A Loyal Character Dancer - [Chief Inspector Chen Cao 02] (23 page)

“You see, modernism is no good. Inspector Rohn says so too,” Li said to Chen. “Be romantic. Revolutionary romantic, Chief Inspector Chen.”

“Romantic, revolutionary romantic,” Chen echoed. “Chairman Mao used this phrase in 1944 in the Yen’an Forum Talk.”

It was obvious to her that Party Secretary Li did not know much about literary terms. Chen seemed to be good-humored, even a bit offhand, toward his boss. Was it because of his special connections within the Party system?

They were ushered to their reserved seats; she sat between Li and Chen. The lights grew dim. An orchestra of traditional Chinese musical instruments started playing and the audience burst out cheering.

“Why are they cheering now?” Catherine asked.

“Beijing Opera is an art of many facets,” Chen said. “Singing, posing, performing martial arts, and playing music. A master of a traditional Chinese musical instrument like the
erhu
can make a huge difference. The audience is applauding the music.”

“No, that’s not why they are clapping now,” Li interjected. “Our chief inspector knows a lot about literature, but Beijing Opera is different. A well-known actress will soon appear on the stage. So people are applauding in advance. It’s the convention.”

“Yes, our Party Secretary is an expert on Beijing Opera,” Chen said. “I’ve only read about it in a tourist guide book.”

With the rise of the curtain, cymbals preceded the singsong voices of the actors and actresses. An episode
of The White Snake
unfolded on the stage, a romantic story about a white snake spirit who changes into a beautiful woman in love. The White Snake summoned the turtle soldiers, crab warriors, carp knights, and other animal spirits from the river to overwhelm a temple. In spite of her heroic fight to rescue her lover, detained by a meddlesome monk in the Gold Mountain Temple, she was defeated.

Catherine enjoyed the performance, impressed by the spectacular display of martial arts, glittering costumes, and traditional music. There was no need to understand a single word of the play to appreciate it. Then the White Snake Lady started a series of somersaults across the stage.

“This is symbolic of inner as well as outer intensity,” Chen said. “The banners in her hands outline the waves of the battle. Everything is suggested by her hand gestures and body movements.”

The curtain finally fell amid the thunderous applause of the audience.

Afterward, Party Secretary Li offered to drive Inspector Rohn to her hotel, but she declined, saying that she preferred to walk back along the Bund.

“Splendid, you already know your way around.” Li turned to Chen. “Chief Inspector Chen, you may escort Inspector Rohn.”

* * * *

Chapter 17

he Bund stretched out along the river like an unfurled scarf.

Catherine was still immersed in the Beijing Opera. “So what’s the moral of the story?”

“It’s ambiguous,” Chen said. “From the orthodox perspective, romantic passion between animal spirits and human beings must be forbidden. In fact, with the institution of arranged marriage dominant in traditional Chinese society, any prenuptial romantic passion was forbidden. Even so, this love story has always been popular.”

She nodded. “So the White Snake is a metaphor. You don’t have to believe in ghosts to enjoy
Hamlet.”

“No, and the love story does not have to be between animal spirits and human beings. Look at the lovers on the Bund. They stand for hours, as if fixed there. In my high modernist period, I once came up with an image—comparing those lovers to snails stuck on the wall. The poem has never been published.” He changed the topic. “My high school’s not far away, on the corner of Sichuan and Yen’an Roads. As a student, I used to wander along the Bund frequently.”

“The Bund must be one of your favorite places.”

“Yes. The bureau is also close. I enjoy coming here before or after a day’s work.”

They slowed to a stop beside Bund Park. The water lapped against the bank. They watched the moonlight flecking the waves, gulls hovering around the vessels, and the luminous eastern shore.

“I know a place with a better view,” he said, pointing.

“You’re the guide.”

He led the way into the park, climbing a spiral wrought-iron staircase to a large cedar deck that jutted out over the water. They chose a white cloth-covered table. He had a cup of coffee, and she had a bottle of orange juice. The view was spectacular.

It was close to the murder scene he had examined the day he had been assigned to Wen’s case. From where he sat, he could see that corner, partially covered by shrubbery, the top of which seemed to be trembling in a fitful breeze. It was strange, for the leaves on other trees remained motionless. He cast another glance at it. The bush remained eerily alive.

He took a sip of his coffee, turning to her. She drank from the bottle. A candle in a bowl on the table shed a yellowish light on her face.

“You’re like a fashionable Shanghai girl tonight. No one would imagine that you’re a U.S. Marshal.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“A great many people must have asked questions about your choice of career.”

“Not many that I’d care to answer,” she said wistfully. “It’s simple. I was unable to find a job utilizing my Chinese.”

“I’m surprised. There’re so many American joint ventures here. Your command of Chinese would be an invaluable asset to them.”

“A lot of companies send people to China, but only those with business backgrounds. It is cheaper for them to hire a translator locally. A micro-brewery did offer me a position as a bar manager. An American girl wearing their special bar costume for Chinese customers—sleeveless and backless top and mini shorts.”

“So you applied for the Marshals Service?”

“I had an uncle who is a Marshal.
Guanxi
—I suppose. He sort of introduced me. I had to attend training seminars, of course.”

“How did you become an inspector?”

“After a few years, I was promoted. There is plenty to do in the St. Louis office, and I go to D.C. or New York occasionally to deal with things related to China. From day one, my supervisor promised I would have an opportunity to come to China. At last here I am.”

“Chinese people are not unfamiliar with the image of American policewomen—Lily McCall in
Hunter,
if I remember her name, was one. That was one of the few American TV series available to us in the early eighties. Officer McCall was a huge hit here. In the window of the Shanghai First Department Store, I once saw a sleeveless silk pajama top called the McCall Top. It was because the female detective wore such a seductive top in one episode.”

“Really! An American policewoman inspiring a Chinese fashion?”

“In one episode, McCall decides to marry someone. She quits her job. Some Chinese fans got so frustrated that they wrote to the newspapers to say she should go on being a cop, and a wife, too, though some doubted her ability to do so. They saw an insoluble contradiction.”

She put down her juice. “Maybe Chinese and Americans are not that different.”

“What do you mean, Inspector Rohn?”

“When you are a woman and also a cop, it is difficult to maintain a relationship with a man unless he’s also a cop. Women often quit their jobs. Now, what about you?”

“Me?”

“Yes. Enough about my career. It’s only fair for you to tell me about yours, Chief Inspector Chen.”

“I majored in English and American literature,” he said, with a trace of reluctance. “One month before graduation, I was told that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had requested my file. In the early eighties, the government was responsible for college graduates’ job assignments. A diplomatic career was considered great for an English major, but at the last minute, during the routine family background check, one of my uncles was found to have been a ‘counterrevolutionary,’ executed in the early fifties. He was an uncle I had never seen. This connection nonetheless disqualified me for the foreign service. Instead, I was assigned to the Shanghai Police Bureau.

“I had no preparation for police work but I had to be given a job—the so-called benefits of the socialist system at the time. No college student had to worry about finding a job. So I reported to the bureau. Existentialists talk about making choices for yourself, but choices are more often made for you rather than by you.”

“Still, you have had an excellent career. Chief Inspector Chen.”

“Well, that’s another story. I’d better spare you the sordid details of bureau politics. Suffice to say that I’ve been lucky so far.”

“It’s interesting to think about a parallel between us. Two cops in Bund Park, neither one of us having set out to become one. As you said, life is like a chain of unpredictable events— seemingly irrelevant links.”

“One more example. The very day I took over Wen’s case, just a few hours earlier, I had been shown the body in the park. The way it came to my attention was coincidence. I happened to have received a
ci
collection from a friend of mine. So I went to the park that morning to read a few pages.” With the coffee cup in his hand, he began to tell her about the Bund Park case.

At the end of his account, she said, “Maybe the victim was connected to Wen in some way.”

“I don’t see how. Besides, if the Flying Axes had killed the man, they would not have left so many ax wounds on the body. It’s like putting their signature on it.”

“I don’t have an answer to that,” she said, “but it reminds me of something I read about the Italian Mafia. They killed in imitation of another organization, in order to muddy the water, to confuse the police.”

He put down his coffee to consider this. It was possible, he conceded, that the park victim had been killed by somebody purposely copying the methods of the Flying Axes.

“If so, there must be a reason for it.”

“A third party who would benefit?”

“A third party—” He had not yet considered a third party in connection with the Bund Park corpse.

What would a third party gain by transporting a body with multiple ax wounds to the park and leaving it there?

He was disturbed by elusive yet confusing ideas, like the sparkle of the candlelight, which could not be caught before it dissolved in the darkness.

The candle on the table before them was burning low, flickering. Draining her drink, she sighed. “I wish I were here on vacation.”

But she was not and they had work to do. There were so many unanswered questions.

They rose slowly, descended the stairs and left the cafe.

Walking toward the corner, he found one answer. Behind the bush that had seemed to move, a young couple sat on a yellow plastic sheet, their arms locked around each other, shutting out the world. They had no idea that a body had been discovered on the spot a few days earlier.

So his thought about one aspect of the case was reconfirmed. The body could not have been left there before the closing time. Park security would have easily noticed anyone hiding behind the bushes, even at night.

“A romantic image?” she asked, noticing his abstraction.

“Oh no, I’m not thinking about poetry.” He did not want her to associate this romantic scene with a corpse.

* * * *

Chapter 18

hey left the park.

People stood in a line along the bank, shoulder to shoulder, talking to each other without regard for those standing next to them. After a few steps, Catherine noticed a young couple vacating a small space by the embankment wall.