Free Inspector Zhang And The Falling Woman by Stephen Leather

 
    INSPECTOR ZHANG AND THE FALLING WOMAN
     
    By Stephen Leather
     
     
    Mrs. Zhang slipped her hand inside her husband’s as they walked together away from the seafood restaurant. "That was a lovely evening," she said. "Thank you so much."
    Inspector Zhang smiled and gently squeezed her delicate hand. "It isn’t over yet," he said. "It isn’t every day that I get to celebrate thirty years of marriage to the most wonderful girl in Singapore."
    Mrs. Zhang giggled. "I’ve not been a girl for a long time," she said.
    "You will always be my girl," said Inspector Zhang.
    Mrs. Zhang stopped walking and turned to face him. She put her arms around his neck and stood on tiptoe to kiss him on the lips. "I will love you until my last breath, and beyond," she said.
    "That’s probably the lobster and the champagne talking," said Inspector Zhang.
    Mrs. Zhang laughed. "It was very good lobster," she admitted. She released her grip on his neck and slid her hand into his again.
    The restaurant that Inspector Zhang had taken his wife to was on a quay overlooking the Singapore River, with cute little tables and candles in old wine bottles and a chef who cooked the best lobster in the city. The chef was known to have a predilection for the ladyboys of Orchard Towers but his culinary skills were such that everyone turned a blind eye to his weakness.
    As they walked slowly towards where he had left his car, they saw a group of three Indian men looking up at a twelve-storey apartment block. One of them was pointing up at the top of the building. Inspector Zhang craned his neck to see what they were looking at and gasped when he saw a Chinese woman standing on the roof of the block, holding onto a railing.
    "I’m jumping!" the woman shouted. The wind whipped her black dress around her legs. "I’m going to jump!"
    "Oh my goodness," said Mrs. Zhang, covering her mouth with her hand.
    Inspector Zhang walked towards the building, reaching for his mobile phone. He called headquarters, explained the situation and asked for a negotiating unit to be despatched. He put his phone away, cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted up at the woman. "This is the police, please go back inside, Madam!"
    The three Indians looked over at Inspector Zhang.   "Are you really with the police?" said the youngest of the group, a teenager wearing combat trousers and a T-shirt with a Nike swoosh across the front.
    "I am Inspector Zhang of the CID, based at New Bridge Road," he said. "Can you please move away, if she does fall it could be dangerous. "
    "For her, sure," laughed the Indian.
    Inspector Zhang was about to scold the teenager for his insensitivity but before he could so the woman shouted again. "I’m going to jump!" she yelled.
    Inspector Zhang cupped his hands around his mouth. "Please stay where you are!" he shouted. "We can talk about this."
    "I’m going to jump!" screamed the woman. "Don’t try to stop me!"
    "What’s your name?" shouted Inspector Zhang.
    The woman shouted something but the wind whipped away her words.
    "What did she say?" asked Inspector Zhang’s wife.
    "I didn’t hear," he said. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted up at the woman again. "What is your name?"
    "Celia!"   shouted the woman..
    "Okay Celia, please step away from the edge. I will come up and talk to you."
    "I’m going to jump!"
    More passers-by were stopping to look up at the building and cars were stopping in the road, drivers trying to see what was going on.   Inspector Zhang waved at the cars to keep moving but no one paid him any attention. Suddenly he heard screams and he turned around just as the Chinese woman slammed into the ground with a sickening thud. Blood splattered across the pavement. The spectators scattered and one of the Indian men began to wail.
    "Please, would everyone move back," said Inspector Zhang, holding up his warrant card. "I need everybody to get away from the body now."
    Inspector Zhang went over to his wife who was