“To find a missing prized possession, I told you.”
“Of course it’s possible that the person who stole it intends to keep it, in which case I can be of no further use to you.”
“I did not say it was stolen,” he said. “It was taken. That is not the same thing.”
“You have an idea who took it?”
He nodded.
“By a member of your household?”
It was a stab in the dark but I saw a flash of reaction. Then his eyes narrowed. “The situation is delicate.”
“Mr. Lee. I don’t see how I can help you unless you tell me all the facts. I think you have hired the wrong person. Surely one of your employees could go after a member of your household. He wouldn’t have gone far from Chinatown, would he?”
There was a long pause. “I wish you to continue your search, Miss Murphy,” he said at last. “I told you that a precious possession was missing. I had little hope that you’d find the jade but I wanted to see how diligently you pursued this and I wanted to observe your powers of deduction. I should now tell you that another of my possessions is missing.”
“Stolen, you mean? At the same time?”
“Stolen—of this I am not sure. But missing. Definitely missing.”
“More valuable than the jade?”
“More valuable.”
Now we were finally getting somewhere. “Could I have a description of this object?”
He reached across to a side table and handed me a leather folder. “A picture of the missing possession,” he said. “Open it.”
I opened the folder. It was a photo frame in red leather. And inside was a portrait of a young Chinese girl. She was dressed in what looked like a padded silk jacket with bone buttons and a little round collar. Her hair was pulled back into a thick braid that was draped over one shoulder. I looked for any kind of jewel or adornment she might be wearing but could see none.
“I’m afraid I don’t see the article you are referring to.”
He jabbed the glass of the photo frame with his long fingernail. “Bo Kei. My new bride,” he said. “My bride is missing.”
“A person? The valuable possession you’re referring to is a person?” He must have picked up the shock in my voice.
“A most valuable possession, Miss Murphy. She cost me a lot of money. I had her brought over from China only a month ago. As you know, your government makes it impossible for Chinamen to bring their women into this country, so I paid a high price to have her brought here by devious routes. I paid her father a high bride price too.”
“You bought a woman?” I was still staring at the young fresh face looking shyly at the camera.
“That is the way in my country. We have no foolish notions of falling in love, as you people in America do. Marriage is a business proposition. Each side must benefit. I am no longer young, Miss Murphy. I need a son before I die—so I bring in strong new blood from my own part of China. And now she is gone.”
“So what do you think has happened to her?” I was still shocked and fighting to keep my composure.
“I wish I knew,” he said. “I am most worried. Maybe an enemy has kidnapped her, or she has run away. In either case I want her returned to me immediately, together with the jade bride-piece that was given to her.”
“You say an enemy may have kidnapped her. Do you know that you have enemies who might do something as bad as this?”
“Any rich and powerful man has enemies, Miss Murphy. And in my case I am closely aligned with the On Leong tong. Maybe you have not heard of this, but we have been at war with Hip Sing.”
“Frederick Lee told me about this,” I said.
He pursed his lips. “There has been a truce in recent times, but this peace is fragile and who knows if it will last forever.”
“Would stealing your bride break this truce?”
“Naturally. If someone wants to hurt me, to embarrass me, to make me lose face, what better way than to steal my bride? We of the On Leong would want justice and revenge and so the bloodshed would start again.” He paused. I couldn’t think what to say next, but he added. “On the other hand, she could have run away.”
”Do you have any idea why she might have run away?” I asked, thinking that it would have taken something really horrible to make being alone in a strange city like New York seem preferable to remaining in a pampered life amid such rich surroundings.
He frowned as if he considered this question impudent. “Of course I have no idea,” he snapped. “She would have a good life here. She was treated well. She had clothes. Good food. Any sensible young woman would be proud to become wife of a rich and powerful man.”
But old, I thought. And she looked so young in that picture. Maybe having intimate relations with an old man like him was too big a shock for her. Maybe he demanded too much of her too soon.
“Mr. Lee,” I began cautiously, “I have visited you twice now. It is not very easy to get into your residence. How and when do you think she was kidnapped or escaped?”
“This is what I ask myself. As you see, I keep my door locked at all times. It is a long way down from my balcony. I have a houseboy. I have a cook. I have employees working in my emporium next door. Nobody could enter or leave this place without being seen.”
“She didn’t go out and not come back?”
“Of course not. Chinese woman does not go out unescorted. In China she would travel in closed litter. Here in New York she does not leave her dwelling. It is not correct and it is not safe.”
I took another deep breath, realizing how easy it would be to offend him. “And would it have been possible for her to escape at night? What I mean is, did she share a bed with you?”
He looked indignant and pursed his lips. “When I want her, she is brought to my bed. When I am done, she is dismissed. But houseboy, he sleeps on mat in front of screen. Like guard dog for house. Who could get past him?”
But somehow she had either managed to escape or been taken by a clever kidnapper. I thought about the latter.
“If she was indeed kidnapped by your rival tong, then this isn’t a task I could undertake. As an outsider in your community, there is no way I’d want to stick my nose into a Chinese tong’s affairs. And I’d have no way of finding out anything, not speaking your language.”
“Of course,” he said, dismissing this with a wave of his hand. “I have taken this fact into consideration. Already my spies have looked into the possibility most carefully, but so far they have learned nothing. If she has been kidnapped, then she is either well hidden or has been spirited far away.”
“When exactly did she go missing?”
“Five days ago now.”
“That’s a long time. She could be anywhere.”
He shook his head. “How far could she get on her own, huh? She would have no money—nothing but the jade, and no Western clothes. A woman in Chinese dress would soon be noticed if she ventured outside our community. And she knows nothing of New York. Where would she run?”
“I don’t suppose she speaks much English, does she?”
“As a matter of fact her English is good. She was educated by Western missionaries. It was for this very reason that I selected her—I thought that it would be good that she has some knowledge of Western ways if she is to be useful to me here in the future. Now I fear that she has run looking for church people and is being hidden by them.”
“Ah.” I nodded. We were finally getting to the point. “You want me to visit the missions for you.”
“Exactly. This is a job for a white woman, a Christian woman. You will know the right questions to ask. You will bring my bride back to me. You will tell her that she now belongs to me and obeys me. Her behavior disgraces her family in China.”
“Which denomination were these missionaries?”
“I do not know one type of Christian from another. They are all equally annoying—and interfering with our people, trying to convert them from our religions to yours. But you will find no shortage of mission houses near Chinatown. They try hard, these Christians.”