Skinner's Box (Fang Mu (Eastern Crimes)) (4 page)

Luo Jiahai looked up and shook his head. "No, thank you. I don't smoke."

Fang Mu nodded slightly and continued to smoke in silence.

The two of them sat on either side of the table from one another. Between them were the slowly twirling and dissipating trails of smoke. One stared at the bottle of mineral water in front of him, while the other stared at him through the smoke. Luo Jiahai remained silent, as both sat waiting, and as Fang Mu sized him up.

Fang Mu knew that on the other side of the one-way mirror everyone was waiting anxiously for Luo Jiahai to start talking. He really wanted to tell Tai Wei to be patient, actually; an analysis of current circumstances, including Luo Jiahai's words and behavior, led him to believe that it was quite possible that Shen Xiang and Sang Nannan were both already dead. Whether they were found sooner or later didn't matter; it was too late to save them.

What interested Fang Mu more was to learn the sequence of events that had led to this incident. What exactly had Luo Jiahai meant when referring to the
smell
? Why had he killed Teacher Qin? Just how were Shen Xiang and Sang Nannan related to this murder case…?

After he finished his cigarette, Fang Mu said in an unhurried tone, "You wanted to see me. Is there something you wanted to say to me?"

Luo Jiahai did not respond right away; he waited a few seconds before looking up. Fang Mu did not avoid his gaze, but rather stared right back at him. In Luo Jiahai's eyes was a look of exhaustion mingled with deep despair and grief.

After a long while, Luo Jiahai spoke in a low voice. "Officer Fang, if I said I'm not a bad person, would you believe me?"

"I have no intention to try and make a character assessment here, but I'd rather believe that you are a good person." Fang Mu raised his voice very slightly. "But you've killed someone. Everyone makes excuses for himself after making a mistake. If you want me to believe that you're a good person, then you'll have to convince me."

Holding his breath, he concentrated on Luo Jiahai, waiting for him to explain his motives. But Luo Jiahai just hung his head again and didn't move.

He had thought it would be easy to get Luo Jiahai talking, but the latter's continued unwillingness to communicate surprised him. He composed himself and decided to change tactics.

"Shen Xiang's really pretty, right?" Fang Mu lit another cigarette. Through the upwardly curling smoke in front of him, he saw clearly that Luo Jiahai's shoulders were trembling a little. He decided to strike while the iron was hot. "You really love her, right? I bet she really loves you, too."

Luo Jiahai's shoulders were trembling more and more violently now. His whole body was like a quivering autumn leaf.

Fang Mu shifted his gaze to the corner of the interview room and spoke as if to himself. "People who like the color white usually have an inward yearning for purity. They live neat and tidy lives, and like everything to be clean and in order." He tapped the ash from the end of his cigarette. "I assume Shen Xiang has helped you wash your clothes and clean your dorm room. Am I right?"

Luo Jiahai's arm suddenly lashed out, abruptly sweeping across the table, sending the bottle in front of him flying straight at the one-way mirror. It struck with a plastic thump and bounced to the floor.

"Shut up!" he shouted wildly, glaring at Fang Mu.

Fang Mu watched him calmly. Luo Jiahai's eyes were brimming with tears and his ash gray lips were trembling.

Fang Mu said, slowly but clearly, "Shen Xiang is dead. Am I right?"

Luo Jiahai's tears tumbled down his cheeks. He hung his head and buried his face in his palms, chest heaving with muted sobs.

Fang Mu waited quietly. After a few minutes, Luo Jiahai's state of mind had calmed a bit, so Fang Mu opened his mouth again to speak. "And now, this girl who so yearned for purity, cleanliness, and order is doomed to lie in an unknown place, her body slowly becoming deformed from swelling. It's rotting and stinking and might even be buried under a big pile of maggots."

Luo Jiahai's wails had subsided into a string of spasmodic sobs, but upon hearing Fang Mu's words, another wave of violent weeping came over him.

Fang Mu's voice was flat and even, but had a ruthless edge to it. "You said before that you didn't want Shen Xiang and yourself to leave this world with the weight of such a crime on your backs. And I doubt Shen Xiang would want to say goodbye in such a disgusting state, either. So," he paused, "tell me, where is she? I assure you, we will treat her remains with respect."

Luo Jiahai nodded desperately, but continued to be so racked by sobs that he was unable to speak. Fang Mu put his cigarette out in the ashtray and stared intently at the prisoner, keeping his expression even but feeling his heart beating inside, as rapid and forceful as a drum.

Luo Jiahai's tears finally stopped. Gasping for air, he stuttered, "Jiangbin City, Red Park, n-near the steel market, th-there's an abandoned old factory building. Shen Xiang and Sang Nannan are in a tool room on the s-second floor."

Fang Mu exhaled in relief, quietly so that Luo Jiahai wouldn't notice. He glanced casually at the one-way mirror. On the other side of the glass, Tai Wei would be contacting colleagues in Jiangbin City so they could rush over to the location.

The few words he uttered seemed to have completely drained Luo Jiahai of energy. His body drooped on the chair, limp, his hands covering his face and the tears streaming slowly between his fingers.

Fang Mu, too, felt exhausted. He well-knew that the person in front of him quite probably had killed the two young women, but his appearance was no different from that of a typical inexperienced, sensitive, fragile university student. Though he still had a lot of questions about these two missing person cases, Fang Mu did not have the heart to continue questioning.

He signaled at the one-way mirror and very quickly the door to the interview room opened and two policemen walked in.

Fang Mu stood up. "Take him back to his cell. We'll talk more another day."

The two policemen gave an affirmative response, put the cuffs back on Luo Jiahai, and appeared to have to push to get him to the door. On his way out, he suddenly struggled and shouted over his shoulder. "Officer Fang!"

Fang Mu signaled to the two policemen to wait. With a hoarse voice, Luo Jiahai pulled a solicitous face and begged, "Once you've found Shen Xiang, may I...may I see her, one more time?"

Fang Mu stared at him for a few seconds, and then slowly nodded his head.

After watching Luo Jiahai be escorted away, Fang Mu felt suddenly drained. He sat down on the chair, pulled out another cigarette, and was just reaching for his lighter when a hand appeared over his shoulder, and with a click, its thumb lit the lighter it was holding.

Fang Mu moved his head closer to light his cigarette and then turned. It was Tai Wei.

Tai Wei pulled up a chair and sat down next to him. Suddenly, he looked at Fang Mu and laughed. "So it turns out you've got some skills after all, kid."

Fang Mu exhaled a puff of smoke and smiled noncommittally.

"You think it's possible those two girls are still alive?"

Fang Mu hesitated a moment, then shook his head. "Practically impossible. Luo Jiahai's attitude is that of someone who has cut off all means of retreat."

Tai Wei sighed. "That's what I thought, too."

"Aren't you in a hurry to head back?"

"No." Tai Wei leaned lazily against the back of his chair. "They're already dead. Getting back a day or half a day sooner won't make any difference."

Fang Mu tamped out his cigarette in the ash tray. "Let's go. I'll treat you to dinner."

Fang Mu and Tai Wei sat across from each other at a table in a small restaurant not far from the precinct. While waiting to be served, the two of them sat smoking in silence. There seemed to be nothing more to say.

It was Fang Mu who broke the silence. "You married?"

Tai Wei choked on a mouthful of tea. Wiping his chin with his napkin, he asked, "How'd you know?"

Fang Mu smiled and pointed at the ring finger on Tai Wei's left hand; there was a faint depression in his skin from where he had been wearing a ring. Tai Wei's face went a bit pink. He scratched at the mark on his finger, as if wishing to rub it off.

Fang Mu chuckled. "Your wife must be pretty ferocious. But she depends on you a lot."

Tai Wei looked interested. "You can tell?"

"My guess is you take your ring off when you get to work, and you don't put it back on until you go back home. It's obvious you're still very afraid of your wife's wrath. A woman that can scare someone with a personality like yours into being honest must certainly be quite formidable." Fang Mu laughed. "But this indicates that your wife cares deeply about your marriage, so she depends on you a lot. Congratulations."

A rare warmth filled Tai Wei's eyes as he gave a low laugh. "She's like a little kid; she has to hold hands even when we're sleeping."

Seemingly because he had shared something private with Fang Mu, Tai Wei opened up and began to talk more. This man, downing his drink in large gulps with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, again looked like that policeman who had once in all seriousness given Fang Mu a bullet as a present.

It gave Fang Mu a familiar, friendly feeling toward him.

Over the course of many sips and toasts, Fang Mu learned about how Tai Wei had married and been promoted, and Zhao Yonggui had been transferred to his precinct as bureau chief; some of the cops who had worked on the Sun Pu case back then had been promoted, while some had lost their lives.

Fang Mu told Tai Wei that he had taken the civil service exams before he graduated and now he had a job working for the Provincial Public Security Department's Criminal Psychology Research Institute and that his immediate superior was Professor Qiao's student Bian Ping.

Meeting again after not having seen each other for some time, their conversation tended to revolve around common memories. But not all of their memories of past events were the stuff of happiness; this was an unavoidable fact. Other than the Sun Pu case, Fang Mu and Tai Wei did not have a whole lot between them to talk about.

"Sometimes I'll drive over to Southview Homes at Jiangbin City University, to the basketball court, and then I'll go to the gym and down into that basement." Already a bit tipsy, Tai Wei squinted out the restaurant window, the side of his face barely discernable through the smoke looming upward from his lips. "I don't do anything; I just sit there. Sometimes it feels like everything that happened that year was just a dream. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I'd have a hard time believing someone could be so brutal." He laughed lightly. "You saved my life. Come to think of it, I still haven't really thanked you for that."

Fang Mu dipped his head. After a long while, he answered softly. "No need."

Tai Wei seemed to have no intention to keep talking about it either. He turned to look at Fang Mu. "What about you? You've done pretty well for yourself."

"Not really; my job is sometimes pretty boring. Actually, back then I wanted to get into the Municipal Bureau, but later on it was Bian Ping who insisted on having me transferred over to his unit."

Tai Wei guffawed. "You're complaining about being idle? If you'd come to the Municipal Bureau you'd have learned what being worked to the bone is like." He turned back to the window, and his face gradually darkened. "Well, you still ended up becoming a cop. Did you do it for Professor Qiao?"

Fang Mu took a sip of his drink and hung his head without answering.

Tai Wei breathed a gentle sigh. "Actually, I'm still of the opinion that being a cop doesn't suit you."

Fang Mu offered a vague smile and lit another cigarette for himself.