Read Snake Agent: A Detective Inspector Chen Novel for Free Online

serenity of the changeless celestial present, anyone might think it was easy. To his eighteen-year-old self, indeed, it had sounded easy and perhaps it even would have been, too, if Chen had been a poet or a gardener, but it was hard to behave in a manner worthy of a Taoist sage when you were a functioning member of the Chinese police force, with corpses and informers and double-dealing colleagues at every turn. But then, Chen had to admit, it had been his own choice to compound his problems a thousandfold, and marry a demon.
    He was getting off the subject again. He repeated the prayer, trying to infuse it with a greater degree of conviction, and opened his eyes. The incense was smoldering, sending a thin thread of mixed emotions into the ether on Chen's behalf. Uneasily, he turned to bow to the statue of the goddess that stood, book in one hand, peach in the other, at the far end of the courtyard. Her flawless jade face looked even more austere than usual; Chen felt like the boy at the back of the class, caught with comics or catapult. It was an uncomfortable feeling at the age of forty-three. Chen had to restrain himself from shuffling his feet.
    Leaving the temple, he walked quickly to the precinct, lured by the possibility of repaired air conditioning, but as soon as he sat down at his desk he found a summons to the captain's office waiting for him. Chen sat and stared at it, hoping it would go away. The last thing he wanted right now was another political lecture. At last he crumpled the note between his fingers and went across to the captain's office. Sung swiveled around in his chair, impatiently drumming his thick fingers on the desk.
    "Good, you're here. They think they've found Tang," the police chief said. "But they're not sure. A man corresponding to his description was picked up on the security camera at the Zhen Shu ferry terminal."
    "Ling's Funeral Parlor," Chen said. A piece of the puzzle seemed to click into place in his mind. "That's in Zhen Shu." Sung's eyes narrowed; his face became even more of a mask.
    "You think that's where he's gone? Why?"
    "I've no idea why, unless he planned to speak to the owner about his daughter's death. But two related elements of the case are now connected with the Zhen Shu district. I'm inclined to think they fit together."
    "Would he have gone to the funeral parlor for protection? The owner's known to have connections with the—" Sung glanced uneasily at his subordinate "—the underworld. In both senses of the word. Perhaps he thought Ling could protect him against whatever possessed his wife."
    "Or perhaps he wanted to warn Ling that whatever game they're playing was about to be up."
    "Explain."
    "I think Mrs Tang was sincere in her desire to find out what had happened to her daughter. But I also think she suspected her husband of having something to do with it. She was adamant that he shouldn't know she'd gone to the police. It's at least a working hypothesis that he was suspicious when she came home after a prolonged absence, searched through her bag, and found my name and number. Then, I think he arranged for an associate to take care of Mrs Tang and tried to avert suspicion from himself. He saw the exorcist coming—a person who could reasonably be expected to tackle a demon and win—and fled."
    "All right," the police chief murmured. "As you say, it's a working hypothesis. I've sent a man down to Zhen Shu, to watch the funeral parlor. I suggest you go down there and join him."
    "Who have you sent?"
    "Tzu Ma."
    "Sergeant Ma? With respect, Chief, is that a wise choice?"
    Sung's eyebrows rose slowly up his broad forehead.
    "And why wouldn't it be?"
    "It's just that me and my—connections—seem to make Sergeant Ma particularly nervous."
    "Well, he'll just have to get over it, won't he. He's a big lad, after all," said Sung, dismissing the matter. With a distinct sense of déjà vu, Chen went down to the ferry terminal and caught a boat across to the island.
    In the