Death of a Red Heroine [Chief Inspector Chen Cao 01]

by Qiu Xiaolong

  “Send the evidence to Dr. Xia immediately,” he said. “And book Guo and hold him as a material witness.”

  It was the time for Chief Inspector Chen to have his showdown at the bureau.

  * * * *

  Chapter 39

  S

  tanding in a crowded bus the next morning, Chen tried to plan what he would say at the meeting with Party Secretary Li and Superintendent Zhao, but he was too distracted by a strong perfume mixed with a no less pungent body odor from a young woman passenger flattened against him. Unable to budge, he resigned himself to being like a canned sardine, brainless, almost breathless.

  The bus was crawling along Yan’an Road. People kept moving in and out, elbowing and shouldering. So many possible results could come from the confrontation for which he was preparing himself, but he could not put off the meeting any longer. The chain was complete: The motive, the evidence, the witnesses. There was no missing link. No excuse to avoid a showdown.

  As soon as he had received Dr. Xia’s report the previous afternoon, Chen called Party Secretary Li. Li heard him out, for once not attempting to interrupt him.

  “You’re positive,” Li finally said, “Wu Xiaoming drove the car that night?”

  “Yes, I’m positive.”

  “You’ve got Dr. Xia’s report?”

  “Not yet, but he confirmed on the phone that it was Guan’s hair found in Wu’s car.”

  “And Guo will also testify against Wu about his false alibi?”

  “Yes, Guo has to save his own neck.”

  “So you think it’s time to conclude.”

  “We have motive, evidence, and a witness. And Wu’s alibi is gone.”

  “It is not a common case,” Li seemed to be lost in thought, exhaling into the phone before he continued, “and it doesn’t come at an ordinary time. We will have a meeting with Superintendent Zhao tomorrow. In the meantime, do not say a single word to anybody else.”

  When Chen arrived at Li’s office, he saw a small note taped to the office door.

  COMRADE CHIEF INSPECTOR CHEN: Please wait for us in the Number 1 conference room. Important meeting. Superintendent Zhao will be there too.

  Li.

  There was no one else in the conference room. Chen took a leather-cushioned chair at the end of the long table. Waiting there, he went over his notes. He wanted his presentation to be organized, succinct, to the point. When he finished reviewing, he looked at his watch again. It was twenty minutes after the appointed time.

  Lie was not optimistic about the meeting. Nor did he think his bosses would be looking forward to it. They would harp on the interests of the Party and dismiss him from the case. In a worst-case scenario, they would officially remove him from his position.

  But Chen resolved not to retreat, even at the cost of losing his position and Party membership, too.

  As a chief inspector he was supposed to seek justice by punishing the murderer, whoever it was.

  As a party member, he knew what he was supposed to do. It had been the first lesson of the Party Education Program. A Party member must serve, above all things, the interests of the Party.

  Here’s the problem. What were the interests of the Party?

  In the early fifties, for instance, Chairman Mao had called on Chinese intellectuals to find fault with the Party authorities, and Mao said that it was in the interests of the Party. When the invitation was taken literally by some, however, Mao flew into a rage and called those naive fault-finders antisocialist rightists. He sent them to jail. That, too, was done, of course, in the interests of the Party, as the Party newspapers declared, justifying Mao’s earlier speech as a tactic to “lure the snake out of the cave.” So, too, with a number of political movements, including the Cultural Revolution. Everything was done in the interests of the Party. After Mao’s death, these disastrous movements were written off as Mao’s “well-intended mistakes,” which should not detract from the glorious merit of the Party; and once more, the Chinese people were taught to forget the past in the interests of che Party.

  Chen had been aware of the difference between being a chief inspector and being a Party member, but he had not thought much about the possibility of his two roles coming into direct conflict. And here he was, waiting for the resolution of just such a conflict.

  There was no retreating. In the worst-case scenario, Chief Inspector Chen was prepared to resign, to work in Overseas Chinese Lu’s restaurant. In the Western Han dynasty, Sima Xiangru had done the same thing, opening a tiny tavern, wearing short pants, sweating, ladling wine out of a huge urn, and Wenjun had followed him, serving the wine to customers, smiling like a lotus blossom in the morning breeze, her delicate eyebrows suggesting a distant mountain range. All the details could have been the romantic imagination of Ge Hong, of course, in The Sketches of the Western Capital. But it would be honest work, and an easy conscience. To make a living just like others, whether or not he had a Wenjun at his side—possibly a Russian girl in a Chinese Qi skirt, with the fashionable high slits revealing her white thighs, her red hair flashing against the gray walls.

  It was so absurd, he admonished himself, to be lost in such a daydream while he sat awaiting the confrontation in the Number 1 conference room.

  Then he heard footsteps. Two men loomed on the threshold, Party Secretary Li and Superintendent Zhao.

  Chen rose to his feet. To his surprise, several people followed the two into the conference room, including Detective Yu, Commissar Zhang, Doctor Xia, and other important members of the bureau.

  Yu took a seat next to him, looking puzzled. It was the first time they had been together since Chen’s return from Guangzhou.

  “I was summoned back last night,” Yu said simply, shaking Chen’s hand.

  The enlarged Bureau-Party-Committee meeting was an unusual one, for Detective Yu was not a member of it, and Dr. Xia, not even a Party member.

  Standing at the head of the long table, Party Secretary Li opened with long quotations from the Party Central Committee’s latest “red-character titled” document on the campaign against the influence of Western bourgeois ideology, and moved on to the topic of the bureau’s recent work:

  “As you may have learned, a tremendous breakthrough has been made in Chief Inspector Chen’s case. It is a case speaking volumes for the necessity of our Party’s new campaign. With the great economic achievement made through our Open Door Policy, we should be all the more alert against Western bourgeois influence. This case shows how serious, how disastrous such an influence can be. The criminals, though of revolutionary cadre families, fell prey to it. It is an important case, comrades. People are in support of our work. So is the Party Central Committee. We want to compliment Chief Inspector Chen on his achievement. He has overcome major difficulties conducting the investigation. Of course, both Comrade Detective Yu and Commissar Zhang have done a great job, too.”

  “What case are you talking about, Comrade Party Secretary Li?” Yu cut in, completely confounded.

  “The case of Wu Xiaoming,” Li said solemnly. “Wu Xiaoming was arrested together with Guo Qiang, last night.”

  It was no surprise that Yu was confused, Chen thought. One day the cops were suspended, and the very next day the criminals were arrested. The opposition had evaporated overnight. The conclusion seemed to come out of the blue. In the best scenario Chen had conceived, Wu would have escaped punishment until after Wu Bing’s death. Now the son was arrested while the father was still breathing.

  “How could that possibly be?” Yu stood up. “We did not know anything about it.”

  “Who made the arrests?” Chen asked.

  “Internal Security.”

  “It is not their case,” Yu protested. “It is ours. Chief Inspector Chen and I—with Commissar Zhang as well, of course, as our always politically-correct adviser. We have been in charge from day one.”

  “It’s your case. No question about it. You have all done a great job. It’s just because of the sensitive nature of the
case that Internal Security took it over at the last stage.” Party Secretary Li said, “Unusual problems require unusual remedies, comrades. A very unusual situation, indeed. The decision has been made, in fact, at a much higher level. Everything is being done in the best interests of the Party.”

  “So we are kept in the dark,” Yu said doggedly, “in the best interests of the Party.”

  “Party Secretary Li has not finished yet, Comrade Detective Yu,” Chen said, although he understood Yu’s frustration at being deprived of the satisfaction of closing the case. After all the twists and turns, they deserved the chance to bring Wu down. Yu did not know, of course, that Internal Security had been involved with the case for a long time.

  Chen decided not to say anything more at the moment. This unexpected development could signify something with enormous political dimensions.

  “The special case group has made a great contribution,” Party Secretary Li continued. “The Party and the people appreciate their work. We have decided to award them a first-class citation collectively. Of course, that doesn’t mean our work is over. There’s still a lot for us to do. Now, the superintendent will give us a speech.”

  “First of all,” Superintendent Zhao started, “I’d like to compliment the comrades of the special case group, especially Comrade Chief Inspector Chen, for his intelligence and persistence.”

  “For his commitment,” the Party Secretary joined in, “and the highest-level consciousness of the Party’s interests.”

  “We have always thought highly of Comrade Chief Inspector Chen’s work,” the superintendent continued. “He has served well as acting director of the Shanghai Metropolitan Traffic Control Bureau. Now we can welcome him back. And in recognition of his achievement, also as embodiment of the Party’s young cadre policy, we have decided that Chief Inspector Chen’s going to represent us at the National Police Cadres Conference starting tomorrow at the Guoji Hotel. It is an honor he deserves after all the hard work he has put in. We also appreciate Comrade Yu’s hard work. It is the Party committee’s suggestion that Comrade Yu be moved to the top position in our housing committee’s list. As for Commissar Zhang, he has also made his special contributions in spite of his age, so we want to express our most sincere thanks. Finally, I want to welcome Dr. Xia to today’s meeting. After the Tiananmen incident last year, some people have become shaky in their belief in our Party. Dr. Xia has chosen, however, to express to Chief Inspector Chen his intention of joining our Party. That is why we have invited him here today. Comrade Chief Inspector Chen, after the meeting, you can work out the details with Dr. Xia, and help him fill out the application form as his sponsor.”

  “Yes, I’m glad justice has been upheld, Comrade Chief Inspector Chen,” Dr. Xia stammered, looking embarrassed rather than elated. “Congratulations on your work.”

  Chen turned to look in the direction of Party Secretary Li, who nodded back at him.

  As soon as the meeting was over, Chen took Yu aside. His assistant could speak impulsively, as Chen had come to know during the investigation. They had just started talking under their breath, when Commissar Zhang moved over to join them, with an incomprehensible expression on his withered face.

  “Everything has been done,” Zhang said, “in the Party’s interests.”

  “Everything done under the sun, or not under the sun,” Yu said, “can be conveniently so explained.”

  “As long as we did our work with a clear conscience,” Chen said, “we don’t have to worry about anything.”

  “Bourgeois influences are everywhere, comrades,” Zhang said. “Even somebody like Wu Xiaoming, a young cadre from a revolutionary family background, is not immune. So all of us have to be on our guard.”

  “Yes, on guard against back-biters,” Yu said. “Indeed—”

  Their talk was once more interrupted. This time it was Party Secretary Li who came over to take Chen aside. They moved across to the end of the conference room, overlooking the busy traffic along Fuzhou Road.

  “What’s all this about?” Chen asked.

  “You know how complicated the situation is,” Li said. “You deserve the credit, but we need to think about possible consequences.”

  “It is my case. Whatever the consequences, they are mine, too.”

  “People are all aware of Wu’s family background. It is easy for some to see the case as a warning—or even as a blow—to those with a similar family background. Not as one individual case, but as a symbolic case. And you are the instrument bringing such a disgrace to the old cadres.”

  “I see, Comrade Party Secretary Li,” Chen said, “but as I’ve said so many times, I have nothing against the old cadres.”

  “There are people and there are people. What’s going through their minds, you cannot tell. Any publicity at this stage of the case won’t do you any good.”

  “What about Detective Yu?”

  “Don’t worry about him. We’ll conclude the case as the collective work of the bureau. Yu won’t get much publicity anyway.”

  “I’m afraid I still don’t understand this sudden conclusion.”

  “You will, I’m sure. You’ve done your job, so let others take care of the remaining problem.” Party Secretary Li added after a pause, “It is not just our bureau’s concern, let me tell you. Some leading comrades share our concern.”

  “Who?”

  “You don’t need me to tell you. You know—or you will know.”

  It would be useless to ask Li any more about it.

  “I give you my word,” Li promised. “Justice will be done. You will be completely occupied with the conference. We’ll keep you informed.”

  “Thank you, Comrade Party Secretary Li,” Chen said, “for everything.”

  For Chief Inspector Chen’s future, Party Secretary Li’s analysis made sense—if Chen still longed for such a future. Chen left the conference room without further protest.

  He could not find Dr. Xia, who was perhaps not too eager to fill out those Party application forms after all. His search for Yu met with no success either. In his own cubicle, he found a short note saying, “I’m working with the Internal Security people now. I’ll keep my mouth shut, as you have suggested, and my eyes open. Yu.”

  A detective could not be too cautious with Internal Security.

  Later, as Chief Inspector Chen was leaving, Sergeant Liao approached him in the corridor, “Congratulations! What a wonderful job.”

  “Thank you.”

  Liao added in a whisper, “We’ll make sure that Miss Wang’s application for a passport is properly processed.”

  “Miss Wang, oh—” Chen had hardly thought of her during the last few days. But other people had. Because of him. This same Liao, who had called him “a busybody who cannot take care of his own business,” was offering to take care of hers—assuming it was still his.

  Now that he was back in the Party’s favor, Wang would get her passport. Sergeant Liao was such a snob.

  “Thank you,” he said, shaking Sergeant Liao’s hand energetically.

  But Wang already seemed to be as far away as the woman referred to by Li Shangyin: Master Liu regrets that Mount Peng is too far away / And I, thousands of times farther away from the mountains.

  In the ancient Chinese legend. Master Liu, a young man of the Han dynasty, ventured onto Mount Peng, where he had a wonderful time with a beautiful woman. When he returned to his village, it had changed beyond his recognition. A hundred years had passed. He never found his way back into the mountains. So the couplet was frequently read as contrition over an irrecoverable loss.

  * * * *

  Chapter 40

  I

  t was the fourth day of the National Police Cadre Conference. The Guoji Hotel, located at the intersection between Nanjing Road and Huanghe Road, overlooking the central area of the city, had been the highest building in Shanghai for many years.

  Chief Inspector Chen had been provided with a luxurious suite on the twenty-second floor. Looking out
of the window to the east, in the first gray light of the morning, he could see the building of the First Department Store joining various stores on Nanjing Road in a colorful parade towards the Bund. But he was in no mood to enjoy the spectacular view. He hurried to put on his clothes. The last few days had been so hectic for him. Not only was he a representative of the Shanghai Police Bureau, he also had to serve as a conference host, coordinating all kinds of activities. Most of the representatives were superintendents or Party secretaries from other cities. He had to build his connections with them. For himself as well as for the bureau.

  As a result, he had hardly had any time to think about the progress of the case. Still, the first thing he did that morning, as he had for the past few days, was to sneak out of the hotel to a public phone booth across the street. He had asked Yu not to phone him in his room except for an emergency. With Internal Security working in the background, they had to be extremely cautious.