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“This isn’t the Cultural Revolution,” he reminded her, “and Xiao Da hardly has the power of the Gang of Four.”
They walked in silence for a few minutes as the rain pelted them.
She tried another tack. “Captain Hom is getting rich off of the people who live here.”
“Five minutes ago you wanted his help.” Knowing that had to sting, he added, “But we aren’t here to investigate local corruption.”
“I have larger obligations that you can’t possibly understand—”
“Like finding and arresting Xiao Da? I’m married to you, Hulan. I know what it would mean to you to shut down his operation.”
“Could that really have been Xiao Da back there?” she asked, and for the first time he thought he heard doubt in her voice.
“Why would he come here to meet with a hundred supporters when he could have gone to Beijing and addressed thousands?” David asked. “The All-Patriotic Society probably uses this system to make people believe they’re ‘seeing’ the real Xiao Da. It’s very clever and would explain how the group has grown so quickly, because everyone has a personal experience to share. Not only is it good advertising but it allows the Society to link politics and spirituality by presenting two faces: the first and more practical in the form of a real man, the other and more ethereal in the form of a disembodied voice.”
Hulan listened, and David pressed his advantage. “I’m not going to tell you it isn’t strange that Tang Wenting is here, because it is. I’m not going to tell you that the group is completely harmless, because the hostility in the cave was scary, but it had to do with all of the terrible things these people are dealing with—moving, uncertainty, feeling powerless. And I’m certainly not going to tell you that I support everything the Society advocates, but you know as well as I do that people ought to have the right to practice their religion.”
“Even if that means making threats against the dam? Wu Peng said his son was going to stop it.”
“Wu Huadong was a peasant living in abject poverty. How exactly was he going to stop the dam?”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to the dam tomorrow to find out.”
“You’re way off track. We never should have gone to that meeting—”
“Why can’t you respect my opinion?” she asked. “You said we should see what other facts came in. Now that they have, you’re choosing to ignore their implications.”
“That’s not true,” he said in exasperation. “I’m trying to keep us focused on our assignments. You’re investigating what are now two deaths. I’m supposed to be looking into these thefts—”
“To me, those things are minor compared with seeing Tang Wenting in that cave! He said he’d make me pay for what happened in Beijing, and now he’s here!”
“His presence in Bashan doesn’t necessarily make him vengeful or dangerous. Yes, he threatened you in the heat of a terrible and emotional moment, but he may just be making his regular rounds to chapters in the countryside. And remember, he tried to stop the woman in the square from cutting off her daughter’s hand….” He held back the rest—that Hulan’s solution had resulted in death.
This argument was moving into perilous territory. He took a deep breath and started over. “Two people have died here in Bashan. You need to table your campaign against this religion for now and solve Brian’s and Lily’s murders.”
“It’s not a religion. It’s a cult,” she muttered.
“Call it whatever you want, Hulan,” he said, his frustration rising again, “but we both know you’re using it as a barrier—”
“Xiao Da is using religion to control the group in a political way. He’s teaching people to mutilate—”
“Where do you get that?”
“The mother on the square,” she answered. In response to his look, she added defensively, “Well, you brought it up.”
“You said yourself she was crazy.”
“Then what about Brian and Lily?”
“They were branded. That’s what you should be looking at. What does that brand mean to the killer?”
“You don’t understand!”
“Then help me.”
They had stopped again. They were wet, muddy, and standing on one of the most barren tracts of land David had ever seen.
“I killed that woman.” Hulan’s voice was tired. “In the square. I’m the mother killer. If I’d followed my instincts then, she’d still be alive.”
