by Mi Lei
Being abundantly cautious, the investigation team had decided to submit Xing Zhisen to a polygraph test. Should Xing Zhisen pass the test, the investigation would continue. If he failed, the case would be transferred to the Procuratorate for formal charges. All these matters were to be discussed at the next meeting of the investigation team. Bian Ping and Fang Mu would attend, acting as the Public Security Department's assisting officers.
The Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee himself chaired the meeting. He started it off with a highly critical review of the investigation. Next he demanded that they cast all personal sentimentality aside and follow the law to the letter. To prevent any danger of favoritism or a cover-up, the Secretary had called upon an expert from Shenyang City to administer the polygraph test. Additionally, he had requisitioned officers from outside the municipality to aid in the investigation.
It rankled almost everyone at the Bureau, but they all understood just how sensitive and important this case was and so they held their tongues.
The entire meeting took place under a shroud of awkward restraint. One by one, they read their statements. No one deviated from their prepared remarks and they certainly did not have any questions or comments. The moment the Secretary declared a recess, the room emptied. Almost every single attendee fled outside, eager for a few minutes of respite.
Fang Mu and Bian Ping were among those refugees. The two stood in the corridor, silently smoking as the other attendees pontificated about the meeting and stretched their limbs. Listening to them filled Fang Mu with a deep sense of alienation. No matter how clinically he tried to look at the matter, Old Xing would never just be a "suspect" to him.
When Fang Mu overheard a whispered discussion on who would be promoted to Deputy Commissioner once Xing Zhisen was out of the picture, he snapped. He stepped forward and cut into the conversation with a loud, "Old Xing will be back."
It stunned the gossipers into silence and soon they scattered, but not without a few choice snide comments. As Fang Mu glared at them, he felt a hand reach for his shoulders. It was Bian Ping, motioning him to keep his mouth shut. Fang Mu was about to respond, but Bian Ping had already turned away again.
The chief was staring out the window. The leaves were falling in the courtyard. It was late autumn, the ground and trees wet with rain. It seemed that nothing but utter desolation remained out there.
"It's cold outside," Bian Ping noted as he ground the cigarette butt beneath his heel. He seemed to be talking only to himself. "Wonder if Old Xing is cold."
The hot fumes of Fang Mu's anger had not yet fully dissipated. "Old Xing is in deep shit and these sons of bitches have nothing better to do than plan how to replace him!"
"Get a grip," Bian Ping bluntly cautioned him. "If you don't keep it down, you'll be kicked off the investigation. What fucking good will you do Old Xing then? This is the way official circles work," he continued more calmly. "If one of us goes down, another will rise. Everyone with their eyes on the deputy commissioner post is hoping Xing Zhisen disappears into a black hole, never to return."
Lost in thought, Fang Mu didn't respond. Something, more precisely someone, had just come to his mind.
Zheng Lin.
Was he after Old Xing's post?
When the meeting reconvened, a group of unknown faces had gathered around the Secretary. They were obviously external officers. Fang Mu only gave them a quick glance as he sat down. He had other things to worry about. Brooding in a corner with a cigarette, he let the names and faces wash over him as the Secretary introduced the newcomers one by one; that was, until one name jolted him to attention.
"Xiao Wang, from the Suijing City Municipal Bureau."
Xiao Wang stood to greet the attendees. He caught Fang Mu's astonished stare with a smile and wink.
Almost instantly Fang Mu felt a new surge of energy and hope. This addition was fantastic news; he would have a proven ally working alongside him.
When the meeting was finally adjourned, Fang Mu barely had a chance to get up before he saw Xiao Wang approach. Xiao Wang quickly introduced himself to Bian Ping and then clasped Fang Mu by the shoulders.
"I had a feeling that we would meet again, my young friend!" Xiao Wang was smiling broadly. "And here we are!"
"I can hardly believe it," Fang Mu said. He looked about the room and added in a lower voice, "Where have you been assigned to?"
"Let's not talk work just yet." Xiao Wang arched his eyebrows. "I've made it to your neck of the woods and you're not inviting me to dinner?"
They had dinner at a roast lamb restaurant. Xiao Wang was eager to try the local specialties, but Fang Mu was hardly a luminary when it came to eating out, so they had to settle for a newly opened restaurant that just happened to be in the area. Xiao Wang was not picky and happily busied himself with a lamb shank and some liquor.
Bian Ping had not joined them. Fang Mu well understood why: Xiao Wang was Fang Mu's friend. The presence of a stranger would only make it harder for them to reconnect.
Three rounds of drinks later, the lamb had all but disappeared and Xiao Wang was wiping his mouth in satisfaction.
"Very tasty," he praised. "But then, this is the provincial capital. One can't find restaurants like this in a small place, like Suijing City." He smiled contently for a second before suddenly slapping his forehead. "I almost forgot! Commissioner Wang, Captain Deng, and Xu Tong asked me to give you something. I almost forgot about it over the food and drinks."
"What?" Fang Mu asked, somewhat confused and very curious.
"Kiwi berries." Xiao Wang retrieved a plastic container from his jacket pocket. "It's a local specialty from the Suijing City mountains; you've probably never had them."
"You're too kind." Fang Mu accepted the container. "Please send them my sincere thanks."
"It's nothing." Xiao Wang waved off the thanks. "Your help was invaluable to us."
"Happy to hear it." Fang Mu smiled. "Any news on the case?"
"It's all going smoothly." A smug smile came to Xiao Wang's face as he lit another cigarette. "But I have heard that things have gotten quite tense between Liang Zehao and Pei Lan."
"Is that right?" Fang Mu inquired casually.
"Do you think Liang Zehao was happy with someone shooting a video like that of Pei Lan?" Xiao Wang lazily leaned back in his chair. "I've heard that when Pei Lan was rescued, Liang Zehao secretly arranged for the hospital to give her a gynecological examination."
It immediately brought back Fang Mu's strange meeting with Liang Zehao in the staircase. He shook his head with renewed revulsion. "He's her boyfriend. The only thing he should have been worrying about is helping her through this." Fang Mu sneered, shaking his head. "He's a boy, not a man."
Xiao Wang flicked the ash from his cigarette. "Hey, we can't understand how people like that think."
Fang Mu shrugged. "Will you be working in Changhong City for long?"
"I don't know yet. I'll probably be off again as soon as this case is handed over to the courts." Xiao Wang leaned closer over the table. "Is it true that the suspect is the deputy commissioner?"
Fang nodded slowly. "Mhm."
"He killed a man?" Xiao Wang was burning with curiosity.
"He's suspected of killing a man." Fang Mu couldn't stop himself from making the somewhat pointless correction. "Where have they assigned you?"
"I reckon I'll just be one of the external officers on the investigation team," Xiao Wang replied, slightly more solemn now. "It looks like the higher-ups are really taking this one seriously. Most of the team is made up of personnel from outside Changhong City." He shook his head with a sigh. "External investigators; we'll probably have free rein."
Fang Mu could only nod. "Yeah, this is the first time that I can remember that we've had to deal with anything like this."
"The whole case sounds weird to me." Xiao Wang suddenly grinned. "Senior officials are usually sacked for bribery, corruption, stuff like that. Killing someone, now that's a first."
"Quite." Fang Mu was lost in the red glow of the charcoals beneath the barbecue grill. "And that's why we have to make sure the investigation is as thorough as possible."
"I'm just happy to work a case with you again." There was no doubt about Xiao Wang's sincerity as he reached across the table. "I believe that together, the two of us can accomplish great things."
Fang Mu smiled as he firmly clutched Xiao Wang's hand in the glow of the embers, the red light shining brightly around the clasp.
Liang Sihai stopped his vehicle precisely at the line at the traffic light. He looked nothing like his usual, refined self. Instead of his suit, he was wearing overalls and a baseball cap; rather than his lavish executive chair, he was sitting on a truck seat. At the moment, there was little to distinguish him from any other trucker.
The light's red phase seemed to last forever. Liang Sihai opened the toolbox and reached for one of the many packs of cigarettes inside. After a moment's hesitation, he pulled out the cheapest. Soon smoke was filling the entire cab. It wasn't that Liang Sihai particularly enjoyed cigarettes, but in moments like this, he always smoked to keep his cool.
The light turned green. Liang Sihai immediately killed his cigarette. As he pushed the butt into the ashtray, he contemplated how to best get rid of all the packs of Chunghwas and the Russian cigarettes in the toolbox. A truck driver smoking expensive cigarettes could easily arouse suspicion.
He had to handle this personally. There was no room for mistakes.
Just as he put the truck in gear, he thought he heard a noise from the trailer. His body froze as he listened intently. It all seemed quiet back there, maybe he was imagining things. The cars behind him were certainly real enough and they were impatiently sounding their horns. Relaxing his expression as best he could, Liang Sihai sped off.
The first moment of relief came after he made it past the tollbooth and onto the expressway. He got in line behind a taxi van and focused his attention back on the trailer. He listened carefully for any noise or sign of movement. Only when he was absolutely sure that all was quiet could he fully relax. The imported anesthetic was still doing its job. Next time he would buy more.
Noon had come and gone, but the late autumn air still held its chill. Harvested wheat fields lined the expressway. On them, stacks of straw burned away listlessly. In the still air, the plumes of smoke rose straight toward the sky. They looked like an army of ancient signal fires. Watching them, Liang Sihai's mouth twisted into a cold smile. Were these wheat fields any different from a bloody battlefield, full of slaughtered soldiers? And those fires, they could just as easily be burning the piled up bones of the fallen.
Life was war.
He stepped on the gas pedal. As the truck accelerated, he quickly left the now barren fields and their fires in the rearview mirror.
Victory belonged to the survivors.
About 40 minutes later the expressway signs spelled out he was approaching Suijing City. Liang Sihai took the exit right after the tollbooth. He no longer paid attention to the unchanging roadside scenery; he had other things on which to focus. Thirty minutes of highway later, the outline of a mountain was slowly beginning to define itself against the horizon. Here he turned the truck onto a dirt road. It would be a bumpy ride.
The farmers working in the fields mostly ignored the familiar sight of his truck. Only a few looked up as it rumbled past. After a short, apathetic glance, they turned back to the soil beneath their feet.
Soon he was approaching the foot of the mountain and then it was on to an even smaller, even more secluded road. Actually road was an overstatement; it was little more than a narrow gap winding between the rock faces. Even in late autumn, the thicket at the foot of the mountain was still covered in small patches of green. These last leaves were in their death throes, doomed to a certain fall.
The vegetation still provided good cover, concealing the path from anyone not knowing where to look for it.
Liang Sihai stopped the truck. He picked another cigarette from the toolbox and lit it. As he smoked, he rolled down the cab's window and carefully listened for any sound of movement. Confident that he was alone, he opened the door and climbed out. He walked through the waist-high grass toward a large boulder. Behind the rock, he saw a parked truck very much like his own.
He approached the vehicle, but he was in no hurry to board it. He first took a stroll around the truck to check it. He paid particularly close attention to the license plates. All was in order. The license plates matched those of his truck. Pleased, Liang Sihai jumped onto the step and into the cab. He was greeted by the thick smell of smoke inside. He frowned as he noticed that the dashboard was covered with small circles of black ash. For the most part these people were reliable enough, but they certainly lacked manners. He pulled out a wipe and hastily cleaned the worst of it. He started the engine.
Moments later Liang Sihai left the mountain road with a truck that looked absolutely identical to the one he had arrived in. There was only one little difference—this truck's trailer was empty. As for the other truck and its cargo, Liang Sihai was utterly unconcerned. He knew that very soon someone would come and pick them up.
The dark of night was slowly falling, blurring the edges of the dirt road. The farmers were leaving their fields in groups of twos and threes. They, too, were on their way back, walking up the small paths to their scattered homes where tiny lights dotted the foot of the mountain.
The nights on the mountain were eerily quiet. Only the occasional caw of a crow returning to roost dared to break the silence.
The abandoned truck also waited quietly amid the trees, almost as if it was listening to the tranquility of night, afraid to disturb the oppressive silence.
Suddenly a cautious clang echoed from the trailer, and then all was quiet again. A careful listener, however, could have heard the soft panting and the crying of those inside. Next came the sounds of terrified hands trying to open the back hatch, desperate to escape. Soon they were futilely scratching with their fingernails. It was all to no avail. In the midst of these tiny scrapes and squeaks, the clang could be heard again. At first, it was just a quick bang, but it was soon joined by a chorus of clanks and thumps, growing ever louder. Finally, a faint cry began to echo through the forest, growing clearer with every passing moment.
"Help… Help…"
The noise had scared up a few of the crows. Flying into the night sky, they circled above the truck, their hearts filled with black outrage. Then, with a final scream, they flew off into the darkness.
It was the only response the forest could offer to those desperate cries. They were surrounded by the deathly silent mountains and voiceless trees. Above them was only the quiet night sky, below them the slumbering earth.
For them, there was nothing but silence.
CHAPTER
9
Lies
The next day, Xiao Wang called Fang Mu and told him that he had been assigned to investigate the evidence at the Bay City Hotel. Fang Mu quickly decided to go along.
Xing Zhisen had told the investigators that a woman had been stabbed in Room 624. The subsequent investigation of the scene, however, failed to produce even a sliver of evidence to corroborate his claim. In fact, they had found little evidence of anything at all. They reasoned that if the weapon had remained stuck in the wound, blocking the blood vessels, it was certainly possible that the woman had not bled-out immediately. But that still did not explain why the investigators had not found even the tiniest spatter of blood. The only plausible answer was that someone had rushed to the room immediately after the murder and thoroughly cleaned the entire scene.
The security cameras in the hall should have confirmed all of this, but the Bay City Hotel claimed that, coincidentally, the system had been down for maintenance on that day.
This seemed to be a convenient coincidence.
When Fang Mu arrived at the Bay City Hotel, Xiao Wang was already waiting in the lobby. He had obviously used the time t
o study a thick file. Still buried in the pages, his brow creased in disbelief, Xiao Wang took a second to notice Fang Mu. Abruptly, he looked up. "This case is way beyond fucked-up."
"No doubt." Fang Mu sat down next to him. "So many loose ends."
Xiao Wang stood up. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's tie them up."
Room 624 had remained sealed and undisturbed. The moment the floor manager opened the door, an odor of mildew wafted into the hall. Xiao Wang was the first to enter. Walking about the room, he gestured, replaying the incident. "Commissioner Xing stood here… Hu Yingbo and the woman here… The murder…the woman fell…"
Kneeling down, Xiao Wang began to run his fingertips over the carpet. "...Then her wound should have hit the floor about here." He looked to the floor manager. "Has the carpet been replaced?"
"No. We didn't touch a thing." The manager seemed shocked at the suggestion.
Fang Mu saw Xiao Wang's disbelieving stare, but he could offer little more than a shrug. "Not a drop was found on the carpet."
"How bizarre." Xiao Wang frowned. "If the commissioner told the truth, there'd simply have to be some evidence of it here."
Fang Mu didn't know what to say, so he turned to the bathroom. According to Old Xing's statement, Hu Yingbo had emerged from it with the woman. The crime scene investigators had come up empty-handed there, too, but that did nothing to deter Fang Mu. He looked in every corner, in every cabinet, and below every drawer in the room, over and over again. In the end, he had to admit that there simply was no shred of evidence to be found.
"Find anything?" Xiao Wang asked, leaning against the doorframe. He was studying the file again. "The report states they found nothing, not even a single hair."
"That's about as fishy as it gets," Fang Mu replied as he let his eyes sweep across the bathroom one more time. "For it to be that clean; that has to be intentional." He turned back to the door. "How can a hotel like this have an absolutely spotless bathroom?"