“I’ve sent men to bring him in for questioning.”
“And where’s the body now?”
“Still lying in the street. I’m waiting for the doctor and the morgue wagon to arrive. I thought I’d question the people in the household and get a jump on things while we’re waiting.”
Daniel nodded and I realized that the other man was seeking his approval. “What did you need the fingerprint powder for? You think there might be prints on his back from the man who pushed him?”
Captain Kear scowled and Daniel laughed. “I’m pulling your leg, man. Where’s your sense of humor?”
Captain Kear’s expression indicated that he didn’t find it very funny. “That cabinet in the corner appears to have been tampered with,” he said primly. “That’s why I requested the fingerprint powder.”
“Tampered with?”
“Papers rifled through and out of order as though someone was looking for something in a hurry.”
“Have you been through it yet?”
“Give me a chance, I’ve only been here half an hour at the most. Besides, it’s all in Chinese characters. I’ll need someone to read it to me.”
“Then let’s leave it for later. I suggest we station your constable on duty to keep an eye on the place and go and take a look at the body. Where is it?”
“Around the corner on Pell Street. But let me remind you again that this is my precinct, Sullivan. My case. You’re not just coming in to take over from me, even if you are officially my superior.”
“Nobody wants to step on your toes, Kear,” Daniel said easily. “I’m just doing what I can to help—throwing in a little expertise so that we don’t find a full-fledged tong war on our hands again. You have to admit that you’re still wet behind the ears when it comes to detective work, right?”
“But I do know all about the streets around here. I know how things operate.”
“I’m well aware that you know how things operate, Kear,” Daniel said. The two men stared at each other like dogs who have just encountered each other unexpectedly. There was a tension I didn’t quite understand. “But we’re wasting time. We’ve got a body on a busy street and we don’t want it lying around all day, do we? Where’s your man to guard the room?”
“I sent him to find Frederick Lee.”
“Don’t you have more than one man working on this?”
“Of course, but I’ve a team of them keeping the crowd away from the body, and the others are rounding up suspects.” Captain Kear got to his feet. The tension was now palpable.
“You understand?” he barked at the people in the room. “Mrs. Lee should go back to her bedroom. Bobby, I want you to leave the place, and nobody touches anything in here at all. Understand that, boy?” He gestured at the wide-eyed houseboy. “No cleaning, no dusting, nothing. You stay in kitchen with the cook and don’t touch anything or I’ll have you locked up.”
The interpreter translated the instructions into Chinese. Mrs. Lee said something.
“She wants to know if she can have her breakfast,” he said. “And she wants to know when she can see her husband’s body.”
“She can have her breakfast if she wants it and we’ll let her know when the body can be released to the funeral parlor.”
Mrs. Lee rattled off another string of Chinese.
“He has to go back to China,” the interpreter said. “His bones have to be returned to the place of his ancestors.”
Bobby Lee obviously said something reassuring to her and reached out to touch her, but she shrank away as if burned. He shrugged and went ahead of us down the stairs. As we came out into the street the wind had grown even stronger, sending papers and refuse swirling and making the lanterns hanging on the balconies swing. I hoped that Sid’s paper lanterns were surviving.
“The heat’s broken at last, thank God,” Captain Kear said. Then he pointed down the street. “Ah, here’s O’Byrne now. Did you find Frederick Lee?”
“Yes, sir.” He was panting as if he’d been running hard. “We found him, about to leave his rooms, and you know what? It looks as if he was packing a suitcase. And there were train timetables lying on his table.”
“Where is he now?”
“At his place. Twenty-seven Park Street. I took a couple of On Leong men with me and they are guarding him, sir. I thought you might want to examine his room as well as question him.”
The captain nodded with satisfaction. “Good thinking, O’Byrne. I don’t suppose you found he was hiding the girl, did you?”
“No sign of a young woman there, Captain. At least no obvious sign.”
“It will be interesting to see if she’s been there recently—a nice long hair or two, or did he wear the queue?”
“He is only half Chinese,” Bobby Lee said. “He behaves like an American.”
Captain Kear looked at him. “Off you go then, Bobby. I’ll be able to get in touch with you through On Leong if I need you when we go through the cabinet or need to ask you more questions. But don’t think of going back to the apartment before that. You won’t be allowed in. Hear that, O’Byrne. I want you to stay here and keep an eye on this place. You might want to seal off the living room and the master’s bedroom. Don’t let the occupants touch anything and don’t let this one back inside.”
“Very good, sir.” O’Byrne looked relieved that his next task didn’t involve running around the city.
