In the lobby Virgil consulted the business card which Johnny Wu had given to him and then picked up the counter telephone. He found his man in and cooperative.
"If you want to talk some more, fine," Wu told him. "How about meeting me at the Dynasty Club at eleven? It'll be open then and not too crowded."
"Good," Tibbs told him. "I want to get an opinion from you on something I'll have with me."
Since he had plenty of time, he drove down the Pasadena Freeway almost leisurely, found a spot open in the New Chinatown area, and flipped down the visor to identify the police vehicle. Then, still forty minutes ahead of his appointment, he entered the elaborately decorated commercial area which had been designed for tourist appeal and began to study the shop windows.
Few of the stores had any jade on display and those that did for the most part showed what even to his unpracticed eye was inferior merchandise. Some of the offerings were of a uniform, rather sickly shade of green which suggested that they had been dyed. He saw nothing at first that in
any way compared with the lapidary treasures in Mr. Wang's home. The more he saw, the more he came to appreciate the quality of Mr. Wang's oflferings. At the same time, even the relatively poor pieces he was seeing had their effect on him; when he spotted one or two that were better, the subtle allure of jade began to stir him. In Bamboo Lane he found a shop, heavily protected with burglar alarm systems, which displayed several carvings of obviously superior worth. They appeared in some cases to be of different materials, but there was no identification and no prices were shown. Since the store was closed there was little that he could learn there, but he wished that he might have gone inside.
He had never visited the Dynasty Club, but he had heard of it-a thoroughly plush private facility operated largely for the benefit of the Asian-American community's business and political leaders. It was the sort of place the average tourist would never suspect existed, which was probably what the management and clientele desired. A phone book gave him the location; as he rode up in the elevator he wondered about the package in his left hand. It appeared very ordinary, but the effect of unwrapping it in the Dynasty Club might prove to be something quite different.
When he touched the bell before the closed door, he had to wait only a few seconds before he was greeted by a hostess who, despite the early hour, was attractively gowned and turned out.
"Good morning, sir," she said, "can I help you?"
Virgil caught her manner at once; he was not a member, but her courtesy toward him was quite genuine-she was no more concerned that he was a Negro than he was especially aware that she was an Oriental.
"I have an appointment with Mr. Wu," Tibbs said. "He asked me to meet him here."
"Of course, please come in." She opened the door wider. "Your name, sir?"
"Virgil Tibbs."
"Thank you, Mr. Tibbs. I'll see if Mr. Wu is here."
That told him immediately that the Dynasty Club was well run. He waited a minute or two while he looked about at the decor; it was very good, as he had expected that it would be. When the hostess came back she motioned to him to follow and then led him through the interior to a small dining cove where Johnny Wu was on his fe^t waiting for him.
"Glad to see you again. Please sit down. I know it's early, but the sun has been over the yardarm for some time. Name it."
"Is a Coke OK?"
"Of course." He addressed the hostess. "Two Cokes and some breakfast rolls. Coffee for me too. Virgil?"
Tibbs shook his head. "Just the Coke."
Johnny waved a hand in polite dismissal. "What's the latest word?" he asked.
Carefully, and without dramatics, Virgil unwrapped his package. When at last the stone knife lay revealed, he put it carefully on the center of the table midway between them and then sat back, saying nothing.
Wu looked at it for several seconds. "May I pick it up?" he asked.
"Certainly."
The lighting in the booth was subdued, but it was adequate. For at least a full minute Johnny Wu turned the ancient implement over in his hands, studying it from every angle, but always holding it with what was clearly deep respect When he had finished he put it down with visible care and then waited while the refreshments were served. The waitress was surprisingly tall for an Oriental and also strikingly attractive. Her costume was definitely designed to display beautifully formed legs, but managed to be subdued at the same time.
"Where do you get them?" Tibbs asked.
*The girls?"
"Yes."
Johnny smiled. "It's amazing, Virgil, what you can find if you only know where to look. Most of the girls here are Japanese, and they're handpicked. You never see them on the street, but they can be found."
"Obviously somebody knows where to look."
"The club is managed by people who know their business. We have a matched set here that's especially nice- they're all taller than you might expect and quite charming."
"What is the degree of their availabihty?" Tibbs asked.
Johnny shook his head. "No dice, not as far as the club is concerned, at any rate. They're all nice yoimg ladies- and I'm not saying that just because you're the law."
Virgil smiled, and drank a good half of his Coke. "Now, to business. I'd appreciate an opinion from you concerning that object." He nodded toward the stone knife.
Johnny looked at him shrewdly. "Certainly you know quite
a bit about it already or you wouldn't have brought it to me.
"I think so," Tibbs admitted. "But I like to be sure about things. Especially in areas that are new to me."
"All right, I'll take it from the top. It's a ritual jade implement called a Ya-Chang. It's very ancient, before the Han Dynasty I'd say offhand-^weU before. There's some crystallization along one of the edges which establishes this. My preliminary opinion is that it is genuine, extremely rare, and very valuable. Now it's your turn."
"It may disturb you to know this," Virgil said. "But that weapon was extracted from the chest of Mr. Wang. That is, most of it was." He stopped and waited, watching the reaction.
Johnny Wu folded his hands and looked steadily at the Ya-Chang. "Wang Fu-sen was my good friend. In addition to that he was a man of exceptional character and great wisdom. If I could find the man who killed him, I would gladly take that jade knife and treat him in the same manner-and to hell with the consequences."
Virgil finished his Coke. "I have a better idea," he said. "Help me to catch him. Then he'll be punished, properly according to law, and there won't be any consequences- except for him."
"What do you want?" Wu asked.
"I need information on jade-a lot of it. More important, all the available data on Mr. Wang's background: his other business activities, if any, his social life, his past I need aU this and more to track down the person who wanted him dead."
As he finished speaking another striking waitress appeared and replaced both drinks, despite the fact that Johnny's was untouched.
Johnny poured out a cup of coffee from the warming carafe and took a careful swallow. "Virgil, I won't hold out on you-I promise you that-but I don't have too much to give you. Wang Fu-sen hved very quietly, by himself until he took the Japanese girl in. If you want my guess on that, I'd call it pure charity and nothing else. The girl helped him and earned her keep, but not in bed. You may not understand this, not being Chinese, but he was a man of great dignity; not the pompous kind, but the real quiet inner kind that counts. He wouldn't take advantage of the girl for that reason alone."
Virgn remained quiet.
"Now maybe I can give you something you can use-I don't know," Johnny continued. "First I have to make a point clear. There are two entirely different attitudes concerning Chinese in this country. I consider myself a Chinese-American, in other words an American citizen of Chinese descent. So do almost all of us. But to the Chinese in China- Taiwan or the mainland-either way, we are overseas Chinese. Their feeling is that once Chinese always Chinese; they simply don't understand the concept of America-that both of us can be Americans despite our own heritages or the fact that the majority in this country are Caucasians."