'I do. '
'I'm genuinely sorry that we never had a child together. Judging by the two I have, he or she would have been quite marvellous. '
'You bastard, I'm going to cry. '
'Please don't. Let's be honest, neither of us has any regrets. '
Catherine's reverie was suddenly interrupted. The clerk lurched back from the telephone, his hands triumphantly on the counter. 'You have good joss, Mrs.!' he cried. 'The dispatcher at the Apex agency on Bonham Strand East was still there and he has cars available but nobody to drive one here. '
'I'll take a taxi. Write out the address. ' Staples looked around for the hotel drug store. There were too many people in the lobby, too much confusion. 'Where can I buy some -skin lotion or Vaseline; sandals or thongs?' she asked, turning to the clerk.
There is a newspaper stand down the hallway to the right, Mrs.. They have many of the items you describe. But, may I please have money, as you must present a receipt to the dispatcher. It is one thousand dollars, Hong Kong, whatever remains to be returned or additional monies to be added-'
'I don't have that much on me. I'll have to use a card. '
'So much the better. '
Catherine opened her purse and pulled out a credit card from an inside pocket . 'I'll be right back,' she said, placing it on the counter as she started for the hallway on the right. For no reason in particular, she glanced over at Lee Teng and his distraught lady. To her brief amusement, the overdressed woman in the foolish fur was nodding appreciatively as Teng pointed to the line of overpriced shops reached by climbing a staircase above the lobby. Lee Teng was a true diplomat. Without question, he had explained to the overwrought guest that she had an option that would both serve her needs and her nerves and hit her errant husband in his financial solar plexus. This was Hong Kong, and she could purchase the best and the most glittering, and for a price everything would be ready in time for the grand ball at Government House. Staples continued towards the hallway.
Catherine? The name was so sharply spoken Staples froze. 'Please, Mrs. Catherine?
Rigid, Staples turned. It was Lee Teng, who had broken away from his outraged, now mollified, guest . 'What is it?' she asked, frightened as the middle-aged Teng approached, his face lined with concern, sweat evident on his balding skull.
'I saw you only moments ago. I had a problem. '
'I know all about it. '
'So do you, Catherine. '
'I beg your pardon?'
Teng glanced at the counter, oddly enough not at the young man who had helped her but at the other clerk who was at the opposite end of the desk. The man was by himself, with no guests in front of him, but he was looking at his associate. 'Damn bad joss!' exclaimed Teng under his breath.
'What are you talking about?' asked Staples.
'Come over here,' said the Number 1 concierge of the night shift as he pulled Catherine to the side, away from the sight of the counter. He reached into his pocket and removed a perforated half page of paper on which there was a computer print-out . 'Four copies of this were sent down from upstairs. I managed to obtain three but the fourth is under the counter. '
Emergency. Government control. A Canadian woman by the name of Mrs. Catherine Staples may attempt to lease an automobile for personal use. She is fifty-seven years of age, with partially grey hair, of medium height and a slender figure. Delay all proceedings and contact Police Central Four.
Wenzu had drawn a conclusion based on an observation, thought Catherine, along with the knowledge that anyone who willingly drove a car in Hong Kong was either crazy or had a peculiar reason for doing so. He was covering his bases quickly and completely. The young man just got me a car over in Bonham Strand East. He obviously hasn't read this. '
'He found you a rental at this hour?'
'He's writing up the credit charge now. Do you think he'll see this?'
'It is not him that I worry about. He is in training and I can tell him anything and he will accept what I say. The other one not so; he wants my job badly. Wait here. Stay out of sight. '
Teng walked to the counter as the clerk was anxiously looking around, the layered credit card slips in his hand. Lee Teng took the charges and put them in his pocket. That won't be necessary,' he said. 'Our customer has changed her mind. She found a friend in the lobby who will drive her. '
'Oh? Then I should tell our associate not to bother. As the amount is over the limit, he is clearing it for me. I am still somewhat unsure and he offered-'
Teng waved him shut as he crossed to the second clerk on the telephone at the other end of the counter. 'You may give me the card and forget the call. There are too many distressed ladies tonight for me! This one has found other means of transportation. '
'Certainly, Mr Teng,' said the second clerk obsequiously. He handed over the credit card, apologized quickly to the operator on the line and hung up the telephone.
'A bad night. ' Teng shrugged, turning, and heading back into the crowded lobby-lounge. He approached Catherine, pulling out his billfold as he did so. 'If you are short of money, I will cover it. Don't use this. '
'I'm not short at home or at the bank, but I don't carry so much with me. It's one of the unwritten rules. '
'One of the better ones,' said Teng, nodding.
Staples took the bills in Teng's hand and looked up at the Chinese. 'Do you want an explanation? she asked.
'It's not required, Catherine. Whatever Central Four says, I know you are a good person, and if you are not and you run away and I never see my money again, I am still many thousands, Hong Kong, to the better. '
'I shan't run anywhere, Teng. '
'You will not walk, either. One of the chauffeurs owes me a good turn, and he's in the garage now. He will drive you to your car in Bonham Strand. Come, I'll take you down there. '
'There's someone else with me. I'm taking her out of Hong Kong. She's in the ladies' room. '
'I'll wait in the hallway. Do hurry. '
'Sometimes I think the time passes more quickly when we are flooded with problems,' said the second, somewhat older clerk to his younger associate-in-training as he removed the half-page computer print-out from beneath the counter and unobtrusively shoved it into his pocket.
'If you are right, Mr Teng has barely experienced fifteen minutes since we came on duty two hours ago. He's very good, isn't he?'
'His lack of head hair helps him. People look upon him as having wisdom even when he has no wise words to offer. '
'Still, he has a way with people. I wish to be very much like him one day. '
'Lose some hair,' said the "second clerk. 'In the meantime, since there is no one bothering us, I have to go to the toilet. By the way, just in case I ever need to know a rental agency open at this hour, it was the Apex on Bonham Strand East, wasn't it?
'Oh, yes. '
That was very diligent of you. '
'I simply went by the list. It was near the end. '
'Some of us would have stopped before then. You are to be commended. '
'You are too kind to an unworthy trainee. '
'I want only the best for you,' said the older clerk. 'Always remember that. '
The older man left the counter. He cautiously went past the potted palms until he saw Lee Teng. The night concierge was standing at the foot of the hallway to the right; it was enough. He was waiting for the woman. The clerk turned quickly and walked up the staircase to the line of shops with less dignity than was proper. He was in a– hurry and entered the first boutique at the top of the steps.
'Hotel business,' he said to the bored saleswoman as he grabbed the phone off the wall behind a glass counter of glistening precious stones. He dialled.
'Police Central Four. '
'Your directive, sir, regarding the Canadian woman, Mrs. Staples-'
'Do you have information?'
'I believe so, sir, but it is somewhat embarrassing for me to relay it. '
'Why is that? This is an emergency, a governmen
t matter!'
'Please understand, Officer, I am only a minor employee, and it is quite possible the night concierge did not recall your directive. He is a very busy man. '
'What are you trying to say?'
'Well, Officer – sir – the woman I overheard asking for the concierge bore a striking resemblance to the description in the government directive. But it would be most embarrassing for me if it was learned that I called you. '
'You will be protected. You may remain anonymous. What is the information?'
'Well, sir, I overheard... ' With cautious, ambivalent words the 1st assistant clerk did his best for himself and consequently the worst for his superior, Lee Teng. His final statements, however, were concise and without equivocation. 'It is the Apex Car Rental Agency in Bonham Strand East. I suggest you hurry as she is on her way there now. '
The early evening traffic was less dense than the rush hour, but still formidable. It was the reason why Catherine and Marie looked uneasily at each other in the back seat of the Mandarin's limousine as the chauffeur, rather than accelerating into the sudden wide space in front of him, swung the enormous automobile into an empty section of the kerb in Bonham Strand East. There was no sign of a rental agency on either side of the street.
'Why are we stopping?' asked Staples sharply.
'Mr Teng's instructions, Mrs.,' answered the chauffeur turning around in the seat . 'I will lock the car with the alarm on. No one will bother you as the lights flash beneath all four door handles. '
'That's very comforting but I'd like to know why you're not taking us to the car.'
'I will bring the car to you, Mrs.. '
'I beg your pardon?'
'Mr. Teng's instructions. ' He was very firm and he is making the proper phone call to the Apex garage. It is in the next block, Mrs.. I shall be back presently. ' The chauffeur removed his hat and his jacket, placed both on the seat, switched on the alarm and climbed out.
'What do you make of it?' asked Marie, raising her leg over her knee and holding tissues she had taken from the ladies' room against the flat of her right foot . 'Do you trust this Teng?'
'Yes, I do,' replied Catherine, her expression bewildered. 'I can't understand it. He's obviously being extra cautious – but there are extra risks for himself – and I don't know why. As I told you back at the Mandarin that computerized missive about me said "Government control". Those two words are not taken lightly in Hong Kong. What in the world is he doing? And why?'
'Obviously, I can't answer you,' said Marie. 'But I can make an observation. '
'What is it?'
'I saw the way he looked at you. I'm not sure you did. '
'What?
'I'd say he's very fond of you. '
'Fond... of me?'
'It's one way to put it. There are stronger ways, of course. '
Staples turned away and looked out the window. 'Oh, my God,' she whispered.
'What's the matter?'
'A little while ago, back at the Mandarin, and for reasons too unreasonable to analyse – it started with a foolish woman in a chinchilla stole – I thought about Owen.'
'Owen?
'My former husband. '
'Owen Staples? The banker, Owen Staples?'
'That's my name and that's my boy – was my boy. In those days one stayed with the acquired name. '
'You never told me your husband was Owen Staples. '
'You never asked me, my dear. '
'You're not making sense, Catherine. '
'I suppose not,' agreed Staples, shaking her head. 'But I was thinking about the time Owen and I met a couple of years ago in Toronto. We had drinks at the Mayfair Club and I learned things about him I never would have believed before. I was genuinely happy for him despite the fact that the bastard nearly made me cry. '
'Catherine, for heaven's sake what's that got to do with right now?'
'It's got to do with Teng. We also had drinks one evening, not at the Mandarin, of course, but at a cafe on the waterfront in Kowloon. He said it wouldn't be good joss for me to be seen with him here on the island. '
'Why not?
That's what I said. You see, he was protecting me then just as he's protecting me now. And I may have misunderstood him. I assumed he was simply looking after an additional source of income but I may have been terribly wrong. '
'In what way?'
'He said a strange thing that night. He said he wished things were different, that the differences between people were not so obvious and those differences not so disturbing to other people. Of course, I accepted his banalities as a rather amateurish attempt at... at statecraft, as my former husband phrased it. Perhaps it was something else. '
Marie laughed quietly, as their eyes locked. 'Dear, dear Catherine. The man's in love with you. '
'Christ in Calgary, I don't need this!'
Wenzu sat in the front seat of MI6 Vehicle Two, his patient gaze on the entrance of the Apex agency on Bonham Strand East. Everything was in order; both women would be in his custody within a matter of minutes. One of his men had gone inside and spoken to the dispatcher. The agent had proffered his government identification and was shown the evening's records by the frightened employee. The dispatcher, indeed, had a reservation for a Mrs. Catherine Staples but it had been cancelled, the car in question assigned to another name, the name of a chauffeur from the hotel. And since Mrs. Catherine Staples was no longer leasing a car, the dispatcher saw no reason to call Police Control Four. What was there to say? And no, certainly not, no one else could pick up the car as it was reserved by the Mandarin.
Everything was in order, thought Wenzu. Victoria Peak would feel an enormous sweep of relief the moment he reached the sterile house with his news. The major knew the exact words he would say. The women are taken – the woman is taken. '
Across the street a man in shirtsleeves entered the agency door. He appeared hesitant to Lin and there was something... A taxi suddenly drove up and the major bolted forward, reaching for the door handle – the hesitant man was forgotten.
'Be alert, lads,' said Lin into the microphone attached to the dashboard radio. 'We must be as quick and as unobtrusive as possible. No Arbuthnot Road can be tolerated here. And no weapons, of course. Ready, now!'
But there was nothing to be ready for; the taxi drove away without disgorging anyone.
'Vehicle Three' said the major curtly. 'Get that license number and call the cab company! I want them in radio contact. Find out exactly what their taxi was doing here!
Better yet, follow it and do as I tell you. It could be the women. '
'I believe there was only a man in the back seat, sir,' said the driver.
They could have ducked below the seat! Damned eyes. A man, you say?'
'Yes, sir. '
'I smell a rotten squid. '
'Why, Major?'
'If I knew, the stench would not be so strong. '
The waiting continued and the immense Lin began to perspire. The dying sun cast both a blinding orange light through the windshield and pockets of dark shadows along Bonham Strand East.
'It's too long,' whispered the major to himself.
Static erupted from the radio. 'We have the report from the cab company, sir. '
'Go on!'
The taxi in question is trying to find an import house on Bonham Strand East, but the driver told his fare that the address must be on Bonham Strand West. Apparently, his passenger is very angry. He got out and threw money into the window only moments ago. '
'Break away and return here,' ordered Lin, as he watched the garage doors opening across the street at the Apex agency. A car emerged, turning left, driven by the shirtsleeved man.
The sweat now rolled down the major's face. Something was not in order; another order was being superimposed. What was it that bothered him? What was it?
'Him' shouted Lin to his startled driver.
'Sir?'
'A wrinkled white shirt, but trousers creased like steel. A unifo
rm! A chauffeur! Swing around! Follow him!'
The driver held his hand on the horn, breaking the line of traffic as he made a U-turn while the major issued instructions to the back-ups, ordering one to stay at the Apex agency, the others to take up the new chase.
'Aiya!' screamed the driver, jamming on his brakes, screeching to a stop as a huge brown limousine roared out of a side street blocking their way. Only the slightest contact had been made, the government car barely touching the left rear door of the large automobile.
'Feng zi!" yelled the limousine's chauffeur, calling Lin's driver a crazy dog as he jumped out of his sedan to see if any damage had been done.
'La/7 Lair shrieked the major's driver, leaping out, ready for combat.
'Stop it!' roared Wenzu. 'Just get him out of here!'
'It is he who does not move, sir!'
Tell him he must do so! Show him your identification!'
All traffic came to a stop; horns blared, people in cars and in the streets yelled angrily. The major closed his eyes and shook his head in frustration. There was nothing he could do but get out of the car.
As another did from the limousine. A middle-aged Chinese with a balding head. 'I gather we have a problem,' said Lee Teng.
'I know you!' shouted Lin. The Mandarin!'
'Many who have the taste to frequent our fine hotel know me, sir. I'm afraid I cannot reciprocate. Have you been a guest, sir?'
'What are you doing here?'
'It is a confidential errand for a gentleman at the Mandarin, and I have no intention of saying anything further. '
'Damn-damn! A government directive was sent out! A Canadian woman named Staples! One of your people called us!'
'I have no idea what you're talking about. For the last hour I have been trying to solve a problem for a guest who's attending the ball at Government House tonight. I'd be happy to furnish you with her name – if your position warrants it. '
'My position warrants it! I repeat! Why have you stopped us?'
'I believe it was your man who sped across the changing light. '
'Not sol' screamed Wenzu's driver.
Then it is a matter for the courts,' said Lee Teng. 'May we proceed?'
'Not yet?' replied the major, approaching the Mandarin's night concierge. 'I repeat again. A government directive was received at your hotel. It stated clearly that a woman named Staples might try to lease a car and you were to report the attempt to Police Central Four. '
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