Red Mandarin Dress

by the Tong family, who lived underneath the garage attic. After Mei’s death, the Tongs claimed to have heard noises in the room upstairs and footsteps on the staircase too. Even after her son moved out. Her neighbors had questions about her strange death, thought that she must have been wronged, so it was understandable for them to believe that her spirit came back to haunt the house—at least the attic. As a result, the Tongs got the ‘haunted attic,’ which no one else wanted—”
    “Sorry to interrupt again. You said something about her strange death. Can you tell me about that?”
    “I don’t know any details. Her family suffered a lot during the Cultural Revolution. Both her husband and father-in-law died. She and her son were driven out of the mansion and into the attic above the garage. In the second or third year there, the boy also got into trouble. And then one day, she rushed out of the attic, stark naked, fell down the staircase, and died. It’s possible that all these travails proved too much, and she collapsed. Still, the way she died was suspicious.”
    “Did it happen in the summer?”
    “No, in the winter. There apparently was some talk about her rushing out of a bath, but that isn’t true. It was out of the question for her to take a bath there, there was no heating in the attic,” Weng said, shaking her head. “Pan was really effective with his ghost stories. Soon he convinced every resident, including the Tongs, that the whole mansion was haunted. Accidents happened there and people were panicky. He reached agreements and bought out all of the residents.”
    “Did you find out anything else about Mei’s death during your investigation?”
    “The superstitious part aside, one of her neighbors said that she did hear strange noises in the attic, like moaning and groaning, in the depth of night for a couple of nights before the boy’s release—before, but not after. The Tongs confirmed that, adding that they also heard her weeping in the night, though they were rather evasive about the part after the boy’s release.”
    “Did they see anybody with Mei in the room—anybody coming or going there?”
    “The Tongs said they heard something that sounded like a man’s grunt, but they weren’t sure after so many years.”
    “Is there anyone in the neighborhood who knows about the Ming family, someone I can approach directly?”
    “Well, most of the residents from that time have since moved away, as I’ve explained. But I’ll check around. With luck, I may have a list for you early next week. Some are still here, I believe.”
    She might or might not find anybody, and it could take days. But tomorrow would be Thursday. There would be another victim before the weekend.
    Still, he could see that was about all she knew. There was nothing else he could do here this evening. He rose, reluctantly, when her husband cut in again.
    “There’s one man you should talk to, Comrade Chief Inspector. Comrade Fan Dezong. He used to be a neighborhood cop here. Now he’s retired.”
    “Really! Can I visit him this evening?” Chen said. Like a neighborhood cadre, a neighborhood cop usually lived in the area.
    “He still has one small room here, but most of the time he stays with his son, babysitting his grandson. He comes back over in the morning and for the weekend. He patrols the food market in the morning.”
    “Do you have his son’s address or phone number?”
    “No, we don’t have it here,” Weng said. “But you won’t miss him early tomorrow morning.”
    “From five to seven thirty,” the husband said. “He’s highly punctual for his patrolling activity, even in the cold winter. An old-fashioned cop.”
    “That’s great. Thank you so much for your help.”
    Chen’s cell phone rang. He made an apologetic gesture to them and pushed the talk button.
    “It’s me, Xiang. I haven’t learned anything about her son, not yet, but I remember that Mei called him ‘Xiaojia.’ So his name could be Mingjia. People like to add ‘xiao’ or ‘little’ to the given name as a sort of endearment, you know. Also, I dug out a notebook. The name of Comrade Revolutionary Activity is Tian. He wasn’t of the Shanghai Number Three but the Number One Steel Mill.”
    “That’s important. I don’t know how I can thank you enough, Professor Xiang.”
    “I’ll make a couple more phone calls about her son tomorrow. I’ll let you know as soon as I have learned anything.”
    Flipping