through.
Mei-Li was different. Her spirit glowed through her large, almond eyes. This was a woman that anyone could not just love, but fall in love with.
Mrs. Woo performed the introductions and beat a bowing retreat, closing the door softly on her way out. Mei-Li’s responses to the introductions showed a smooth grasp of English.
I took her hand and led her to a corner where three chairs were clustered. As a second-thought precaution against electronic ears, Harry and I moved the chairs to the middle of the room before we sat down.
I cut to the chase.
“Mei-Li. We may not have much time together. I’m a lawyer in Boston. I represent a client by the name of Anthony Bradley.”
A bat at high noon could have seen the reaction. Her mouth dropped open, and a gasp told me she was taken completely unaware. She came forward in the chair and uncharacteristically interrupted before I could go on. Her voice was low but crowded with tension.
“When did you see Anthony? Is he all right?”
“Yes. So far he’s all right. I saw him yesterday afternoon.”
“Did he ask for me? He must have been worried.”
I wasn’t sure how to handle that one.
“He had no idea that I’d see you, Mei-Li. He’s in the Suffolk County jail. He’s charged with murder.”
The gasp this time squeezed a tear out of the corner of one eye.
“Whom do they say he murdered?”
“An old man in Chinatown. His name was Chen An-Yong.”
That brought on the flood. I gave her a handkerchief and let it run its course. When she looked up, her precise makeup was in streams, and I thought she was more beautiful than when she had walked into the room.
“How can I help Anthony?”
“I need information, Mei-Li. I need the truth. If you lie because you think it’ll help Anthony, it might put him in prison for the rest of his life. Do you understand?”
She nodded and blotted one more escaping tear.
“How did you meet Anthony?”
“I met him through the man I worked for in Chinatown.”
“His name?”
“Mr. Liu. He is called Kip Liu.”
There was a slight sense of satisfaction in the confirmation of my instincts about him. Very slight. Mostly I disliked the entire direction this seemed to be taking.
“Tell me about it.”
“When I was first brought to America from China, I was sixteen. I was commanded to be Mr. Liu’s… mistress, for some time. I met Anthony when he would come to a restaurant in Chinatown to meet with Mr. Liu. Mr. Liu ordered me to… become friendly with Anthony. I did, and… we became much more than friends. We saw each other frequently, even when Anthony was not meeting with Mr. Liu.”
“Why would they meet?”
“It was business.”
“What business?”
She lowered her head. There was no response.
“Mei-Li, Anthony’s charged with murder. His only hope right now lies in my knowing everything there is to know about Anthony-good or bad.”
She nodded and said something I couldn’t make out. I leaned closer to hear it again.
“Drugs. Heroin and cocaine mostly.”
“Was he addicted?”
She said it even more softly, but I caught it.
“Yes. Once. But then he stopped.”
I looked at Harry. “Why would he go to Chinatown? He could get anything he wanted in Cambridge.” I was thinking of Barry Salmon.
Harry had a gray look in his face.
“There’s a reason, Mike. Think about it. Kip Liu doesn’t deal with addicts one on one.”
I looked back at Mei-Li. “Was he buying narcotics in large quantities?”
She nodded “I think so. Yes.”
“How would he dispose of them?”
“I don’t know. He began doing business with Mr. Liu after his first year of college. He was very depressed. He began using cocaine heavily. But he stopped last fall.”
“Did he keep on doing business with Mr. Liu after he stopped using cocaine?”
“Yes. Until after Christmas.”
“What happened then?”
“Anthony and I were in love. He wanted to stop what he was doing with narcotics. He wanted to end it. He wanted to buy my freedom so we could be together, be married. Mr. Liu first told him he could never get out. Then, after Christmas, he told Anthony there was a way, but he would have to do a big favor. There would be a big price, but he could get out, and I could be free.”
“What was the price?”
“I don’t know. He called Anthony just before the Chinese New Year. He told him to meet him on Sunday afternoon at the Ming Tree restaurant. He would tell him then.”
“Were you at that meeting on Sunday?”
“No. I was living at a house on Beach Street. That Sunday morning, two men came for me. I never saw them before. They brought me here. They would not let me see Anthony before we left.”
I looked at Harry. His look back said that he agreed that the pieces were falling together in an unfortunate pattern.
“Did you know the old man who was killed, Chen An-Yong? He had a grocery shop on Tyler Street.”
“I would see him outside of his shop. He was always kind to me when I saw him. But he was kind to everyone.”
Tears escaped from both of her eyes, and I couldn’t tell if it was for Anthony or Mr. Chen.
Mei-Li brought us back from the pause. “How did you find me?”
“It’s a long story. I don’t have time to tell you the whole thing, but it started with a girl about your age. She worked in the Ming Tree restaurant as a waitress. Short girl. That’s about all I know about her. Except that she wore bright red Chinese slippers.”
“That’s my little friend, Lee Mei-Hua. We are closest friends. We confide everything to each other. But how did she know where I was?”
“She didn’t. I was at the restaurant Monday. She overheard that I was Anthony’s lawyer. She wrote in a note that she’d help me if I’d help you.”
“She must have known that if Anthony was in trouble, I’d be in trouble, too. She was risking her life.”
“I’m sorry, Mei-Li. I’m really sorry. I believe she’s dead. She was murdered. I saw the body in the morgue. I couldn’t really identify her, but there were the red shoes.”
Mei-Li turned away and the tears started again. The sobs seemed to let out what was building up. I was out of handkerchiefs, but I held her against my shoulder until the sobbing stopped.
Harry gave me a nudge.
“Mike, we’ve got to wrap this up. Our friend could be out there making another phone call.”
I gave him a “just one more minute” nod.
“Mei-Li, I can’t think of an easy way to ask this. I’m sure that somehow your friend’s murder is tied in to Anthony’s case. It leaves so many questions. This is a difficult one to ask. They seemed to have killed your friend without a thought. Why do you suppose they didn’t do the same to you?”
She blushed. “I believe I was very expensive when they acquired me. They didn’t want to lose their investment. My friend, Lee Mei-Hua, was a waitress. She was of value only to her mother… and to me.”
