The Night Tiger(124)

But Lydia doesn’t care. She’s gone beyond him. A dreamy look fills her eyes. “And then when Iris kept writing about how unhappy you were with her, I knew that something would happen to make her disappear. Because you and I are fated to be together: we even have the same name. The other night, at your party, when you wrote your Chinese name—I told you that I have a Chinese name as well. I was born in Hong Kong, you know.”

What is she babbling about? Doesn’t she have any sense of danger from him?

“My Chinese name has the same character—Li for Li di ya—as yours. It’s one of the Confucian Virtues,” she says.

Ren comes into the hallway to hand Lydia her hat and parasol. He stares at her, eyes huge in his small face. William thinks feverishly. Play along; he has always been able to manage. There’ll be time enough to deal with her.

“We’ll need more servants after we’re married,” says Lydia, looking appreciatively around the large, empty bungalow.

Over my dead body, thinks William. But he smiles and shows her out.





50

Batu Gajah

Monday, June 29th




Shin’s arm was broken. The right one, as he pointed out with rueful humor. My stepfather had broken the left one, and now it was my turn: a strangely fearful symmetry. I said I was sorry, resting my head briefly against his shoulder after all the uproar was over and we were finally alone. They’d put us into a private room temporarily, though the only serious injury was Shin’s arm and some cuts and bruises.

“You’re very lucky,” said the local doctor who’d examined me. “The other chap broke your fall.”

I fell silent at the mention of Koh Beng. My statement to the police about how he’d tried to kill me, as well as the whole business of selling fingers as good luck charms, made both the hospital and the local police look bad: the hospital for not keeping track of human remains, and the police for failing to prevent an attempted murder right after Y. K. Wong had been killed that very morning. Already, a rumor had conveniently spread that Koh Beng had gone mad and run amok. In the meantime, they’d been especially nice to Shin and me.

“Well, that’s the end of my job,” said Shin, gazing at the cast on his arm.

“Perhaps they’ll let you do something else,” I said.

“Don’t be silly. I can’t write, either, so no desk jobs.”

It didn’t matter. I was filled with gratitude to be sitting here with him, remembering how I’d thought we’d be sundered forever by death. But my joy was tempered with grief. What had happened to Yi? His last words, don’t forget me, struck me as a plaintive echo of his previous lament: I don’t want Ren to forget me. Was he still waiting at that empty station, or had he given up and gone onward, alone? Wherever he was, I prayed he’d find mercy. I owed him a great debt.

I released Shin’s hand guiltily as yet another nurse came in. So many nurses had come by to visit, giggling and perching flirtatiously on his bed. I’d told the police that Shin was my brother, so I could only sit by and smile. It was all right; I was used to this.

“Why won’t you let me set them straight?” Shin said, annoyed, after the last nurse was gone.

“Not now.” We had to think things through. Figure out how to get around our parents first, and not have it spread as gossip. My mother would have a fit when she found out we’d been shoved off a building. A wave of exhaustion rolled over me; the hospital smelled like disinfectant and boiled onions.

“I’ll come and see you tomorrow,” I said, standing up.

He grabbed my hand. “Stay. They offered to keep you tonight for observation.”

“There’s nothing wrong with me. And I should tell my mother we’re all right.” The news had probably leaked all over Batu Gajah and possibly even up to Ipoh by now. Besides, the hospital made me deeply uneasy, though I didn’t want to mention this to Shin in case he worried. When I gazed out of the window, I could see the distant roof where Koh Beng had tried to kill me.

“Then I’ll go home with you,” said Shin.



* * *



Of course, they wouldn’t let him go, claiming Shin’s arm needed more X-rays tomorrow morning. They tried to keep me as well, though I demurred. It seemed less about our well-being than an attempt to keep things under control. The medical director had already come by, assuring us that the hospital had only the highest standards and was deeply sorry for the actions of an employee who’d had a nervous breakdown (that would be Koh Beng, I presumed), and we could only nod and promise not to talk about it until the police had cleared things up.

Matron herself came to see me off. Her tanned, angular face was thoughtful as we waited for the car that the hospital had provided to drive me back. “So what are the two of you—siblings or engaged to be married?”

I looked down. “We’re stepsiblings, but we’re not really engaged.”

“Sounds complicated,” she said, not unkindly. “I’ll keep your secret, if you like. Good luck.” She shook my hand. I liked her firm, no-nonsense grip. “You seem like a smart girl, and sensible, too. If you don’t want to rely on a man, we might have space for you.”

I thanked her, wondering why I wasn’t as thrilled as I might have been. Perhaps the hospital had instructed her to offer me a job, to keep things quiet. I was tired. So tired that all I wanted to do was close my eyes, though I was afraid that if I did so, I’d find myself back in that dark river. And this time, there’d be no coming back.