AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But listening to the facts the way David had laid them out had shifted Hulan’s view. It was too easy, too obvious, to accept Sun as the guilty party, although she already had enough evidence for a conviction under Chinese law. Is that what the killers had planned all along?
Even if Sun was innocent, David was still in an ethical bind. He’d presented different possibilities. If Keith had been bothered by an ethical issue, as David suggested, then that pointed to Tartan’s involvement. Tartan was David’s client, as was Sun. If, on the other hand, Henry Knight or the Knight company was the guilty party, then David had no obligation to keep quiet. In fact, he would need to expose whatever had happened to his client, Tartan. Although if Sun had accepted payments from Knight, then David was back in his ethical quandary because he couldn’t expose one client to another.
“It seems to me I have four choices.” David held up his forefinger. “One, I can finish the deal and walk away. No one but you, Sun, Henry Knight, and I will be the wiser. That would be the easy way, maybe even the sensible way, but that’s not going to happen.” He held up a second finger. “I could tell Tartan an edited version of events. Obviously I wouldn’t be able to tell them anything about Sun.” He stopped. “I’m not saying he’s involved…”
“I understand.”
“So that would limit me to the child-labor issue and the unsavory working conditions, both of which may or may not be illegal in China. Three, I can go forward, continue representing Tartan and Sun, but ask the governor and the Knights straight out what this stuff is. Because here’s the thing: What if you’re wrong about the bribery? These papers could be nothing. Maybe Miaoshan committed suicide because she was pregnant and didn’t know who the father was. Maybe Xiao Yang, in shock from loss of blood, wandered out on the roof and fell. Maybe I was the target when Keith died, or maybe it was just a random drive-by and Keith truly was an innocent victim. Maybe Keith knew none of this stuff. That last night he said he was torn up about something personal and ethical, but maybe it was just his girlfriend’s death. I know I wouldn’t be able to think straight if anything happened to you. What if we’re seeing crimes where none exist because that’s what we’ve both been trained to do? What if there’s some logical explanation? I’ll admit it’s a remote possibility, but what if?”
Before Hulan could say anything, David held up a fourth finger. “Four, I confront Henry and he tells me: (a) it’s none of my busin
ess, or (b) his company doesn’t have internal practices that are up to my standards, but so what? I go to Sun and he admits to crimes galore. Whatever he says is still privileged information.”
Hulan waited as David thought. At last he said, “Again things are complicated by representing different clients doing and wanting vastly different things. In the U.S. we have a couple of exceptions to privilege. One is the crime-fraud exception, which is if you think your services are being used to help commit a crime—meaning if you have actual knowledge that a crime or fraud is occurring—then you can come forward. The problem is that I don’t have actual knowledge of that.”
“What about the machinery?”
“One machine, one injury. Maybe Xiao Yang didn’t know how to use it properly. Maybe she was tired. No, it’s not enough on its own. It’s probably not even a crime. Anyway, Knight isn’t using my services to do anything, and my client has no knowledge of the problems with the machinery. I could try and get Henry to admit he’s injured, dismembered, and murdered employees. He’s not a client, but even if he was, I’d be compelled to protect others. Besides, do you honestly believe he’d admit such a thing?”
David didn’t wait for an answer. Instead he moved to a second option. “I can try to withdraw as counsel for Tartan and Sun, but I still wouldn’t be able to say anything, because privilege goes with the firm. Finally, I have to remember that there’s a financial transaction going on. Knight International is a publicly held company. The Securities and Exchange Commission expects the lawyers to sign off on the truth of the disclosures of a company in the event of a sale. Maybe I just won’t be able to sign.”
“What about Sun?”
“I don’t know, but I think I need to find someone who really understands the subtleties of Chinese law.” He sank back down on the bed. “It seems to me I can either let it all go, in which case I’d have abandoned any personal integrity that I ever had—”
“Or you could go to the press—”
“Pearl Jenner?” David asked, shocked.
“The New York Times. The Washington Post.”
“That only happens in the movies. This is real. I can’t go to the press. I’d lose all control of the situation, and it would be totally unethical. If this is something more and somehow Tartan or Sun is connected to the deaths of Miaoshan, Xiao Yang, or Keith—I’ll lose my license to practice law, for I will have violated the law’s most sacred trust.” He seemed at a loss for words, then added, “And if any of this stuff is true, it’s going to be dangerous. We’ll be dealing with people who have no compunctions about killing.”
“What should I do?”
“Are you asking as an investigator or as the woman I love?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted.
His first suggestion seemed banal given what was at stake. “Look up everyone’s travel schedules. At least we’ll know where everyone was on the crucial dates.”
“Including Sun’s?”
“I know you’ll do that whether I ask you to or not. It’s your job.”
“Okay then, I’ll do the travel inquiries as soon as we get back to Beijing.”
“And Miles will arrive there tomorrow afternoon. He’s nothing if not a good lawyer. He’ll know what to do.” His meaning was clear to both of them. David would be able to confide everything to Miles because Tartan and Sun were firm clients. He kept his gaze steady on her to gauge her reaction to his next question. “Can you go back to the factory tomorrow?”
“I’d already planned on it,” she said.
“We need to know more about Miaoshan, about the way she was speaking to the women, about what she really had in mind with her inquiries. Did she love any of those men? Did one of them fit into her future plans? You can also watch and ask about Aaron Rodgers.” He hesitated, then added, “If you smell anything…”
David saw his apprehension mirrored in Hulan’s eyes as she put a hand protectively over her stomach. “I’ll get out somehow.” Her face made a subtle adjustment as she buried her feelings, then said, “I also want to see Suchee again. As soon as I’m free to leave, I’ll go to the farm.” Then she asked, “When’s our flight?”
“Henry said we should all meet at the airport at five o’clock.”
Thinking aloud, she said, “I’ll have Lo pick me up at Suchee’s at four; then he can drop us at the airport before driving back to Beijing. Wait! Can you even have me with you? Is that ethical?”
