To some of his most loyal supporters Wang Lijun's, fall from power is too difficult to believe.
'I was too shocked, unable to understand why, and my eyes stayed open wide in the evening when I learned Wang had hid himself in the US consulate in Chengdu,' said Huang Wei, a friend and prominent private entrepreneur.
The news that Wang spent a night with US diplomats and intelligence agents overwhelmed millions of Chinese at home and abroad. Speculation flew that he had sought political asylum after falling out with Bo Xilai, the top party official in the southwestern municipality.
As Bo's right-hand man, Wang had effectively carried out Bo's will in the sweeping crackdown on mafia-like organised crime that saw the detention of thousands of triad kingpins, their followers and their friends in the government and police who had protected them for years.
The unprecedented, massive campaign, though controversial, made Bo a household name across the nation and boosted his chances of promotion, but his falling-out with Wang has dealt an unexpected heavy blow to a political career that had seemed golden.
Bo had long been tipped as one of the front runners for a seat in the party's top decision-making Politburo Standing Committee during the power restructuring that will take place in the autumn.