Serial Saturday #10: Remember What Happened In Guo

Please enjoy Part 10 of Murder In Kinmen, 'Remember What Happened In Guo':

"So, this is Mount Taifu, huh?" Wei-Ting walked up the steps toward the main cenotaph, grimacing as he did so. he had always liked history at school, but living in Kinmen had made him realize that it was possible to have too much of it crammed into one space. This place looked like hardcore nationalists and the historians had vomited patriotism all over the montaintop after a night of heavy drinking.

He turned at the main cenotaph and saw his destination. The rock itself was enormous, with a flat, gentle angle at it's top and striations running across it's weathered surface. The calligraphy was equally garish, drawing the eye and by extension, people to gaze up at it and even reach out and touch it.

Not really knowing what else to do, Wei-Ting walked up to the rock and leaned on the railing, looking up at it. He glanced over and watched as a lone tourist pointed his camera lens up at the rock, took a picture and turned to walk back down to the main cenotaph. As the tourist left, he saw a young woman standing there. She had long black hair wth a bright purple lock that she had to keep tucking behind her left ear as it refused to stay put. She had a pierced nose and was wearing blue jeans and an AC/DC t-shirt. She waited until the tourist had moved out of earshot before walking up to Wei-Ting.

"They say he painted it himself," The young woman said.

"Who?" Wei-Ting asked.

"Chiang Kai-Shek."

"You think Chaing Kai-Shek painted that?"

"Sure, why not?"

"It's kind of big. And kind of tall."

"They had ladders back then."

Wei-Ting chuckled. "You think they had a designated ladder guy for him? Like, 'hey, you, bring the ladder.'"

"Remember what happened in Guo," she said.

Wei-Ting glanced up at the rock again, trying to be casual about it. "I got your message," he said. "You said we needed to mee-" He froze in shock as he glanced over the young woman and found that she was pointing a gun at him. Very slowly, he raised both his hands, glancing around to see if anyone was nearby, but tey were alone. Lunchtime on a weekday wasn't exactly primetime for tourism.

"Who the hell are you?" The young woman asked. "You're not my usual contact."

"I'm an Offcer with the Kinmen Police Bureay. I thought that's why you-"

"You're a cop?" The young woman bit off a curse and stalked away from him for a moment before taking a deep breath that gave the impression she was trying to calm herself down. Then, she turned back to him. "You don't have a clue what you've stumbled into have you?"

Wei-Ting shook his head, hands still raised.

"Damn it," the young woman said again. She lowered the gun and then reached around her back to tuck it back into its holster. "Lower your hands, you look like an idiot."

"I feel like one too," Wei-Ting said. "Who are you?"

"My name is Shan," she said. "I'm with the NSB."

"The NSB?" Wei-Ting asked, incredulous. "You're a spy?"

"Tell me everything you know," Shan said. "Start at the beginning."

"Well, it was about five days ago now," Wei-Ting said. "I had completed my field training and it was my first solo shifted and I got the call. Dispatch didn't have much. Just some fisherman who came across the body."

"How many phones did she have?" Shan asked.

Wei-Ting thought for a moment. "Just one. It was older, not that fancy. Didn't have much else in the way of personal effects."

"So, you're investigating this as a homicide?"

"Well, we were," Wei-Ting said. "The Chief met with us and wanted us to stop our inquiries."

"What does that mean? He stopped the investigation?"

"That's what I thought he meant," Wei-Ting said, "but Pei-Shan disagreed. She just said we were going to have to be a little more quiet about it."

"Good," Shan said. "This needs to be discreet. We've spent years working on this and with the military trying to cover up their shenanigans the last thing I need is the police blundering around as well."

"What the hell have I gotten myself into?" Wei-Ting muttered.

"The real question you should be asked yourself, officer," Shan chuckled, grimly, "is a relatively simple one: are you sure you know who your real enemies are?"