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A few days later, a Shanghai police detective visited Curt who was visibly sleep-deprived. While the two spoke in the dining room, Ben listened.
“Your wife was last seen jumping off a train two hours outside of Beijing.”
“Why was she there?”
Ben interjected, “Lana believed Aaron’s story about her parents in Beijing.”
Curt snapped, “Did she run off with that guy?”
“We’ve looked into that. Mr. Walker is back in Guangzhou with his wife and children,” the detective replied. He paused before saying, “He wishes to press charges against your wife.”
“What?” Curt exclaimed.
“Apparently, Mrs. Steiger drugged Mr. Walker, after he had four glasses of whiskey. He insists we charge her with attempted murder.”
“Are you serious?”
The detective responded, “In China, we take crimes very seriously. However, right now our primary focus is finding your wife.”
“Have you checked Beijing?” Curt asked.
“We’ve investigated all over China. So far, we can’t locate her anywhere. Official ID is required for travel,” the detective responded.
“What about the airports?”
“There’s no record of her, or any woman matching her description.”
“She must have taken the cat with her.”
“It’s not easy to take a cat out of this country. It requires a health certificate and a lot of paperwork,” the detective stated.
“Maybe she left another way,” Curt suggested.
“We’ve set up checkpoints for buses and cars throughout the country,” the detective continued.
Curt stared out the window and lamented, “We have to find my wife because she can’t survive without me. She can’t even read a map.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll find her,” Ben assured his friend.
“Lana is vulnerable and emotionally fragile,” Curt continued.
“Your wife is like a peach. She’s soft on the outside, but has a strong core,” Ben reassured his friend.