The Two Sisters of Borneo

by Ian Hamilton

  “There’s room for you if you squeeze,” the orderly with the gurney said to May Ling.

  “I’ll wait,” Ava said.

  May stepped back from the door. She looked quizzically at Ava.

  “I feel as if I’ve been living in a hospital,” Ava said.

  “I understand. I’ve only been doing it for a day and a half and I’ve already had enough of it. I can imagine how it’s been with Uncle,” said May.

  “He isn’t in hospital all that often — not for long periods, anyway — but even when he isn’t, the idea that he’s heading back there weighs on me. He sees how uncomfortable I get and says that I don’t like being reminded of my own mortality.”

  “There is some truth in that,” May said.

  Another elevator arrived and they rode it to the fourth floor. May led Ava along the corridor, their high heels sounding like castanets on the tile floor. The only difference between the Queen Elizabeth in KK and the one in Hong Kong was that the walls were grey instead of green.

  They reached the end of the corridor to find a closed door. May knocked. The door opened and Ava found herself looking at a tiny woman. She wasn’t more than five feet tall, and in flat sandals she barely reached Ava’s shoulders. She was wearing blue jeans and a plain short-sleeved black silk shirt. If it weren’t for her hair and the slightest touch of red lipstick, she might have passed for a young boy.

  “Ava, this is Ah-Pei,” May said.

  Ah-Pei gave Ava a slight smile. “Thank you for coming.”

  Ava leaned forward, grasped her hands, and squeezed. “I’m so sorry we have to meet like this.”

  “It’s a terrible situation for everyone,” Ah-Pei said.

  “How is she doing?” May asked.

  “Sleeping,” Ah-Pei said, stepping aside.

  The room had two beds. Chi-Tze occupied the one farthest from the door. She seemed to be as small and slim as Ah-Pei, dwarfed by the metal rack that held the bags of intravenous solution pumping into her system. Her left arm, encased in plaster, lay at an awkward angle. Her right leg was suspended in mid-air and was also in plaster.

  Ava walked over to her. She knew she was about Amanda’s age — in her late twenties — but she could have passed for sixteen.

  “We were fortunate that she wasn’t struck on the head,” Ah-Pei said from behind her.

  “Yes, of course,” Ava said.

  “We’re scared for Amanda,” Ah-Pei continued. “There was so much blood. Chi-Tze was awake when they reached the hospital, but they put her to sleep quite quickly and she had no idea how much of damage had been done to Amanda. When she woke, it was the first thing she asked. I think she was afraid that the blow to Amanda’s head had actually killed her.”

  “You know that Amanda’s husband flew her back to Hong Kong this morning?” Ava said.

  “May told me.”

  “She’ll be better off surrounded by family.”

  “How is she, though?”

  “No one is sure about the extent of the damage.”

  “Why would anyone do this?”

  “I don’t know, and we need to find out.”

  May glanced at Ava as if to say No more talk on this subject.

  Ah-Pei stared at her sister. “They’re telling me she can come home in about a week. I’m going to hire some nurses to look after her while I’m at work.”

  “Ah-Pei has been back and forth between here and the office,” May said. “I told her, now that Grace and Peter are here, she can spend more time with Chi-Tze.”

  “The business isn’t that simple,” Ah-Pei said.

  “No, but once they have their bearings they can help maintain the day-to-day business. We understand how valuable you and your sister are, and we’re as anxious to have both of you back at work, but your sister needs to mend, and you need to spend time with her without feeling guilty about it.”

  Ah-Pei looked doubtful but nodded slowly.

  “Now I want to take Ava over to see the offices and the factory and to meet Peter and Grace. I’ll be back later this afternoon, and then tonight we can all have dinner.”

  “I would like that,” Ah-Pei said.

  “Speaking of dinner,” Ava said, “what was the name of the restaurant where the incident took place?”

  “Lu Ying Seafood.”

  “Where is it?”

  “Across from the esplanade that runs along the harbour.”

  “May told me the attackers cursed the girls.”

  “It was horrible stuff, so demeaning.”

  “That’s usually the way men do things like that. Not many of them are silent when they’re hitting a woman.”

  “How would you know that?”

  Ava shrugged. “Did the men say anything else?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Did they give any clue as to why they were attacking them?”

  “No, they just swore at them.”

  Ava felt May fidgeting beside her and knew she was uncomfortable with the conversation. “Thanks. I’m sorry to ask you these questions.”

  Ah-Pei lowered her head.

  May and Ava turned to leave the room, only to be caught by Ah-Pei’s voice. “I want to thank you for standing by us,” she said in a rush.

  The two women turned. Ah-Pei’s head was still slightly lowered and tears filled her eyes. Ava saw that her hands were trembling.

  May walked towards Ah-Pei and embraced her. “We’re partners. This is what being a partner means. Chi-Tze is going to recover. And so is our business,” she said.

  As Ava and May left the room and started back down the hallway, May said, “She’s actually getting stronger.”

  “I notice she didn’t mention her brothers,” Ava said. “Does she really believe they had nothing to do with this?”

  “No, she just can’t bear to think that they did. She hasn’t mentioned their names once since I’ve been here. I’ve decided to follow the same policy. You should do the same, at least in her presence.”

  “I will.”

  They waited for the elevator to take them to the main floor, Ava’s eyes fixed on the doors.

  “You said you needed to find out who did this to the girls. Do you have a way of doing that?” May asked.

  “I have the name of someone who might help me.”

  “He lives here?”

  “Yes.”

  “Have you spoken to him?”

  “No. I’m told he doesn’t take phone calls.”

  “So how will you get to him?”

  “Evidently he uses a restaurant in the city as his office. He’s there most evenings, I’m told. I’m going to go there tonight, so don’t count on me for dinner.”

  “How did you get the name?”

  “Uncle.”

  “So this guy, he is . . .”

  “Not exactly, but probably close enough,” Ava said.

  The elevator doors opened.

  “Ava, if you want me to go with you —”

  “No, let’s stick to the plans you told Ah-Pei. We’ll go the factory this afternoon and then you can take Peter and Grace and her out to dinner tonight.”

  ( 20 )

  The Borneo Fine Hardwoods and Furniture Company was located near an industrial park in Spanggar, an area to the south of KK about a twenty-minute drive away.

  “That is one huge operation,” Ava said, eyeing the complex of buildings from the car. “It’s so damn big.”

  “Not really. We have larger operations in Wuhan, and the Shanghai warehouse and distribution business we bought in to is at least twice this size.”

  “The biggest thing I’ve ever owned is my condo.”

  The buildings were surrounded by concrete-block walls topped by razor wire, and the entrance was guarded by a steel gate. As the Mercedes approache
d, the gate rolled open slowly. A security guard stood to one side, pressed his heels together, and gave a very smart salute.

  “I can’t get used to that,” May said.

  As they drove into the courtyard, Ava saw a three-storey wood-frame structure directly in front of them. On either side were five-storey buildings made of corrugated steel. None of them had windows, and up close they weren’t as impressive as they had been when they filled the horizon.

  “Warehouses?” Ava said.

  “This is a business that needs lots of space,” May said. “We have two buildings where we actually manufacture the furniture, four where we store the lumber, and six where we keep the finished goods. It costs a fortune to transport furniture because in weight terms it takes so little to fill a truck or a container.”

  The wooden structure was where the office was located. May led Ava inside, nodded at the receptionist, and took a sharp left. The air conditioning was so cold it almost took Ava’s breath away. At the end of the hall she could see a glass-enclosed boardroom with five people sitting around a table.

  “Peter Chik is the young man in the grey suit and Grace Chik is in the red dress. They aren’t related,” May said as they drew near. “Peter is an accountant; Grace has her MBA and works for us in sales and marketing. Those others work here. They’ve been getting Peter and Grace up to speed.”

  When the people in the boardroom saw May and Ava, they stood up. The young man May had identified as Peter Chik came to the door and opened it.

  “Ms. Wong,” he said, bowing his head.

  “This is Ms. Ava Lee. She is my partner in this business, and others,” May said. “Peter, why don’t you introduce us to everyone here, please.”

  In addition to Grace Chik there were two financial people, both men, and one marketing person, a woman, attached to the firm. Ava could see that they looked apprehensive, and she wondered how much they had been told about the Netherlands and about Amanda and Chi-Tze. May sat and motioned for Ava to sit next to her. The others sat too.

  “Are things going well?” May asked.

  “Well enough. We spoke with the bank an hour ago and there shouldn’t be any problems maintaining the business at its current level of production for the foreseeable future,” Peter Chik said. “I’ve gone over the numbers with the staff here, and things are very well organized. They have excellent systems.”

  “Great. And Grace, how are you doing on the marketing side?” May said.

  “We’ve been reviewing accounts. Dorothy and I have made a list of current customers that we’re going to start calling to see if we can increase their order rate. I brought with me a list of our key importers and trading partners from the Wuhan side. We’ll start calling them tomorrow to let them know we’re now in the furniture business and that we want them to become clients.”

  “I want to know who is supportive and who isn’t,” May said. “I’ll personally call anyone who’s reluctant to help us with this new venture.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Grace said.

  Ava looked at the group around the table. They were all young, probably still in their twenties. The three locals were dressed casually in jeans and shirts, while Peter and Grace looked the part of young professionals. There was also a difference in their demeanour. The Borneo Furniture employees looked nervous, their eyes darting from face to face. The Chiks seemed calm, completely in control. On her most recent trips to China Ava had noticed this self-confidence among the new young cadre of university graduates.

  “Do you have any questions for me, any of you?” May asked.

  “How is Ms. Chi-Tze?” Dorothy asked.

  “She’s recovering, and we think she’ll be going home in a week or so. Ms. Ah-Pei will be back and forth between here and the hospital and their house,” May said. “Anything else? If not, then I think Ms. Lee would like to take a tour of the facilities. Dorothy, will you show her around?”

  For the next two hours Ava was guided from building to building, learning about the availability and costs of various hardwoods as Dorothy pointed to stack after stack. Ava could hardly tell one wood from another. Her interest was piqued when they walked into the first of the actual manufacturing centres, but after being taken through the assembly of a dining-room set, there wasn’t anything more she actually wanted to know. By the time they had left the last building, Ava was exhausted from a combination of jet lag and information overload. She was also hot and sweaty again. The factory buildings had no central air conditioning, just huge overhead fans for circulating air and fans built into the walls to expel the dust the processing operations generated.

  May was locked in deep conversation with Peter Chik and the other financial people when Ava and Dorothy returned to the boardroom. The table was covered with spreadsheets streaked with red and black marker, and May held the black marker in her hand. Ava had never actually seen her in full business mode before.

  “How was the tour?” May asked.

  “Just great,” Ava said.

  “We’re just verifying the cash-flow projections,” May said, waving a hand over the papers. “Do you want to sit in?”

  “Under normal circumstances I would, but truthfully I’m feeling really jet-lagged and wouldn’t mind going back to the hotel and having a rest. It could be a long evening.”

  “We’ll get the driver.”

  “Thanks.”

  “What time do you think you’ll leave the hotel for your meeting?”

  “About seven.”

  “We’re planning on dinner around the same time.”

  “I’ll call you when I’m done or if there are any changes in my plans,” Ava said, and turned to leave.

  “Wait a second,” May said. “Jack Yee gave me this note for you. I put it in my purse and entirely forgot about it.”

  It was a single folded piece of paper. Ava opened it as she walked to the car. It had two words written on it: GET THEM.

  ( 21 )

  Ava had to fight to keep her eyes open on the drive to the hotel. When she arrived there, she barely had the presence of mind to confirm with the concierge that the Fa Pang did indeed exist and was within walking distance. As soon as she got to her room she stripped and crawled into bed. The jet lag was overpowering, and she needed to sleep if she was going to be alert when she met with Wan. She was just dozing off when she realized she hadn’t set an alarm. She set the bedside clock to wake her at six thirty and flopped back onto the pillows. The next thing she knew the alarm was buzzing and two and a half hours had passed in what felt like an instant.

  She showered, brushed her hair, and fixed it with the ivory chignon pin. She debated whether to wear a skirt or slacks, and opted for the skirt. This wasn’t any accountant she was meeting, and looking conservative wouldn’t necessarily be a plus. She put on a light touch of red lipstick, some mascara, and her Annick Goutal perfume.

  At ten to seven she walked into the hotel lobby. The Méridien was right on Sutera Harbour, and from its doorway Ava could see what she presumed was the esplanade, running along beside the water and all lit up. The doorman pointed towards it. “The restaurant you want is on the left, just past the swordfish monument.”

  She started along the esplanade on a wooden boardwalk edged by a weather-beaten wooden railing that overlooked the sea and an unending row of metal street lamps that looked as if they belonged in Victorian London. The sea was on the right, and on the left were shops and restaurants. The sun had set but the tropical climate still bore down on her. She hadn’t gone fifty metres before she began to sweat, and by the time she reached the giant blue and silver leaping swordfish statue, her armpits and the waistband of her skirt were wet.

  Fa Pang was about twenty metres past the swordfish, directly facing the harbour and the South China Sea. It was fronted by two banks of fish tanks three tiers high, angled from front to back. It was an impressive live display of spiny
lobsters, crabs, several species of shrimp, squid, clams, garoupa, and flatfish. Ava stepped inside. The restaurant was small; there were fewer than twenty tables, and half of them set for two diners. The place was plain, with white tile floors, white walls, unadorned wooden tables, and aluminum chairs with plastic seats. There were only ten customers in the place, a family of six at one table and couples at two others.

  A small, bald man in a dirty apron emerged from the back of the restaurant. “Sit wherever you want,” he said.

  “I’m actually looking for a Mr. Wan,” she said. “I don’t see anyone here who looks like it might be him.”

  “Is he expecting you?”

  “No, but I was told I could find him here.”

  “Sometimes that is true. But it’s always true that he doesn’t like surprise visitors.”

  “I was also told that he doesn’t answer phone calls, so how else was I to get hold of him?”

  “Anyway, he isn’t here,” the man said, staring intently into Ava’s eyes.

  “Do you expect him?”

  He shrugged. “He doesn’t fill me in on his schedule.”

  “But he’s here most nights?”

  “What’s your name?”

  “Ava Lee.”

  “And who told you about Wan?”

  “People who know him, who may have worked with him. People who live in Hong Kong.”

  “If he does come in, and he does want to talk to you, how can he reach you?”

  “My cellphone number is on this card,” Ava said. “I’m staying in KK and I can be here in ten minutes.”

  “If I see him I’ll tell him.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Now, excuse me. I have a business to run.”

  Ava hovered. “I haven’t had dinner.”

  “And you aren’t going to have it here,” he said. “If Wan wants to talk to you, he’ll call. I don’t want you hanging around.”

  “I’ve heard of another seafood restaurant called Lu Ying. Would you recommend it?”