"When can you start?" the man asked.

Hulan studied the contract. It appeared straightforward.

As if reading her thoughts, the man said, "Take it. Read it. Come back tomorrow or the next day or the day after that. We'll be here." Then the man went back to his table.

Hulan finished her meal, paid her bill, and left the cafe. As she walked out of town, she felt the oppression not only of the heat but also of Da Shui itself. Yesterday's visit with Tsai Bing and Siang had been disconcerting. The people at the Public Security Bureau had been rude. The villagers and the Silk Thread's proprietress had been closed-mouthed. But none of them had been as disturbing as the men in the cafe. On this day, as Hulan followed her investigative custom of stepping back and back again from the scene of a crime, she found no answers, only more questions. The main question that now played in her mind was the role of the Knight factory. Miaoshan had worked there. The men of the town made no pretense of hiding the fact that they were earning some sort of kickback from Knight by placing women-with or without proper papers-at that factory.

Just as Hulan had a method for looking at a crime scene, she also had routines for getting questions answered. One was direct, the other circuitous. To ease her mind, she would have to follow both. This afternoon she would make an "official" visit to the Knight factory. Tomorrow she would go back to the cafe, sign her contract, and see what happened. The idea that either of these plans might be dangerous to her or her baby did not enter her mind.

An hour later, wearing a simple linen dress and a light jacket, Hulan took the bus back to Taiyuan. From the bus stop she hailed a taxi and rode to the Shanxi Grand Hotel, where she arranged for a car and driver for the day. An hour after that she was back on the expressway.

Eventually the driver turned off the main road and followed signs decorated with cartoon figures of what Hulan assumed were Sam amp; His Friends. The car made one last turn, and the Knight factory rose up stark and white against the sky. In the traditional Chinese manner, a high wall protected the entire compound. The driver stopped at the guardhouse. Hulan introduced herself and opened her MPS credentials. The guard paled, stepped back inside his shelter, and made a call. A moment later the gate lifted, and the car pulled into the compound.

The driver steered down the center road of the complex. On either side were buildings-some immense, others little more than single rooms- each with their own sign designating what they were: DORMITORY, ASSEMBLY, CAFETERIA, ADMINISTRATION, SHIPPING, WAREHOUSE, COMPANY STORE. Next to each of these words was a different cartoon character. Since this was still a new complex, the trees were not yet tall enough or broad enough to provide shade. A few shrubs withered against the white walls of the buildings.

The car stopped before the building marked ADMINISTRATION. A man with light blond hair and pale skin opened Hulan's door and said, "Good morning and welcome to Knight International. I'm Sandy Newheart. I'm the project director here."

Hulan introduced herself and showed her Ministry of Public Security identification. That Sandy Newheart didn't demonstrate the fear that the guard had shown didn't surprise her. It was conceivable that Sandy had never heard of the MPS, or if he had, he didn't realize its power.

"I wish you'd told us you were coming," Sandy said. "I would have prepared a proper welcome, perhaps even a banquet."

"That wouldn't have been necessary," Hulan said.

Sandy 's forehead crinkled as if he hadn't understood what she'd said. Then his features smoothed. "Well then, what can I do for you?"

"I have come about one of your employees, a Ling Miaoshan."

"I don't know anything about that, so I doubt there's much I can help you with."

"Still… Perhaps there's a place we can talk."

"Of course. What was I thinking? Please come inside." As he mounted the steps, he glanced back at the car. "Can I get your driver anything?"

"No, he's fine."

With the air conditioning, the lobby was at least five degrees centigrade cooler than outside. Under her lightweight jacket goose bumps popped up along Hulan's arms. Air conditioning was an extravagance in China, used almost exclusively in Western hotels and businesses. As they walked down a long corridor, Sandy kept up a one-sided dialogue.

"Henry Knight, our founder, came to China for the first time during World War II. He didn't return until the winter of 1990, just after the troubles at Tiananmen Square. That was a time when most American businesses were leaving."

"I remember," Hulan remarked, thinking it odd that Sandy felt compelled to bring up a subject that was still touchy, especially with government officials.

"But China has long held a fascination for Mr. Knight," Sandy continued as they passed a large room broken into individual work stations, where a flock of nicely dressed Chinese women sat before computer screens. Between the aisles that separated the cubicles walked a handful of supervisors-also women, all Chinese. From this central room Hulan could see four hallways leading outward at the four points of the compass. Sandy turned down the corridor that led to the left. "So at a time when others were unsure, when even our own government was suggesting that America should beware of China, Mr. Knight took a chance."

Hulan bet he'd also hoped for an extraordinary deal.

"But as you know, things move slowly here, and we didn't get this place up and running until two years ago." Sandy stopped before a display of animation eels, products, and a company history. "This is our brag wall," he explained, then began pointing out the various highlights in Knight's corporate history.

After years in the lucrative preschool market, Knight had struck gold in the post-war years with the Sally Doll-one of the first baby dolls on the market to drink from a bottle and pee in its diaper. The company had experienced another growth surge during the mid-eighties, when deregulation under Reagan led to relaxed limitations on advertising during children's programming. But none of the products introduced at that time had experienced the phenomenal success of the Sam line. The action figures had been designed as a team of ten. Sam was the leader, but he was never seen without Cactus at his side. After Cactus there were-in order of military rank-Magnificent, Glory, Gaseous, Uta, Annabel, Notorious, Nick, and Rachel. Ironically, although children were supposed to want all the figures equally or at least in order of rank, the ones with the most common names lagged behind in popularity and sales.

Sandy 's patter came to a close, and he continued down the hall. Following behind him, Hulan realized that the names of the Sam figures were the same as those on the financial papers at Suchee's. Again Hulan wondered how those documents had gotten into Miaoshan's hands.