The Interior - Страница 46

"Well, I'm guessing you're holding a list of dummy corporations-"

"You've got deposits and dates and toys that spell out a code name, but where is the money actually going?" David interrupted, trying to keep Hulan focused on Miaoshan's documents. "All this"-his motion included the papers before him-"proves nothing unless you know where the money is. It could be down at the corner bank, in Beijing, or in Switzerland for all you know. And it could be going into anyone's account. What if Sun's been set up? You have to admit that was a pretty stupid code."

What he said next took Hulan completely by surprise. "We have to find a way to link the deaths of Miaoshan, Xiao Yang, and Keith." He amazed her again by focusing first on Xiao Yang. Then, as he spoke, she realized that he was laying out a defense-one in which he pointed blame everywhere but at his client-as clearly as if he'd been in a courtroom before a jury.

"Let's assume that the woman in the factory was killed as you suggested earlier tonight." David thought back to just three hours ago when that idea had seemed inconceivable. Now her death had become one more piece of the puzzle. "Was it to cover up the fact that Knight doesn't use safety precautions with its machinery? Was it because she saw something? Was it because she made financial demands on Aaron Rodgers or someone else in the company? Was she one of Aaron Rodgers's girls and now that he'd seen… what's the new girl's name?"

"Tang Siang."

"Now that he'd seen Tang Siang, he wanted to get rid of Xiao Yang. Maybe he's a serial killer who makes love to girls, then murders them when he's ready to move on." His questioning tone belied the implausi-bility of this scenario.

Hulan asked gently, "And where does Keith fit into all this?"

They hadn't talked much about his death. Just after the accident David hadn't been in contact with Hulan. Then when she'd finally called, they'd mostly talked about his coming to Beijing. Once he got there, he had been too happy to bring up Keith's gory death.

"I saw him die," David said. He stood and began to pace. "I accepted responsibility for that. The FBI, Madeleine, Rob, we all believed I was the target. But what if we were wrong? What if someone believed that Keith truly was the subject of a federal investigation as Pearl had written?"

"But what she wrote wasn't true."

David stopped in his pacing. "It doesn't matter. People believe what they read in the papers." He resumed walking, crossing the room in four long strides before pivoting and crossing the way he'd come. "And even if our murderer didn 't believe the story, what if he saw right through to the fact that Keith was about to become a whistle-blower either about the conditions in the factory or about the bribery you're alleging?"

"But you don't know that he was."

"On that night he was worried about something. Maybe it was that he was going to be a whistle blower; maybe it was that he was going to violate attorney-client privilege. Either way, an ethical issue had torn him up. What if the killer or killers knew that?"

"But the deaths were on two continents. Are you suggesting a network of some sort-a gang, the triads, some form of organized-crime syndicate-operating in China and Los Angeles that goes beyond Sun and Knight?"

"It could just as easily be a couple of greedy people. Remember, the Knights, Aaron Rodgers, Sandy Newheart-all of them travel back and forth. They all had opportunity."

"Sun also travels," she pointed out. "He also had opportunity."

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 business, 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?"