CHAPTER THREE

I

Tuesday Afternoon

They stood outside blinking in the sunlight—a very different kind of light from the bright lamps that illuminated the subterranean gloom of the autopsy room. Margaret slipped on her sunglasses. Lily had still not reappeared after her dash to the toilet, and Li and Margaret stood uncertainly, unsure how to conclude their business. Each exhibited a strange hesitancy about saying goodbye. To share the experience of something as traumatic and revealing as the dissection of another human being had an almost bonding effect, inducing a shared and heightened sense of mortality.

Margaret looked up and down the street. “Did you leave your car up at Administration?”

“No, the Chief took it. I’ll take the bus back.”

“Bus?” Margaret was shocked. “Surely police resources would stretch to a taxi.”

He shrugged. “I don’t mind the bus.”

“In this heat? I’ve seen the buses in this city. They’re jammed full. Standing room only. How far is it?”

“Other side of Beijing.”

Lily appeared, looking distinctly pale. Her heightened sense of mortality had clearly manifested itself in an emptying of her stomach. “Lily,” Margaret said brusquely, “I need to go back to Section One with Deputy Section Chief Li.” She waved her hand vaguely. “Administrative detail.” She paused. “So I won’t be needing you any more.”

“That not possible, Doctah Cambo.” Lily puffed up her indignation. “How you get back to university? I get car and take you there.”

“Thought she might.” Margaret smiled sweetly after her as Lily strutted off in the direction of Administration to find their car. Margaret turned to Li. “Can I offer you a lift?”

Li returned a wry smile, perfectly well aware of how she had just manipulated Lily. “There’s really no need.”

“Oh, but I insist. I have no further classes today, and I’d be intrigued to see the operational headquarters of Beijing’s serious crime squad. I’m sure Section Chief Chen would have no objections.”

On the long drive across the city, Margaret had ample time to regret her impulsiveness. Lily sat up front with the driver, and Margaret sat in the back with Li in uncomfortable silence, a very awkward space between them that could easily have accommodated a third person. After the adrenalin rush of the morning, her body and brain were once again crying out for sleep, and she found herself having to blink frequently to stay awake. She should, she realised, have gone back to her hotel and slept for the rest of the day. After all, it was bedtime back home. But then again, she persuaded herself, if she had done that her body clock would never adjust to Beijing time.