The Navy, and thus the Marine Corps, was governed by common law of the United States, and a pillar of that code of justice was that an accused was presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The colonel had just been directed by Hq, USMC, to promote PFC McCoy to Corporal McCoy, an action that would be very difficult to explain to the colonel commanding the Italian marines and to the Consul General of the King of Italy at Shanghai. It would look as if the punishment for stabbing to death two Italians was promotion to corporal.
Captain Banning wondered whether it was his duty to bring the problem to the colonel's attention himself, or whether the S-l would consider it part of his duty as personnel officer. Most likely, the problem would skip the G-l's attention, Banning decided. The Colonel was going to be furious when he found out about this, and the S-l knew it, too.
He was still considering the problem, and half expecting his telephone to ring with a call from either the S-l or the colonel's sergeant-major, when his clerk knocked at the door, put his head in, and announced that Detective Sergeant Chatworth and two Chinese were in the outer office.
As incredible as it sounded, had Chatworth turned up two witnesses? In so short a time?
"Ask him to come in, please." Banning said.
Chatworth came in with two coolies. Banning's heart sank again. The court-martial would not take the word of two coolies over that of two Italian marines.
"Good morning, Captain," Detective Sergeant Chatworth said. "May I present Constable Hang Chee and Senior Patrolman Kin Tong?"
The two coolies bowed their heads.
"Constable Hang and Patrolman Kin were fortunately in a position to see the McCoy incident from start to finish. Tell the captain what you saw, Hang."
Constable Hang spoke English very softly, but well. He reported that PFC McCoy had just stepped out of his rickshaw near the compound gate when he was beset by the five Italians and had no choice but to defend himself.
"He was three blocks from the compound," Banning said, "when four Italian marines overturned the rickshaw."
"Now that you mention it," Constable Hang said, "that's right. There were four Italian marines and the assault took place several blocks from the compound entrance."
It was clear to Banning that they had no more seen the fight than he had.
"What's going on, Sergeant Chatworth?" Banning asked.
"You wanted witnesses, I found them," Chatworth said. "Will a sworn statement suffice, do you think, or will these officers have to testify in court?"
I don't want McCoy to go to Portsmouth, either. But I am a Marine officer, and I can't close my eyes and pretend I believe Chatworth's Chinese.
"I could not put these men on the stand," Banning said, disliking Chatworth more than ever. "I think you misunderstood the purpose of my visit yesterday."
"You're a bloody fool, then, Banning," Chatworth said, coldly.
"Good day, Sergeant Chatworth," Banning said.
"I'll send the report of these officers concerning the incident they witnessed to you via the British Consulate," Chatworth said. "It'll take two, three days to get here, I'd suppose."
"I told you: as much as I might personally like to, I can't put these men on the stand."
"Why not?" Chatworth asked.
"Being very blunt, I'm not sure I believe your men. Goddamn it, I know I don't believe them."
"That's not really for you to decide, is it?" Chatworth said. "And, if you don't let these men testify, wouldn't that be 'suppression of evidence'?"
"Why the hell are you doing this?" Banning asked.
"We're just doing our duty as we see it," Chatworth said, sarcastically. "I can only hope that you're not one of those bloody fools who doesn't know he's in Shanghai and thinks he can go by the bloody book."
"How dare you talk to me that way?" Banning flared.
"What are you going to do about it?" Chatworth asked calmly.
"I tell you now, Sergeant Chatworth, that I intend to discuss this with Captain Fairbairn."
"Odd that you should mention his name," Chatworth said. "Constable Wang and Patrolman Kin are members of Captain Fairbairn's Flying Squad."
Banning's temper flared. He reached for the telephone, actually intending to call Fairbairn. But reason prevailed. He instead had the operator connect him with the colonel.
"Sir," he said. "There has been a rather startling development. When PFC McCoy was attacked by the Italian Marines, the whole incident was witnessed' by two Chinese police officers of Captain Fairbairn's Flying Squad. They are prepared to testify that it was clearly a case of self-defense."
"That's bloody well more like it," Detective Sergeant Chatworth said.
Chapter 2
(One)
4th Marine Infirmary Shanghai, China 6 January 1941
PFC Kenneth J. McCoy, wearing issue pajamas and a bathrobe, was stretched out on his bed working at a crossword puzzle in the Shanghai Post when Captain Banning walked into his room. Banning saw that they had brought him his breakfast on a tray, and that he had eaten little of it.
"As you were," Banning said, as McCoy started to swing his legs out of the bed.
McCoy looked at him warily.
"I want a straight answer to this question, McCoy," Banning began. "How well do you know a Sergeant Chatworth of the Shanghai Municipal Police?"
McCoy, Banning noticed with annoyance, debated answering the question before replying, "I know him, sir."
"Good friend of yours, is he?" Banning pursued.
"I wouldn't say that, sir," McCoy said. "I know him."
"Sergeant Chatworth has come up with two witnesses to support your allegation of self-defense," Banning said. "They saw the six Italians attack you when you got out of the rickshaw at the compound gate."
McCoy's eyebrows went up, but he said nothing.
This is a very bright young man, Banning thought. Bright and tough, who knows when to keep his mouth shut.
"The two witnesses were Chinese police officers of Captain Fairbairn’s Flying Squad," Banning went on. "They have appeared before the adjutant and made sworn statements. The statements bring the number of Italian marines down to four, and say that your rickshaw was turned over where you said it was."
McCoy looked at Captain Banning without expression.
"The statements are so much bullshit, of course," Banning said, "and you know it."
"Sir, so were the statements of the Italians."
"The first thing I thought, McCoy, was that you and Chatworth were involved in something dishonest, and it was a case of one crook helping another. But I just came from seeing Captain Fairbairn, and he tells me that Chatworth is a good man. Off the record, he told me that if Chatworth was getting you out of the mess you're in, that speaks highly for you, because he doesn't normally do things like that."
"I don't know, sir, what you expect me to say," McCoy said.
"You think I'm a sonofabitch, don't you?"
McCoy, his face expressionless, met Banning's eyes, but he said nothing.
"If I were in your shoes, and the officer appointed to defend me against a charge I was innocent of tried to talk me into pleading guilty, I'd think he was a sonofabitch," Banning said.
"You're an officer, sir," McCoy said.
The implication of that, Banning thought, is that all officers are sonsofbitches. Do all the enlisted men think that way, or only the ones smart enough, like this one, to know when somebody's been trying to fuck them?
"And in this case, I was a sonofabitch," Banning said. "I'm going to give you that, McCoy. It's the truth. I am not exactly proud of the way I handled this. It's pretty goddamned shaming, to put a point on it, for me to admit that it took an English policeman to remind me that a Marine officer's first duty is to his men. I'd like to apologize."