Lizard's Tale

by Weng Wai Chan

  ‘This is the last time I’ll ask you to help,’ Lili said. ‘Please.’

  ‘The last time? You promise?’ he said suspiciously.

  ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘For today, anyway.’

  ‘All right. What do you need?’ he said.

  Lili whispered some words of instruction. Roshan sighed and gave her a long-suffering look before leaving the kitchen and returning to the party.

  He approached Mr Whitford Jones, proffering his tray.

  ‘Hello, room boy. Got you waiting tonight, have they? You’re a busy fellow.’ Mr Whitford Jones swapped his empty glass for a full one.

  ‘A lady want to see you, sir,’ Roshan said.

  ‘Really? Who?’ Mr Whitford Jones glanced around.

  Roshan waved at someone, and the crowd parted as if by sorcery. Lili saw Miss Adelia, dressed in a low-cut shimmering gown, drift towards Mr Whitford Jones. Her silver hair sparkled in the light from the Chinese lanterns and cast a shadow over half of her face as she looked up at him.

  Lili moved closer, curious to hear what this extraordinary version of Miss Adelia was going to say.

  ‘Well, Mr Sebastian Whitford Jones.’ Miss Adelia’s voice was low and husky. ‘I’ve been dying to meet you.’

  Sebastian Whitford Jones took in her large hazel eyes and fresh, dewy skin and stood up straighter. ‘I’m afraid you have the advantage, Miss…’

  She took the drink from his hand. ‘Why, thank you,’ she said. ‘Henrietta Dobbie.’

  Lili remembered that Miss Adelia had mentioned once that she’d had a childhood pet pig named Henrietta, and she stifled a snort.

  ‘I’m General Dobbie’s niece,’ Miss Adelia lied with a charming smile. ‘Uncle William has told me so much about you!’

  ‘Has he, by Jove?’ said Mr Whitford Jones, clearing his throat in a pleased manner, and checking surreptitiously that Mrs Whitford Jones, who was over by the string quartet, wasn’t watching him.

  ‘“That Whitford Jones feller,”’ said Miss Adelia, adopting a gruff voice. ‘“Marvellous job he’s doing with the company. He’s one to watch, you mark my words, Henny-girl.”’ She broke off with a girlish giggle. Then she dropped her voice so that Mr Whitford Jones had to lean in to hear her next words. He sniffed deeply, no doubt taking in what Miss Adelia called her ‘chump-baiting perfume’ of jasmine and musk.

  ‘Uncle William told me you were a man who could be relied on. Is that true, Mr Whitford Jones?’ Miss Adelia put her hand on his lapel and looked up at him with her eyes wide and trusting.

  ‘Well, hmmph. I try to be…’ He swallowed visibly. ‘Tell me, my dear, what is that mesmerising perfume you are wearing?’

  ‘Oh, do you like it?’ Miss Adelia turned her pale, smooth neck to him, the better for him to catch the scent. ‘It’s…Tabu.’

  ‘Oh? Taboo, is it?’ He took out his handkerchief and mopped his brow. ‘Jolly warm this evening, isn’t it?’

  Lili couldn’t help feeling some disapproval—the man was married, and Miss Adelia was flirting shamelessly. She decided now was the right time to interrupt.

  ‘Ahem,’ she said behind Miss Adelia, who turned and looked into Lili’s reproachful eyes.

  ‘Yes, boy?’ Miss Adelia asked, unable to stop a tiny wince at Lili’s awful wig.

  ‘Canapé, madam?’ Lili held out her tray.

  ‘Oh, well.’ She arched an elegant eyebrow a fraction to convey to Lili: Is this interruption necessary? I’m working, you know.

  ‘The mushroom one is very nice, madam,’ said Lili, with a slight inflection in her voice that meant, Yes it is. There’s something you need to know.

  ‘Well, all right.’ Miss Adelia daintily picked up a mushroom canapé, and Lili gave her a red paper napkin that concealed a note.

  ‘For you, sir?’ Lili asked, offering the tray to Mr Whitford Jones. ‘The chef made very special food tonight, for the very important guests.’

  ‘Really? What have you got, then?’ asked Mr Whitford Jones, momentarily diverted.

  ‘This special oyster from Oregon, this caviar from Russia, this anchovy from I don’t know where, this…’

  While Mr Whitford Jones stood with his hand hovering over the tray, Miss Adelia ate her mushroom canapé and covertly read the note. A small frown flitted across her forehead as she folded the napkin, note still inside it, and patted her lips with it. She turned to look at the photographer, who had just come out from under the black cloth. He smiled and bowed to the young couple as they moved off to re-join the party.

  Miss Adelia turned to Lili, crumpled her napkin up and dropped it on the tray.

  ‘There, boy,’ she said, a note of dismissal in her voice.

  Lili nodded and walked away.

  Miss Adelia looked at Mr Whitford Jones, who was holding a canapé in each hand.

  ‘We should have a photograph taken, don’t you think, Mr Whitford Jones?’ She took his arm. ‘Tell me, is that photographer any good?’

  ‘That Japanese feller?’ Mr Whitford Jones said, chewing. ‘I hear he’s the best on the island. Works for the Straits Times and the navy, too.’

  ‘Does he, indeed?’ Miss Adelia murmured. ‘Well come along, Mr Whitford Jones.’

  ‘Oh, do call me Sebastian,’ he said as he popped the other canapé in his mouth.

  ‘Well, Sebastian, you must call me Henny. I’m having such a wonderful time.’ She gave his arm a cosy squeeze. ‘I would love to have a memento of this marvellous evening with you.’

  Lili walked away from Miss Adelia, deep in thought. She agreed with Lizard, having observed the photographer, that he was the hooded man from Tanaka’s Emporium. The way he had moved with the black camera cover over his head was familiar. His voice was similar too, though his accent was different, but accents, as she well knew, were easily altered.

  ‘Boy!’ someone called in a high, clear voice and finger-snapped to get her attention. She looked round to see Georgina Whitford Jones staring at her. The girl’s mouth dropped open and her blue eyes bulged. She looked as if she had been slapped in the face with a Malayan giant frog.

  ‘Wh…wh…’ Georgina burbled.

  Lili cursed her own carelessness. With a sinking heart, she saw Jemima Whitford Jones hurrying towards her daughter.

  ‘Georgina darling, you know you mustn’t rush off out like that! You promised—’ she began, then she saw her daughter’s face. ‘Georgina! What’s wrong? Oh, I knew it. It’s all too much for your delicate constitution.’ She flapped her hands, and turned her head. ‘Where’s your father? Let’s get you back to the suite.’

  While her mother wittered on, Georgina stared at Lili.

  Lili scowled. She put a finger fleetingly to her lips, then stepped away and melted into the crowd, praying that Georgina would have the sense to keep quiet. Things were getting complicated fast. Complications compromised operations. She had to act now.

  Across the courtyard, Miss Adelia was standing next to Sebastian Whitford Jones and speaking to the Japanese photographer, no doubt arranging to have their photograph taken.

  As Lili approached them, Miss Adelia tripped and her pink drink went splashing down the front of the photographer. Miss Adelia, all charm and apologies, swiftly patted down his pockets. Lili smirked to herself. She would give it a minute, and then go and offer her another Singapore Sling, and find out whether Miss Adelia had found anything interesting on Mr Nakajima. She put on her best waiter’s expression, and headed towards Miss Adelia.

  Lili was unaware that she herself was being watched. Georgina knew something was going on and she was determined to find out what it was. She wasn’t going to let Lili out of her sight. If Lili was here, then Georgina was sure that Lizard would not be far away.

  She checked where her mother was, and moved further away from her, hiding behind a group of chatting ladies. Time to see what Lili was up to. She might need help, though.

  Unfortunately for Roshan, he chose to walk past Georgina on his way back to the kitchen with a tray of empty
glasses at exactly that moment.

  ‘Room boy!’ Georgina called.

  Roshan stopped as if a steaming claypot of fish-head soup had suddenly appeared at his feet. His face, when he turned to look at Georgina, had the horrified expression of one of those fish heads.

  Georgina gestured impatiently. ‘Just the person I need. Put down that tray and follow me,’ she said.

  *

  Lizard lurked behind a palm tree and watched Miss Adelia take a pink drink from Lili’s tray. As she pretended to sip it, Miss Adelia’s lips moved and Lili leaned in to catch her words. Something glinted in Miss Adelia’s hand, and Lizard was sure she slipped the glinting thing to Lili.

  A few moments later Lili elbowed Lizard and gestured with the slightest tilt of her head for him to follow her. They both put down their trays on a table and Lizard followed her around the corner to the covered walkway off the Palm Court. No one was around. It was a relief to be out of the noise and lights of the party.

  Lizard wondered what was happening. Lili had told him that he was to carry silver trays and walk among the guests eavesdropping for any snippets of information.

  Lili stared at Lizard, as if making her mind up about something.

  ‘Miss Adelia will be cross, but time is running out and I need your help,’ she said, keeping her voice low. ‘You know where Mr Nakajima’s studio is, and you’ve been inside, haven’t you?’

  ‘Lots of times,’ Lizard said. He grabbed her hand. ‘What’s that?’

  Lili reluctantly opened her hand. ‘Miss Adelia took it from Mr Nakajima,’ she said.

  ‘Is that the key to Uncle Archie’s chains?’ asked Lizard, letting go of Lili to touch the key.

  ‘I don’t think so,’ Lili said. She looked away from him. ‘But they’ll find him, Lizard.’

  Lizard nodded, feeling a little reassured. Maximum Operations Enterprise was a mighty organisation and would save his uncle.

  ‘I need to search the studio,’ Lili said.

  ‘Why?’ said Lizard. He didn’t like the idea of breaking into Mr Nakajima’s studio at night, especially now that he knew that Mr Nakajima was the hooded man.

  ‘You cannot tell anyone about this, all right?’ said Lili.

  Lizard nodded, feeling uneasy. The last person who had said that was Boss Man Beng.

  ‘I think Mr Nakajima is Nightingale,’ Lili said.

  ‘Nightingale? What nightingale?’ Lizard frowned.

  ‘We used the codebook photographs to decode the numbers on that envelope you found on the floor at Tanaka’s Emporium,’ she said. She took out a crumpled piece of paper. The message in Japanese was on top, with the English translation below.

  Lizard read it out loud. ‘Meet at Raffles 10pm Nov 9. Nightingale has maps and photographs. Nightingale and Mr Nightingale to board boat Nov 9 midnight.’ He stared at Lili. ‘What does it mean?’

  ‘Nightingale is the code name of a spy—Mr Nakajima—and he is going to take maps and photographs onto a boat at midnight tonight,’ Lili said. ‘But Miss Adelia didn’t find any maps or photographs when she patted him down.’

  ‘But there is Nightingale and Mr Nightingale?’ Lizard said questioningly.

  ‘Uh—I know,’ Lili said.

  ‘How do you say “nightingale” in Japanese?’ said Lizard.

  ‘Our Japanese teacher translated it. In Japanese, “nightingale” is “uguisu” and “Mr Nightingale” is “Uguisu-san”.’ I don’t know if it’s the exact species of nightingale—’

  ‘What did you say?’ exclaimed Lizard. ‘What’s the word for nightingale?’

  ‘Uguisu,’ said Lili.

  Lizard stared at her, his heart hammering.

  ‘I know where there is an uguisu,’ Lizard said. ‘It’s an actual bird in a cage, not a person. It’s in Mr Nakajima’s studio.’

  ‘Oh!’ said Lili. ‘“Uguisu” is a real bird, but “Uguisu-san” is a man.’

  Lizard nodded, feeling sick as he realised who uguisu-san must be. ‘Who was the last man you saw in a cage?’

  Lili’s eyes widened. ‘Not…’

  ‘Yes,’ said Lizard. ‘Uncle Archie.’

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  A Silent Scream

  ‘Uncle Archie might be in the studio! And the maps and photographs must be there too,’ said Lili. ‘Can you show me the way?’

  ‘I certainly can,’ said Lizard.

  They crept along the sides of the covered walkways and arcades, until they came to the Bras Basah wing, in front of the photographic studio of Mr Nakajima.

  ‘You keep a look out, while I open the door,’ Lili whispered to Lizard, and she took her lock-picking set from her pocket.

  ‘What about the key Miss Adelia gave you?’ asked Lizard.

  ‘That key is for a padlock, not a door,’ she said as she inserted a wire tool and twisted it.

  ‘Someone’s coming!’ Lizard heard voices from further up the passage. ‘Hurry up.’

  ‘It won’t turn,’ said Lili, sweat beading on her forehead.

  Now they could both hear a loud nasal voice. ‘…and then we heard that duffer Barmy Partridge shout, “Run! It’s a ruddy great tiger!” They got jammed in the doorway, of course. Well, we couldn’t resist, so we hurled the tiger skin right at them. You should have heard them shriek!’

  A high-pitched giggle followed. ‘Oh, Cyril! I do wish I’d been there. You’re ever so funny.’

  The couple came around the corner: a blonde lady clutching a tall, thin man’s arm looked up adoringly at him.

  ‘Stop them coming!’ hissed Lili, struggling with the lock.

  Lizard stumbled towards them. ‘No go here, sir, madam,’ he said, breathless with nerves.

  The couple stopped abruptly. The man frowned down his nose at Lizard. ‘Why ever not?’ he said.

  ‘Uhh…not very good here, got big, big problem.’ Lizard racked his brains for something else to say. He looked at the lady, and the look on her face gave him inspiration.

  ‘Very smelly here. Got bad plumbing problem.’

  ‘Eew!’ The lady drew back.

  ‘Are you sure, young feller-me-lad?’ the man asked, craning round Lizard and sniffing deeply. ‘I can’t smell anything.’

  Lizard glanced back and saw Lili now standing, arms folded, head turned to look in the opposite direction.

  ‘Yah, is brown, smelly stuff. You come nearer you can smell.’ He waved his hand in front of his face. He considered waving his hand behind his bottom, but instead he leaned conspiratorially towards the man. ‘We waiting for the plumber. Is not nice for lady to see.’

  ‘Oh, come, Cyril. Let’s go the other way.’ The lady backed up, pulling on the man’s arm.

  ‘Well, all right, Lavinia, just as you say,’ said the man. ‘Cheerio, then. Thanks for the heads up.’

  ‘Have a good evening, sir, madam,’ said Lizard, relieved. He watched them walk back to the corner.

  Just as Lizard was about to join Lili, Cyril turned to look hard at him. ‘Wait a minute, old boy!’ he called out.

  Lizard froze. He watched him speak to the lady, who waited as Cyril walked back to Lizard and loomed over him.

  Lizard gulped as he got a good view up Cyril’s flared nostrils. He tensed, ready to run.

  ‘I just wanted to say thanks.’ Cyril winked at Lizard. He pressed a coin into his hand, and then he strode off into the evening with the pretty lady.

  Lizard looked at the silver coin. Twenty cents—more than he got for writing a letter. He pocketed it and went back to Lili.

  ‘Got it,’ she said, as she swung the door open. ‘Good work.’

  ‘I learn from the best.’ Lizard grinned.

  They stepped inside the studio and Lili locked the door behind them.

  Georgina ignored the laughing English couple as she walked past them, and Roshan kept his eyes down as he reluctantly followed her. She peeked round the corner and saw Lili and Lizard slip inside the Raffles photographic studio.

  ‘Don’t dawdle,’ she sa
id to Roshan as she hurried to the door. She turned the handle and tutted in annoyance. ‘Locked.’ She took a hairpin out of her hair and bent down to fiddle in the lock. ‘I’m sure I can do it this time.’

  Roshan watched her for a while. ‘I could go get the key,’ he offered.

  ‘What?’ Georgina said.

  ‘The master key. For all the shops and businesses. It’s in Mr Arathoon’s office. Next to the kitchen. By the—’

  ‘All right, all right, I don’t need an essay.’ Georgina flapped her hand. ‘Hurry up and get it.’

  Roshan scurried off into the night.

  Inside the studio, Lili switched on the light.

  ‘Isn’t that a bad idea?’ asked Lizard, blinking in the sudden glare. He was disappointed to see that Uncle Archie was obviously not in the room.

  ‘We need light to see, and it’s easier to explain if we’re caught than sneaking around with a torch,’ said Lili.

  The studio looked just as Lizard remembered it, only everything had an air of menace about it now that he knew Mr Nakajima was the hooded man. There was a table and a chair to his left. Past them, by the far wall, were the backdrop screens and a lot of props. On his right was the darkroom door and the wall with photographs on display.

  At the back of the room was the table with the paper screen on it. Was the uguisu still behind it? Lizard hurried to the table and moved the screen aside. Yes! Here was the bird, looking inquisitively at him through the bars of its cage.

  ‘Is that the nightingale?’ said Lili, coming up next to him.

  ‘The uguisu,’ Lizard corrected. ‘It’s not much to look at, but it sings very well. Although it doesn’t sing much. No wonder. I wouldn’t like to be locked up like that.’

  ‘You’ll never be locked up like that,’ said Lili, staring at Lizard.

  ‘Okay,’ said Lizard, slightly confused. ‘Where would you hide maps and photographs?’

  ‘Uh—here,’ Lili said, pointing to the bottom of the cage. ‘There’s usually a part you can pull out for cleaning.’

  Lizard pulled a small handle, and the bottom of the cage slid out. The bird fluttered slightly on its perch, but didn’t seem disturbed. Lizard peered under the tray. ‘There’s quite a lot of space between the bottom of the tray and the bottom of the cage. But it’s empty.’