"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?"
"What about him? He said I could quit. I won't." David hesitated, then repeated himself, this time with more conviction. "We're going to that banquet. We're going to put smiles on our faces, act charming, and hope one of the players slips. When and if one does, I want to see it."
"Then I suppose I'd better figure out what I'm going to wear." She stood and smiled. This was the closest she'd felt to him since they'd looked at Miaoshan's papers together, for he was finally speaking to her as a trusted lover again rather than an inspector. She smoothed her hands over her slightly swelling belly. "I hope I have something that fits."
It was an intimate thing to say, and as David grabbed her hand, brought her close, and looked into her eyes, she thought he might respond in kind. But he had something else on his mind. "Did you tell me everything?"
She felt the professional wall come back down between them. She met his gaze squarely. "Did you?"
"Yes," he said, though he'd left out the way Miles had implied much more clearly than Hulan surmised that he might have had something to do with Keith's death. But David couldn't bring himself to believe it. David knew Miles, played tennis with him, was his law partner. The idea that Miles was a murderer was inconceivable. But if on some chance it was true, then David would have to deal with it in his own way. He couldn't allow Miles to become a victim of the Chinese legal system.
"I told you everything too," Hulan said, though she'd withheld the names of Sun's banks in China and abroad. That information would be useless to David. In America he'd need a court order to gain access to Sun's accounts. But David was in China, and besides, he would never use a court order against his own client. To Hulan, however, Sun was nothing but a suspect. If she had to, she'd use, to quote David, any means possible to bring Sun to justice, even if that ultimately meant betraying David's trust, because… Because it was in her nature to put duty first- whether on the Red Soil Farm or here in Beijing-before matters of her own heart. She couldn't allow herself to forget that again.
The silence lingered between them, then David said, "That's good. We don't want any secrets between us."
Hulan pulled away. "I'd better get ready."
The Beijing Hotel was the oldest of the grand hotels in the city. It sat at the end of Wangfujing Street where it intersected with Chang An, the imperial boulevard of Eternal Peace. The Beijing was a venerable dowager that had seen it all. Today she was comprised of three wings, each representing a different incarnation. The oldest dated back to the days when she was the Hotel de Pekin, a French-owned establishment originally designed to appeal to decadent and cosmopolitan foreign guests. The west wing had been built in the fifties for the more severe requirements of Soviet visitors. The newest wing, the " Distinguished Guests Building," attempted to serve the needs of today's most demanding guests-foreign and Chinese. Although not as popular with Americans as some of the new hotels that had sprung up around the city, the Beijing's location-within walking distance of Tiananmen Square, the huge governmental edifices that bordered it, and the ancient Forbidden City-made it a preferred venue for business meetings and banquets for officials and dignitaries.
The banquet was scheduled to start at six. Although Tartan and Knight were American companies, Chinese custom would prevail since Governor Sun and a few low-level ministry officials would be in attendance. This meant that the banquet would start promptly at six and end precisely at eight. However, this was not the only event taking place at the Beijing Hotel on this particular evening, as Hulan and David discovered when Investigator Lo attempted to drop them off. Several limousines and Town Cars clogged the entrance, depositing parties of young people, men in business suits, and entire families. As Lo edged forward in the line, he suggested that these people might be here for wedding banquets. This assessment was verified as they reached the entrance and saw a couple of men with video cameras capturing the arrivals for wedding tapes.