Read Online The Water Rat of Wanchai by Ian Hamilton - Free Book Online Page B

docked in Timshashui on the Kowloon side. She thought about taking a taxi but had time to spare, so she walked instead. When she got to Henry Cheng’s office on Nathan Road it was five minutes to eleven.
    Kowloon isn’t as aggressively modern as Hong Kong Island. The building on Nathan Road was only five storeys high, its brick exterior faded and chipped. She rode its single elevator to the top floor and found that Cheng’s company occupied half of it — about three thousand square metres — a large office by Hong Kong standards. A hundred or so employees were working in an open-concept area. A handful of closed offices was at the far end, and a boardroom with its door open that Ava could see was empty. The receptionist noted her name and said in Cantonese that Mr. Cheng was expecting her; would she please follow her to the boardroom.
    Ava sat there and waited. The office tea lady stuck her head in the door and asked if she wanted anything.
    “I’ll have some green tea,” Ava said.
    Henry Cheng was carrying a bottle of water when he arrived. He looked at Ava in her linen slacks and pink Brooks Brothers shirt with green jade cufflinks and said, “You’re not what I was expecting.”
    “I’m not sure how to take that,” she said.
    “It doesn’t matter. Never mind,” he said, offering his hand. “I’m Henry Cheng.”
    “Ava Lee.”
    He sat a couple of chairs away from her, tapping his fingers impatiently on the table. “What can I do for you?”
    He was short and chunky, and Ava guessed he was in his mid-forties. His hair was parted in the middle and swept over his ears in a style that might have suited someone twenty years younger, six inches taller, and forty pounds lighter. He’s still Hong Kong slick , she thought, eyeing his Gucci loafers, tailor-made dress shirt with monogrammed cuffs, and D&G belt around a thirty-eight-inch waist. “I need to know about Jackson Seto.”
    “I know next to nothing.”
    “You introduced him to Andrew Tam.”
    “I mentioned Andrew Tam to Seto, and I called Andrew to tell him I was referring Seto to him. But I was never part of any meeting between them, and I had nothing to do with the business they did.”
    “How did you meet Seto?”
    “I met him through his brother, whom I do know very well.”
    “What’s his name?”
    “Frank.”
    “How did it come about that you met?”
    “I was having lunch with Frank when Jackson came into the restaurant. He joined us and we started to have, you know, the normal kind of conversation businessmen have. Sometime during lunch Jackson mentioned that he was looking for some purchase-order financing and I brought up Dynamic Financial. Andrew — if he hasn’t told you — and I went to school together.”
    “That’s it? Nothing more than that?”
    “That’s all.”
    “You never saw Seto again?”
    “Never saw him, didn’t talk to him.”
    “Andrew suggested that you might have received a finder’s fee.”
    “No,” Cheng said forcibly. “At the time the only reason I even mentioned Dynamic was that I thought if I helped Jackson, it might help me in my relationship with Frank. Little did I know.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Frank is embarrassed by his brother. He wants nothing to do with him and is quite determined to keep him away from his social circle.”
    “When did you find that out?”
    “When I had lunch with Frank a few months after that first meeting.”
    “Who is this Frank Seto?”
    “He is married to Patty Chan, Carter Chan’s only child.”
    “Ah, the all-powerful Mr. Chan. Is he still the wealthiest man in Hong Kong?”
    “Maybe in all of Asia.”
    “Nice catch.”
    Cheng shrugged. “Patty is ugly and fat, but she’s going to be the richest woman in Hong Kong when Carter dies.”
    “What does Frank do?”
    “He tries to keep her happy.”
    “No, I mean his job.”
    “He tries to keep her happy,” Cheng said and laughed. “Officially, though, he’s the president of a real estate