Where the Innocent Die by M J Lee

Author:M J Lee
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781788637442
Publisher: Canelo Digital Publishing Ltd
Published: 2020-05-03T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 38

Ridpath could see the pain in her eyes. She spoke in a softer, more lilting voice than her husband as the interpreter translated.

‘Even though we saw our daughter, white and cold at the house of the dead this morning, my husband still thinks Hong Xi is alive somewhere and she is going to come back soon to give him a hug and a smile.’

A long pause.

‘I know she’s dead.’

Mrs Challinor handed over a fresh packet of tissues which the woman took with a whispered, ‘Xie, xie’ before continuing.

‘My daughter is 26 not 23 and she changed her name because she had already been deported from England before, and thought the computers might recognise her if she used her real name.’

‘She was deported before?’ asked Mrs Challinor softly.

The interpreter repeated the question in Mandarin and immediately translated as Mrs Chen replied.

‘She first came to England as a student. She was a bright girl and had so many dreams. China is such a big place, but in her eyes, it was too small. My daughter had big dreams; she wanted to see the world, experience the world and everything all at once.’

‘So she came to England. When was this?’

‘In 2015. She applied to study in a language school in Manchester. Her friend Xiao Feng was already there. It cost a lot of money, we’re not rich and we had to pay for the visa, the permits in China, the air fare and the school fees. We thought, this is our daughter, we should help her achieve her dreams, even though it meant we were going to lose her to a country far away. But isn’t that what parents do? Give their children a better life than the one they had?’

As the interpreter spoke, the woman was staring at Ridpath. He felt she was looking into his soul, seeing all his dreams and hopes and desires for Eve, talking directly to him.

The interpreter continued after a short pause. ‘So we took her to the airport and saw her off, smiling all the time while inside our hearts were crying.’

‘She came to England to study, what happened next?’

‘All went well for the first year. She said her English was getting better and she was studying hard. She wanted to go on to university here when her English was good enough. In the evenings, she was working in a Chinese restaurant to make money…’

‘Do you know which one?’ asked Ridpath.

The woman shook her head. ‘She never said. It seemed to pay well as she never asked us for anything.’

‘Where was she living?’

‘We didn’t know. She was sharing an apartment with Xiao Feng and some other students to save money, she said. We never saw the other students, but when she rang on Sundays, her friend sometimes said hello.’

‘You never rang her?’

The woman shook her head. ‘She said it was too expensive, cheaper for her to ring us.’

‘A question about your daughter. Was she right- or left-handed?’

The woman appeared surprised. ‘Why do you ask? She was left-handed.

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