“It was like a Tibetan deity painting,” Ko explained, “with symbols I didn’t recognize, so I asked one of the old lamas. It made him uneasy too, said I mustn’t have it, that someone was playing a bad joke on the warden, because the warden was still alive.” One of the new inmates overheard and ratted me out to the warden, to get extra privileges. They dragged me out of my bed at dawn and threw me into solitary.

“They took the chart, but not before I memorized much of it. At the top was the warden’s name in Mandarin, then it said he died on October 1 of last year.” Ko looked up at his father. “That’s the day the old lama from Larung Gar died,” he reminded Shan. It also was the day, Shan knew, that the ancient holy stones had been demolished at the Five Claws. “Then below was nothing but Tibetan, mostly images of gods and symbols, with an invocation of the Mother Protectress on the left and on the right the name Namdol. At the bottom were three inverted V’s like hills or mountains, then an arrow pointing to an image of the gate of the 404th.”

His son had described what did indeed sound like a death chart, though death charts were done after the death of the subject to direct those who conducted the complex, often personalized rites to properly ease the transition of the departed soul. But this had not been done to comfort a soul, it had been done to torment a soul. And Ko had nearly been killed for discovering it. Questions leapt to Shan’s tongue, but then he saw Ko was losing consciousness again. His son’s eyes fluttered open. “It’s all about the goat,” he said, then passed out again.

It was Tan’s suggestion that a more secure location be found for Ko’s recovery. The doctor had reluctantly agreed, but only when Ko was strong enough to stand after receiving more blood. Hours later Ko had unsteadily risen then saluted the doctor before shuffling around the room despite his obvious pain. Shan had taken the opportunity to ask him why he had spoken of a goat. Ko had winced as he shrugged. “I tried to speak with one of those prisoners from Larung Gar about it. I showed him the death chart, then he saw guards coming to separate us, and that’s all he said, like it was the most important thing of all. ‘It is all about the goat.’ But there wasn’t even a goat on the chart.”