The Chinese Jars

by William Gordon

  “The crisis passed, as you know. Doctor Rolland is ready to do the bone marrow transplant when necessary. I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to pay you for what you’ve done for my son, Virginia.”

  “Don’t try, Xsing. Not everything has a price. Sometimes one just has to resign oneself to being in debt,” she joked, kissing him on the neck.

  She heard a key unlock the front door. Mathew walked quickly down the hallway into the foyer of the apartment, while Fu Fung Fat stood silently by the kitchen door, watching him.

  “I’ll have a bourbon and soda,” Mathew instructed him.

  He kissed Virginia on the cheek and extended his hand to Xsing Ching. “Sorry I’m late; too many things going on in my world. But I’m sure you two haven’t missed me. I understood from Virginia that you wanted to see me, Xsing?”

  “Yes, Mr. O’Hara, we need to talk. You know we have to be discreet.”

  “Here we can talk freely. Virginia is my partner.”

  “Of course, I wasn’t referring to Miss Dimitri. As you no doubt know, I have already been in contact with other clients and have some offers. It would be very discourteous on my part to ignore them.”

  “We can offer you a better deal,” said Mathew.

  “I think I’ve convinced Mr. Ching to deal only with us, Matt. The fewer people who know of the shipment the fewer risks there are,” said Virginia.

  “I agree with Virginia. This makes the most sense,” said Mathew. “You and I are businessmen, Mr. Ching. There won’t be any problems. We both have experience and know that discretion is indispensable in these cases. I assure you that no one will ever know where these items came from or how they got here.”

  “I don’t usually sell a whole shipment to one person. I try to be more subtle about that much quality merchandise coming into the same part of the country at one time,” explained Xsing.

  “I understand your concerns, but I insist on obtaining the entire shipment. Virginia has explained my motives to you, and I understand that you agree,” said Mathew.

  The discussion went on for almost an hour. Mathew kept turning the conversation over to Virginia whose soft exchanges with Xsing seemed to hold the key. Finally he gave up. “Okay, okay, I’ve decided to sell the whole shipment to you. I want to emphasize that I’m doing it because it is very important to Miss Dimitri. I’m indebted to her. Because of her intervention my son’s life may be saved.”

  “Of course!”

  “She knows better than anyone what this means to me, because she’s also lost a child,” said Ching, putting his hand on top of Virginia’s.

  “Virginia? A child?” Mathew seemed lost.

  “Let’s not talk about that. It’s a loss that I haven’t been able to overcome,” interrupted Virginia, shooting a look of warning at Mathew.

  “We must be careful,” Ching said, nervously. “You know I had to pay a large sum to keep this quiet?”

  “What do you mean?” asked Mathew.

  “Blackmail.”

  “That’s impossible!”

  “My organization was approached by an anonymous source who knew there was going to be a large shipment delivered to the United States. We had to buy their silence. We worked behind the scenes to find out who was in charge of the blackmail. Fortunately, that person has been taken care of. But you must understand that we are nervous about going forward, for fear that other things may pop up.”

  “How do I know this person is out of the picture?” asked Mathew, very upset.

  “Our source is reliable. If I tell you this has been resolved, you can believe me.”

  “I’m not happy to learn this, Mr. Ching. I like my business deals to be clean, without complications. I need to know there won’t be any trouble with an interloper. Who was this person, anyway?”

  “I never learned who the blackmailer was, but he will not bother us again. You have my word for it, Mr. O’Hara.”

  “How long has it been?” asked Mathew.

  “Long enough so that we know there are no repercussions.”

  This twist represented new risks that Mathew needed to consider. Blackmail? How much did that person know? How had Ching eliminated him? The business deal wasn’t so clean now, but it was still juicy. Now came the hard part; agreeing on the price. “Do I understand correctly that you will sell me the entire shipment for $300,000 dollars?”

  “Oh, no, Mr. O’Hara, the price has always been $700,000!”

  Mathew jumped up immediately. “That’s more than twice what I understood it to be!” he exclaimed.

  “You have been misinformed, Mr. O’Hara. It’s $700,000. When you see the pieces you’ll see they’re worth much more,” answered Ching, making an effort to control his anger.

  “Go back to your people. Tell them I will go to $350,000, and not a penny more,” offered Mathew. “Tell them they’ll have a few days to think it over. We’ll meet here again on Saturday evening.”

  “I’ll take your message to them, but I assure you we cannot accept such a low price,” said Xsing Ching. “Remember that we had to pay a high price to shut up the blackmailer.”

  “And you want me to pay for that?

  “We have other buyers who are very interested,” said Xsing Ching.

  “Maybe you can get more by dividing up the merchandise, Mr. Ching, but it will also be riskier and more difficult for you. And remember, it will take much more time. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, as the saying goes. Besides, in me you will have a sure thing. We can make deals in the future, since I know these aren’t the only objects you intend to sell in this country, right?”

  “That I can’t discuss with you. As you can imagine, it doesn’t depend on me alone.”

  “That’s my offer. Take it or leave it,” said Mathew

  * * *

  After Xsing Ching left, Mathew showed his irritation. “What the hell was he talking about, Virginia?”

  “I lied to him, of course. To soften him up, I told him that I’d lost a child,” she replied.

  “I’m not referring to that. What’s this about blackmail?”

  “I don’t know. That was the first I’d heard of it. He did say it has been taken care of, didn’t he?”

  “Do you believe him? We can’t be sure.”

  “He said we could take his word for it. He’s running a bigger risk than we are, and he has more to lose. It doesn’t surprise me that he took personal charge of the blackmailer.”

  “He said he didn’t know who it was,” said Mathew.

  “What did you want? For him to give us a first and last name?”

  “I don’t know, Virginia. This smells bad to me. We can’t go forward if there are spies out there threatening to expose us,” said Mathew, drying his forehead with the back of his hand.

  “Calm down and try to think clearly, Matt. The blackmail scheme gives you a certain advantage because Ching feels exposed. It makes more sense for him to get rid of the merchandise than look for new clients. Take advantage of what’s happened to negotiate the price, but don’t push it too far. We can’t back out now, there’s too much at stake,” she said dryly.

  * * *

  Mathew O’Hara didn’t sleep for several days. He shut himself in his office and made hundreds of telephone calls, going through all his contacts to try and find out the person or persons who were trying to interfere with his business deal and how they had planned it so carefully. It took him three days to get results. From his network, established over many years of making illicit deals, he finally was able to find an informant who had connections with Chinatown. He made arrangements to meet him at Camelot at six o’clock on Friday evening.

  Mathew was there early, fidgeting at the bar, nursing his drink. Six o’clock came and went and no one showed up. He finished one drink and ordered another, conversing briefly with Melba. Finally, at seven fifteen, a short Chinese man in a double-breasted dark gray Hong Kong–tailored suit with a hat almost covering his eyes came in. In spite of the dim light and hi
s hat, he stood out, not only because he was the only Asian in the place but also because his face was severely scarred. It was a burn or a bad case of smallpox, concluded Mathew. Mathew watched him as he made his way toward him, but Excalibur reacted quickly by showing his teeth at the intruder. He was growling fiercely and about to take a chunk out of the strange man when Melba grabbed him by the collar and pulled him off his feet.

  The man, furious, let out a chain of expletives in Chinese and retreated toward the door. He was bowlegged and pigeon-toed. Mathew stopped him at the door and identified himself. The man straightened his suit coat, picked up his hat, which he’d lost in his flight, and, still festering with anger, followed Mathew to Melba’s office.

  “Didn’t I tell you Excalibur was a great watchdog?” Melba said to anyone who was listening, without releasing the dog, who continued to kick as he hung by his collar.

  Once in the office, Mathew shut the door and turned on the lights. The man peered carefully into every corner of the small enclosure and, only when he was satisfied there was no one inside and there were no visible microphones, he locked the door and sat where Mathew indicated.

  “What do you know?” asked Mathew, without introduction.

  “Where money?” the man asked.

  “There’s plenty of time for that. First, let’s find out what you know.”

  “No money, no ’fomation,” the man said.

  “How do I know you have information that will help me?” asked Mathew.

  The response was a disdainful shrug. They were sizing each other up. The Chinese man stuck a finger in his ear and manipulated it meticulously then examined the waxy material on his fingernail that he extracted. He didn’t seem to be in a hurry. Mathew noticed his huge hands that were out of proportion to the rest of his body and concluded that this man was a gangster. He figured he was one of those tough guys who are hired cheaply in Chinatown for all sorts of dirty work. He looked dumb, and was probably too unsophisticated to be a con man. Mathew pulled an envelope out of his inside pocket and extended it. The man took it, flung it open, and started counting the hundred-dollar bills. He counted them twice and put them in his suit pocket then pushed his hat back and smiled. He had very bad teeth. That scarred face and those awful teeth would scare the bravest of men. Mathew trembled. He wasn’t used to dealing with people like this.

  “There was man who cause a lot of trouble for Chinese merchant. Tall white man who dress in tuxedo. Paid a lot of money for be quiet,” he said, with a laugh that sounded like a dog’s bark.

  “What’s a lot of money?” demanded Mathew.

  “Fifty-thousand dollar!”

  Mathew’s head and chest jerked back and his eyes opened wide in surprise. That was a lot of money. If Xsing Ching was willing to pay that sum, the situation was more serious than he thought. That meant that the blackmailer could prove that he knew all the details about the contraband.

  “Man got too greedy. He no problem now,” said the Chinese man, passing a finger in front of his own neck.

  “What does that mean?” asked Mathew. “That you killed him?”

  “Meeting over, goo’ night, Mister.” He opened the office door and walked briskly toward the front of the bar, leaving Mathew flatfooted. Regaining his composure, Mathew rushed after the bowlegged man and caught up with him just outside the front entrance to the bar.

  “Just a minute, buddy. I need to get a couple more answers.”

  “You want more, you pay more.”

  “Did this man act alone or with others?” asked Mathew.

  “One hundred dollars,” said the Chinese man, holding out his hand.

  “That wasn’t part of the deal. I paid for information about who the blackmailer was.”

  “You got ’fomation. Man in tuxedo. You want more, you pay more!”

  Furious, Mathew realized that if the man disappeared, he would never see him again. “All right,” he said, as he peeled another five twenty’s off the wad he was carrying.

  The man quickly counted it and stuffed it in the same pocket. Mathew turned his head just in case the man decided to show his teeth again. “Man act alone. Never with anyone, never contact anyone. Me follow many times.”

  By then Mathew had connected the information with the death of Reginald Rockwood. He’d heard about his death, but he asked all the same.

  “What happened to the guy in the tuxedo?”

  “Taken care of. Out of picture. Our business finish. Goo’ night,” he said, and disappeared into the darkness of the spring evening.

  That bastard Reginald, Mathew thought. How did he know Xsing Ching even existed? I have to find out how he got that information. What an asshole!

  * * *

  For once, Mathew arrived at his Grant Avenue penthouse early. He had bags under his eyes. He made his way to the living room and yelled for Virginia. “Did you know that Reginald blackmailed Xsing and got $50,000 dollars?”

  Virginia arched her left eyebrow. “I wasn’t aware they even knew each other.”

  “According to my sources, it looks like Xsing took care of him.”

  “Does that mean they killed him?” asked Virginia with a jolt.

  “Let’s just say he’s no longer a problem. I’d rather not know more.”

  “What does this discovery mean about closing the deal?” she asked.

  “It depends on what kind of guarantee Ching can give me that there was no one else involved,” said Mathew.

  At that moment the doorbell rang; seconds later, Xsing entered. He was sporting a dark gray suit with a matching yellow tie and handkerchief. “Good evening to you both,” he said, and took a seat in an armchair directly across from the sofa where the other two were sitting. If he was taken aback by Mathew’s disheveled appearance, he made no comment.

  “This blackmail incident has complicated our arrangement,” said Mathew, trying to control his bad mood and his nerves.

  “No need for complications, Mr. O’Hara. Everything is in order, I assure you.”

  “I’ve done my own checking on this, and I suspect that there was someone else involved. I learned that you paid a fortune. The money was never recovered, was it?”

  “An unfortunate detail. My sources looked everywhere. Considering the total value of the transaction, let’s just say that was the sales commission,” said Ching sarcastically. “I understand the federal government recovered a part of it, but no one knows where the rest is. Why should this concern you?”

  “How do you know what the feds recovered?”

  “As I’ve told you, my sources are well placed.”

  “Let’s change the subject,” said Mathew. “Did you communicate my offer to your people?”

  “Yes. They say they will be pleased to sell you the merchandise for $600,000. You can’t complain, Mr. O’Hara. That’s quite a reduction.”

  “That’s not what I offered,” said Mathew, “and now that there’s a dead man in the middle of all this, I’m not sure I even want to go through with this deal.”

  Virginia listened intently to the men talking, taking mental notes. Mathew was about to lose his head. She called Fu Fung Fat and asked him to bring drinks for everybody. The pause and the alcohol calmed down the atmosphere, and the negotiations started again in a calmer tone.

  “Here’s what I’m willing to do, Xsing. I’m willing to come up to $450,000.”

  “That’s not enough, I’m afraid,” answered Xsing.

  “It doesn’t do me any good for you to tell me that. How much do they really want?” asked Mathew, again at the point of being impatient.

  “I will have to make a call,” said Xsing Ching. “May I use your phone?”

  “Yes, of course. You can use the one in the bedroom back there, where you’ll have some privacy,” said Virginia.

  Xsing left the room.

  “I don’t recognize you, Mathew. You’re not usually so impulsive.”

  “I don’t have all the strings in my hand. I don’t know what’s going on b
ehind my back. These guys are playing hard to get. What’s their bottom line?”

  “It looks as though for once you’ve found players who are just as good as you. Relax, you just have to bluff like in poker, and you’re a master at that, Mathew. Use Rockwell to your advantage.”

  “How?”

  “It’s obvious that they killed him. Just as I’ve told you, Xsing Ching will do everything possible to finish this deal and get out of here. You, on the other hand, can take your time. Make him nervous,” she said.

  After a short while, Xsing Ching came back from the bedroom. His blank expression didn’t give away anything, but Virginia learned to guess his state of mind. She took his hand and led him to the dining room table. “Let’s have something to eat,” she said, ringing the jade bell.

  “I’d rather finish with this first,” said Xsing Ching.

  “Oh, no. There’s time to enjoy dinner,” said Mathew, smiling, taking off his tie, and throwing it on the back of one of the chairs.

  Virginia invited them to sit down, and in a few minutes Fu Fung Fat brought the first course to the table: halibut cooked in dill and white wine and wrapped in banana leaves. He served very well with only with one arm but had to make several trips to the kitchen to serve the dishes one by one. Then he served the wine. He already knew that Xsing Ching drank only Chablis. Virginia prolonged the dinner an extra forty-five minutes by talking banalities, while Xsing Ching became more and more tense, just as she had calculated. He refused desert but had to sit patiently while the other two slowly savored their ice cream.

  “We’ll drink coffee in the living room,” she decided.

  Xsing Ching was ready to have a nervous breakdown. She made a discreet signal to Mathew and he returned to the job at hand.

  “What do your people say about my offer?”

  “That it’s not enough.”

  “How much will they accept?” he asked coolly. He felt in charge again.

  ”They said $550,000. As I explained to you, we lost $50,000 on the blackmail, which could have been prevented if people hadn’t talked so much about the deal. ”

  “What are you insinuating? Is that an accusation?”

  “Simply stating the facts, Mr. O’Hara. It doesn’t help you either if this matter is talked about outside these walls. The final price is $550,000.”