I call Bradley to let him know we have the press conference on Thursday and won’t be leafleting. Rosemary was on the rota for Thursday, too, but she’s helping tomorrow so I can tell her then.
Then, as we’re packing up, a young woman stops. ‘Hello? Nǐ hǎo.’ She is lovely-looking, a heart-shaped face, dark eyes and hair, flawless skin. She points to Lori’s photograph. ‘I know her, on bus.’ She waves towards the ring road.
My pulse jumps. I call to Tom, who’s carrying the umbrella away and he comes back.
‘When did you last see her?’ I say. ‘The last time?’
‘Last time?’ she says.
I glance at Anthony and he translates.
She thinks, looking down. ‘Three week, or four week? Sorry. Bad remember.’
The hope fades away.
‘Did you talk? Talk to her?’ I say, still wanting to gain something useful.
‘Little. “Hello, and, how are you?” ’
She offers the leaflet back.
‘Please, keep it,’ I say. ‘If you remember anything,’ I point to the phone numbers, ‘you can phone.’
She nods, tucks the leaflet into her bag and says goodbye.
I imagine them together, Lori and this young woman, recognizing each other, trying to talk in fractured sentences with lots of sign language. Lori on her way to Mr Du’s or the bar, thinking up ideas for her next blog.
Where are you? A weariness settles on me. This is so hard.
We are on the bus, almost at our stop, when my phone rings. Peter Dunne.
‘Mrs Maddox, I have just taken a call from Superintendent Yin.’
Oh, God. My heart kicks. ‘Lori?’
‘No, I’m afraid not. He was ringing after receiving an official complaint from Mr Du.’ His tone is steely. ‘Your actions earlier today were ill-conceived and potentially counterproductive.’
My cheeks burn. Tom watches me.
‘We simply wanted to find out if Mr Du had any information about Lori’s project.’
‘Those enquiries will be made by the PSB. I appreciate how difficult the situation must be for you both but this sort of interference is unacceptable. There are protocols in place. I thought I had been clear in that regard when we first met.’
‘And we made it clear we wanted to be kept informed,’ I say, ‘but we’re not being, are we?’
Tom gestures to me that he wants the phone. I shake my head. ‘Have the police tried to talk to Mr Du again?’ I can do steely, too, and people are staring, turning to look. Let them.
‘Superintendent Yin is the officer in charge of the investigation into Lori’s disappearance. He has the authority to run the investigation however he sees fit. You must accept that. Undermining his jurisdiction by contacting and harassing potential witnesses is less than helpful. The same would hold true if we were in the UK. I have promised Superintendent Yin that I will make sure you understand this and that there will not be any further interference.’
