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Ma spoke reassuringly “Of course it was Our foreign friends must remember that our ways are sometimes different” He paused, then added, “And very crude Youtofu Best to keep a lid on it”

In another tiht have been the last words that the director of the dig would have spoken in public Hulan needed to see his dangan to understand who he was and why his words ran so freely

A representative from one of the provincial ht you were here to investigate corruption”

“Often where there’s murder there’s also corruption,” Hulan crackled back in Mandarin

The other ners—all apparently fluent in Mandarin—picked up on their colleagues’ sudden nervousness

“I’m interested in whatever will lead lish “If this Yu will lead me to Brian’s killer, then I’ll follow that path”

“Are we in any danger?” Annabel Quinby asked

Before Hulan could respond, Dr Ma jumped in “You are all perfectly safe” He next addressed Hulan “Almost everyone at this table helped search for Brian when he disappeared We’ve come to accept that he fell in the river and drowned, and we’ve all taken extra precautions to be careful whenever we’re near the shore As soon as we’re done here, I’ll show you what I think happened”

“I wouldn’t be here, Dr Ma, if the facts supported whatever accidental theory you ht have” Hulan scanned the faces at the table “I think everyone should be careful until we’ve figured out exactly what happened”

An unco sank in Then Stuart Miller swung his legs out and over the bench “Come on, Cat, let’s visit awhile before I head back to the daive the old man that, won’t you? And don’t worry, Inspector, we’ll protect each other”

His cavalier racefully rose out of her seat Michael Quon also got up, and the others waved hi hiet a dilettante to do

any real work Then the scholars carried on a themselves about the Four Mysteries just as Ma had predicted, while the men from the Chinese museums talked about the tastelessness of the dishes at the annual Cultural Relics banquet last spring

All of this was out of Hulan’s realm of experience Usually when the word murder came up, people wanted to hear the facts of the case; they wanted to know if there were suspects and who they ht be; and they weren’t so easily convinced that they were safe themselves Were the scholars so buried in their academic world that they didn’t care about what had happened to Brian? Were the museum scouts—the vultures—so sure of their positions that they weren’t even a little afraid of having someone from the MPS in their midst? Only Lily had shown any emotion about Brian’s death, but then she was the only person at the table who’d been accused of theft, s, and murder

AFTER LUNCH, DR MA, DAVID, AND HULAN SET OUT TO WHERE IT was believed Brian had gone into the river The late afternoon hue The sky was a white blanket, and it looked as if it was about to rain, but for now dust billowed up with each of their footsteps and clung to the sweat on their ars, and faces

Hulan’s ht, how barren this area was Co down the river on the ferry, the hillsides had been lush and green, with vines cascading over rocks and ferns thriving in the moisture Trees and baht Orchids and other tropical flowers had bloomed in shady spots But here there were no trees or ferns or flowers Instead Hulan saw only rocks and dirt and the occasional scraggly plant, while below thezi flowed past Was it coical site to be so desolate? Did the work that took place here require that the land be cleared of all flora?