“I don’t know. If we knew that we wouldn’t be here. But it makes a hell of a lot more sense than believing that someone so careful and meticulous in every other respect would be so careless in that one.”

Li stood and thought about it. He was on the step below her, and she became aware that her eyes and his were on a level. But he wasn’t looking at her. He was staring off into the middle distance, lost in contemplation. It gave her an opportunity to look at him close up. The features she had first taken as ugly she saw now as strong. A forceful nose, a well-defined mouth, prominent brows, beautiful, almond-shaped eyes, a brown so deep and warm it was hard to distinguish the iris from the pupil. He had a strong jaw, dimpled at the chin, and his flat-top crew cut emphasised the squareness of his head. His skin was the colour of pale teak, and was remarkably unlined, except for the traces of laughter around his eyes and mouth.

He became aware of her looking at him, and for a moment they stood staring into each other’s eyes. And then he was overcome by embarrassment.

“It’s an interesting thought,” he said, almost dismissively. “But it doesn’t take us any further.” He turned and resumed his progress down the stairs.

She chased after him. “Yes it does. If he wanted you to make the connection, it means he had a motive for doing so.”

“Of course,” Li said. “But it doesn’t help us know what that motive is. We need more information.”

Margaret tutted her irritation. “Well, thanks for the thought, Margaret, it was really helpful.”

Her sarcastic edge and serrated tongue were becoming familiar to him. He decided to play dumb. “It was,” he said, as if blissfully unaware of her tone. He smiled to himself as he heard her gasp of exasperation. Perhaps he was finally beginning to get her measure.

Mei Yuan sat on a stool by her jian bing “house” on the corner of Dongzhimennei. Business was slow, but she was not unhappy. It gave her time to read. She had almost finished her copy of Meditations, and it was from some cold imagined Dutch medieval landscape that she had to drag herself as a dark blue Beijing Jeep pulled up at the kerb and a pale, blonde Western woman in a lemon dress got out of the passenger side. Then she saw Li coming round the bonnet, and her face broke into a smile. “Hey, Li Yan, have you eaten?”

“Yes, I have eaten, Mei Yuan. But I am hungry.”

“Good. I will make you a jian bing.” She lit the gas under her hot plate and looked at Margaret. “Two?”

“Two,” said Li. And in English, “Mei Yuan, this is Dr. Margaret Campbell, a forensic pathologist from the United States.”