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“Is there any way these deaths are connected?”
“They were all local day workers.”
This didn’t seem like much to go on. After all, most of China’s vast population could be categorized as local day workers, whether in fields or in factories.
“Has anything been done to improve safety or to investigate these deaths more closely? Again, what does the local Public Security Bureau have to say?” David asked.
“How do we improve safety when we have phantom accidents?” Ho came back silkily. “How do you get the Public Security Bureau to do something when nothing seems wrong?”
“Phantom?”
“We have nothing to pinpoint and no one to accuse.”
“Be grateful,” David reassured the director. “It probably means no one’s to blame. The Public Security Bureau would investigate if there were something to worry about.”
“That’s what I was told.”
Sometimes David’s job was closer to that of a psychiatrist or priest than that of an attorney. People wanted to tell him something, but he had to wait until they were ready.
“We are a country of more than a billion,” Ho said, still circling his problem. “We cannot worry about the death of every peasant. A foreigner’s death, however, brings us unwanted attention.”
Again Ho fell silent, but this time David wouldn’t allow the director to skirt the issue. “Tell me exactly what happened.”
“A young man named Brian McCarthy worked at Site 518 as a foreign expert. He was recently found dead. Today I was informed that it was not an accident. This makes me question the other deaths.”
But what Ho said next showed that he was less concerned with the loss of life than with the bureau’s reputation in the international community. “Our difficulties make their presence known at an inopportune time,” he went on. “The world’s eyes are focused on the Three Gorges Dam….”
Actually, David thought, the dam had transfixed environmentalists, politicians, and investors in great debates about pollution, safety, and money, but most people around the world had not even heard of it.
“Not everyone wants to see the dam finished,” Ho explained. “Even in our own government there are factions against it….”
This was also true. Premier Zhu Rongji had startled the country recently when he made public comments critical of the quality of construction, as well as of the graft and corruption connected to the project.
“Everyone is looking for someone to blame,” Ho complained. “The tiger will continue to roar and the phoenix will rise again, but an ant is insignificant.”
The implication was clear: China was losing face on the world stage and Ho was worried that he might be set up to take a fall to divert bad publicity about the dam.
“Our situation is complicated by the fact that the team at Site 518 is international,” Ho continued. “Suppose one of them is involved in either the thefts or the deaths?”
“Then you would want to work with the Ministry of Public Security.”
“Exactly, and yet we both know that this may not be the best thing for foreign relations.”
True again. The MPS was deeply feared. Its agents were notoriously aggressive, and they didn’t follow rules that might be considered commonplace by someone from England, France, or the United States.
“What do you want me to do?” David asked.
“I want to hire you to look into the disappearance of our artifacts. Find them and whoever is taking them. If you discover something internal to our bureau, I’d like you to keep it that way.”
“Absolutely,” David answered. “I consider all matters that I take on to be sensitive and private.”
“I also need someone who can shepherd us through whatever may come up with the investigation into Brian McCarthy’s death.”
“I have a lot of experience dealing with local security bureaus.”
But this wasn’t quite what Ho had in mind. “I understand that you have special guanxi with the MPS.”
“That my wife is employed by the ministry is no secret,” David responded, though he was a little surprised by the segue from his general experience with local police to his very particular connection with Hulan at China’s equivalent of the FBI.
