The Silver Lotus (32 page)

Lady Yee knew she was treading a slick deck, but her instincts told her that, despite the fact that she knew little about baroque pearls, and colored pearls specifically, she might see her way to a profit if she helped the old woman simultaneously.

Lady Yee asked how much money the woman needed for the gems, but the poor woman had no idea of their value. She said she needed at least sixty-five dollars a month to support herself, her widowed daughter, and baby grandson, but more money would certainly be helpful. Lady Yee suddenly realized the poor woman's problem. If by some impossible act of perverse justice the old woman should find some buyer to give her the full value in cash, she wouldn't have the slightest notion of what to do to protect the money besides burying it under the hearth, and her personal possession of such wealth would only attract acts of fraud, theft, and possibly worse, especially if her darker fears were made manifest.

Lady Yee served the old woman honeyed tea and sweet rice custard, and while she indulged with delight, Lady Yee made a detailed written inventory of the pearls, noting their sizes, shapes, and colors. While doing this, her mental abacus simultaneously clicked away. Lady Yee constructed an enlightened and honest offer, one worthy of the old woman's needs.

When the old woman was quite sated with tea and sweets, Lady Yee calmly told her the truth. She said the stones were worth handsome money in some parts of the world, but not here, and that selling them on a world market would require a further investment in money and time. On the other hand, Lady Yee was willing to arrange a business contract that would, without fail, pay the heirs of Chow-Ing Wah
one hundred dollars every single month for the next ten years, or two hundred dollars a month for five years. Lady Yee did this in the utmost confidence that her father would most certainly find a way to realize a modest profit commensurate with her investment. If an unforeseen monetary advantage came her way as a result of the ultimate sale, she would see that all concerned were rewarded according to their interest. That was her way with everything; either all profited, or none. She liked to quote her father, who said, “That which is equitable can be defended to the last, but that which is predicated solely on self-interest will soon wither, with loss and shame enough for everyone.”

When the old woman heard Lady Yee's proposal, her eyes rolled up into her head and she almost fainted. And even after Lady Yee encouraged her to take some tea to clear her throat, the poor woman remained speechless for quite a few moments trying to find the words to frame a response. At last tears of frustration came into her eyes, and she cried that she could scarcely believe she would ever be the recipient of such generosity. The lives of her little family would now be spared the soul scourging of constant poverty and shame, and perhaps her daughter might still find a new husband.

Lady Yee was firm when she said this was not a matter of generosity but simply good business, and she expected to realize a modest profit from the exchange. She also told the old woman that, with thirty days' notice, she could adjust the amount of the payments up to as much as two hundred and fifty dollars a month, but this would also correspondingly shorten the pay periods. The total price to be paid for the stones was to be twelve thousand dollars. She asked the woman whether this arrangement was satisfactory, and the dear creature, now lifted to the heights of euphoria, said that satisfaction could not begin to describe her emotions. She said the prayers of a lifetime of struggle had at last been acknowledged by heaven's blessing, and as far as she was concerned, the agent of that miracle was Lady Yee.

The second incident involved the killing of a young Mexican bar maid in Gonzales. Eight people witnessed an unknown Chinese man strike the girl on the head with a heavy bottle. The blow killed the poor creature instantly, but the murderer escaped into the night with the other patrons racing out into the dark screaming for his blood. Marshal Sanchez said he expected a lynching if the mob found the man before he did, and he approached Lady Yee for help locating him. Even though she rarely left her own estate, Marshal Sanchez knew she could find out virtually anything that had to do with the Chinese communities. And he wouldn't have been in the least surprised to discover that her social connections spread way beyond that.

It took three days of diligent letter writing, but a week later Lady Yee was able to inform Marshal Sanchez approximately where to find the killer. However, she mentioned most earnestly that there seemed to be special circumstances involved. The man the marshal, and indeed half the male population of Monterey County, was looking for was a strange character known as Long Jimmy Wu, and from all the reports she had received from her Chinese correspondents, the poor man was totally insane, and most certainly delusional. Lady Yee had been told his condition had been brought on by a traumatic head injury suffered while working for the railroad. The man had no home to speak of, but when he was in the vicinity he usually slept rough out in the dunes on the north end of town; however, it was his habit to wander all over the county. People said he lived mainly on stolen orchard fruit, field produce, and the occasional purloined chicken or duck, but when it came to Jimmy Wu, no one was really certain of anything. He kept company with no one, only spoke to himself, and then only in the third person, and until now was considered relatively harmless, if somewhat distasteful to be around. Sometimes people would show pity and give him a few coins, but he only spent it on alcohol, which didn't affect him well at all. After consulting Dr. Neruda, Lady Yee advised Marshal Sanchez to take
along three good men, as the strength of the insane could be remarkable. On the other hand, Jimmy Wu might decide not to be taken alive, so it was a situation primed for disaster either way. But in the main Lady Yee agreed that Jimmy Wu's only chance for survival depended upon the marshal finding him before anyone else did. An angry mob would most likely mop him down with hot tar and then hang him very slowly from a low branch of a tree. Such cruel and unjust punishments had been applied to the Chinese before, and for lesser crimes than murder. But at this juncture Dr. Neruda made his own suggestion, and one that he predicted would avoid hardship and injury all around. He proposed that Lady Yee's chef prepare a food basket containing items such as pickled fish and salt-cured meats. Of course, with this thirst-inducing ration, a quart of rice wine should be included. Dr. Neruda volunteered to taint this potable with enough sedative to put a man to sleep for twenty-four hours, and thus allow the marshal and his men to carry away their prisoner on an ambulance stretcher without the least question of injury to anyone. Ultimately, Long Jimmy Wu would awake already under restraint in a closed cell, which would save even further violence for all parties.

Marshal Sanchez, who still carried several bright pink knife-wound scars from an earlier confrontation with a livestock thief, thought this was a marvelous idea. However, getting the bait to the nest was the critical question until Dr. Neruda suggested that Lady Yee's houseboy take the basket and then innocently walk among the northern dunes until, hopefully, he came across Long Jimmy Wu. If their man was discovered, the aging houseboy was to say the people in the village had sent the food, and then noting the location, he was to return to the marshal and await events.

All was agreed to in principle, and Marshal Sanchez felt confident enough to propose an attempt of the scheme that very evening. He said he would return at five-thirty with three deputies. He politely requested
Dr. Neruda to accompany them, just in case someone ended the evening needing medical attention. The doctor was happy to comply, and Lady Yee felt this was an appropriate precaution considering one could never quite predict the conduct of the insane, whether sedated or not.

Lady Yee instructed Ah Chu to prepare a food basket as directed, and then she retrieved a bottle of rice wine and gave it to Dr. Neruda. He poured off approximately half the wine into a simple stoneware crock and mixed in a half pint of some clear liquid of his own concoction, then recorked the neck. He smiled and said that just because Jimmy Wu was crazy, it didn't mean he was also stupid. Quality rice wine in a fancy glass bottle would certainly inspire suspicion.

Together, Lady Yee and Dr. Neruda spent an hour rehearsing the houseboy on his part. This was important because he was the only one who could translate for the doctor and Jimmy Wu, should that ever become necessary. To secure his enthusiastic support, Lady Yee promised her houseboy a twist of black Turkish tobacco and a Mexican gold piece. The aging houseboy happily agreed, and to Lady Yee's amusement, he entered into his role with high theatrical enthusiasm that needed paring down to be credible.

Marshal Sanchez arrived exactly on time, riding aboard a horse-drawn Black Maria. Three armed deputies, two on horseback and one driving, accompanied the marshal. Dr. Neruda and the houseboy were invited to sit in the back, where they could ride in greater comfort, and where they would not be seen in the company of the authorities, a situation that might spark erroneous gossip.

An hour after their departure, Captain Hammond returned home from a three-day business trip to Salinas. He was dusty, dirty, angry, hungry, and in a bad mood generally. Not being able to find the houseboy to take his horse did nothing to improve this. He told Lady Yee that on his return it had grown dark, but he hadn't yet stopped to light the lamps. An unseen limb recently parted from its parent tree had snagged
his rear buggy wheel and instantly shattered four spokes. The captain had been obliged to abandon the rig at a farmer's house a half mile back along the road. He was then introduced to the discomfort and humiliation of riding the buggy horse bareback the last ten miles. It all wouldn't have mattered that much to him, he said, except that he had been wearing his very best suit, and it now smelled of horse sweat. Lady Yee decided to say nothing about recent events until her husband had bathed, changed, and been well fed, and maybe not even then, depending on his disposition.

Happily, Ah Chu served up the captain's very favorite Nantucket oyster stew, followed by a plate of boned sand dabs grilled in butter and flanked by a side of pickled prawns, which the captain adored. Lady Yee was grateful to Ah Chu for his perception, and was pleased to discover that her husband had forgotten all about his suit and had moved on to relate a couple of amusing stories about a Greek banker he had met.

Lady Yee believed her husband's mood had lightened to a degree that made it possible to broach the subject of Long Jimmy Wu and the missing houseboy, and as dinner tea was served she began to share the happenings of the last few days. As usual, Captain Hammond could only shake his head in wonder at the complex adventures his wife was prone to attract. She was like a lodestone for acts of social chaos. The captain had heard about the killing in Gonzales, of course, but he had no idea his wife had been consulted about the matter by the authorities, or that she had discovered the possible whereabouts of the perpetrator and then arranged for Dr. Neruda and the houseboy to help subdue the mentally deranged culprit. Every new and distressing detail Lady Yee revealed brought the captain ever closer to counting up the possible liabilities his wife's contributions might have incurred.

Lady Yee had almost finished explaining her actions when the door's bell chimed, and a moment later the aging houseboy, now somewhat disheveled and emotionally spent, entered the dining room and
softly announced that Dr. Neruda requested a short interview before he returned home. Lady Yee nodded and sent the old fellow to the kitchen to have his supper. Captain Hammond immediately rose from his seat and went out to the hall to invite the doctor in for a cup of tea.

When he entered the room, Dr. Neruda approached Lady Yee, pressed his hands together, and bowed his head in respectful salutation. He declared that her foresight had most certainly saved one man's life, and possibly more. The doctor was happy to report that everything had come to a surprisingly peaceful conclusion, and Long Jimmy Wu was now safely in custody, a situation, he said, that seemed to please Jimmy Wu every bit as much as it did Marshal Sanchez and his men. Lady Yee didn't quite know how to respond, so she just smiled and bowed her head in turn.

Captain Hammond seated the doctor and directed the maid to serve him tea. The doctor described how the party had stopped in a stand of pines at the edge of the dunes where they couldn't be observed. As twilight fell, the marshal sent the houseboy off with the food basket to search out Jimmy Wu in the high, grassy dunes that ran between the shore and the road. This was where Lady Yee had been informed the man could be found at night. She had been told that he felt safe there because he could hide between the dunes and kindle small fires that couldn't be seen at a distance.

The doctor said the party waited with confidence, but nothing seemed to work out as they had planned. Twenty-five minutes later the houseboy returned still carrying the basket, but he surprised everyone when he said he had found Jimmy Wu. He said the man didn't want the food. He told the houseboy he was dying and didn't need it. When the houseboy asked what ailed the man, he replied that he was being eaten by the darkest demons and there were round-eyes that wanted to kill him. He didn't know why. The houseboy, who was nobody's fool, told the man it sounded like he needed a wizard who could drive away evil
demons, and protect him from the round-eyes as well. When Jimmy Wu begged to know if there was such a person, the houseboy said there was. He told Jimmy that he knew of a very wise healer from India who knew all about demons. He wasn't a round-eye, but he was very important, so he could protect Jimmy from people trying to hurt him. The houseboy said the wizard lived close by, and he would fetch the healer if Jimmy wished him to. The houseboy reported that Jimmy Wu began to weep, moan, and tear at his hair. He begged to be relieved of his torment before the demons ate him alive and took him to hell. He pleaded with the stranger to bring the wizard at once, but not to be surprised if all he found was a bloody pile of bones when he returned. He said he could feel the demons eating his body. When the houseboy once again offered the food basket, Jimmy Wu said he couldn't eat because it infuriated the demons that were gnawing at his guts. Then he clutched his head, cried, and begged for the Indian wizard to come and save him.