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Thomas Lee had read too many Western pulps to know how this would end.<\/p>\n
\u201cMiss Ouyang,\u201d he said, \u201cI sympathise with your situation. I really do. But this looks like a job for the police.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ouyang Li Yan didn\u2019t frown. She was too glamorous for that. Her face melted under her thin mask of mascara and rouge, her eyes widened, and her full, luscious lips opened just so. She bit her lower lip, and shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried. They just laughed at me. You know what they said? \u2018A pretty woman like you will always have dashing young men throwing themselves at you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
He snorted, tapping his burned-out cigarette into a cheap glass ashtray. \u201cI heard you\u2019re\u2026close<\/em>\u2026to the Commissioner.\u201d<\/p>\n She smiled at his almost-feigned delicateness. \u201cWe used to be.\u201d<\/p>\n Amazing. The gossip rags were on the money this time. \u201cThat\u2019s a shame. But you\u2019re a well-known woman in this city, Miss Ouyang. Someone in the force would want to help\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n Another, firmer, shake of the head. A sad, bitter chuckle. \u201cMr. Lee, this is Shanghai. There\u2019s no police here. Just crooks or killers in khaki.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know a few honest cops.\u201d<\/p>\n She leaned forward. Lee studiously kept his eyes on hers and not the front of her low-cut Western dress.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re\u2026different, Mr. Lee. You have a reputation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFairness. When you were still a cop, you treated everybody fairly.\u201d<\/p>\n He laughed. With a face like his, parents like his, being fair to everyone was the only choice he had. But he didn\u2019t feel inclined to tell her that. \u201cThat\u2019s it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s more than enough for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Lee spread his hands out, engulfing his sad little empire. A worn-down, eighth-hand desk bought cheap and held together by sheer stubbornness. A grimy telephone that worked if the Buddha willed it. A ratty couch older than Lee and Ouyang combined. A small bin overflowing with trash, and filing cabinets filled only with air.<\/p>\n \u201cA reputation is fine, but see how well that worked out for me. I don\u2019t need any trouble. For the kind of work you need, you should hire someone more well-established.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSomeone more well-established?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSomeone who can afford the necessary bribes.\u201d<\/p>\n She folded her arms, pouting. \u201cI don\u2019t see a need for bribes. Just warn off the stalker and make sure he doesn\u2019t do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAssuming he\u2019s a stalker,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat else do you call a man who keeps following me around?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs you said, he hasn\u2019t actually contacted you. No letters, no face-to-face conversation, all he\u2019s done is show up at your gigs. Maybe he\u2019s just a dedicated fan.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s not!\u201d she protested hotly. \u201cI saw him trying to follow me home after I left the club! Once I had to lead him all the way to the police station before he left me alone! You\u2019re telling me he\u2019s not a stalker?\u201d<\/p>\n You should have told me that earlier<\/em>, Lee thought. Out loud, he said, \u201cFine. But what if he won\u2019t be warned off? Only other thing I can do is to inform the police, and if you know my rep, you know why I\u2019m not a cop any more.\u201d<\/p>\n Ouyang calmed in an instant. The fire died, replaced by an icy mien.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t have to get the police involved.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou want me to do something else.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cExactly.\u201d She dropped her voice an octave. \u201cYou have a reputation for doing the right thing. The hard thing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou want me to kill him?\u201d<\/p>\n Her eyes were soft chocolate floating in milk. \u201cI didn\u2019t say that. I just want you to do what you have to do. I\u2019ll be\u00a0very<\/em>\u00a0grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n Lee sighed. People like her, the Beautiful People, never needed to get their hands dirty. They could always hire someone like him to do it. Without hands-on experience, they\u2019d never know the real cost of what they were really asking.<\/p>\n But if a man wants to climb out of the gutter, he has to work.<\/p>\n \u201cHow<\/em>\u00a0grateful?\u201d<\/p>\n She looked him up and down, leaned back a bit. \u201cOne month\u2019s pay, for one night\u2019s work. Sounds fair, doesn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cVery fair.\u201d<\/p>\n She flashed a mouthful of perfect white teeth. \u201cThank you. And when this is over\u2026maybe we could have a drink someday.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe,\u201d he allowed.<\/p>\n **<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s dynamite,\u201d the detective said.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s a paycheck I can\u2019t turn down,\u201d the private detective said.<\/p>\n Sergeant Wong Jie sighed, mopping at his brow. The slow rotating fan overhead did nothing to dispel the wet heat of the summer day. \u201cYou\u2019ve never met a damsel you could ignore.\u201d<\/p>\n Lee shrugged broadly. \u201cYou draw a salary. I don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re a mercenary now? Don\u2019t make me look too deeply into your bank account. Your\u00a0other<\/em>one at the Bank of Yokohama.\u201d<\/p>\n Lee reached into his breast pocket and tapped out a cigarette. From his pants pocket he drew a book of matches. Slowly, almost casually, he lit a match and touched it to the coffin nail. He inhaled deep, let the fire touch his lungs, and breathed out an ephemeral gray cloud.<\/p>\n \u201cGood luck asking the Japanese to open up,\u201d he said finally. \u201cBut we\u2019re not here to talk about them.\u201d<\/p>\n Three rapid\u00a0bangs<\/em>\u00a0filtered in through the office window. Both men looked out. Only the tourists were running on the streets. The locals and long-time foreigners were walking nonchalantly. Wong sighed, returning to his chair.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u00a0are<\/em>\u00a0talking about the Japanese,\u201d Wong said. \u201cMiss Ouyang works at the Night Orchard nightclub. The Japanese run the joint.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean anything. After the Chinese, the Japanese make up the largest percentage of the population.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMiss Ouyang is a high society girl. She\u2019s been seen with businessmen, military officers, politicians, and lately the Commissioner. And a lot of Japanese.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIs she a spy?\u201d<\/p>\n Wong sighed. \u201cWon\u2019t be the first time the Japanese used a pretty woman as a spy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIs<\/em>\u00a0she a spy?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI chase triads. Not spies.\u201d He opened his desk drawer and brought a cigarette of his own to his lips. He lit it with a cheap metal lighter and took a couple of exploratory puffs. \u201cEspionage is the business of Special Branch.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn other words, the British.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do they say about her?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey don\u2019t talk to us. They are spycatchers. They see themselves a higher class of cop. Damn foreigners. Well. Not including you.\u201d<\/p>\n Lee tapped out the cigarette butt into the mountain of ash that threatened to spill out of the detective\u2019s ash tray. \u201cHey, I\u2019m not my father, and he was all right.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut you took your mother\u2019s name anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSergeant, this is Shanghai.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTrue enough.\u201d<\/p>\n Both men smoked in companionable silence. Eventually, Lee said, \u201cI\u2019m going to go to her club tonight, see if her suitor will be there.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re playing with fire.\u201d He chuckled. \u201cBut then, when has that ever stopped you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe it\u2019s nothing. Just some crazy boy with half a brain. But if the Japanese are involved here\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s your problem. I\u2019m just a humble policeman.\u201d<\/p>\n Wong chuckled. So did Lee.<\/p>\n \u201cI would be grateful if I had backup,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n Wong chewed on the cigarette, scowling. He rolled the cigarette from the left side of his mouth to the right and back again. Lee just watched.<\/p>\n Finally, Wong sighed. \u201cAiyah.<\/em>\u00a0I don\u2019t have anything better to do tonight anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI need a gun, too.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNow<\/em>\u00a0you\u2019re pushing things.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPlease? For old time\u2019s sake?\u201d<\/p>\n Wong guffawed, almost spitting out the cigarette.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re a civilian. I can\u2019t go handing out guns willy-nilly,\u201d Wong said.<\/p>\n Lee revealed a smile of yellowed teeth. \u201cHey, I\u2019m not a triad. You can trust me, right?\u201d<\/p>\n Wong shook his head. \u201cIt\u2019s not that I don\u2019t trust you. I have to account for all the weapons here, and you don\u2019t have a lot of friends in the police.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe stalker might have friends.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t know that.\u201d Wong extinguished his cigarette. \u201cLook, what you did to Inspector Han\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFormer<\/em>\u00a0Inspector.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFormer Inspector Han. Fine. That Japanese lapdog got what was coming to him. But the Japanese still have friends inside the Shanghai Municipal Police, and you didn\u2019t give them any face. Just getting you into my office is difficult enough. Giving you a gun, now\u00a0that\u2019s<\/em>impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n Lee sighed. \u201cWell, looks like I have to make do.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHey, you were one of Assistant Commissioner Fairbairn\u2019s best students.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe also didn\u2019t like fighting with his bare hands.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cImprovise. You always do.\u201d<\/p>\n ****<\/p>\n![\"PSX_20170918_043442\"](\"https:\/\/www.benjamincheah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/PSX_20170918_043442-1.jpg\")
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