Death of a Red Heroine

they?”
    “Such as evidence, motive, and witnesses.” He was growing uneasy, as it was beyond the scope of Yao’s office to be concerned with a homicide case. “At present, everything is just hypothetical.”
    “I have asked you to come here,” she said with a stern quality in her Shandong-accented voice, “because I want to know how you are conducting the investigation.”
    “It is a homicide case. We are following routine procedure.”
    “You have targeted your suspect, haven’t you?”
    “Yes.” He saw no point withholding the information. “At this stage, Wu Xiaoming is our main suspect.”
    “Comrade Wu Bing’s son?”
    “Yes.”
    “How could that be? Wu Bing and I were colleagues in the early fifties, in the same office, and Wu Xiaoming used to play with our kids in the same kindergarten. I haven’t seen him lately, but he is doing a good job, I’ve learned from a cadre recommendation report from the Red Star. People have a very high opinion of him.”
    “Wu might be doing a good job at the magazine, but he had an affair with Guan. In fact, he called her on the very night of her death.”
    “Really!”
    “Yes, we have evidence.”
    “What kind of evidence?”
    He chose to be vague: “At present, circumstantial evidence.”
    “So from this circumstantial evidence you conclude,” she said sharply, “that Wu Bing’s son has committed the murder.”
    “No, we are not jumping to any conclusion. It’s still under investigation.”
    “Still, the news would be a terrible blow to Wu Bing, and he’s in such poor health.”
    “Comrade Wu Bing is an old comrade I have always respected. We know he is in the hospital. We know that. So we are being very careful.”
    “Whatever Wu Xiaoming’s family background, I am not going to shelter him. Far from it. If he is found guilty, he should be punished. That’s Party policy.”
    “Thank you for your support, Comrade Director Yao.”
    “But, Comrade Chief Inspector Chen, have you thought about the people’s reaction to your investigation?”
    Director Yao was surrounded by walls of thick, gold-edged government books. All the furniture in her office was massive. Everything bespoke the solidity of authority.
    “Reaction?” he asked. “I am not clear what reaction you’re talking about.”
    “People would say, ‘What, Wu Bing’s son has committed murder! Those HCC!’ That will not be helpful to our Party’s image.”
    “Comrade Director Yao, as a Party member as well as a police officer, I’ve always regarded it as my highest responsibility to defend the unsoiled image of our Party, but I don’t see how our investigation can endanger it.”
    “Comrade Chief Inspector Chen,” she said, sitting even more upright and crossing her hands on the desk, “our Party has made tremendous progress in economic and political reform, but during such a transitional period, there may be some problems people will complain about. And currently there is a social view opposed to high cadres’ children—the so- called HCC—as if they were all capable of any wrong. Of course it’s not true.”
    “I see your point, Comrade Director Yao,” he said. “As early as elementary school, I learned what a great contribution the high cadres—the revolutionaries of the old generation—made to our country. So how can I have any prejudice against their children? Our investigation has nothing to do with any misconception about HCC. This is just a homicide case assigned to our special case group. We’ve made a point of keeping it from the media. I don’t see how people could know anything about our investigation.”
    “You never know, Comrade Chief Inspector.” She then changed the subject. “So you went to Guangzhou a few days ago.”
    “Yes, to make inquiries there.”
    Director Yao’s knowledge of his trip disturbed him. Neither the Shanghai nor Guangzhou Public Police Bureau had to report a police officer’s activity to the Party Discipline Committee. In fact, there were not too many people who knew about the trip. He had left for Guangzhou without making a report to Party Secretary Li. Commissar Zhang and Detective Yu were the only people he had informed.
    “It is close to Hong Kong. The special zone. You must have seen a different spirit there—a different lifestyle.”
    “No. I was conducting an investigation there. Whatever the difference may have been, I did not have time to experience it. Trust me, Comrade Director Yao, I’m doing a