The Blood Market Chapter 4

The elderly chinese man in the rumpled burgundy suit stood from the table. He raised his glass to us and downed the remaining beer and then picked up his silverware and his unfinished plate of Chicken Tika Masala and walked over to our table. He approached and looked at me, "Very much begging your pardon young lady, but could I impose upon you and the gentleman to slide over, so as to permit me to join you?"

I nodded and looked expectantly at Harbinger. He nodded as well and we shuffled our chairs to the left to make room at the table. The man placed his plate down and then walked back to his original table, picked up the chair that he had been sitting in and carried it over, placing it beside us. He sat down and smiled again, "It is silly of course, but I am a creature of habit. My name is Dr. Zhang Wei. Professor of History at New Jericho University. I teach mostly the history of Sino-American International Relations in the late Golden Age. I hope I am not boring you, but I am a very dull man to those outside my field, or so my students tell me. This, you must believe, so that you will understand why everything else that I will say is so bizarre as compared with my normal day to day existence."

Harbinger shook his head, " I suspect that your day to day existence is entirely in line with what has befallen you. Dahlia, you have military and field medical training, what is your impression of our dear professor? Can you guess what has happened to him?"

"Is this a test?" I asked.

"Not at all," Harbinger said, "Think of it more as an assessment. I need to know where you are right now, in order to know where I have to take you."

"Please tell me you're joking."

"No no. You're going to be my partner. I need to know your strengths and weaknesses. So, please, tell me what you see."

I glanced at Cassandra Harbinger. Her expression was carefully composed and did not change. She met my gaze unblinking. I looked at the lieutenant Colonel, who smiled very slightly and gave a nearly imperceptible nodd. No getting around this apparently. I know my observation skills are decide, one doesn't maintain a military command by being oblivious. But even so, I felt a metaphorical spotlight beaming light down upon me as the curtain suddenly rose five minutes before the scheduled show time. I looked Mr. Zhang over again now that he was closer and nodded, "He has heavy purple bruising on his wrists and his neck, they are recent and still tender. That's why he's loosed his neck tie, the bruising on the neck makes wearing the tie unfeasible. He been assaulted definitely, threatened from the looks of it, because the bruises are not in a shape that a fist or weapon would be likely to leave. I'm fairly confident that those bruises were administered by somebody with large hands grasping and squeezing Mr. Zhang for too fiercely to be polite."

"Good,' Harbinger said, "Can you extrapolate anything else about our case?"

I closed my eyes, "Mr. Zhang's teaching specialty is international relations, specifically relations between nations in North America and in China. Mr. Blackwater is a modern specialist in international affairs of nations attached to the Pacific and Indian Oceans, which most certainly includes the nations that have replaced old China. He outright admitted that this could affect relations with the Restored Republic of China and The Empire of Hong Kong. He didn't mention the United Peasant Kingdoms of China or the Eternal People's Republic of Beijing, which means southern China, but not Northern or Western China."

"Very good." Harbinger said, "And what does that tell you?"

"Well. Mr. Zhang is a dedicated academic. But, if Mr. Zhang will pardon my rudeness, he isn't a wealthy or powerful man judging from his suit and shoes. I doubt then that he was being threatened or intimidated due to his influence upon trade or politics in that region. Therefore, I would suspect that Mr. Zhang was threatened to attempt to induce him to provide some sort of information regarding diplomatic or trade relations between the Nations of North America and the nations of the South China Sea."

"Very good," Harbinger said.

"Freeman, that was rude of you." Cassandra said.

"Really?" He looked genuinely surprised as he turned to towards his sister.

"Yes. If I weren't your sister, I would assume that you were raised by wolves. But I am, and I know better."

"How close was she?" He turned eagerly to Mr. Zhang and Blackwater.

"Wrong, but impressively close nonetheless." Blackwater said, "Mr. Zhang was indeed the subject of an attempt at coerced services. But perhaps I should let the distinguished scholar explain?"

"Thank you, yes." Mr. Zhang nodded, "As the Ms. Crowe noticed, I have been manhandled and not on the wrestling mat. I was leaving campus when I was approached by two white men: one large and bald with mutton chops and another small and wiry with a face not unlike a starving coyote, long with high cheekbones and hungry eyes. I was instructed to walk with the men and when I tried to declined I was grabbed by both wrists by the larger man and made to walk with them."

"When was this?" I asked. A part of me felt that I shouldn't speak too often, as I was certainly the junior partner in this new matter. Another part of me felt that I had better impress my father's friend if he was to keep me around.

"Two days ago, early afternoon; around five o'clock if I recall correctly."

"And where did they take you?" Harbinger asked.

"I do not know. They blindfolded me as soon as we had left the main streets for the alleyways. When the smaller man removed the smelly hankerchief from my eyes, I was standing in a darkened warehouse somewhere next to a woman of Chinese descent who appeared to be mid thirties, and a strong looking white man who I guess would be in his early forties, wearing a blue pinstripe suit, many rings, and sporting a large handlebar mustache. The strong man waved a hand to the Chinese Woman and told me to ask her about the shipment. Ask her what had gone wrong. I asked him why he needed me, a stranger, to do this thing? And he told me that I was ask the woman in Chinese. He did not even know whether she spoke Mandarin or Cantonese or another dialect. Most New Jericho born Chinese speak both, and so I started with Mandarin, but she did not speak Mandarin- or at least not well. She answered me in Cantonese, indicating first that her name was Li Jing. This is a very common name and told me nothing. I asked her about the shipment, and what went wrong. And as I was asking this, I was wondering to myself what the shipment contained. She said to me that one of customers had tried to avoid paying and a fight had broken out, several people had been killed. I was about to report this in English to the Strong looking man when Li Jing added that none of this was her fault and she was not responsible for the loss of cargo. I as unsure what she meant, but related it to the strong man. He responded by instructing me to tell her that the problem lay with her partner and that she should partner with him instead, he would accept a smaller cut of the profits and more independence in her activities. I related this, and Li Jing told me that the strong man could not protect her as her current partner was able to protect her and also that the strong man could not protect either her or I from her current partner if we betrayed him."

He paused.

"She told me to tell the strong man that she would need him to acquire the portion of the shipment that her partner had taken as punishment and in compensation for the loss of the paying customers, and that if he could do that then she would consider working with him. I related what she asked me to relate and did not tell the strong man Li Jing's actual feeling in the matter. But I was struck by the way Li Jing had spoken of customers. The strong man was unhappy with Li Jing's answer, but not to the point of violence. He said that if he was to acquire the stolen shipment, he expected her to not simply consider partnering with him, but to give him her word that should would do so. I related the answer to Li Jing, who said that if he could actually manage what she had demanded then she might as well work with him, but she commented to me that she was sending the strong man and his people to their death. I told the strong man that she agreed with his counter offer, and he thanked me for my cooperation and told me to tell nobody of the meeting, lest I regret me decision. I, of course reported it to the Royal Commission immediately. My husband and Mr. Blackwater are casual acquaintances."

"And When Mr. Zhang described what had happened, we immediately realized that this must in some way relate to the multiple murder found at the docks a week earlier. His description matched the crime scene well. The victims were either illegal immigrant from Southeast Asia or known criminals with smuggling records." Blackwater said, "Normally this would be a matter for the police. However, The Department of Commerce is currently in trade negotiations with both the Restored Republic of China and the Empire of Hong Kong. Ambassadors from both are in Sticktown currently for a sensitive series of negotiations. Stopped human trafficking has been raised by both ambassadors as a key concern, for reasons as diverse as preventing human tragedy, and stopping defection or controlling political dissidents. The murder of a group of illegal immigrants smuggled into New Jericho by human traffickers would complicate matters for several reasons- not the least of which being that her Majesty assured the Prince of Hong Kong that New Jericho is so harsh in its dealing with human traffickers that there hasn't been a human trafficking case in twenty years or more. She claimed trafficking now used the Babylon Republics due to lax regulation and political corruption. The careers of civil servants who disappoint or embarrass the Queen do not blossom and grow."

"When will we view that crime scene?" Harbinger asked.

"You won't Freeman," Cassandra answered, "The Royal Commission has removed the crime scene long ago. The area was scrubbed and sterilized. There is nothing left of the crime scene that might suggest that the Queen could possibly have spoken in error. You must work from the information that we give you."

"Cassie, you don't want a detective," Harbinger said, "You want a trained parrot. Why don't you just tell me the answer you want me to give you?"

"Aren't you being unfair to your sister?" I asked cautiously, "After all, she doesn't control the conditions she has to work under."

Harbinger shook his head, "You're underestimating my dear sister. Cassie could prevent the moon from rising if she thought it might might embarrass the queen. But I have some questions for Mr. Zhang. The man, the one with the mustache, you said that he was in charge, but none of the men apparently spoke either Mandarin or Cantonese? And it was this linguistic inability on their part that they kidnapped you to fill for them? You skills as a scholar were irrelevant to the situation?"

"Very much so. They needed somebody who could speak to Li Jing. If they had other needs they did not tell me. I was released after I had performed my translation duties for them. And then I contacted Mr. Blackwater through my husband Sudono."

Harbinger shook his head, "My young apprentice made a very good point. Hah! My young apprentice, I sound like a lord of the dark arts! I'm sorry, I'm being distracted. Ms. Crowe, Dahlia here, noted that Mr. Zhang's field of scholarly study overlaps very closely with the crime on display here. Human trafficking, smuggling illegal immigrants from Southeast Asia, this is precisely the sort of crime that Mr. Zhang would likely have useful background knowledge from his profession, Yes? And yet the criminals want you only to translate? Something is wrong there. Nearly a third of the population of New Jericho is of Asian descent, more than half of those who are ethnically Asian here are of Chinese descent originally. Mandarin and Cantonese are spoken by nearly a quarter of all residents of New Jericho. Many poorer and more desperate people would be willing to translate for a modest fee and with the risk of exposure that Mr. Zhang posed to the criminals. The translation could not have been the only reason for their choosing you, Mr. Zhang. Did they ask you anything else?"

Mr. Zhang grimaced and ran a hand through his hair, "I was very scared. I am sure that they said many things that I am not remembering well or correctly. But I am sorry, I do not remember them asking me anything associated with my profession or field of study."

"Freeman, are you maybe giving the criminals too much credit? You said that they could pick from nearly a quarter of the population of New Jericho. Perhaps that is what they did. Perhaps Mr. Zhang's profession is a simple accident of a random selection process. They may have simply grabbed anyone off the street who seemed likely to speak both Mandarin and Cantonese, and who also seemed likely to speak English. With the nations of Southeast Asia being one of the only sources of consistent immigrants for the west coast, many of those Chinese speaking residents you mentioned do not yet speak English well or at all. Mr. Zhang, dressed in western attire and clearly working at the New Jericho University may have been picked because the criminals could be confident that he spoke all of the languages that he needed to speak. His being able to speak Mandarin and Cantonese may not have been the deciding factor, but his ability to also speak English. Mr. Zhang's family has lived in New Jericho since before the fall, not every immigrant of Chinese descent can say that."

Harbinger frowned and scrunched up his nose, "Maybe. But something is missing, and thanks to the Royal Commission's efficiency, I can't examine the crime scene to look for physical evidence. Cassie, you always make this more difficult than it needs to be."

"The situation is what it is Freeman, whine to somebody else." Cassandra answered.

"Could the men have been trying to scare somebody else?" I asked, "How well known is Mr. Zhang? Might this have been a warning to the smuggler: Li Jing. Might the criminals have been saying, 'Look at us, we aren't afraid to snatch a university professor off the street and use him as a pawn. We might do anything. You don't want to oppose us.' I mean I'm just speculating. I don't mean to suggest I might have any experience using that as coercive method during the Canyonlands campaign. I'm shutting up now."

"The thought is not unreasonable," Blackwater said, "But the connection seems tenuous. Mr. Zhang did not know Ms. Li before they met in that warehouse and vice versa. Such a method of coercion works best when it is somebody one knows. If Zhang had been Ms. Li's son or father or lover, then that might be more suggestive- but no, I think not."

"She's not my type," Mr. Zhang said, smiling crookedly, "I'm sorry that I can't help you on the question as to why they choose me. I would tend to side with Ms. Major Harbinger. I cannot imagine anyone taking an interest in me personally. I assume I fit the bill that they were looking to fill."

"Fine, let's move on. Did you notice anything unusual about Li Jing. Things that might help us identify her during the investigation?"

"Oh yes," Mr. Zhang said, "I neglected to mention during my initial description. Ms. Li was wearing a classic Indian style Nehru jacket with a high neck mandarin collar, all in a rich cinnamon brown. At one point in the conversation, we heard a loud banging of metal- somebody moving a container or some sort into place against the outside of the warehouse and banging the metal warehouse wall. In any event, the noise startled Ms. Li and she turned sharply to look at the source of the clatter. When she did so, I noticed a tattoo on her neck on the left side, a red rounded rectangle with Hanzi characters depicted in negative space."

Harbinger nodded, "Like an old Chinese name stamp?"

"Precisely so," Mr. Zhang answered, "And the stamp translated to the words 'Red Flag'."

"The term used for the flag of the Pre-Fall Chinese Communist Party," I commented, "Do they still use the same flag or similar one in the Eternal People's Kingdom of Beijing?"

Blackwater shook his head, "They use a variation of the old Imperial Flag of the Qing Dynasty: yellow field and a dragon. They've included the five stars from the Communist flag, but the stars and the dragon are the only elements of the flag that are red. And the United Peasant's KIngdom uses a variation on the five color flag with elements of the Wuchang Uprising Flag as a Canton in the upper left of the flag. The RROC uses the white sun on blue. The Empire of Hong Kong still uses the white Hong Kong orchid on a field of red, but they don't call it the red flag. "

"It could be a reference to the old Communist flag though," Mr. Zhang said.

"It could, but if so, then the utility of the information is limited to a method of recognizing Ms. Li Jing when and if my brother finds her."

"What kind of timeline are we working under?" I asked, "Since nobody else seems to be talking about it."

"You until the day before Independence Day, four days," Blackwater said, "The government hopes to announce new trade deals at that time, and we need this resolved in time to show the ambassadors that we are taking the matter seriously. We need to conclusively show that the rumors of human smuggling are unsubstantiated, or that we have taken measures and curtailed and stamped out the problem."

Harbinger nodded and then pushed his chair back and stood up, "Well this has been very interesting of course, but I have to take me new partner and run. We have a crime scene to visit and corpses do tend to get old fast in this heat."

I look at him and then back to his sister, "You weren't worried before."

"I'm not worried now, but if I keep Sheriff Hurley waiting any longer I'll have to bring the pot-pourri before she'll let me in the crime scene."

"Freeman," Cassandra said slowly, "The Government is not paying you by the hour, nor is it paying you to ask questions. You get a flat fee for services rendered. There is no benefit in stretching this out. What are your theories."

"Cassie, I'm very clever- but this isn't a Victorian tea cosy mystery. I don't just deduce the answer magically by talking with one victim. Victims miss-remember. Victims miss-interpret. Victims simply miss things. Big things. Mr. Zhang is a very intelligent fellow. He's better educated that I, but he isn't a detective in either his training or his schooling. How he thinks events occured may bear little resemblance to the actual events. And even if he remembered the event with no errors, he does not know the motives of any of the other actors in this little drama or the identities and motives for those players acting upon them from off stage. I can speculate a lot, it looks like a smuggling ring, but might be nothing of the sort. It looks like a human smuggling ring, but might be nothing of the sort. There are a number bits of information that don't match, and I'm not going to speculate beyond what you must have been able to speculate on your own, because if I do that- you will extrapolate. And you're my sister Cassie, but you think like a headsman when you solve problems. And if her Majesty's pride and National Interest are at stake, and you that this can be averted by making a few people stop breathing- well I'm not going to be part of that unless I know with a high degree of confidence that those people deserved to stop breathing."

"You don't get to make that decision Freeman, this is a matter of National Security and you will disclose whatever you are ordered to disclose."

Harbinger pushed his chair in and turned away, but continued speaking, "Then let me say that I might speculate that Mr. Zhang made up the whole thing and kidnapped and strangled himself while following the edicts of ascended masters from the fifth dimension. Let me say I might also speculate that Mr. Zhang was on a ayuhuasca induced vision quest and all these things that he experienced took place with the Shadowlands, the mystic realms contained within the stories he has learned and internalized since childhood. Let me also speculate that you might be the guilty party, acting through intermediaries to prevent the resurrection of the Ancient Egyptian God Set. Shall I go on? You want my speculations, I can continue until any actual information is buried under a mass of my speculations."

Cassandra was silent and unmoving for forty five seconds, then said, "Freeman, I demand that you take these matters seriously."

"Everyone knows I'm a lunatic Cassie, perhaps you should have considered that before dragging me into your little game of empires and idiots. You want a swift end to the matter. You want it to go away so it can't bother reputations and power bases that you serve. I want to actually help the victims involved. If I give you incomplete information, I could end up being culpable for the death of a great many innocent victims whom you found politically expedient to eliminate."

"I will tell mother."

Harbinger stopped moving, and then he turned

"No, you won't. Because we both know that I would then have bring up Ashley."

The sibling stared at each other a long time. Blackwater produced a beautiful and ostentatious pocket watch and made a show of observing it. I counted to one hundred and seventy three before Cassandra spoke.

"The situation is not dire enough to warrant me making that sacrifice. Go play detective Freeman. But if you take too long providing me with what I need, then I will bring this to mother's attention- bring up Ashley if you must at that time. But know that such an action would an act of war between us."

"You are such a drama queen." Harbinger said and turned back around and skipped, actually skipped, out the door.

I saluted both Cassandra and Blackwater, and then turned to follow.

In the silence behind me I heard Blackwater, "I've heard he's quite good. But remember, you did decide to bring him into this matter. This does fall to you if he fails."