The torn piece of black fabric remained on the table between them.
Yulan stared at the stitched swallow.
Li Wei hadn't touched it since they returned to the tea house.
"You said your father wore a silver clasp," Yulan said.
Li Wei nodded.
"Yes."
"But you don't believe he was there."
"I don't know what to believe."
That answer seemed to cost him something.
Yulan reached across the table and turned the photograph toward him.
"Then we don't decide yet."
Li Wei looked at him.
"We find out."
"Together."
"Together."
The tea house was almost empty.
Their conversation had attracted no attention, which was exactly what they needed.
Li Wei pulled the photograph closer.
"The man beside my uncle is definitely my father."
Yulan studied the image.
"Can you tell what he's holding?"
"No."
"The photograph is too damaged."
Li Wei leaned closer.
"There."
Near his father's hand was a small rectangular object.
"Is that a ledger?"
"Maybe."
Yulan shook his head.
"No."
"What?"
"The shape."
He pointed.
"Look at the bottom."
Li Wei narrowed his eyes.
"It has a metal clasp."
Yulan's expression changed.
"A document case."
"You're sure?"
"My mother had one."
Li Wei looked at him.
"Your mother?"
"She used to carry it when she worked at the shipping office."
Yulan's voice lowered.
"If that's hers..."
He didn't finish.
He didn't have to.
They returned to the Zhang shop after dark.
Guoren was closing the shutters.
He looked at their faces.
"You found something."
Yulan hesitated.
"Father, do you remember Mother carrying a black document case?"
Guoren's hands stopped.
Li Wei noticed.
"She had one," Guoren said.
"Where is it?"
"I don't know."
"Did she have it the night of the fire?"
Guoren looked at him.
"Yes."
Yulan's stomach dropped.
"She went to Warehouse Nine carrying it."
"Why?"
"I never found out."
"Did she bring it back?"
Guoren's silence answered him.
"No."
Li Wei stepped forward.
"Mr. Zhang."
Guoren looked at him for a long moment.
"You look like your father."
"I've been told."
"Unfortunately."
Yulan almost smiled.
Li Wei didn't.
"Did my father know your wife?"
"Yes."
"Did he know what she was carrying?"
"I don't know."
"Did my uncle?"
Guoren's expression hardened.
"I don't know."
Li Wei waited.
Then Guoren quietly added,
"But I know one thing."
"What?"
"Your father wasn't the man who started the fire."
Li Wei's shoulders relaxed slightly.
"You're certain?"
"I watched him try to stop it."
"Then why was he in the photograph?"
Guoren looked toward the window.
"Because he arrived before the flames reached the main warehouse."
Yulan frowned.
"That doesn't make sense."
"No."
Guoren's voice became quieter.
"It doesn't."
Later that night, Li Wei and Yulan sat on the shop's rooftop.
The city stretched around them.
Lanterns flickered in distant streets.
Yulan handed Li Wei a cup of tea.
"You're thinking too loudly."
Li Wei smiled.
"I didn't know I did that."
"You do."
They sat shoulder to shoulder.
After a while, Li Wei said,
"I've spent years believing my family was responsible for everything."
Yulan looked at him.
"And now?"
"Now I think someone wanted me to believe that."
Yulan nodded.
"Someone wanted both families fighting."
"So nobody looked at the person actually responsible."
"Exactly."
Li Wei turned toward him.
"You're very good at this."
"At what?"
"Finding things people don't want found."
Yulan smiled.
"Maybe that's why you keep me around."
"Maybe."
Their shoulders touched again.
Neither moved.
A small sound came from the alley below.
Yulan looked over the edge.
Nothing.
"Did you hear that?"
Li Wei stood.
"Yes."
They waited.
A few seconds later, something landed softly on the rooftop.
A folded piece of paper.
Yulan picked it up.
There was no name.
Only one sentence.
Stop looking for Luo Ming.
Below it was another line.
He already found you.
Yulan's expression changed.
Li Wei took the paper.
For once...
neither of them laughed.
At the same moment, several streets away, an elderly man sat alone inside a dim room.
His hair had gone completely gray.
An old scar crossed his left cheek.
On the table in front of him lay a black document case.
He opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Yulan's mother.
Li Wenxiu.
Chairman Li.
And himself.
On the back of the photograph was a handwritten sentence:
If they discover what happened that night, everyone falls.
The old man folded it again.
Then looked toward the dark window.
"Luo Ming."
A voice came from behind him.
"You shouldn't have sent the warning."
The old man didn't turn around.
"I didn't."
Silence.
Then—
"You did."
Luo Ming slowly closed his eyes.
Someone else had entered the room.
And he already knew exactly who it was