The Interior (Red Princess 2)

“What about Liu Hulan?” Sun asked. “She works for the MPS.”

“You are my client,” David said. “What we’ve spoken about is between us.”

Sun looked out into the darkness. “I’ve worked my whole life to better myself, to better the lives of the people of China. I sit here now and I’m lost. I have friends in the government who are protecting me, but even they are sometimes powerless against outside forces. Still, I’m grateful to them. But there is another kind of friend, someone who is close to your heart, who understands you, who you would give your life for. I thought Henry was that kind of friend.” Sun shifted his gaze back to David. “I know you’re an honest man. I know your reputation and what you’ve done for China in the past. These things that are on those papers are a lie. I don’t know how to prove it to you, but I hope you can accept my word.” Sun took a last sip of tea, then stood. “I should go before it gets light.”

David saw Sun to the front gate, where he mounted a bicycle and began pedaling. When the governor disappeared around the alley’s corner, David locked the gate and made his way back to the last courtyard. Hulan sat at the little round table. Her bandaged hand rested palm up before her. She looked tired, more tired perhaps than he had ever seen her. Weren’t pregnant women supposed to need, want, and get a lot of sleep? He thought he could remember reading something like that or seeing it in a movie.

“He’s innocent, isn’t he?” she said.

“My logical mind says he can’t be, but when he speaks, I want to believe him.”

“He’s a politician,” Hulan reminded him. “You’re supposed to believe him.”

“He also gave me these.” David handed Hulan Sun’s bank records. In his mind they proved nothing, but he had a duty to turn evidence over to the authorities if it might help his client.

Hulan saw that the names of these banks matched those in the dangan and that these were official documents dated yesterday, but she said none of this. Instead she picked up the index card that had Sun’s name on it and corresponded to the columns which read ACCEPTING BRIBES and CHINESE jurisdiction. Without saying a word, she tore the card into pieces and put them in the trash. Then she said, “I need some sleep.” With that she left the room, leaving David to stare at her chart and wonder if she really believed Sun was innocent.

20

MONDAY MORNING DAWNED HEAVY AND HOT. HULAN dressed in a loose-fitting suit of pale green pongee. Since she was going to the MPS, she carried her weapon under her jacket. She still felt tired, and she went about her morning activities quietly. At 7:30 she left the compound, got into the backseat of Lo’s black Mercedes, and drifted back to sleep for the short drive to headquarters. As she walked through the lobby and upstairs to her office, the temperature seemed worse than ever before. The dinginess of the walls and the lack of light made the heat all the more oppressive.

She went straight to Zai’s office. Vice Minister Zai was already at his desk, and it occurred to her that perhaps he’d spent the entire weekend there. The tea girls hadn’t come in yet, so Zai poured the tea from his thermos himself. Hulan took a sip and felt its heat radiate through her body and produce a fine sheen of sweat on her face. This was exactly what tea was supposed to do. Sweat was nature’s way of cooling the body. But today, instead of giving any relief, the tea only added to her discomfort.

“You recall the file of which we spoke yesterday?” Hulan said. When Zai nodded, she went on, “I would like to see it again.”

They were inside, where anyone could be listening, and yet Hulan—though her words were ambiguous as to whose file she wanted—had broken the protocol with which she and her mentor usually communicated. But Zai didn’t question her motives or even ask her to step outside for a walk. For her to show such a lapse must mean that she needed Sun’s dangan urgently. He left the room and came back a few minutes later. As he’d done the day before, he placed the file in front of her, but instead of turning away he watched as she opened it and read. Sometimes she would pick up a piece of paper and hold it up to the hazy light coming through the window or she would set out two pieces of paper side by side to compare them. She worked silently and Zai didn’t ask any questions. After a while he went back to his own work, and the two of them worked in companionable silence.

At nine sharp, Zai’s support staff arrived. A pretty girl came in and refreshed their tea, bowed, and left again. A few minutes later another girl entered carrying his morning newspaper, and Zai instantly felt the change in her demeanor when she saw Hulan. It was true that Hulan had never been considered as just one of the workers. She was different from them by education, money, and political position. As a result she had always been seen as an outsider, and when Zai considered this he thought that this separateness above anything was what made Hulan so good at what she did. Still, this morning Zai’s assistant stared at Hulan with more than the usual curiosity. After the girl left the room and he picked up the People’s Daily, he understood why.

He cleared his throat. “Inspector Liu,” he said formally, knowing without doubt that someone would be listening given the circumstances, “have you seen this morning’s paper?”

“No, uncle, I haven’t,” she said without looking up. “You know I try not to read our papers. I have learned from personal experience that what they say is not necessarily true.”

Zai stared at his protégée. She was speaking to him with her mouth, but her words were clearly for the others—if they were listening. He realized then that she’d come here for two reasons. The first was that she had a legitimate reason to look at Sun’s file. The second was that she suspected something was about to happen and wanted to get her position on record with the people who’d be monitoring their conversation.

He pushed the paper across the desk and watched as she looked at the four photographs that blotted the front page. The first had been taken last night and showed Governor Sun, Henry Knight, and Randall Craig. The second showed the Knight factory. The third was of a Chinese woman—a foreigner from her dress, haircut, and know-it-all expression. In the article Zai had read that this Pearl Jenner worked for an American newspaper and was spoken of in glowing terms as a true friend to China, who’d come back to the motherland to help her countrymen rid themselves of corruption. The last was that same grainy photo of Hulan and David dancing at Rumours Disco that newspapers across China had used when the propaganda tide had shifted against her. Rumours was in the Palace Hotel and reputed to be owned by generals from the People’s Liberation Army. Only a handful of people on the globe knew that Hulan’s last big case had at its heart the smuggling of nuclear components. Those smugglers happened to be some of the same generals who owned Rumours. These were men who, with the exception of a couple of scapegoats, had avoided prosecution. Still, they had lost a lot of money, and they did not forgive easily.

Hulan picked up the paper. Unlike the others who were listening, Zai had the benefit of watching Hulan’s reaction as she scanned the article. Immediately he saw her brow furrow as she read the allegations: Knight International was harming Chinese citizens. Another American company, Tartan, was prepared to buy Knight to further this activity. The deal was being shepherded by Governor Sun Gan, who was reputed to have accepted bribes. The proof? The newspaper printed a copy of one of the pages of numbers that Guy Lin had tried to show them in the bar of the Shanxi Grand Hotel. It was a page from Miaoshan’s papers and the reporter, Bi Peng, had deciphered the SUN GAN code. Sun’s arrest was pending, but it was a forgone conclusion that he would be caught soon. Representing Sun was American attorney David Stark, which suggested just how corrupt the governor was.

Hulan winced, and Zai knew she’d come to the section where Pearl Jenner was quoted as saying, “Inspector Liu Hulan and a certain Miss Quo Xuesheng are responsible for introducing Mr. Stark to Governor Sun. These two women—both Red Princesses—obviously stand to profit from their affiliation with Sun and Stark. It is no wonder, then, that Inspector Liu has tried to bury the facts of Sun’s misdeeds and Stark’s cover-up.”

Hulan set the paper down in disgust. The government controlled the newspaper and this story wouldn’t have appeared if Hulan didn’t have powerful enemies, but it was also true that Bi Peng had it out for her. This time the reporter had surpassed himself. By tonight this news would be on television. By tomorrow it would go out across the country. It might take two or three days to reach deep into the countryside, but these lies would get there eventually.

On the other hand, Hulan also had some powerful friends. It was to these unseen people that she spoke now. “Attorney Stark is innocent of these unfounded charges. I am also innocent. Miss Quo comes from one of the Hundred Families. To suggest that she would do something like this for money is ludicrous when she could practically buy Knight International herself.”

Zai didn’t say a word.

“In many ways I’m most concerned with these lies about Gove

rnor Sun. As you know, Vice Minister, I’ve been curious about him. I’m an investigator of facts. My job is to look for criminal activity. I think that I’ve done a good job over the years. But as I look at his personal file and as I’ve talked to him, I see nothing to suggest that he would be guilty of any acts of bribery. Still, I believe we’re being manipulated into thinking he’s to blame.”

“Nevertheless, if he has run away, then we must find him.”

“Of course, Vice Minister. Have you already authorized this as it says in the paper?”

“I will authorize it now.”

“Good,” Hulan said. “When we find him, I’m sure that he’ll be able to clear away all ambiguity.” For the first time since she’d entered his office, Zai heard the deceit in her voice. But would the others, who didn’t know her as well as he, hear it as well?