Tales of Chinatown | Page 6

cabinets, there were caskets and chests of exquisite lacquer
and enamel, loot of an emperor's palace; robes heavy with gold;
slippers studded with jewels; strange carven ivories; glittering weapons;
pots, jars, and bowls, as delicate and as fragile as the petals of a lily.

Last, but not least, sitting cross-legged upon a low couch, was old
Huang Chow, smoking a great curved pipe, and peering half blindly
across the place through large horn-rimmed spectacles. This couch was
set immediately beside a wide ascending staircase, richly carpeted, and
on the other side of the staircase, in a corresponding recess, upon a
gilded trestle carved to represent the four claws of a dragon, rested
perhaps the strangest exhibit of that strange collection--a Chinese coffin
of exquisite workmanship.
The boy retired, and Mr. Hampden found himself alone with Huang
Chow. No word had been exchanged between master and servant, but:
"Good morning, Mr. Hampden," said the Chinaman in a high, thin
voice. "Please be seated. It is from Mr. Isaacs you come?"

IV
PERSONAL REPORT OF DETECTIVE JOHN DURHAM TO CHIEF
INSPECTOR KERRY, OFFICER IN CHARGE OF LIMEHOUSE
INQUIRY

Dear Chief Inspector,--Following your instructions I returned and
interviewed the prisoner Poland in his cell. I took the line which you
had suggested, pointing out to him that he had nothing to gain and
everything to lose by keeping silent.
"Answer my questions," I said, "and you can walk straight out.
Otherwise, you'll be up before the magistrate, and on your record alone
it will mean a holiday which you probably don't want."
He was very truculent, but I got him in a good humour at last, and he
admitted that he had been cooperating with the dead man, Cohen, in an
attempt to burgle the house of Huang Chow. His reluctance to go into
details seemed to be due rather to fear of Huang Chow than to fear of
the law, and I presently gathered that he regarded Huang as responsible

for the death not only of Cohen, but also of the Chinaman who was
hauled out of the river about three weeks ago, as you well remember.
The post-mortem showed that he had died of some kind of poisoning,
and when we saw Cohen in the mortuary, his swollen appearance
struck me as being very similar to that of the Chinaman. (See my report
dated 31st ultimo.)
He finally agreed to talk if I would promise that he should not be
charged and that his name should never be mentioned to anyone in
connection with what he might tell me. I promised him that outside the
ordinary official routine I would respect his request, and he told me
some very curious things, which no doubt have a bearing on the case.
For instance, he had discovered--I don't know in what way--that the
dead Chinaman, whose name was Pi Lung, had been in negotiation
with Huang Chow for some sort of job in his warehouse. Poland had
seen the man talking to Huang's daughter, at the end of the alley which
leads to the place. He seemed to attach extraordinary importance to this
fact. At last:
"I'll tell you what it is," he said. "That Chink was a stranger to
Limehouse; I can swear to it. He was a gent of his hands; I reckon
they've got 'em in China as well as here. He went out for the old boy's
money-box, and finished like Cohen finished."
"Make your meaning clearer," I said.
"My meaning's this: Old Huang Chow is the biggest dealer in stolen
and smuggled valuables from overseas we've got in London. He's
something else as well; he's a big swell in China. But here's the point.
He's got business with buyers all over London, and they have to pay
cash--no checks. He doesn't bank it: I've proved that. He's got it in gold,
or diamonds, or something, being wise to present conditions, hidden
there in the house. Pi Lung was after his hoard. He didn't get it. Cohen
and me was after it. Where's Cohen?"
I agreed that it looked very suspicious, and presently:

"When I went in with Cohen," continued Poland, "I knew one thing he
didn't know--a short cut into the warehouse. He's been playing
pretty-like with Lala, old Huang's daughter, and it's my belief that he
knew where the store was hidden; but he never told me. We knew there
were special men on duty, and we'd arranged that I was to give a signal
when the patrol had passed. Cohen all the time had planned to double
on me. While I was watching down on the Causeway end he climbed
up and got in through the skylight I'd shown him. When I got there he
was missing, but the skylight was open. I started off after him."