Nancy stopped for a moment and Mingmei indulged her.
“It’s a mix of offices, tech labs and shops … very fancy.”
“But that can’t be where the pharmaceutical companies operate?”
“No, science city is outside Chengdu. It’s a gated park, very well protected.”
“What about here?”
“CCTV cameras everywhere, security teams doing the rounds … unless you know how to avoid them. Follow me.”
They left the lake and its luxurious surroundings, moving round the back of the semi-circle. Tall towers were spaced at regular intervals on the opposite side of the crescent, constructions of metal and concrete.
Mingmei followed closely the line of small shrubs that had been growing along the opposite side of the crescent, designed to hide the maintenance exits. She took a couple of blue cleaners’ overalls, with a logo on their backs, out of her rucksack.
“They’re for the maintenance staff.” She also handed Nancy a cap to put on her head. “This way.”
An army of people were at work, moving dustbins, shifting large crates containing linen, and supplies.
One of the vans has been left unattended for a moment. Mingmei takes a pile of towels. She tells Nancy to do the same and they march towards the back doors of the building. They need a badge to enter but the flow of staff means that the door is left open for most of the time.
Nancy walks in following her sister. They go to the place where the towels are kept. The Holiday Inn Century City accommodates hundreds of tourists and businesspeople every day. They enter one of the service lifts. No one notices them. They are on their way to the ninth floor.
Mingmei speaks to Nancy. Only one word when needed. Nancy replies with a nod.
A woman joins the lift at the fifth floor. She eyes the two women a little too long for comfort but exits on floor seven.
Floor nine is quiet. Mingmei has managed to pick up a bucket and mop, and Nancy a cleaning cloth.
They look around. A security guard is stationed at the end of the corridor and he’s checking his emails. He hasn’t yet noticed them.
“We haven’t got badges,” Nancy murmurs.
Mingmei shakes her head. She’s about to walk to the guard to let him know they have been summoned by someone inside the lab to clear up a mess in the kitchen, when the lift doors ping open again.
A woman walks out. She’s not a member of staff. She is carrying a heavy bag and, ignoring the two women, walks straight to the security guards. The man’s face lights up. He has taken the bag and starts removing boxes from it. The food smells delicious, and by the time Mingmei and Nancy have reached his desk, he has already opened one of the boxes and prepared his chopsticks.
“We’ve been told to come up to clean a mess someone made in the kitchen.”
The man barely looks at them, leans sideways and presses a button.
The door opens … they are in.
“How did you know?” Nancy asked when they are out of earshot.
“At this time of the night this is what people all over the country are doing … most of the lab staff have gone home so it’s time for dinner.”
The offices are brand new. Nancy can smell that the rugs have been laid recently and the paint on the walls is fresh. There are three doors down the corridor that resemble air locks. Mingmei notices that one of the cleaners is finishing cleaning one of the internal corridors, where the access is guarded by one of the airlocks. Mingmei repeats her story.
There’s a spillage in one of the kitchens and they must tend to it. Nancy can’t quite follow what her sister is saying but the woman shrugs and lets them get on with their job.
The offices are locked but there is a large central open area, in which people can work, have a chat and relax. Nancy walks over to the vending machines, presses a button and waits.
“Good idea.”
She orders a couple of cups of coffee, moves towards the kitchen and spills them on the floor. Mingmei takes her bucket and goes to fetch some water. Nancy fetches paper towels and drops them over the spilled liquid.
Each office’s wall comprises a dense frosted glass panel. There are high security locks and ID pads on each of the doors. They require digital identification. It’s impossible to see inside. Nancy takes a couple of pictures with the phone Jack has given her.
She moves towards the airlock at the far end. She can hear Mingmei wrestling with the bucket. Without a security pass she can’t get into the part of the office that holds what she’s looking for. A shadow appears on the other side of the frosted glass revolving doors. Nancy pulls back to join Mingmei near the vending machines.
The revolving doors rotate quickly, and she is almost face-to-face with a man in a white coat, clean shaven, spectacles. He glares at her and asks a question.
Mingmei dumps her bucket and runs to Nancy.
She responds, bowing her head. Nancy gathers she’s trying to tell him that Nancy is dumb. The man asks something else. Mingmei gestures towards the spillage in the coffee area.
He wants to see it. They walk over, and he looks at the mess, exasperated.
He is about to let the matter go but then takes out his security badge and asks a question. Nancy has stepped back a little. She has spotted an old fashioned sweet dispenser stocked with retro gumballs and painted red, China’s favourite colour.
Nancy turns around swiftly. She lifts the machine. The metal is dense and heavy.
