In honor of the 25th anniversary of the Insurrection at #Tianamen Square, I am posting a fictional #short story I wrote a couple of years ago. It is a little long for a blog (4,000 words), so I’m breaking it down into five parts. If you missed Part 1, scroll down. It is titled, Insurrection at Tiananmen Square. [It contains violence and adult material.] Here is part 2.
When he arrived at the Springfield station, Wang rushed outside to grab a cab. He stopped when he heard his name called.
“Mr. Wang? Mr. Li Wang?”
Wang turned to face a heavyset man in a dark suit with a uniformed police officer behind him. “Yes, I am Mr. Li. Wang is my first name.”
“Yes, sir, Mr. Li. I’m detective Brett Montgomery,” replied the dark suit, flashing his badge. “I asked Ms. Cho to call you. I thought it best if I met you here.”
“What has happened? Is Dong hurt? Is Judy okay? Can we go right away?”
“Sir, that is not a good idea. Mr. Yang has been shot. Ms. Cho is okay. The apartment is a crime scene, and we don’t want to go there.”
“Is he going to be okay?”
“No, sir. He is dead.”
“Oh, my God!”
“Sorry sir, but I must ask you some questions. Can I buy you coffee?”
“Tea! I never picked up the coffee habit.”
Brett dismissed the police officer. Brett and Wang found a bagel shop, picked up coffee and tea and sat down at a table as far from other people as possible.
Brett started, “First, I will explain as much as we know, Mr. Li.”
“Thanks. Call me Wang. I did not catch your name.”
“It’s Detective Brett Montgomery. Here is what we know. Judy left the apartment. When she came back, the door was unlocked. She found Mr. Yang dead with what appeared to be a self-inflected gunshot wound. A suicide note was on the printer, unsigned. The police thought it was a suicide, but there are some discrepancies. That’s when they called me.”
Wang stopped stirring his tea. “What discrepancies?”
Brett handed him a sheet of paper. “This is the suicide note.”
Wang read aloud, “I can no longer live with myself. I have betrayed China. I am ashamed. Tell Wang to place a small plant on my grave.”
Wang said, “No one will believe that Dong wrote this. He was proud of what he did. He bragged about it.”
Brett put the note in his pocket. “That’s not all. The gun was in Dong’s right hand.”
“His right hand? Dong was left handed.”
“Correct. Judy told us. He was murdered, but there was no sign of forced entry. He must have known his killer. He mentioned your name in the note, so we wanted to question you. Did Dong have any enemies?”
Wang answered, “Yes, he had enemies, powerful enemies. It will take some explaining.”
“I am all ears.”
“You heard of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989?”
“Yes. I was a young rookie at the time.”
“Well, Dong, I, and a few others were student leaders at China University. We encouraged and led some of the demonstrations. Do you recall the ‘Tank Man’? His picture was in all the papers.”
“You mean the picture of a man standing in front of a column of tanks?”
“Yes. Yang Dong was the Tank Man.”
“Really? I thought it was the bravest act I ever saw. I suppose that the Chinese would like him dead.”
“Few people knew who he was, or where he lived. We all swore not to tell anyone for fear of reprisals against relatives still in China.”
“Do you think that the secret police had him killed after 20 years?”
“Yes. The MSS has a long memory, and never forgives.”
After he finished making notes, Brett asked, “How did the Tank Man end up here?”
“After the Tiananmen Square massacre, the Ministry of State Security began to hunt down all the leaders. The government declared the demonstration an insurrection, and tried us in absentia. They found us guilty, and sentenced us to be executed. That is when we left. Many of us asked for, and received, political asylum in the US.”
“Then you are all in danger. I will need a list. I will contact the CIA for help. Who else might the MSS be interested in eliminating?”
“Professor Zhou Chen would be high on their list. He teaches at the American University. Oh, I just remembered someone new. She just arrived two days ago. Her name is Miao Tian.”
Brett asked, “Where is she now? She may be in danger.”
“She lives in China. The MSS can arrest her any time they want. Besides, I don’t know where she is. She’ll be back in a few days.”
“Isn’t it strange that she shows up just two days before Dong’s death?” asked Brett.
“No, it is just a coincidence.”
“Just the same, we need to check her out,” said Brett.
“Professor Zhou has contacts in China. I’ll see if he can verify her story.”
Brett handed Wang his card. “Can you e-mail the list to me?”
“It won’t take long to put one together. I have a web site for expatriates like myself. I’ll have to warn everyone.”
Brett thought for a moment and said, “Don’t do that just yet. Someone told the MSS about Dong. We don’t want to tip him off in case he is on your e-mail list.”
“You’re right! I had not even thought of that.”
Brett dropped Wang off at his condominium to put together names and addresses. Wang decide to call Zhou Chen who had been contacted by Judy. He told him about running into Miao Tian, and asked him to check out her story about working as a recruiter. The next day Chen called back to say that Tian’s story checked out. She had been at the university for five years. Wang passed the information to Brett.
When he arrived at the Springfield station, Wang rushed outside to grab a cab. He stopped when he heard his name called.
“Mr. Wang? Mr. Li Wang?”
Wang turned to face a heavyset man in a dark suit with a uniformed police officer behind him. “Yes, I am Mr. Li. Wang is my first name.”
“Yes, sir, Mr. Li. I’m detective Brett Montgomery,” replied the dark suit, flashing his badge. “I asked Ms. Cho to call you. I thought it best if I met you here.”
“What has happened? Is Dong hurt? Is Judy okay? Can we go right away?”
“Sir, that is not a good idea. Mr. Yang has been shot. Ms. Cho is okay. The apartment is a crime scene, and we don’t want to go there.”
“Is he going to be okay?”
“No, sir. He is dead.”
“Oh, my God!”
“Sorry sir, but I must ask you some questions. Can I buy you coffee?”
“Tea! I never picked up the coffee habit.”
Brett dismissed the police officer. Brett and Wang found a bagel shop, picked up coffee and tea and sat down at a table as far from other people as possible.
Brett started, “First, I will explain as much as we know, Mr. Li.”
“Thanks. Call me Wang. I did not catch your name.”
“It’s Detective Brett Montgomery. Here is what we know. Judy left the apartment. When she came back, the door was unlocked. She found Mr. Yang dead with what appeared to be a self-inflected gunshot wound. A suicide note was on the printer, unsigned. The police thought it was a suicide, but there are some discrepancies. That’s when they called me.”
Wang stopped stirring his tea. “What discrepancies?”
Brett handed him a sheet of paper. “This is the suicide note.”
Wang read aloud, “I can no longer live with myself. I have betrayed China. I am ashamed. Tell Wang to place a small plant on my grave.”
Wang said, “No one will believe that Dong wrote this. He was proud of what he did. He bragged about it.”
Brett put the note in his pocket. “That’s not all. The gun was in Dong’s right hand.”
“His right hand? Dong was left handed.”
“Correct. Judy told us. He was murdered, but there was no sign of forced entry. He must have known his killer. He mentioned your name in the note, so we wanted to question you. Did Dong have any enemies?”
Wang answered, “Yes, he had enemies, powerful enemies. It will take some explaining.”
“I am all ears.”
“You heard of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989?”
“Yes. I was a young rookie at the time.”
“Well, Dong, I, and a few others were student leaders at China University. We encouraged and led some of the demonstrations. Do you recall the ‘Tank Man’? His picture was in all the papers.”
“You mean the picture of a man standing in front of a column of tanks?”
“Yes. Yang Dong was the Tank Man.”
“Really? I thought it was the bravest act I ever saw. I suppose that the Chinese would like him dead.”
“Few people knew who he was, or where he lived. We all swore not to tell anyone for fear of reprisals against relatives still in China.”
“Do you think that the secret police had him killed after 20 years?”
“Yes. The MSS has a long memory, and never forgives.”
After he finished making notes, Brett asked, “How did the Tank Man end up here?”
“After the Tiananmen Square massacre, the Ministry of State Security began to hunt down all the leaders. The government declared the demonstration an insurrection, and tried us in absentia. They found us guilty, and sentenced us to be executed. That is when we left. Many of us asked for, and received, political asylum in the US.”
“Then you are all in danger. I will need a list. I will contact the CIA for help. Who else might the MSS be interested in eliminating?”
“Professor Zhou Chen would be high on their list. He teaches at the American University. Oh, I just remembered someone new. She just arrived two days ago. Her name is Miao Tian.”
Brett asked, “Where is she now? She may be in danger.”
“She lives in China. The MSS can arrest her any time they want. Besides, I don’t know where she is. She’ll be back in a few days.”
“Isn’t it strange that she shows up just two days before Dong’s death?” asked Brett.
“No, it is just a coincidence.”
“Just the same, we need to check her out,” said Brett.
“Professor Zhou has contacts in China. I’ll see if he can verify her story.”
Brett handed Wang his card. “Can you e-mail the list to me?”
“It won’t take long to put one together. I have a web site for expatriates like myself. I’ll have to warn everyone.”
Brett thought for a moment and said, “Don’t do that just yet. Someone told the MSS about Dong. We don’t want to tip him off in case he is on your e-mail list.”
“You’re right! I had not even thought of that.”
Brett dropped Wang off at his condominium to put together names and addresses. Wang decide to call Zhou Chen who had been contacted by Judy. He told him about running into Miao Tian, and asked him to check out her story about working as a recruiter. The next day Chen called back to say that Tian’s story checked out. She had been at the university for five years. Wang passed the information to Brett.
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