Lunchtime conversation was loud, some students arguing for Mr. Lee’s innocence and others claiming they’d always had their doubts. Rumors abounded as the students pieced together what they’d overheard and observed.

“When the military police arrived,” Shorty said, “they searched Mr. Lee’s office and found maps hidden behind a bookcase, maps marked with targets for bombing.”

“But that doesn’t mean anything,” Ying-Ying protested. “The maps could’ve been there before we came.”

“It’s all hearsay until the professor returns,” Shao said. “Let’s not jump to conclusions.”

The entire campus had been on edge after Meirong’s arrest. And now Mr. Lee. Whether or not Lee was guilty, they could be certain of one thing: the Juntong’s interrogation techniques were not gentle. Lian couldn’t stand hearing any more speculation. It made her worry all the more about what Meirong might be facing.

After lunch, she walked past Wendian, who was seated at a table by the mess hall door. She seemed to have been waiting for Lian because she got up and followed her outside, where the morning’s drizzle had cleared the skies. Lian turned around to face Wendian.

“I went to see Mr. Lee because I wanted to ask whether he could do more to help Meirong,” she said, not waiting for the other girl to speak. “Be reasonable, Wendian. Why are you blaming me for Meirong’s arrest? She’s my friend.”

Her closest friend. The dearest friend she’d ever had.

“Because I heard you quite clearly, Hu Lian,” Wendian said. “I heard you say you wouldn’t spy for him anymore. Well, ‘anymore’ is too late.”

“I refused him.” Lian kept her voice as steady as possible. “I never did anything he asked. Meirong met so many people in Changsha, it could’ve been anyone.”

“What about Wang Jenmei?” Wendian smiled, but it was more of a sneer. “Who in that little fishing village could’ve been responsible for betraying her? Lee is gone. You’re next.”

PROFESSOR KANG RETURNED from Changsha late in the afternoon. Shao pushed his way into the mess hall. The windows were foggy from humidity and the warmth of so many bodies crowded inside, everyone anxious to hear the professor’s news.

“Mr. Lee will not be coming back to us,” the professor said. “He’s been cleared of all wrongdoing, but he’s resigned from Minghua. He will be returning to his family in Nanchang. And there is a serious matter I wish to put before you.”

The Juntong had arrested Mr. Lee after they received an anonymous note addressed to the senior officer in Changsha. The note had come in the bag of mail that the army jeep carried every Friday afternoon from Shangtan to Changsha.