One thought returned yet again. His enemy wasn’t going to stop after just one failed attempt to entrap him. His attempt at calming himself was shattered.
Then his cell phone buzzed. It was Old Hunter, who jumped right in.
“I’ve just been to see your favorite chef in her restaurant.”
“Chef?” Chen didn’t know what Old Hunter was talking about-the old man wouldn’t have called him to talk about chefs.
“She talked to me about some new developments in the office,” Old Hunter went on. “The computer was taken away overnight, and everything in the office was turned upside down. Her husband protested, but he almost got fired as a result.”
Chen got it. The restaurant Old Hunter was talking about was a coded reference to Peiqin’s cooking, and thus to information from Peiqin and Yu: the office was his own at the Shanghai Police Bureau, from which the computer apparently had been taken away, possibly as part of a thorough search. That was mean. When Chen had been told he was being promoted out of the police department, Party Secretary Li had assured him that there was no rush for him to start packing up his office. Chen had planned to go back there in a couple of days to start cleaning it out, though he hadn’t left anything really important in the office or on the computer. What infuriated him, however, was learning that Detective Yu was at risk because of his relationship to the now ex-chief inspector. Chen thanked Old Hunter for his call and quickly hung up.
Chen then pulled out his regular cell phone and dialed Party Secretary Li. It wasn’t a call he’d rehearsed, but it was one he’d thought about.
The call might be recorded, which was what he wanted.
“Director Chen,” Li started cordially, “how are you getting along in that new position of yours?”
“I haven’t started yet. I’m in Suzhou at the moment.”
“In Suzhou again?”
Chen didn’t remember telling Li anything about his first trip to Suzhou, but that wasn’t something to worry about now.
“I’m currently having my father’s grave renovated and restored. It looks terrible, practically in ruins. My mother has been complaining about it, and she’s right, it’s long overdue.”
“As we all know, you are a filial son. Do whatever you need to do in Suzhou, and if your mother needs any help while you’re away from Shanghai, I’ll see what the bureau can do.”
“Thank you, Party Secretary Li. This morning, as I was standing at his grave, I couldn’t help thinking about what my father said to me long ago. As a Confucian scholar, he always wanted me to pursue an academic career. For years, though, I thought I’d been doing a good job, in my own way.”
“You’ve been doing an excellent job. There’s no question about it.”
“No, I don’t think so. Things are so complicated in China. What appears to be the right thing may turn out to be wrong. I’ve learned that lesson the hard way. So I can’t help but doubt my ability to fulfill any official position, including this new one at the Legal Reform Committee. This might be an opportunity for me to think it over.”
Li didn’t respond immediately, so Chen plowed ahead.
“So that’s what I am planning to do. While I’m supervising the restoration of my father’s grave in Suzhou, I’ll spend some time reading and studying before I’ll decide if I’m qualified for this new assignment. If I decide that I’m not, I’ll try doing something entirely different. In college, I dreamed of a career as a poet. Perhaps that’s what I’m meant to be, instead of a chief inspector.” Without waiting for a response, he then added, “In the meantime, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about recent events. Particularly about what happened that night at the Heavenly World.”
“What happened at the Heavenly World? I’m totally confused, Director Chen. I haven’t heard a single word about it.”
Chen couldn’t see Li’s expression, so it was impossible to tell whether he was lying or not. Li should have been briefed by the Sex Crimes Squad about the raid, but Chen gave him a brief account about that night nonetheless.
“In Suzhou, I’ve been listening to Suzhou opera,” Chen said, seemingly shifting the topic. “There are so many wonderful proverbs in it. For one, ‘You’d better not chase the desperate foe too hard.’ And for another, ‘The cornered dog can jump over the wall.’”
“You’re really into the proverbs, Comrade Director Chen.”
“Some of the investigations I’ve conducted involved people higher up, and I, being too bookish, might have made things difficult for them. So now it’s payback time. I’m not complaining, far from it. The Party has always emphasized the importance of acting in the interest of things larger than oneself, but what good is it, if one drops dead because of it?”
“You should take a break, whether in Suzhou or back here in Shanghai. After all these years, when you’ve worked so hard-”
“Party Secretary Li, what this sudden promotion really means, both you and I know only too well. At one point, you were my mentor in politics. So I want to consult you about what I’m going to do now.”
“No, don’t say that, Director Chen. I’ve never been your mentor. By no means,” Li said in haste. “We’ve worked together, but-”
Apparently Li was only too aware that their conversation might be taped and was anxious to separate himself from Chen.
“I mean it, Party Secretary Li,” Chen insisted, taking a perverse delight in Li’s embarrassment. “Thanks to your showing me the ropes at the bureau, I’ve been able to become first a chief inspector of the Shanghai Police Bureau, and now director of the Shanghai Legal Reform Committee.”
“Now-I’m lost, Director Chen. The decision to move you to your new position was made by higher authorities. I knew nothing about it until it was announced that morning.”
“But you know what?” Chen said, barreling ahead. “I haven’t been a cop all these years for nothing. I’ve put something away, in case there was a need to protect myself.”
“Whatever you may have put away-” Li said tentatively, before changing direction. “I knew so little about your work, about those special cases you worked on. Nobody else in the bureau knew anything about them either, except for your longtime partner, Detective Yu.”
“That’s another reason I’m calling you today. Whatever I’ve put away, it’s not with Detective Yu. You can be assured of that. I’ve worked on too many special investigations to make such a mistake. And don’t think I’ve kept anything on the office computer. I definitely didn’t leave it in any of the obvious places that others could lay their hands on. If I fall, then what I’ve stored away will automatically come out on the Internet.”
This time, there was no response from Li.
“For what I’ve done, I’ll take responsibility. My late father used to say, ‘There are things a man will do, and things a man will not do.’ But if anything happens to Detective Yu because of me, then anything is possible. Then we’ll all learn what it’s possible for me to do.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about. Detective Yu is doing a great job as head of the Special Case Squad. How could anything happen to him?” Li managed with difficulty. “You must have overworked yourself. I’ll have a word with the leading comrades about the stress of your job.”
Li was playing dumb. But there was no point in pressing him too hard. Events must have been planned at a level way above him.
“Take care, Director Chen,” Li said, in a hurry to get off the phone. “Bye.”
With a dial tone suddenly sounding in his ear, Chen put down the phone. He wondered whether the call, made on the spur of the moment, would make any difference. Perhaps his enemies might have to slow down a bit and think about their next moves more carefully. Optimistically, it could make Chen’s opponent narrow down his “enemy list.” Pessimistically, well, it could hardly be any worse than it already was.