Shanghai Story: A WWII Drama Trilogy Book One

by Alexa Kang

  “Ma!”

  “Shen Yi invited her friends to her home for afternoon tea on the seventh of November. It’s her best friend’s birthday by the Western calendar. She called and asked if you want to come. See how others are being considerate of you? Why don’t you go and bring this to her?”

  “I have something to do that day,” he protested. He did. He’d been rereading the long classic tale of the Outlaws of the Marsh. He still had a ways to go before he finished.

  “So cancel it. What could be more important? You listen to me. Go.” His mother shoved the jewelry box with the bracelet into his hand. “Tell her this is a gift from you.”

  A gift from him. That would be a lie. Besides, a jade and gold bracelet was so old-fashioned. If he were to give a gift to a girl he was courting, he would choose something more modern and Western, like a diamond necklace.

  Not that he wanted to give Shen Yi a gift with that kind of implication. But when she saw the jade and gold bracelet, she’d know it wasn’t his idea.

  “I already told her you’ll be going,” Madam Yuan said. “You’ll be happy once you get there. You’ll meet more new friends who are sons and daughters of good families with status in Shanghai. How can you not enjoy yourself with a group of young people who have much in common with you?”

  He held the jewelry box in his hand like a burning coal. Could he insist on refusing to go? He’d already infuriated his father. He couldn’t deal with infuriating his mother too.

  Fine. Afternoon tea with Shen Yi and her friends. He’d put up an awkward few hours of boredom to appease his mother. Maybe even his father would give him an inch if his mother put in a few good words for his sake.

  If Clark hadn’t insisted, Eden would never have set foot again in the Chinese police station where she’d once been arrested. The place brought back dreadful memories she’d rather forget.

  This time though, the police treated her much better. Zhou, the officer who had questioned her, invited her and Clark to join him in the meeting room.

  “I heard about the murder in front of Jing ’An,” Zhou told them. “It was a ghastly act. I thought I had seen it all serving with the police force. Even I’ve never seen anything this brutal. Cutting up the whole person. I can see how it’s unsettling to the community, especially to the Western foreigners. Homicide due to robbery, debt collection, street brawls, gang revenge and such. A lot of these can be very gruesome. The Green Gang would even decapitate those who don’t follow their rules. But they’re normal occurrences. People can understand them. They build logic around these crimes and calculate their risks. But when something happens and they can’t understand it, it strikes fear into their hearts. A nice white girl from a good family, with no explicable reason for why someone would want to kill her, and to kill her so brutally. That’s something people can’t explain. It makes everyone feel vulnerable.”

  “Is there any way you can help?” Clark asked.

  “Our Bureau doesn’t officially have jurisdiction to investigate this.”

  Eden let out an unintended sarcastic laugh. “Sorry, but apparently no one does.”

  Zhou smiled and didn’t take offense. “Anything we do will have to be very discreet. The SMP wouldn’t like it if they found out another police bureau is infringing on their business and territories. It’s the same way with all the other police forces too. There’re a lot of petty jealousies and rivalries between the forces and the governments. But I think we can avoid stepping on their turf if we confine our activities to communicating only with Chinese people. I can make some unofficial inquiries. A lot of times, the coolies, vagrants, street vendors—they see and know everything. They’re the kind of people the SMP don’t usually bother to talk to. Most people don’t take them seriously. Not even murderers. People get careless around them. They figure no one would believe anything they say.”

  “The SMP said a street cleaner discovered Eden’s body the morning after her murder.”

  “It’s a start.” Zhou nodded. “I’ll send some of my plainclothes detectives to canvass the area around Jing ’An and find out if anyone saw anything.”

  “Thank you so much, Officer Zhou,” Eden said. This was the first time someone had actually listened and offered to help.

  “No need,” Zhou said, “I’m curious to find out what happened myself. Keep in mind, however, even if we find the killer, we won’t have any authority to pursue him.”

  “Just the truth will be a great help.”

  In the car after they left the police station, Eden made a conscious effort to act pleasant and friendly. Outwardly at least, she didn’t want Clark to get the wrong impression.

  He, too, seemed to be trying to find a way to dispel any awkwardness between them. Talking more than usual, he repeated several times how great Officer Zhou was at his job. “He’s got eyes and ears all over Shanghai. He’s straight too. Not like many others in the police force. He’s someone you can absolutely trust.”

  Smiling, she turned toward him. “I know. Thank you. Your help means a lot to me and to Lillian’s parents. I’m glad to know I can count on you.”

  He relaxed a bit and smiled back. “How was your trip to Kaifeng?”

  “Goodness.” She rolled her eyes. “Don’t ask. You were right. We shouldn’t have gone. I should’ve listened to you.”

  The car arrived at her building. She put her hand on the door handle, ready to get out.

  “Eden.” He touched her arm. She paused and he drew it back. “Do you and Joshua still want to come to the Autumn Air Show?”

  The Air Show. She’d forgotten about that. He had invited her when they were at Sambuca, but since they hadn’t talked after that night, she didn’t know if the invitation was still open.

  “Yes,” she said. “Why wouldn’t we?” To make sure there would be no misunderstanding, she added, “Joshua would be thrilled.”

  He looked relieved and pleased. “We’ll come pick you up Saturday then? Eleven o’clock? My sisters are planning to have a picnic while we watch the show.”

  Eden smiled to herself. A picnic. It reminded her of Ava’s attempt to have a picnic out in the Chinese countryside. This one should be a much more enjoyable experience. “That would be great.” She opened the car door and stepped out.

  No longer embarrassed, she entered the building and waved to the concierge. She felt good. She had handled herself perfectly and kept everything friendly with no hint of anything more.

  But then, why the look of longing in his eyes when she walked away?

  This man. She couldn’t figure him out.

  28

  The Autumn Air Show

  Whatever motive Clark had behind his invitation for the Autumn Air Show, one thing was certain. For Joshua, it was a thrill of a lifetime. He was so excited, he couldn’t sleep the night before. It was all he could talk about for days. By nine o’clock, he had already risen from bed, washed up, and gotten dressed. Ordinarily, his mother would have to nag, cajole, and sometimes even threaten to withhold his spending allowance to get him to rise so early on a weekend.

  For Eden, having him in the car helped to ease any feelings of uncertainty on her part. She hadn’t slept well either the night before, although for entirely different reasons. Thinking about seeing Clark the next day made her anxious. No one had ever made her feel so conflicted inside. On the one hand, she wanted to see him. Every time she thought she had left her own feelings behind, whatever those feelings might be, a new encounter with him would bring all those feelings back. On the other hand, this cycle of wanting and not wanting was doing her no good at all. The saner side of her knew this. Nothing she did or he did ever seem to amount to anything. And yet, she couldn’t stay away.

  Right now, Joshua was her shield. He was a convenient excuse to convince herself that all she wanted was to give her little brother a fun, memorable day before summer’s end.

  They arrived at the Public Gardens, a waterfront park along the Bund established by the British to offer city
dwellers respite from Shanghai’s urban chaos. Crowds of spectators had already arrived before them, laying out chairs and picnic cloths on the grounds and under the trees. The Sikh police guards at the entrance stood on watch to make sure to let in only those who were respectably dressed.

  “They didn’t use to let Chinese come in,” Estella said as they entered. “When I was a child, I couldn’t come here to play because the British had rules excluding Chinese from using this park.”

  “That’s terrible,” Eden said. How hard it must have been for a child to be told that she could not enter a place because she was not good enough. In Germany today, Jewish children were being told they weren’t welcomed in many places too.

  “Now they let people in if they pay the entrance fee. So I have to come. To show that I have the right to be here.” Estella strolled forward. She picked an empty spot on the grass near the river. “How about here?”

  They joined her and laid down the baskets while Wen-Li spread out a checkered picnic cloth. Joshua had brought along a kite, which he was eager to fly.

  “Stay and eat your lunch first,” Eden told him.

  Joshua started to argue, but Wen-Li and Estella showed him the Black Forest cake they had brought and he quickly sat down. He began to tell them all about the Black Forest gâteaux he used to eat in Munich.

  While they ate their sandwiches, Eden thanked Clark again for arranging for Officer Zhao to help with investigating Lillian’s murder. “Can you believe Bonham told me to go find evidence of who the killer might be? I’m a civilian. Granted, I’m a reporter, but the job shouldn’t be left to civilians. Anyway, I did try. The day before she was killed, she told me she was meeting a dentist for dinner. His name is Roland Vaughn. He’s from Manchester. I went to his office to ask him what happened after they had dinner. I thought he might know where she’d gone afterward. You know what he told me? He said he didn’t know her. He told me he’d never met her. Isn’t that odd?”

  “That is strange,” Clark said. “And Lillian didn’t tell you where she was meeting him for dinner? If we can find out where they went, Zhou may be able to ask around there.”

  “No. But now that you mention it, I remember she told me Vaughn was leaving her a note at the Metropole Hotel’s concierge desk with directions where to go. She said she hoped it might be the rooftop restaurant at the Cathay. But the night when we were at Sambuca, she also mentioned something about his personal chef. I really am not sure where they went. To be honest, my memories of what she’d said are pretty hazy. She was a bit infatuated with him, but he wasn’t her boyfriend or anything, so I didn’t take our conversations about him all that seriously.” She took a drink of water from her thermos. “I can’t get over the feeling he’s lying though.”

  “Why don’t you ask the concierge at the Metropole?” He finished his food and wiped his hands on a napkin. “At the least, you can confirm whether he left her a note. By any luck, she might’ve told the concierge where she was going to meet him. She would’ve asked them if she needed directions or a ride to get there.”

  “You’re right,” she said. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

  He shrugged and threw her a smile. There, she felt it again. A little warm tenderness that had grown between them over time, which neither of them ever acknowledged or talked about.

  Beside him, Estella stopped talking to Wen-Li and Joshua. She eyed her brother, then gave Eden an odd look before she picked up a pear and turned away.

  The loud sounds of propellers sputtered above and everyone in the park looked up. A formation of brightly painted fighter aircraft appeared out of the clouds. They flew over the Whangpoo River in perfect alignment until two planes broke out of formation and remained behind, gliding across the air as if they owned the sky. The spectators in the park watched in awe as the planes weaved, rolled, and crisscrossed each other, dived down toward the river surface, and pulled up again in ascent. Their every movement drew gasps and cheers from the people watching below.

  “Wow!” Joshua shouted. “Did you see that? Did you see that?” For him, the aerial performance ended all too fast.

  “Come on, let’s go fly your kite,” Wen-Li said to him and got on her feet.

  That got him excited again. “Yes!” He picked up his kite and followed Wen-Li into a wider open space.

  Not long after they left, a man in a pilot’s uniform came over to them. “Clark! There you are. I’ve been looking all over for you.”

  “Greg?” Clark heartily greeted him. “I’m glad you found us. Have you had lunch yet? Do you want to join us?”

  “No, I haven’t eaten. And yes, I’d love to join you if you don’t mind.” The man named Greg plopped down and helped himself to a sandwich. “Hi,” he said to the group at large, and took a big bite. “I’m Greg Dawson.”

  Estella pulled back and flashed a smile that wasn’t a smile.

  “Greg’s an American pilot,” Clark said. “He’s the one who organized today’s air show.”

  That explained it. Eden said to him, “Hello, I’m Eden Levine.”

  Greg swallowed and scrambled to wipe his mouth before he answered, “Nice to meet you.”

  Clark handed him a beer. “Greg, this is my sister, Estella.”

  Greg glanced at her and stopped chewing, leaving his mouth agape.

  “How do you do?” Estella’s forehead wrinkled into a slight frown.

  “Good.” He gulped down his mouthful of food. “I’m doing good.”

  “Were you one of the pilots flying earlier?” Clark asked.

  “Indeed, I was. I led the formation when we first came out. But I left it to two of my buddies to perform the aerobatics. I wanted to come here and check on the crowd to make sure the show was a success.”

  “I’d say it was,” Eden said. “It was spectacular.”

  Greg turned to ask Estella, “Did you enjoy it?”

  “Yes. It was very nice.” She squeezed out a courtesy smile.

  “If you like, I can take you on a plane ride anytime.”

  “No, that’s quite all right.”

  “Are you afraid?”

  “No, I’m not afraid.”

  “Then maybe you prefer to fly the plane rather than be a passenger?”

  “Excuse me?” Estella almost choked on her iced tea.

  “I can teach you how to fly.” Greg scooted closer to her.

  Eden and Clark exchanged a look. Clark lowered his eyes and fiddled with a straw as Eden tried to suppress a laugh.

  “Thank you, Mr. Dawson,” Estella said, regaining her bearings. “I’m not interested.”

  “Why not? Women can fly too. Do you know Amelia Earhart?”

  “Yes, I’ve heard of her.”

  “She’s the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. If you set your mind to it, you can do the same too.”

  “Mr. Dawson, I don’t want to learn to fly.”

  She turned to Clark, pleading for his help with her eyes. Luckily for her, Wen-Li and Joshua returned just in time to save her from further discussion of the issue.

  Clark shifted himself to make more room. “Greg, this is my youngest sister Wen-Li. That’s Joshua, Eden’s brother.” He said to them, “This is my friend Greg Dawson. He was one of the pilots who flew the planes earlier.”

  “You’re a pilot?” Joshua ran up to him. “I want to be a pilot too when I grow up.”

  “Is that so?” Greg playfully pulled down the bill of his cap. “That’s great. You can give me a call when you turn eighteen.” He gave Joshua a cookie and turned to Estella again. “See, everyone wants to be a pilot.”

  Estella sucked in a deep breath. “Mei Mei, I want to take a walk. Would you come with me?”

  Wen-Li cheerfully went with her.

  Greg followed them with his eyes. “Clark, you didn’t tell me you have a beautiful sister. She looks like a Chinese Amelia Earhart.”

  “She does not.” Clark looked at him askance.

  “Can I ask her out on a date? What
is the protocol for you Chinese? Do I need to ask your parents’ permission?”

  “No, you don’t have to ask my parents’ permission, but you can forget about it. She won’t say yes.”

  “Why? Why won’t she say yes?”

  “You’re not her type.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  “I know. She won’t date anyone not Chinese.”

  “Huh.” Greg crossed his legs and nodded to himself, looking stumped. Then, a big grin spread across his face. “I’ll change her mind.”

  “What?” Clark widened his eyes. “Greg, you don’t know my sister. She won’t change her mind about something like this.”

  “We’ll see about that.” He threw a handful of peanuts into his mouth. “I like hard to get.”

  Clark laughed out in disbelief. He exchanged a glance with Eden and opened his hand. She bit her lip, holding back from laughing herself.

  Undeterred, Greg Dawson lay down on his back with his arms raised and hands behind his head. He stared up at the sky, looking completely at peace. Eden envied him. If only she could be as free as he was to go after what her heart wanted. For the American pilot, boundaries didn’t exist. Not even in the sky.

  Returning home from the Air Show, Clark took off his jacket and hung it in his closet. Seeing Eden always put him in a good mood. In an odd way, they’d come to a silent understanding. The awkwardness between them after the night at Sambuca was no longer there. It was almost as if something they’d both known had come into the open, and they could allow themselves to silently indulge in it, even if neither of them could do much with it.

  He was glad she’d come to him for help with her friend’s murder too. If he couldn’t pursue her, then at least he could help her when she was in need. And how could he not help her? Lillian’s murder had been reported all over the newspapers, even the Chinese Shen Bao. The Shen Bao basically repeated what the China Daily News said, with the added speculation that Lillian might have been a prostitute. It shocked him when he learned from Eden that the girl in the newspaper reports was the same Lillian who was Eden’s friend.