‘But would they know him?’
‘Possible on a small island. It’s worth a try anyway.’
Lisa agreed. They decided to split up to look for a bookshop and leave the professor to his crab. An hour passed and they still hadn’t found anything. Fraser and Lisa returned to where the car and the professor stood, the latter covered in grease.
‘Where have you two been?’ he asked.
‘Well, Fraser thought there might be a bookshop on the island, or at least someone who would remember Amichi. We went to look but…’
‘Nothing,’ the professor finished.
‘No, nothing.’
‘It is to be expected,’ the professor said rather pompously. Lisa felt disgruntled. She was, after all doing this for the old man; she would much rather be at home now, studying for her exams that were fast approaching.
The professor licked his fingers. ‘Hung Shing,’ he said.
Fraser and Lisa looked at each other. ‘What?’
‘The oldest and largest temple on the island is Hung Shing. It’s on Main Street about a mile away. They’ll know Amichi there.’
Fraser stood open mouthed. ‘How do you know that?’
‘The girl. The girl committed suicide in a temple. It was a place of safety for her, a place of refuge, a place where she had gone since she was a child, perhaps. I had a student once from England, highly strung and very sensitive but a brilliant student. Every time she had an exam she would go missing and I always found her in the stationery cupboard. It got so that every time she went missing I would just go to the stationery cupboard knock on the door and say, ‘Janet, I am waiting for your presence,’ and five minutes later she would come out and get on with her exam. Do you know why she did this? Habit. When she was a small girl she had a panic attack and, not being used to these things, her mother locked her in a cupboard to calm her down. The dark and the warmth worked and ever since at times of stress she would seek out a similar place. The same with our girl — she was under great pressure and wanted to find somewhere she knew.’
‘Uncle, that’s brilliant, I am sure you’re right. Where did you say it was?’
‘About a mile away, I think, but before we go, perhaps we could just stop at the soup stall?’
The silence in the temple made it seem a million miles away from the street as they walked in. Fraser’s shoes tapped gently on the floor as they made their way through the main entrance and into the temple’s inner rooms. The professor began to examine the many golden artefacts that lined the walls. He neared a statue of the Buddha and gazed lovingly at its curves and its grace. The air was spiced with incense that seemed to waft on some unnoticeable breeze and imbue anyone who entered with its scent.
Lisa noticed a priest bowed in silent prayer in front a large golden idol. She quietly made her way over to him. After a while the priest opened his eyes, bowed at the Buddha and turned to her.
‘Yes?’
Lisa was taken aback: he was a young man, no older than her. She had assumed that all of the priests would be at least as old as her uncle and this one’s youth surprised her. His eyes were a deep brown and seemed to sparkle with an inner strength that caught her off guard.
‘Can I help you?’ he asked.
Lisa stammered for her words. ‘I… I… was wondering if you could help with a small problem I am having.’
The priest stood. ‘I will if I can. Tell me, what is it?’
‘I am looking for a cousin of mine.’
Lisa swallowed hard. Not only was the priest her age but she was now lying to him. She gave a quick glance to the golden figure on her left. She had never been particularly religious, in fact her father had been an atheist for most of his life, but she had always been drawn to spiritual people and had a respect for the beliefs of all religions, more for their psychological strength than for anything else. ‘A cousin of mine called, Amichi? Do you know him?’
The priest thought a moment. ‘Amichi? Amichi? No, I do not know him.’ Lisa was crestfallen. She had put her faith in her uncle’s ideas; and thought that every idea he had would bear fruit. She turned to go. ‘I do know her though.’
Lisa stopped. ‘Her?’
‘Yes, Akina. A beautiful but unfortunate girl. She came into the temple often, sometimes just to look around, sometimes to pray. She was a good soul.’
‘Was?’
‘Yes, she died very recently. She was not, I assume, your relative, otherwise you would have been aware.’
Lisa caught herself. ‘Oh, oh no, I was not related, but I would like to pay my respects. Have you her address? Perhaps I can make some small amends.’
‘A kind gesture,’ the priest said. ‘A kind gesture indeed. Yes, and I know she lived in Lee Tung. That’s about ten minutes’ drive away.’
Lisa thanked the priest and on the way out dropped a donation into the collection box. She explained to Fraser and the professor about the girl and about the priest never having heard of Amichi, the man.
‘Perhaps he wasn’t religious?’ Fraser ventured.
‘Possible,’ the professor added. ‘Or perhaps he never gave his name away. Perhaps he was too busy hiding from someone or something.’
By the time they reached the Lee Tung estate it was beginning to get dark. Lisa parked some way from the main buildings and they made their way on foot to the tall high-rise apartments. They asked around, had anyone heard of the girl? Did anyone know Amichi? Did anyone remember anything about her? But no one said anything, everyone was tight-lipped. It was Lisa who spoke first.
‘If I didn’t know any better I would say that they knew but were keeping quiet.’
‘I thought the same thing,’ Fraser answered. ‘Everyone we ask hesitates as if they mean to answer but think the better of it. Perhaps I’m just being paranoid.’
‘Perhaps not,’ the professor answered. ‘Whoever was following me, whoever broke into my apartment would have a lot of weight in a small place like this. Word of mouth soon gets around.’
Fraser and Lisa agreed. There was something odd about the whole place, something strange, like walking into a party and having all the chattering stop or the obligatory scene in a Western where the stranger would walk into a bar and the piano player would stop. They decided to return to the car and plan their next move. As they neared it they noticed a shadow hovering around the bonnet. The falling dusk made it difficult to see but they could all clearly make out the figure of a small boy. They rushed up to him and Fraser caught him by the arm.
‘What the hell are you doing?’ he yelled and the boy struggled to free himself. Fraser shook the boy. ‘What were you doing to the car? Tell me, tell me.’
The boy seemed scared and began to cry a little as Fraser shook the life out of him. ‘I was waiting,’ he stammered. ‘I was waiting for you to come back. I heard you were looking for Amichi.’
Lisa stepped in and pulled the boy from Fraser. ‘Leave him alone! Leave him alone, he was trying to help us,’ she said and set the boy on the ground.
‘Are you OK?’ she asked.
‘You want to control your dog,’ the boy said, and Lisa laughed.
‘What’s your name?’
‘Huen.’
‘Do you want ten dollars, Huen?’
The boy thought a moment. ‘You got to be kidding me, lady, the information I got for you is worth a hundred at least.’
Lisa struggled to control her laughter. She liked this little street kid, who was dirty and smelled but was wise for his age.
‘Well, I’ll be the judge of that, shall I? What information have you got?’
‘About Amichi. I heard you were looking for him.’
Fraser interrupted. ‘Him? You said him?’
Huen recoiled. ‘You want to give him a bone or something.’