Carl Hiaasen - A Death in China

"Huh?"

"His wife had him cremated and continued the tour-said he would have wanted it that way."

Stratton blanched.

"Hey, Stratton, I don't mean to sound like a total prick about it. I'm sorry about your friend, really I am. But what's it got to do with the Foreign Languages school?"

"David's niece is a student there."

McCarthy whistled. "It's a tough school to get into."

"Her father is Wang Bin, a deputy minister. David's younger brother."

"Right, I remember now."

"The girl saw David shortly before he left for Xian to meet Bin. I want to talk to her, just to make sure everything was all right." Stratton decided not to mention the journal or the passport.

McCarthy said, "I'm not exactly a low-profile character in this town. More like the Jolly Red Giant. With me at your side, you don't stand a fucking prayer of getting in.

"But I tell you what. Go with my driver. He'll take you to the gate and haggle on your behalf. He speaks some English and he's worked miracles for me, but don't get your hopes up. You might have to settle for leaving a note-and then it could be another four weeks before you get an answer. I'm not kidding. Watching this government in action is like watching a bad ballet performed in molasses."

Stratton sat in the backseat trying to look important while McCarthy's driver argued with a guard at the Foreign Languages Institute. After several minutes, the driver, Xiu, shuffled to the car with a furrowed brow.

"It is not possible, Mr. Stratton."

"Why not?"

"He says it is a study hour. The students are in their dormitories and cannot be disturbed."

Stratton sighed. "Tell him I am a friend of the family. I have come to offer my condolences at the death of her uncle. I will be most insulted if I am not permitted just a few minutes."

Xiu nodded somberly and tracked once more toward the gatehouse. He came back smiling. "A few minutes, Mr. Stratton. Can you wait?"

Soon, a young woman appeared. The guard motioned toward the car and spoke rapidly. Then he waved stiffly at Stratton.

David Wang had not embellished his journal; his niece, Kangmei, was indeed a beautiful woman. Her jet-black hair, daringly long by Peking standards, fell past her shoulders. Her eyes were bright, and her features were elegant, almost regal.

"I was a good friend of your uncle," he began.

"Yes. Stratton," she said. Her eyes worked on him.

"David was a good man, a great scholar," Stratton said. "I felt I needed to-"

The guard shifted his feet and peered up into Stratton's face.

"You wish to talk?" Kangmei asked.

"If it's possible."

"It is."

"At my hotel?"

"Not a good choice, Mr. Stratton." Her English was excellent and self-assured.

"Meet me in an hour at the Tiananmen Gate. Don't tell anyone. Have the driver take you back to the hotel, then walk."

Stratton eyed the guard anxiously.

Kangmei almost smiled. "Don't worry, they don't speak a word of English." Then she was off, her hair bouncing lightly. It was a Western walk. A wonderful walk.

Stratton was ten minutes early. Kangmei arrived precisely on time, the trait of a good Chinese. She parked her bicycle in a guarded sidewalk lot and locked it.

"Just like Boston," Stratton said.

"Excuse me?"

"Thieves, I mean."

Kangmei shrugged. "Bicycles are expensive. Come with me, Mr. Stratton. We are going on a tour of the Forbidden City."

"But I had hoped to talk-"

Again her eyes stopped him. "Please," she said, "we will talk."

At an imperial red kiosk, Stratton paid for his ticket with ten fen. Kangmei spoke to the cashier in Chinese and was allowed to enter without paying.

"I told her I'm your guide," she explained, escorting Stratton through the broad entrance tunnel. "I saw my Uncle David two days before he left for Xian. We had a very nice talk. He was very thoughtful."

"He mentioned you in his journal," Stratton said as they walked. "He was very impressed."

"Oh." She paused as a crowd of Chinese tourists passed them, chattering. When it was quiet, she asked, "Was he important in the United States?"

"Yes, in his field. And popular. He had many friends."

They approached a group of Americans, Kodaks clicking. They were led by a Chinese guide with her hair pulled back in a prim bun.

Kangmei said, in a louder voice, "This is the Meridian Gate, the entrance to the grounds of the Inner Palaces. It is the biggest gate in all the Forbidden City, built in the year 1420 and restored again in the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. Every year, the reigning emperor would ascend to the top of this structure and announce a new calendar for the people of China… "

Stratton applauded. Kangmei blushed. "Please don't make fun," she whispered.

"You must behave like a tourist and I like a guide. For me to be with you under any circumstances would be very serious."

The competing tour group moved away. Kangmei walked Stratton across a paved courtyard to a marble bridge over a clear, slow-moving stream.

"The Je Shui He," she trilled.

"Did you and your uncle talk about politics?" Stratton asked.

"A little. He seemed to understand that China cannot be analyzed in a week, or understood. I don't think that's why he came, Mr. Stratton. Some of his questions could never be answered. They are not relevant anymore. Not to my generation." A family of alabaster ducks splashed noisily in the stream.

"They were good questions, just the same," Stratton said.

"Yes," Kangmei said softly. "Very good. It was odd, seeing my uncle. He looked very much like my father; there is an alertness about both of them. Uncle David was more direct, of course. My father cannot afford to be so candid. Not with all the rumors of a new political campaign. We live with that concern, and it makes people like my father more cunning than David. No one can be sure what the future holds, so we must constantly be watchful. This, Mr. Stratton, is the Hall of Supreme Harmony."

A group of Chinese schoolchildren swarmed around them. A plump teacher in a blue Mao tunic recited a history lesson and the children listened attentively.

"The statues on the terrace are made of bronze," Kangmei said in her drone-guide voice. "On one side are storks and, on the other, giant tortoises. A sundial on the eastern side of the terrace represents righteousness and truth; on the west side is a grain measure, which symbolizes justice… "

"Did you memorize all this stuff?" Stratton said under his breath.

"We learn English at the Institute," Kangmei explained when the school tour was gone. "Those who perform well may someday become translators. The very best will receive diplomatic assignments. And travel." She ran a girlish hand through her hair, and Stratton noticed for the first time the glint of red nail polish, expertly applied. "So the answer is yes, I memorized this 'stuff,' " she said acidly.

They climbed the stairs and entered the hall. The columns were extravagantly carved with gilded dragons. In the middle stood the emperor's throne, surrounded by incense burners.

"How did David feel about seeing your father?" Stratton asked.

"The first time we spoke, he was very excited."

Stratton took her elbow. "The first time? You saw David more than once?"

"Yes," Kangmei replied. "Once before Xian, and the night of his return."

"The night of his heart attack?"

"The night he died, yes," she said.

"And how did he seem?" Stratton pressed.

"Upset. I guess the reunion was a disappointment. He and my father argued. There were bitter words. The tour of Xian was cut short by a day and the two of them returned to Peking."

"What did they argue about?"

"I'm not certain." They were alone in the Hall. It was too dark for pictures so the Americans had moved on, a fidgeting, pink-faced horde.