and yet they pass by themselves

  without wondering.

  – Saint Augustine

  Two things awe me most, the starry sky above me and the moral law within me.

  – Immanuel Kant

  It happened in a neighborhood not far from ours. One resident there put up a post online, complaining about the risk of cross-infection in the Covid test tent, with two persons sitting side by side on an elementary school desk, almost touching each other, and facing two nurses, packed in like a can of sardines. He also complained about how the Big White abused his power by letting his relatives jump the long line for the test.

  The next day, the local authorities issued a notice that thanked him for the warning about the possible cross-infection, but reprimanded him for his criticism of the Big White as ungrounded. And a couple of days later, he was given a red Covid code indicating that his test had came out positive. But that was outrageous. His test had already come out the day before – negative. So the health code was apparently being manipulated for political reasons. He was seen by the CCP as a potential troublemaker and threat to political stability. As the most effective way to control him, the red code would lock him up at home, and, if need be, in the quarantine camp. What a cruel irony. In the Chinese language, ‘red’ and ‘positive’ have politically correct connotations, but not so in the Covid days.

  – The Wuhan File

  At breakfast in the hotel canteen, Chen was biting into a small freshly made, earth-oven flat cake; Jin was moving downstairs, with two dark rings around her eyes, suggesting her late return from the hospital last night; Hou was talking over a cup of steaming soy milk, breathing into it, and adding a small packet of sugar.

  ‘Thank you so much for your help, Chief Hou,’ she said. ‘You have saved my father’s life. I cannot express my gratitude to you enough.’

  ‘You should thank Director Chen,’ Hou said, seating himself at the table. ‘He so anxiously ordered me to help. How could I have not obeyed? Of course, I was glad to have the opportunity to do something for him. And for you; too; you’re a member of our special team.’

  ‘Don’t listen to his exaggeration, Jin,’ Chen said, waving his hand.

  It was then that Hou’s cell phone rang unexpectedly, still so early in the morning.

  ‘Another meeting in the city government. Sorry about that, Director Chen, but I should be back soon.’

  The moment Hou hurried out of the canteen, Jin said with a wan smile, ‘I don’t think I have to say thanks to you, Chen. Guess what my father said to me in the car going back home? “For you, your boss really moves mountains and fills oceans.”’

  ‘I’m glad he’s recovered so quickly.’

  ‘Acute asthma attacks are just like that. Once under control with oxygen, there’s really nothing to worry about. But the doctors said that had he been delayed by half an hour, there would have been nothing they could have done.’

  ‘You should have stayed at home today, Jin.’

  ‘How about us making a visit, Chen, to the Foreign Language Bookstore this morning?’

  ‘Good idea.’

  ‘Then let’s put on our overcoats and meet in the hotel lobby in ten minutes.’

  There were ambiguous glances from other team members when Chen and Jin stepped out of the hotel. She was wearing a red trench coat, walking in the sunlight that dazzled against the shimmering snow, taking up his arm readily, and heading to the bookstore across the street.

  Chen had been known as a modernist poet – with collections of poems published under his name. As for Jin, she was a youthful secretary who made no effort to conceal her adoration of him. To some people, the two of them going to the bookstore together was more than understandable.

  Once across the street, Chen whispered to Jin, ‘I have just finished part of the translation of The Wuhan File. Give this to Mr Gu. Molong has some new apps installed in Mr Gu’s computer, right?’

  ‘Yes. In his desktop computer as well as his cell phone, so people will not be able to break into his system.’

  ‘Right. People cannot be too careful. As for some of Pang’s paragraphs in The Wuhan File, you may have to live there to truly understand them.’

  ‘Last night, I came to really understand at least the part about no green Covid test code, no admission to hospital. It happened to my family. And I fell into an abyss of despair, Chen.’ She clasped Chen’s hand tight.

  ‘With Pang being on the blacklist like me, I think the die is cast.’

  ‘But I’m so worried about you, Chen.’

  ‘The publication of a book like The Wuhan File could have a disastrous impact on the CCP, and that would bring me more trouble, I know. Five or six years ago, I would never have thought of the need to treat the CCP and China as two different entities. I still remember a red song during the Cultural Revolution, “There’s no China without the CCP.” I cannot tell you how many times I sang it wholeheartedly in my childhood. Like others, I was completely brainwashed.’

  It sounded like a defensive gambit on Chen’s part, Jin thought.

  ‘Confucius says, “Once I have learned the Way in the morning, I’ll be content to die in the evening,”’ Chen added. ‘But enough about what Confucius says for the time being. Let’s take a look inside the bookstore—’

  But as had happened so many times before, a ding burst out of his phone at that moment. It was a text message from Party Secretary Yan of the Red Dust Neighborhood Committee: ‘A possible breakthrough. Come to our office as soon as possible.’ Attached to the message was a file containing another text message sent to Yan from police officer Xiong.

  Located the surveillance video concerning Big-headed Wu’s movement on the night of the murder. That night, he did not get back home until after midnight. Now he’s detained in the Yangpu Neighborhood Police Station, and we’ll move him to your office immediately. Xiong.

  Chen immediately typed out a short response: ‘We are on the way!’ Then he added a couple of lines underneath: ‘Yan, tell Xiong to have everything ready for us. All the surveillance videos of that night he sneaked back home. Also, those taken in the morning after that night.’

  Turning to Jin, he said, ‘You tell Hou about the breakthrough. Tell him to come back immediately. He won’t be too far away – not yet. Tell him we’re going together to the Red Dust Neighborhood Committee. It’s really important. Tell him to forget about the meeting with the city government this morning. We’re waiting for him in the hotel lobby.’

  Less than ten minutes later, Hou hurried back in a taxi. The three of them – Chen, Hou, and Jin – hastened out of the hotel together, heading straight to the Red Dust Neighborhood Committee.

  ‘Have you got any video material from the hospital concerning the parking lot, Hou?’

  ‘No, not yet,’ Hou said, seemingly still in the dark.

  ‘Life is full of ironies.’

  ‘What’s the irony now?’

  ‘At the beginning of my police career, the first major case I dealt with happened to be in Red Dust Lane. Now I’m no longer a cop, but this case, which is possibly my last, is also related to Red Dust Lane. Indeed, “In my beginning is my end.”’

  ‘Another line from T.S. Eliot?’ Jin cut in.

  ‘Yes, you’re the one who understands the music, Jin,’ Hou commented.

  ‘In order to be a qualified little secretary for our poetic director, Chief Hou, I have no choice but to read some of his poems and poetry translations.’

  ‘“You are the music while the music lasts,”’ Chen murmured, as if echoing from memory.

  ‘That’s another brilliant line,’ Hou exclaimed, eyeing Jin without saying another word as they came into view of the Red Dust Neighborhood Committee.

  Party Secretary Yan of the Red Dust Neighborhood Committee welcomed the three of them into the office and said in great excitement, ‘Following your instructions, Chief Inspector Chen, we lost no time in getting in touch with the neighborhood committee in Yangpu District, where Doctor Wu’s brother has lived for more than twenty years. Not surprisingly, the moment the neighborhood police officer Xiong heard your name, he jumped three feet high and said that it’s such an honor for him to do something for Chief Inspector Chen. He personally led a small team to Big-headed Wu’s home, in the middle of the night. Now he is marching the suspect on the way to our office.’

  ‘I’m not surprised by Xiong’s reaction,’ Hou cut in, handing his business card to her. ‘It’s an honor for me to work under our legendary Chief Inspector Chen, too.’

  ‘Wow, Chief Hou,’ Yan said. ‘I’ve seen your picture in Liberation Daily. With you and Chief Inspector Chen leading the investigation, it will surely turn out to be a great success—’

  There was a knock on the red office door, and in came the neighborhood cop Xiong with a gray-haired man in steel handcuffs – none other than Big-headed Wu – as well as the head of the Yangpu Neighborhood Committee, a bespectacled woman in her early fifties surnamed Qiao.

  Officer Xiong had dug out all the surveillance videos and pictures of Big-headed Wu’s neighborhood the night the doctor was killed, and they confirmed that the former did not return until after eleven forty-five. For a couple of nights before, the surveillance cameras also contained images of his sneaking back home around midnight.

  With those surveillance pictures spread out in front of him on the desk, Big-headed Wu appeared unable to stand his ground any longer.

  ‘We’re going to the city government,’ Hou said. ‘We cannot afford to waste any time.’

  ‘Hold on, Hou,’ Chen said before turning to Xiong. ‘Good job, Xiong. What about the morning after that night?’

  ‘The morning happened to be the day for the neighborhood residents to go out to a designated building for their collective shopping. A lot of people. We examined the videos closely, but there’s nothing suspicious about Wu.’

  ‘What about the next fews days – days and nights?’

  ‘We have not had time to go through such a long period. Not yet.’

  ‘I understand. Let’s retrieve the video of the night Big-headed Wu sneaked back home after midnight – the same night Doctor Wu was killed in the hospital parking lot.’

  So Big-headed Wu reappeared on the monitor, all alone, coming back stealthily.

  ‘Zoom in, Xiong. Show the jacket he was wearing as large as possible.’

  ‘Yes?’

  It was a threadbare beige cotton-padded jacket, a bit too large for Big-headed Wu.

  ‘Can you detect some dark-red spots on the jacket?’

  ‘Yes. Oh, I’ll be damned. The very jacket he wore to kill Doctor Wu, with blood splashed on it.’

  ‘It’s obvious, Xiong. The murderer had to throw the jacket away. Too dangerous for him to keep it at home.’

  ‘Got you, Chief Inspector. Let me check for it one more time. The night after the night of the murder.’

  Sure enough, Xiong jumped up three feet high again and exclaimed, ‘Here it is! Big-headed Wu throwing a large plastic bag into the trash bin that night.’

  Chen took Xiong into the backroom without explaining to the others, reexamined the image on a larger monitor, and questioned Xiong in a whisper, ‘Can you try to recover the trash thrown into the bin that night?’

  ‘It’s how many days … Oh, the trash bins may have not been cleaned out because of the Covid regulations. It really stinks. The trash trucks cannot get into the subdivision. What a master you are, Chief Inspector Chen!’

  As the two went out of the backroom again, Chen declared, all of a sudden, turning to Big-headed Wu, ‘No use denying it any longer, Big-headed Wu! Officer Xiong has recovered the blood-stained jacket you wore that night before coming over here. As in the old saying, Old Heaven has eyes. Because of the lockdown, the neighborhood trash bins have not been cleared. The blood analysis matches Doctor Wu’s. You’d better make a clean breast of it, and I’ll ask Chief Hou of the Shanghai Government Office to consider some sort of leniency for you.’

  Big-headed Wu was stunned, reeling in spite of his effort to stand still, holding his head in the handcuffed hands, murmuring inaudibly, incoherently.

  Other people in the office were no less stunned. Xiong exclaimed, ‘Chief Inspector Chen—’

  Chen said with a smile, ‘You have done a good job, Xiong! We’ll mention your name in the case report.’

  Thereupon, Big-headed Wu admitted that he had killed Dr Wu, though insisting that it was done in self-defense. According to him, he found out the doctor’s daily routines, sneaked into the hospital parking lot under the cover of darkness, and tried to have a face-to-face talk with the doctor. But the latter refused, producing something like a weapon in his hand. From the parking lot, still scattered with construction material, Big-headed Wu had picked up a piece of reinforced concrete slab, with a long, thick steel bar sticking out, wielded it in his hand, and crushed the doctor’s head. He repeated the blows several times and ran away.

  As for the rest of his confession, it sounded pretty much like a laborious repetition of the arguments he had made at the Red Dust Neighborhood Committee, harping on about the unfairness of the relocation compensation, lashing out at Dr Wu’s cold-hearted treatment of his siblings, and complaining about the working-class people being treated like trash in today’s China …

  But the ‘something like a weapon’ in Dr Wu’s hand turned out to be a pepper spray, Big-headed Wu admitted. Apparently, the doctor had taken the threats seriously. Big-headed Wu had no choice but to acknowledge that he had not seen the object held in Dr Wu’s hand clearly in the dark.

  The Red Dust Neighborhood Committee also helped. Yan had retrieved all the related data from the surveillance cameras installed throughout Red Dust Lane, including the pictures and video clips of Big-headed Wu in the lane, threatening loudly to kill Dr Wu.

  And so it proved that the third murder had nothing to do with the previous two murders.

  With Big-headed Wu placed in custody, Officer Xiong approached Chen with admiration on his face. ‘Chief Inspector Chen, it’s my luckiest day to be working with you. But … just a layman’s question, how could you tell him that his jacket has been recovered from the trash bin and the blood on it matched Doctor Wu’s?’

  ‘It’s logical. Of course, you may call it a bluff if you want, but it’s not ungrounded. What’s more important is that we’re in the middle of a terrible investigation, with a serial murderer still at large. We’re racing against the clock, Xiong!’

  Another phone call followed Hou to the hotel upon his return from the Red Dust Neighborhood Committee. It was from the hospital regarding its surveillance data. The people there insisted that there was nothing suspicious in the hospital system. They did find an image of Dr Wu pulling into the parking lot, and there was no image of him pulling out. Nobody else was seen in the vicinity.

  ‘I don’t know what to say, Hou,’ Chen said. ‘Either they did a lousy job of surveilling the parking lot or they have tried to cover things up, wittingly or not. We may have to go to the hospital again.’

  ‘We cannot rule out the possibility. You are absolutely right about that, Director Chen.’

  ‘An unannounced visit to the hospital surveillance room may help.’

  ‘Let me run the errand for you,’ Hou offered, draining a cup of black tea. ‘You deserve a break, Director Chen. Anyway, I’ll go to the city government first to report the breakthrough in the investigation to the mayor and his colleagues. And about the probe into the hospital’s surveillance system.’

  ‘Yes, you need to do that, Hou.’

  ‘But I’m wondering whether the breakthrough should be officially announced right now. What do you think of the timing, Director Chen?’

  ‘Good question, Hou. Of course, it’s up to the city government to decide what to say or not.’ Chen added, ‘With Big-headed Wu arrested, we can reexamine the case from different perspectives. I just have a gut feeling that the whole investigation may be concluded in a couple of days.’

  ‘You’re right, Director Chen.’ Hou eyed Chen in surprise before he nodded, ‘And Jin, you need a good break, too. You must have slept so little last night. Now I’m going to the city government to make another report and discuss our next steps.’

  The black hands of the hotel clock above the front desk were pointing to ten past five, ticking inaudibly, when Hou hurried back from the city government. He still looked overjoyed with the conclusion of the Dr Wu case. And the city government was very pleased with the progress, too. A glimmer of light seemed to be appearing at the end of the long, dark tunnel.

  So a special celebration dinner was delivered to Hou’s hotel suite from the kitchen of Xinya Restaurant on Nanjing Road. Another well-known Cantonese restaurant. In Hou’s room, the three of them were sitting comfortably at the table with a small makeshift Lazy Susan top.

  ‘It’s a celebration dinner. You deserve all the credit, Director Chen. And Jin, too, for all your creative assistance to Director Chen. The dinner is definitely covered by the special team’s budget.’

  The Lazy Susan presented most of the chef’s specials from the Cantonese restaurant. The chicken in scallion oil shone like the dream in his childhood, peeled shrimps fried with Dragon Well tea leaves appeared so tender, almost transparent under the light, though the beef in oyster sauce was somehow missing from the table. Instead, a large ceramic pot of ‘Buddha Jumping over the Temple Wall’ was served. In folklore, Buddha is supposed to meditate in the temple all the time, punctuated by nothing but three vegetarian meals a day. According to a folk gourmet legend, however, Buddha succumbs to the fragrant temptation of the super-delicious dish and jumps over the temple wall for it. In the mundane world, the special dish could be obscenely expensive, including sea cucumbers, abalone, scallop, shark fins, and all sorts, stewed for hours in the same pot.

  Hou had apparently tried his best for the meal, considering the circumstances. He was hugely relieved with the breakthrough. Had the investigation remained stuck in the mire, a scapegoat would have to be found. Neither Hou nor Chen could have avoided the inevitable. And for that matter, the city government would have had to share some responsibility, too.