EPT--
It was Zhang Fei who let the world know about Max. The dog barked at its master for twelve hours, all the way from the third bend of the Suzhou River to where it joined with the Huangpu at the northern end of the Bund. When it began to bother the bankers and party apparatchiks of the new new China on their morning commutes, the police went to catch it and immediately saw the body floating in the calm morning waters of the Huangpu.
***
Jack Zhao was a study in lines. His mouth was a mean line that disappeared into his sunken cheeks. His nose was a hook that terminated in his forehead. His eyes would have been thin lines, too, had they not been glazed over in slack resignation.
With another anguished sob, his client turned and rammed his fist into the wall again. His cheap leather shoe narrowly missed the wastebasket. He started to sob again, sliding his worn salesman’s uniform along the wall where his fist had left a noticeable dent and sent the signed certificates of several local party bigwigs askew. His legs lost strength at this point and he sank to his knees.
When Jack heard him gnawing on the photos on the desk, he interrupted.
“All right, enough is enough. You can’t eat the pictures, Shen. They’re the only copies we have.”
Shen responded slowly, rising to his feet, crying. Jack reached into his desk and pulled out a lighter, quickly selected a cheaper pack from the top of his pile, and shoved it across the table.
“Lighten up.”
Shen stared dumbly at it, then picked it up and lit it. He sank back into the chair opposite Jack, and began to cry quietly.
“She’s just no good.”
“What can I tell you, pal? You’re right. You’re right, you’re right, and you’re right.”
“Ain’t worth thinking about.”
Jack left the pack with Shen. He thought it would be good at this point to reassure him.
“You’re absolutely right, I wouldn’t give her another thought.”
Shen light the third cigarette with the embers of the second. “You know, you’re pretty cool, Detective Zhao. I know some might say your job is, I don’t know, but…” He searched for a word. Jack cut him off.
“Thanks, Shen. Call me Jack.”
“Thanks. You know something, Jack?”
“What’s that, Shen?”
Shen crumpled one of the pictures of his wife and her lover. “I think I’m gonna kill them.”
***
Outside the office, a burly man in a tan parka walked through the door.
“I’m here to see Jack.”
He looked down and stopped for a moment.
She was a tall, slim girl whose dress, on account of the Shanghai humidity, clung to her figure with a distracting dampness. Her brown eyes had a bad habit of playfully toying with the people around her. She quickly looked up, and disarmed him with a smile.
“You new here?”
“Yes. Jack’s busy with a client right now, he’ll be right out. Why don’t you make yourself comfortable and let me know if you need anything.”
“What’s your name?” He settled into a chair that was much too small for him.
“May. Yours?”
“I’m an old friend of his.”
There was the sound of another moan coming from Zhao’s office. Something made of metal bounced off a wall. The man grew more edgy.
***
Shen was crying again.
“They don’t kill a guy for that.”
“Oh, really?”
“Not for your wife. That’s the unwritten law.” Shen stood up. Jack’s face reddened and he took the cigarettes back.
“I’ll tell you the unwritten law, you dumbfuck. You’ve gotta be rich to kill anybody and get away with it. And even then it’s a tossup. You think you got that kind of dough, that kind of class?”
Shen shrank back a little.
“…no…”
“You bet your ass you don’t. You can’t even pay me off.”
This seemed to upset Shen even more.
“I’ll pay the rest next month. The real estate company’s short of cash. Sixteen buyers pulled out, and our banker turned hard. No one’s buying any units in our building, and…”
Jack relented and began to ease him out of the office. “Forget it, I only mentioned it to illustrate a point.”
They walked out into the foyer.
“No, no, I’ll pay it back, don’t worry about it, you can—”
“I don’t want your last penny.” He threw his arm around Shen and flashed a dazzling smile. “What kind of guy do you think I am?”
Shen’s face turned, strangely, hopeful. “Thanks, Detective Zhao.”
“Call me Jack. Careful driving home, Shen.”
As he shut the door on his client, Jack’s smile disappeared and he began to swear under his breath. Had May not cleared her throat, he would have likely missed the man silently eyeing him.
“Director Zhang, I didn’t expect to see you here.” Jack smiled again.
“I’m sure the pleasure’s all mine.”
Part 2 coming next week.
