The Interior - Страница 57

First was an even more thorough check of his background and personal habits. The dangan noted that while Sun had never married, he was not known to be a homosexual, nor had he engaged in any illicit affairs with the opposite sex. He lived in the governor's house in Taiyuan, where he kept his staff to a minimum. His maids said that his needs were simple, that he did not abuse his authority, and often made his own bed in the military manner. He did not have a history of drinking or gambling, and was known to be very loyal to the Party. These things continued to make him a good candidate for travel, since he could not be compromised through sex, money, or political persuasion. Attached to this addendum was a list of the banks where Sun kept his money, as well as recent balances. Like Hulan and almost everyone she knew, Sun kept some money in American banks. But Sun was not a Red Prince, and the amounts didn't seem inordinately excessive. This record, dating from 1995, didn't reflect the large deposits that Miaoshan's papers showed, but then the Knight factory had opened just that year. Nevertheless, Hulan jotted down the names of the banks and the account numbers, hoping she could eventually connect them to deposit records.

The second effect, and more obvious to Hulan, was that she could trace her knowledge of Sun to 1995, the year the unnamed bureaucrat had written his recommendation for Sun's future in the file. As if out of nowhere, Sun had appeared one day in the national press. His every move and comment were covered. He posed for photographers, chatted up perky female reporters, and engaged in public discussions about economic policy, the countryside, and the next century with school children, peasants, even members of the Party Congress. That he had surpassed all expectations and on paper looked to be a good guy didn't alter the fact that people very high in the government had moved him into position. His success was assured, which was why some bureaucrat had unwittingly allowed Sun a free ride.

Hulan closed the file and pushed it back across the desk. Her mentor looked up from his work. She could see him trying to read her expression, but she kept her face impassive.

18

WHEN HULAN GOT HOME, DAVID WAS SITTING AT THE kitchen table with several three-by-five cards spread out in two rows before him. As she approached, he put a finger on a card and slowly slid it across the table and up into the top row. Then he repeated the process; only this time he moved a card down from the top row to the bottom row. He didn't look up, not even when she put her hands on his shoulders and began to massage his tense muscles.

"I learned a lot from Miles," he said. "None of it good."

She stopped massaging and sat down next to him. "Tell me," she said, and he did.

With each piece of information he pointed at a matching card. "I've been looking at these since I got back, trying to figure out what happened when. Randall Craig said he knew about conditions at the factory; Henry Knight says they're a complete fabrication; you tell me they may not even be prosecutable in China. Miles practically admitted that he knew that the Knights' disclosures were false; Henry says that they're accurate. When Miaoshan died, she had in her possession documents that suggest that Sun may have accepted bribes; he gave me something that might be related. Then there's Pearl Jenner. She too is a walking contradiction. She knows some things but seems totally ignorant of others. The pieces have to fit together, but I still don't see how."

"Maybe you should try a different approach." Hulan picked up the stack of cards and wrote on a few new ones. When she was done, she laid them out in two columns, leaving an area in the middle empty. On the left were the various crimes; on the right were the names of people that were suspicious. Then she went back to her scribbling.

A moment later she looked back at the two columns and began setting down the new cards. "I am looking for a match, but I also don't think we can separate crimes and criminals from jurisdiction, because I think they're interrelated."

Once her three columns were completed, Hulan surveyed her handiwork.

Miaoshan (murder) China -

Keith Baxter (murder) U.S. -

Xiao Yang (murder) China Aaron Rodgers

Paying bribes China/U.S. Knight International

Accepting bribes China Sun Gan

Illegal working

conditions at Knight – Knight

Illegal filing U.S. Tartan/Knight

of papers to FTC amp; SEC (Phillips, MacKenzie amp; Stout)

Hulan realized how desperate David was when he didn't automatically strike Sun Gan off the chart and that he'd let down his guard enough to let drop that Miaoshan's papers and Sun's papers were similar.

"Why are you so sure about Aaron Rodgers?" David asked. "He was really shaken up when Xiao Yang died."

"He was the last person to see her alive, and everyone else was in the meeting with you," Hulan answered. "I'd also like to put Aaron down for Miaoshan's murder. He was having an affair with her. Maybe she made one too many demands on him. The fact that she had the papers would have meant nothing to him, which explains why he didn't take them." Hulan put a finger on the last card and asked, "What do you think Miles meant when he was talking about Keith? Do you think Keith had found what we've found and told Miles?"

"Miles made it sound that way, but I'm not sure."

"Tell me again what he said about you and Keith."

"Which part?"

"About when Keith died…"

"Miles said that I went out to dinner and 'a guy' gets killed in front of me, that he died in my arms in public," he said.

"Right, and that people would think you'd suffered from post-traumatic stress and had made up all this stuff," she said, motioning to the cards.

"He made it sound like the firm had done me a big favor, like hiring back some brain-injured person as a way of doing the right thing."

"But actually he wanted you back in the fold, where he could control you in case you decided to pursue Keith's death while in the U.S. Attorney's Office."

"I think so."

"So, do you think that the others in the firm know what Miles is up to?"

"I can't imagine it. They're good people."

"Then let me put it this way: How much money will the firm make from the deal?"

"About a million, but a lot of that goes toward overhead…"

"I know it's not much in a law firm," she agreed, dismissing the idea. Then, "I want to know if Miles is the only one behind Keith's murder or if they're all in on it."

David looked back down at the chart, then, keeping his voice light, said, "I don't see that as an alternative here." He peered over at Hulan and asked, "You're not serious?" When she didn't respond, he said, "I worked at the firm for years. You and I met there, for Christ's sake. Was there anything that ever made you think that they were engaged in criminal activities?"

Hulan shrugged. "Times change. Maybe they got greedy."

"But murder! Come on! I don't think Phil or Ralph or Marjorie would go out and kill one of their own partners."

"What about Miles?"

"He's an asshole. But a murderer? The man lives in Brentwood. He's got a couple of kids. He's well respected." Seeing Hulan's smirk, David stopped. He had to smile himself. "All right, so that matches the description of another Brentwood resident, but really! Miles is purely white-collar. I don't see him getting blood on his hands."

"And the other stuff?" she asked, pointing at the card that corresponded to the filing of the paperwork to the FTC. "Could the others be involved in the fraud?"

When David shook his head no, Hulan picked up that card, crossed out Phillips, MacKenzie amp; Stout, and wrote in its place David, Miles, and Keith.

"That makes me feel so much better!" David said.

A strand of Hulan's hair came loose and fell across her cheek. David smoothed it behind her ear.

"You haven't told me what you found out," he said.

She quickly summarized her morning's activities and showed him the travel records. At the end she said, "So like you I'm looking at contradictions. Sun had contact with Americans and yet wasn't punished for that during the Cultural Revolution. Or I should say that his punishment was mild. Kneeling in glass, a few struggle meetings, are nothing. I would have expected ten years of reform through labor."

"Maybe he was lucky…"

"His file also says that he hasn't accepted bribes, but we have circumstantial evidence that he has, which is why his name's on the chart," she said, pointing at the card. "But does someone's essential nature change?"

"Everyone says that Sun is good. His power is based on the premise that he's honest."

"Power may be the key word. Power corrupts, and my government is by definition corrupt," Hulan admitted.

"You said it, not me. But, yes, China does have a little problem now and then with corruption."

"Is that what happened to Miles?" Hulan asked.

"Power, money, for him I think they're synonymous."

"And Henry Knight and Randall Craig?"

"My country was built by corporate and industrial bandits. We glorify people who've pulled themselves up by their boot straps by any means possible."

They sat silent for a few minutes, then Hulan asked, "What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to go for a run, take a shower, put on a suit, and go to the banquet."

"What about Miles?"