‘What do you want me to do, Chief Inspector Chen?’ Melong said, picking up a piece of the slippery ginger-covered thousand-year egg with his chopsticks.

‘You must have heard of the latest, perhaps the most notorious, sex scandal video posted online, Melong.’

‘You mean the video of Geng and his massage girl who later became his wife?’

‘Yes, but she was murdered just a couple of days ago.’

‘I’ve heard of something about it too in connection to the video put online.’

‘It could have been hacked.’

‘Its contents hacked from Geng’s computer? Well, that would be something like an old lecher’s collection in a Sherlock Holmes story. It’s possible, but for Geng to have it taped in a massage room? I don’t know. He could have easily had a girl do whatever he pleased at home instead of a massage parlor. Too much of a risk for a Party cadre like Geng. Besides, there are secret cameras installed in those clubs or massage places, as you may have heard.’

‘So you mean the club videotaped the two of them without their knowledge?’

‘I think I’ve heard stories like that. Nowadays you can never tell who’s behind those clubs. Geng’s powerful, but he must have his adversaries too. I’ll double-check it for you if it’s needed for your investigation.’

‘That could be really helpful.’

‘Our circle is not that large. It should not be too difficult to find out.’

‘And there’s another favor I have to ask of you. Sort of related. It’s about a young woman named Shanshan. Some people might be trying to hack into her computer, possibly into the computers of the people close to her as well. Supposing that’s the case, do you think you may be able to detect any buzz about it in your circle?’

‘You mean someone is hacking her, and the people related to her too?’

‘Yes, that’s a possibility. Her husband’s computer has recently been hacked, but hers is a far more likely target. It may just be a hunch on my part.’

‘You have any specific clues?’

‘No,’ he said. It was out of the question for him to share the bits and pieces accumulated over the last few days.

‘But for what reason are people hacking her?’

‘She’s an environmental activist, making a self-funded documentary about the air pollution in China. Such a documentary will not be pleasant to the government. Devious plots could have been attempted against her,’ Chen said in earnest, taking out a copy of Shanghai Literature. ‘We met in Wuxi, where I wrote the poem about the contaminated Tai Lake in her company. Now she’s making a documentary here about the polluted air, and I don’t want any harm to come to her.’

‘You don’t have to say any more,’ Melong said, standing up, letting the slice of darksome egg slip splashing back into the saucer of soy sauce. ‘I’ll be damned.’

‘What do you mean, Melong?’

‘Your friend is doing the right thing, and so are you. But what about me? Catching and eating turtles like a contented fool,’ Melong said bitterly. ‘My mother had lung cancer, you know that. She never smoked, not once in her life. It’s all because of the murderous air pollution. But for your invaluable help, she might not even have had the surgery in time.’