tongue.
“Why not?”
*
Chief Comrade Officer Zoul’s visit brief, lasting only for the time that it takes for ten steel spikes to be levered back through flesh, bone, skin, and for triple ply nylon body bags to be burdened with their cargo and loaded into an un-marked ambulance.
Wiping his hands, finger by finger, on a monogrammed handkerchief.
“Piao, what are you doing here? This is Homicide Squad business.”
“I was informed by the Homicide Squad, Comrade Chief Officer. They thought that I might have an insight into what was found.”
Dabbing his mouth. Piao watching, thinking that it was the whitest handkerchief that he had ever seen.
“An insight. An insight, eh? Dangerous things insights, especially in a case such as this.”
Watching him. His eyes, crow black with no reflection.
“You did well, Senior Investigator. I can see why you are so highly regarded. To limit observation of what was found, the bodies in the warehouse. Sensible, extremely sensible.”
“And what now, Comrade Chief Officer, Sir?”
Zoul’s handkerchief to his forehead. Cold, but the Comrade Chief Officer sweating.
“Now. Also a dangerous word, Senior Investigator. You make a habit, Sun Piao, of using dangerous words. Such words could lose one the power of speech.”
“Is that a threat, Comrade Chief Officer Zoul?”
“No, Senior Investigator Sun Piao. I am stating a fact. There are things that I, that you, cannot speak of. For risk of losing our tongues. You, me, we are men of the world. We know the system. How we play it, how it plays us. There are things that I cannot say. There are things that you cannot ask.”
“But you wish to speak, Comrade Chief Officer. You also wish me to ask. In a fashion. I see it in your manner. I see it in the hushed conversation that you had with Yun as you entered the warehouse. You knew that Yun would contact me, Comrade Chief Officer. You are a good officer, you know your men.”
His eyes filled with the blackness of the Huangpu’s waters.
“You wish to have a conversation with me, Comrade Chief Officer, Sir. You wish us to have an understanding. An understanding that will be binding, but which you would deny existed within seconds of us parting.”
“Very perceptive, Piao. No wonder there are those that would fear you.”
“I will do the talking, Comrade Chief Officer, and you can remain silent for risk of losing your tongue. Yes?”
A nod, slight and un-reassuring.
“Di and his Deputy, the ambulance was unmarked, they will be cremated this night. By morning their families will have received their ashes in an urn.”
Again, a nod.
“There will be no autopsy. No forensic examination. No investigation. No report. No file.”
Coughing, Zoul. A nod stitched into its spasm.
“There are other agendas at work here. Di, his Deputy, they are a side dish, not the main course …”
No reaction.
“Di, I knew him well. I knew his family. His children have sat on my lap. I will not allow his death to go unmarked, unnoticed. I will not allow his widow to wear the colour of death, without knowing why.”
Tears to the corners of Zoul’s eyes. Surely from the breeze across the river’s broken back?
“I understand, as you say, that which can be said and that which cannot. But this investigation, it will go ahead. It will be an un-official investigation. The act of a friend for a friend.”
“An investigation, official or not, is not a good idea, Piao. Not a good idea at all.”
“And you will stop me, Comrade Chief Officer?”
On the river a black ghost of a ship passing. Only its running lights visible; shivering to the engine’s roll.
“I did not say that, Senior Investigator. I am only stating that the support that I, the support that the fen-chu can provide, will be …”
“Limited?”
“Extremely limited, Senior Investigator.”
“I will need some resources, Comrade Chief Officer. I will need money for guan-xi . I will need computer equipment. Private
“Why not?”
*
Chief Comrade Officer Zoul’s visit brief, lasting only for the time that it takes for ten steel spikes to be levered back through flesh, bone, skin, and for triple ply nylon body bags to be burdened with their cargo and loaded into an un-marked ambulance.
Wiping his hands, finger by finger, on a monogrammed handkerchief.
“Piao, what are you doing here? This is Homicide Squad business.”
“I was informed by the Homicide Squad, Comrade Chief Officer. They thought that I might have an insight into what was found.”
Dabbing his mouth. Piao watching, thinking that it was the whitest handkerchief that he had ever seen.
“An insight. An insight, eh? Dangerous things insights, especially in a case such as this.”
Watching him. His eyes, crow black with no reflection.
“You did well, Senior Investigator. I can see why you are so highly regarded. To limit observation of what was found, the bodies in the warehouse. Sensible, extremely sensible.”
“And what now, Comrade Chief Officer, Sir?”
Zoul’s handkerchief to his forehead. Cold, but the Comrade Chief Officer sweating.
“Now. Also a dangerous word, Senior Investigator. You make a habit, Sun Piao, of using dangerous words. Such words could lose one the power of speech.”
“Is that a threat, Comrade Chief Officer Zoul?”
“No, Senior Investigator Sun Piao. I am stating a fact. There are things that I, that you, cannot speak of. For risk of losing our tongues. You, me, we are men of the world. We know the system. How we play it, how it plays us. There are things that I cannot say. There are things that you cannot ask.”
“But you wish to speak, Comrade Chief Officer. You also wish me to ask. In a fashion. I see it in your manner. I see it in the hushed conversation that you had with Yun as you entered the warehouse. You knew that Yun would contact me, Comrade Chief Officer. You are a good officer, you know your men.”
His eyes filled with the blackness of the Huangpu’s waters.
“You wish to have a conversation with me, Comrade Chief Officer, Sir. You wish us to have an understanding. An understanding that will be binding, but which you would deny existed within seconds of us parting.”
“Very perceptive, Piao. No wonder there are those that would fear you.”
“I will do the talking, Comrade Chief Officer, and you can remain silent for risk of losing your tongue. Yes?”
A nod, slight and un-reassuring.
“Di and his Deputy, the ambulance was unmarked, they will be cremated this night. By morning their families will have received their ashes in an urn.”
Again, a nod.
“There will be no autopsy. No forensic examination. No investigation. No report. No file.”
Coughing, Zoul. A nod stitched into its spasm.
“There are other agendas at work here. Di, his Deputy, they are a side dish, not the main course …”
No reaction.
“Di, I knew him well. I knew his family. His children have sat on my lap. I will not allow his death to go unmarked, unnoticed. I will not allow his widow to wear the colour of death, without knowing why.”
Tears to the corners of Zoul’s eyes. Surely from the breeze across the river’s broken back?
“I understand, as you say, that which can be said and that which cannot. But this investigation, it will go ahead. It will be an un-official investigation. The act of a friend for a friend.”
“An investigation, official or not, is not a good idea, Piao. Not a good idea at all.”
“And you will stop me, Comrade Chief Officer?”
On the river a black ghost of a ship passing. Only its running lights visible; shivering to the engine’s roll.
“I did not say that, Senior Investigator. I am only stating that the support that I, the support that the fen-chu can provide, will be …”
“Limited?”
“Extremely limited, Senior Investigator.”
“I will need some resources, Comrade Chief Officer. I will need money for guan-xi . I will need computer equipment. Private
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