But this was bigger. Sinclair had ordered a clear out when he’d arrived. The items had been sent to Keppel but there was no record of them arriving.
Haw Par Villa was walking distance from Gillman so I declined Hegarty’s offer of transport. Instead I asked him to get a complete list of everything Sinclair had disposed of eight months ago. All the alleged obsolete items.
Su Ling was waiting for me at the ornate entrance when I arrived at the villa. I was expecting a restaurant and was surprised to find beautiful gardens with larger-than-life plaster statues posed, frozen in scenes from Chinese mythology.
She kissed my cheek even though there were other people around and it made me smile. Then I noticed a serious expression on her pretty face.
“What’s wrong?”
“Not here,” she said and led me through the gardens. In the centre was a pagoda—the villa. It wasn’t a restaurant either but she took me inside to a room adorned with garish murals. There was a single table and chairs set for a meal.
Another door opened and a waiter appeared with food on a trolley. We sat and he served us: noodles with prawns and vegetables.
After the man had retreated she said, “Now we can talk.”
She placed her hand on the table and I put mine over it. Finally she smiled and I saw the warmth in her dark eyes.
“I have news about Tai Tai,” she said. “You remember the girl from the House of Tokyo?”
“Of course.”
She took a breath. “And you remember the girl, Keiji, her best friend.”
“The witness. She saw someone run away.”
“She has told me that Tai Tai had a boyfriend. A soldier.”
I sensed what was coming, but waited.
Su Ling said, “Keiji didn’t know for sure but she recognized the name: Billy Cooke. She’s sure Tai Tai mentioned him and the letter you showed me was from Tai Tai. It looks like they were lovers and planning to run away together.”
I sat back. So, Sergeant Cooke was connected to the House of Tokyo in Nee Soon.
“But something went wrong.”
“She ended up in a coma at Tan Tock Seng and I suppose he tried to… what do you call it when a soldier runs away?”
“Desertion.”
We ate for a few minutes as I tried to make sense of this information. Eventually I said, “I really need to speak to Lieutenant Pantelis.”
“That’s my other news,” she said with a smile.
“Is it as shocking?”
“That depends on your attitude, I suspect. Your lieutenant likes the ladies.”
I was hoping for something more than that. I needed to confront him with what I now knew and there was little chance of me getting through the gates at Keppel Harbour.
She was still smiling.
“What?” I said and couldn’t help smiling back.
“Not just a few ladies and not for a serious relationship. I have found out where he goes to meet his lady friends. There is a little place in Chinatown called The Red Lion. He goes there most evenings, never in uniform and—I’m told—never picks up the same girl twice. Apparently, he’s really dishy.”
I wanted to ask her how she’d found out but decided it would be ungrateful and rude. Instead I thanked her and asked what time I could find him there.
“Ten o’clock,” she said. “How about you have your meeting with him and then we get together afterwards.”
“I’d love to. Dinner? I’ll find somewhere special.”
“Really?” she said, leaned over the table and kissed my cheek. “All right I’ll trust you to surprise me.” Then she laughed and added: “No pressure.”
She had another meeting at the villa so I left her there. At the gate a trishaw driver asked me if I needed a lift. As I walked back to the barracks I had the feeling that I’d met the man before. He might have been my driver from last night. My sixth sense was up and I suddenly felt like I was being followed, but each time I looked there was no sign of the driver.
FORTY
Sergeant Hegarty stared at me with blank eyes as I walked into the office block.
“What’s up?”
“Sergeant Cooke’s been found,” he said with a shake of his head. “A fishing boat in the Straits picked him up.”
“Dead?”
“Very.”
I waited for him to say more.
He shook his head again. “Shot in the head.”
I said nothing.
“Remember Private Allen at Woodlands Crossing? He mentioned gunshots across the water that night. I reckon Cooke tried to swim across to Malaya and got picked off by a sniper.”
“Where’s his body?”
“The morgue at Alexandra Hospital.”
The cha-boy came in followed closely by Robshaw.
He said, “Have you heard the news about Sergeant Cooke?”
We nodded.
The lieutenant took a gulp of tea. “Ironic. A deserter ending up shot.”
The comment reminded me of the story about the man executed at Tanglin after his unit deserted their position at Bukit Timah. True or otherwise. I said, “It’s not justice, if that’s what you mean.”
Hegarty said, “So where does that leave us? We put pressure on the QM at Tanglin. Cooke does a runner and ends up dead.”
“Dead-ended,” Robshaw muttered.
I didn’t think so. But then I hadn’t shared my information about Pantelis with them. I couldn’t, not yet anyway.
“I learned something at lunch. Remember the girl at the House of Tokyo in Nee Soon?” When Hegarty nodded I continued: “Well it looks like she was the woman writing to our unfortunate Sergeant Cooke. She was his girl.”
Robshaw wanted to know the whole story about Tai Tai so I filled him in.
“Crikey,” he said when I’d finished. “I wonder whether her attack is linked.”
“As a working hypothesis, I’d like to assume so.”
“Which means what?” Hegarty asked.
“It means that I’d like to treat her attack as a military issue. I’d like her moved to Alexandra Hospital so we can keep an eye on her.”
Robshaw leaned back and put his hands through his blond head of hair. “The police won’t be happy.”
“I’ll persuade Rahman,” I said, sounding more confident than I felt. “I’ll explain it’s in the interest of better relations.”
Robshaw said he’d raise the relevant paperwork to request it.
I switched my attention to Hegarty. “Did you get a list from Sinclair?”
“It’s in the office—all five pages of it.”
“Any guns on it?”
“Oh yes,” he said with a grin. “Five hundred M1 Garand rifles. They’re pre-war and wrong calibre these days so I see why they cleared out obsolete stock.”
Robshaw said, “Are those the guns we’re looking for?”
“Maybe,” I said.
“No,” Hegarty said. “They can’t be. I asked Sinclair about them and he said they’d been decommissioned. Unless someone could get the firing parts, the guns would be useless.”
After a downpour, I asked Hegarty to take me into the city and drop me at the police station. Inspector Rahman was busy and I said I’d head over to Fullerton Square rather than wait. I told him which route I’d take in case the inspector became free before my return.
At the Fullerton Building I went up the steps to The Singapore Club and asked for Mr Pope. I was shown to the businessman’s table by the same window. He seemed delighted to see me and offered his soft hand.
“My apologies for the intrusion,” I said.
“Tush tush, my man. It’s a pleasure,” he said effusively. “How good of you to visit me.”
He insisted I sit and ordered me a stengah.
I said, “I understand that your daughter, Amelia, is much better.”
He looked at me askance and appeared to consider his response. When he spoke he said, “She’s still a little shaken I’m afraid. May I ask why you sa
id she was much better?”
Now it was my turn to be confused. The barfly at Goodwood Park had said so. “A German friend of yours told me,” I explained.
“German friend?”
“I met him at Goodwood Park.”
He smiled like a parent showing sympathy to a child. “You must be mistaken, dear chap. I don’t have a German friend and I’ve never set foot in Goodwood Park.”
I wasn’t sure what to make of that but I nodded and said, “Yes, my mistake. In that case, I’m sorry to hear that Amelia isn’t better.”
“She’ll get over it. There was no real harm done after all.”
There was silence while he drank his whisky. I was hoping he would ask me why I was here. Instead he said, “The Japanese Imperial Army used The Singapore Club as a headquarters, did I tell you that?”
“You did,” I said. “I feel uncomfortable asking but… when I met you last time, you asked me if there was anything you could do for me.”
He smiled and said, “Of course.”
“I wonder if you could arrange for a ride on one of your Japanese junks this evening?”
“Alone or do you wish to entertain a young lady?”
“A young lady.”
“Is she pretty?”
“She’s stunning.”
That’s when he told me what he could do.
Su Ling hadn’t been impressed by my dance hall suggestion but I was sure she’d like what I’d agreed with Pope.
I must have been smiling when Rahman saw me on North Boat Quay heading towards him.
“Good news, my friend?” he asked.
“Not really,” I said, “I was just thinking about something else. My news for you is that our AWOL sergeant has been found dead.”
“I’d heard,” he said and pointed in the direction of the Padang. “Shall we go around this way? The fair is being set up.”
As we walked past government buildings, he said, “Do you have any information on what may have happened to your man?”
“He was shot. There are theories but there will be a post-mortem.”
“What do you think?”
We stopped for a moment and watched tents being erected. There was a Ferris wheel in the middle of the green and a hive of activity everywhere.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I think he could have told us a great deal but I’ve learned something interesting…” I paused and he looked at me expectantly. “There’s a connection with the girl in a coma.”
“From the House of Tokyo.”
“She was Sergeant Cooke’s girlfriend. Cooke’s desertion and the attack on the girl—they’re connected. Not only that, but I think we may have found our trade in guns. It looks like your intelligence about an attack may be right.”
He gripped my arm. “It’s coming together,” he said. “I have news for you too. As you know, we’ve been visiting all the House of Tokyo’s customers. And we are picking up and questioning anyone who is suspicious.”
“Good. Let me know if you learn anything.” After the inspector nodded, I continued: “About the girl—I appreciate there’s a police investigation but I’d like to treat it as a military matter—now that we know she’s connected to the death of one of ours.”
Rahman said nothing.
“It would be a favour. I’d like her moved to the Alexandra. I think she is key to all of this somehow. If only I could get her story.”
He inclined his head. “Politics,” he said. “But I will do my best to facilitate it.”
I thanked him and we resumed our stroll.
He said, “Did you enjoy your boat ride last night?” he was referring to my trip in the dinghy to see Pantelis.
“I’m grateful for the loan.”
He stopped and looked at me. “You’re being mysterious, Captain. May I ask where you went?”
“It’s best that you don’t know,” I said. “For now at least.” A troupe of acrobats started to perform on the green in front of us. We watched for a moment and others gathered round for early entertainment.
Rahman said, “Three days until the final New Year celebration, the parade and pageant. Forty, two, ten.”
A street vendor stopped and tried to get us to buy roasted chicken on bamboo skewers. Rahman waved the man away.
The acrobats had built a human tower of five people. A child scrambled up the side and stood on the top. It looked precarious and as the column swayed, the crowd of spectators gasped. But it was all showmanship. The tower became ridged again and the child climbed down. Then one by one the men jumped off to rapturous applause.
When the street vendor was finally out of earshot, I said, “If this threat is real, are you thinking the target is here at the carnival or the parade?”
The inspector ran his hand through his black hair, thinking. Then he said, “Perhaps we could check for empty premises along the route. In case it is the parade.”
FORTY-ONE
English through and through, the only clues that said The Red Lion pub was in Asia were the two giant red banners with gold Chinese lettering. They hung either side of the entrance, adding to the vast number of red flags, lanterns and banners that adorned most of the properties in and around Chinatown.
It was early evening and I was dressed in my best suit and ready for my date with Su Ling. I just had to confront Pantelis first.
The streets were packed with party-goers and shoppers and, as I forced my way into The Red Lion, I wasn’t surprised to find it equally busy. Inside, red sashes proclaimed the New Year, but apart from that, it now felt like it could have been transplanted from Portsmouth or Plymouth where there would be an equal number of sailors and soldiers with pints in their hands. There were some couples huddled around cheap-looking tables. Others leaned against the wall or a bar at the far end. There were also groups of girls clearly on the lookout for a date. I spotted Pantelis sitting furthest from the door, the plaster above his eyebrow smaller than before and I could see a yellow bruise. There was a half-empty pint glass and an untouched cocktail on the table. Pantelis leaned in, deep in conversation with what looked like a young Asian woman.
I squeezed through the bodies towards the table.
Pantelis spotted me and stood, a mixture of emotions on his face. Anger, frustration and something else, guilt perhaps.
I briefly wondered if the young woman was a lady-boy but couldn’t judge when she looked up at me with alarm.
“You’d better leave,” I said and she was up and out without a word or glance back.
“You have a nerve,” Pantelis said through clenched teeth.
“Sit down.”
“It was you last night, wasn’t it? If I reported you…”
“But you won’t. Now sit down!”
He complied but continued to glare at me.
I said, “You won’t because I have your ledgers and your private record. I know what you’ve been doing. And I know about your trade with Sergeant Cooke.” I sat down and leaned in. “He’s dead you know?”
Pantelis’s eyes froze for a moment and I figured that he hadn’t known. Then he looked down and took a sip of beer.
When he looked back at me he said, “What happened to him?”
“We don’t know. He was found earlier today in the Straits of Johor—off Pulau Ubin—with a gunshot wound. I don’t know any more—not yet. Not until the post-mortem.”
Pantelis looked down and then up again after a beat. “So, what are you going to do?”
“I want to hear it from you.”
“What from me?”
“It was you who took the staff car out two weeks ago. It was you who drove my friend off the road.”
“Is that what you think?”
“Yes.”
He took a breath before quietly saying, “Yes, I took the car but it was for Sergeant Cooke.”
“Cooke?”
“He needed to make a delivery in Nee Soon. He couldn’t take an army car so he often took one of ours. I just signed it out for him
.”
I figured he was hiding something, that this wasn’t the exact story but I ran with it and said, “So who caused the accident?”
“Cooke. Your friend must have followed him.”
“What was he delivering?”
Pantelis looked away. He said, “The usual.”
I fixed him with a stare. “But it wasn’t, was it? Omega-delta.”
He said nothing, just gave me a deadpan look.
“The rifles.”
“I don’t deal in weapons. That would be irres-ponsible.”
“What was it then?”
“I don’t know.”
I shook my head in disgust. “I think you’re lying. I think you sold rifles to Cooke and you don’t care where they ended up.”
He said nothing, just looked at me with blank eyes.
I said, “You better hope we find them before it’s too late.”
I could see him thinking. His left eye narrowed like he was affected by the smoke. He beckoned for me to get closer.
I leaned across the table and said, “What?”
He glanced left and right as though checking no one was listening but it seemed an act.
Again I said, “What?”
“I don’t know who the buyer was but what if I were to tell you who the contact was—who Cooke was dealing through?”
“Who?”
“Do I have a deal?”
I fixed him with a glare.
He said, “If I tell you then you don’t report me.”
“How about you tell me or I punch you in your stupid mouth?”
He shot a glance past me.
“Well?” I said and took hold of his shirt collar with my right hand.
He shook his head.
I held him for a moment and then said, “Fine. I won’t report you but you aren’t getting away with it.”
“We’ll see,” he said and for the first time I thought I saw cockiness in his eyes. Then he nodded and said, “The big guy at Dongzing de fangzi—the House of Tokyo in Nee Soon. Do you know it?”
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