“Isn’t it a fact that you are a lieutenant in the Rising Phoenix gang?”
“Rising Phoenix? I have told you before, we are a fraternal organization.”
“You and your cohorts chartered a boat called the China Peony in December of last year. At the beginning of January, you picked up Chinese immigrants and brought them to America. Your crew deserted the ship.”
No answer.
“Who do you purchase bear bile from in China?”
Again David received no answer.
“How did Billy Watson and Guang Henglai fit into your scheme?”
“I’m unfamiliar with those names.”
“They weren’t couriers in your business?”
“I don’t know what business that could be,” Lee said evenly.
“Tell me about your connection to Guang Mingyun.”
“Guang Mingyun?” Spencer Lee let the name linger on his lips contemplatively.
“You spoke with Mr. Zhao about Guang Mingyun this evening.”
“You must be mistaken.” Lee lit another cigarette.
“I’m going to ask you again,” David said calmly, deliberately. “Would you care to elaborate on Guang Mingyun’s involvement in the smuggling of medicinal products made from endangered animals?”
“I’m getting tired of these questions,” Lee said.
“I see from your passport that you travel back and forth from China with some regularity,” David continued.
“A month here, a month there. No difference.”
“Not every Chinese gets a visa so easily,” David tossed out.
“The American embassy…” Lee hesitated.
“Yes?”
“I have a good record with the American embassy.” Cigarette smoke curled about Lee’s face.
“Are you implying that you pay bribes for your visas?”
Spencer leaned forward, putting his face close to David’s. “Mr. Stark, you have no proof of anything. Why don’t you let me go home?”
David stared Lee straight in the eye. “I do have one more question concerning your passport.”
“Go ahead.”
“A passport, as you know, records the dates of exit and entry.”
“So?”
“I see you were in Beijing for a little more than a month from December tenth to January eleventh.”
“So?” Lee repeated.