Qiu Xiaolong - Don't cry Tai lake

“My vacation here is only a pretext,” Chen said. “You should be able to guess why I want to talk to you today.”

“If it’s about Liu’s murder, hasn’t Jiang already been arrested?”

“You are well-informed, Mi.”

“Then what do you want to talk to me about?”

“Well,” he said deliberately, “because I don’t want to see a young, beautiful woman like you get into trouble for something that’s not exactly your fault.”

“I’m totally lost, Chief Inspector Chen.”

“In a murder investigation, things may appear to be complicated, but what’s behind it all can be simple when seen from the perpetrator’s perspective,” Chen said, a cigarette smoke ring spiraling out of his fingers. “It’s always done for something-money, power, or whatever the criminal hopes to gain. Now, what could Jiang have possibly gained by killing Liu? Nothing. On the other hand, someone else could gain tremendously.”

“What are you talking about?”

She kept playing dumb, Huang noted, and he himself felt no less dumb, having no clue as to what Chen was driving at.

“About the death of Liu, you made several statements. And I want to remind you, Mi, that perjury is a serious crime,” Chen said. He reached over and pressed the start button on a mini recorder sitting on the coffee table.

“What’s all this? I’ve told the police officers-including Officer Huang-only the truth and everything I know.”

“Let me say this one more time, Mi. You’re responsible for what you did, but you don’t have to be responsible for somebody else. You have to ask yourself whether it’s worth your sacrifice.”

It was an intriguing dialogue. Chen pushed on like he was playing a tai chi game, pointing rather than striking. Huang wondered how this could work. It wasn’t likely that Mi would fold in the face of such an insubstantial bluff.

“People take a lot of things for granted,” Chen went on. “Like the water in the lake. I still remember a song about how clear and beautiful the water is here.”

“Liu tried his best to contain the pollution,” Mi said. “I worked closely under him, I know.”

“You worked closely under him, in both the company office and at his home office. So let me ask you a question. You said that you saw Jiang arguing with Liu in his company office. And you were quite specific about the date. It was in early March, the day before Women’s Day.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“In Liu’s office at the company, correct?”

“Correct. Fu saw him too.”

“So the local police took your statement at face value, especially because it was corroborated by your present boss, Fu. After interviewing Jiang, who denied meeting with Liu at the company that day,” Chen said, turning to Huang, “Officer Huang double-checked with Fu on his statement. It seems that Fu isn’t so sure about the date.”

“No, he was not at all sure,” Huang said, even more mystified than before. He hadn’t double-checked anything with Fu. Nor had he discussed such a plan with Chen.

“But I remember it clearly,” Mi said, shifting nervously in the chair.

“According to our research, Liu was at a business meeting in Nanjing that day,” Chen said, taking out a folder without opening it. “He didn’t come back until very late that night-practically the next day. We checked the company calendar and Web site, as well as the hotel records, which showed he had a late checkout, around nine P.M. We also obtained a copy of the night train ticket for which he had been reimbursed. What’s more, we talked to Mrs. Liu about it. She, too, remembers the date clearly because he came back late that night. It was raining heavily, and he apologized for waking her up. He bought a present for her for Women’s Day, which was the next day.”

For a moment, Huang was too astonished to play along. Fortunately, Mi was so flabbergasted that she didn’t notice anything about Huang.

“Oh, maybe I didn’t remember the date too accurately. It was about two months ago, you know,” she said rather lamely. “But I did see Jiang arguing with Liu in his office.”

“No, that’s a lie. But it was somebody in the background who wanted you to make that false statement, and you had no choice but to comply. Nor were you fully aware of the complications involved. Anyway, you had to support the people above, didn’t you? You might not have been able to think too clearly under the stress.”

“Yes, I’ve been so terribly busy of late and under a lot of stress. I might not have been able to get the date right. Whatever Jiang might have done, it wasn’t any of my business, so I didn’t try to pay close attention to it. I’m sorry about the possible mistake, Chief Inspector Chen.”

“But it’s a murder case, Mi. An innocent man could have been convicted because of your perjury.”

“No, that’s not true. How could it be perjury? People’s memories may not always be reliable, you know that. What do you want me to do? Both you and Officer Huang are here, so I can give you another statement. The meeting between Jiang and Liu was definitely in March, of that much I’m sure.”

“Let’s put it aside for the moment, and talk about another statement you gave. On the night of the murder, you said you were at the company office, working late on the IPO plan. That was just about a week ago. Your memory couldn’t have failed you concerning that part, too? ”

There was no mistaking the ominous hint; she got it and turned ghastly pale. Mi stared first at Chen, and then at Huang, wringing her hands, panic-stricken and tongue-tied.

“You told us that you were so busy working at the office that evening,” Chen went on, “that you didn’t leave until after eleven. You were so overwhelmed with work that you didn’t even have time to go to the company canteen. Correct?”

“Correct,” she said. “We were so busy preparing for the IPO. It was a Sunday, but a number of people were at the office working, including Fu. Fu talked to me that evening and we discussed the company’s business plans.”

“Now, I want to remind you again, Mi. Perjury is a serious crime. You have to consider whether it’s worth it or not,” Chen added, crossing his legs, breathing into his cup, and then taking a leisurely sip of his tea. “Confucius says, A man lays down his life for one who appreciates him, and a woman makes herself beautiful for the one who loves her . But it really depends on who.”

“I’m afraid that what you’re saying is over my head, Chief Inspector Chen.”

“Fine, let me ask you a question. Liu went to his home office, as a rule, through the back door of the building, right?”

“I think so. It’s a shortcut.”

“So when you go there it’s also through the back door?”

“Yes, when I had to work with him there. There’s no point in going through the front gate, it would take at least ten more minutes.”

“You don’t know about the advanced security camera recorder at the back door, I’m guessing.”

“No, I didn’t know. But why are you asking?”

“The back door closes at eight, and then the security guard leaves for the night. We all know that. However, the camera there records people going through the door all night long, and I don’t think you knew about that.”

“Yes,” Huang said, echoing Chen’s statement. He was beginning to see the light for the first time, though he didn’t know anything about a hidden camera. For all he knew, there could be one and he was determined to play along. “The camera there records all night long, Mi.”

“I don’t know anything about it.”

“Why? Because Liu didn’t think that you needed to know those things as a little secretary. If so, it was totally understandable that he didn’t even mention it to you. But we’ve obtained the tape for that night and studied it carefully-”