“Then it’s time you stopped taking your work home.” Chen stood up in a temper. “Have you any idea the repercussions this could have? I’ve already had a call from the university and they are considering sending Dr. Campbell home forthwith. I feel entirely responsible. After all, it was me who asked for her help in the first place. And it’s you I blame, not her. You’re the one who should have known better.”

Li’s head dropped, his resistance wilting. “I’m sorry, Chief. I thought I was doing the right thing. Especially after the attack on me last night. I thought there was a possibility she could be in danger.”

But Chen’s anger did not abate. “We’ll come to last night in a moment,” he snapped. “The fact is, Li, I’m going to have to consider taking disciplinary action against you. Particularly since this comes right on the heels of an official complaint against you yesterday.”

“If you’re talking about The Needle . . .”

“Don’t insult me by denying it,” Chen warned. “And as for last night, had you followed proper procedure you would never have been attacked in the first place, and you would not have exposed Dr. Campbell to the danger that you did.” He turned towards the window, waving his hands in exasperation. “For God’s sake, Li, you’ve not even been in this job three days. I thought you understood. We work as a team here. Your job is to lead that team. It is not a licence for you to go off on some individual crusade, firing off like a loose cannon, like some . . . American cop. And if you can’t understand that, I’ll personally see to it that you spend the rest of your career directing traffic on Tiananmen Square.” He glared at Li. “Well?”

“Chief?”

“Do you understand?”

“Yes, Chief.”

Chen took a deep breath and let a little of the tension seep out of him. He sat down again in Li’s chair. “Notwithstanding anything I’ve said, that was a damn smart piece of work yesterday. The glove and the key, and the thumbprint.”

“I’m afraid I can’t take much credit for that, Chief,” Li said. “It was Dr. Campbell’s idea.” Chen flicked him a look. “She also had the idea that Chao might have had AIDS—because of the drugs found in his apartment. We ordered further blood tests yesterday to confirm. Results should be available later today.”

“Dr. Campbell seems to have been very busy,” Chen said with an edge to his voice, and added, “She also seems to have been very right.” He sighed and lifted a folder from the desk and held it out to Li. “This came in by fax from the Hong Kong police about ten minutes ago.”