Crisis of confidence
As I expected, Li blew it off; we are now in full-blown “everybody knows!” mode.
The issue at hand, of course, is Shirley’s MacGuffin, which he now believes he can’t hide any longer. Before he married, he had contingency plans in place, but matters are ever so much more complicated now, and he hasn’t had time to redraw his plans.
Siberia is a really horrid place to feel endangered. This could get ugly. It might end up killing him, who knows?
(Oh, and I’m disappointed in all y’all. Nobody’s even ventured a guess at Shirley’s MacGuffin—and if you know me, it’s really pretty obvious.)