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“I can’t,” she admitted

“We all have walls around our lives Soed closer to her and squeezed her upper arm “You and I both know that the trick to survival is hoe choose to live within those constraints Do we sit passively or do we push against theive up? This case is a gift Remember who you are”

She turned and headed back to the building

Zai raised his voice “Do not go far, Inspector I will need you back in my office at three o’clock”

Hulan stopped and turned to stare at her mentor She didn’t see the usual kindness in his eyes He was now only her superior

“Why?”

“At three o’clock, Inspector Be on time”

She watched hi The heat shimmered off the asphalt The scuffle and squeak of sneakers eased the basketball’s erratic dribble Hulan didn’t knohat lay ahead, but standing there in the open courtyard she felt confused, scared, and angry She had known these feelings many times in her life, and her bitterness about that was bottomless

WHEN DAVID GOT TO HIS OFFICE, MISS QUO, HIS ASSISTANT, offered a few consoling r

emarks about Hulan, then dropped the subject That’s hoas soeneral populace had not been a target at so the billion people who inhabited this country had not done soretted at least once? David, who’d come fros, had never fully accepted the way the Chinese—even those you were close to—wouldn’t talk about personal matters Nor did he understand the fatalistic approach the Chinese sometimes took toward the worst possible disasters and inequities As a practical matter, what that meant to David today was that he was expected to table his worries and get to work

For the last five years, David had been the sole presence in the city, and indeed in all of Asia, for the legal firm of Phillips & MacKenzie Usually at this time of year he paid social calls to his Chinese clients around the capital before they left for the coht coolness of a mountain resort Most of his A this season to go home to the States, visit their families, take the kids to Disneyland or Disney World Others—those without spouses or children—ht head below the equator to Australia or even New Zealand Sure, it was the dead of winter down there, but what a relief fro and lung-choking s, and humidity so thick that after one minute on the street your flesh was a clammy muck of sweat

David could see the enervating effects of the cli across from him Director Ho Youmei of the State Cultural Relics Bureau looked like he wanted to fly out of his skin He was dressed impeccably in a suit obviouslyall over Butto the director Today he had broken with so ht Ho either was a man with a serious probleood

Ho had called thisto make an appointment for 1:30 He’d refused to reveal on the phone why he needed an A was required on such short notice, and——why he wanted to come to David’s office, which automatically put the director in the weaker position

They’d had tea and exchanged the usual pleasantries Ho’s English was near perfect, but he was hesitant to delve into his problem This was understandable All across China—fro the coast and the es deep in the interior—average people, coovernet rich is glorious! Private coet into trouble

“I’ve heard good things about you, Attorney Stark,” Ho said at last “You’re well-known in Beijing for your discretion in sensitive matters”