"I Killed You!"

Gripping the knife tightly in his right hand, Wang Zi pushed himself away from the wall and advanced on GuiGui.

She faced him silently and made no move to get away.

"You can't kill me again Wang Zi," she said calmly, almost teasingly. "I'm already dead, remember? You can't kill me again."

"No!" he cried. "It's not true!"

Then he realized she wasn't staring at him. She was staring beyond him.

He turned to the doorway to see two tall men in black trench coats.

Both of them moved quickly toward him, their faces grim, purposeful.

What was gleaming in their hands?

Pistols. They both had pistols drawn.

"FBI," Agent Calvin Chen said, stepping in front of Wang Zi. "Drop the knife."

Wang Zi dropped the knife. "I killed her," he said staring at GuiGui.

Calvin, gun in one hand, clamped the other hand on Wang Zi's shoulder. Wang Zi sighed loudly and seemed to surrender.

The other one helped Hebe to her feet. "You okay?"

Hebe nodded groggily, rubbing the back of her head.

The FBI agent turned his eyes to GuiGui. "I'm okay too," she told him. "It was close but I'm okay."

"I killed her," Wang Zi repeated to no one in particular. His eyes had become glassy, his expression uncertain. He looked pale and drained under the kitchen fluorescent light.

"I killed her."

"Quiet," Calvin said with surprising gentleness as he clamped handcuffs on Wang Zi. "You can tell us all about it later."

He turned to GuiGui. "What happened?" he asked. "Can you talk about it?"

"I guess," GuiGui replied, dropping down onto a kitchen stool. "He caught me outside. He must have heard me on the phone talking to you. He stopped me in the driveway and tried to choke me. With that," She pointed to the length of cord on the floor in the hallway.

"I did choke you," Wang Zi insisted. "I killed you. I know I did!"

"I'm not as stupid as you think," GuiGui told Wang Zi angrily. "I pretended to die. I figured that was the only way to get you to stop choking me."

"But I checked," Wang Zi insisted. "You weren't breathing. I made sure."

"I play the saxophone," GuiGui told him. "It enlarge your lungs. I can hold my breath a long time. I can hold it for four minutes. I've tried it. I was so scared. So terrified," she continued. "But I pretended to be dead. I rolled my eyes up and slumped to the ground, and held my breath. It worked. He thought he killed me."

"And then?" Hebe asked, coming over to put an arm around her friend's waist.

"I tried to get up. But I must have passed out. From being so afraid. When I came to, I heard you screaming. I hurried into the house. I knew I had to rescue you from him."

Hebe hugged GuiGui tightly. "I'll never laugh at your saxophone playing again. I'll never tell you you should play flute instead. I promise," Hebe said gratefully.