Mine Eyes Dazzle

Chapter III: The Incident of the Accident

It is a great thing to know when not to say things. -- E. Nesbit, The Wouldbegoods

19th February 1905

The train from Shanghai to Jiujiang took six hours. It was the most boring six hours of Yo-han's life. He'd never been able to read on trains, so studying a Cantonese–Mandarin dictionary was useless. Sergeant Zhu He and Lee Siu settled down to a game of go that took them most of the journey. Yo-han tried to sleep.

After Lee won the game, they discussed the mysterious estranged branch of the Jiang family.

"Their surname is Jiang like river," Lee said after winning the game, "so here they'll be the Gong family[1]."

"Not necessarily when Jiang Yun Jin is from Shanghai," Zhu said. "He might still pronounce his name Jiang. Or Chiang."

"He might, but the neighbours won't. We'd better write down his name."

Zhu obliged and wrote 江雲金 in his notebook. "The best place to start will be the police station."

~~~~

The constable stared at them as if they were all insane. "Jiang Yun Jin? Are you sure you've got the right name?"

With some difficulty Lee managed to convince him. Five minutes later they were on their way to the address he'd given them.

When they arrived they understood the constable's confusion.

"This is a church," Zhu observed, sounding as if he had solved a problem that had baffled the greatest detectives in China.

It was undeniably a church. The noticeboard reading "Jiujiang Christian Church" and listing the times of the morning and evening sermons made that very clear.

"Is there another street called—" Yo-han began.

Lee cut him off with an excited cry. He jabbed his finger at a line near the bottom of the noticeboard. Zhu and Yo-han leant down to read it.

In English and Chinese it read, "Pastor: John Chiang (江雲金)".

The three of them looked at each other. One strand of the mystery was solved: why Jiang Yun Jin was estranged from his family.

Yo-han spoke first. "Our theory is wrong. Jiang Qiu Heng can't be hiding here."

From all accounts young Mr. Jiang was fond of alcohol, gambling, and women. Yo-han couldn't think of anyone less likely to turn to religion.

~~~~

Pastor Jiang confirmed it. The three of them met him in his house beside the church. He and his wife, an English or Scottish woman, gave them tea in his study.

"This boy has gone missing?" Mrs. Jiang asked, horrified.

Lee explained, "Yes, but he ran away himself. We don't think there was foul play involved. We just can't find him."

"I know I have a nephew, of course, but I've never met him," Pastor Jiang said. "My brother has forgotten I exist."

Yo-han remembered what the youngest Jiang boy had said. "Jiang Qiu Heng didn't write to you?"

Getting an answer took a while. Pastor Jiang said he didn't think so, but checked with Mrs. Jiang. She went through the letters that he had piled on his desk and confirmed there were none from his family. Just to make sure, they consulted their daughter in case the letter had been sent to her. The final answer was definitely no.