But with his colleagues surrounding the basket, Yu did not have the chance to ask Peiqin about the real purpose of her unannounced visit.

It was not until she stepped out of the bureau that Peiqin took his hand, like the loving wife she was, and pressed a small piece of paper against his palm.

‘His new cell number,’ she whispered, her lips touching his cheek.

‘I see.’

The message from her was unmistakable. Inspector Chen must have had something that alarmed him. He had gone out of his way to have Peiqin bring the new number to Yu, worrying about people tapping into their phone conversation.

Again, Peiqin had proved herself to be ‘an extraordinary wife to a cop’, as Chen had said of her. In addition to Chen’s new number, she also brought Yu an old, out-of-fashion cellphone left at home by Qinqin, who was using a new iPhone in school.

‘On the way to the bureau, I bought a SIM card for you, under my name,’ she said. ‘So you don’t have to worry.’

He did not raise any questions about all the secrecy.

‘I was just talking to Detective Qin about a sex video posted online—’

But another cop came walking out of the bureau, waving his hand at the couple at the gate.

‘Come back home early for dinner.’ Peiqin left without saying anything else. They would talk more in the evening. He hugged her awkwardly on the street corner.

After parting with her, Yu lit a cigarette and took out that old phone left by Qinqin.

‘Hello, who’s calling?’

Chen must have been surprised at the unknown number on the screen.

‘It’s me. The manager of Shanghai’s Number One Noodles has just come over with a basket of Zongzi. And my new number, too. What’s up, Chief?’

‘She has delivered fast. So thoughtful of her!’ Chen went on after a short pause. ‘To begin with, I’m officially off the case in the bureau. Comrade Secretary Zhao from Beijing wants me to check into something else.’

‘Wow, another important assignment from Zhao. Then you don’t have to worry about the case in the bureau. And it might be just as well. I simply cannot stand the company of Li and Qin. They did not want to give the case to us, but now it’s too much for them.’

‘Don’t worry about them. We just do what we are supposed to do.’

‘If the case is solved, it’s to the credit of the Homicide squad. But if not, they’ll find one way or another to blame us for it, particularly you. Why should we bother?’

‘Come on. Our special case group is really under your charge. We cannot afford to look on with our arms crossed when a serial murderer is still at large.’

‘But you’re officially off the case.’

‘I don’t think I have to be doing Zhao’s job every minute of the day. It’s just that I don’t have to tell others about it. Anything new about the case?’