“You have taken on Lu Lei now. She must be your highest priority.”
“I agree. First, though, let’s talk about what we know.”
The Master exhaled, worried now that Matt was going to be like a dog with a bone
“That cop outside basically told me that there were two cops in Sun Yi’s car, and he obviously knew who they were. I think he, too, may have been outside the house that night as he knew where to look for the baton, unless the Chief told him to look there.”
The Master was stroking his beard. “Yes, go on.”
“The cut straw and the scalpel, together? Pretty strange, right? I have a theory about that.”
“Yes, indeed,” the Master nodded. “I think Wu Feng may have been playing doctor. He was much more than just a tai chi teacher, you know?”
“I’m starting to realize that.”
“You have a plan, I fear, Matt Nelson.”
“I do. When you go to the morgue to dress the two bodies, see if there’s an incision on one of their necks. I imagine they won’t let you see the two cops’ bodies, but you can try.”
The Master replied, “Very well. I shall try to do what you ask, although I am certain as to what I will find.”
“What do you think happened?”
“After the demonstration, the Chief sent these men over with their batons to intimidate or arrest Wu Feng and Sun Yi, both of whom, I can assure you, are most capable of defending themselves.” The Master’s eyes widened as he looked at Matt and nodded a few times. “My opinion,” he continued, “is that one attacker received a strike to the neck and needed medical attention. Then, Wu Feng drove two of them to the hospital.”
Matt agreed with everything. “And the Chief hit them with his Mercedes... by some remarkable coincidence.”
The Master shook his head slowly. “The witnesses at the scene of the accident used the word murder.”
Matt drove on in silence, in the direction of the child psychologist’s office building.
The Master continued, “I must be at the morgue in an hour. I’ll come with you to see Lu Lei, and then I shall walk there directly. Perhaps I could borrow that disposable camera and a ziplock bag or two?”
Matt smiled, surprised that the Master was in such good spirits. He certainly had his wits about him still. Matt couldn’t help but wonder what the Master might be capable of in a fight. He’d seen the old kung fu movies, but he never believed that those scenes were even close to reality, especially the scenes with the old bearded guys.
Lu Lei and Casey walked out of the building as Matt pulled up. The Master opened his door and Lu Lei ran to him, hugging his arm. “I have two more days of holidays. Today and tomorrow. No school!”
Matt fiddled with the evidence bag as the Master joined Casey next to the car. Lu Lei chased two pigeons on the sidewalk.
Casey frowned at the Master. “It was fine, but Lu Lei is adamant that she will be living with you,” she said, looking at the Master. “She even had the shrink changing her advice. She said it’s going to be impossible to change Lu Lei’s mind. It looks like we are going to have to let her have her way.”
The Master didn’t look concerned. “I shall give her many chores to do. Like your Cinderella.”
Casey let out a nervous laugh. The Master didn’t show any signs that he was joking.
Matt walked around the car and joined them, handing the Master the camera and a ziplock bag containing rubber gloves and some more ziplocks. “Good luck for this afternoon. Would you call us when you get home?”
The Master nodded and bowed. Then he turned, walking off in the direction of the morgue.
Matt’s eyes followed him, hoping that the old man wouldn’t get himself into trouble.
The Chief passed through security at the government building which housed the offices of the Chinese Communist Party. The Chairman had allocated him five minutes.
He chewed at his thumbnail, glancing at the secretary impatiently. He pondered how the meeting would go. After seeing the Master with the American at Wu Feng’s house, he had become suspicious and paranoid. He was also dismayed that Li Hongzhi had managed to exploit the weakness of a government official, causing the release of prisoners. This had to stop.
As chief of police in Beijing, he occasionally had the ear of the Chairman, if only for insultingly short appointments. Much could be accomplished with the right trigger words.
“He’s ready for you now, sir,” the secretary said, standing up to usher him in.
“Welcome, Chief. We only have a few minutes, so let us begin. What are we talking about today?”
“Sir, it is my observation that the Falun Gong has become powerful. They number in the millions. They have more members than our own Party and have now shown us that they have the power to sway government policy by demonstrating in the tens of thousands. Did you know that the prison in Tianjin released all the inmates that my officers had arrested just days earlier? Prisoners who broke the law by demonstrating against the glorious Communist Party?”
The Chairman removed his reading glasses and waved them at the Chief, gesturing at him to continue.
“It is my opinion, sir, that this is a great insult. A brazen slap in the face of our country’s honorable leaders.”
“It is indeed an outrage,” he agreed, nodding.
“They are a religion, sir. This goes against policy. The government has already begun passing a law, banning their books. We need to come down on their community with substantial weight before we have another Tiananmen Square event.” The Chief made sure to get the last point in, knowing the effect it would have.
“You are, of course, correct. We cannot have that. Thank you for coming in. I am already looking into writing a new policy. It is true. We must defeat this movement, for the good of China.”
“Yes, sir. I look forward to carrying out your orders, sir, whatever they may be.”
He pressed a button on his desk and the secretary appeared in the doorway to show the Chief out.
Two of Wu Feng’s older students waited outside the morgue. The Master described to them in a muted tone, how they were to prepare the bodies.
“While you are cleaning the bodies, I will leave you for a few minutes. There is something I must go and do alone.”
They both nodded, looking at each other quizzically.
An orderly escorted the three of them to a brightly lit room where the bodies of Wu Feng and Sun Yi lay on tables, covered by sheets, prepared but not yet cleaned or dressed.
After identifying the bodies and signing the forms, the Master said, “Let us begin.”
After things had been under way for a while and the three of them had cleaned Sun Yi’s body and dressed it in her regular street clothes, as per Buddhist tradition, the Master excused himself, leaving the other two to work on Wu Feng’s body. He had noted that neither Wu Feng nor Sun Yi had incisions in their necks.
The next door in the corridor opened to reveal the cold storage room. The Master entered, and began opening the cold chambers, one after another, sliding out each body fully, in order to inspect the front of the neck. Tied around the big toe of each corpse was a small information tag displaying the deceased's name and the date and cause of death.
He was surprised that the first few draws contained bodies which had horrific looking gunshot wounds. Strange that there had been no reports in the news, or talk on the street about shootings. Dismissing it, he tried some chamber doors in the bottom row. More gunshot wounds. He skipped to the end of the row, opening what should have been the most recent. He slid the drawer out a little, he read the tag: "Automobile accident," and a date.
Voices in reverberated in the hall outside. He froze for a moment. Two men approaching.
Removing the camera from his pocket, he fumbled with it for a few seconds. He aimed and took a picture of the tag before sliding the corpse all the way out. Horrific injuries. Even worse than Sun Yi’s. There on the neck was an incision, still hanging open, exposing t
he membrane underneath.
He took two pictures and slid the drawer back in. The voices were right outside the door now. No possibility to sneak out of the room. He stepped to the next drawer. Quietly sliding it out, it revealed the second victim with the same date and cause of death, again with no name given. He quickly took pictures of the tag and then of the face.
Sliding the drawer in, he pushed the camera back into his pocket. The conversation outside abruptly ended. He moved toward the door, placing his hand on the doorknob without turning it. The doorknob turned by itself in his hand, and the door was pushed open from the outside, knocking into the Master’s shoulder.
The man in the white coat stared at him for a long moment, blinking. The Master grunted something indecipherable at him, scowling. The man stuttered an apology, seeing the Master’s age.
“Can I help you, sir?”
The Master mumbled grumpily, “Where is the toilet?”
Shortly before sunset, the Master arrived at the Barbecue Couple’s apartment to pick up Lu Lei and take her to his home. Matt and Casey felt disturbed that she had conned her psychologist into changing her mind. The Master assured them it was all meant to be, and that they should not worry.
“I will make the most of the company,” he said. “It might be pleasant for me to have a little reminder of my two best pupils. She is a bit of each of them, isn’t she?”
Matt looked at him, remembering that the Master had also just lost two of the most important people in his life. He was taking it so philosophically. Dressing the damaged bodies of a car accident would be traumatic for any non-professional. It seemed like an unnecessary unpleasantness.
He handed Matt the camera. “I would recommend that you develop the film yourself, if you know how.”
Casey was suddenly very curious. “What did you find?”
“I found two dead men, one with a hole in his neck. We must discuss what to do with the evidence. Not today. We all need to rest.”
She yelled over her shoulder, “Lu Lei. Are you ready to go?”
“Ready!” she appeared with her pink backpack on, hugging a pillow.
The Master looked at Casey. “I hope you two have a peaceful night. Thank you for all you are doing. Your sacrifice brings me great joy during these times of darkness. Remember, death is not sad. The sad thing is that most people do not know how to live.”
Casey threw her arms around him, which caused him to laugh heartily.
"Lu Lei? Shall we go?" With a sombre nod, he gently turned and led the way out the door, Lu Lei following a step behind, without saying goodbye to Casey or Matt. Without looking back at them.
Casey quietly closed the door, wiping away her tears and sniffing loudly. “That was an interesting day.”
“Yep. Different to being at work, which is where I was supposed to be.”
“I wonder what his house is like.”
Matt opened the safe and placed the camera inside with the evidence.
“Imagine the stories he has to tell her.”
Matt grabbed the Chinese-English dictionary and opened the newspaper to see if he could pick up a few new characters.
Lu Lei gazed up and around the inside of the Master’s house. It was dark. “Can you turn all the lights on, please?” she asked.
“They are on, little one. Now let me find the mop so you can get started on the floor.”
“I’m not mopping the floor. You are.”
“But I have a very special Lu Lei sized mop, just for you. It is much too small for me to use.”
Lu Lei held her pillow tighter, not entirely sure if he was joking.
“I am joking with you. Are you hungry?”
“Yes.”
“See if you can find the kitchen. Watch out for ghosts. I have a few here.”
“No, you don’t.” She crept forward slowly and carefully in search of the kitchen.
The Master turned a few more lights on in the living room and tiptoed toward Lu Lei, who was nearly in the kitchen. Lu Lei had paused in the doorway as the kitchen lights were off and it really was quite dark inside. Suddenly she felt a whack to her temple, and she shrieked, terrified. The lights came on and she whirled around, eyes wide open.
“This is Mister Fang,” the Master said, laughing. Lu Lei looked up and saw the siamese cat, now meowing hello to his master.
“He whacked me in the head.”
“Yes, he’s talented at that. Did you know that cats can see in the dark? That’s why they are so good at sneaking up on us. Let’s see what we have to eat.”
The Master made a fuss of rummaging in his pantry for several minutes more than necessary. “Not much at all, I’m afraid. We do have some spinach. I know you love spinach.”
Lu Lei crossed her arms and pouted.
This time, true to his word, the Master cooked up a good sized meal of just spinach and rice while he taught Lu Lei how to whistle. By the time the meal was on the table, she could already whistle a few notes.
“It is just spinach?” She screwed her face up. He heaped a big portion onto her plate.
“And rice,” he replied, getting up to find the soy sauce.
“I need to go to the bathroom,” she said, filling her mouth up with spinach, moving to get up from the table.
“You may only go if you can whistle one note for me.”
The following morning, the Master explained to Lu Lei the proceedings of the day. She was now in the process of understanding that she would not see her parents again. He’d heard her crying during the night and had decided to let her begin the mourning process alone, without interruption. When she had gone back to sleep, he allowed his own eyes to close once again.
During breakfast, Lu Lei asked about the clothes he had set out for her.
“It is traditional to wear white at funerals, as a sign of respect. It shows that we are in mourning. Lu Lei, you have now begun your mourning period. This is the sadness that you feel, and the reason that you cry now.”
Lu Lei shoveled noodles into her mouth.
“Know, child, that it will pass when it passes. There is no set amount of time for mourning. You are, however, permitted to feel happiness during this time. This is natural. You are allowed to laugh, skip and run and do all the things that a young lady your age would normally do. When you feel tears wanting to emerge, you let them. Do not keep them prisoner inside you.”
“Yes, Master. Why do tears always taste salty?”
“Eat your noodles Lu Lei. Maybe later after the funeral I will tell you about the vast ocean that lives in your heart.”
The large crematorium had just enough room for the twelve monks and the fifty people who had been invited to this part of the day. Matt, Casey and the Master stood behind Lu Lei, who held incense, ready to be placed up-front in a clay pot. The monks, dressed in traditional costume, performed the special chants. The Master quietly explained what was happening.
“The spirits of your mother and father have already left their earthly forms. It is now our job to put the bodies to rest in a dignified manner. If you wish, you can use your heart to send your parents your message of love. You must remember to tell them that you are confident that you will be okay, that you feel loved and you are looking forward to your coming adventures. That way they need not be afraid for you. Does this make sense, Lu Lei?”
“Yes, Master,” she said much too loudly, smiling very sweetly at him.
Matt and Casey watched Lu Lei. Her eyes were closed, her face pointed skyward, her nose and brow wrinkled in concentration. She clasped her hands together, her lips moving quickly, whispering. A few tears sprang from beneath her eyelashes and rolled down her cheeks as she continued whispering.
The Master and Matt looked at each other, eyebrows raised at the lengthy communication she was sending to the great beyond.
Casey and Matt were surprised that the wake, held at Wu Feng and Sun Yi’s house, was such an enormous affair. So many people came to bring fruit and flowers that the crowd wound fro
m the house, all the way down the street. There was little talk of the recent release of the prisoners or the success of the demonstration, because the good news had been eclipsed by bad. People refrained from talking about the circumstances of the car accident, but they’d already had two days for the truth to disseminate.
Lu Lei’s cheeks were pink from all the pinching. Matt and Casey were staying close by her, as was the Master. After a while, she disappeared to her old room. Casey went to check on her, and from outside her room she could see her sitting on her bed talking to a worn-out stuffed doll, an old friend.
“–and that’s why I’m going to live with the Barbecue Couple. Mummy told me it was what she wanted. Besides, they never eat spinach at their house, so we shall be much happier there.”
Casey’s tears came suddenly. She battled the urge to go in and pick her up and hug her and squeeze her. Instead, she waited a few minutes, trying to compose herself, and then she left Lu Lei in peace to talk to her doll.
Part II
10
Adoption
Lu Lei sat between Matt and Casey in the waiting room of the CCCWA, which stood for the unwieldy: Chinese Centre for Children’s Welfare and Adoption.
She had made her choice during the cremation while the monks were chanting. The Master had instructed her to use her heart to communicate with her parents. She had not heard any actual words from them in reply, but she’d had a sudden strong feeling that they wanted her to be part of a family with the Barbecue Couple.
“Please come in,” said the stern-looking lady standing stiffly in the doorway of her office. Casey gave Matt an excited smile. He looked down at Lu Lei and asked, “Are you ready for some boring adult conversation?” She nodded and slid off her chair.
Surviving Spies (Irving Waters, Spy Fiction Series) Page 11