Inspector Chen and the Private Kitchen Murder Read online

  Contents

  Cover

  Also by Qiu Xiaolong

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Day One

  Day Two

  Day Three

  Day Four

  Day Five

  Day Six

  Day Seven

  Acknowledgments

  Also by Qiu Xiaolong

  The Inspector Chen mysteries

  DEATH OF A RED HEROINE

  A LOYAL CHARACTER DANCER

  WHEN RED IS BLACK

  A CASE OF TWO CITIES

  RED MANDARIN DRESS

  THE MAO CASE

  YEARS OF RED DUST (short story collection)

  DON’T CRY, TAI LAKE

  THE ENIGMA OF CHINA

  SHANGHAI REDEMPTION

  HOLD YOUR BREATH, CHINA *

  BECOMING INSPECTOR CHEN *

  * available from Severn House

  INSPECTOR CHEN AND THE PRIVATE KITCHEN MURDER

  Qiu Xiaolong

  This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

  First world edition published in Great Britain and the USA in 2021

  by Severn House, an imprint of Canongate Books Ltd,

  14 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1TE.

  Trade paperback edition first published in Great Britain and the USA in 2022

  by Severn House, an imprint of Canongate Books Ltd.

  This eBook edition first published in 2021 by Severn House,

  an imprint of Canongate Books Ltd.

  severnhouse.com

  Copyright © Qiu Xiaolong, 2021

  All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. The right of Qiu Xiaolong to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988.

  British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

  A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

  ISBN-13: 978-0-7278-5071-3 (cased)

  ISBN-13: 978-1-78029-816-0 (trade paper)

  ISBN-13: 978-1-4483-0554-4 (e-book)

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Except where actual historical events and characters are being described for the storyline of this novel, all situations in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is purely coincidental.

  This eBook produced by

  Palimpsest Book Production Limited,

  Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland

  To Xiaohui, whose friendship encourages Inspector Chen to go on during the increasingly difficult days in China.

  DAY ONE

  Chen Cao, the ex-chief inspector of the Shanghai Police Bureau, now the director of the Shanghai Judicial System Reform Office – though currently on ‘convalescent leave’ – woke with a start.

  It was just one of the weird dreams he had been having of late. He had found himself in a magnificent imperial court with gigantic dragon-embossed pillars, but the people groveling in front of the glittering throne were dressed in contemporary style – mostly in suits or Mao jackets rather than any ancient costumes. Unsure about the identity of the one perching majestically on the throne, he was debating with himself whether to kneel down like the others when, all of a sudden, a golden dragon tore itself violently from a vermilion-painted pillar, spitting fire, soaring over the court in the midst of the screaming and stampeding people. With the entire palace shaking, the dragon shot straight up through the roof—

  Breaking into a cold sweat, Chen tried to reassure himself that it was simply a nightmare, but an elusive feeling of unease lingered on in spite of himself.

  Yet why should he care anymore?

  ‘You do not hope to turn again …’ Chen murmured a half-forgotten line, yawning with the knowledge that there was nothing urgent for him to do, and glancing up at the lazy sunlight streaming in through the checked curtains, which cast dubious shadows at the beginning of another day.

  For once he was in no hurry to get up. On the contrary, he was supposed to stay relaxed in the dramatically changed circumstances.

  Nominally he was the director of the new office, though it was a position of no real power after he had been removed from the police bureau and put on convalescent leave. A role specially designed for a Party cadre regarded by the higher authorities as unfit for the position, yet whom it was unwise to fire right away. After a leave of uncertain length, however, it could be a different story and he would sink into oblivion.

  With the term ‘convalescent leave’ an unmistakable signal that something was politically wrong with the ex-inspector, speculation spread online like uncontrollable wild weeds, in spite of the frantic governmental Internet control.

  According to one blog post, it was not necessarily without a silver lining, however, since the term might also be read as an indication that ‘Chief Inspector Chen was not yet totally finished, not without the possibility of staging a comeback in the changed circumstances’.

  Turning in his bed, Chen thought he knew better. He reached for his cellphone on the nightstand. Sure enough, there was a short online article from Wenhui Daily about the Chinese writers meeting with the French writers’ delegation in the Shanghai Writers’ Association. Among the Chinese names, Chen’s appeared as well as his new title, with ‘convalescent leave’ added in brackets. Underneath the news, several netizens had simply copied the phrase ‘convalescent leave’ along with a variety of emojis such as ‘grimace’ or ‘rage’. One had actually chosen that of ‘burial’, showing a white-faced clown vigorously digging a grave, as in a Shakespearian play.

  Chen had ruffled feathers in one of his recent anti-corruption investigations, so his ‘burial’ was seen as only a matter of time. The news about his appearance on an irrelevant occasion was, more likely than not, nothing but a reassuring gesture to the people who still wanted him to stay on as one of the few good, honest cops.

  He took a pack of cigarettes out of the drawer – Red Generation, another of the ‘Red’ products suddenly popular again in China – but he put it back without lighting one.

  The change in China’s political landscape could not have appeared more ominous. One of the ‘Red princes’ was now sitting on the throne, and Chen’s investigations had involved some other related Red princes. Those investigations, while hailed as ‘our great, glorious Party’s determination to fight corruption at whatever level’ in the official media, could not but have been seen as acceptable to those in power.

  Politics aside, a short leave might not be too bad an idea for him. He needed a break, having worked for years under the unrelenting stress of so many ‘special cases’. He was becoming easily tired, constantly highly strung, and restless.

  Rather than get up for a cup of coffee, he decided to stay in his bed.

  His hand reached out to the nightstand again. This time he picked up a copy of a Judge Dee novel in English. It might be just as well for him to read throughout a day like this. With his head propped against a couple of pillows, he started reading in leisure – truly like one on le
ave.

  The novel had been given to him by a French writer named Bertrand at the meeting mentioned in the Wenhui Daily. In the conference room of the Shanghai Writers’ Association, Bertrand had said to him with a grin, ‘I finished reading it on the plane. An excellent book. I’m leaving it to you, Chief Inspector Chen. You may be a better reader for the Judge Dee novel, what with your knowledge of classical Tang dynasty poetry and your expertise in police investigation in China.’

  Chen thanked him profusely, took over the book, and said in earnest, ‘In my college years, one of my roommates discovered the series by Van Gulik and raved about it for weeks, yet without ever lending me a copy. Thanks to you, I’m going to read it.’

  ‘Judge Dee is so popular among Western readers. Quite a number of French writers have been writing and rewriting the Judge Dee stories. But this is an original one by Van Gulik. Poets and Murder. Let me know what you think of it – the opinions of an ace inspector in the city of Shanghai, a modernist poet, and a Judge Dee of the twenty-first century.’

  ‘Come on. I’m no judge nor …’ He did not finish the sentence by saying the word ‘inspector’, which he was not anymore; but he was not yet used to not being an inspector, either. And he saw no point elaborating on the complicated Chinese politics to a visiting French writer.

  In the morning light, Chen immediately noted something intriguing in the title of the book: the Poets, plural – so more than one involved in a Tang murder case?

  The Tang dynasty, the peak of classical Chinese poetry, had produced a number of outstanding poets, but surely not that many poet murderers.

  So how come a Chinese poetry-loving sinologist like Gulik would have chosen to write a murder investigation set among the Tang dynasty poets?

  Leafing through the pages, he found several poets in the novel, among them a young, beautiful poetess who appeared to be a likely suspect in a bizarre murder case.

  If she alone had been involved, then why the plural Poets? There seemed to be two or three cases going on in parallel, along with a mysterious fox spirit prowling in the background. How could all of them have been related to one another?

  Resisting the temptation to fast-forward to the story’s ending, he began to read from the beginning in earnest.

  The opening of the novel proved to be far more riveting than he had expected. It was surprisingly relevant to him for at least three reasons: it was about poets, it was about murders, and it was about a legendary Chinese investigator in the Tang dynasty. Although regarding the last aspect, the ex-chief inspector was not that sure.

  So why not spend the day in bed, reading all the way to the last page of the mystery?

  Before Chen could make too much headway with the book, a phone call came in. It was Detective Yu, his long-time partner in the bureau. With Chen assigned to the job in the new office, Yu was serving as acting head of the ‘special case squad’, in which the two had worked closely together for years.

  ‘What’s up, Yu?’

  ‘My father called me asking for your special cellphone number, but he would not tell me why.’

  It was like an alarm clock beginning to ring in the back of his mind. The retired cop nicknamed Old Hunter must have called for a reason, which he did not even want to reveal to his son, not merely a long-time partner in the police bureau, but a good friend of Chen’s. The request for his special phone number sounded anything but reassuring.

  ‘Well, Old Hunter must be up to one of his tricks, sounding mysterious like a Suzhou opera. Don’t worry about that. How are things in the bureau, Yu?’

  ‘Nothing special. Party Secretary Li has asked about you several times, but it’s just like a skunk greeting a rooster, we both know what he’s really after. Why should I tell him anything about you? In fact, I haven’t seen you for days.’

  ‘I’m doing fine, you know.’

  ‘So you’re going to work in your new office soon?’

  ‘Well, it’s not up to the doctor to say whether I’m well enough for the job, but up to the Party authorities, ultimately, to tell the doctor what he is supposed to tell me.’

  ‘I’ll be damned.’

  ‘It’s a leave I need anyway. At least I have time to do some good reading in leisure. And I like it.’

  Putting down the phone, Chen picked up the book again.

  He was beginning to feel a bit curious about Judge Dee for a different reason.

  As far as he knew, Dee in real life was not exactly a judge, nor an inspector. In his long official career, Dee might have worked as a judge on occasions, showing his extraordinary talents in ruling over difficult cases. But first and foremost, Dee was a successful politician. At one time he was as high ranked as the prime minister, playing a pivotal role in the complicated politics of the Tang dynasty.

  The little Chen knew of Dee’s official career came from his translation of the Tang dynasty poetry, during his research into this period of history, thus coming across the name of Dee Renjie in the background. Dee was highly thought of as a capable, honest official at a critical moment when the ambitious Empress Wu was seeking to turn the Tang dynasty of the Li family into the Zhou dynasty of the Wu family. A realistic Confucianist, Dee managed to serve under her, knowing better than to rise in futile rebellion, but at the same time trying his best to keep the line of the Li family unbroken. His perseverance led to the eventual restoration of the Tang dynasty under the Lis, which happened shortly after Dee’s death.

  With his limited historical knowledge, however, the ex-inspector knew he was not in a position to tell what Dee really was.

  For that matter, Chen was barely in a position to tell what he really was himself?

  He made an effort to pull himself out of self-pity and went on with the reading.

  Then he became fascinated not just by the legendary Tang figure, or the double or triple murders under Dee’s investigation in the novel. There was something else pleasantly surprising. In those crime novels he had read, no main characters ever wrote poems, not even Inspector Adam Dalgliesh in the series penned by P.D. James, who portrays Dalgliesh as a published poet without ever producing a single line throughout the series.

  Not so with this Judge Dee novel. Some of the poems in it struck Chen as authentic. It was not unimaginable for a renowned sinologist like Gulik, with all the background research he must have done for the book.

  It did not take long for Chen to come across a poem seemingly so familiar to him, though he failed to recollect any clue as to its authorship.

  Bitterly I search for right words

  for this poem, written under my lamp,

  I cannot sleep the long night,

  fearing the lonely coverlets.

  In the garden,

  in the soft rustling of the autumn leaves.

  The moon shines forlornly

  through the gauze window panes.

  Nor was he sure whether the lines quoted in the murder story comprised the entire poem. The question turned into an annoying puzzle for Chen, like an insistent fly buzzing around his ears.

  Shaking his head, he resumed his reading, but he was not meant to read on any longer that morning.

  His special cellphone rang. It was a new, silver-colored one, with a chip purchased just a week earlier, and its number known only to three or four people he trusted. He picked it up in haste.

  ‘Long time no see, Chief Inspector Chen. How about having a cup of Dragon Well tea with me?’

  It was Old Hunter, a retired cop turned part-time private investigator. It was probably a well-meant invitation from the old man who had learned about his trouble.

  ‘That will be great, Old Hunter. Where?’

  ‘Let’s go to People’s Park. You remember the “birds’ corner”, don’t you? Not far from it there’s another one called the “matching corner”. People have different names for it. “Love corner”, “mating corner” or “marriage-arranging corner”. Just to name a few I can think of. Whatever the names, the corner is listed as one of th
e must-see hot spots in the latest Shanghai tourist guidebook. Of course, I’m not interested in it for myself. But you have heard of my daughter’s problem, haven’t you? She is in her late thirties, a single mother, staying with us in the back room of the old shikumen house. I want to take a look at the corner for her, and you may give me some suggestions there. Indeed, like the blue ocean having turned into the green mulberry field, the world has changed too much for an old, old-fashioned man like me.’

  True to his other nickname of Suzhou Opera Singer, Old Hunter could keep gushing on and on, rambling with continuous digressions and quoting proverbs and fables like a chef generously adding peppers. Chen listened with a touch of amusement. He had heard about this matching corner and about the problems of Old Hunter’s daughter, too. After her divorce, the old man had had no objection to her moving back in with her little boy, but what worried him was her wallowing in self-pity all day long in the dark, damp back room, instead of trying to turn over a new leaf for herself.

  But was Old Hunter really that anxious to find someone in the park for her? Or for the ex-inspector too, who remained a bachelor? The old man had talked to him about it a couple of times before. Holding the phone, Chen knew that his plan to lie in bed reading for the day was finished.

  ‘We’ll take a good walk in the park,’ Old Hunter was going on, ‘and a cup of excellent tea afterwards. Guess what? I know the owner of a hot water house on Xinchang Road, just across Nanjing Road. I’ll bring in the genuine Dragon Well tea with me. The place also serves earthen oven cakes, salty and sweet, still hand-baked in a traditional way.’

  ‘I’ll be there, Old Hunter, in about half an hour.’

  ‘Great. It’s close to the number five entrance of the park, you know.’

  Getting up, Chen put a bookmark reluctantly among the pages of Poets and Murder.

  Old Hunter was waiting for Chen in front of the park, standing by the side entrance close to the ex-Shanghai Library, which had become something similar to an exhibition center for the ever-changing city.