Death of a Red Heroine

chair.
    The man was in his early forties, lanky, narrow-shouldered, with a suggestion of a hunchback. The photo of the stranger on top of Guan flashed through Chief Inspector Chen’s mind. This was the man.
    “Ah, Director Chen,” Old Hunter said, “you’re back just in time. This S.O.B. has not spilled the beans yet.”
    “He is—”
    “Guo Qiang. He was driving a white Lexus—without a license.”
    “Guo Qiang,” Chen said. “You know why you are here today?” Chen said.
    “I don’t know,” Guo said. “Driving without a license is a minor offense. Just give me a ticket. You’ve no right to keep me here.”
    “You sound like a happily innocent man,” Old Hunter said. “Whose car is it?”
    “Take a good look at the white plate. It’s not difficult to guess.”
    “Wu Xiaoming’s car—or rather Wu Bing’s car, right?”
    “Yes. So you should let me go now.”
    “Well, that is the very reason why you are being held here,” Chen said. “I tell you what. We have been watching you for days.”
    “Why—so you’ve purposely trapped me,” Guo said. “You will regret it.”
    “Comrade Adviser Yu,” Chen said to the old man, “thank you for bringing this suspect to us. From now on, it’s no longer a traffic violation case. I’m taking it over.”
    “My last piece of advice to you, young man,” Old Hunter said, grinding out his cigarette. “Use your brains. Don’t you know who Comrade Chen Cao is? The new Metropolitan Traffic Control Director, as well as chief inspector of homicide, and head of the special case group, Shanghai Police Bureau. The game is over. You’d better come clean. A cooperative witness will be punished with leniency. Director Chen—Chief Inspector Chen—I should say—may work out a deal for you.”
    As Old Hunter left the office, Chen stepped out, too, walking him to the elevator. “Have the car thoroughly examined, especially the trunk,” he said in a subdued voice, “for any evidence.”
    “Yes, that’s what I’m going to do, Chief Inspector Chen.”
    “Do it in an official way, Comrade Adviser Yu.” He held the door for the old man. “Have some other officer work together with you. Ask him to sign for anything, too.”
    When he moved back to the office, he said to Meiling, “It’s important that we not be disturbed.”
    “Now,” he said to Guo, closing the door, “let’s have a talk.”
    “I’ve got nothing to say,” Guo said, folding his arms across his chest and staring defiantly ahead.
    “We are not talking about a license or speed limits. It is about Guan Hongying’s case.”
    “I know nothing about it.”
    “In your testimony,” Chen said, producing a file folder from the cabinet, “you said that on the night of May tenth, Wu Xiaoming drove to your home around nine thirty. Wu turned your study into a darkroom, and stayed there for the night, developing his films. On that same night, a white Lexus was seen at a gas station about five miles from the Baili Canal. It was in that very canal that Guan’s body was found the following day. And it was Wu Xiaoming’s car, no mistake about it. We have the receipt bearing the gas ration coupon number. So who was the driver that night?”
    “Wu might have lent his car to somebody else. How can I be responsible for that?”
    “According to your testimony, Wu’s car was parked right in front of your home. Wu did not step out of the darkroom for one minute throughout the night. You were very emphatic. But you did not say that you yourself did not leave during the night. You had the car keys, as you do today. So you must have been the driver— unless you are providing a false alibi for Wu.”
    “You cannot bluff people like that, Comrade Chief Inspector. Whatever you may say, I did not drive the car that night. Period.”
    “You may call it a bluff, but we have a witness.”
    “There’s nothing your witness can say against me. It’s the nineties now, no longer a time when you can detain a person just as you please. If it’s a case concerning Wu, don’t put pressure on me.”
    “Don’t give me that,” Chen said, reaching for his briefcase. “I’m not talking about Wu, but about you. About obstruction of justice, perjury, and being an accessory to a homicide. You said in your testimony that you did not know who Guan was. False. Let me show you something.”
    Chen produced a picture. The picture of Guan with a man on top of her. “Take a close look,” he said. “This was taken