Inspector Chen and the Private Kitchen Murder: Library Edition by Qiu Xiaolong

Inspector Chen and the Private Kitchen Murder: Library Edition by Qiu Xiaolong

Author:Qiu, Xiaolong [Qiu, Xiaolong]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781705048917
Amazon: 1705048919
Goodreads: 181379512
Publisher: Recorded Books
Published: 2021-06-07T23:00:00+00:00


DAY THREE

Jin was stepping into the office at eight thirty in the morning, humming, when she got a text message from a WeChat friend named Yaping.

‘Just read your message from last night. Guess who else was at Min’s party that night? Kong Jie, the editor-in-chief of Wenhui Daily. I’ve learned from my cousin working in the newspaper. It’s confidential. The Party authorities made a point of withholding the names of the people attending the dinner party that night.’

With Wenhui’s number easily available on the Internet, Jin picked up the phone. Her call was transferred to Kong.

But Kong said no to her request for an interview on the grounds of his being too busy with a major conference just getting under way in Beijing. Upon learning that she worked for Chen in the new office, he changed his tune.

‘Oh, you should have told me earlier, Jin. Director Chen and I talked just yesterday about a Tang dynasty story he was going to write – possibly for our newspaper.’

‘A Judge Dee story?’

‘That’s right. He is really a wonderful boss to work with, isn’t he?’ Kong then added, ‘I’ll let you know about my schedule when the conference is over.’

It was still a no, Jin knew, putting down the phone. Chen, too, had contacted Kong, which she supposed was not just for the discussion of a Judge Dee story.

She thought about modifying her approach by going to visit the other possible interviewees directly instead of making a phone call first. She was nobody, but those people at Min’s private kitchen dinner party were somebodies. They saw no point meeting with a little secretary in the midst of a sensitive case.

And to the interview list she added Rong, though he had not been at the dinner party that night. Chen had mentioned him, ‘coincidentally’, in parallel to the man rejected by Xuanji in the Tang dynasty case.

Chen was startled out of another dream by a weird screaming sound.

He remained so disoriented that it took him more than a minute to glance at the alarm clock, which showed it was already nine thirty. He had had a hard time falling asleep the previous night, and around four thirty, with the first gray light peeping through the window, he had taken two more sleeping pills.

In the glaring sunlight, he realized that the sound was coming from his cellphone buried under a pile of newspapers, still shrilling. He picked it up in a hurry.

‘Huang was killed,’ Old Hunter was practically shouting into the phone. ‘The antique collector who had been originally invited to the dinner that night, but unable to attend for some unknown reason, you remember?’

Of course he remembered. Just the previous morning, the two of them had been together at the Old Half Place, enjoying the Xiao pork noodles, and talking about the antique business – among other things.

‘How?’

‘I don’t know any details yet, but his body was found early this morning in a side street.’

‘In a side street where?’

‘Quite a distance from his home.’

‘You



Download



Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.