and he bowed and put out his hand as his wife had.
'Mr. Ong,' Mei Ling said.
We shook hands. Like his wife, Ong had a warm, dry hand and a firm grip. I held out my picture of Craig Sampson.
'Have you ever seen this man?' I said Each took the picture and looked at it politely and smiled and looked at me and smiled. Mei Ling spoke to them. They listened to her, nodded, looked again at the picture, and spoke to Mei Ling. She answered. They said something else. Mei Ling nodded.
'They wish to take the picture in back,' she said, 'and study it more closely.'
'Sure,' I said.
Mr. and Mrs. Ong withdrew, backing away so as not to insult us with their backs.
'This mean they recognize the picture and wish to discuss what to do about it?' I said.
'I think probably,' Mei Ling said. In the warm room her color had returned, and she was no longer hugging herself.
The room was lined with cupboards, each cupboard had many shelves and compartments. On top of the cupboards were glass jars containing dried things.
'That is bear gall, sir,' Mei Ling said, pointing to a jar, 'sea horse for kidney, grubs to clean wounds, angelica, ginseng, Yon Chiao pills, deer antlers.'
'Hey,' I said.
'I may be a little slow on the bear gall. But I recognized the antlers. Does this stuff work?'
'What would you reply, sir, if I asked you if western medicine works.'
'I would reply, 'sometimes.'
' 'Yes, sir, that is what I would reply.'
There was a glass case on the other side of the room. There were dried lizards in it, flattened out like stick-on wall ornaments, and short, round dessicated things in glass tubes. I asked Mei Ling.
'Those are deer legs, sir.'
'For?'
Mei Ling looked at the floor.
'Male potency,' she said.
'Really?'
I pretended to reach in and pocket some. Mei Ling giggled and blushed. Mr. and Mrs. Ong emerged from the backroom. Mr. Ong handed the picture back to me and shook his head. He spoke to Mei Ling.
'He says they do not know this man,' Mei Ling said.
'You believe them?' I said.
'I do not know, sir. I admit that when they went in the backroom, I thought they did.'
'Me too.'
I looked at the both of them. Their faces were still and quiet.
'You understand any English?' I said.
They smiled politely and looked at Mei Ling. She translated.
They both shook their heads, still smiling.
'They say they speak no English,' Mei Ling said.
'You believe them?'
'I do not know, sir. Many Chinese people do not speak English.'
'I think they recognized the picture and went out back and consulted a third party and the third party told them to be quiet.'
'That is certainly possible, sir.'
'You know Lonnie Wu?' I said.
Mei Ling translated. Their faces never changed. Smiling politely, they each shook their head.
'They do not know Mr. Wu,' Mei Ling said.
'Of course they do,' I said.
'He's Kwan Chang dai low in Port City. He's the man in Chinatown here.'
'Yes, sir.'
'And, I'm wasting my time bitching about it,' I said.
Mei Ling smiled at me.
'Yes, sir.'
