“Well, our church is Methodist.”
“Last Sunday evening, what were you doing?”
“I was also with my friends. I’ve told your colleagues about them.”
“Who else do you think might know about his schedule that evening?” Chen went on, unruffled.
“How would I know?”
“For instance, perhaps people who worked for him at the office?”
“What about Mi, the secretary?” Huang chipped in, picking up the cue from Chen.
“I don’t want to talk about her,” Mrs. Liu said, the lines hardening on her brow.
Chen didn’t push, waiting patiently, letting a silence build up in the living room.
“You should have talked to her,” she finally said.
“Oh, by the way,” Huang said, “Mi was named office chief today. That’s quite a promotion for her.”
“She’s a shameless slut, I’m telling you,” Mrs. Liu snapped. “She has only a middle school education. How could she possibly be qualified to be the head of the office staff?”
“Well, she’s been Liu’s confidential secretary for a long time,” Chen said. “He, too, must have trusted her.”
“She was nothing to him. She cares for nothing but money, he told me. How could she have been promoted so quickly? The whole world is turned upside down!”
It would have been hard for her to say anything more explicit. After all, it was Liu who made her a secretary in the first place. It was little wonder that Mrs. Liu got so upset with her being promoted so shortly after Liu’s death. It might be nothing but a gesture, however, on the part of Fu, the new general manager. Perhaps he was appeasing Liu’s staff, before he started building his own power base.
Huang’s cell phone rang, and he checked the number. It was the head of his team, and the call was marked urgent. He had to pick up. So he excused himself and left the living room. He hurried out of the house, closing the front door, but leaving it unlocked. It wouldn’t do for him to talk in Mrs. Liu’s presence.
The call was a long one about the latest developments in the investigation. Another move had been initiated under pressure from Internal Security. Huang frowned, listening, and said little in response.
When he made his way back to the living room, Chen was still conversing with Mrs. Liu. Huang had no idea what the two had talked about during his absence, but she looked cantankerous.
Presently, Chen rose and said that he had to leave. Huang echoed this without further ado.
She showed them the door curtly and banged it closed behind them.
They walked in silence for several minutes, each lost in his own thoughts. Chen had learned little from the talk with Mrs. Liu, Huang supposed, and that wasn’t too surprising. After all, what would be her motive to reveal anything?
“How about a drink in Li Park?” Huang said, wiping sweat from his face. It was a warm day.
“Yes,” Chen said. “We need to eat too. It’s quite late. Let’s find a good place in the park.”
That was another characteristic of the enigmatic chief inspector Huang had heard about. Chen was an impossible epicurean with an unfailing appetite even in the midst of a homicide investigation. Still, Huang suspected that Chen wanted to discuss something with him. It was quite late in the afternoon, so there wouldn’t be too many tourists in the park.
They entered the park and instead of heading to an antique-style restaurant tucked behind a verdant bamboo groove close to the entrance, Chen chose a shabby food stall near the foot of a barren hill. He ordered two lunch boxes with Wuxi-style ribs on top of white rice for both of them.
Holding the boxes, they sat on an isolated wooden bench against the hill. There were no other seats nearby, and no other people around. They didn’t have to worry about people overhearing them.
“Excellent choice, Chief.”
“In my childhood, it wasn’t common for people to go to a park. There was the bus fare and the entrance fee, you know, let alone the cost of a meal there. One day, my mother took me to Xijiao Park and bought me a lunch box. It was the best meal I’d ever had, and it remained so in my memory for several years. Of course, things were different in those years. I’ll buy you a Wuxi rib dinner at the conclusion of our investigation,” Chen said, chopsticking into his mouth a small piece of the juicy sweet and sour rib. “What do you think of Mrs. Liu?”
“You’ve touched on something we’ve overlooked. She actually went to Shanghai on Saturday, and then back again on Sunday. That’s strange. Do you think-”
“It would be too conspicuous for it to be something premeditated,” Chen said slowly. “By the way, that was a long phone call you got there, Huang.”
“Yes, it was from our team leader. About Jiang.”
“Jiang-the new person on Internal Security’s radar?”
“Yes, that’s him. He was officially detained this afternoon. They seem to have gathered new evidence against him.”
“What have they got?”
“According to Internal Security, he was blackmailing Liu. When Liu tried to bring in the authorities, he murdered Liu.”
“Oh, really? Tell me about Jiang. Whatever details you may have. ”
“I don’t know much about him. Jiang was an entrepreneur here in Wuxi before he became an environmental activist several years ago. Because of his business background, he knows about the pollution problems firsthand. So he started to speak out about them. Those he publicly named as polluters of the lake became infamous in Wuxi. Then he started to blackmail others with the information he had. They were forced to buy his silence, so to speak. He must have gotten hold of something about Liu’s company.”
“Do they have any evidence?”
“Not much so far, but that’s their theory. Jiang blackmailed Liu for a large sum. Any public exposure of the pollution caused by the chemical company at this juncture could jeopardize the IPO plan.”
“So they have nothing but a theory?”
“Well, one local factory has a record of paying Jiang a specific sum, under the guise of hiring him as an environmental consultant. The agreement is a bit ambiguous. It could have been compensation for his help with environmental protection, but it could also be money meant to silence him.”
“But in that case, why should he have murdered Liu?” Chen said, shaking his head. “On the contrary, it is usually the person being blackmailed who has the motive to murder.”
“Sometime before the murder, the two were heard arguing in Liu’s office. According to Internal Security, Jiang threatened Liu with information about the chemical company, and Liu fought back by counter-threatening to report him to the police for blackmail. The local authorities could have easily locked Jiang up, so that’s why he murdered Liu.”
“What did Jiang say?”
“Of course he denies everything.”
“Well, we can’t rule out such a scenario, but it’s only one scenario and it’s not supported by evidence.”
“That’s about all I can tell you,” Huang said, shrugging his shoulders.
But was there something else behind it? Huang thought he could read the question in Chen’s eyes.
“Can you find me some more information about Jiang?”
“I’ll do my best, Chief. By the way, I’ve heard that Shanshan knows Jiang.”
“Not surprising. They’re both dedicated to environmental protection, it seems.”
Once again, Huang decided to wait until he found out more before saying anything else.
They finished their box lunches, and Chen got up to throw the empty boxes into the trash bin. Huang took a look at his watch. His team members might start wondering about his long absence.
“One more question, Chief,” he said, taking the paper napkin Chen handed him. “What kind of a book are you reading?”
“Which book?”
“The one you mentioned to Mrs. Liu. Something about the relation between religion and capitalism.”
“Oh, it’s a book by Max Weber. I happened to find a copy in the library of the center.”
“But why did you bring up the topic?”