The man nodded, then gestured for them to come forward. “We meet at last, Mr. Stark,” Lee said cordially. “And you, Inspector Liu, are not unknown to us. We are very pleased to make your acquaintance.”
David had spent months staring at the name of Spencer Lee on his office chart, but he had never seen a photograph or even interviewed anyone who had met Lee face-to-face. Nothing had prepared David for either Spencer Lee’s congenial greeting or the youth that he exuded. He looked to be in his early twenties. His hair was cropped so close that his scalp showed through. His cream-colored linen suit was fashionably wrinkled. David was amazed that someone so young, and so obviously fresh off the boat, could have risen so high in the triad hierarchy.
“We are investigating two murders,” Hulan began.
“I don’t know what that could have to do with me or anyone else in this room.” Lee’s attitude was self-assured, even cocky.
“These murders took place in China…”
“Well, if they took place in China, then they truly are no concern of ours. I don’t have to answer your questions.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” David said.
“We aren’t in China, Mr. Stark. The MPS has no power here.”
“I’m saying I wouldn’t be so worried about Ms. Liu.” With David’s thinly veiled threat, the atmosphere in the room changed. “I have a few questions and I expect you to answer them without any bullshit. Understood?”
“Do I need my lawyer?”
“I don’t know,” David said. “Do you?”
Lee threw his head back and laughed. When no one joined in, he lounged back in his chair.
“What can you tell us about the China Peony?” David asked.
“I don’t know. What is it?”
“I thought I made myself clear. We aren’t playing games here. I’ve spent the morning looking at your gang’s handiwork and I don’t like it. In fact, I’m pretty pissed off. So either we can do this right here, right now, or you can come down to my office.”
Spencer Lee brushed nonexistent lint from his linen pants.
David took a breath. “The China Peony was a freighter that the Rising Phoenix hired to bring about five hundred immigrants to U.S. soil illegally. On that ship was a dead body.”
“You can’t prove any connection between the Peony and the Rising Phoenix, and you need evidence in this country. You know, innocent until proven guilty.”
“Suppose I tell you that I have witnesses.”
“I would respond that there is no one who could point a finger at me and say, ‘Ah, there is Spencer Lee. I have seen him on this boat. I have paid him money.’”
“In point of fact, I have witnesses, available through the Ministry of Public Security, who say that members of your gang hired the Peony,” David bluffed. “I also have some officials in the port of Tianjin who are already incarcerated for taking bribes from the Rising Phoenix.”
“They have made full confessions, and as I’m sure you remember, Mr. Lee, our legal system works quickly and efficiently,” Hulan said solemnly, following David’s lead. “We only await a confession on this side of the Pacific, then those men will receive their final sentences. Meanwhile, they are in a labor camp.”
Spencer Lee glared at Hulan. He attempted a light tone but the menace came through. “I’d like to meet the inspector in China one day.”
“As I would you,” she retorted.
“I am in Beijing every other month. Perhaps we can meet for a drink sometime,” he shot back.
“Or at my office.”
Again Lee’s manner turned harsh. “Don’t threaten me, Inspector Liu. I have friends in Beijing. You can’t touch me, because my friends don’t want you to.”
“Forget about China,” David interrupted. “Instead you should tell me about triad activities in Los Angeles.”
“I can only think that you are mistaken about us. Our organization is a benevolent society. We do good in the community. We provide jobs. We help feed people when they are new to your country.”
“And prostitution, extortion, drugs?”