The Diamond Queen of Singapore by Ian Hamilton

Author:Ian Hamilton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: House of Anansi Press Inc
Published: 2020-05-04T23:25:06+00:00

(25)

Ava walked down Emerald Hill Road and within a couple of minutes was in a taxi heading back to the Mandarin Oriental. She took out her notebook and began writing as soon as the car door was closed. When she had gone to meet Jasmine Yip, questions about the bank account in Chengdu and Golden Emperor MicroLab had been her main priorities. While they still mattered, Patrick Cunningham had now jumped to the top of her list.

Ava checked her watch. It was too early to call Toronto, but not Shanghai. She didn’t want to start a conversation with Xu while she was in a cab, so she waited until she’d reached her room at the Mandarin.

“Auntie Grace, it’s Ava. Can I speak to Xu, please?” she said when the housekeeper answered.

“Just a minute, darling,” Auntie Grace said.

“I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon. I spoke to Han about an hour ago,” Xu said.

“Did he agree to help?”

“Eventually. He has no direct involvement with Golden Emperor, but he knows who they are and says they know him. He’ll see what he can find out.”

“I’m sorry if that was difficult.”

“I had to agree to trade, but it worked out well enough.”

“Can you go back to him and ask for more information about Golden Emperor without upsetting the agreement?”

“I think so. I left it open-ended.”

“Good. What I want to know is if the names Patrick Cunningham and Harvest Table Bible Chapel are familiar to the lab.”

“And if they are familiar, you’ll want to know why.”

“Exactly.”

“You do know this is getting a bit strange?”

“I’m just dealing with the facts. I have no idea where they’ll lead me.”

“Just be careful.”

“I will,” Ava said, and paused. “Speaking of being careful, Tommy Tiu ratted me out to the women I was tracking. It turned out all right in the end, but I don’t think he’s anyone you should trust in the future.”

“That son of a bitch!”

“Like I said, it turned out all right. It might even have helped me indirectly.”

“I still have to call him. He needs to know that I know. Then I’ll let him stew for a few days before giving him a pass — and tacking on another IOU.”

“Don’t be too hard on him. He isn’t overly bright.”

“If being bright were a prerequisite to becoming a gangster, the world would be relatively crime-free,” Xu said.

Ava laughed. “It’s so nice to hear you sounding like your old self.”

“I’m getting there,” Xu said. “I’ll call you as soon as I hear from Han.”

Ava ended the call and opened her laptop. She found the website for the Mercantile Bank of Chengdu, entered the Jewellery Circle account number and password, and got immediate access. The balance was identical to the statement May Ling had sent her, and the list of past transactions matched the paperwork Jasmine had provided. If nothing else, she was now in a position to track the account’s activity. If she knew when the next drug deal was imminent she might be able to turn that to her advantage.

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