James Parker is the general manager of Xinfeng Group. Both he and the Yvonne Clark mentioned by his mother are key figures in the Henry Harris case. Before the Henry Harris case, Yvonne Clark served as the deputy manager of the human resources department at Xinfeng Group and was later rumored to be the woman fought over by Henry Harris and William Grant. In 1994, Yvonne Clark confessed to the provincial inspection team that Henry Harris had accepted bribes from James Parker through her, which led to Henry Harris’s imprisonment. In the Henry Harris case, she was exempted from criminal punishment, but in 1999, she was imprisoned together with William Grant, and after just a year, news spread that she had committed suicide in prison. Adam Bolton also saw Yvonne Clark for the first time during the 1999 trial of the William Grant case. At that time, Yvonne Clark had already been detained for several months, and the face that remained in Adam Bolton’s memory was haggard yet carried a ruined beauty.

Chapter 4: Seeing Yvonne Clark Again

The next day, when Adam Bolton woke up, both his parents had already left home.

From his parents’ conversation yesterday, it was clear that the outside world had now focused on Yvonne Clark, and it seemed that many people believed Yvonne Clark was Henry Harris’s secret lover. This woman’s testimony was the key factor in the court’s conviction of Henry Harris for bribery. At present, perhaps the only way to find a clue to solve the problem was through this woman.

Adam Bolton wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about clearing Henry Harris’s name; the main thing was to let his father know how to take advantage and avoid harm. As long as his father continued to serve as deputy secretary-general of the city government, he himself would still count as a cadre’s child. Even if he had to relive his life after sixteen, it would still be a rather pleasant thing.

Of course, things wouldn’t be that simple. His father was brought into the city government and promoted single-handedly by Henry Harris, so it was impossible for him not to be affected by the Henry Harris case.

Right, the Henry Harris case was still the key to solving the problem. Adam Bolton thought that as long as the truth about William Grant fabricating evidence to frame Henry Harris could be exposed early, his own happy life as a cadre’s child might continue indefinitely.

After breakfast, Adam Bolton took a car to Xiangshan Scenic Area. The sun was just starting to get hot. July weather was scorching, and although the Xiangshan forest area was one of Haizhou’s best summer resorts, because it wasn’t the weekend, there were very few tourists at the entrance to the forest park.

On the square at the south gate of Xiangshan Forest Park, there were many photo shops, and it was also easy to rent a camera. Adam Bolton thought that even if he told the truth about the Henry Harris case, his father wouldn’t believe him. The only way to be convincing was to get photos of the people involved.

Adam Bolton rented a camera with a silent shutter, took the sightseeing bus from the south gate square to the north side of the mountain.

If it weren’t for the limited public disclosure of details about the William Grant case by the Haizhou Intermediate People’s Court in 1999, almost no one in Haizhou except William Grant’s close associates would have known that an inconspicuous red-brick villa on the northern slope of Xiangshan was William Grant’s private residence after he became the Party Secretary of Haizhou.

The summer after the William Grant case concluded, Adam Bolton made a special trip to visit this red-brick villa. Compared to now, that would have been exactly five years later. Although time had moved forward by five years, the scenery had hardly changed. Perhaps in another five years, this deep cement path shaded by dense branches and leaves would still occasionally have leaves blown down by the wind.

A wall of chalky stone stood across the end of the cement path, revealing only a corner of the villa’s attic. The dark red brick wall, the small window on the side of the attic facing the cement path—standing here, the front door was still out of sight.

This little red house was only looked after daily by a distant relative of William Grant. Adam Bolton circled through the woods to the front of the villa. The iron door was tightly shut, and nothing could be seen inside.

Adam Bolton wondered whether to climb in for a look, but then heard a car approaching in the distance. He hid himself behind the thick foliage and saw a black Nissan stop in front of the gate. The license plate gave no clue as to whose car it was. The car waited in front of the gate for a while, then someone inside opened the gate, and the Nissan drove in. There was already a red Corolla parked in the yard.

Adam Bolton thought that if Yvonne Clark had already become William Grant’s mistress at this point, then the red Corolla was most likely hers. He quickly raised the camera and pressed the shutter.

The camera’s flash was off, and the light in the woods was very dim. From such a distance, he wasn’t sure if this ordinary Nikon optical camera could capture the car clearly.

By noon, when the gate opened again, Adam Bolton only managed to snap a shot of William Grant bending down to get into the Nissan. The Nissan left the yard first, and after two or three minutes, the red Corolla started up slowly. But the owner of the Corolla had already gotten into the car, and Adam Bolton couldn’t be sure if it was Yvonne Clark inside.

As long as he could confirm that the owner of the red Corolla was Yvonne Clark, these photos could prove something. Adam Bolton didn’t risk climbing in to look for evidence against William Grant—that was too dangerous. Instead, he retraced his steps back to the south gate of Xiangshan Park, planning to find a photo shop to develop the film, but then saw that the red Corolla was parked right in the south gate square.

Adam Bolton looked around. Apart from a few vendors under sun umbrellas, there were only five or six tourists in the square, none of whom looked like the owner of the red Corolla.