“And?”
“They initially tried to pin it on the buyer for Major Supermarkets, saying that he was just looking for a way to get rid of them and buy some cheaper product. But after I got hold of the FDA's and Major’s inspection reports, they switched gears and told me I should be going after the packer, that he had screwed up the specifications and was liable for any loss. The packer was the one who supplied me with the emails from Antonelli instructing him to change the specs. The emails were very specific.”
“And then what?”
He paused. “And then they stopped answering my emails and taking my phone calls,” he said.
“Where is the company registered?”
“Hong Kong.”
“Bank account?”
“Also in Hong Kong, and it has nothing in it.”
“Is that the account you sent money to?”
“Yes.”
“Always to Hong Kong?”
“Yes.”
“They could have an offshore account.”
“I wouldn’t know.”
She chewed on a sour candy. “Tell me, Andrew, who made the introduction? Who brought you together?”
“An old schoolmate of mine. He met Seto in Hong Kong through another friend of his. Seto mentioned that he was looking for purchase-order financing and the schoolmate put him on to me. I don’t think he knew Seto very well.”
“I’ve looked at the numbers, and the profit margins look thin. That didn’t concern you?”
“Seto told me they’re standard for the industry, and then he implied — actually, more than implied — that they were getting back-ended by the packer.”
“How about when the selling price to Major Supermarkets was reduced — still no concern?”
“Quite a bit, really. But I still had all my costs and interest covered, and Seto told me they would get what they needed from the packer.”
“You did the invoicing?”
“Yes, it wasn’t onerous. Usually about six invoices a week, and with net thirty-day payment terms, we had only twenty-four to thirty invoices outstanding at any time.”
“Why didn’t you retain ownership of the inventory?”
“We did.”
“Then how come your inventory disappeared on you?”
“Seafood Partners was authorized to do releases. We aren’t equipped to deal with warehouses and truckers and the like. I mean, there’s a twelve-hour time difference between here and most of Major Supermarkets’ distribution centres, and sometimes they wanted product on very short notice. I don’t have the staff to handle logistics.”
Ava walked over to her window. It was late afternoon and winter’s darkness was settling in. Below her the traffic crawled bumper to bumper up Avenue Road. It would be that way till past six o’clock. “Do you have any idea where the inventory is?”
“No. I talked to the warehouse and they gave me the name of the trucking firm that did most of the pickups. They wouldn’t give me any information. They said their customer was Seafood Partners, and unless Partners authorized it they weren’t in a position to release any information to me.”
“Are their names in the file Alice gave me?”
“Not all of them.”
“Can you email them to me?” she said.
“I’ll do it when I get to the office.”
“What else have you done to recover your money and your shrimp?”
“I hired collection agencies.”
“Agencies?”
“One in Bangkok, one in Seattle, and one in Hong Kong.”
“Regular firms?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean they don’t use machetes.”
“Ms. Lee, we are a reputable financing firm.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“I used collection agencies that were recommended to me by various friends. They are — were — very professional. They just weren’t effective.”
“So you went to your uncle.”
“I had to talk to someone, and he has been through a hell of a lot.”
“Including swimming from China.”
“Yes, that’s true. With your uncle.”
“That is the story,” she said.
“And now they’ve brought us together,” he replied.
She picked up the sheaf of documents he had provided and leafed through them, looking for personal information on Seto and Antonelli. When she couldn’t find any, she asked Tam what he had.
“I have phone numbers and some addresses.”
“No passport copies, Hong Kong ID card, driver’s licences, photos?”
“No.”
“Email me what you do have. Also, send me the name and phone number of the guy who hooked you up with Seto.”
He paused again. In her mind’s eye she could see him sitting in the dark in some apartment in Hong Kong, the mid-levels probably, a nice middle-class 110-square-metre apartment that would have cost more than a million dollars and still didn’t offer a view of the waterfront beyond the wall of skyscrapers that lined Victoria Harbour. You had to be higher — in the upper levels, on the Peak — and have a net worth of a lot more than five million dollars to be able to afford that view. The Peak was the top of Victoria Mountain, the highest elevation in Hong Kong. The mountain ran straight up from the harbour, through the financial district, and past a host of five-star hotels, shops, and restaurants, the land costs rising with every yard.
“Ms. Lee,” he asked quietly, “does this mean you’re taking the job?”
“Yes, we’re taking the case,” she said.
“How long do you think it’s going to take?”
“I have no idea, and please call me Ava.”
“Ava — ”
“Really, I have no idea, and not just about the time. I also have no idea if I’m going to be successful or not. And I mean that — we make no promises. We do the best we can and sometimes it’s good enough. I’m sure my uncle explained that to your uncle.”
“He said you’re remarkably good at what you do.”
“That doesn’t mean it always works.”
“Do we need to talk about your fee?” he asked.
“Did your uncle explain how it operates?”
“He said you keep one-third of everything you collect.”
“We do. It seems like a lot, but we don’t ask for anything upfront, we pay all our own expenses, and if we don’t collect, then not only do we not get paid, we are also out of pocket for the money we’ve spent.”
“Yes, he said that too.”
“Good.”
“Andrew, send me the information I requested, and be available if I need to talk to you. If you don’t hear from me for a while, don’t sweat it. I’m not going to call you with regular updates.”
