'In Chinatown?'
'At first, yes, sir. Then my father bought us a house in Northridge, California.'
'And now you're at Harvard.'
'Yes, I'm a doctoral candidate in Asian Studies.'
'Where Dr. Silverman found you.'
'Yes, sir, through the student placement service. I am paying my own tuition.'
'And she talked with you about this job.'
'Yes, sir. She told me you are a detective who is investigating a case involving Chinese people. She said you would need a translator.'
'Did she tell you that there might be some danger?'
'Yes, sir. But she said you were very good at such things and would protect me.'
'I will, so will they,' I said and gestured back of us at the Jaguar.
'I thought that was probably what they did, sir.'
I grinned.
'And you're not scared?'
'I need the money, sir.'
'Your father can't help you out?'
'He has a good business, sir. But he has six other children, and he is also the oldest son in his family and his parents are alive and he has many brothers and sisters. Besides, first he has to educate my brothers.'
We turned off the highway, and started down Cabot Hill toward Chinatown. The Port City drizzle was falling randomly, and the sky was gray. There was a hard wind off the water. I could feel it push at the car.
'You know about tongs?'
She smiled at me kindly.
'All Chinese people know about tongs, sir.'
'Of course, and there's no need to call me sir.'
'I am comfortable calling you so,' she said.
'It is the way I was brought up.'
'Okay,' I said.
'Thank you, sir.'
'You know the Kwan Chang Tong?' I said.
'Yes, sir. It is the most powerful in this area.'
'They run Chinatown here in Port City,' I said.
'Yes, sir.'
'And they use a street gang to help them,' I said.
'Yes sir. The Death Dragons.'
'They teach this stuff at Harvard?' I said.
She smiled.
'No need to, sir. The tongs and the street gangs they employ are part of all Chinese people's lives. They know of them even if they've never actually met anyone who's in a tong, or a street gang. They are always near us, always.'
We were in Chinatown. I parked on the curb, and Hawk pulled in behind me. Hawk and Vinnie got out first, each with a shotgun.
Mei Ling and I got out and stood with them in the cold wind. I turned the collar up on my leather jacket. Mei Ling stayed quite close to me, her hands deep in the pockets of her raincoat. Beside Hawk she looked nearly elfin.
'You going to be warm enough?' I said.
'Yes, sir. I have on a sweater under my raincoat.'
Hawk grinned at her.
'And if you get too cold,' he said, 'I can put you in my pocket.'
She smiled back at him.
'I am a small person,' she said.
'But I am quite hardy.'
'Mei Ling and I will talk with people,' I said.
'You may as well trail along in the car and keep your powder dry.'
