As we talked I noticed that she kept a steady eye on the street beyond. I tried to phrase my question tactfully. “Mrs. Chiu—you have a good view of the street here and you obviously see a lot of what goes on—you didn’t notice a young Chinese woman going past, about a week ago, did you?”
Her eyes opened wide in surprise. “A young Chinese woman? Out alone on the street? My dear, there are no young Chinese women. Why do you think the men marry us? And if there were, they wouldn’t be allowed out on the street. There are a couple of small-foot wives—you know, the poor creatures with the deformed, bound feet?”
“I thought Chinese wives weren’t allowed to come into the country?”
“These ones are older women who came here before the Exclusion Act. I feel sorry for them, personally. They’re virtually prisoners in their own homes. At least I can walk down the street to visit my neighbors, but they can’t even walk that far. You should see them hobbling. It’s something pitiful. If they ever go out it’s only in a closed carriage, door to door, even if they’re only visiting a couple of houses down.”
I returned to my original question. “So if a young Chinese girl had come down the street, you would have noticed?”
She tilted her head on one side with a puzzled look. “What’s this all about? Why these questions about a Chinese girl? You’re not from the authorities, are you? On the trail of a prostitute?”
“So there really are Chinese prostitutes here?”
“Of course there are. Not that they’re ever allowed out either, but one hears rumors of what goes on.”
“I assure you I’m not from the authorities.” I took a sip of my tea while I tried to come up with a good reason for my question without giving away why I had been hired.
We ate in silence until suddenly she looked up. “Wait a minute. If you were with Frederick Lee, then it’s true—old Mr. Lee Sing Tai did bring in another bride from China. Don’t tell me she’s gone?”
“How did you hear about this?”
“Their cook is friendly with Ah Fong. There’s not much that Chinese servants don’t know about. He’s brought in a bride from China before, you know.”
“And what happened to her?”
“From what I hear she couldn’t produce a son so he got rid of her. Sent her back to China as likely as not. So this one’s run away, has she?”
“I really can’t talk about it,” I said. “Mr. Lee would be furious if he found out that anyone else knows his business.”
Aileen Chiu laughed. “Listen, my dear, when you live in a narrow society like this, it’s hard to keep secrets, and servants love to talk. So he’s hired you to find her, has he?”
I nodded. It seemed pointless to deny it at this stage and I had now made a useful ally.
“Surely she can’t have gone far.” Aileen Chiu was frowning in a puzzled way. “The police would have picked her up if she’d strayed beyond Chinatown. They seem to think that all Chinese women are prostitutes.”
“So she could be in jail, do you think?”
“It’s possible. And if not, where else could she go? She won’t have had money of her own. What did she hope to achieve by it? If he wants her found, he’ll find her. He’s a big noise around here with fingers in every sort of pie. And he’s got the police in his pocket too.”
“Really? He spoke of the police as his enemies.”
“Don’t you believe it. He’s well in with the Sixth Precinct. He pays them good bribe money to keep out of his business interests—and out of On Leong interests too.”
“So presumably he could have found out from the local police if his bride had been picked up and arrested?”
“Although maybe he wouldn’t want to admit something like that to white men. It’s all a question of losing face. They’re very big on losing face, these Chinamen. He wouldn’t have hired an outsider like you—and a woman at that—unless he wanted to try and keep the affair secret from the local community. So where does Lee Sing Tai think she might have gone?”
“She was educated by missionaries, so he thinks that maybe they have taken her in and are hiding her. I gather that there must be quite a few missionaries operating around here?”
“There certainly are. All the denominations out there competing to save poor Chinese souls. It’s pitiful really. They lure the young men in with the offer of English language lessons and then they start preaching at them.” She chuckled. “Of course the Chinese aren’t stupid. They take the language classes and slip out before the sermon starts.”
“You presumably know the various missions around here. Can you suggest where I should start?”
“You can’t do much better than start with Miss Helen Clark. If any girl’s been wandering the streets, Miss Clark will have snapped her up—interfering, do-gooding busybody that she is. Always poking her nose where it’s not wanted.”
I had to smile at her sudden outburst of anger.
“It may be unchristian of me to speak like that of someone who thinks she’s doing the Lord’s work, but she’s caused a lot of trouble. If she spots a child out on the street, she assumes it’s a slave and she kidnaps it, making it go to her classes. And if she hears of a white woman marrying a Chinaman, she’ll try to break up the union.”
She paused to take a gulp of tea and I nodded with understanding before she put the cup down firmly and added, “And she tries to come into Chinese homes to instruct their occupants on Christian living—the nerve of it. She tried to get in here once. I’m a good Catholic, I said, and so is my man and my children have been baptized at the Church of the Transfiguration across the street, so we need none of your help to get to heaven, thank you.”
“And where would I find this Miss Clark?” I asked.
“If she’s not out prowling the streets, she’s got her school at 21 Mott, just down the street. Of course it’s still summer vacation, so she may not be giving classes. If she’s not there, you can always try the Morning Star Mission on Doyers, or there’s the Evangelical Band at 4 Mott—but that’s mainly just a Sunday school.”
“Do you think any of these might have taken in a Chinese woman if she’d come to them?”
She frowned. “I’ve never heard of them having beds to offer. It’s just the hall and a little room for making tea. But you could try the Rescue Mission also on Doyers. They try to rescue fallen white women, but I don’t suppose they’d say no to a Chinese girl if they thought she was some kind of slave.”
“Rescue Mission on Doyers,” I muttered. “Thank you. You’ve given me plenty to start with. And if I wanted to check with the police, would it be at headquarters on Mullberry?”
“No, dearie. We’re in the Sixth Precinct here. The police station’s on Elizabeth, just up from Canal.”
“Then I should be going,” I said. “Thank you for the tea and the chat.”
“Come back anytime,” she said, eyeing me wistfully. “I’d love to talk more about the old country, although it was a hard life, wasn’t it? Never enough to eat.”
“It was,” I agreed.
“So all in all we’re better off here.” She said it as if she was trying to convince herself, not me.
Nine
I took my leave, promising to return and having extracted a promise from her not to say anything about my commission in case it got back to the ears of Lee Sing Tai. Noting the ease with which she liked to gossip, I couldn’t be sure that she’d keep to it. There was no sign of Frederick Lee when I came out into Mott Street, but a vendor’s cart was standing at the curb nearby selling vegetables to a line of Chinese men and a couple of half-caste children. Even the vegetables in the basket looked strange—beans as long as my forearm, huge hairy cannonballs (God knows what they were), and tiny little white sprouts. The vendor was a fellow Chinese and was certainly doing a lively trade.