Finale by Ian Hamilton

Author:Ian Hamilton [Hamilton, Ian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: House of Anansi Press Inc
Published: 2022-06-09T16:06:34+00:00

( 19 )

When Uncle woke the following morning, he didn’t get out of bed immediately, but lay quietly thinking about the events of the previous night and gauging the damage he’d done to his body. There was no doubt he had gone overboard with beer and food. Well, he figured, that was a lesson learned.

He swung his feet over the side of the bed and pushed himself to his feet. He seemed steady enough and his stomach wasn’t at war with him. So far, so good, he thought, and headed for the bathroom. It was just past seven o’clock, and obviously Ava hadn’t phoned during the night or Lourdes would have woken him. Had things gone badly with the Mountie? He turned around and walked to the phone in the living room. He checked it for messages, found none, and called Ava’s cell number. His call went directly to voicemail.

“This is Uncle. I’m just wondering how it went last night with the Mountie,” he said. “Call me when you can.”

It had to have gone well, he tried to convince himself as he headed once more towards the bathroom. Ava was too persuasive for it to have gone otherwise.

After dressing, Uncle asked Lourdes to prepare some white rice, and while she went about that he left the apartment to buy his newspapers and the racing form for Happy Valley.

On his return, he leafed through the newspapers and managed to eat and keep down a half bowl of rice. There was still no word from Ava, and he was thinking of calling her again when he remembered he had promised her he would set up a bank account for Andy Cameron at the Kowloon Light and Power Bank. He phoned the bank — in which the triads had partial ownership — and was put through to the president, Henry Cheng. Uncle and Cheng had done much business together over the years.

“Uncle, it has been a long time since we talked. What can I do for you?”

“I want to open an account.”

“Another one?”

“It isn’t for me. I want you to open an account in the name of Andy Cameron.”

Cheng hesitated. “Is he a Hong Kong resident?”

“No.”

“Does he have a local address, a Hong Kong ID number, or is he registered with the Department of Inland Revenue?”

“No.”

“That makes it difficult.”

“But, I trust, not impossible,” said Uncle.

“Are you comfortable telling me why you want to open this account? That might help me find a solution.”

“You know I trust you, Henry, but this information can’t be shared with anyone else,” said Uncle.

“You know it won’t be.”

“All right — if things go as planned, a substantial amount of money will be put into that account, and from there will be redistributed to clients of mine from whom it was stolen,” said Uncle. “I want to be able to control the distribution without having my name attached to the account, and if anyone pokes into it, the only name I want them to find is that of Andy Cameron.

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