Lazarus, who had watched Andy closely, said, “You don’t seem to think much of Sai Wing.”
Andy’s expression darkened. “He is a very powerful man. I work for him because he is not the sort of person you can say no to.” He looked at Kelly meaningfully. “He wants all of you to come to the club.”
“We don’t have time for socializing,” Agnes said. She took Lazarus by the hand. “Let’s go now.”
Andy cleared his throat. “Yip Sai Wing has asked me to inform you that he has noted a strong resemblance between a woman in your party… and that of another woman who passed through here not long ago.”
Lazarus nodded, realizing that they might be on the verge of a true break in the mystery. He was certain that Sai Wing wouldn’t offer his help simply out of the goodness of his heart but if he had information that could help them, Lazarus was willing to barter. “What time does he want us there?”
“I will pick you up here at six o’clock,” Andy said, visibly relieved that they had agreed to come. “You might like it. They play Swing music.”
“Wonderful,” Morgan muttered. “Nothing I like better than Chinamen playing American Swing.”
The Den was packed when the group arrived en masse just a little after six that night. The crowd was composed of mostly foreigners it seemed, and they laughed and drank like there was no tomorrow. There were few Chinese to be seen in attendance and most of those were waiters, kitchen staff and the band onstage that was trying, only somewhat successfully, to make their way through Ben Selvin’s Happy Days Are Here Again.
“This is the finest club in Shanghai,” Andy said, walking at the front of the small group. He was in-between Lazarus and Kelly and seemed both proud of his connection to the establishment and also somewhat uncomfortable by it. “Yip Sai Wing doesn’t offer personal invitations to many people.”
“I feel so honored,” Kelly muttered, drawing a warning glare from Lazarus. None of them were dressed for a party, having not packed anything aside from essential traveling gear. Nonetheless, Kelly, Agnes and Samantha were easily the most beautiful women in attendance and the eyes of every male in the place followed them as they moved towards a large table where Sai Wing sat.
The Oriental was enormously fat, with thinning hair and a thick black moustache. He wore an ill-fitting white suit and was leaning his head back to receive several grapes from a thin young blond of Western origin. She wore a revealing shift that did little to cover her breasts.
Sai Wing grinned when he saw Andy stop in front of his table. “Honorable Sai Wing, I present to you Lazarus Gray and the men and women of Assistance Unlimited.”
Sai Wing spoke in heavily accented English, obviously trying to impress his guests. “Welcome to Shanghai, Mr. Gray. And might I say that your lady friends are quite bountiful.”
“Bountiful?” Kelly whispered, raising her eyebrows. Samantha smirked but said nothing. Agnes seemed anxious about the entire affair, casting one wide-eyed glance around the room after another.
Lazarus bowed low. As he straightened, he said, “Thank you for extending your hospitality to us. Andy has told us that you are an important man to this region and your taste and breeding are on obvious display.”
Morgan looked at his employer with admiration. Lazarus could seem like a cold fish, uninterested in anything but the workings of his own mind. But when push came to shove, Lazarus was as canny as anybody in the world. He obviously knew how to push Sai Wing’s buttons.
Sai Wing grinned like a Cheshire cat. He gently shoved away the girl who had been feeding him and she sauntered off with an annoyed expression. “Sit, my friends! Sit!” As he spoke, Sai Wing motioned for several waiters to bring over chairs. Lazarus and his companions sat down, several of them accepting drinks when they were offered. “So, tell me what brings such famous adventurers to my city?”
“We’re here on two missions, actually. For the Sovereign City Museum, we’re looking for clues to the location of the Soul Stones. Along the way, we’re looking to see if we can find out the location of two Americans: Whip Marshall and Maggie Drake. They were last seen in Mongolia.”
“A dangerous place to be,” Sai Wing nodded sagely. He loudly slurped the remainder of a beer and handed the empty to a waiter. A full glass reappeared a second later. “I believe I may have seen Miss Drake. She resembled the girl here,” he said, gesturing towards Agnes. “But her breasts were not as big.”
Agnes leaned forward excitedly, the color rising to her cheeks. “Was she all right? Did she give you any clue about where she was going?”
“She seemed fine, yes. Her man was a braggart, though. Kept talking about how he was going to climb the highest mountain in every country of the world. He did not impress me.” Sai Wing sat back, his eyes never straying far from the Agnes’ breasts. If she noticed, she took no action in response. “I invited them to sit with me so that I might enjoy the woman’s company. I like Western women.” Sai Wing added a lecherous smile. “But the man… he would not shut up. Kept drinking my beer like it was water.”
“And then what happened?” Agnes asked, not caring if she appeared overeager. She could sense that Lazarus wanted her to dial it back a bit but she ignored him.
“They asked for me to help them plan their trip into the mountains. As I said, the man wanted to compensate for his own shortcomings by climbing high hills.”
This time it was Kelly who betrayed their interest. “So you know the exact route they would have taken?”
Sai Wing smiled and Lazarus felt a sense of dread settle over him. He recognized the Oriental for what he was: a bottom feeder who fattened himself on the suffering of others. He used their needs as commodity, trading on them until he had drained them dry. “Yes. And I would be more than happy to share all the details with you.”
“In exchange for what?” Lazarus demanded. He placed a hand on Agnes’ wrist under the table, making it clear that she was to keep quiet from this point forward.
“Nothing so crass as money,” Sai Wing answered. He licked his lips quickly, as if a particularly enticing thought had occurred to him. For the first time, Agnes seemed to sense the heat of his gaze upon her chest and she sat back, crossing her arms over her breasts. With a small sigh, Sai Wing turned his eyes toward Lazarus. “A man in my position makes a lot of enemies, Mr. Gray.”
“I can imagine,” Lazarus answered tersely. His mismatched eyes, one a glittering emerald and the other a dull brown, seemed to flash with some inner emotion. “Get to the point, Sai Wing. I’m willing to parley with you but not if you waste my time.”
“Understandable, Mr. Gray. Very much so, in fact. Let me tell you about a man named Dong Yong. He is a rival of mine in many things. Recently, he stole my virility using a potion made from the ground genitals of a tiger and the intestines of a pig.”
Morgan and Eun looked at one another, both of them striving not to laugh. “Did he just say this guy’s name is Long Dong?” Morgan whispered.
Samantha pinched Morgan on the leg, having witnessed their expressions. Morgan favored her with a look of innocence.
Lazarus didn’t seem to find it amusing. He took this information as he did everything else: completely in stride. “I’m guessing that you want us to somehow take vengeance on Mr. Yong?”
“That would be most agreeable,” Sai Wing confirmed. “But more importantly, I would like my virility restored.”
Morgan leaned close to Eun’s ear. “From the way he’s been ogling the girls, I’m surprised he thinks he’s got a problem.”
Though he phrased the question in a different manner, Lazarus asked basically the same thing. “What exactly does that mean? Are you saying that you’re impotent?”