“No, no,” Tan’s assistant said. “On the corner of my desk. His aides are always lingering at my desk with an eye for the colonel’s mail.”

Shan had listed the aides for Pike before dispatching their bait to Amah Jiejie. The quartermaster, the wardens, the administrative officer, Major Xun, and Lieutenant Zhu all reported to Colonel Tan. The quartermaster, Shan had explained, would have authority to order the drone that was delivered to the Five Claws. The administrative officer could have changed Tan’s recommendation on Huan’s discipline to assure the lieutenant went to a powerful position in Lhasa. And Xun as chief of staff touched every aspect of Tan’s operations.

“Which of them are in Lhadrung now?” Shan asked Amah Jiejie, wondering how they might narrow their list of suspected conspirators.

“Only Major Xun, Captain Chi the quartermaster, and Captain Bing of the administrative office. The colonel sent Zhu to Hong Kong and the others are at a conference in Chengdu. But I can guarantee you that if I leave it in plain sight, it will be seen before the end of the day.”

As they finished their plotting with Amah Jiejie, she volunteered that Metok’s poor widow, Lekshay, had called to ask if the government had any personal effects of her late husband. “She seemed so melancholy. I told her I had a brother who died in prison and I knew it would do her good if we could just get together and talk. She said it still felt too soon for her to put her pain into words but maybe in a few days. Poor girl, she suffers so, even though she did no wrong.”

Pike grinned as Shan put the phone down. If one of Tan’s top deputies was indeed Huan’s invisible ally in Lhadrung, then Huan would hear the news by the end of the day. Shan glanced at his watch. “If you are going to set up a camera to secretly watch that building on Kunming Road you’d better be underway.”

Shan watched the white car leave for Lhasa then turned reluctantly to the pile of paperwork at his desk. If he did not keep up with it, terse reminders would arrive from the judicial administration center and then auditors might arrive. He poured a cup of tea and settled into his desk. An hour later he was about to refresh his tea when a sudden groan then a crashing sound came from the cells. He pushed open the door, which had been left ajar, and turned on the light in the rear chamber to reveal Meng lying on the floor beside an overturned chair. When he rushed and knelt over her, she reached up and for a moment clung to Shan like a frightened child. Then she collected herself and let him help her up.