A Loyal Character Dancer

Minister Huang’s phone call.
     
    “That may be true,” Li said, taking the last sip of his soybean soup. “So you are all for continuing the investigation with Inspector Rohn’s participation?”
     
    “When you first talked me into taking the case, you quoted from Yue Fei,” Chen said, crushing out his cigarette. “His last two lines are my favorites, When I set the mountains and rivers in order, / I bow to Heaven.”
     
    “I understand, but not everyone does.” Li tapped his finger on the table for a minute before he went on, “Some people are talking about your giving a gift to Inspector Rohn, and putting it on for her in front of the hotel.”
     
    “That’s absurd,” Chen protested, trying to grasp the significance of the information. Some people. It must be Internal Security—the police of the police. A small trinket meant nothing, but in the report made by Internal Security, it could mean anything— Chief Inspector Chen has lost his Party spirit, flirting with an American secret agent. “Internal Security? Why?”
     
    “Don’t worry about who made the report, Chief Inspector Chen. If you haven’t done anything wrong, you don’t have to be nervous about the devil knocking at your door in the depth of the night.”
     
    “It was after the Beijing Opera. Following your suggestion, I walked Inspector Rohn back to the hotel. A peddler on the Bund tried to sell her a trinket. Some peddlers make a point of ripping off foreign tourists, according to the newspapers. So I bargained for her for a necklace. And she asked me to put it on for her.”
     
    He didn’t mention that he had paid for it. Since he did not expect to seek reimbursement from the bureau, it made no difference as far as his expense report went.
     
    “Yes, the Americans can be so . . . different.”
     
    “As a representative of the Chinese police, I believe it’s proper to show hospitality. It’s beyond me who the devil—” He had a lot more he wanted to say, but he saw the expression pass across Li’s face. It was not the moment to blow off steam since Internal Security was involved.
     
    It was not the first time for Chief Inspector Chen.
     
    The involvement of Internal Security might have been understandable in the National Model case, in which the ever-glorious Party image was at stake. But in this investigation, Chief Inspector Chen had not been doing anything that could possibly jeopardize the Party’s interests.
     
    Unless someone wanted to put an end to his investigation. Not in the interests of the Party, but in that of the triads.
     
    “Don’t think too much about it,” Li said. “I have made it clear to the informer: This is a very special case. Whatever Comrade Chief Inspector Chen does is done in the interests of the country.”
     
    “I appreciate it, Party Secretary Li.”
     
    “Don’t mention it. You’re not an ordinary cadre. You’ve got a long, long way to go.” Li stood up. “It’s not an easy job for you. A lot of stress, I understand. I have talked with Superintendent Zhao. We’ll arrange a vacation for you next month. Take a week off, and go to Beijing—see the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and the Summer Palace. The bureau will cover the expense.”
     
    “That would be great,” Chen said, rising. “I have to go back to work now. By the way, how did you learn about the abduction in Qingpu, Party Secretary Li?”
     
    “Your man Qian Jun called me late last night with this information.”
     
    “I see.”
     
    Li walked Chen to the door and said, with his hand resting on the door frame, “About a week ago, I dialed your old phone number by mistake. So I had a long talk with your mother. We old people share common concerns.”
     
    “Really! She has not spoken to me about it.” Chen marveled at Li’s capacity occasionally to add a human touch to Party politics.
     
    “She believes it is the time for you to settle down. A family for yourself, you know what she means. It is up to you to make the decision, but I think she’s right.”
     
    “Thank you, Party Secretary Li.” Chen saw what Li was driving at. The proposed Beijing vacation was part of it. With Ling in the background. Party Secretary Li’s remarks may have been well meant, but his timing was portentous.
     
    Why should Li have brought this up today?
     
    After leaving Li’s office, Chen took out a cigarette. But he put it back into his pocket. There was a water cooler at the a corner of the corridor. He