and climb into the
police cruiser. “At this point anything will be helpful. I’d like very much to
prevent this from happening again.”
“It is a dangerous creature, Detective. Unfortunately we
don’t know how often it kills. It may travel five hundred miles before killing
again for all we know.”
The car drives away, down a forested and peaceful rural
road. It is a little less peaceful to these two men who know there is a killer
hiding among the trees.
Chapter
8
A small rental car pulls up to the iron-gated entrance of
the Neijiang Teachers Collegein
Sichuan Province, China. Linus speaks with a security guard at the gate who
lets Linus drive onto the campus when he tells him who he is going to see.
Linus parks in a visitor parking area in front of the main entrance and gets
out of the car. He looks at his watch and sees that it is 4:00. He is on time
for his meeting with Mei Yuan, an English teacher at the school.
After a few
minutes of waiting in the reception area, Mei Yuan arrives smiling. She is
taller and more apparently Western in her attire than the receptionist as a
result of having studied at Columbia University in New York City. Linus stands
up as she walks in and shakes her hand.
“Mr. Hather?” she
asks.
“Ni hao,” says
Linus, the Chinese greeting being very nearly the only words he knows in the
language. “They gave me your name down at the police station in Xiongjiawan as
someone who would be able to translate for me in speaking with them.”
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Hather. I am Mei Yuan. Yes, I can help translate for you. That would be 40 RMB per
hour for the service. Can I ask what your business is with the police?”
“I’m looking into
the death of an old woman near Xiongjiawan. I want to share some information I
have with the investigating detective, and hopefully get some information as
well.”
Mei Yuan smiles. “Well, okay. As long as it’s not you who’s in trouble. I’m an English teacher,
not a lawyer. Let me grab my bag and we can go.”
Linus smiles and
watches with interest as the attractive woman leaves the reception area walking
down the hall to her office, her heels loudly click clicking.
›
Linus and Mei Yuan, who is near the end of a cigarette, get
out of the small car that Linus had rented at the airport. He locks the door.
“You don’t need to lock the car here,” she says as they
start walking. “This isn’t exactly New York City.”
“Old habits are hard to break,” he says. “I hope this is no
imposition.”
“It’s no problem at all,” she scoffs. “I translate for many
people, not just the police department. It’s a side business, since teaching
isn’t enough to keep me in Manolo Blahnik shoes – a habit that, for me, is hard
to break.”
“They are pretty nice,” says Linus taking note of the
woman’s high heels.
As they reach the steps of the police station, she smiles
recognizing that the only shoe brands he’s probably aware of are Nike and
Adidas. “Thanks.”
›
Detective Chin, Linus, and Mei Yuan are standing at the edge
of the forest in Xiongjiawan looking
across the farm toward the house where the old woman had recently been killed.
The wheat grown here had already been harvested so there was no cover for
anyone approaching the house. The sun is low in the sky.
“Was this woods
searched after you found the old woman’s body?” Miss Yuan translates Linus’s
question for the detective.
Detective Chin
answers and Miss Yuan again translates the Chinese into English for Linus. “Not
right away. At first we thought her death was only from old age.”
Linus had been
looking into the woods but turns to face the house as well. “This creature is
known for its stealth. You probably wouldn’t have seen him even if you had
looked immediately.”
Detective Chin
looks over at Linus and gives him a small smile. “I still have a difficult time
accepting this theory of yours.”
“I know I don’t
have much
police cruiser. “At this point anything will be helpful. I’d like very much to
prevent this from happening again.”
“It is a dangerous creature, Detective. Unfortunately we
don’t know how often it kills. It may travel five hundred miles before killing
again for all we know.”
The car drives away, down a forested and peaceful rural
road. It is a little less peaceful to these two men who know there is a killer
hiding among the trees.
Chapter
8
A small rental car pulls up to the iron-gated entrance of
the Neijiang Teachers Collegein
Sichuan Province, China. Linus speaks with a security guard at the gate who
lets Linus drive onto the campus when he tells him who he is going to see.
Linus parks in a visitor parking area in front of the main entrance and gets
out of the car. He looks at his watch and sees that it is 4:00. He is on time
for his meeting with Mei Yuan, an English teacher at the school.
After a few
minutes of waiting in the reception area, Mei Yuan arrives smiling. She is
taller and more apparently Western in her attire than the receptionist as a
result of having studied at Columbia University in New York City. Linus stands
up as she walks in and shakes her hand.
“Mr. Hather?” she
asks.
“Ni hao,” says
Linus, the Chinese greeting being very nearly the only words he knows in the
language. “They gave me your name down at the police station in Xiongjiawan as
someone who would be able to translate for me in speaking with them.”
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Hather. I am Mei Yuan. Yes, I can help translate for you. That would be 40 RMB per
hour for the service. Can I ask what your business is with the police?”
“I’m looking into
the death of an old woman near Xiongjiawan. I want to share some information I
have with the investigating detective, and hopefully get some information as
well.”
Mei Yuan smiles. “Well, okay. As long as it’s not you who’s in trouble. I’m an English teacher,
not a lawyer. Let me grab my bag and we can go.”
Linus smiles and
watches with interest as the attractive woman leaves the reception area walking
down the hall to her office, her heels loudly click clicking.
›
Linus and Mei Yuan, who is near the end of a cigarette, get
out of the small car that Linus had rented at the airport. He locks the door.
“You don’t need to lock the car here,” she says as they
start walking. “This isn’t exactly New York City.”
“Old habits are hard to break,” he says. “I hope this is no
imposition.”
“It’s no problem at all,” she scoffs. “I translate for many
people, not just the police department. It’s a side business, since teaching
isn’t enough to keep me in Manolo Blahnik shoes – a habit that, for me, is hard
to break.”
“They are pretty nice,” says Linus taking note of the
woman’s high heels.
As they reach the steps of the police station, she smiles
recognizing that the only shoe brands he’s probably aware of are Nike and
Adidas. “Thanks.”
›
Detective Chin, Linus, and Mei Yuan are standing at the edge
of the forest in Xiongjiawan looking
across the farm toward the house where the old woman had recently been killed.
The wheat grown here had already been harvested so there was no cover for
anyone approaching the house. The sun is low in the sky.
“Was this woods
searched after you found the old woman’s body?” Miss Yuan translates Linus’s
question for the detective.
Detective Chin
answers and Miss Yuan again translates the Chinese into English for Linus. “Not
right away. At first we thought her death was only from old age.”
Linus had been
looking into the woods but turns to face the house as well. “This creature is
known for its stealth. You probably wouldn’t have seen him even if you had
looked immediately.”
Detective Chin
looks over at Linus and gives him a small smile. “I still have a difficult time
accepting this theory of yours.”
“I know I don’t
have much
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