A Death in China Read online

  If these thugs were so efficient, he wondered, why hadn't they tied his hands as well? Why leave him free to explore the darkness for a way out- And then one of Stratton's hands found what it was supposed to. It was as big around as a baseball bat, yet taut and rippling. It was smooth to the touch, not oily, and it made a hushing sound as it glided across the floor of the dark closet.

  Stratton froze, and the amplified beat of his heart filled his ears. The creature had stopped moving; it was not bothered at all by the darkness.

  Stratton cowered. He felt that the thing could actually sense his pulse, and feel the heat of his terror.

  "You are stupid men. Leave me alone!" Kangmei clutched the cotton sheet to her neck. Her knees were drawn protectively to her chest.

  "Your father sent us," Deng said from under his brim. "Not for you, Kangmei, but for your American friend. He is a dangerous man, an enemy of the state. He is trying to use you to obtain information that would harm the deputy minister."

  "Lies!"

  "We did not know you were with him," Liao said in a nervous whisper. "And you can be sure that we will not make a public matter of this… incident."

  Kangmei's eyes flashed toward the closet, and the knot of hemp rope that secured the door.

  "You know what would happen if this episode became known," Liao continued. "You would lose your place at the language school. There might even be punishment at a labor camp for rehabilitation."

  "What do you want?"

  Deng nodded toward the closet. "The foreigner is our only interest. If you need to know more, ask your father. We are here to do a job. I am sorry that you had to become involved in this, Comrade."

  "Think of the shame and embarrassment for the deputy minister," Liao said.

  "Thom-as was a friend of my uncle. He is an art teacher on tour," Kangmei said.

  "That is all."

  "We see what we see, Comrade," Liao said.

  Kangmei flushed.

  "Put on your clothes. You will come with us and say nothing of what happened here," Liao said.

  "And what is happening?" she demanded.

  "Very unfortunate," Deng said. "Mr. Stratton, the American tourist, purchased a rare poisonous snake from a street vendor. His plan was to smuggle it out of China to the United States. It was a king cobra, the most terrible snake in the world, Comrade. Zoos in America would pay handsomely for a specimen-and the one meiguoren wanted to smuggle was certainly large and healthy."

  "Unfortunately," Liao broke in, "the American was careless. The snake bit him.

  He fell forward, shattering his nose on the floor-see here." With a blue canvas shoe, Liao daubed at a blood smear on the wood.

  "But the fall didn't matter," Deng said. "He probably was dead already. One drop of the king cobra's venom can kill a horse."

  Kangmei stared at the empty sack in Deng's hand and began to whimper. She dressed with her back to the cadres.

  "Come now, we will take you away," Deng said. "In the morning, we will notify the deputy minister. If you behave, my friend and I will leave the explanation of this up to you. It is not our place to tell the deputy minister that his daughter is a common whore."

  "A traitorous whore!" Liao barked, pushing her toward the door.

  "But Thom-as!" Kangmei cried.

  "We will come back in a little while," Deng said, "to arrange things."

  "Yes," Liao said with a satisfied smile. "The snake will require special attention."

  Tom Stratton inched into a corner of the closet and balled up like some gangly, naked autistic child. He ached and he itched, but he dared not stretch or scratch. Every motion was a clue, and every tiny noise a magnet for the huge killing machine that shared his darkness.

  He knew a little about cobras: that their vision was excellent, their sensory reflexes keen, all filtered through a magical flicking tongue that could find a rat or a lizard or a camouflaged toad in the blackest of Asian jungle nights.

  Man was not prey; he was an enemy. The cobra, Stratton knew, would not attack unless cornered and threatened.

  It was a small closet, but Stratton gladly surrendered most of it to the reptile. During the argument outside the door, it had moved back and forth, brushing silkily against his feet and legs. Occasionally, its shadow crossed the floor in such a way that it obliterated the crack of light beneath the door. In those moments of total darkness, Stratton would close his eyes, for he feared an unseen strike at his face, and strained to listen for the cobra's breathing. He could hear nothing. In and out, the tongue was reading him, measuring him, taking his temperature… all in silence.

  It was a superb creature, a mystical creature.

  When the door to the hotel room closed, and Kangmei and her captors were gone, the snake seemed to settle down in a corner of its own. In his mind's eye, Stratton could see its thick olive coils-and the hooded head, motionless and erect.

  After an hour, Stratton decided that the snake was as relaxed as it was ever going to be. He edged on his buttocks across the dusty floor, inches at a time, pausing several moments between moves. From the corner where he imagined that the cobra slept there came no sound.

  Stratton eased himself up to the door. His right hand spidered slowly across the wood until it found the knob. He twisted and pushed-but the door would not budge. Stratton tried again, this time with his shoulder as a buttress. The door held fast. The problem was breaking it down without arousing the cobra.

  Stratton's knees cracked loudly as he struggled to his feet. The ankle ropes had been a cinch, even in the darkness. If he could just get out of the goddamn closet, he would be free.

  He was careful not to move his legs; instead, he pivoted from the waist up, ramming the door with his upper body. Stratton could feel the hinges weaken. He rammed again, a bayonet-thrust without the sword. And once more with all of his hundred ninety pounds.

  On Stratton's third try the snake struck. He heard the hiss and felt the passing breath. Stratton froze. The cobra struck again, biting air. Six inches to the left and the fangs would have pierced Stratton's groin.

  The cobra was angry. The sweat, the heat of human exertion, the blood racing through Stratton's body as he pounded the door-all this had ignited the snake's primal reflex.

  Instinctively, Stratton jumped to his left, crashing into a suit of clothes that hung from a dowel. The snake followed. Once, ssshhhhhh, in the air. Again, closer, a deadly sibilance two inches from Stratton's ear. And once more, higher and longer…

  Stratton pressed his head against the wall; he held himself there to stay out of range. Now he heard a different sound. The cobra was struggling in front of him, thrashing wildly in the folds of clothing. Stratton knew instantly what had happened. Its fangs were hung in the fabric. The beast was stuck like a dart on cork.

  He reached out and found the snake. He grabbed it like a rope, working upward, hand-over-hand toward the frantic lethal head. Stratton found the cobra's hood.

  It seemed enormous, but it folded smoothly in his grip. Stratton kneaded his way to the head.

  Both hands yanked the cobra down to the floor of the closet. Squeezing its neck with all of his strength, he threw his body on the writhing coils. The cobra took twelve and one-half minutes to die. Stratton knew. He counted every second.

  "Thomas! I hear you in there." Alice Dempsey paced the hallway outside the hotel room. Her voice dripped with annoyance. "You missed breakfast again, and you're about to miss the bus." Alice despised disorder; Stratton embodied it. In her mind, she had already composed a stern letter to his dean. The trip was a farce as far as Stratton went. He had disappeared for days at a time. He had openly taunted his colleagues. He had insulted the Chinese and even fought with them, for God's sake. Stratton would live to regret his inexcusable behavior.

  "Come on!"

  Alice knocked again. This time the door swung open on its own. Two Chinese strangers stood there. One wore a Mao cap pulled down low over his eyes.

  "Where's Mr. Stratton?"
Alice demanded. She sensed trouble.

  The man with the cap shrugged and said nothing.

  "Do you understand English?"

  The other man, younger than the first, shook his head no. Alice took a step inside. The bed had been slept in, but the room held no sign of Stratton. The drawers in the bureau had been drawn half open. The closet door was ajar-it too was empty-but something caught Alice's eye: a length of heavy rope hung from the outside doorknob. In one corner of the room appeared to be another length of rope, brownish green in color, and glossy, as if it were made of plastic.

  Curious, Alice stepped forward for a closer look.

  She let out a hoarse scream when she saw that the coil of rope was actually a large dead snake.

  The man with the Mao cap pointed to the reptile and then tapped his chest proudly.

  "You killed it?" Alice gasped.

  The man nodded excitedly and pointed at his friend. Then he performed a brief pantomime, clubbing at the floor with an imaginary truncheon. Then he pointed at the cobra again and grinned.

  Alice returned a nervous smile. "Well, you both are very brave. But where has Mr. Stratton gone? Have you seen him?"

  The men's faces went blank.

  "Weiguoren," Alice said, laboring over each syllable.

  "Wei," answered the man in the Mao cap. It was as good as a shrug.

  Alice bowed goodbye and left the room, grumbling. No one on the bus would believe this.

  Stratton poured himself a large cup of hot tea and drank it quickly; the train would lurch to a start any second, and he didn't want the steaming cup to spill in his lap. That the soft-class compartment was unoccupied was his second stroke of luck this morning. The first had been talking his way onto the Peking-bound train. His papers showed that he was not routed back to Peking, and the clerk at the station had noticed the discrepancy at first glance. She had called for an interpreter, who had explained that Stratton could not leave Xian until the date prescribed on his papers. Stratton had responded with a hideously graphic story about food poisoning from some bad snails; he even interrupted the discussion and run to the restroom, pretending to be sick. It was a good performance, and both the clerk and the translator had solemnly agreed that he should return to Peking at once for rest and medical treatment.

  Now, alone on the train and seemingly safe, Stratton had time to think.

  David-dead at the hands of his own brother. Kangmei-arrested, maybe worse. Then there was the deputy minister, Wang Bin-frightened enough to order the murder of an American tourist. But why?

  At the dig, Kangmei's friend had observed Wang Bin struggling for David's camera. This puzzled Stratton, for the site had been photographed extensively, and the pictures had been published throughout the world. Evidently David had found something extraordinary-something forbidden.

  The inventory of his belongings provided by the American Embassy listed three unexposed rolls of film. To Stratton, the explanation was simple: Wang Bin had confiscated all the film his brother had shot during his homecoming.

  A shrill chorus of military music exploded from a scratchy speaker in Stratton's compartment. He groped for the dial and tried to turn it off; the marching song faded, but it would not die. He glanced at his wristwatch and noticed that the train was already ten minutes late for departure.

  Stratton was uneasy. Next time, he knew, Wang Bin's methods would be less diabolical, but more dependable than a killer snake. Once back in Peking, Stratton would make a beeline for the embassy and enlist Linda's help.

  A waiter knocked lightly on the door of the compartment. He brought Stratton a hand towel and a small lumpy pillow. Stratton thanked him and said, "Are we leaving soon?"

  "Soon," the waiter answered politely. He stared at Stratton's swollen nose as he backed out.

  "Is there some kind of mechanical problem?"

  "Soon," the waiter repeated, disappearing.

  Through the window Stratton scanned the empty station ramp. The train was loaded. Any minute now… he sighed, and stretched his legs on the long seat.

  Stratton toyed with his newfound scenario. Wang Bin had invited his brother to China, hoping to recruit David into a smuggling scheme. As a courier, perhaps, for ancient artifacts. Or maybe Wang Bin simply needed a trusted person to act as a broker for the priceless contraband back in the States.

  Together they visited the Qin tombs. Wang Bin gave David the grand tour-maybe more. David took some pictures. Wang Bin made his pitch, but David rebuffed him.

  The deputy minister was enraged, panic-stricken. Stratton could easily imagine Wang Bin's reaction if David had threatened-as he probably did-to report his greedy brother to the authorities in Peking.

  Stratton recalled Kangmei's conversation with her uncle on the night of his death: He said that Wang Bin was doing something very wrong… He was horrified that his brother would attempt such a thing. Yes, the old professor's indignation would have been volcanic. And what if, Stratton wondered, David had learned something so scandalous that it could have sent the deputy minister to prison?

  Wouldn't that be enough to make one brother murder another?

  Stratton finished his tea and set the empty cup on the table. The train still had not moved, but in his ruminations Stratton had forgotten his impatience.

  He was sure now. He had figured it out.

  To Wang Bin, it must have seemed a simple scheme, wonderfully pragmatic.

  Faithful brother David returns home from his China trip, a sword or vase or delicate clay mask packed in his personal luggage. The proper-looking receipts would be provided, of course-and where would one ever encounter a customs officer expert enough, or bold enough, to challenge such artifacts?

  Once safely in the United States, any large museum would pay magnificently and ask precious few questions. David would be delighted for his cut, however small.

  After all, who can retire comfortably on a meager university pension?

  As for the rest of the money, Wang Bin's share: a bank draft to a numbered account in Zurich, and from there, a transfer to Hong Kong. There were a few creative ways to get it actually back into Peking, but Stratton figured that Hong Kong would have been close enough for the deputy minister.

  A neat scheme, Stratton thought, until David Wang balked. Then there was only one thing his fearful brother could do.

  Stratton stood up and stretched. Powell would never believe it. With Linda Greer, he had a better chance. By now, she would have learned of his escapade with the cadres in the Red Flag limousine. Her feelers would be out on the street; friendly eyes would be looking for him. Stratton figured that Wang Bin was not the only person who now wanted him out of China.

  He was not frightened for himself, but he worried for Kangmei. Because of who she was, she probably would not be killed. Still, her life could be ruined.

  There was no telling what her penance would be. In Kangmei's case, Stratton reflected sadly, there would be no one to intervene.

  Someone tapped on the door.

  "More tea?"

  "No, thank you," Stratton said, surprised at the sound of hard-learned English.

  "Can you tell me when we're leaving?"

  The door opened. "Now," said the man in the Mao cap. He pointed a Russian-made pistol at Stratton's face. The American raised his arms. Liao followed Deng through the door.

  The three men stood awkwardly together in the small compartment, Stratton awaiting directions. He could not believe they would shoot him on a crowded morning train.

  "Where to?" he asked after a few moments.

  "Off train," Deng said, but he didn't move.

  "Nose broke," Liao said with a perceptive sneer. He pointed at Stratton's face.

  "Yeah, well, I'm sorry about your pet snake," Stratton muttered.

  Deng lowered the pistol from Stratton's head and held it at waist level, trained on the American's midsection.

  "I'll go quietly, don't worry," Stratton said. The Chinese traded glances. "How long are we going to stan
d here?" Stratton asked.

  "Go now," said Deng, pulling the trigger.

  The bullet lifted Tom Stratton and propelled him backward into the wall of the compartment. His head cracked against a steel bunk and he rag-dolled forward into a heap on the floor. Day became night. The Chinese demons screamed in Stratton's ears until his mind went limp and cold in a terrible sleep.

  CHAPTER 11

  "We've got a pair of nasty little problems on our hands, don't we?" The station chief drummed his pudgy gray fingers on the desk. He let out a sigh of disgust.

  "Wang Bin and Stratton."

  Linda Greer was reading a file. She wore glasses, forcing herself to fix on the words. She fought off despair.

  "Why did the deputy minister want your friend out of the country so badly? Think of it: We tell him quite politely that Mr. Stratton will not be accompanying his brother's body back to the United States-and what does he do? He sends a couple of goons to the hotel. Why?" The station chief did not wait to hear any theories. "Because he knows. Linda, somehow Wang Bin got hold of Stratton's service record. He knows about Man-ling."

  Linda shook her head slowly and set the file on the desk. "It's more than that.

  It's got to be."

  "Damn, the coffee's cold already. Why does it have to be more than that?"

  "Suppose Wang Bin knows about Stratton's brief incursion back in 1971," Linda began. "Wouldn't it be easier, and more effective, to make a formal request: 'This man is an undesirable and we would like him to leave China at once'? A sticky little deportation problem, nothing more. We've handled stuff like that in the past. Now this," she said, motioning toward the file, "is pretty clumsy, sir. Chasing Stratton all over the city with a goddamn Red Flag, then trying to run him over in the street… that's not the style of this bureaucracy, sir. It's too messy. Reckless. Something like that might happen in Moscow-"

  "In a blue moon!" the station chief huffed.

  "-but never in Peking. The police or the PLA could have captured Stratton in a matter of minutes."

  The phone rang once. The station chief spoke briefly and hung up. "So what are you saying, Linda? That this was a private matter between Wang and Stratton? An informal abduction?"