Shanghai Story: A WWII Drama Trilogy Book One

by Alexa Kang

  “I did not!”

  Ava held her hands to her ears. “Stop. Both of you.” She walked over to the passengers’ truck driven by Lin. Its door was open. “What’s missing?”

  “Everything!” Lin puffed out an angry breath of smoke through his nose.

  Ava looked inside the car and squinted. The mooncakes, fabrics, ginseng, teas, beans, and dried fruits. All gone. Of all the food, only the coffee and oatmeal remained. The robbers also left the box of Torahs. Ava sighed and rubbed her forehead.

  “I’m sorry,” Boris said again. “I didn’t hear anything. I sat in the other truck on watch all night. When Lin came out this morning, we found the truck emptied.”

  “Good thing I kept my camera equipment with me in the room,” Arnie said.

  No one answered him. The innkeeper was still jabbering and making wild gestures. His wife nodded in agreement as they both talked over each other to Lin.

  “Do you think they did it?” Eden asked Lin in a low voice.

  “I suspect it,” Lin said. “But they denied it. They said the people who run the other inn did this. They think the other inn’s owner was jealous we decided to stay here and not there. I don’t know. There’s no way to find out.”

  Exasperated, Eden stood. Regret for taking this trip began to creep in.

  “What’s done is done.” Ava closed the truck’s door. “At least we still have all our equipment. Lin, can we get going and figure some way to stock up on new food somewhere?”

  “We can stop in Nanchang. It’s on the way.”

  “Fine.” She grabbed Mr. Bernard by the hand. “Dmitry, Boris, would you give us a hand and load our trunks back onto the truck?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Eden gazed out to the far side of the road. How many more days till they got to Kaifeng? Not too many, she hoped.

  After a brief stop in Nanchang, where Lin bought a sack of rice, Chinese pastries, teas, preserved eggs, and tofu, they drove on northward toward a bridge where Lin had planned to cross to get over the Yangtze River. When they arrived, it became apparent something had gone awry. Groups of men had gathered at the side of the river. Some had with them pull wagons and baskets, a few others had old motor trucks.

  The arrival of a group of foreigners turned their heads. By now, Eden had gotten used to people staring and pointing at her. It’d been hours since they left Nanchang, and she needed to stretch her legs. Everyone else did too.

  Ava even took the extreme measure of chaining Mr. Bernard to the handle of the passenger seat inside the car. “It’s safer to not let anyone see him,” she said. “Stay by the truck,” she told Dmitry. “Don’t let anyone come near him.”

  While Lin tried to find out why these men had gathered here, Eden gazed out to the river and saw the problem. The bridge they were planning to cross had fallen. Arnie took out his camera and snapped a photo. A group of country Chinamen started following him, gawking at both him and the camera, which they’d likely never seen before. Some of them gestured for him to take photos of them.

  Moments later, Lin returned. “We can’t cross. Not with the trucks.” He pointed to a large wooden plank where two men in straw hats were shouting back and forth with the people gathered by the river. “The only way to get across is to use their raft. They’re charging an outrageous fee.”

  Ava frowned and looked around. “Is there any other way? Is there no other bridge anywhere we can cross?”

  “No other bridge.”

  “This is the end, ma’am,” Lin said. “We can’t get our trucks over.”

  Not ready to relent, Ava sized up the two men on the raft. The negotiations between those two and the other men seeking to cross turned heated and an argument broke out. Someone grabbed Arnie’s elbow and motioned for him to photograph the men on the raft. Arnie obliged.

  “Arnie!” Ava shouted at him. “Stop wasting film.”

  “Ma’am,” Arnie shouted back. “I think he wants evidence.”

  “For what? We’re not going to stay around for them.”

  One of the men negotiating with the raft operators left the argument. He returned to his old truck, took a drink of water from his canteen, then walked up to Lin. Whatever he was saying to Lin, Lin adamantly refused.

  “What does he want?” Ava asked.

  “He said he could get another boat here. He said if we wait, we can pay him for a boat ride and he’ll arrange for another car to drive us when we reach the other side.”

  “Oh?” Ava’s face perked up. “Can we do that?”

  “No!” Lin waved at the man to go away. “We don’t know who he is. You can’t get into a car on the other side. What if they’re bandits? They’ll take you for a ride and kill you. Then they’ll take all your money.”

  “Are you sure?” Ava asked. “He’s such a misanthrope,” she whispered to Eden.

  Lin returned to the truck and opened the door.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Home.”

  “Home?” She walked toward him. “But we haven’t even discussed this yet. If you’re worried this man is a liar, we can take the raft. We can try finding a car once we got across. We still have Boris and Dmitry and the guns. If we can’t find a car then, we can take the raft back.”

  “No.” Lin hopped into the driver’s seat and slammed the door shut. “I draw the line. It’s too dangerous. You want to go, you go without me.” He held onto the steering wheel, his face firm.

  Ava threw up her hands. She looked at him, then at Eden.

  Eden watched the people arguing by the side of the river. Their voices agitated her, and she wanted to get away. She turned her gaze away and wiped the sweat off her forehead. The man who’d tried to coax Lin into taking his boat across had not left. He smiled at Eden. It was a friendly smile, but for an inexplicable reason, the smile unnerved her.

  She walked up to Ava. “Lin’s right. We should go home.”

  “But we’ve made it this far.”

  “We tried. We wouldn’t have made it this far without you, but it’s time to go home,” Eden said and got back into the car.

  Ava looked to her right, then her left. “Okay.” She lowered her head. “We’re going home.” Her voice sounded more than relieved.

  Returning to the trucks, they turned around to head back to Nanchang. In her seat, Eden stared blankly out to the field. She could see it already, Zelik gloating and telling everyone how he’d known all along she would never be able to make it to Kaifeng.

  So much for leaving behind her embarrassment. When she returned to Shanghai, she would have to live this one down for weeks.

  24

  Lillian’s Birthday

  At Cafe Louis, where Eden had gathered with her friends for lunch to celebrate Lillian’s birthday, Eden recounted all the ordeals she’d undergone on her failed trip to Kaifeng. She felt embarrassed telling it to her friends, given all their blunders.

  “And so ended our journey to reach the lost tribe of Kaifeng,” she joked. “Ava’s driver was fed up. He sat in the car and pouted. It would’ve taken an act of God to convince him to go any further.”

  Everyone laughed. Miriam patted her on the back. “At least you tried. I’ve lived in China all my life, and I’ve ventured out to the suburbs. But I’ve never gone into the rural areas. I wouldn’t know how to deal with anything either. I can get by with my Chinese in Shanghai or even Peking, but if people speak in different dialects or if they have heavy country accents, I’d be lost.”

  “How did Mr. Zelik take it when you came back empty-handed?” asked Yuri Rabinovitch, Eden’s friend who recruited her to join the Jewish Defense League.

  “He took it a lot better than I expected. I was ready to hear him tell me, ‘I told you so,’ but he actually commended me for trying.”

  The waiter came to their table carrying a beautiful white cream birthday cake. Miriam led everyone in singing happy birthday before Lillian blew out the candles and all her friends cheered.

  “Lillian
, that’s a beautiful necklace you’re wearing,” Eden said while the waiter served the cake.

  “Thank you.” Eden lifted the pendant on the necklace. “It’s opal, my birthstone. My parents gave it to me this morning. It has my initials on it. See?” She scooted closer to Eden and whispered, “My best birthday present is to come yet.”

  “Oh? What’s that?”

  “I’m having dinner with Roland Vaughn tonight.”

  “The dentist?”

  “Yes. He’s back from his business trip in Singapore. When he found out it’s my birthday today, he said he’ll treat me to a special dinner. He said it’ll be a night I’ll never forget.”

  “Sounds romantic,” Eden said and took a bite of her cake. “Where are you having dinner with him?”

  “I don’t know. It’s a secret. He said he’ll leave me a message at the concierge’s desk at the Metropole. He told me to go pick it up after four o’clock, and there’ll be instructions where to go from there.” She smiled and stuck out her tongue. “Maybe he’ll take me to the rooftop restaurant at the Cathay Hotel. What do you think?”

  “I haven’t the slightest clue, but I want to hear all about it later.”

  Across the table, Yuri said, “Lillian, look who just walked in. Isn’t that the Nazi guy you played a prank on last week?”

  Eden looked toward the front of the restaurant. A Wehrmacht soldier with a Nazi armband was placing an order at the counter.

  “Oh, yes. I remember him,” Lillian cooed.

  “What did you do?” Miriam asked.

  “We went to the Hungaria for drinks last week. That guy there is a regular. We’ve seen him a few times. He’s an army driver. Anyway, I had a Jewish Defense League flyer with me with a huge Star of David sign on it. So right before he left, I went outside and put the flyer on his windshield. He caught me in the act too. But I didn’t care. I figured since he already saw me doing it, I might as well laugh in his face. He was sooooo mad. He yanked it off the windshield and tore it to pieces. But I stood my ground and told him he and his kind could go to hell.” She picked up her champagne coupe, drank the remainder of her drink, and set her glass back on the table with force to make her point.

  Yuri and his friend Igor laughed. Eden glanced at the Nazi soldier, then back at her friends. “I don’t think it’s a good idea you all keep going to the Hungaria. You know that’s where the Germans like to go.”

  “So?” Igor said. “That’s the point. This isn’t Germany. We have as much right to be there as they do. We can be anywhere, and there’s nothing they can do about it.”

  “You all are playing with fire,” Eden warned.

  “Come on, Eden,” said Yuri. “You don’t have to be afraid of them.”

  “I’m not afraid, but provoking them won’t solve anything.”

  “No, it won’t,” Lillian said. “But it sure puts them back in their place.” She stood up. “Watch me.” She picked up a glass of orange juice on the table and went to the counter. The Nazi didn’t notice her when she bumped into him and splashed the entire glass of juice all over him. The juice wetted and discolored the Nazi symbol on his armband. Lillian must’ve done that on purpose.

  The Nazi looked up. Instantly, he recognized Lillian. Not backing down, Lillian glared back.

  “Judenschwein.”

  Lillian scowled and spit at his face.

  Furious, the Nazi took a step forward. The cashier rushed out from behind the counter and placed himself between them. “Stop it. Both of you. I have to ask both of you to leave. Now.”

  The Nazi grabbed a tissue off the counter and wiped his face. He wrinkled his nose at Lillian as if he was smelling something foul. Lillian returned his look of disgust as he turned around and walked out.

  “You too, out,” the cashier said to Lillian. “Neither of you are welcomed here anymore.”

  “I’m leaving. I need to get my purse.”

  Lillian came back to the table with the cashier behind her.

  “Are you all right?” Eden asked.

  “I’m fine.” She picked up her purse. “I’m happy I got to spit into that Nazi’s face. But now I have to leave.”

  “Can’t she stay?” Miriam asked the cashier. “Today’s her birthday.”

  “No.” The cashier crossed his arms.

  “It’s okay.” Lillian straightened her skirt. “I have to get home anyway to get ready for an important engagement tonight. You all stay and enjoy yourself.” She smiled and left. The cashier followed her until she went out the door.

  Eden stirred her spoon in her cup of tea. She wished her friends would stop this game of riling up the Nazis. If they kept this up, sooner or later one of the Nazis would retaliate. When that happened and if everyone ended up in front of the authorities, those of them who were stateless would have no one to turn to for help.

  25

  A Heinous Murder

  The moment Eden arrived at work the next day, she knew something serious had happened. The phones were ringing off the hook. The few staff members who’d arrived early like she had were running from desk to desk. Zelik, who was standing at his door talking across the floor to Charlie, called Eden to his office before she had a chance to sit down and put her purse away.

  “What’s happening?” Eden asked.

  “We just received a call,” Zelik said. “There’s been a murder. The victim’s a white woman.”

  That was unusual, but not unheard of. Once in a while, a white prostitute’s body would show up among all the corpses of vagrants, debtors, hoodlums killed in gang fights, and victims of assorted crimes that were discarded throughout the night by the Whangpoo River at the Bund. A lot of White Russian women had come to China and turned to the sex trade.

  “A street cleaner discovered the body early this morning at 6 a.m. in front of the Jing ’An Temple,” Zelik said. “He thought it was a homeless vagrant at first, but it wasn’t. He found out when he pushed her to try to wake her up.”

  The Jing ’An Temple. The famous landmark on Bubbling Well Road in the International Settlement controlled by the British and the Americans. This Buddhist temple had been there since before 200 A.D. It wasn’t a place where people usually disposed of a dead body.

  “The body’s been disemboweled.”

  “What?” That caught Eden’s attention.

  “I don’t know all the details. The police are there now. I already sent a photographer there. You’re the first reporter to arrive. Go find out what happened. We want to be the first to run the story.”

  “Yes, sir.” Eden stood up, feeling slightly queasy. The murder sounded gruesome. She wondered what could’ve led to the woman’s death.

  At the Jing ’An Temple, a crowd had gathered around the entrance while the Shanghai Municipal Police tried in vain to block them off. In Shanghai, each foreign concession had its own police force. The Shanghai Municipal Police, commonly known as the SMP, was the International Settlement’s police force. It was governed by the Shanghai Municipal Council controlled by the British and Americans. The French had the Garde Municipale, the French police force which maintained public order in Frenchtown. The Japanese had the Kenpeitai, the Japanese military police which patrolled the Hongkew areas occupied by the Japanese. Outside of the foreign concessions, the Chinese Nationalist government had its own police department, the Shanghai Public Security Bureau. All the police forces operated independently of each other. They answered only to their own governments.

  Eden pushed through the swarm of onlookers, showing her press credentials to no avail. She veered toward the spot where the barks of the German shepherd police dogs were keeping at least some gawkers away. With herculean effort, she finally made it to the front. The ghastly sight of a white woman’s body wrapped in a blanket laid on the ground. The front of her blouse was torn open, exposing a long slit from the bottom of her neck all the way down her stomach. Below her skirt and her sleeves, smaller cut marks appeared on her arms and legs.

  Feeling nauseated, Ed
en raised her hand to her mouth. She pulled her eyes away from the victim’s torso toward the head. When she saw the woman’s face, she screamed.

  The crowd of people near her turned their heads toward her, as did the SMP policemen. She screamed again, her breaths choking out of her throat as she hyperventilated and streams of tears fell down her face.

  Lillian! The dead woman was her friend Lillian.

  “Miss! Miss!” A Sikh patrol officer grabbed hold of Eden’s arms and shook her. “Stop. Please.”

  Her entire body trembling, Eden cried out, “I know her.”

  “You know her? Come with me.” The officer pulled her away from the crowd and led her into the blocked off area. “Are you sure? You recognize the victim?”

  Unable to look directly again at the horror, Eden peeked sideways at the body. “Yes. Her name is Lillian Berman. She’s my friend.”

  “Please come with me to the station. We’ll need to find out everything you know about her.”

  Dazed, she followed the officer to the police car, glad that he was holding her by the elbow the entire way. If he hadn’t, she would’ve fainted for sure.

  At the SMP Central Station, Inspector Bonham sat across the table, taking notes as Eden told him all the information she knew about her now deceased friend. She gave him Lillian’s name, address, and phone number. The police had telephoned Lillian’s parents, and they were on their way. Eden didn’t know what she would say to them when she saw them.

  Sitting with one leg crossed over the other, Bonham scribbled his notes. “How did you meet her?”

  “Through friends.” Eden sniffled. Memories of the first time she and Lillian met made her want to cry again. “Lillian and I are both from Germany. She came to Shanghai a few months before I did. Both our families left because of the Nazis, so we feel quite close to each other.”

  “The Nazis?” Bonham lowered his notepad. “She’s a German Jew?”

  “Yes.”