A gust of wind mixed the shadows around on the path. “So you decided if you personally recovered these assets, it would make you happy.”

“When you put it like that, it sounds awful, but I guess it’s true. I got in touch with Wong Pan and went to Shanghai to ‘negotiate.’ ” Her fingers made quote marks. “It wasn’t hard to manufacture heirs. I might not have been able to fool the Swiss, or some of the Eastern European countries where a lot of assets ended up. But the Chinese aren’t used to these claims.

“Wong Pan, though, turned out to be shrewder than I’d thought. He caught on, I don’t know how. And he offered me a deal: He’d expose me, or I’d help him get out of China and we’d split the proceeds.”

Bill said, “Sounds like he took a big risk for a hundred thousand dollars, give or take.”

“I thought so, too, but I was in no position to argue. His share would have been a few years’ salary at his level, so maybe that was temptation enough. Also, I got the feeling this wasn’t his first step over the line. Things might have been getting a little hot for him in Shanghai.

“When he suggested the deal, I woke up. That’s what it felt like, waking up. I was appalled by what I’d tried to do. I’d have given anything to be back in my office in Zurich, slogging through dull paperwork! But I didn’t have any choice.”

“I can see a few choices,” I said. “But go on.”

“What you must think of me,” she murmured, not meeting my eyes. “In any case: I did it. I got him the papers he needed and followed him here as we’d arranged. Then everything started to go wrong.”

“He gave you the slip.”

“That was the first thing. That’s why I hired you.”

“Why didn’t you just go back to Zurich, slog through paperwork, and count your blessings that you were rid of him? If you were so appalled at what you’d done?”

“I… Oh, I don’t know! I think I was afraid of losing track of him. Afraid he still might expose me. I thought, if I could just find him and talk to him… But then more things happened, so fast. First, Joel called to tell me you’d found an heir.”

“Mr. Chen? But Joel didn’t know who Mr. Chen was. I didn’t find out until after Joel died.”

“But I did. Remember, I’ve been living with these people longer than you. As soon as Joel decribed his reaction to the photos, I realized who he might be. That made everything different, you see?”

“Not really.”

“Stealing unclaimed assets is one thing, but stealing from the family? No, I couldn’t. And while I was trying to decide what to do, you called and told me Joel was dead. Then I was really frightened.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m sure Wong Pan killed him!”

I was sure, too: Wong Pan told me. “That call to the Waldorf. You did speak to Wong Pan, didn’t you?”

“Yes, yes, I spoke to him. He wanted a truce. He needed me. Needed me? Hadn’t he already gotten me in enough trouble? I was about to hang up.

“But he said there was something I didn’t know: that he’d tricked me, and his bureau in Shanghai, too. I could hear him smirk. He said before I’d ever contacted him, he’d palmed something from the box, something no one else knew was there. The Shanghai Moon.”

“Alice, how could he? No one saw it? He opened the box alone? He’s lying.”

“No, there were three people there to open it, and when they saw it was jewelry, they called the head of the bureau. They all inventoried it, and Wong Pan put it in a safe. But antiquities are his specialty, remember. The box intrigued him. He’d seen ones like it before. It was deeply carved all around, and he played with it, thinking he might find a hidden compartment. Well, he did.”

“And the Shanghai Moon was in it?”

“Wrapped in red silk. Of course he’d heard the stories. He knew right away what it was. He pocketed it and was trying to figure out what to do next-he couldn’t sell it in Shanghai, obviously-when I came along. Oh, I thought I was so smart! I was completely out of my league. I’ve never done anything like this in my life! I’ve been so… upright. And now there I was, completely tangled, like a fly in a web.”

The Shanghai Moon. C. D. Zhang’s words floated back to me. Casting its web.

“All right,” I said, softening. “I think it’s time to go to the police.”

“No! Not yet.”

“Alice, Wong Pan killed Joel. And he killed that cop who followed him from Shanghai. Shanghai’s sent another cop here now. They know you made those documents for Wong Pan.”

“They-You knew that? Before I told you?”

“Yes.”

“Why did you-”

“We wanted to hear what you had to say.”

She sighed. “I guess I deserved that.”

“And I guess I understand how you got caught up in this. But it’s time to let the police take over.”

“No!”

“They’ll understand, too. But it’s not about you getting in trouble anymore. It’s about catching Joel’s killer.”

“I’m not worried about getting in trouble. I’ll take what I’ve earned. But I want something good to come out of all this first.”

“How could that happen?”

“I have an idea.”

“Your ideas don’t have a stellar track record.”

“I know, but this is different. The heir. Your Mr. Chen. I want to give him back the Shanghai Moon.”

I didn’t know what to say. Bill stepped in. “It would be his anyway. Once Wong Pan’s caught-”

Alice shook her head. “It would be evidence. If it’s true about the Chinese policeman, it would be evidence in three criminal cases-two murders and a theft. On two continents. And it’s incredibly valuable. The Chinese government might not be so happy to see it returned to Mr. Chen. At the very least it will be a long battle-after the criminal trials are over. Mr. Chen’s an old man. He might never get to hold it in his hand.”

I thought about that. To have chased this elusive gem, this jewel that was his mother’s, all his life, and then to know it had been found, and not to be able to touch it-that alone could kill Mr. Chen. “What are you proposing?”

“Possession is nine-tenths of the law. Anyone’s law. Wong Pan wants to sell it to Mr. Chen.”

“Wong Pan knows who he is?”

“No. He knows there are collectors who’d give anything for it. I’ve told him I’ve found one, and I want to set up a deal. I said I won’t tell him who because he’ll cut me out. The police can be there, waiting, you see?” Sort of like they are right now, I thought. “As long as they don’t interfere before the exchange. Then when they arrest Wong Pan, Mr. Chen will already have the Shanghai Moon. I’m not sure he could be made to give it up. Only the other pieces were inventoried. The killings and the theft can be prosecuted using the inventoried jewelry as evidence. As far as anyone would be able to prove, the Shanghai Moon has always been just a myth.”

I watched cars drift up Chrystie Street. A shaft of light and a salsa beat spilled out a half-opened door. The breeze blew my hair across my forehead. I started to reach my hand to smooth it but stopped just in time. If I looked like I was scratching my head, Mary and a platoon of cops might leap from the bushes, guns blazing.

I turned to Alice. “I think you’re right.”

“You do? Oh, I’m so glad.”

“No,” I said. “I think you’re right about being a little crazy. It’s a bad idea, Alice. I’m sorry. I appreciate that you want something good to come from this. But if Wong Pan’s already killed two people, we can’t mess around with him. We have to go to the police and tell them everything, including how you and he get in touch with each other.”

Her face fell. “But… are you sure?” She looked to Bill, as though his opinion might be different. He gave her nothing. She said, “You’re sure that’s what you want?”

“Yes.”

Alice nodded disconsolately. The breeze came up again, and she put her hand up to steady her hat.

“Alice,” I started, “there’s something else we wanted to ask you about. It’s-”

A bullet’s scream put an end to that. Wood splinters exploded from the bench beside me. A different scream: Alice, jumping, shrieking. What had been an empty park erupted in shouts and running footsteps. A second gunshot; I couldn’t tell if it was coming or going, aimed at us or the shooter. I swung behind the bench, gun drawn. Another shot whined, slamming the earth, kicking up a dirt cloud. Bill edged around a tree. I heard Mary’s commanding bark, telling her backup where to go, which ones here, which there. Damn, girlfriend, you sound like the boss of this! Juiced on adrenaline, I looked around for someone to shoot at or someone to run from. “Lydia! You guys stay put!” Mary yelled. Hey, she could read minds, too. Though, stay put behind an open-slatted bench when bullets were flying? Maybe not. But the footsteps faded, there were no more shots, and even with the sirens that wailed up Chrystie doing their best to keep nerves on edge, it soon became clear that whatever this was, it was over. Mary came running down the path, Bill emerged from behind his tree, and I stood up.