The Beijing Opera Murder by Chris West

Author:Chris West [West, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sharpe Books
Published: 2020-12-28T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Usually, after he had drunk a bit, Bao had the same dream, of running from a phalanx of armed soldiers but getting no further away from them. Last night, he and Zhao had put away several Tsingtaos and a tumbler of Maotai spirit, but Bao was dreaming of food. A bowl of decently-cooked rice, sea-cucumber stuffed with minced pork and ginger, deep-fried Yellow River carp in black rice-vinegar sauce. Then a siren started up, barging its way into his feast like an uninvited guest. It wouldn’t stop; the meal was a memory; he sat up and rubbed his eyes.

Outside, figures were running. Bao threw on his uniform and staggered out into the early morning air.

‘What’s up?’

‘Accident,’ said someone.

A crowd had gathered by the gate. He went over to join them.

‘One of your people,’ said another spectator. ‘Fell off the mountain.’

Bao, instantly cured of last night’s excess, ran back to the investigation office. It was locked. His imagination raced. It wouldn’t be Chen; the team-leader rarely left his office. If anyone went up the mountain, it was usually Zhao or Fang.

Zhao appeared. ‘What’s it all about?’

‘Don’t know. Someone’s fallen off the cliff.’

Zhao raised his eyebrows. ‘Had to happen, didn’t it? Those stupid bloody archaeologists!’

‘It’s one of ours, apparently.’

‘What? Who?’

A party of men could be seen approaching the camp. The two policemen walked down to the gate, arriving at about the same time as the stretcher-bearers. The body was covered with a sheet.

‘Where are you taking him?’ asked Bao.

‘Don’t know, sir,’ one of the men replied. He looked pale and his breath smelt of vomit.

‘Use the main workroom,’ said Zhao. ‘They’ll have to stop fiddling with bits of pottery for the day.’

A man ran ahead to warn Professor Qiao. Bao walked alongside the body.

‘Who was it?’ he asked the stretcher-bearers.

‘We’re not quite sure.’

They cleared a space in the workroom and put the body down. Bao pulled back the cover. Dr Jian, who had been watching with interest suddenly ran out of the room. Bao grimaced, thinking he recognized the victim. He went through the pockets. He’d been correct. It was Chief Security Officer Wu.

The man who had found the body was a Private Han. When Bao suggested he show him the place where he’d made the discovery, the lad looked less than enthusiastic.

‘You’ll have to get used to the sight of death if you’re going to be a soldier,’ Bao said as they walked across the dry upper valley.

‘Yes, sir,’ Han replied. He was lanky and delicate featured, not really the fighting type. Bao seemed to recall that Han came from a good family. They had probably pressurized him into joining up.

Bao took him through his story again. ‘You’d gone for a walk, and heard a scream. You looked up, and saw Wu falling. Correct?’

Han nodded.

‘Did you look up to check where he’d fallen from and if there was any activity up there?’

‘No, sir.’

Bao hoped the lad wouldn’t try and transfer from the Army to the police.

They reached the scree at the foot of the mountain.

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