‘An informant?’ Killigrew thought for a moment. ‘Li Cheng?’
Huang nodded. ‘I had the matter looked into. One of my men found the inn where you had dinner on the afternoon that you landed.’ He tossed a gold sovereign on the table. ‘Yours, I believe. At the hour of the rooster – when the Golden Dragon attacked the fishing fleet – you were eating fish stew and rice, and doing your best to drink up the innkeeper’s entire stock of rice wine.’
‘If you’d been through what I’d been through that day, you’d’ve needed a drink, too.’
Huang lit a Russian cigarette and took a long drag. He breathed smoke out through his nostrils and fixed Killigrew with his gimlet eyes. ‘What do you know of a plot to overthrow the Ch’ing Dynasty, Lieutenant?’
‘I didn’t know there was one. Who’s behind it?’
Huang smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling into crow’s feet. ‘Ah. You think perhaps it is me, working to overthrow the dynasty from within?’
‘The thought had occurred to me,’ Killigrew replied sardonically. ‘But I dismissed it.’
‘Oh? May I ask why?’
‘You’re a Tartar – a Manchu. What would you have to gain by allying yourself with the pilongs and Triads?’
Huang chuckled. ‘Well done, Lieutenant. I am pleased to see you are not as ignorant of civilised politics as many of your compatriots. You are absolutely right. I am loyal to my emperor. But I am also loyal to my country, and that country is China. As an admiral in the Imperial Navy I must serve both my emperor and my people as I think fit, and as long as the Ch’ing Dynasty rules in the Forbidden City then the people I am responsible to include both the Manchus and the Han.’
‘All right. So if not you, then who?’
‘That is what I am trying to find out. A barbarian, perhaps?’
‘What would a barbarian have to gain?’
‘Plenty, if he were the tai-pan of one of your trading companies. I am well aware that these merchants complain of what they consider to be the restrictive trade practices of my country.’
‘Can you blame them? The West has a great deal to offer China, just as China has a great deal to offer the West. But if your people insist on sneering at the industrial produce of the West and refuse to buy it, can you blame the China traders if they’re forced to sell opium to purchase tea?’
‘It is not for me to criticise Imperial policy. But if there is a threat against the state then it is my job to expose it and crush it. Zhai Jing-mu has grown as powerful as any pirate chief can, but he wants more. He wants legitimacy.’
‘You’re thinking of the deal he tried to cut with Admiral Nie? No, Zhai must have changed his mind. You’ll find what’s left of Nie’s flotilla floating amongst the Paracels.’
‘So I have been informed. I tried to stop Nie from going to that rendezvous, but he would not listen. He paid the ultimate price for his foolishness. What I must now ask myself is, what made Zhai Jing-mu change his mind? The terms proposed by Nie were generous.’
‘Zhai must have got a better offer.’
Huang nodded. ‘He believes that the Triads must be close to their aim of overthrowing the Ch’ing Dynasty, otherwise he would not ally himself to them. But the Triads have been trying to overthrow the Manchus ever since my ancestors invaded China over two hundred years ago. What makes Zhai think that now they may finally succeed?’
‘The Triads must be getting help from a new source,’ deduced Killigrew. ‘Someone outside China.’
‘Very good, Lieutenant. Keep going.’
‘A foreign power?’ Killigrew tried to think of all the nations who envied Britain’s position at the forefront of trade with China. ‘France? The United States? Russia?’
Huang shook his head. ‘You disappoint me, Lieutenant. Think of someone closer to home.’
‘Sir Dadabhoy Framjee?’
‘My first thought. But an agent I infiltrated into Framjee’s company managed to eliminate the Parsi from his enquiries.’
‘Mr Li has been a busy little bee, hasn’t he?’
Beaming, Huang inclined his head.
‘All right, not Sir Dadabhoy. Zhai’s murder of his daughter ruled him out anyway. Who does that leave? There are dozens of China traders to choose from.’
‘You are not thinking, Lieutenant. Which of the companies is large enough to provide the Triads with the resources to overthrow the Ch’ing Dynasty? Which tai-pan held a ball at his factory on the night that Zhai Jing-mu was freed from his gaol, thus ensuring all the senior officers of Hong Kong were elsewhere at the time? Who had Sir John Davis – a man renowned for his conciliatory attitude towards China – dismissed as Governor of Hong Kong, and replaced by the more aggressive Mr George Bonham? Who do you think gave the order for you to be handed over to Zhai Jing-mu?’
Killigrew nodded. He felt as if he were finally awakening from a dream. When the admiral laid all the pieces on the table, it fitted perfectly. ‘Bannatyne.’
‘Yes. Blase Bannatyne.’
‘Have you thought of explaining this to the British authorities?’
‘Which British authorities? Mr Bonham? I am not suggesting the plenipotentiary is in Bannatyne’s pocket, but you have seen how he acts in Bannatyne’s presence. Bonham cannot govern Hong Kong without the support of the China traders, and Bannatyne is their leader. Besides, what would I tell Bonham? That I suspect that Bannatyne is behind some plot to overthrow the Ch’ing Dynasty, but I do not know what the plot is and I have no proof of Bannatyne’s involvement? That is where you come in, Lieutenant.’
‘You want me to spy on Bannatyne?’
‘You are the only barbarian I can trust. Perhaps the only man I can trust.’
‘What makes you think you can trust me?’
‘Zhai wants you dead. So does Bannatyne. Whichever side you are on, it is not theirs. Besides, your persistent bumbling has damaged Bannatyne’s plans as much as it damaged my own.’
Killigrew almost choked on his soup. ‘My bumbling…?’
‘I successfully infiltrated one of my spies into the Tai-ping-shan chapter of the Triads. He was on a junk which would eventually have led him to Zhai Jing-mu’s lair and perhaps provide proof of a link between Bannatyne and the Triads. Your escape from the Golden Dragon scotched that plan and forced him to compromise himself in order to mitigate the severity of the attack on the fishing fleet.’
‘Well, of course if I’d known Li was one of your spies, I’d happily have let Verran take me to Zhai Jing-mu to be tortured to death,’ Killigrew said sardonically.
‘Li Cheng is a good agent, but sometimes he lets his heart rule his head.’
‘I still don’t understand. You talk of a plot to overthrow the Ch’ing Dynasty. But you don’t know what it is and you’re not sure who’s behind it. Forgive me for saying so, but what makes you think there’s a plot at all?’
‘Li’s predecessor. His instructions were much simpler: infiltrate the Triads in Tai-ping-shan as a stepping stone to locating Zhai Jing-mu’s lair. That was a year ago. Six months ago he stumbled into the yamen at Canton, mortally wounded. Fortunately he managed to get past the guards and gain entry to the private chamber of Xu Guang-jin. He knew he could not trust the information he had discovered to anyone of a lesser rank than the governor-general. With his dying breath he warned his excellency of a plot to overthrow the Ch’ing Dynasty that would take place in Hong Kong at the time of the Tuen Ng.’
‘The Tuen Ng?’ Killigrew had heard that phrase before somewhere, although it took him a moment to remember what it signified. ‘The dragon boat festival.’
Huang nodded. ‘Four days from now.’
* * *
‘Oi! And where do you think you’re going, slanty-eyes?’
As Killigrew climbed the side ladder to the deck of the Tisiphone, he tilted his head back so that his face was no longer hidden from the boatswain by the conical hat he wore. ‘I may be out of uniform, Bosun,’ he said tightly, ‘but nonetheless I must insist you address
me as either “sir” or “lieutenant”.’
The boatswain’s eyes bulged out of his head. ‘Lieutenant Killigrew! Sir! Sorry, sir, didn’t recognise you in them chinky-chonk clothes.’
All the hands on deck crowded round to stare. ‘That you, sir? We heard you was dead!’ said Molineaux.
‘Or captured by the yellow-bellies,’ said Ågård.
‘I was.’ Killigrew gestured to where Huang had moored his junk a short distance away. ‘Fortunately, Admiral Huang was kind enough to bring me back to Hong Kong.’
‘You may not want to stay put, sir,’ warned Ågård. ‘They’re saying you went nuts and attacked a fishing fleet. Not,’ he added loyally, ‘that any of us believed it for a moment.’
‘I’m glad to hear that, Mr Ågård.’
‘All right, all right, get back to work, you lot!’ growled the boatswain. ‘Begging your pardon, Mr Killigrew, sir, but Commander Robertson left instructions that if you was brung back on board you was to be taken to him at once.’
Killigrew gestured to his Chinese clothes. ‘Don’t I get a chance to change into my spare uniform first?’
‘He was very specific about the “at once” part of the order, sir.’ Killigrew allowed the boatswain to escort him down to Robertson’s day room, where the commander was in conference with Lord Hartcliffe. Both of them leaped to their feet when the marine sentry ushered Killigrew in, and Hartcliffe pumped his hand vigorously.
‘Kit! By all that’s wonderful! I was starting to fear the worst!’
‘All right, First, that will do,’ snapped Robertson. ‘You can try to dislocate his arm later. Killigrew, you do realise that Captain Morgan has had a warrant put out for your arrest, don’t you?’
‘No, sir. But if I can convince Admiral Huang of my innocence, sir, I’m sure I can do the same for Morgan.’
‘Huang?’ Robertson glanced out of the window to where the admiral’s junk rode at anchor. ‘So, he brought you back, eh? And I suppose he provided you with those ridiculous clothes as well?’
‘After a fortnight in a gaol cell, sir, I’m afraid the uniform I was wearing was only fit to be burned.’
‘All right. You can change later. Word of your return has probably reached the shore already. I dare say we haven’t much time before Morgan arrives with Mr Cargill and demands that you be clapped in irons, so make your explanation short, and don’t leave out anything pertinent.’
‘I’ll start at the beginning, sir, and you’ll have to bear with me. I’m still trying to get all this straightened out in my mind. A lot of what I have to say is supposition, but if you’ll bear with me you’ll see it fits. Bannatyne is in league with the pilongs.’
‘Capital idea, Killigrew,’ Robertson said sarcastically. ‘Get the supposition over and done with. Do you have any proof of that?’
‘No, sir. But Grafton, Bannatyne and Co. have lost fewer ships to pilongs than any other company trading with China. One, to be precise, and it looks like even that may have been an insurance swindle. Bannatyne provides Zhai Jing-mu with all the information he needs about shipping movements to and from Hong Kong: not just which ships are sailing when – Zhai could pick up that kind of information from the Hong Kong Register – but what cargoes they’re carrying. He’s a sharp one, I’ll lay odds he has had at least one spy in each of his rivals’ factories. So Zhai Jing-mu gets information and in return Bannatyne has his ships left alone; at the same time as his rivals lose millions from Zhai’s depredations.’
‘It’s a little far-fetched, but it does make a kind of sense,’ Robertson admitted grudgingly. ‘Go on.’
‘All right. Let’s suppose that Zhai Jing-mu wasn’t killed when the Akhandata went down. Even if he wasn’t badly injured, he must have been upset. He laid a trap for Peri and me, but he only got half of what he was after. I escaped and killed several of his men into the bargain. Zhai Jing-mu lost face that day. He’s only a man, surrounded by other men just as ambitious as he is. Each time one of his schemes goes awry he loses a little of the mystique which gives him such a powerful hold over his followers. The only way he can remedy that is to correct his earlier mistake, make it clear to all that anyone who stands in his way will die horribly. So he lays another trap, this time with the help of his friend Bannatyne.’
‘So that was why Bannatyne lent us the Golden Dragon? As a ruse to capture you?’
‘Verran knew it was the perfect bait. Every man has his weakness. With some it’s women, with others gaming.’ Killigrew grinned ruefully. ‘With me I’m afraid it might be the chance of an independent command and an opportunity to take a crack at the pilongs.’
‘All right, what exactly happened?’
Killigrew told him quickly about the ‘attack’ on the Golden Dragon. ‘They tried to take me prisoner, but I managed to jump overboard and swim ashore,’ he concluded briefly. ‘It took me the best part of a week to walk across Hainan to Hoi-how. When I got there I reported to the magistrate at the yamen and was promptly arrested for the attack on the fishing fleet. That seems to have been genuine enough. Verran must have opened fire on those junks just to make it look as if I’d run amok, so that no one would believe me if I came back here to tell you he was in league with the pilongs.’
‘Frankly, Second, I’m still not sure that I do believe you. But I believe Verran even less. Yet even if what you’ve told me is true, that hardly proves your wild allegations about Bannatyne. Solid proof is what we need.’
‘We’ll get it,’ said Killigrew. It might have been Zhai Jing-mu who had pulled the trigger when Peri had been murdered, but it was obvious that Bannatyne had been behind it all, pulling the strings. ‘When I catch up with Verran, he’ll tell us all. His only chance now is to turn Queen’s evidence. He’s just a pawn in this whole thing. Bannatyne’s the spider lurking at the middle of this web, and it’s him I want.’
There was a knock at the door. ‘Begging your pardon, sir,’ called the marine sentry. ‘But apparently Assistant Superintendent Cargill of the Hong Kong Police wishes permission to come on board.’
‘That’s all right, Barnes. Have him shown down here at once.’
‘Very good, sir.’
Robertson checked his watch. ‘Ten minutes: remarkably swift work for a policeman.’
‘That Cargill’s no fool,’ allowed Killigrew.
While they were waiting, the sound of sawing and hammering from the waterfront drew his attention out of the stern window, open to let some air flow through the room on such a stifling day, and he saw some kind of scaffold being built on the open space in front of the barracks. Wherever he looked preparations were underway, strings of paper lanterns being hung from buildings and across streets, and temporary spectator stands being built wherever there was space on the waterfront. ‘What’s going on out there?’
‘Preparations for the dragon boat festival on Tuesday night,’ explained Robertson. ‘They’re making a big thing of it this year.’
Killigrew nodded. Westerners usually looked down their noses at Chinese festivals, but entertainment was so difficult to come by in the colony that anything which could be used as an excuse for a celebration was usually seized upon. He wondered if what Huang had told him about a possible plot taking place at the festival was true. It was now Sunday afternoon, which meant that if there was a plot he had just over two days to expose it. He hoped that if he could find proof to convict Bannatyne of aiding and abetting pirates that would scupper whatever scheme was being hatched.
Cargill was shown into the day room. ‘Come in, come in, Mr Cargill,’ said Robertson. ‘I believe you already know Lord Hartcliffe and Mr Killigrew?’
Looking flushed, Cargill nodded. ‘Yes, sir. I’m sure you know why I’m here.’ He took a piece of paper from inside his coat and unfolded it. ‘I have a warrant for the arrest of Lieutenant Christopher I. Killigrew, suspected of having—’
‘Yes, yes, yes!’ Robertson said impatiently. ‘We know all about that. Stow it, Cargill. That’s fine, except you need t
o cross out Killigrew’s name and write Captain Jago Verran’s in its place.’
Cargill looked at them in surprise. ‘Captain Verran!’ He brushed his whiskers thoughtfully. ‘That would explain it…’
‘Explain what? Explain yourself, man! ’
‘I’ve got a missing person’s report on Captain Verran. In fact, I’ve got a missing ship report. He’s disappeared, along with the Golden Dragon and her crew. Mr Bannatyne only informed me this morning. The Golden Dragon left for Macao a couple of days ago with Mrs Bannatyne on board, but it never arrived. I’d assumed it must’ve been attacked by pilongs.’
‘Damned inconvenient,’ said Hartcliffe.
‘Not from Bannatyne’s point of view,’ said Killigrew. ‘All too convenient, if you ask me. I’ve a feeling Mrs Bannatyne is in deadly danger.’
‘How so, Second?’
‘I should have expected Verran to disappear with the Golden Dragon. Bannatyne knew his story wouldn’t hold water if I made it back here. If Verran’s gone adrift he can’t be made to answer any awkward questions.’
‘But what about Mrs Bannatyne?’ asked Hartcliffe. ‘Why should she disappear? Unless she was involved in some way…’
Killigrew shook his head grimly. ‘No. That’s just it. She wasn’t involved at all. She must’ve stumbled across something proving her husband’s collusion with the pirates. She’s not the first member of her family to disappear while sailing to Macao on a vessel captained by Verran.’
‘You’re referring to her father?’ Cargill drew himself up to his full height. ‘I conducted the inquiry into his death personally. The coroner’s verdict was death by misadventure. Gentlemen, I’m afraid I’m a little behind you all here. Are you suggesting that Mr Bannatyne is in league with the pilongs?’
‘Isn’t it obvious?’ asked Killigrew.
‘That’s an extremely serious accusation, sir. I know it’s not my place to give you advice, but nevertheless I feel I must remind you that Mr Bannatyne is an extremely influential man. Both here and back in England.’
Killigrew and the Golden Dragon Page 31
