He picked up the five sheets of paper again.
“I asked you to write your autobiography and you turned in so little, why? Because you want to hide it!”
“Please tell me what you mean by that? I don’t want to hide anything. If you want to know anything about my life, whatever it is, I’ll be happy to tell you.”
“That’s great, that’s the first time you’ve shown such honesty since the trial. I hope you realize that there’s no turning back for you, so give a complete account.”
“You’re being presumptuous and blind again. I said I would give you a full account of my life because I believe the facts speak louder than words. I believe that after you fully understand and grasp the facts, you will admit that I am not guilty. I have never done anything harmful to the People’s Government and the Communist Party.”
“I want you to answer my questions fully and frankly. If you want to seek leniency, you are not allowed to conceal any information.” He warned me again.
“I said there is nothing to hide. I am fully aware of the power of the government and the factual style of the arraigner. And I trust that you will clarify all the falsehoods imposed on me and restore my reputation.” I said to him.
“As long as you are honest, we are always open to you. Now you can go back. In the afternoon, you will explain your relationship with Scott and Austin, the true nature of your company, and who introduced the double agent White Russia as secretary to the general manager in your company.”
I couldn’t believe what my ears were hearing. I tried to explain, but the arraigner waved his hand to keep me from speaking, and then he got up and said.
“Now, don’t say anything. There will be plenty of time for you to talk this afternoon.”
A guard was already at the door waiting to take me back to my cell.
The questions the arraigner asked surprised me, and I returned to the women’s cell in a trance.
The guard on duty was not sitting in the small room at the entrance, but standing outside in the cold wind, waiting for me, with her hands in her pockets, shrugging her shoulders, and stomping her feet up and down impatiently on the floor. When she saw me coming back, both eyes bulged and stared straight at me until I returned to my cell, as if she was checking my demeanor. After locking me into my cell, she continued to look at me through the peephole. I could see that she had been instructed to monitor my reaction after the arraignment. No wonder the interrogator abruptly terminated the interrogation and sent me back to jail. I was shocked to hear the interrogator call my two friends “British spies” and the secretary of the general manager of the Asean Shanghai office a double agent. But I could not reveal this, any sign of anxiety and disorder would be considered a sign of crime.
I poured some water into the basin and washed my face to clear my head; then I picked up Mao’s works and sat down by the window, bowing my head and uncontrollably turning the book page by page to show that I was concentrating on my studies. The guard stood by the peephole for half a day before leaving. Soon after, another guard took her place. At lunchtime, I quickly swallowed all the food, and to be honest, I was really hungry. When the kitchen came to collect the lunch box, I heard her say to the guard, “I’ve finished eating.” As a rule, when the inmates finished their daily ten-minute indoor activity, the guard went from cell to cell and ordered the inmates to sit down in their places. Finally, she turned back to the door of my cell and posted herself on the peephole again. Although she was creeping, but I have been here for a short time, I can distinguish between different kinds of sound, so she just stood, I have felt her standing there. I pretended to be oblivious, leaning on the rolled up bedding, closed my eyes and pretended to sleep. Sleeping during the day is absolutely against discipline here, the guards are often furious about it, and I often hear the guards scold the prisoners for it, but at the moment, she had to pretend not to know that I was being watched, so she had to pretend not to know.
About an hour later, I was brought up for interrogation again. I had to read the same quotation from the morning again.
“Let’s start with M15 Scott, the spy, how did you know him? How did you know him? Did you recognize him before he came to China? What kind of information did you pass on to him?” The interrogator asked me.
“Before I tell you how I met Scott, I think I must make it clear to you that I only knew him as a British diplomat.”
“Tell us what you like, and whether we believe it or not is another matter. Go on further.”
“I first met him at a party in September, 1961. But I can’t remember the host of that party.” I said.
“The host was an Indian consul general. We had an invitation from him, but that’s not important. Did you know Scout before this?”
“No.”
“Shortly after that party, you went to Hong Kong. While you were in Hong Kong, you made contact with another M15 spy. He was a British Air Force officer in World War II who was in Hong Kong under the guise of a businessman and, in essence, a British spy of Hong Kong fame. Was he sent by Sigu to accept the assignment?”
“I was very social in Hong Kong, and I didn’t pay attention to who exactly was or wasn’t a spy. I was planning to go to Hong Kong before I met Sigurdt. I went to Hong Kong once every two years. You know, everyone who goes to Hong Kong must first apply to the Public Security Bureau, and I applied long before I met Scott.” I said.
“You want me to believe that you only met Scott by chance, but that’s not the case. Scott came to Shanghai just before you left for Hong Kong, and as soon as you left Shanghai, he went to Beijing. And before you returned to Shanghai, he returned to Shanghai again and stayed for several months in a row. The boat you were on that time was stopped on the Huangpu River for several days because of a typhoon, and he came on board to see you a few times. This kind of interaction is not like two friends who only just met at a party. And while he was in Shanghai, you both often went out together. When he went out with you, he always drove himself, while when he went out with others, a chauffeur drove.
“Foreigners in Shanghai privately talked about you two having a romantic relationship. But no one paid any attention to you and no one pursued it. You deliberately created a romantic relationship to confuse people around you.
“The British are arrogant in their nationality. They have an organizational discipline that does not allow a spy to have a romantic relationship with a local woman. In fact as far as I know, he had an irregular relationship with the wife of a bank manager, when he was in Shanghai.
“Now you understand the material we have on that kind of scandal, don’t you? Do you still think you can get away with it? Give the task assigned to you by Scott and confess what you did for him!” The arraigner summarized his accusations against me, and then sat there staring at me intently.
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