Anyway... This is the narrative portion of Middle Kingdom Chronicles.
Chapter 1, Part 1:
East Beijing, April 2012.
Two men in crisp green military fatigues stood in the middle of a tastefully decorated bedroom belonging to a teenage girl whose nude body was discovered slumped next to her closet door, dangling from a bath towel tied around the doorknob. Pink plastic bags were wrapped around their boots to keep dirt from getting in the floorboards.
“Yeah, it’s that time of year again...”
1st Lieutenant Guo Yinxing of the Republic of China National Police lit a cigarette, then passed his lighter to his partner, Command Warrant Officer Li Zhaomin.
“Sir, it’s April and it seems like your run of the mill acceptance suicide”, remarked Li, “why aren’t the Metro Cops taking care of this?”
“I don’t know. I got the call straight from Colonel Meng’s office. He told me to get my ass down here as soon as possible. Didn’t tell me much else for some reason. It sounded like he was in a panic.”
“Zhaomin, where’s the homicide detective from Metro?”
“Outside, talking with the parents.”
“Go get him and bring him up here. I want to talk to him.”
“Yes sir.” Li left the room.
Guo looked around the room. It was a big room in a huge apartment. Outside of the enclosed balcony’s windows were the steel and glass towers of Hujialou Technical District, their fluorescent lights slowly beginning to bathe the city in their sterile glow as the sun set.
At first glance, nothing inside the room except for the dead body seemed to be out of place or unusual. Bed, desk, wardrobes, closet, clothes strewn about. Few stuffed animals on the bed. Laptop computer. Cell phone still plugged into the charger.
Nothing too out of place except for a bottle of prescription muscle relaxants on her nightstand.
Li came back a few minutes later, leading a detective in a cheap, ill fitting suit.
“Du Hao, Inspector, Violent Crimes, Beijing Metropolitan Bureau of Public Security.”
“1st Lieutenant Guo Yinxing, Criminal Investigative Division, China National Police. This is my partner, Warrant Officer Li Zhaomin.” Guo handed Du his pack of cigarettes.
“Well shit”, said Du as he lit a cigarette, “Nationals normally deal with political cases, don’t you?”
“Normally. I don’t know how in fuck we ended up getting called down here. Care to tell us something we missed?”
Du looked over at the girl. “Victim’s name is Zhang Qiuli, age 17. Daughter of Zhang Weimin and Bo Lanyue. Preliminary cause of death is suicide by hanging. On her desk, you will find acceptance letters to Beijing, Qinghua, University of Hong Kong, MIT and Harvard. Her older brother’s at Stanford.”
Li looked around the room. “No obvious signs of a struggle.”
“Wait...wait... did you say Zhang Weimin?” asked Guo, his eyes narrowing.
“Yeah. I did. Why?” asked Du.
“Alright look, we’re going to have to take over this case.” Guo’s posture suddenly changed as began motioning Du out of the room.
“Inspector, get rid of any marked patrol cars outside. Clear out any media, then tell your district commander this was a natural death, open and shut. Not murder, not suicide, understood? If you say anything else, I will have you arrested for violating the National Secrecy Act. Mr. Li, call a plainclothes response team down here immediately, Priority 1. I will also need you to lock down and secure the crime scene. Please do so discreetly and make sure the neighbors stay in their apartments and keep their fucking mouths shut. Lastly, contact the Beijing Media Liason at HQ and tell them we’re dealing with something sensitive. I’ll contact Captain Jie and Colonel Meng and make sure they get down here as fast as possible.”
“May I please ask what the fuck is going on?” stammered a confused Du.
“This is a political case, Inspector Du. We work political cases.”