by Rhys Bowen
“You will see that Frederick Lee came back here for revenge,” Bobby said. “Perhaps he and the girl have planned this together. Perhaps this woman here is also part of the plot.” And he pointed at me.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I said. “I am a well-respected private investigator. Mr. Lee hired me to find this runaway girl. It’s as simple as that.”
“Then why you not find her yet?” Bobby Lee demanded.
“I had only just begun to look,” I said. “Why did your father not find her for five days before he hired me? I’m sure he had plenty of men at his disposal.”
I shifted uneasily on the hard seat of the sofa. I was feeling increasingly uncomfortable about being here, not just physically but mentally too. I longed to be back in the security of Patchin Place. And I still wanted to meet Frederick Lee before Captain Kear’s men caught up with him.
“Do you need me any longer?” I asked. “I’ve told you all I can about the missing girl and I’d like to go home.”
“So I can’t persuade you to go on looking for the girl?”
“The man who hired me is dead,” I said. “As far as I’m concerned, she is free to go wherever she wants to.”
“I’ll need to know where to find you,” the captain said.
I opened my purse. “I have a card in here somewhere,” I said, reluctant to hand my card to a policeman, who would take it back to a precinct where Daniel had been observed only two days ago. I could just picture his sharp eyes picking out my name. “But at the moment I am not living at home. My house is being redecorated, so let me write down the address of my neighbors for you.”
Loud noises from down below announced that someone was coming up the stairs. The houseboy and an older Chinese man in cotton blouse and baggy pants were muscled into the room by a couple of unsavory-looking characters, all of them complaining and yelling loudly.
“These men have brought you houseboy and cook,” the interpreter said.
“Tell them ‘Thank you,’” Captain Kear said.
He did so. They waited and muttered something to the interpreter.
“They expect their reward for finding these men,” the interpreter said cautiously.
“Tell them they should consider themselves lucky I’m not questioning them as suspects in this,” the captain replied. “And then tell them to beat it before I change my mind.”
The interpreter translated, most unwillingly by the look of it, and the two men renewed their protestations while the houseboy started wailing.
“Quiet!” Captain Kear shouted. “Or I’ll arrest the lot of you.”
“What the devil’s going on up there?” a voice boomed. “Are you up there, Kear?”
I recognized the voice instantly.
Twenty
I looked around the room, like a trapped animal. I even wondered if I could run up the stairs and successfully make that jump across to the next building, if I hitched my skirts high enough. But even as thoughts of flight went through my head, Daniel came bounding up the stairs, around the screen, and into the room.
“What’s going on in here, Kear?” he demanded. “Some idiot comes rushing into headquarters babbling about dead Chinamen and tong wars starting again, and then one of your men arrives to request the police doctor and photographer and fingerprint kit, so I thought I’d better come down and take a look for myself.”
“It’s okay, Sullivan. It’s all under control,” Captain Kear said.
“That’s not what it sounded like from downstairs,” Daniel said. “It sounded like chaos to me.”
“It’s just a routine Chinatown murder. Nothing unusual. Besides, it’s Sixth Precinct business and I’m handling it.” Captain Kear gave Daniel a long, hard stare.
“Then why were they babbling about tong wars starting up again?” Daniel asked. He looked around the room. “If this thing is going to get out of hand, we need to stop it right now and if you need extra men to do that—”
He stopped in midsentence. “What in God’s name are you doing here?” he demanded.
“You know Miss Murphy?” Captain Kear asked.
“Know her? In two weeks’ time she’s going to be my wife.”
“Well, I’m damned. You omitted to mention that little fact, Miss Murphy. A husband-and-wife detective team—how convenient.” Captain Kear grinned. “So is she going to help you solve your cases, Sullivan?”
“Miss Murphy has told you she’s an investigator?” Daniel asked.
“She has. In fact she was working for the man who has just been killed.”
“Working for him?” Daniel was now glaring at me.
“Daniel, that’s not how it sounds,” I began, but he held up a warning hand. “We’ll discuss this later, Molly. So who was this man?”
“Lee Sing Tai. I take it you’ve heard of him.”
“Lee Sing Tai—oh, Mr. Lee and I are well acquainted. Protection racket, drugs, prostitution, and the On Leong tong. Not a very nice man, was he, our Mr. Lee? I’m just surprised he lived as long as he did. So someone finally put a bullet through him, did they?”
“Pushed him off his own roof, actually,” Captain Kear said.
“And how did anyone manage to get into his house to throw him off the roof?” Daniel demanded. “Don’t these On Leong types usually keep a pack of bodyguards around?”
“I’ve sent someone to find the bodyguards,” Captain Kear said, “but these two are the servants that have just been brought in. They’d run off before I got here.”
“Run off before their master was killed or after?” Daniel asked, looking at the still-trembling men.
“Well?” Captain Kear barked. “You heard the policeman. What have you two got to say for yourselves? Do you realize that by running off I’m going to think that you killed your master?”
This was duly translated and a great wail came from the houseboy.
“I no do this terrible thing,” he said in English. “It must be demon who do it. How he get in master’s house? I sleep on my mat in hallway, same as always. Nobody come past me. This I swear.”
“And your master slept on the roof?” Captain Kear asked.
“On hot nights.”
“Why didn’t you sleep up there beside him?”
“He no like me beside him. He say he need me to guard hallway—like watchdog,” the boy said. “I swear nobody got into master’s house. All doors were locked, same as always.”
“And what about you?” Daniel pointed at the cook. “Who are you?”
“This man is the cook,” the interpreter said after the cook had given a long speech with much hand waving. “He says he sleeps in little space behind kitchen. Far from front of house. He does not hear anything all night. This morning he gets up and starts to make breakfast when houseboy comes and says that master is dead and policemen are coming. They are frightened that policemen will think they did this terrible thing, so they run off.”
“Not very bright, was it?” Daniel said drily. “By that very act you make yourselves appear guilty. And who are these other people?”
“I Mr. Lee’s son,” Bobby said. “And this his number one wife.”
“Paper son,” Captain Kear corrected. “Bobby Lee. You may have come across that name too.”
“Ah, yes, Bobby Lee. Familiar name from the last tong war. You’ve been out of the picture for a while, haven’t you, Bobby?”
“I run Father’s factory in Brooklyn,” Bobby said. “I do what Father want, like good son.”
“I’m sure you do.” Daniel smirked, then pointed at the other men who had now moved off to one side, hoping to slip around the screen unnoticed. “And what about these two? Are they the bodyguards?”
“They are On Leong men. They found the cook and houseboy for us.”
“Nice work, boys,” Daniel said. “Did you tip them yet?” When the captain frowned but didn’t answer, Daniel reached into his pocket and handed them some coins, which the men accepted with cupped hands, bowing low.
�
��You can go now,” Daniel said. If I hadn’t felt so sick and scared, I would have been amused by the way that Daniel had simply taken over against Captain Kear’s wishes. It was clear in police hierarchy that he was the superior officer.
One of the men muttered something in Chinese. Daniel looked at the interpreter.
“This man asks if Hip Sing did this terrible thing like everyone is saying.”
“Definitely not,” Captain Kear snapped the answer. “You can tell them this does not look like the work of Hip Sing and we are pretty sure who the culprit was. He will soon be arrested. You will see that American justice is fair and swift.”
“So you’ve already figured this one out, have you?” Daniel asked.
“I think we’re well on our way,” Captain Kear said. “Old Lee had just had a new bride brought in from China.”
“A new bride? For him? At his age?”
“It wouldn’t be the first time,” Captain Kear said. “They’re vain, these old Chinamen, and money buys anything over there.”
“So where is she?”
“She’s run off and your young lady here, Miss Murphy, was hired to find her and bring her back. And then there’s Lee’s former secretary, Frederick Lee, who was fired yesterday for putting his hands on the new bride. Either one is a good suspect—not involved with the tongs in any way. In fact I’m inclined to think that they planned it together. They certainly had time to get very pally on their train trip across Canada together. And he’s young and she’s young and Lee was definitely past his prime.”
“Have you spoken with Frederick Lee yet?”
“I’ve sent men to bring him in for questioning.”
“And where’s the body now?”
“Still lying in the street. I’m waiting for the doctor and the morgue wagon to arrive. I thought I’d question the people in the household and get a jump on things while we’re waiting.”
Daniel nodded and I realized that the other man was seeking his approval. “What did you need the fingerprint powder for? You think there might be prints on his back from the man who pushed him?”
Captain Kear scowled and Daniel laughed. “I’m pulling your leg, man. Where’s your sense of humor?”
Captain Kear’s expression indicated that he didn’t find it very funny. “That cabinet in the corner appears to have been tampered with,” he said primly. “That’s why I requested the fingerprint powder.”
“Tampered with?”
“Papers rifled through and out of order as though someone was looking for something in a hurry.”
“Have you been through it yet?”
“Give me a chance, I’ve only been here half an hour at the most. Besides, it’s all in Chinese characters. I’ll need someone to read it to me.”
“Then let’s leave it for later. I suggest we station your constable on duty to keep an eye on the place and go and take a look at the body. Where is it?”
“Around the corner on Pell Street. But let me remind you again that this is my precinct, Sullivan. My case. You’re not just coming in to take over from me, even if you are officially my superior.”
“Nobody wants to step on your toes, Kear,” Daniel said easily. “I’m just doing what I can to help—throwing in a little expertise so that we don’t find a full-fledged tong war on our hands again. You have to admit that you’re still wet behind the ears when it comes to detective work, right?”
“But I do know all about the streets around here. I know how things operate.”
“I’m well aware that you know how things operate, Kear,” Daniel said. The two men stared at each other like dogs who have just encountered each other unexpectedly. There was a tension I didn’t quite understand. “But we’re wasting time. We’ve got a body on a busy street and we don’t want it lying around all day, do we? Where’s your man to guard the room?”
“I sent him to find Frederick Lee.”
“Don’t you have more than one man working on this?”
“Of course, but I’ve a team of them keeping the crowd away from the body, and the others are rounding up suspects.” Captain Kear got to his feet. The tension was now palpable.
“You understand?” he barked at the people in the room. “Mrs. Lee should go back to her bedroom. Bobby, I want you to leave the place, and nobody touches anything in here at all. Understand that, boy?” He gestured at the wide-eyed houseboy. “No cleaning, no dusting, nothing. You stay in kitchen with the cook and don’t touch anything or I’ll have you locked up.”
The interpreter translated the instructions into Chinese. Mrs. Lee said something.
“She wants to know if she can have her breakfast,” he said. “And she wants to know when she can see her husband’s body.”
“She can have her breakfast if she wants it and we’ll let her know when the body can be released to the funeral parlor.”
Mrs. Lee rattled off another string of Chinese.
“He has to go back to China,” the interpreter said. “His bones have to be returned to the place of his ancestors.”
Bobby Lee obviously said something reassuring to her and reached out to touch her, but she shrank away as if burned. He shrugged and went ahead of us down the stairs. As we came out into the street the wind had grown even stronger, sending papers and refuse swirling and making the lanterns hanging on the balconies swing. I hoped that Sid’s paper lanterns were surviving.
“The heat’s broken at last, thank God,” Captain Kear said. Then he pointed down the street. “Ah, here’s O’Byrne now. Did you find Frederick Lee?”
“Yes, sir.” He was panting as if he’d been running hard. “We found him, about to leave his rooms, and you know what? It looks as if he was packing a suitcase. And there were train timetables lying on his table.”
“Where is he now?”
“At his place. Twenty-seven Park Street. I took a couple of On Leong men with me and they are guarding him, sir. I thought you might want to examine his room as well as question him.”
The captain nodded with satisfaction. “Good thinking, O’Byrne. I don’t suppose you found he was hiding the girl, did you?”
“No sign of a young woman there, Captain. At least no obvious sign.”
“It will be interesting to see if she’s been there recently—a nice long hair or two, or did he wear the queue?”
“He is only half Chinese,” Bobby Lee said. “He behaves like an American.”
Captain Kear looked at him. “Off you go then, Bobby. I’ll be able to get in touch with you through On Leong if I need you when we go through the cabinet or need to ask you more questions. But don’t think of going back to the apartment before that. You won’t be allowed in. Hear that, O’Byrne. I want you to stay here and keep an eye on this place. You might want to seal off the living room and the master’s bedroom. Don’t let the occupants touch anything and don’t let this one back inside.”
“Very good, sir.” O’Byrne looked relieved that his next task didn’t involve running around the city.
Daniel had pulled out his pocket watch from his waistcoat. “You’d better question Frederick Lee before he bribes the On Leong types to let him slip away. And if you want my advice, bring him to the precinct for questioning. Shut him up overnight. There’s nothing like a night in the cells to get the truth out of a suspect. You can take him to the Tombs if you like. I’ll let them know.”
“Kind of you,” Captain Kear said in a way that might have been sarcastic.
“And put out a city-wide bulletin to look for the girl. You have a description, do you?”
“Miss Murphy has just given me a photograph.” Captain Kear held up the package.
“Excellent. She should be easy enough to find then, if she hasn’t skipped town. In my experience nothing works better than playing one suspect against the other. If Frederick Lee thinks we’ve got her in the Tombs, I guarantee he’ll talk.”
“Very well.” Captain Kear looked long and hard at Daniel, then said, “And I take it you’ll know wher
e to find Miss Murphy, if we need to ask her any further questions.”
Twenty-one
It was a good parting blow as Captain Kear walked away and I saw Daniel’s mouth twitch. The moment we were out of earshot Daniel grabbed my arm and spun me to face him.
“What the devil do you think you were doing?” he demanded. “Do you realize what you’ve done? You’ve made me the butt of jokes in the police department for years to come, not to mention starting up the tong wars again single-handedly.”
He was shouting loudly and his voice echoed back from the tall tenements and the empty street. He was glaring at me, his eyes blazing. “Did you or did you not promise me that you’d give up this ridiculous nonsense?”
I decided that this time fighting was not going to get me anywhere. “I did promise, Daniel, and I’m sorry. I never intended to get involved in something like this. Only the man who came to see me was so persistent and said his employer wouldn’t take no for an answer and would pay me generously, so I went to see him, just out of curiosity, and to start with all he asked me to do was to locate a piece of jade jewelry that had gone missing. That seemed like a harmless enough commission, didn’t it?” The words came flying out in a torrent. “It was only later I found out that he was really looking for a missing woman.”
“And yet you continued to look for her.” His eyes were still blazing.
“You’re very attractive when you’re angry, you know,” I said, attempting to lighten the mood.
“Don’t try to make light of this, Molly. It’s a very serious matter,” Daniel said. “You betrayed my trust. You broke a promise. What sort of start to a marriage is that?”
All right, I had tried being meek and it hadn’t worked. My usual fighting spirit could not be suppressed any longer. “Maybe if you hadn’t insisted that I stay at your mother’s house, sewing undergarments all day and hearing over and over how I didn’t measure up to any of your other lady friends, I wouldn’t have been so anxious for a little excitement,” I said, my own voice rising now.
