‘Go ahead, Melong.’

‘About the video, not the one I showed you today but the one going viral online. Someone purchased it from the club.’

‘It’s unbelievable. The club must have been aware who Geng is in the Party system.’

‘Yes, but for a club like this, the people there have to keep some cards in hand. You can never tell what might happen to them one of these days.’

‘So it’s like a bargaining chip?’

‘Yes. Now Geng’s reaching his retirement age, and soon the younger ones will be coming into power. Things might be really complicated with the power struggle going on not only here but in the Forbidden City, too. Of course, some buyer could have offered an unbelievable price, and the club people could not say no.’

‘An offer he can’t refuse, like in The Godfather. Now just one more question. Do you have any idea when it was purchased?’

‘About a couple of years ago. But why?’

‘I don’t know yet.’

After parting again with Melong, it occurred to Inspector Chen that he had not had a bite since last evening.

The turtle mentioned in Melong’s message had just been a pretext, but it might be as well for him to skip a meal or two. The sensation of the steamed turtle the previous day still stayed heavy on his empty stomach.

He decided to walk by himself for a short while.

Then he realized something else. Far more worrisome than the monstrous turtle or the empty stomach.

With the video not yet edited into a viewable one, whoever had given the order must still have a copy of the original contents in their possession, including the pictures hacked from Shanshan’s computer or her husband’s, and the scenes recorded in the surveillance cameras. In the event of Rong’s failure to deliver, they just needed another man for the job.

It was a matter of time before Kang would try to turn the tables by releasing it earlier than Shanshan’s documentary.

What could the tourist guide/inspector possibly do?

He took out a rumpled pack of China, shaking out the last cigarette left in it. In a desperate need for nicotine, he lit it, pledging that it would be the last one for him, provided he could find a way – any way – to keep her from harm.

A terrible fit of coughing seized him again at the first two or three inhales, to the disgust of a young couple walking by, wearing large masks, holding each other’s hand.

All is justifiable in love and war.

When he looked up again, he caught sight of another restaurant across the street – Fishing in the Muddled Water.

The restaurant name, apparently highlighting fish as its chef’s special, was logical since the restaurants here were known for the sea-or river-food. Coincidentally, the name also came from The Thirty-Six Stratagems, in which ‘fishing in the muddled water’ is listed as the number twenty stratagem. When used for a restaurant name, it carried a touch of post-modernist irony.