A Loyal Character Dancer

don’t drink coffee in the evening. I’ll have a glass of wine.”
     
    She poured white wine for herself. Instead of sitting beside him on the couch, she returned to her position on the carpet.
     
    Sipping at his coffee, he wondered if he should have declined, her offer. It was late. They were alone in her room. But the events of the day had been too much for him. He needed to talk. Not just as a police officer, but as a man—with a woman whose company he enjoyed.
     
    He had conducted a thorough search of her hotel room. There had been no secret audio or video or taping equipment hidden. They should be safe. He was not so sure about this, however, after the day’s events, after Party Secretary Li’s information about Internal Security.
     
    “The best coffee I’ve ever had,” he said.
     
    She raised her glass. “To our success.”
     
    “I’ll drink to that,” he said, clinking his mug against her glass. “About the poem. Oriole’s wet footprints disappearing along the street reminded me of a Song dynasty poem.”
     
    “A Song dynasty poem?”
     
    “It’s about the transience of one’s existence in this world— like the footprints left by a crane in the snow, visible only for one moment. Looking at her footprints, I tried to work out some lines. Then I thought of Wen. Among the people in her life, there is also a poet, Liu Qing.”
     
    “It might be an important lead,” she said.
     
    “At the moment we haven’t any others.”
     
    “A fresh pot of coffee?”
     
    “I’d rather have a glass of wine,” he said.
     
    “Yes. You should not drink too much coffee in the evening.”
     
    The fax machine in the room abruptly started emitting a long roll of paper, four or five pages. She took a look at the slightly tacky scroll without tearing it out of the machine.
     
    “Just background information about the smuggling of immigrants. Ed Spencer did some research for me.”
     
    “Oh, I learned something from Detective Yu,” he said. “The Flying Axes have requested assistance from other triads. One of them may be active in Shanghai.”
     
    “No wonder,” she said simply.
     
    That might account for the accidents here, perhaps even the raid on the market, but there was still a lot left unanswered.
     
    She took a long drink, emptying her glass. His still remained half full. As she bent to pour herself more wine, he thought he glimpsed the swell of her breasts through the opening of her robe.
     
    “We’re leaving early. It is such a long way for you to go back home—”
     
    “Yes, we’re leaving early tomorrow morning.” He got to his feet.
     
    Instead of moving to the door, he took a couple of steps toward the window. The night breeze was sweet. The reflection of the neon signs lining the Bund rippled on the river. The scene seemed to lie before them like the world in a dream.
     
    “It’s so beautiful,” she said, coming to his side at the window.
     
    A short spell of silence ensued. Neither said anything. It was enough for him to feel her closeness, looking out to the Bund.
     
    And then he caught sight of the park and the darkling riverfront— swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight / where ignorant armies clash by night —a scene experienced by another poet, at another time, in another place, with someone standing by him.
     
    The thought of the unsolved case of the park victim sobered him.
     
    He had not talked to Gu, or to Old Hunter that day.
     
    “I really have to go,” he said.
     
    * * * *
     

Chapter 26
     
     
    T
    he train arrived on time. At nine thirty it pulled into Suzhou.
     
    In a side street a few blocks from the railway station, Inspector Rohn took a fancy to a small hotel. With its latticed windows, vermilion-painted verandah, and a pair of stone lions guarding the gate, it gave the appearance of antiquity.
     
    “I do not want to stay in a Hilton here,” she said.
     
    Chen agreed. He did not want to notify the Suzhou Police Bureau of their arrival. For a stay of a couple of days, one place was as good as another. And a hotel tucked away in the old section of the city would be a less likely destination for them, should anyone try to trace them. He had exchanged tickets for Hangzhou provided by Party Secretary Li at the station without telling anyone that they were headed for Suzhou.
     
    The hotel was originally a large Shiku-style house, whose facade was covered with old-fashioned designs. A short line of flat colored stones were