Singapore Girl_An edge of your seat thriller that will have you hooked

by Murray Bailey

  “Why wouldn’t Mr Yipp be involved? He runs brothels.”

  “Too niche for him. And other reasons.”

  “Other reasons?”

  “I don’t know everything, Ash. Maybe he didn’t like the Australian connection. But more likely it was the age of the girls.”

  “What about Yiqing Liang?”

  “What about her?”

  “She used to run the adoption unit at the hospital. And I know about that department.”

  She didn’t comment.

  I said, “They take babies and sell them. Your boss is involved in that business, so he knows Miss Liang.”

  Again silence.

  I said, “I need to talk to her?”

  “Why?” Now she sounded suspicious, but I wasn’t trying to trap her or her boss.

  “I need to understand something and I think she knows.”

  “Knows what?”

  “Where Petersen is—the man who handed the girls over to the school. The man who was the last to see a young girl called Laura van Loon.”

  “And that’s it?”

  “I want to know what happened to the girl—for a friend.” I wished we were looking at one another. Wished she could see the desperation in my eyes, the need to know for Jane’s sake. “Please.”

  She took a long breath. “And this is the last thing. You promise?”

  “Yes.”

  “Say you promise.”

  “I promise.”

  She said, “Give me half an hour and I’ll call you back.”

  It was only ten minutes later when the hotel receptionist called me to the phone. But it wasn’t Su Ling. She had an assistant, an awkward-sounding young man, call me. He confirmed it was me and then gave me an address in Johor Bahru.

  The address for Yiqing Liang.

  SIXTY-FIVE

  I’d passed the house many times since it was on the road between the European and Oriental Hotel and the centre of the town.

  It was a typical shop-house: downstairs a retail outlet or service, upstairs living accommodation. This particular shop was half vegetables and half hardware. I didn’t stop to consider the odd combination. Instead I walked straight through towards the elderly Malay shopkeeper. He just watched me. Initially his face lit with the expectation of business, then concern as I strode directly up to him.

  “I’m looking for Yiqing Liang,” I said.

  He turned away and busied himself with some tools. I figured he was a smart man and knew how to protect himself if need be.

  I said, “I need her help. I’m looking for somebody and she can help.”

  “You shouldn’t come here,” he said, turning back to me but with a hand still inside a toolbox, gripping a hammer probably.

  I wondered now whether I should have allowed Jane to come with me.

  “You should stay here and rest,” I’d said to her in the bedroom.

  “I want to know.” She pulled the face that I’d grown to know as her intransigent look. “I need to know what happened to Laura.”

  “And you will,” I said, “but it could still be dangerous. This woman is likely to have been involved.”

  If I’d been accompanied by Jane, maybe this shopkeeper would have been less suspicious. I moved quickly and gripped his arm—the one inside the toolbox. He held a claw hammer briefly and then let go.

  “It’s over,” I said, gambling. “The trouble is over. I just need to speak to her now.”

  I could see his eyes assessing me and figured I’d been right. He was worried for her and assumed I was here for trouble—to hurt her.

  I let go of his arm. “Sorry, I just need a minute of her time. Where is Yiqing?”

  And then he did that classic thing of thinking about her location and giving it away by the flick of his rheumy eyes. Upstairs.

  I stepped away from him and made sure he wasn’t going to come at me with the hammer before I turned and opened the rear door. It took me out into an enclosed courtyard, filled with boxes and detritus. A metal staircase ran up to the first floor and I mounted them swiftly.

  I knocked on the door and stepped close to the wall, hidden from the rear window.

  Miss Liang froze for a second as she pulled the door wide enough to see me. Then she tried to close it again but I’d already stepped forward.

  “What happened?” I said, walking into the room as she back-pedalled.

  She stopped when she could go no further. She placed her hands on the wall and a window pressed at her back.

  “You know what happened. Tell me!”

  Miss Liang shook her head.

  I said, “It’s over. Rix is dead.”

  She looked uncertain. “What about Zarah—the woman?” Her voice was quiet and afraid.

  “She’s dead too.”

  Miss Liang’s left hand relaxed from the wall.

  “You’re sure?”

  “Yes. I saw them both die.”

  Relief flushed through Miss Liang’s body then. I thought she would collapse but she didn’t. She took a few seconds to regain her composure and nod.

  “Thank God.” Her voice was more confident now, though still not the harsh tones of when I’d met her before at the adoption centre. She pointed to chairs around a table and we sat.

  Now it was her turn to say, “What happened?”

  I told her about the gunfight at the school and then chasing Zarah to the airstrip.

  “Thank God,” she said again when I finished. “She was a terrible woman. Everyone was afraid of her, although no one ever saw her do it. Poor old Dan.”

  “Dan?”

  “Dan Petersen.”

  I already suspected the truth. It all made sense. The final piece of the puzzle that I really didn’t want to fall into place. Petersen was my connection to Laura.

  I said, “Petersen was the body on the causeway, wasn’t he?”

  Miss Liang nodded. “I think so.”

  “Why?” I said. “I thought he was Rix’s friend.”

  “They had history,” she said. “But Dan was never totally on board with it. I don’t know why he was duty-bound, but he said he had to help Rix.”

  “That still doesn’t explain why.”

  “The business changed. He told me he wasn’t happy. I think it was originally about providing young ladies for wealthy gentlemen.”

  “For sex.”

  “Not initially. Well not really. It was giving the young women… what do you call it… class, perhaps. I think Zarah intended them as potential wives for rich bachelors. Only it became clear that the men with the money wanted a mistress more than a wife. Having a maid who performed other services and knew how to be discreet was an attractive prospect, it seems.”

  “But the girls were taken—”

  “And given a chance at a better life. Whether they knew about the likelihood of marriage, I can’t say.”

  “And Petersen objected?”

  “Not at that. Not even at the way the school started to let the men… hmm… sample the goods, you would say.”

  “So it became more of a brothel.”

  “They didn’t see it that way, but of course it was. The difference was that the girls were supposed to be exclusive to their gentleman.”

  I figured that made sense. It also explained the luxury bedrooms I’d seen upstairs in the school as well as the classrooms for legitimate instruction.

  She said, “But that wasn’t what Petersen objected to. The girls were getting younger. And then they had a girl who was only twelve.”

  “Laura,” I said.

  “Yes, Laura.”

  I was relieved Jane wasn’t here.

  Quietly, I said, “Tell me what happened to Laura.”

  “Petersen didn’t take her to the school. He hid her.”

  “Hid her?”

  “He told them she’d been delayed, and for a few days they believed him. I spoke to him then and he said he’d had enough—couldn’t live with it anymore. He might have got away with it but he did more.
He helped the other younger girls escape.”

  “You aren’t telling me about Laura. What did he do with Laura?”

  Miss Liang looked down and seemed to consider her next words carefully.

  “Laura…” she started, but stopped.

  “Yes?”

  “Laura… It’s better I show you rather than say.”

  SIXTY-SIX

  I had acquired the Land Rover from the school and drove. Miss Liang sat in the passenger seat. She didn’t say much at first except to give me occasional directions.

  I didn’t totally trust her and made it obvious when I placed my Beretta alongside my thigh. Just in case.

  When we turned on to Route One, she said, “Do you realize how persecuted the Chinese have been under the British?”

  I said, “It’s a guerrilla war and mostly Chinese.”

  “But not all. Tens of thousands have been interred into camps or shipped out. Forced repatriation it’s called. It’s not repatriation if you come from Malaya. Is it a wonder that people turn against you? And those who don’t, live in fear and poverty.”

  “Not you though. You had a job at the hospital and now run the adoption centre.”

  “I am lucky, but I still have constant worries.”

  I glanced at her. “Are you trying to justify your actions?”

  She looked straight ahead and then pointed. “Turn right, here.”

  We entered a town called Kulai, just north of Johor Bahru. There was a small hotel close to the highway and then a main street with shops. She asked me to stop and went to a vendor selling vegetables. I watched and wondered what she was doing but she just bought vegetables. She returned with a full bag and asked me to continue.

  “Almost there,” she said.

  A hundred yards later, we turned off down a muddy street and passed row upon row of run-down buildings, originally brick but now supported by corrugated sheets, mud and palm fronds. The smell of sewage rose up as we approached the heart of the slum.

  She told me to stop again.

  “This was the old Chinese quarter,” she said, and I heard sadness in her voice. “Destroyed by the Japanese and left to rot by the British.”

  I said, “Why are we here?”

  “This is where I was brought up. My mother and my family still live here.”

  We got out of the jeep and she took me into a house with no door. There were people sitting on the floor, all women. They looked wary but bowed their heads in greeting.

  Miss Liang approached an elderly lady who struggled to stand. They hugged and Miss Liang handed over the bag of vegetables before saying something I could barely hear.

  The old woman pointed to the rear and I followed Miss Liang into the darkness. There were rooms back there with mats on the floor. The farthest room had windows and children were playing a game like marbles but with stones. They stopped their game and stared at me.

  Miss Liang spoke and one child spoke softly in return.

  I said, “Where is she?”

  We continued on through the back of the property and out into a dirt yard. There was a path and then a cluster of huts. The stink suggested toilets. My eyes were drawn to a pile of earth, maybe child-size.

  I started to walk towards it.

  “No,” Miss Liang said. “Wait.”

  She stepped over to a hut and knocked on the closed door. She pushed it open and inside I could see a young girl cowering in the shadow.

  “You know me,” Miss Liang said in English. “There’s no need to hide. And this man is a friend.”

  We waited and Miss Liang repeated herself. Then the child stepped forward into the light. She had dirty clothes, dirty skin and dirty hair. Her hair was cropped Chinese-style but it had once been fair and her bone structure suggested European blood.

  I squatted and smiled. “Laura? Is that you?”

  The girl’s dirty cheeks streaked with tears.

  I wanted to scoop her up and hug her fragile frame and tell her everything would be all right, but I was a man and she was still wary.

  And then she surprised me by holding out her hand. “Hello, sir.”

  I shook it. “You’re safe now, Laura.”

  She gave a small nod and followed us back along the path and into the house. While she was saying goodbye to the people she’d lived with for the past seven weeks, I spoke to Miss Liang.

  I said, “Why didn’t you tell me before.”

  She looked at me, hard. “How could I know if I could trust you? There are many people involved and I don’t know them. You could easily have been working for them. They killed Dan Petersen, so I’m sure they wouldn’t have hesitated to kill me.”

  I nodded. It seemed that everyone was afraid, whether they thought it was Sarah or Rix.

  “What about the orphanage at Pasir Gudang?”

  “Take her to Lady Hage-Dando? That woman confronted me at the hospital. She called me the devil. There’s no way I could have asked her for help.”

  I said, “Then you could have sent Laura back to Penang?” Even as I said it, I realized my mistake. She didn’t know Jane—didn’t know that she would have protected the girl.

  “And risk her returning to the people who sent her in the first place?”

  I nodded again.

  She said, “What now?”

  I said, “Now I ring someone.”

  We left Miss Liang in the slum house and stopped at the hotel on the edge of the village. I checked they had a telephone and a bath. They had both, although only one bath for all the guests, which was fine. I paid for a room and took Laura up and told her to take her time.

  While she used the bathroom, I first made a quick call and then walked along the high street where I found a shop selling children’s clothes. I had to ask the shopkeeper for advice on the size and I figured the flowery dress that I bought looked European rather than Asian.

  I left the clothes on the bed for the girl and waited in the hotel lobby.

  She came down thirty minutes later. Her blonde hair was still damp and hanging loose. The shoulders of the new dress were wet but it fitted and looked good.

  “Hungry?” I asked.

  “Could I have English food?”

  I smiled and guessed she’d been eating Chinese cuisine for the past few weeks.

  “Sure,” I said. “If we can find somewhere.”

  The receptionist told us where to go and she chose a simple ham and cheese sandwich and a Coke. It didn’t look great but she said it was the best she’d ever tasted.

  When we got back to the hotel, there was a car outside that I recognized: a light grey Jaguar Mk II. Jane must have been waiting at a window because she came running outside.

  Laura missed a step as she saw her and then started running. She jumped into Jane’s arms and the two spun around, laughing and shrieking. And when they stopped spinning, they were both crying. Jane hugged the girl like she was afraid to let go.

  I kept back. I leaned against the Jaguar and enjoyed the sunlight that had broken through the clouds.

  Eventually Jane held Laura’s hand and walked over to me.

  “Thank you!” She kissed me and cupped my chin briefly. Although her face was radiant with happiness, there was sadness in her eyes.

  I said, “You’re going back.”

  “To Penang,” she said. “Yes. I’m taking Laura back with me.”

  “Back to an orphanage?”

  “No. I’m going to take her home. England.” She held my hand. “I don’t suppose…”

  “Come back to England?”

  “Yes.” She smiled but I could see she already knew the answer. I wasn’t ready to settle down. Also, I wasn’t ready to leave Singapore.

  I said, “I’ll come and visit one day.”

  “Come now—no commitment. Spend a few days with us in Penang.”

  “That would be nice,” I said, “but I have things to do.”

  She nodded and then they got into the big car.

  “No long goodbyes,
” she said.

  “Drive carefully.”

  I just stood there and watched as Jane turned the car around. I could see Laura fiddling with something on the dashboard. As they pulled away, I could hear music, loud and tinny. Johnnie Ray, I think.

  Both girls were smiling.

  They waved and were gone.

  SIXTY-SEVEN

  Inspector McNaughton worked diligently on the case. He believed there were as many as forty men involved with the brothel-school but only managed to identify seventeen. Major Vernon received an honourable discharge and was subsequently replaced by a much better CO. Commander Alldritt provided three other names and retired quietly without an official blemish to his reputation.

  McNaughton interviewed the girls who had remained at Lady Hage-Dando’s orphanage and got some more names. He charged the colleague who had provided him with the false information about the girl in the Kuala Lumpur hospital. He also suspected at least one superior officer of being involved but couldn’t prove it. It seemed that many of the men didn’t reveal their names to the girls at the school.

  But he did find success with a number of wealthy civilians and two politicians in the Singapore legislature. I didn’t know either of them.

  Some of those involved were single but most were married. They were fairly wealthy and senior. And they were all white.

  For months after, I found myself wondering if anyone I met was involved. And if they were I hoped they feared that one day they’d be found out.

  McNaughton also tried to trace the girls who had been taken but not into the school. He learned that Sarah was highly selective and would sell on any girl she thought unsuitable. The inspector had the names from the address book but he didn’t locate one. We also never found out what happened to Di Yang and Kate Tiurina—the two who had escaped with Monalisa Cardoso.

  Jane returned to her home town of Hastings and became a civilian nurse. She formally adopted Laura, and the last I heard, the girl was doing academically well and played hockey for the school.

  Stevenson’s men were released while Turner and Lipscombe received lengthy sentences for child abduction. I found it ironic that Alldritt and Vernon got off lightly in comparison.