called?”
“No. Is it bulletproof?”
“The Hasui?”
“The window.”
Pause. “I don’t think so. Does it need to be? I thought that act was over.”
“It never hurts to be prepared. I just had a visit from a gentleman calling himself Samuel Wing. Does that name mean anything to you?”
“No, but I get the feeling it’s about to.”
“I don’t know. He offered me a boatload of money to abandon this search.”
“Re-eally?” In a way I was beginning to recognize, Jack drew the word out. “How big a boat? The
“I’d say the Staten Island Ferry. He started at ten thousand, went to fifteen at the drop of a ‘no.’ He’d have kept going if I let him.”
“Well, that’s not chump change. What’s his angle?”
“According to him, he doesn’t have one, he’s working for ‘some people.’ His ‘principals,’ he said, would pay handsomely if I dropped the case. Then he suggested rather pointedly I’d be sorry if I didn’t.”
“Damn. Did he suggest specifically that he’d shoot your uptown partner?”
That tripped me up. It had taken years for me and Bill to start using the word “partner.”
“Um, no,” I said.
“That’s a relief.”
“It wasn’t clear exactly what would happen. Earthquakes, tornadoes. But Mr. Wing made himself suspicious to me in oh so many ways.”
“Tell me one.”
“He came here with a fat wallet stuffed with hundreds. I booted him out with it untouched but he didn’t call in to report to his principals.”
“How do you know?”
“I followed him, dummy.”
“Oh, of course you did. And you saw him not call?”
“For at least ten minutes. If they were so anxious to have me sign on that they sent him with cash, not just the promise of cash, wouldn’t they have been anxious to know my answer? Also, his language is Mandarin, he drinks tea like a mainlander—I gave him the lidded-cup test—but he knows enough about New York that he walked north of the tunnel before he tried to get a cab.”
“Which says he’s been here awhile.”
“Bill told me you were smart.”
“On the other hand, I’ve been here all my life and I don’t think I could pass the lidded-cup test.”
“Your mom didn’t make you practice?”
“Who were we going to impress in Madison?”
“I’ll teach you. So I’m thinking Mr. Wing’s from China, but he’s spent serious time in New York. Also, he didn’t threaten my mother.”
“Well, now, that
“Think about it. A pro working for people who want to intimidate a Chinese woman, the first thing he’d do would be threaten my family. I don’t have kids, but a couple of my brothers do, and I have an aged mother. He didn’t mention any of them.”
Jack was silent for a few moments. “So he’s an amateur. Not actually an enforcer.”
“Exactly. I don’t think he’s used to threatening people and I don’t think he’s working for anyone. Except, possibly, for someone who’s also not used to threatening people.” I paused as a thought struck me. “At least, not with violence. Maybe with failing grades.”
“Wait. You think he’s working for Dr. Yang?”
“Is it crazy?”
“I think it is,” Jack said slowly.
“Not all that many people know I’m looking for the Chaus. And only one, as far as I know, is seriously upset about it. Samuel Wing had my cell phone number.”
“Which I didn’t give Dr. Yang. If that’s what you’re calling to ask.”
“I wasn’t. Honestly, I wasn’t. That only just occurred to me. I was calling to tell you to watch your back.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Really really? Because I’m starting to get the feeling you don’t trust me.”
