Tan’s abrupt reaction was unexpected. Shan saw the hardening of the soldier sensing the approach of combat, but there was also an unfamiliar edge of worry. “No,” the colonel replied. “You don’t know the bastard. A cobra in an old man’s body. I’ve stayed away from him for years.”

“You have to go. He’s the only one who can give you cover.”

“Cover for what?”

“For what needs to be done at the Five Claws.”

“Cover? They won’t give us cover, they’ll just give us two six-foot holes in the ground.”

“Then they get away with everything, the murders, the stealing, the lying. And the taking of your county.”

Tan shook his head, then lit a cigarette and weighed Shan’s words. “I’ll make the arrangements,” he declared at last. “But I’m not going alone. The old snake only has venom enough to kill one of us.”

Shan had called to send Choden out on patrol in a distant sector of the township before the helicopter left for Yangkar the next afternoon. The warden of the 404th had made repeated inquiries about Ko, insisting to the doctors that his prisoner be returned to the prison infirmary. After the third such call, Tan had muttered a curse and shaken Ko’s shoulder.

“Why?” he demanded, ignoring the doctor’s protest. “Why is the warden so angry at you?”

Ko, clearly sedated, offered a weak, groggy smile. “He didn’t like his death chart.”

Tan shot an accusatory glance at Shan.

“But Ko,” Shan pointed out, “a death chart is done after death, for those conducting the rituals.”

Ko smiled again and asked for some water. It took several minutes to get the full story from his son. First, he reported, Major Xun had arrived for a meeting with the warden and a young Public Security officer, also attended by a tall haughty-looking man who arrived in a car from the Five Claws project. Shan shot Tan a knowing glance. Ko had seen a meeting of the Amban Council. Afterward all the prisoners from Larung Gar were put into solitary confinement.

The next day one of Ko’s barrack mates who worked as a kitchen trusty reported to Ko that he had seen the warden sneak out of the back of the administration building and try to burn a rolled-up piece of paper by a toolshed. When it wouldn’t burn he retrieved a shovel and buried it, then backed away as if frightened of it. That evening Ko switched places with one of the trusty prisoners who conducted grounds cleanup and retrieved the buried item.