A Loyal Character Dancer

go.”
     
    “I’ll get a car at the bureau. Do you mind waiting for me here?”
     
    “Not at all.” Still, she wondered: was he trying to keep her away from his office for some reason? She wished she could trust him, but knew she’d be a fool to do so.
     
    * * * *
     
    She was surprised when Chen pulled up in a medium-size Shanghai. “So you’re driving today?”
     
    “Little Zhou was not on the bureau car service rota. The other drivers were busy.”
     
    “A high-ranking cadre like you,” she said, stepping into the car, “I thought you would always have a chauffeur at your service.”
     
    “I’m not a high-ranking cadre. But thanks for the compliment.”

Chapter 13
     
     
    C
    hen had not told Catherine Rohn the real reason why he had chosen to drive. He trusted Little Zhou but others could easily learn his movements through the bureau car service. So he had taken the car without telling anybody.
     
    It was a long drive to Qingpu County. A pleasant breeze came through the windows. As if by a tacit understanding, they did not talk about their work. Looking at the varying countryside, she started questioning him about language exchange programs at Chinese universities.
     
    “Universities such as Fudan, East China Normal, and Shanghai Foreign Language may offer some teaching positions to native English speakers in exchange for their tuition in Chinese studies,” Chen said. “Preferably to those with English degrees.”
     
    “I have a double major. One’s in English.”
     
    “The exchange programs do not pay much. Not bad according to the Chinese standards, but you would not be able to afford to stay at the Peace Hotel.”
     
    “I don’t have to stay at a luxurious hotel.” She pushed a strand of hair off her forehead. “Don’t worry, Chief Inspector Chen. I’m just curious.”
     
    Soon the scene changed to a more rural one: rice paddies, vegetable plots, with some new, colorful houses here and there. Under Deng Xiaoping’s policy of “Letting some people get rich first,” prosperous peasant entrepreneurs were springing up like mushrooms. As they drove past a small lush green field, he exclaimed, “Qicai. Spring has made a late start here!”
     
    “What?”
     
    “Qicai. Called shepherd’s purse in English. I don’t know why it was given such a name. It is delicious.”
     
    “Interesting. You’re a botanist too.”
     
    “No, I am not. But once I tried to translate a Song dynasty poem, in which the poet finds himself gathered, deliriously, together with this greenish blossom on his lover’s tongue, and then on his tongue.”
     
    “What a pity! You don’t have the time to gather any today.”
     
    It was about two o’clock when they reached the site in Qingpu County where their quarry had been reported. It was a shabby restaurant in a village market. The door was ajar, and a wooden bench stood in the doorway. There were no customers at this time of the day.                                  
     
    Chen raised his voice. “Anybody here?”
     
    A woman came out of the kitchen in the rear, wiping her hands on an oily apron. She had a thin face with deep-set eyes, high cheekbones, and wore her gray-streaked hair in a bun at the nape of her neck. She appeared to be in her late thirties, The roundness of her belly was slightly visible.               
     
    She looked very different from the woman in the passport picture. The disappointment in Catherine’s eyes mirrored his.
     
    He handed his card to the woman mechanically. “We need to ask you a few questions.”
     
    “Me?” She looked frightened. “I’ve done nothing wrong.”
     
    “If you’ve done nothing wrong, you don’t have to worry. What’s your name?”
     
    “Qiao Guozhen.”
     
    “Do you have your I.D.?”
     
    “Yes, here it is.”
     
    Chen examined it closely. It had been issued in Guangxi Province. The picture on the I.D. card was of this woman. “So your family is still there?”
     
    “Yes, my husband and my daughters are there.”
     
    “Why are you here by yourself—in your pregnancy? They must be worried about you.”
     
    “No, they are not worried. They know I’m here.”
     
    “Do you have some family problem?”
     
    “No, no problem at all.”
     
    “You’d better tell me the truth,” he bluffed. It was not really his business, but he felt the need to do something in front of Inspector Rohn. “Or you will get into serious