"The gold's one thing, your Excellency, that's nothing to do with us," Dunross had said to the consul general of India in Hong Kong, "but to impound our ship's something else!""Ah, very so sorry, Mr. Dunross sah. The law is the law and the smuggling of gold into India very serious indeed sah and the law says any ship with smuggled goods aboard may be impounded and sold.""Yes, may be. Perhaps, Excellency, in this instance you could prevail on the authorities . . ." But all of his entreaties had been shuttled aside and attempted high-level intercessions over the months, here, in India, even in London, had not helped. Indian and Hong Kong police inquiries had produced no evidence against any member of his crew but, even so, Eastern Cloud was still tied up in Calcutta harbor."What about Eastern Cloud?" he asked."We think we can persuade the Indian authorities to let her go.""In return for what?" Dunross asked suspiciously.Brian Kwok laughed. "Nothing. We don't know who the smugglers are, but we know who did the informing.""Who?""Seven odd months ago you changed your crewing policy. Up to that time Struan's had used exclusively Cantonese crew on their ships, then, for some reason you decided to employ Shanghainese. Right?""Yes." Dunross remembered that Tsu-yan, also Shanghainese, had suggested it, saying that it would do Struan's a lot of good to extend help to some of their northern refugees. "After all, tai-pan, they're just as good mariners," Tsu-yan had said, "and their wages are very competitive.""So Struan's signed on a Shanghainese crew into Eastern Cloud —this was the first I believe—-and the Cantonese crew that wasn't hired lost all face so they complained to their triad Red Rod leader wh—""Come off it for God's sake, our crews aren't triads!""I've said many times the Chinese are great joiners, Ian. All right, let's call the triad with Red Rod rank their union representative— though I know you don't have unions either—but this bugger said in no uncertain terms, oh ko we really have lost face because of those northern louts, I'll fix the bastards, and he tipped an Indian informer here who, for a large part of the reward, agreed of course in advance, and passed on the info to the Indian consulate.""What?"Brian Kwok beamed: "Yes. The reward was split twenty-eighty between the Indian and the Cantonese crew of the Eastern Cloud that should have been—Cantonese face was regained and the despised Shanghainese northern trash put into a stinking Indian pokey and their face lost instead.""Oh Christ!""Yes.""You have proof?""Oh yes! But let's just say that our Indian friend is helping us with future inquiries, in return for, er, services rendered, so we'd prefer not to name him. Your 'union shop steward'? Ah, one of his names was Big Mouth Tuk and he was a stoker on Eastern Cloud for three odd years. Was because, alas, we won't see him again. We caught him in full 14K regalia last week—in very senior Red Rod regalia —courtesy of a friendly Shanghainese informer, the brother of one of your crew that languished in said stinky Indian pokey.""He's been deported?""Oh yes, quick as a wink. We really don't approve of triads. They are criminal gangs nowadays and into all sorts of vile occupations. He was off to Taiwan where I believe he won't be welcome at all —seeing as how the northern Shanghainese Green Pang triad society and the southern Cantonese 14K triad society are still fighting for control of Hong Kong. Big Mouth Tuk was a 426 all right—""What's a 426?""Oh, thought you might know. All officials of triads are known by numbers as well as symbolic titles—the numbers always divisible by the mystical number three. A leader's a 489, which also adds up to twenty-one, which adds up to three, and twenty-one's also a multiple of three, representing creation, times seven, death, signifying rebirth. A second rank's a White Fan, 438, a Red Rod's a 426. The lowest's a 49.""That's not divisible by three, for God's sake!""Yes. But four times nine is thirty-six, the number of the secret blood oaths." Brian Kwok shrugged. "You know how potty we Chinese are over numbers and numerology. He was a Red Rod, a 426, Ian. We caught him. So triads exist, or existed, on one of your ships at least. Didn't they?""So it seems." Dunross was cursing himself for not prethinking that of course Shanghainese and Cantonese face would be involved so of course there'd be trouble. And now he knew he was in another trap. Now he had seven ships with Shanghainese crews against fifty-odd Cantonese."Christ, I can't fire the Shanghainese crews I've already hired and if I don't there'll be more of the same and loss efface on both sides. What's the solution to that one?" he asked."Assign certain routes exclusively to the Shanghainese, but only after consulting with their 426 Red Rod . . . sorry, with their shop stewards, and of course their Cantonese counterparts—only after consulting with a well-known soothsayer who suggested to you it would be fantastic joss to both sides to do this. How about Old Blind Tung?""Old Blind Tung?" Dunross laughed. "Perfect! Brian you're a genius! One good turn deserves another. For your ears only?""All right.""Guaranteed?""Yes.""Buy Struan's first thing tomorrow morning.""How many shares?""As many as you can afford.""How long do I hold them?""How are your cojones?"Brian whistled tonelessly. "Thanks." He thought a moment, then forced his mind once more onto the matters in hand. "Back to Eastern Cloud. Now we come to one of the interesting bits, Ian. 36,000 taels of gold is legally worth $1,514,520 U.S. But melted down into the smugglers' five-tael bars and secretly delivered on shore in Calcutta, that shipment'd be worth two, perhaps three times that amount to private buyers—say 4.5 million U.S., right?""I don't know. Exactly.""Oh, but I do. The lost profit's over 3 million—the lost investment about one and a half.""So?""So we all know Shanghainese are as secretive and cliquey as Cantonese, or Chu Chow or Fukenese or any other tiny groupings of Chinese. So of course the Shanghainese crew were the smugglers —have to be, Ian, though we can't prove it, yet. So you can bet your bottom dollar that Shanghainese also smuggled the gold out of Macao to Hong Kong and onto Eastern Cloud, that Shanghainese money bought the gold originally in Macao, and that therefore certainly part of that money was Green Pang funds.""That doesn't follow.""Have you heard from Tsu-yan yet?"Dunross watched him. "No. Have you?""Not yet but we're making inquiries." Brian watched him back. "My first point is that the Green Pang has been mauled and criminals loathe losing their hard-earned money, so Struan's can expect lots of trouble unless you nip the trouble in the bud as I've suggested.""Not all Green Pang are criminals.""That's a matter of opinion, Ian. Second point, for your ears only: We're sure Tsu-yan's in the gold-smuggling racket. My third and last point is that if a certain company doesn't want its ships impounded for smuggling gold, it could easily lessen the risk by reducing its gold imports into Macao."