ryker continued. “Given your obvious talents, it’s pretty obvious that you’re more than reasonably capable of inducing that condition in a man.”

“Lin Dan only came with me once last night, sergeant,” Xiaohui responded slowly, and Ryker could see that the sudden revelation had put her guard up.

“I’m sorry, Miss Zhu, but you’ll be coming with us. Our criminologists will need to conduct a physical survey of your person for DNA evidence, and we’ll also need access to your residence. For your sake, I very much hope that we can find the clothes yow were wearing last night.”

The alarm that spread across her face was so genuine that it was almost surprising.

“You’re arresting me?” she asked, completely shocked.

“That’s what we call it.” Ryker turned to Chee Wei. “Detective Fong, Mirandize Miss Zhu, if you don’t mind. I’ll take her in custody, then we’ll have Taraval send a unit to transport Miss Zhu to Metro.”

Chee Wei closed his notebook and slipped it back inside his jacket. His face was expressionless.

“On your feet please, Miss Zhu,” he said, all business. He reached behind his badge holder and pulled out his Miranda card as Ryker pulled his handcuffs from their pouch at the small of his back.

Xiaohui Zhu slowly rose to her feet. Ryker took her left wrist and turned her around so that she faced the couch, then slapped the cuffs on. She gasped at the contact, and when he turned her around again, her eyes were squeezed tightly shut.