Don’t Cry, Tai Lake

TV with the volume turned up fairly loud. She didn’t want to go out to the food market early, either. With Qinqin away for the day, she had no motivation to prepare a special meal.
    Yu understood. He lay beside her, contented. The moment would be perfect if he could smoke a cigarette in bed, but he knew better. He thought about talking to Peiqin about the recent work at the bureau but then thought better of it. It was a quiet moment, which he cherished. There were several none-too-special “special cases,” for which he wasn’t in a hurry to do anything. Chief Inspector Chen would come back in a week.
    “Any special cases of late?” she said, turning off the TV. It was as if she was synchronized with his thoughts.
    “No, not really,” he said. “There’s one involving an official in the city government, but he’s already a dead tiger, so to speak. It’s just a matter of process—first a list of his wrongdoings will be released to the public, and then an editorial will appear in Liberation Daily hailing the Party’s determination to fight corruption. Another case involves some dissidents planning to release a petition calling for improved human rights. The authorities in Beijing put them on a blacklist long ago, so the results are a foregone conclusion. I don’t think there is anything our squad can do. Even Chen couldn’t do anything to stop it.”
    “So why the sudden vacation for your chief inspector?”
    He had sort of anticipated the question. The inscrutableness of the inspector had become one of her favorite topics. “I don’t know of anything happening here that Chen had to get out of the way of. Not recently.”
    “Did he give you any explanation for his sudden vacation?”
    “No, not at all.”
    “But you never know what your boss is really up to. Remember his trip to Beijing not too long ago?” she said, then added, “Not that I have anything against him, you know.”
    “Some people are saying that he will soon be removed from his position because he has ruffled too many high feathers and that the vacation is just a face-saving maneuver. But I don’t think so. His vacation was arranged by Comrade Secretary Zhao. If anything, that should indicate that Chen remains in favor in Beijing. So it might be nothing more than a vacation. It’s not unimaginable for him.”
    “He needs a break, what with his nervous breakdown not too long ago, and his ex-girlfriend having married somebody else. A vacation will do him good. But still, I wonder what he’s doing in Wuxi. I can’t picture him relaxing, drinking tea, and sightseeing like a tourist. Your boss seems to bring trouble with him wherever he goes.”
    “Well, I’ve heard from Sergeant Huang, a local cop in Wuxi. According to him, Chen might be having a vacation fling with a young pretty woman—much younger than Chen.”
    “Really!” Peiqin said, sitting up straighter. “He has a way with women.”
    “But this time he might not be in luck. According to Huang, there’s a snag. She’s connected to a man in trouble. Big trouble—”
    Before Yu could continue, the phone rang.
    “Oh, Chief Inspector Chen,” Yu said after picking up the phone. “We were just talking about you.”
    “Yu, I need a favor.”
    “Yes, Chief?”
    “I need you to do a background check on someone. She lives in Wuxi, but was originally from Shanghai and comes back regularly.”
    “A young girl?”
    “She’s middle-aged, one Mrs. Liu. Her husband, head of a large chemical company, was murdered a few days ago.”
    “I see. So you’re in Wuxi to investigate the murder?”
    “No. I’m on vacation in Wuxi. It’s not my case. It’s up to the Wuxi police, but I do need your help,” Chen said. “Last Tuesday, Mrs. Liu was in Shanghai, playing mahjong with three others. I’ll text you her Shanghai address, along with the name and number of one of the three with her that evening.”
    “So you want me to check her alibi.”
    “Yes, but not officially, if you can avoid it. The Wuxi police have already made some enquiries, but she’s not a suspect. Not exactly.” Chen then added quickly, as if in afterthought, “Also, see if you can find any background information about a man named Fu. He also works in Wuxi, but was originally from Shanghai. And he too was back in Shanghai this weekend.”
    “Why? Is there some connection between the two?”
    “There might be—something that I’m still failing to grasp. The Wuxi police haven’t made any