Qiu Xiaolong - The Mao Case

It was a similar version to what Peng had told Yu, a scenario of Jiao having gotten the valuable antique left by Shang through her affair with Mao, but Peng was careful enough not to mention Mao by name. Nor did he say anything about Yu, which suggested that Peng must have continued blackmailing Jiao.

“It’s so unfair,” Peng concluded in a wailing tone. “She got it all from Shang – from the Forbidden City. I should have my share…”

His testimony was enough however, to get Jiao into trouble. “Selling state treasures” was a serious crime. Internal Security didn’t need another excuse.

“With his testimony, we’re expecting a search warrant from Beijing,” Liu concluded. “We believe that whatever it is is at Xie’s place. Yang could have been killed because she saw something there. So could have Song.”

Chen, too, had come to believe that Jiao had something, though it wasn’t likely to be the “palace treasure,” as Peng called it. But Chen had nothing with which to prevent Internal Security from taking action.

Xie would crumble under their pressure. But would Jiao cooperate? If not, would what had happened to Shang happen to Jiao today? To obtain their goal, Internal Security would stop at nothing. Chen saw no point, however, in asking for more time from Liu, and said instead, “When do you think you can get the warrant?”

“We’re reporting to Beijing this morning.”

“Let me know when you get it.”

“You don’t have to worry, Chief Inspector Chen,” Liu said, glancing at his watch. “Now I have to rush back to the office.”

So that signified the end of their talk. Internal Security was going on ahead, regardless of Chen’s opposition. Liu didn’t even offer to give him a lift.

“I have to make some phone calls too.” Chen pulled open the door and stepped out. “You know my number.”

“I’ll call you.” Liu started driving out, rolling down the window for the first time, watching Chen head in another direction.

ABOUT FORTY-FIVE MINUTES LATER, Chen arrived at Xie Mansion, and he pressed hard on the recently-fixed doorbell. He, too, wanted to shake things up.

It took quite a while for Xie to appear at the door. He must have come from bed, wrapped in a scarlet silk pajama robe tied with a silk sash. For the first time, Xie really looked like an Old Dick.

“I’ve just come back, Mr. Xie. Sorry to drop in like this. So many things have happened during the last few days. I’m worried about you.”

“Yes, I’m worried too. Cops have been coming in and out of my place like a market. Oh, it’s terrible.”

“I can imagine,” Chen said. “Let’s go out to the garden.”

“Garden?” Xie said, looking up. “Yes, let’s talk there. Follow me.”

They walked over to the plastic garden chairs, which had been moved from under the flowering pear tree. Chen wondered if Xie had sat in the garden since Yang’s death. They probably wouldn’t be overheard there.

“I heard about what happened to Officer Song,” Chen went straight to the point, seating himself on the dust-covered chair.

“I talked to Officer Song just a couple of hours before his death.”

“Song was murdered and they see you as the main suspect. I’m trying to help, but you have to tell me everything. You’re an intelligent man, Mr. Xie. I don’t see any point in beating about the bush.”

“No, of course not, but what do you mean by telling you everything?”

“To begin with, your relationship with Jiao’s parents.”

“What, Mr. Chen?”

“When Song talked to you about Yang’s murder, you made a statement, saying that you did not know Jiao before her visit to you about a year ago. That was a lie. You misled the investigation, especially because it was Jiao that provided your alibi. She didn’t tell the truth, either. That’s perjury, involving both of you, and obstruction of justice. A felony.”

“Perjury! I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Song’s colleagues are out for revenge,” Chen said, picking up a brown twig from its edge of the chair and breaking it. “What they are capable of, you don’t need me to tell you.”

“Do you think I really care? I’m nothing but a straw man, striving hard to keep up an appearance. And I’m sick and tired of it, Mr. Chen. They may do whatever they want.”

“But what about Jiao?”

Xie didn’t come up with an instant response.

“What worries me, Mr. Xie, is that there is something ominous about this case. Already two people have been killed. First Yang, and then Song. Both were connected to you and Jiao. As a result, much more will happen, I’m afraid. Not necessarily to you, but to Jiao.”

“Oh, my God! But why?”

“Now, this is just my guess, Mr. Xie. People are desperately searching for something. Until they get hold of it, they will never stop. Nor will they stop at anything.”

“What can it be? When I came into the world, I brought nothing with me. Nor will I take away anything with me upon leaving. So let them have it. Nothing’s worth having so many people dying for it.”

“It may not be in your possession.”

“How can she -” Xie cut himself short and came up with a question. “I wonder how you know all this – and what you can do to help?”

“What I can do to help, to be frank, I don’t know, not at this stage. But I happen to know all of this,” he said, taking out his business card and badge, “because I am a police investigator. I’m telling you more than I’m supposed to. That’s why I brought you out into the garden. The house may be bugged. They are Internal Security, not the ordinary police.”

“I trust you, Mr. -” Xie stammered, examining the business card, “Chief Inspector Chen?”

“You don’t have to trust me, but you trust Mr. Shen, don’t you?” Chen produced his cell phone. “Give him a call.”

“No, I don’t have to. Mr. Shen’s like an uncle to me,” Xie said reflectively, and then, resolutely, “So you want to know about my relationship with Jiao’s parents?”

“Yes, please tell me from the beginning.”

“It was such a long time ago. In the fifties, my family and Qian’s family knew each other, but things were already changing. My parents were urging me to behave with my tail tucked in, and not to mix with Qian.”

“Because of the stories about Shang?”

“Do you think anyone would have talked to a young boy about those things?”

It was obvious that Xie had heard the stories but Chen didn’t push, further breaking the withered twig in his hands.

“At the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, our two families were plundered by the Red Guards. But it was worse for hers. Shang became a target of relentless mass criticism. One scene is still fresh in my memory – of her standing on something like a stage, half of her hair shaven off in a so-called yin/yang style, and wearing around her neck a string of worn-out shoes as a metaphor for her body being used by so many men. Red Guards threw stones and curses and eggs at her. Needless to say, Qian, too, suffered horrible discrimination. We were called ‘black puppies.’ She was once marched onto the stage to stand beside Shang – as a companion target of mass criticism. That was too much for Qian. She denounced Shang and moved to the school dorm.”

“I can understand all that, Mr. Xie. I was younger then, but my father was also ‘black.’ ”

“If there’s any difference between me and Qian, it was that I still had the old house to fall back on. There was nothing for her. Shang died. Qian was driven out of her home, and she sort of disappeared for weeks. When she reappeared, she had changed so much. Like in an old saying, she threw a broken jar like a broken jar, but unfortunately, the broken jar happened to be herself. Then she fell for Tan, a good friend of mine, another black puppy of a capitalist family. He told me about their affair. In those days, it was a crime to have sex without a marriage license, but what else could two doomed young people do? She soon found herself pregnant. I was worried sick about them. One early morning, Tan sneaked into my place and pushed into my hands a large envelope, saying that it was something from Qian. He hurried away before I could ask questions. About a week later, they were caught in their attempt to flee to Hong Kong. He was beaten so badly on the way back to Shanghai, he committed suicide, leaving a note in which he shouldered all the responsibility. That’s how she was acquitted.”