Cyanide Games: A Peter Tanner Thriller

by Richard Beasley

  ‘He doesn’t seem to want to return my calls. How have you found him?’

  ‘He knows what he’s doing.’

  ‘And what is he doing?’

  Cheung paused, then let out a long breath. ‘He’s representing my interests,’ he said.

  ‘Does that mean he’s preparing a defence?’

  ‘He’s representing my interests, Pete. We’re in China.’

  ‘Has he represented people charged with state offences?’

  ‘He has.’

  Tanner narrowed his eyes and leant forwards. ‘Joe,’ he said softly, ‘can you please tell me why you’re here?’

  ‘Why do you think I’m here?’ It wasn’t sarcasm in his voice, it was something deader. Like it didn’t matter what the answer was.

  ‘It’s never been you to answer a question with a question, Joe.’

  Cheung looked down at the table, then slowly up at Tanner. ‘It must be the Chinese in me coming out.’

  ‘I don’t think you got in here by seeking a bribe from some mysterious man from XinCoal. Did you?’

  ‘Why else would I be here?’

  Tanner exhaled and examined the face of the man sitting in front of him as though he was meeting him for the first time. Cheung looked back with a blank expression.

  ‘Is that some kind of joke?’ Tanner said.

  Cheung’s smile was that of a beaten man. ‘This doesn’t seem like a place for jokes, does it?’

  Tanner glared at him. ‘I’ve come a long way to visit you,’ he said. ‘Can you tell me why the hell you’re here?’

  ‘It doesn’t matter why.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter?’

  Cheung put his elbows on the desk, his hands clasped together, chin resting on his interlocked fingers. ‘Do you know the acquittal rate for people charged with serious offences in China?’

  ‘That’s not –’

  ‘It’s effectively zero.’

  Tanner hesitated, stumbling over thoughts and words in his head. ‘I want to help somehow. I want to understand, at least. Tell me –’

  ‘I’ll get ten years less if I plead guilty,’ Cheung said.

  ‘Ten years less than what? Is that Li’s advice? Give up?’

  ‘I’m not giving up.’

  ‘What are you doing, then?’

  ‘I’m telling you I’m guilty. I feel guilty.’

  ‘You feel guilty? What does that mean?’

  Cheung shook his head. ‘It doesn’t matter.’

  ‘It matters to me. It might matter to your family too. Think of them.’

  ‘I am.’ Cheung looked across to the table on his left. The prisoner was now standing up, saying goodbye to his wife and baby. He was allowed to kiss them both. ‘Do you know how old my children will be if I force a trial?’

  ‘You’d rather they think you’re a crook?’

  ‘I can explain it to them.’

  ‘Explain it to me. Whatever evidence the prosecutors serve, I’d like to see it. I’d like to see the witness statement of this mystery man who seems to have waited three years to report that you tried to bribe him with Citadel’s tender bid.’

  Cheung sat back in his chair and shook his head. ‘You think you can appear for me, Pete? Are you going to knock out the evidence on some technicality, or sway a jury with some oration about reasonable doubt? Do you think it works like that here?’

  ‘What you just said, Joe,’ Tanner said, ‘is the first time I can remember you really annoying me. I know the system is different.’

  ‘The system here is simple. If you’re charged with the crimes I’m charged with, you’re guilty.’

  ‘You can’t give up yet, for Christ’s sake. Let me look at the evidence. Tell me what you know, what you think has happened. If it can’t be beaten in court, then . . . I don’t know – if it looks like a weak case I can discuss it with the consulate or the ambassador. Maybe the government can make representations behind the scenes. If this is some kind of mistake or . . . setup, something I don’t understand yet, there may be a way of helping you outside of the courtroom.’

  ‘You think you’re that good?’ Cheung said flatly. ‘You and whoever else you enlist for me?’

  ‘I don’t know what you mean by that.’

  ‘The Chinese Government says I tried to sell their commercial secrets. Do you think you or anyone else can talk them out of it?’

  ‘I don’t know what it is I can or can’t do yet. If there’s some representation that can be made on your behalf, let someone make it. But I need to hear your story first.’

  ‘I appreciate your offer of help, Pete, I really do. I appreciate you being here. I’ll forever be grateful for the support you’ve given Melissa. I’ve always –’ For a moment the deadened expression dropped, and Cheung appeared close to tears before he recovered. ‘I need you to stop.’

  ‘Stop what?’

  ‘I’m pleading guilty, Peter. You can’t help me. We’re not home.’

  ‘This is crazy, just –’

  ‘It will be much better for me if I plead guilty.’

  ‘What were you doing in Shanghai? What have you been doing for Citadel?’

  Cheung gave a sad smile. ‘You know the law of privilege, Peter.’

  ‘Joe, give me the name of the person saying you sought a bribe. Explain to me why he took so long to come forward. It doesn’t make sense.’

  Cheung stood, raised his hand, and called out to a guard, who moved to the table quickly. Cheung said something in Chinese. The guard looked at Tanner and motioned for him to move towards the exit. Cheung held out his hand to Tanner, who slowly stood. The men shook hands.

  ‘Thank you for everything, Peter,’ Cheung said. ‘Please do as I ask.’

  ‘Joe, I –’

  ‘Do you want to be my lawyer, Pete?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Then do nothing further. Those are my instructions.’

  • • •

  It was five pm when Tanner arrived back at the hotel. In the taxi he’d played out in his mind why Joe Cheung would shut him out. He understood a guilty plea. China was no different to most places in the world when it came to that: save the state a trial, and shave off a quarter or so of the sentence you’d get if you went with not guilty and lost. And when the odds of acquittal are nearly non-existent, even the innocent will cop a plea. Maybe only the insane wouldn’t.

  Pleading guilty was an endgame, though. Joe Cheung wasn’t at that point yet. Why not take a look at the evidence first, and see if the case has weaknesses, inconsistencies, or is purely based on the word of one man? Why not find out more about that man?

  Tanner went straight to Melissa’s room. When she opened the door, she was wearing only her hotel robe. Her eyes were red, the skin underneath them puffy from crying.

  ‘Want me to give you a moment to get changed?’ he said.

  She sighed, but held the door open further. ‘No,’ she said. ‘Come in.’

  She walked past the bed and sat on an apricot lounge in the corner of the room. Tanner wheeled over the chair that was behind the desk. He looked out the window, the neon lights of the skyscrapers beginning to glow through the gloomy mist.

  ‘Are you seeing him before you go back?’ he asked.

  She nodded.

  ‘When?’

  ‘Sunday. I’ll fly home Sunday night.’ She looked out the window. ‘Are you still leaving tomorrow?’

  He waited for her to look back at him before he spoke. ‘Why didn’t you tell me, Melissa?’

  She shook her head. ‘He wanted to.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘He’s acting prematurely.’

  ‘Please, Peter. He says it’s for the best. He says he has to.’

  ‘Is he guilty? Did he try and sell his client’s bid price?’

  ‘No,’ she said. ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘You don’t know?’

  ‘I don’t – he’s doing the best thing, Pete. I have to trust that.’ />
  ‘Did his lawyer recommend this?’

  ‘That’s not what he said.’

  ‘Not what Joe said?’

  ‘Not what Li said.’

  ‘You’ve spoken to him?’

  She took a deep breath and looked out the window again. ‘I’ve seen him.’

  Tanner shook his head, trying to keep his anger under control. ‘When?’

  ‘Today. At his office.’

  ‘Why didn’t you tell me about this?’

  ‘Because Joe told me not to,’ she snapped.

  ‘Why?’

  She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. ‘He wanted me to see Li first. That’s all.’

  ‘And what did Li tell you?’

  ‘He explained what would happen. When Joe might be in court, that kind of thing. He said Joe would get twenty years if he fought and lost. Doing it this way . . . he said the prosecutors would tell the judge to be lenient. He was hoping for no more than ten years.’

  ‘And you’re okay with that? Whether he’s guilty or not?’

  ‘Twenty years is a lifetime, Peter.’

  ‘Why not wait until we know what the evidence is? Let’s look at the documents, a witness statement, whatever is handed over. He shouldn’t throw away even the slimmest chance of trying to convince the prosecutors their witness might be the one lying. Tell me he’s guilty, Melissa. Tell me he’s guilty like you mean it, and I’ll shut up.’

  Tanner stood and walked to the windows, then turned back. ‘I only want to have to ask this once,’ he said. ‘What aren’t you telling me? Tell me what Joe won’t.’

  Her eyes welled with tears, and her chin dimpled and quivered. She could only say one more word: ‘Don’t.’

  • • •

  Half an hour after Tanner got back to his room, his phone rang. It was Jonathon Clarkson from the consulate.

  ‘When are you next seeing Joe?’ Tanner asked after they’d exchanged greetings.

  ‘In about a month. Just to keep updated about his health, make sure he’s been treated fairly, that kind of thing. How did your meeting go today?’

  Tanner paused. He decided to treat Cheung’s decision to plead guilty as privileged for the time being. ‘Nothing he said changed my mind about his innocence,’ he said. ‘Is that why you called?’

  ‘No,’ Clarkson said. ‘I’m calling about Mr Li.’

  ‘What about him?’

  ‘He’s just called me. He asked me to tell you that he can meet you tomorrow night.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Seven thirty. At your hotel.’

  ‘I’m on a flight back home at seven thirty-five tomorrow.’

  Clarkson hesitated. ‘Oh. Well, I’m just passing on a message.’

  ‘Why’d he speak to you, rather than call me?’

  ‘That I don’t know.’

  ‘Can’t he just see me at his offices tomorrow morning, before I fly back?’

  ‘You can try and call him, but he said it was the only time he had. He said he’d see you at seven thirty tomorrow night at Cloud 9. That’s the bar –’

  ‘I know where the bar is,’ Tanner said, before ending the call.

  14

  Cloud 9 was busy, but just before seven thirty Tanner was taken from his stool at the long bar, to a table on the mezzanine level. He was scanning the wine list when he felt the presence of someone by his side. He glanced up, and looked into the face of what appeared to be a schoolboy. The only thing that gave away that Yinshi Li was over twenty-one was the wispy black hair on the top of his round head, and the tailored suit from Hong Kong.

  ‘You’re Mr Tanner,’ Li said confidently. His was the smile of the cheekiest boy in the classroom.

  ‘I am.’ Tanner stood and took Li’s hand. A soft handshake. He towered over the Chinese lawyer.

  Li gestured to a bank of windows before he sat down. ‘Nearly the best bar for views in Asia,’ he said. There was that grin again, and a gentle laugh. His English was good.

  ‘What’s the best?’

  ‘The Peninsula in Kowloon, perhaps?’

  ‘Is that the other bar where you see your clients?’

  Li laughed. ‘You’re not a client, Mr Tanner.’

  ‘Call me Peter. Can I get you a glass of wine?’

  ‘Yes, please. And just call me Li.’

  ‘White or red?’

  ‘White, please.’

  ‘There’s a pinot grigio on the list.’

  Li nodded. ‘I like many Italian things.’

  ‘It’s from my part of the world. It’ll be drinkable, though.’

  Li nodded, but his smile became uncertain, and Tanner wondered if something had become lost in translation. He signalled to a waiter and ordered the wine.

  ‘I thought you’d be older.’

  ‘You were expecting Rumpole?’

  Tanner smiled at the reference. ‘You’re a Rumpole fan?’

  Li nodded. ‘I like many TV shows about lawyers.’

  ‘Rumpole started as a book.’

  ‘I watched him on DVD. I also watched crime shows for many years. Mainly American.’

  ‘Are they the reason you became a criminal lawyer?’

  Li laughed again. ‘I mainly watched to learn my English.’

  ‘Seriously?’

  ‘Yes.’

  Tanner smiled. ‘Stick with Rumpole.’

  Their drinks arrived. Tanner picked his glass up and held it towards Li. ‘How’s it go again? Gan bei?’

  ‘Gan bei,’ Li said, smiling.

  Tanner asked him how long he’d been a criminal lawyer. Li recited his whole legal history. For a number of years he’d worked for a large Chinese firm doing corporate work. He’d been working as a criminal defence lawyer for more than ten years now, although he still regularly consulted to his previous firm.

  ‘Is it a foreign firm?’

  Li shook his head. ‘Oh, no,’ he said. ‘A Shanghai firm.’

  ‘Why criminal work?’

  ‘That is a very long story, Peter.’

  ‘Got an edited version?’

  ‘My father’s best friend was executed twenty years ago for a crime he did not commit.’

  Tanner paused, waiting for Li to say more, but that appeared to be it. ‘That does sound like the short version of a much longer story.’

  Li nodded. ‘I will tell you another day. You have your own friend to worry about.’

  ‘Why still do the consulting for your old firm?’

  Li patted his belly. ‘I need to eat, Peter.’

  Tanner smiled. ‘Paying clients hard to come by?’

  ‘Very rare.’

  ‘Why here, Li? Why didn’t we meet in your office?’

  ‘My office is bugged.’

  ‘Bugged? By the police?’

  ‘By them. By the security bureau.’

  ‘Because of Joe?’

  Li laughed again, the entirety of his small plump body jiggling. ‘My office is bugged all the time.’

  ‘You’re okay with that?’

  ‘It’s – your saying is “occupational hazard”.’

  ‘For a defence lawyer?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘How do you know it’s bugged? You’ve got some security guy who’s swept it?’

  Li laughed again. ‘The police have told me, Peter.’

  ‘I’m assuming that’s against the law? All of it, I mean. The bugging, and then the telling you about it?’

  Li shrugged.

  ‘How do you have conferences with clients?’

  ‘Most clients are in prison before I become involved.’

  ‘But if they’re not. How can people speak freely in your office?’

  ‘I have careful conversations.’

  Tanner nodded. ‘I see.’

  ‘Of course, it can be a very dangerous occupation in China to be a defence lawyer who defends the guilty.’

  ‘So all your clients are innocent, Li?’

  ‘Very few, Peter.’

  ‘What about Joe C
heung. Is he innocent?’

  Li paused. ‘I am sure that there is a very long story that might answer that question. The short one is “no”.’

  ‘No?’

  ‘Mr Cheung has instructed me that he will be pleading guilty to the charges the state has made against him in the indictment.’

  ‘Has Joe even seen the evidence against him? Have you?’

  ‘It would please me greatly to be able to discuss that with you. I cannot.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘This is a case involving state commercial secrets,’ he said. ‘No one other than me will be able to see the evidence. No one other than me will be allowed in the courtroom for Joe. Even consular officials won’t be able to observe. It will not be a public hearing.’

  Tanner sighed. ‘You could ask the prosecutors to let me look at the evidence as well, couldn’t you? As Joe’s Australian lawyer? I’d sign whatever confidentiality document they wanted me to.’

  Li shook his head. ‘The evidence must be kept confidential. There are no exceptions.’

  Tanner took a sip of his wine and leant forwards. ‘Joe’s got three young kids, Li. If he pleads guilty, how long will he be in Qingpu?’

  ‘I hope to achieve no more than ten years.’

  ‘Ten years is a long time. Especially so far from home. That’s why I want to look at the evidence. I want to talk to our consular officials if it looks weak. We all know about the odds of acquittal, but I don’t want him to give up without at least seeing what we’re up against.’

  Li smiled fractionally, but didn’t speak for a few moments. ‘What Joe is up against, Peter, is China.’

  ‘I want to see the evidence,’ Tanner said firmly. ‘I want to know something about this person from XinCoal Joe is supposed to have tried to corrupt.’

  Li smiled again, but the friendliness dropped from his face. ‘And I would go to jail for as long as Joe if I showed it to you.’

  ‘If you thought the case was weak – if that was the view you came to – could you discuss it with our consulate? Surely you can do that?’

  ‘I cannot.’

  Tanner glared at him for a long moment.

  ‘I can see you’re frustrated, Peter,’ Li said. ‘Our legal system is really not so different to yours. There are rules of procedure, and admissibility, and fairness. This is a state security crime, though. The rules become different. Like they do under your terrorism laws.’

  Tanner shook his head. ‘Have you seen all the evidence? Will you advise Joe to plead guilty even if the case seems weak?’