Early morning.
Daylight was just beginning to drift its way across the sky. There was a cool light breeze.
My friend Aisha and I hurried along the Singapore River.
Around us, people were rushing about.
Many of them had urgent matters to attend to. Mostly related to making money.
But Aisha and I were headed for the pier, to welcome the circus to our sunny island.
This would be Harmston’s Circus. Originally from England, but now busy travelling around this part of the world.
I must admit that I was more than excited. I was delirious with joy.
I wanted to meet their hypnotist. As you know, from reading about my earlier adventures, I have a keen interest in this intriguing art.
Aisha, on the other hand, longed to help feed and groom the animal performers. She’s kind and compassionate like that. Even to dangerous insects and irritating people.
If you’ve been following my reports, you’ll remember how she’s always been a great help to me. I’m waiting for the right moment to tell her about the International Order of Young Seekers, and perhaps invite her to join us.
Soon Aisha and I reached the pier. We searched until we found a good spot, halfway up the stone steps next to Finlayson Green.
From where we sat, we could see all the way out to where the sea ended and the soft blue morning sky began.
Just below us, there was a small crowd waiting. Perhaps fifty people. They talked loudly and their faces were lit up in eager anticipation.
They were here to see the circus, too.
Aisha and I had brought our breakfasts with us. We ate as we watched the bumboats come in.
I had two red bean buns all to myself. Ma packed them for me the night before.
Aisha’s sister, on the other hand, had prepared a serving of spicy rice with some salted fish, wrapped up in a fresh banana leaf.
It smelt so yummy that as people walked past, they would stop just a moment to peer enviously at her food.
I gave Aisha a gentle nudge, to get her attention.
“Pa said last night that Harmston’s Circus has performed in many countries, even Australia,” I told her. “I’d like to join them and explore the world. Perhaps I could be an apprentice hypnotist. What do you think?”
Before Aisha could reply, there was a shout from further down the pier. And then people started to cheer.
“Look!” Aisha gasped.
She got up and pointed at a group of seven bumboats that were just reaching the pier.
There were carrying all sorts of animals, some in cages.
“I see lions!” Aisha said. “And that’s an elephant! He looks majestic. Oh, look at those creatures! Are they kangaroos?”
I squinted hard, looking at the particular bumboat that she was pointing to, but I couldn’t tell for sure. All I could make out was two brown shapes, perhaps just a bit shorter than me, shuffling inside a cage, mostly keeping to the shadows.
It went on like this for a while. People jostled to get a better look at the animals as they were led off the gangplanks, or wheeled across in their cages.
Aisha and I went down the steps to get a closer look.
It turned out to be quite a zoo. We saw a few bears, different species of monkeys, a pair of huge black cats, many frisky horses, and a friendly looking beast on four legs, all covered in wool, with a silhouette more like a horse than a sheep. I later discovered that this was a llama, and it came all the way from South America.
Aisha and I were so captivated that we didn’t sense the passing of time.
But there was a strange moment when the crowd around me parted to allow a circus assistant to pass through with his wheelbarrow.
There was a heavy crate on it, and as he went past me, I heard a muffled sound coming from inside, something heavy and metallic.
Clang, clang, clang.
I couldn’t help staring at the circus assistant. His features were strangely familiar.
And then it hit me.
The man looked an awful lot like William Fong.
The fraudster, deceiver, crook, rogue, sham, trickster, swindler, cheat.
Surely you remember this scoundrel from the first mystery I solved in Singapore.
He tried to cheat a rich old man by selling him a bird that supposedly could turn its owner into a Heavenly Immortal. What a cruel scam that was.
I was horrified.
I wanted to run off and inform Constable Flint, who was just further down the pier, wrestling with a young man in a long brown coat, probably a pickpocket.
But then the crowd moved. I lost sight of that circus assistant, and soon I started to wonder if I had been mistaken.