They heard footsteps.
Caprisi was gripping Chen’s arm and trying to stop the bleeding, his face twisted with the effort. He pulled at Chen’s raincoat, trying to get it off so that he could reach the pressure point on the inside of the arm, while holding his hand up in the air, above the level of his head.
Field looked over to the machine gun.
The footsteps grew louder. His hand was shaking.
He saw the corner of a fedora.
He lunged over Chen’s legs, dropping his revolver, diving for the machine gun, kneeling, head down, trying to get his finger to the trigger, looking up to see the man in the hat swinging around.
The machine gun juddered in his hand, thumping back against him. The man was peppered with holes, and specks of blood floated above him in a fine mist as he fell, his face white with the shock of his own death.
Field got to his feet, turned toward the next man, and pulled the trigger. The gun flew up in the air, but the other two men behind turned and ran.
The car revved up and reversed as they sprinted toward the door, shouting.
Doors slammed, the car’s engine roared, and then it was gone, leaving the factory eerily silent.
“Is he—”
“Check the others are dead,” Caprisi said, still fighting to get Chen’s raincoat off.
Field stood. His legs were shaking, the gun hanging down beside him.
He walked slowly, listening to the sound of his own footsteps as he moved toward the bodies.
Both men were Chinese. The first wore a blue suit. His chest was full of holes, a pool of blood beneath him. His fedora lay a few feet away.
Field had hit the second man in the head. There was less blood, but his face was contorted and ugly.
“Are they dead?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“Yes,” Field shouted.
“Well then, come back.”
Their voices seemed to echo.
Field returned and crouched beside the American. “It’s an artery,” Caprisi said. “Get his sleeve off that arm and rip it. Rip the coat or the shirt—anything.”
Field handed him the strips of material.
“Now, while I keep my finger on the pressure point, get this off. Tear it. Don’t worry about Chen.”
Field grabbed Chen’s raincoat underneath the arm and pulled it off. Caprisi gave him Chen’s hand and indicated he should hold it up while he tried to get the makeshift bandages around the wound to stop the bleeding.
“It’s all right, Chen,” he said quietly. “It hurts, but it’s not going to kill you.” Caprisi stood. “All right, let’s get you out of here.”
They lifted Chen up. One arm was over Field’s shoulder, and Caprisi still held the other above the level of his head. The front of Caprisi’s shirt and his hands and face were covered in the Chinese detective’s blood. As they walked past the line of machines, the American said, “They knew we were coming.”
The rain was still like a wall beyond the entrance, pounding onto their heads and into their eyes as they stepped out, trying to spot the car. The lights were not on, and several seconds passed before they realized that it was full of holes, the windows broken, their young driver slumped forward over the wheel.
Twenty-eight
This is a declaration of war.”
There was silence as Macleod looked around the room, waiting for someone to challenge him.
Field hadn’t been in Commissioner Biers’s office before and he was impressed. They were sitting at a round table, surrounded by tall windows which, on a clear day, would have afforded a panoramic view out over the rooftops, toward the Customs House and Hong Kong Shanghai Bank in one direction, and the race club in the other. Outside, the rain pounded on the glass. Behind him, a brass lamp on the commissioner’s teak desk struggled to dispel the gloom of the gathering night.
If it was true that Biers was rarely sober, he was hiding it well tonight. He’d been solicitous and charming to both of them, gripping their shoulders, asking after Chen, before slipping into a discussion of the Dempsey- Carpentier fight at Jersey City some five years ago, clearly picking up on an earlier conversation, oblivious to the fact that Caprisi was not in the mood for small talk. The commissioner was softly spoken, with the hint of an accent that betrayed his Irish-immigrant background. He did not remember Field from their meeting the other night.
Biers began to fiddle with the pen and papers he’d brought from his desk. Field could see that he was nervous. “Yes,” he said, clearing his throat.
“This is a direct attack on some of our most important men.”
“Well, we’ve been attacked before.” The commissioner cleared his throat again. “You chaps have been brave, of course.”
