by Ian Hamilton
“No, sir, I’m not.”
“He also says that you are an accountant.”
“I am. Actually, I’m a forensic accountant.”
“Trained in finding money that someone does not want found?”
“Exactly.”
“When I spoke to Andy last night, he was rather vague about your affiliations. He suggested that you are working entirely on your own.”
“I am.”
“That is very unusual in Hong Kong, although I do have to say it speaks well for you if a client feels he can put that much trust in a young woman, however well trained she might be.”
“I’m not from Hong Kong.”
“Really, I would never have guessed. Your Cantonese is perfect.”
“Thank you. My mother would be pleased to hear that. It is the only language we speak at home.”
“And where is home?”
“Toronto . . . Canada.”
“And your client?”
“Also from Toronto, although he is Chinese.”
“Well, that is a surprise, but perhaps it should not be. The world is shrinking faster than most of us can grasp. But in any event, I assume that you too have Hong Kong or southern Chinese roots.”
“My mother is from Shanghai but lived and worked in Hong Kong for many years. My father is a Hong Konger and still lives there.”
“Ah. That sounds complicated.”
“I’ve never thought of it that way.”
“No, just as you evidently do not think it strange that you travelled all that distance, by yourself, with the hope of convincing a man like Kung to return money he stole from your client.”
“My client is a desperate man. I am his last resort.”
“What kind of man asks a young woman with no experience of men like Kung or of this part of the world to undertake a job like that?”
“One who was enough of a fool to find himself a million dollars out of pocket to Kung.”
Chow laughed. The sound was so much deeper than his speaking voice that she thought he had something caught in this throat, until she heard the humour in it. “No wonder Carlo and Andy were so anxious to work with you.”
“That wasn’t the impression I had. I thought I was just convenient bait, something to try to entice Kung with.”
“Are you always this direct?”
“I try to be, although I don’t like rudeness.”
“Direct and polite — those are qualities that I share. So let me ask you, what made you think you could find a way to convince Kung to repay your client?”
“Mr. Chow, why does that even matter now? I met your men and we struck a deal. We were able to take Kung because of our collective efforts, and I contributed as much if not more than your men. Now all I’m saying is that if I can be given the chance to get more information out of him, maybe I can find more money for us both.”
“What information?”
“I want to know where he does his banking, and by that I mean everywhere he does his banking. I already know what bank he paid my client from, but I’m sure there will be other banks, account numbers, and passwords. And then I want access to his office and his computer so I can confirm whatever he tells us — and find out what he neglected to tell us.”
“Then what?”
“I will locate every dollar he has.”
“You sound very confident.”
“It’s what I’ve been trained to do.”
“I have to admit that it is always easier to strike an agreement when you know exactly what the other person’s position is.”
“So let me find out.”
“If you can, then I presume you will want us to reopen negotiations with him. Assuming, of course, that he does have more than four hundred thousand dollars,” Chow said slowly.
“Do you doubt that he has more money?”
“No, not at all. And if you can locate it . . . Well then, Ms. Lee, I will ask Carlo and Andy to persuade Kung to sweeten his offer.”
“Thank you. But I’ll need access to Kung’s office and whatever records he has there.”
“I will tell the boys to do whatever is necessary to accommodate that.”
“Now, it would be helpful to know your client’s name and what they were selling to Kung.”
“Royal Meats, and they sold him pork ribs and sides.”
“And they are owed half a million U.S. dollars.”
“Thereabouts.”
“And what bank did Kung use when he did business with them?”
“When he paid, which was not often, it was through the Guangzhou Chemical Engineering Bank. They shipped against purchase orders issued by Kung. He was recommended to them by a friend.”
“Like my client.”
“Friends who have poor memories, or just disappear when a problem emerges.”
“Exactly. Well, hopefully I can find what I’m looking for. And let me say that I appreciate your giving me the chance.”
“No thanks are necessary. Any success you have will benefit us all, Ms. Lee.”
“My given name is Ava.”
“Ava it is, and I would prefer that you call me Uncle.”
( 12 )
CHOW TUNG WAS a surprise to Ava. She couldn’t quite equate a man who was so polite and soft-spoken, his every word measured, with one who could run a business as rough as his seemed to be, with employees as casually violent as Carlo and Andy. Yet she had felt comfortable talking to him and liked the way he listened to her, waiting until she had made her case before giving his opinion.
Carlo and Andy were standing in the kitchen when she left the bedroom. Kung’s head was slumped onto his chest and Ava figured he was still sleeping.
“Well?” Andy said.
She handed him the phone. “Uncle wants to talk to you.”
Andy nodded as he listened to his boss. Then he put the phone into his pocket. “Uncle agrees with Ava. We need to get the banking information from Kung and we have to get into his office,” he said to Carlo.
“Shit,” Carlo said.
Andy shrugged. “I guess we should wake him.”
“Kung won’t like this,” Carlo said.
“Who cares if he does or doesn’t?” Ava said. “What is this, honour among thieves? He owes my client a million dollars and I’m determined to get back as much of it as I can.”
“We had a deal, that’s all, and normally we don’t go back on our word.”
“Yes, you had a deal — one that I didn’t agree with,” Ava said.
“Uncle wants us to get the information and that’s what we’re going to do,” Andy said, moving between them.
“I’m glad someone can remember which side he’s on,” she said.
“Goddamn it,” Carlo said.
“Enough,” Andy said and walked over to Kung. He shook him by the shoulders. “Wake up, we need to talk to you again.”
Kung groaned. “I’m thirsty,” he said.
“Get him a glass of water,” Andy said to Carlo, and then turned back to Kung. “I’m going to untie your hands. You can have all the water you want, and if you need to go to the bathroom that’s not a problem either.”
“What time is it?”
“Just past eight.”
“I can call my money guy now if you want.”
“Not yet. We have a few more questions for you.”
“Like what?” Kung said as Carlo came over to him with a glass of water.
Andy went behind him and peeled off the tape that held his wrists. “Drink first,” he said.
Kung downed the water in four large gulps. “Can I have more?” he said.
Two glasses later, he said, “Now I have to pee.”
“No problem, but do me a favour and empty your pockets onto the table over there before
you do,” Andy said.
“Why?”
“Because I asked.”
It took an effort for Kung to get to his feet, and his initial step was a stagger. Ava flinched, thinking that he might make a run for the door. But he walked towards them and put a wad of bills, his wallet, and a set of keys on the table. “Satisfied?” he said.
“Thanks,” Andy said.
When the bathroom door closed, Andy took a close look at the keys. “One of these should be for the office,” he said.
“Can I look at his wallet?” Ava asked.
Andy tossed it to her. She opened it and then sighed. “No bank cards, though I guess that would have been too easy.”
“I’ll get his chair,” Andy said. “We might as well sit him here at the table with us.”
Kung came out of the bathroom, saw his chair at the table, and smiled. Andy had positioned it between him and Carlo, and directly across from Ava.
“Sit,” Andy said.
“What else do you want to know?” Kung said.
“Which of these keys is for your office door?” Andy asked.
“Why?”
“Ava is going there.”
“Why?” he said, his head pivoting between Carlo and Andy.
“Just a second, I don’t want us to get ahead of ourselves,” Ava said softly. “Mr. Kung, in case it hasn’t been explained to you, I’m representing the interests of Hedrick Lo. You remember Mr. Lo, I assume.”
“The chicken-feet guy.”
“Yes, exactly, and the guy to whom you owe approximately a million dollars.”
“These two didn’t mention his name. All they said was you were after a million dollars.”
“You have more than one debt that size?”
“Trading is a high-volume, low-margin business. Numbers can be deceiving. Lots of deals I do run into the millions, but that doesn’t mean there’s profit at the end of the day. Sometimes people have to wait to get paid.”
“Well, we’re not waiting any longer.”
“I did the best I could when I settled on four hundred thousand. How you split it with them,” he said, motioning to Carlo and Andy, “is your business.”
“Let’s put the four hundred thousand aside for now. What I want to know, Mr. Kung, is the names of the banks you use. You paid Mr. Lo — when you paid him — through the China Agricultural Bank. What other accounts do you have? For example, the account that Carlo and Andy are trying to settle, which bank is involved in that? You can tell me directly or we can call their boss and find out.”
“Tell her,” Andy said. “If I have to phone my boss, I’ll be pissed.”
“The Guangzhou Chemical Engineering Bank.”
“Thank you,” Ava said, pleased that the name matched the bank Uncle had mentioned. “Now, are those two banks the only ones you use?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m not sure I believe you. You don’t have a Hong Kong–based bank?”
“The Agricultural Bank has a Hong Kong office.”
“Okay, now what I need from you are the account numbers for the two banks.”
“What’s this about? We already have a deal.”
“Not with me, you don’t.”
Kung shot an angry glance at Carlo. “Do I have to listen to this crap?”
“You do,” Andy said. “My boss decided that we want to know how much cash you have lying around. He wants Ava to look into your bank accounts.”
“Why didn’t you say that before? Why did you go through that fucking charade, with your yelling and threats?”
“There’s been a change of plan. I don’t want to say anything else,” Andy said.
“Fuck you.”
“I don’t think that’s a helpful attitude,” Ava said.
“And fuck you too, you bitch.”
“You need to calm down or I’ll be forced to tie you to the chair again, and then we can start persuading you to be co-operative using a knife instead of a toilet,” Andy shouted.
Kung sat back in the chair and closed his eyes. “I don’t remember the account numbers,” he said.
“But if I go through your files in the office I’ll find them?” Ava said.
“Of course. Be my guest.”
“Do you do online banking with both accounts?”
“Yeah.”
“Passwords, please.”
“TRADER22 for each of them. Capital letters and the number twenty-two.”
“Do I need a password for the computer?”
“No.”
“Thanks for being co-operative.”
“When you look in the accounts, you’ll see that I have just over four hundred thousand dollars.”
“How much more?” she said.
“Ten thousand and change, and if you want the ten thousand you can have it.”
“Shit,” Carlo said.
“I told you, I’m giving you everything I have.”
Andy glanced at Ava and she saw disappointment on his face. “Do you still want to go to the office?” he asked.
“Of course.”
“Okay, I’ll go with you. Carlo can stay here,” Andy said, and then turned to Kung. “It’s time for you to call your thugs. You don’t have to tell them where we’re going, but you do have to say that everything is under control and that if they see us they’re to leave us entirely alone.”
Kung nodded. “No problem. You and that bitch go and waste your time, but call me as soon as you see what’s in those accounts. I want to get your cash organized so I can get the hell out of here.”
( 13 )
ANDY WAS QUIET during the taxi ride. Ava could sense his doubt about the need to go to Kung’s office. She thought about saying something and then decided to leave things as they were. She’d find more money or she wouldn’t. Either way, she didn’t feel the need to justify taking the time to confirm Kung’s claim.
The three-storey red-brick office building was on a side street between the train station and the hotel. For a building that looked to be only ten years old, it was shabby. The windows were stained and dusty, the brick was chipped, and the blue paint on the front door had faded. The door also had hack marks that could have been made by a machete.
“Charming place,” Ava said.
“Typical of the older part of Shenzhen,” Andy said. “They threw up these places in what seemed like a few weeks. The original tenants were here to make a quick killing and weren’t too interested in anything fancy.”
There wasn’t an elevator, but Kung’s office was on the second floor, up one short flight of stairs. Its door was plain grey steel with one lock. Andy opened it and they stepped inside. The office had a metal desk, two one-drawer filing cabinets, a small table that held a fax machine, and four chairs. Ava went behind the desk and sat down.
“I could be a while,” she said. “You don’t have to stay.”
“I think it’s better that I do. If one of Kung’s goons decides not to listen to him, you might need me.”
Ava shrugged. “That’s your decision, but thank you for being considerate.”
“Can I help?”
Ava started opening the desk drawers. “I’ll tell you in a minute.” The middle drawer was empty. The right-side drawer had files marked WIRE TRANSFERS and LETTERS OF CREDIT. She took them out and stacked them on the desk. The left-side drawer was full of business directories and phone books. Ava got up and went to the nearest filing cabinet. She saw files fat with purchase orders, shipping documents, and invoices. Those also went onto the desk. The other cabinet gave up all kinds of files devoted to the banks Kung had named. She pulled them out. “I seem to have everything I need to start,” she said.
“I feel kind of useless,” Andy said.
“Well, you can sit and watch me look at paper or you can go and
get us some lunch.”
“Lunch sounds good.”
“I’d love some fried noodles.”
“I’ll lock the door when I leave. Don’t open it unless you hear three knocks.”
“Don’t rush,” Ava said, opening the China Agricultural Bank file.
She restricted her search to the time when Lo and Kung were doing business. If she couldn’t find what she was looking for, she’d go further back, but her feeling was that if Kung had been pulling the same scam for years, she’d find its roots in the Lo deals.
She worked quietly and steadily, matching letters of credit and purchase orders to shipping documents, and then found the wire transfers Kung had sent to Lo at the beginning of their relationship. Then she looked at the invoices that Kung had cut when he sold the goods, and she matched them against the inbound manifest. Every single kilo of chicken feet had been sold. She pulled out Kung’s accounts receivable file. Not only did they appear to have been sold, but every invoice was stamped PAID and dated. Now she turned to the bank records. Some statements were missing for the months she was interested in, but in the ones she did find, it appeared that the money from the sales of the chicken feet had found its way to the China Agricultural Bank.
Ava had separated the Royal Meats paperwork from Lo’s, and now she turned her attention to it. She had just confirmed that all that company’s products had been sold when she heard three sharp knocks. She walked to the door and pressed her ear against it. “Is that you, Andy?”
“Yeah. My hands are full.”
She thought his voice sounded slightly strained, and her nerves jumped. “Just a second,” she said. She moved to the right of the door and pressed her back against the wall. If there was someone else with Andy on the other side, they would push the door as hard as they could, trying to ram her, and rush inside. Positioned to the right, she was clear of the door and would have an unobstructed view of anyone coming in. She turned the handle and then saw Andy’s foot kick the door. She slid further along the wall, her right hand poised to strike.
“Hey, don’t hit me,” Andy said, stepping inside with his hands cradling a large brown paper bag.
“Sorry, I thought you had someone with you,” Ava said, relaxing.