The Scapegoat Everyone Wanted

Morning sunlight slipped through a gap in the curtains, painting a golden stripe across the white sheets. Shen Yan was awakened by footsteps in the corridor-several times as many as usual, and fast, as if people were running.

He opened his eyes and glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table. A quarter past seven. Half an hour earlier than usual.

The door opened. The young nurse came in carrying a tray with congee, pickles, and two steamed buns. Dark circles ringed her eyes, as if she hadn't slept well.

"Captain Shen, good morning." She set the tray on the bedside table and lowered her voice. "Something big happened over in Hongkou last night. Have you heard?"

"I heard an explosion in the middle of the night. What happened?"

"The Hongkou arsenal blew up." The nurse lowered her voice further. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly, but she quickly suppressed the smile. "The ambulances ran all night. All Japanese. They added dozens of beds in the corridors and even cleared out the doctors' offices for the wounded. We were all busy the whole night."

Shen Yan took the bowl of congee and set it on the table. "Were the losses severe?"

"People injured in the explosion, burned, and crushed by collapsing buildings." The nurse glanced back at the corridor and lowered her voice even further. "I heard several hundred died. Even the Marine Corps headquarters half collapsed."

With that, she picked up the empty tray and left.

Shen Yan leaned against his pillow and stared at the ceiling.

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, then quickly returned to normal.

Just after eight, familiar footsteps sounded in the corridor. Leather shoes struck the terrazzo floor at a steady pace, though a little more heavily than usual.

The door opened.

Lu Tinghui stood in the doorway in a crisp black police uniform. Dust clung to his cap, as if he had just hurried back from outside. His eyes were red, and dark stubble covered his chin.

He glanced at Shen Yan's suspended leg, then at the untouched congee on the bedside table, and sat down in the chair.

"How's the injury?"

"The doctor said I need another two weeks to recover." Shen Yan gave a wry smile. "I can't get up and walk around yet."

Lu Tinghui nodded.

"Have you heard about what happened last night?"

"The nurse told me a little. The arsenal blew up, and the headquarters collapsed too."

Lu Tinghui took a photograph from his briefcase and placed it on the bedside table. It was a clear black-and-white picture of a soot-blackened wall with a line of English carved into it:

"THIS IS PAYBACK -- CLEANER"

"The results of the crime-scene investigation." Lu Tinghui pointed at the photograph. "The explosion was too large. Most of the traces were destroyed. This inscription was the only thing left. The technical section said that, judging by the explosive yield and the extent of the damage, it was probably triggered by detonating artillery shells in a sympathetic explosion. Whoever did it was very familiar with the arsenal's layout and where the ammunition was stored."

Shen Yan looked at the photograph in silence for a long time.

"Lone Wolf!" he said.

Lu Tinghui nodded and put the photograph away. "The section chief summoned everyone last night. The military is furious. The Marine Corps headquarters was bombed, and the arsenal was destroyed-Tokyo has erupted."

He rubbed the space between his brows, a hint of weariness in his voice. "General Kagesa Sadaaki called the section chief personally and gave him seven days."

"Seven days?"

"Seven days to solve the case." Lu Tinghui gave a wry smile. "If it isn't solved in seven days, both the section chief and General Kagesa will be sent home to stand trial."

Shen Yan's face darkened, and he said nothing.

"The navy is raising hell." Lu Tinghui stood up. "Their arsenal was bombed, their headquarters was bombed, and they've lost all face. Even the army can't keep them in check. The section chief is under a lot of pressure."

He walked to the door, then suddenly stopped.

"There's a case analysis meeting at the bureau tomorrow at two in the afternoon. The section chief wants to hear your opinion."

Shen Yan glanced at his leg. "I'll be there on time!"

Lu Tinghui looked at him. "Are you sure? Didn't the doctor say you needed another two weeks?"

"I can attend in a wheelchair. It won't be a problem."

Lu Tinghui nodded with relief.

"The section chief said everyone saw how you performed at the special training base, and you also wounded Scavenger during the operation to capture him. Your opinion is important."

Lu Tinghui patted him on the shoulder, then turned and left.

The door closed.

Shen Yan leaned against his pillow and stared at the ceiling.

Solve the case in seven days? Investigate an "organization" that doesn't exist? Investigate a perpetrator who has already put all the bodies into the space and left no trace?

Most importantly, you're asking the perpetrator to investigate himself?!

Go ahead and investigate. You won't find anything even if you investigate until the end of time.

He picked up the newspaper from the bedside table and turned to the second page. The front page carried a photograph of the arsenal explosion, while a short item appeared in the lower right corner of the second page: "The Japanese embassy issued a statement today, declaring that the perpetrator will be brought to justice and an account given to the victims."

Shen Yan folded the newspaper and tucked it under his pillow.

The following afternoon, Fang Yuan pushed Shen Yan in his wheelchair into the police bureau's meeting room.

The meeting room was at the far end of the second floor. Its door stood wide open, and the smoke inside was so thick it stung people's eyes shut. Both sides of the long table were packed with people-men from the Special Higher Police, the military police, the police bureau, and several No. 76 agents in suits. Every face said, "I haven't slept all night."

Fang Yuan pushed Shen Yan's wheelchair to a corner of the table. His leg was still wrapped in gauze, and he was a little pale, but otherwise in good spirits.

Kuroiwa Masao sat beside the head of the table, his face ashen and the ashtray before him stuffed with cigarette butts. At the head sat a stern middle-aged man in his forties, wearing a military uniform with two stars on his shoulder boards and a brooding look in his eyes-Kagesa Sadaaki, chief of the Plum Agency, the Wang puppet regime's chief military adviser, direct controller of No. 76, and supreme commander of intelligence operations in Shanghai.

Lu Tinghui sat to Kuroiwa Masao's right, an open folder containing a thick stack of crime-scene investigation reports in front of him.

"Everyone's here." Kuroiwa Masao's voice was hoarse, as if sandpaper had scraped his throat. "Let's begin."

Lu Tinghui stood and pinned the photographs one by one to the whiteboard on the wall.

The first showed the ruins of the arsenal. Steel bars were twisted, concrete shattered, and rubble covered the ground.

The second showed the English inscription on the wall. "THIS IS PAYBACK -- CLEANER".

"The crime-scene findings," Lu Tinghui said calmly, pointing at the photographs. "The explosion at the arsenal was enormous. Most traces were destroyed by the heat and shock wave. Based on the explosive yield and the extent of the damage, the technical section inferred that the infiltrator first detonated explosives, which set off the large-caliber artillery shells stored in the warehouse, causing a chain of sympathetic explosions. Whoever did it was very familiar with the arsenal's layout and where the ammunition was stored."

He paused, lowering his voice. "No remains of any of our soldiers were left at the scene, not even fragments of bone.

"According to standard practice, there should have been nine soldiers assigned to transport duties and twelve on guard at the scene. All twenty-one vanished without a trace.

"Based on the method and the message on the wall, we have essentially determined that this was a retaliatory strike against us by the Lone Wolf (Scavenger) organization. In an earlier operation to eliminate the Military Statistics Bureau, we wounded a suspected member of Lone Wolf.

"If that deduction is correct, this is the Scavenger organization's fourth operation. Previously, they killed ronin, disrupted a Special Higher Police ambush, and blew up a military vehicle to seize documents. This time, they bombed the arsenal. Each attack has been larger in scale and more ruthless than the last. We're in the open, while they're in the shadows, and they're very familiar with Shanghai. Solving the case in seven days-"

He didn't finish, but everyone understood.

The meeting room fell silent for several seconds.

Kagesa Sadaaki spoke, his voice quiet but every word icy. "In other words, you know nothing about where this so-called Lone Wolf organization comes from, how many members it has, or what its objectives and demands are?!"

No one dared speak.

Kagesa Sadaaki stood, walked to the whiteboard, and pointed at the photographs on the wall. "Lone Wolf. How long has this person-or this organization-been lying low in Shanghai? Blowing up a military vehicle, seizing documents, killing ronin, and now bombing the arsenal. What has your Special Higher Police been doing? Have you all been on vacation?!"

Kuroiwa Masao's expression grew uglier, but he said nothing.

Kagesa Sadaaki turned and swept his gaze over everyone present. "The military has given us seven days. The case must be solved within seven days. If we can't catch the perpetrator, Kuroiwa and I will return home to stand trial. As for everyone here... you can all commit seppuku!"

It was as if the air had been sucked out of the room. Everyone lowered their heads, and no one dared meet Kagesa Sadaaki's eyes.

Kagesa Sadaaki returned to his seat, lit a cigarette, and said no more.

The silence lasted a long time.

Finally, Kuroiwa Masao spoke, his voice hoarse. "Let's hear it. What ideas do you have?"

The meeting room was as silent as a grave. No one spoke. No one had an idea. Scavenger was an invisible ghost who came and went without a trace. How could they investigate?

Lu Tinghui hesitated, then said, "Section chief, no traces were left at the scene. Under these circumstances, I'm afraid conventional investigative methods are unlikely to work."

"Tell me something I don't know!" A trace of impatience entered Kuroiwa Masao's voice.

Lu Tinghui fell silent.

Shen Yan sat in his wheelchair without having said a word. He looked at the photographs on the whiteboard and the English inscription on the wall, his expression calm, as if he were thinking carefully.

Then he spoke.

"Section chief, I have an idea."

Every gaze turned toward him. Kuroiwa Masao gave a slight nod. "Go on."

Shen Yan's voice was quiet but steady. "With the Lone Wolf organization, we're in the open and they're in the shadows. We don't currently know how long they've been lying low in Shanghai, but we do know that the organization is very familiar with the city's terrain and our defensive deployments. Finding any trace of them in seven days is almost impossible."

Kuroiwa Masao's expression darkened, but he didn't interrupt.

"But," Shen Yan continued, changing tack, "what the military wants isn't Lone Wolf. It wants an answer-an answer for its superiors, for the navy, and for public opinion."

Kagesa Sadaaki narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at the young man in the wheelchair.

Shen Yan went on. "There are many Westerners in Shanghai, most of them backed by powerful countries. Without solid evidence, we can't even question them, let alone arrest them..."

Everyone in the meeting room nodded thoughtfully.

"But there's one group we can target! The Jews! They have no nationality now, no backing. Even if they die, no one will stand up for them.

"If we announce to the public that the Lone Wolf organization has been broken up and publicly execute several of its principal culprits..."

He paused and glanced at Kuroiwa Masao's face.

"Lone Wolf left a message in English on the arsenal wall. Most of the Jews now in Shanghai came from Europe. They speak and write English, so that would fit. As for why they bombed the arsenal, we can say they were acting on the orders of the Military Statistics Bureau, or even hired by it, to destroy the Empire of Japan's war resources. That explanation gives us an answer for the military and for public opinion."

The meeting room fell silent for several seconds.

Kagesa Sadaaki didn't speak immediately. He stared at Shen Yan for a long time, his gaze sharp, as if he meant to see right through him. Shen Yan met his gaze without moving, his heartbeat steady.

"You mean find a few Jews, kill them, and then say they were Lone Wolf?" Kagesa Sadaaki's tone was flat, as though he were discussing what to eat for dinner.

Shen Yan raised his head and met his eyes. "I'm merely offering a suggestion. Seven days is too little time to solve the case. We have to give the military an answer. Whether they're really Lone Wolf doesn't matter. What matters is that the case is solved."

Kagesa Sadaaki watched him for a moment, then suddenly smiled. It wasn't a happy smile, but an indescribable one, as if he had seen something interesting.

"Your name is Shen Yan?"

"Yes."

Kagesa Sadaaki nodded and said nothing more.

Kuroiwa Masao was silent for a moment before he spoke slowly. "This plan can be considered as an alternative. But if we do it, it must be done cleanly. We can't give anyone anything to use against us."

He glanced around at everyone present. "No one is to disclose what was discussed at today's meeting. Anyone who does will be dealt with under military law."

"Yes, sir!"

With no need to commit seppuku, everyone agreed readily.

Kagesa Sadaaki stood, walked to the whiteboard, and tore the photographs from the wall one by one. He stacked them neatly and put them in his briefcase.

He paused when he reached the last one. It showed the English inscription on the wall-"THIS IS PAYBACK".

He looked at the words in silence for several seconds, then tore that photograph down too, folded it, and put it in his pocket.

"Meeting adjourned," he said.

Everyone stood. Lu Tinghui came over and took Shen Yan's wheelchair from Fang Yuan.

In the corridor, Lu Tinghui pushed the wheelchair in silence for a long time.

"That proposal of yours," he finally said in a low voice, "had you thought it through before you said it?"

Shen Yan didn't look back. "The section chief needs an answer, and the military needs to save face. We can't find Lone Wolf, so someone has to take the blame. The Jews have no background and no backing. They're the best choice."

Lu Tinghui was silent for a moment.

"The Jews will hate the Japanese," he said.

Shen Yan nodded. "Yes. They'll hate the Japanese, but so what?! A pack of stray dogs without even a home or country-what waves can they possibly make?"

Lu Tinghui said nothing more.

The elevator doors opened. Fang Yuan was waiting at the entrance and took hold of the wheelchair handles.

"Fang Yuan," Shen Yan said, "take me outside for some air."

Fang Yuan nodded and pushed him toward the hospital entrance. The sun shone warmly on him. Shen Yan narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath.

The air smelled of coal smoke, the briny scent of the Huangpu River, and the aroma of pan-fried buns from roadside stalls. There was also the smell of gunpowder smoke drifting over from Hongkou-faint but distinct.