Dragon Bones Read Online Free PDF Page B

press—that the Chinese government had hired people to set themselves on fire in public as a means to discredit the Falun Gong were true? That using “deranged” people for this end was unpredictable? What Hulan did know was that Zai had easily distracted her from her real concern. What was that camera crew doing there at all?
    The vice minister looked at a sheet of paper. “I see that Tang Wenting was not arrested.”
    “He slipped away—”
    “While you were tending to that child. This is not your job.”
    “You’re absolutely right, Vice Minister.”
    Zai’s voice softened. “Where is the girl now?”
    “She was taken to the Number Five Home outside the Third Ring Road.”
    “Ah, then she may have a not so unhappy end.” When Hulan looked at him questioningly, he added, “She might be adopted by an American family and have a much better life than the one she would have had.” He leaned forward slightly. “You could adopt too, Hulan, perhaps an infant. It would not be so bad for you to find happiness again.”
    He was trying to be thoughtful, but his words hurt, reminding her of sympathizers like Neighborhood Committee Director Zhang, who’d told Hulan she should “try again.”
    Zai cleared his throat, letting her know that this personal conversation was over, but what he said next had nothing to do with this morning’s events in Tiananmen Square. “A new case has come to our office. It is an unidentified body found in the Yangzi River.”
    Hulan was so taken aback by the abrupt change in subject that she responded without thinking. “Surely this is a common occurrence. Why should the Ministry of Public Security be involved?”
    “Because the body is that of a foreigner.” He spoke evenly, but she noticed the involuntary way he glanced at the walls. Did the government still listen to every conversation that went on in this room?
    “Has anyone reported a missing foreigner?” Hulan asked, going along with Zai for now. “If the person fell off a cruise ship, the whole country would have been searching for this…. man? Woman?”
    “Man. As you point out, he could not have fallen from a cruise ship. But let us not discuss the possibilities. I am assigning you the case. We need to know who he is and how he came to be found in the waters of our great river.”
    “You know I’m busy today. I have to write a report on everything that happened this morning.”
    “That can wait. More important, it might be better for you to delay. You may want to work on your facts—”
    “I don’t need to think about what happened. I did what was necessary in the moment. Beyond that, I don’t do murder cases anymore.” A solution popped into her mind, but she had to offer it with the proper contrition. She looked down at her hands folded in her lap and said, “I am out of practice with the dead. Give the body to Luo or Cui.” These inspectors had risen quickly in the ranks the last two years. As a reward, they’d gone to the United States as part of an exchange program and had spent two weeks at the FBI’s training facility at Quantico.
    “I’m not asking them. I’m assigning you. You have no choice.”
    Hulan caught something in his tone and looked up. He was nervous, and it was exactly because someone might be listening. She held his eyes until he nodded almost imperceptibly. People were listening. The men across the lake…. Without being given a chance to explain fully her actions this morning, she was going to be punished, and Zai couldn’t or wouldn’t help her.
    “Who is the dead man?” she inquired, keeping her voice steady.
    “That is for you to discover.”
    “But you must have an idea—”
    Vice Minister Zai scowled. “Identification is all that is needed at this time,” he said. “You’re dismissed.”
    It had been nearly five years since Hulan had gone down to the basement of the Ministry of Public Security building to Pathologist Fong’s domain. Back then she’d been known as