Singapore 52 Page 7

  The other man took a gulp of his drink. “I do love my whisky and won’t give it up even though Mrs Pope does nag and my doctor disapproves.” He dabbed at beads of sweat which had appeared on his forehead.

  “Now are you hungry?” he asked and before I could respond had called a waiter.

  “Yes, Tuan?” the waiter said respectfully.

  “Sandwiches for both of us.”

  As the waiter scurried away, Pope turned back to me and said, “I also need to apologize to you.”

  “You do?”

  “Ah, you see, before I understood the full situation I complained to the Governor. He is, of course, a member here. I rather misunderstood what happened.” He held up a pudgy hand to make sure I didn’t interrupt. “You see my property is not far from Tanglin Barracks and there has been trouble with the army before. Amelia is a pretty girl and of a dangerous age,” he said and winked.

  The waiter returned with a tray of small, single slices of bread topped with smoked salmon.

  Pope resumed: “As a father I must be careful, you know. Anyway in the excitement I blamed the army for risking my daughter’s life. However after I had spoken to my wife I realized you were in fact her saviour. I understand that my complaint was passed to the Commanding Officer at Tanglin Barracks and then to your CO at Gillman.”

  I didn’t bother explaining that I didn’t really report to Vernon and frankly didn’t care what he thought. However I said, “I still don’t understand.”

  “I didn’t fully grasp the situation. I thought you were involved rather than intervening.” He laughed, uncomfortably this time. “I seem to have become overexcited with half the facts. Anyway, I would like to make it up to you, Captain. Again, I am truly sorry if I have caused you any problems.”

  “There really is no harm done.”

  Pope seemed to ignore me for a while as he devoured a few sandwiches. I suspected it would be unseemly to make my excuses and leave already so I decided to try small talk after taking a sandwich myself.

  “And how is business in Japanese goods? Is there much demand?’

  “The Japanese are now our allies.” Pope took another gulp and finished his drink. He signalled for a fresh glass then said, “Ironic isn’t it, how our darkest enemy can become our friend when faced by a new foe. Have you ever been to Shanghai, Captain? What a terrible place. Singapore may be overrun by Chinese, overcrowding and slums and child labour, but at least it is not Shanghai. You know, they collect thousands of dead bodies off the streets each year. Starvation and murder. Where a life is not worth a penny. That is Communism for you, my dear chap.”

  He paused but I could see he was about to continue so waited.

  “Of course we are building businesses to create wealth and wealth means jobs and food. Don’t give me any of this tosh about equality and welfare and Chinese nationalism. It’s all very, very dangerous, Captain, don’t you agree? Did you know that during the war General Yamashita and other senior officers of the Japanese Imperial Army used The Singapore Club as a headquarters?”

  I shook my head and ate another sandwich.

  “Oh yes, well I do have a tendency to ramble,” he chuckled and dabbed at the sweat. “Let’s see if I can explain. The British used to totally control international trade. All the big merchant houses were British and then of course the war put things on hold for a few years. However, although the British rule Singapore and control the harbour, there has been a gradual erosion of the control of the businesses. The Chinese are not only more numerous, they are also becoming business heads and I worry about where all this will lead. My own business used to be twice the size. Fortunately there is also the brokerage business that is doing extremely well, but again I fear the Chinese will soon move into this market.”

  “And the Japanese connection?” I prompted.

  “There are Japanese businesses in Singapore, but I am the largest employer of Japanese. Not all of them are Japanese you understand, but a goodly proportion.”

  “And has there been any trouble?”

  “Like tarring of buildings, you mean? Yes, but not of my warehouse or offices. The Japanese were hated after the war, but within five or six years things improved dramatically. Sometimes soldiers hurl abuse at the Japanese. You know how it is. I think high spirits and alcohol can make some of your chaps forget the war is over. The incident in the market was the exception. Recently however, we have seen an increase in the intimidation.”

  “By soldiers?”

  “By the Chinese.”

  “Have any of your staff been intimidated?”

  Pope dabbed at his forehead. “Indeed they have. We’ve had a couple of cases of assault. But, I don’t think you will find such things reported to the police.”

  I tried to connect the dots to his previous rant about the Chinese. I asked, “And do you blame the Chinese for these attacks?”

  “Chinese gangs, yes indeed!” Pope observed me glance at a large junk that swept majestically across the mouth of the Singapore River. It had a billowing white rectangular mainsail and a smaller one at the rear.

  He said, “Magnificent isn’t it? It’s a Japanese junk called a sengoku-bune. Modern cargo ships may have huge capacity, but they have no style. I finance a handful of sengoku-bunes for my business. It’s very expensive and inefficient but I never tire of watching them.”

  As I watched the beautiful boat a thought struck me. Could there be a connection?

  “I’m sorry to be so bold,” I said, “but could I ask whether there’s a chance munitions could be brought ashore via your junks?”

  He smiled. “No. I know exactly what comes and goes. And even if they were, why on earth would anyone be smuggling? I assume that’s what you are alluding to. Why on earth would anyone smuggle in munitions? This is not Malay, Captain!” He studied me for a second then said, “Why do you ask?”

  “Secretary General Coates has intelligence that there will be an attack of some sort on the island, specifically involving guns.” I showed him the piece of paper with the strange symbols.

  He turned the paper upside down and around. “I don’t know what this means. It is not Japanese, if that’s what you’re asking. The writing is traditional Chinese, I can tell you that. And the paw print is probably that of a lion. Perhaps that is your Chinese gang symbol?”

  I reached across and shook his hand. “It was a pleasure to meet you, sir. If you hear anything…”

  “Of course. And Captain?”

  “Yes?”

  “If you think of a way I can show my gratitude for helping Amelia then please do let me know.”

  On the drive back to Gillman I thought about my meetings with Atkinson and Pope; two very different men with different backgrounds and outlooks. However both men were concerned about the Chinese. Could this be an uprising against the local Japanese population? I thought it unlikely and yet ten minutes later something made me think again.

  THIRTEEN

  A young Chinese woman was waiting for me in an office at Gillman Barracks. When the desk clerk told me a woman had asked for me I had expected Su Ling. After all she was the only woman I’d properly met so far. However it was not the alluring Su Ling who stared at me with red-rimmed eyes as I opened the door. This young woman was petite and fragile looking, like a frightened sparrow. She had a glass of water in one hand that trembled slightly.

  “Hello,” I prompted.

  She pushed up from the hard backed chair and said something.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, “I don’t understand Chinese.”

  “You are… Captain Carter?” she said in faltering English.

  “Please call me Ash.” I smiled encouragingly and sat on a similar chair opposite her. “How can I help you, miss?”

  She introduced herself as Mei Fen and, in sentences punctuated with pauses as she thought of the words, she said, “I come here last… evening and… asked for you.”

  I was confused. How could this girl have known who I was and that I would be her
e?

  “You came here looking for me?”

  “Tom say you will come. He say… you will be here.”

  Now she had me even more intrigued. “You’re talking about Tom Silverman?”

  She nodded vigorously and a flicker of a smile appeared before she started to sob.

  She held up her left hand and I saw a delicate ring on her finger. Tom hadn’t mentioned a girlfriend, but then he hadn’t said very much at all in his telegram. I guessed it made sense and she was clearly distraught.

  “I’m so sorry. I found out about Tom… about the crash only yesterday.”

  She took a shuddering breath and looked at me, her eyes streaming uncontrollably. She tried to speak but for a moment the words didn’t come.

  “I saw pictures of the car crash,” I said. “The police believe it was a simple accident, that he lost control in the dark in bad weather.”

  She shook her head.

  “I suspect he was forced off the road.”

  Mei Fen pressed both palms against her eyes to wipe them and breathed in again. She took another sip of water as she composed herself.

  “He say he was… shadow…”

  “Shadowed? Followed?”

  She nodded. “Followed. He say someone was follow-ing him. He worry… was worried.”

  “Mei Fen, do you know why Tom asked me to come?”

  “I not know. He not say. He say he thought… something—” She struggled for a word and made a few attempts before she got it. “—dodgy, yes that what he say. Dodgy. He not say more. He say too dangerous to say.”

  So Tom hadn’t told her what was concerning him, only that he was being followed and it was dangerous. Perhaps Tom had told someone else, maybe reported it to the police. I asked her.

  She shook her head vigorously. “Only you with the detail. He say he trust only you.”

  I was disappointed. It appeared that Mei Fen knew little more than me but I said, “Thanks for coming to see me. I’ll do my best…”

  She nodded and I saw belief in her eyes, like she knew I would find out what happened, investigate and perhaps resolve whatever my friend had been concerned about.

  We both stood and I shook her hand. It was about half the size of mine. She seemed so small and thin I wondered if she hadn’t eaten since learning the news of Tom’s death.

  “Do you live far, Mei Fen? Do you have someone to take you home?”

  She looked at me and her eyes seemed to glaze over as if she was about to faint.

  I helped her back into the chair and helped her take a drink from the glass of water.

  As I waited for her to recover her strength and answer my question about getting home, I wondered if I was missing the obvious.

  “Do you know where the accident happened?” I asked.

  She blinked and seemed to be gathering strength.

  “The car crash. Do you know where it happened?”

  “Yes. Road from Nee Soon.”

  I didn’t know the place. “Outside of the city?”

  She nodded.

  “So he was travelling back towards the city at night?”

  “Yes.”

  “Where had he been?”

  “Nee Soon… village.”

  This was the bit I didn’t get. How did she know? “But you weren’t with him and he wouldn’t tell you.”

  She looked at me blankly and I spoke slowly and rephrased the question.

  “Ah yes… He say he go to Nee Soon.” She stopped as if suddenly recalling something then said something like, “Dongzing de fangzi.”

  It sounded like Chinese again. “I’m sorry I don’t...”

  She put her hands together as if praying, her eyes bright with excitement. “Yes,” she said. “I know… I remember. He say he go to Dongzing de fangzi. I not think…”

  I shook my head and she must have seen it still meant nothing to me.

  “House of Tokyo,” she said nodding. “He say he go to House of Tokyo in Nee Soon village.”

  FOURTEEN

  Reappearing in the office, Hegarty agreed to drive me to Nee Soon. Five minutes later we were in the jeep. Mei Fen sat in the middle of the back seat. She had agreed to show us House of Tokyo and then we’d drive her home.

  When we’d arrived back at Gillman Barracks, the sun was just about to set. Now it was fully dark and I was reminded of how quickly night fell in Singapore.

  Hegarty knew the way and took us to the far side of the city and onto Thompson Road. This took us north and we were soon beyond the lights of the city and the shop-houses. The road twisted and turned through the darkness following what I guessed to be old trails through the forest. Trees closed in and the darkness with it. To me it looked like we were immediately in the jungle but Hegarty laughed at me.

  “These are the suburbs,” he said. “The lights you can see through the trees are houses and this on the left—” the headlights picked out a sign and a side road “—is the island golf course.”

  The road became bumpy and occasionally the wheels spun on the loose stone covering.

  In the darkness with so little detail it felt like we’d been travelling for ages, but in reality we’d covered about four miles since leaving the city.

  “How much further?” I said.

  “Not sure. To be honest, Boss, I’ve never been out this way. Nee Soon is an Out Of Bounds area and I’ve never had reason—” We hit a bump and Hegarty fought the steering back on line.

  He laughed. “Sorry, I’ll slow it down. We’re in the jungle for real now.”

  Only three cars had passed coming the other way since we joined this road. Another one headed for us, its lights temporarily blinding me. We cut through two villages with ramshackle huts strung along the road and people standing about. Outside each of them was a small fire and I saw children playing as though it were daylight. The last hut had tyres piled up and a gaggle of kids tried to tell us to stop and buy some pans—at least that’s what I guessed they shouted as they ran alongside for a few yards.

  The darkness closed in again and I noticed Hegarty was having more difficulty with potholes.

  “Here!” Mei Fen shouted. It was so loud and sudden that the sergeant automatically slammed on the brakes. The tiny Chinese girl fell between the two front seats and scrabbled between us. I just managed to stop my head colliding with the windscreen and then helped the poor girl up.

  Hegarty was very apologetic but I was more interested in why she had shouted.

  “What did you mean by shouting here, Mei Fen?”

  “It is here,” she said as if I would understand.

  I looked around. In the headlights I could see the red, laterite road, short grass verge for a foot or so then long grass and then, after another few feet, trees.

  I turned back to her. “Are you telling me this is where the crash happened?”

  She pointed behind us. “There!”

  I asked Hegarty to turn around and the headlights swept across the forest before settling on the road again. We edged forward and then I saw what Mei Fen was pointing at. The lights picked out a tree with its bark torn away. Beside it the undergrowth looked disturbed and a smaller tree was bent over with a jagged break.

  Using a torch, I got out and headed towards the damage. Hegarty was by my side but the girl stayed in the car. As soon as I stepped into the long grass it squelched.

  “Lots of surface water around here,” Hegarty said.

  I shone the torch at the damaged tree and then at the ground. The ground had been disturbed by the people who’d removed the crashed car but I could roughly make out the route Tom’s car had taken.

  “What are you thinking?” Hegarty asked.

  I played the light along the ground.

  “That I may have been too quick to assume foul play.” I stepped back on the road and swept the torch over it. The track was wide enough for two cars but only just. Tom’s car being on the wrong side wasn’t as conclusive as I’d imagined. The ground was rutted and in the rain it cou
ld have been treacherous.

  Hegarty seemed to read my mind.

  “If it was raining cats and dogs and your friend was travelling too fast… well, he could easily have lost control.”

  I walked south and saw where a heavy vehicle, maybe two, had crossed the verge, heading for the crash site. I followed the tracks in and then out again. I now judged it was one vehicle in and then laden with the Toyota on the way back.

  I walked back to the Land Rover and studied the line of Tom’s tracks. They were angled from the road but they appeared to curve towards the tree rather than away. Surely he would have realized he was heading for the jungle and tried to steer away? I kept walking and then I saw what I suspected: another tyre track. It was three paces on and just a single rut as though a front tyre had slipped off the road and then back again. And in my head I pictured Tom’s car struck from behind on the left hand side, being pushed to the right, curving more and more to the right. Tom’s car hit the wet ground and slid into the trees. The other car veered away but just too late, clipping the verge and leaving this tell-tail skid.

  “OK,” I said.

  “OK?”

  I climbed back into the jeep, nodded at Mei Fen and then to Hegarty, and said, “Let’s go and find this House of Tokyo.”

  FIFTEEN

  Doubtless, Nee Soon was an important crossroads town but when it started it was a smattering of shacks. It mainly ran north-south. At the heart, red lanterns hung outside many buildings. Lights blazed and people moved about as though it were daytime. Hegarty slowed the Land Rover to a walking pace as bicycles, trishaws and people got in the way. In the city, it was busy and the roads wide, but everyone observed the British rule of driving on the left. Here in Nee Soon the rule seemed to be little more than a suggestion.

  “There!” Mei Fen said with less excitement than at the crash site so that Sergeant Hegarty didn’t do another emergency stop. “House of Tokyo.”

  Hegarty pulled up outside a superior-looking building festooned with lanterns. The front had eight foot glass windows that showed willow patterned screens in black and red. Beyond the screens I could see lights but nothing more.