Seneschal Zhu Irzh, after a wild glance around him, realized to his alarm and annoyance that he was back in Hell. He was standing in some kind of parlor; elegantly decorated with lacquer and ivory to give a subtle impression of human flesh. Two spindly chairs were covered with delicate, creamy skin and a massive desk bore the striations of bone. A great deal of money and influence had gone into decorating this room; it was designed to impress, but Zhu Irzh merely felt his irritation growing. He glared at the red lacquered walls and the ornate furnishings, wondering exactly where he might be, but the answer to that question came almost immediately, as the door opened and the First Lord of Banking stepped imperiously through. Angry though he was, Zhu Irzh managed to deliver an appropriately low bow.
"Seneschal? Forgive the interruption of your duties." The First Lord of Banking spoke indifferently, with nothing more than a nod to politesse. "I thought it expedient to bring you back while there was an opening between the worlds."
"Of course, Lord. May I know why I have been summoned?"
"The situation has changed somewhat since our earlier conversation. I told you to find the ghost of Pearl Tang. Clearly, you have failed."
"Lord, I succeeded in finding her, but then events took a rather different turn—I—"
Tsin Tsi dismissed his complaints with a wave of a taloned hand. "No matter. Something is going on, Zhu Irzh. Something to which the Ministry of Wealth is not privy. I need you here. I am telling you this in honesty, no matter that it causes me to lose face. I do not know what this issue might be, only that it involves a Ministry. And I believe now that this Ministry is that of Epidemics."
"Epidemics?" Zhu Irzh said, frowning. When had he last had a conversation about Ministries? Then he remembered. "The girl," he said.
"What about her?" Tsin Tsi's crimson eyes were as bright as fire.
"When I went to the brothel, Pearl was not to be found, but another—a ghost—told me that certain people had come from one of the Ministries, looking for human ghosts."
"Epidemics," mused the First Lord of Banking. "And the souls of virtuous humans. Rumors of a new drug. . ." He sat down in the heavy bone chair that stood behind his desk and picked up a little round box made of ivory and wood. Zhu Irzh recognized it as a child's toy, a puzzle for infants. "I can't make the pieces fit," the First Lord murmured, turning the box in his hands. "An illegal trade in the ghosts of the virtuous, the Ministry of Epidemics, and now the kidnapping of a human ghost-trader. . ." He glanced up and gave a raw smile. "That's why I had you brought back, you see. Someone's taken it upon themselves to remove Tang H'suen to more congenial climes before he could be interrogated. Such as Hell."
"Tang's here?"
"So I believe. You saw what they did to his house?"
"Yes, I was there. The police think he's been killed."
"I don't think so. One of my employees has been watching the house. If Tang had died, his soul would have been compelled to travel by the usual means through the Night Harbor, where you or the police might have been able to track him down, but Taigun—my employee—is a soul-smeller and he detected no sign of death. No, Tang has been taken to Hell alive."
"But by whom?"
"That is an interesting question, and I am counting on you to provide an answer to it. By someone very powerful, who will stop at nothing. To snatch Tang's house, with him inside it—that takes power, Zhu Irzh. The kind of power enjoyed by the Minister of Epidemics, among others. It is also a reckless, visible thing to do that suggests someone is playing for high stakes."
"What about the girl? Tang's daughter?"
"It is highly improbable that she knows more than her father," the First Lord said. "From now on, he must be our priority."
"The policeman," Zhu Irzh said. "Detective Chen. He's also interested in hunting down the girl."
"How useful. What is that Western expression? Killing two birds with one stone? If he finds Pearl, then we can catch up with him later, and in any case it may serve to distract him from Tang's disappearance."
"I doubt it. He's quite tenacious."
"Then we'll just have to find Tang first, won't we? I don't approve of human intervention in Hell's affairs; the living can get above themselves on occasion."
"So what do you want me to do now?" asked Zhu Irzh. The First Lord of Banking spread his hands flat on the table top and smiled.
"Go to the Ministry of Epidemics. I suspect they are the folks who have taken Tang. See what you can find. But be very discreet. You don't want to come down with something nasty, after all."