Death of a Red Heroine

done anything wrong, you don’t have to worry about the devil knocking at your door in the depth of the night.”
    “I don’t know how they could have obtained such a receipt. I did not have one myself. In fact, Mr. Ouyang had paid for me. I did not even know that it was a salon before I got there. As for the ‘full service,’ whatever it may mean to other people, I did not have any.”
    “But why approach your witness there?” Li said, lighting another cigarette for himself. “I, for one, can’t see why you did not have the girl brought into the Guangzhou police bureau for questioning. It’s common practice, and it produces results.”
    “Well—this way might be more effective, I thought.”
    Chief Inspector Chen had considered bringing her to the local police station, but he had made a promise to Professor Xie, and he owed a lot to Ouyang, too. Besides, it was beyond Party Secretary Li, who lived in the high cadre residential building complex in west Huaihai Road, to understand how ordinary people like Xie Rong were intimidated by the high cadres and their children. Xie would not have dared to say anything against Wu in the Guangzhou Police Bureau.
    “I stayed in Guangzhou for only five days,” Chen went on. “With so many things waiting at the bureau here, I could not afford the time to investigate in a routine way, and the people in Guangzhou Police Bureau were too busy to help me. I had no choice.”
    “You spent over two hours in the massage room, alone with her. Afterwards, you took her to the White Swan Hotel, a private room, too. And you paid more than five hundred Yuan for the-meal— more than a month’s salary. You call that investigation , Comrade Chief Inspector Chen?”
    So, Chief Inspector Chen’s every step in Guangzhou had been watched. He realized what serious trouble he was in. Party Secretary Li was well informed about his trip.
    “I’ve an explanation, Comrade Party Secretary Li.”
    “Do you?”
    “Yes. I treated her to make sure that she would cooperate with us. The meal was expensive, but everything in Guangzhou is expensive. And I made a point of paying out of my own pocket.”
    “For a massage girl! You are generous indeed.”
    “Comrade Party Secretary Li, I was investigating a murder case there. As a detective, I decided to approach a witness in a way I thought proper and right. How come I was under surveillance every step of the way in Guangzhou?”
    “What you did there may have aroused people’s suspicions.”
    “Comrade Party Secretary Li, it was you who introduced me into the Party. If you do not trust me, what’s the point of my saying anything more?”
    “I trust you, Comrade Chief Inspector Chen. As a matter of fact, I’ve told Internal Security that all you did in Guangzhou was necessary for the investigation. I’ve even said that you had discussed everything with me.”
    “Oh, thank you, Party Secretary Li. You’ve done such a lot for me, ever since my first day in the bureau. I am most grateful.”
    “You don’t have to say that to me.” Li shook his head. “I know you have done good work. And on this case too.”
    “So we have to—” Chen came to a sudden halt, coughing with a fist against his mouth—”go on with our investigation.”
    “Don’t even think about it,” Li sighed, leaning over his desk. “They were talking about making a formal complaint against you. That’s why I had to go out of my way for you, but I don’t think there is any more I can do.”
    Chen levered himself out of the chair and then slumped back, looking up at the pictures of Li on the wall—showing the long career of a politician with other politicians. He tried to dig a crumpled pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, but Li handed him one from the case on the desk.
    “I’m gone?” Chen asked.
    “No, not if you are not around to goad them. Let things cool down. That’s what I promised them. That you would be busy with something else.”
    “So I have to suspend the investigation?”
    “Yes.”
    “It’s a murder case. Why should the Internal Security people come after me, but not after the murderer?”
    “This is not an ordinary murder case.”
    “There aren’t any ordinary murders.”
    “Well—” The Party Secretary seemed ruffled. “You may have a point, but other people may have theirs, too, Comrade Chief Inspector.”
    “Yes?”
    “Have you ever thought about the consequences of the case— the political consequences, I