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Ho After a long pause he said, “I never created files for those cases”
His confession left her speechless
“I’ll tell you what I know about theer be questions in your mind,” he continued evenly “The Wu boy drowned We may live on the river, but that doesn’t prevent accidents fro was up to A boy like that does not usually travel up and down the river, but if I pursue it, ill I accoht have been died with him I can tell you, however, that Stuart Miller did not volunteer his hydrofoil on that occasion”
He glanced at her to see if she had any questions When she didn’t, he forged ahead “I don’t knohat I can tell you about Yun Re, except that he fell from a ladder and broke his neck I could blaain, ould it accomplish?” He hesitated for just a fraction of a second, then said matter-of-factly, “You already know e that collapsed”
She nodded
“Have you ever had to protect a family member or a friend?” he asked
In another place this question e, but this was China and who, including herself, had not either protected or turned in a family member sometime in the last fifty years?
“It doesn’t matter what I say or do,” Hom went on “People in Bashan believe what they want If it makes them feel better to believe I’m corrupt, so be it It may be better than the alternative—”
“Going after your brother-in-law—”
“He would deserve his punishh I’d feel sorry forof the others—the victims in all of the cases that you’ve asked about I felt if I didn’t make reports, then the fa had happened If they had no one to blame, then they wouldn’t seek retribution I don’t want to see anyone get in trouble I want to protect the families in case of unrest and a crackdown” After a pause, he added, “But then that goes for everyone in Bashan”
All this confirmed her worst fears about the captain, but before she could speak, he asked, “Do you knohat my main job is?”
“It’s the same as for any captain in the countryside,” she answered staunchly “Protect the populace, weed out political troublemakers, arrest those who are corrupt or commit criminal acts”
“Actually, for the last few years my job has been to supervise the ree Premier Zhu wants a half a million river peoplethe river will have to enforce the rules to ues up and down the river—of the resistance that we are facing Corruption is terrible and affects all of us Everyone is taking a cut from the monies allocated for resettlement, so little is left for the people who etting rich building roads, apartes with inferior er living in the past when the masses do just as the Politburo orders”
He leaned forward through the sered about his face and added for eet hurt I don’t want anyone to leave Bashan with a black an So I look the other way and let people do things perhaps they shouldn’t”
“Like letting thes You are aware that this group is against the law and that attending its gatherings is grounds for detention”