Scandal on Rincon Hill: A Sarah Woolson Mystery by Shirley Tallman

Author:Shirley Tallman
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Mystery & Detective, Legal, Crime, Women Sleuths, Historical, Fiction
ISBN: 0312386974
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Published: 2010-03-30T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

I spent the next quarter hour thinking about the unfortunate Chinese men who had been arrested for Deacon Hume's murder. The sad fact was that the Chinese had become so hated for “stealing” (Dennis Kearney and his Workingmen's Party's constant accusation!) jobs from other immigrant groups, that they were regarded as easy scapegoats for any number of crimes committed in San Francisco, even those for which they had no possible motive.

The way these hardworking people had been mistreated by virtually every other race in the city was appalling. Over the past few years a number of Chinese had been attacked by unruly mobs and their meager dwellings had been burned to the ground. Discrimination against them was so acute that they were largely restricted to Tangrenbu, the dense ten-block area more commonly known as Chinatown.

Having once defended a Chinese chef arrested for murdering a white man, I knew better than most how vicious prejudice against the “celestials” had become. My client had been depicted as a “yellowskinned devil” by nearly every newspaper in town. To make matters worse, the epitaph was often accompanied by a drawing of a demon, complete with a pitchfork and forked tail. At the start of his trial, I doubt I could have found even a handful of individuals willing to concede the possibility of his being innocent.

This train of thought inevitably led me to Li Ying, the tong leader who had asked me to represent the accused cook. I wondered if he had any idea that two of his countrymen had been imprisoned. Li was always extremely well informed, but if, as George said, the police hadn't publicly announced the arrest, there was a possibility he did not know.

It took me only a moment to make up my mind. Reaching for my cloak and reticule, I slipped out of the house and, for the second time that day, walked to the horsecar line. My destination this time was the Yoot Hong Low restaurant on Waverly Place, the address I'd been given in the event I needed to reach Li Ying. Although I had visited Li's home on several occasions, I had no idea where it was located, other than it certainly must be somewhere in Chinatown. Each time we'd met, I had been kept blindfolded until I was inside his house. Upon leaving, I had once again had my eyes covered until his carriage left Tangrenbu. This subterfuge, he had explained, was as much for my protection as it was for his own. If his many enemies suspected I knew where he lived, he explained, my life would be in danger.

Arriving half an hour later at Yoot Hong Low's restaurant, I asked to see Kin Lee, the man I had been instructed to contact. The waiter, who was wearing the customary loose white cotton tunic and black trousers, listened respectfully to my request, then escorted me to a table where he indicated that I should wait. Bowing low, he disappeared behind a painted screen at the back of the dining room.

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