Death of a Red Heroine

Secretary Li and Superintendent Zhao.
    Chen rose to his feet. To his surprise, several people followed the two into the conference room, including Detective Yu, Commissar Zhang, Doctor Xia, and other important members of the bureau.
    Yu took a seat next to him, looking puzzled. It was the first time they had been together since Chen’s return from Guangzhou.
    “I was summoned back last night,” Yu said simply, shaking Chen’s hand.
    The enlarged Bureau-Party-Committee meeting was an unusual one, for Detective Yu was not a member of it, and Dr. Xia, not even a Party member.
    Standing at the head of the long table, Party Secretary Li opened with long quotations from the Party Central Committee’s latest “red-character titled” document on the campaign against the influence of Western bourgeois ideology, and moved on to the topic of the bureau’s recent work:
    “As you may have learned, a tremendous breakthrough has been made in Chief Inspector Chen’s case. It is a case speaking volumes for the necessity of our Party’s new campaign. With the great economic achievement made through our Open Door Policy, we should be all the more alert against Western bourgeois influence. This case shows how serious, how disastrous such an influence can be. The criminals, though of revolutionary cadre families, fell prey to it. It is an important case, comrades. People are in support of our work. So is the Party Central Committee. We want to compliment Chief Inspector Chen on his achievement. He has overcome major difficulties conducting the investigation. Of course, both Comrade Detective Yu and Commissar Zhang have done a great job, too.”
    “What case are you talking about, Comrade Party Secretary Li?” Yu cut in, completely confounded.
    “The case of Wu Xiaoming,” Li said solemnly. “Wu Xiaoming was arrested together with Guo Qiang, last night.”
    It was no surprise that Yu was confused, Chen thought. One day the cops were suspended, and the very next day the criminals were arrested. The opposition had evaporated overnight. The conclusion seemed to come out of the blue. In the best scenario Chen had conceived, Wu would have escaped punishment until after Wu Bing’s death. Now the son was arrested while the father was still breathing.
    “How could that possibly be?” Yu stood up. “We did not know anything about it.”
    “Who made the arrests?” Chen asked.
    “Internal Security.”
    “It is not their case,” Yu protested. “It is ours. Chief Inspector Chen and I—with Commissar Zhang as well, of course, as our always politically-correct adviser. We have been in charge from day one.”
    “It’s your case. No question about it. You have all done a great job. It’s just because of the sensitive nature of the case that Internal Security took it over at the last stage.” Party Secretary Li said, “Unusual problems require unusual remedies, comrades. A very unusual situation, indeed. The decision has been made, in fact, at a much higher level. Everything is being done in the best interests of the Party.”
    “So we are kept in the dark,” Yu said doggedly, “in the best interests of the Party.”
    “Party Secretary Li has not finished yet, Comrade Detective Yu,” Chen said, although he understood Yu’s frustration at being deprived of the satisfaction of closing the case. After all the twists and turns, they deserved the chance to bring Wu down. Yu did not know, of course, that Internal Security had been involved with the case for a long time.
    Chen decided not to say anything more at the moment. This unexpected development could signify something with enormous political dimensions.
    “The special case group has made a great contribution,” Party Secretary Li continued. “The Party and the people appreciate their work. We have decided to award them a first-class citation collectively. Of course, that doesn’t mean our work is over. There’s still a lot for us to do. Now, the superintendent will give us a speech.”
    “First of all,” Superintendent Zhao started, “I’d like to compliment the comrades of the special case group, especially Comrade Chief Inspector Chen, for his intelligence and persistence.”
    “For his commitment,” the Party Secretary joined in, “and the highest-level consciousness of the Party’s interests.”
    “We have always thought highly of Comrade Chief Inspector Chen’s work,” the superintendent continued. “He has served well as acting director of the