The same Chinese woman as before opened the door to the Sinza Refuge. ‘Thank God you’re here. I was just about to telephone the police.’
She was obviously flustered, nervously pushing a lock of stray hair behind her ear. In the background, Danilov could hear a hubbub of female voices, all talking at the same time.
‘Calm yourself, madam. Can we come in?’
The woman opened the door wide. The narrow entrance to the refuge was crammed with women. As the detectives entered, the noise subsided to silence.
‘What’s going on? What happened?’ asked Strachan.
A multitude of voices answered him in English, Shanghainese, Cantonese, Mandarin and a host of other dialects.
Danilov held his hands up and the noise slowly subsided once more. His voice softened. ‘I didn’t catch your name, Mrs…?’
‘Miss Wong.’
‘Take your time and tell me slowly, Miss Wong, what has happened?’
The old Chinese woman took a deep breath. ‘There’s been a robbery.’
‘Where?’
‘In the refuge, tonight. It’s the first time anything like this has ever happened. We’ve never had any trouble since 1910, and now this. What are we to do?’
The chatter of voices rose again. Danilov was tempted to ask what had happened in 1910, but he saved his curiosity. ‘A robbery here. When did it happen?’
Miss Wong took another deep breath. ‘We don’t know. I was taking Mr Johnstone his evening tray. He likes a chicken sandwich around seven o’clock. Good for the digestion with his whisky, he says. I don’t drink myself, of course, it’s not a habit I…’
‘Yes, Miss Wong, you were taking Mr Johnstone his evening snack?’
She stopped and gathered herself again. ‘I walked into his room and the safe was wide open. I dropped the tray on the floor; I hope Mr Johnstone doesn’t mind – it did stain his carpet. I tried to clean it but…’
‘The safe was open, you say?’
‘Yes, I looked inside and it was empty. All the money was gone.’
‘Money? Gone?’ Strachan repeated the two words.
‘All of it. We’d just received our collections from the missions up country and I’d placed everything in the safe before going to the bank tomorrow.’
‘How much was missing?’
‘All of it.’
‘How much is all of it, Miss Wong?’
‘Two thousand three hundred and twenty-one dollars and thirty cents, Inspector.’
Strachan whistled. ‘You collect so much money?’
‘The inland missions are very generous in their support for our work. They understand the importance of rescuing these women from the depredations of the streets.’ Miss Wong pointed to the crowd of women standing in the corridor.
‘I’m sure your work is very valuable, Miss Wong. I have just one question. Where is Mr Johnstone?’
‘That’s the strangest thing, Inspector. He never misses his evening snack, says it’s the best part of the day after breakfast.’
‘And?’
‘I can’t find Mr Johnstone anywhere. Has he been kidnapped?’
‘Strachan, put out an APB for Reginald Johnstone and alert the port authorities. Also get on to the local station and ask them to come down here. It should be their case. Make sure they bring the fingerprint team; we need to dust the safe.’
‘I hope nothing has happened to Mr Johnstone, Inspector. Do you think he’s been taken by the robbers?’
‘I don’t think so, Miss Wong. I rather think he is the robber.’
‘Oh, that can’t be right, Inspector. Mr Johnstone is such a nice man.’