The Diamond Queen of Singapore Page 2
“The best of the Ava Lee series to date . . . Princeling features several chapters of pure, unadulterated financial sleuthing, which both gave me some nerdy feels and tickled my puzzle-loving mind.” — Literary Treats
“The Princeling of Nanjing was another addition to the Ava Lee series that did not disappoint.” — Words of Mystery
Praise for The Couturier of Milan
Canadian Bestseller
“The latest in the excellent series starring Ava Lee, businesswoman extraordinaire, The Couturier of Milan is another winner for Ian Hamilton . . . The novel is a hoot. At a point where most crime series start to run out of steam, Ava Lee just keeps rolling on.” — Globe and Mail
“In Ava Lee, Ian Hamilton has created a crime fighter who breaks the mould with every new book (and, frankly, with every new chapter).” — CBC Books
“The pleasure in following Ava’s clever plans for countering the bad guys remains as ever a persuasive attraction.” — Toronto Star
“Fashionably fierce forensics . . . But Hamilton has built around Ava Lee an award-winning series that absorbs intriguing aspects of both Asian and Canadian cultures.” — London Free Press
PRAISE FOR THE IMAM OF TAWI-TAWI
“The best of the series so far.” — Globe and Mail
“One of his best . . . Tightly plotted and quick-moving, this is a spare yet terrifically suspenseful novel.” — Publishers Weekly
“Combines lots of action with Ava’s acute intelligence and ability to solve even the most complex problems.” — Literary Hub
“Fast-paced, smoothly written, and fun.” — London Free Press
“An engrossing novel.” — Reviewing the Evidence
“Hamilton’s rapid-fire storytelling moves the tale along at breakneck speed, as Ava globe-trots to put clues together. Hamilton has always had a knack for combing Fleming-style descriptors with modern storytelling devices and character beats, and this book is no different.” — The Mind Reels
“An engaging and compelling mystery.” — Literary Treats
Praise for The Goddess of Yantai
national BESTSELLER
“Ava at her most intimate and vulnerable.” — Toronto Star
“This time, [Ava’s] crusade is personal, and so is her outrage.” — London Free Press
“In The Goddess of Yantai . . . Ava’s personal and professional lives collide in a manner that shakes the usually unflappable character.” — Quill & Quire
“Told in his typical punchy and forthright style, Hamilton’s latest thriller is a rapid-fire read that leaves the reader breathless and eagerly anticipating the next installment . . . This is a series of books that just seems to get better and better.”— The Mind Reels
“I wanted to just rip through this book . . . If you love great writing, an intense pace, and a bit of a thrill, then [the Ava Lee novels] are perfect for you.”— Reading on the Run
“Action packed and thrilling.”— Words of Mystery
Praise for THE MOUNTAIN MASTER OF SHA TIN
“Whether it’s the triad plot lines or the elegant detective skills of Lee, Ian Hamilton has managed to maintain a freshness to his stories. The Mountain Master of Sha Tin is as slick and smart as The Water Rat of Wanchai, the first Ava Lee novel . . . This is one of Canada’s best series by one of our best writers.”— Globe and Mail
“Propulsive.”— London Free Press
“Hamilton’s punchy, fast-paced style has woven a tapestry in over a dozen novels that have introduced us to a variety of characters . . . This novel, like the previous tales, rockets along.”— The Mind Reels
“Hamilton provides a fascinating peek into a disturbingly glamorous world.”— Publishers Weekly
“Another action-packed entry in a solid series.”— Booklist
THE DIAMOND
QUEEN
OF
SINGAPORE
The Ava Lee Series
The Dragon Head of Hong Kong: The Ava Lee Prequel (e-book)
The Water Rat of Wanchai
The Disciple of Las Vegas
The Wild Beasts of Wuhan
The Red Pole of Macau
The Scottish Banker of Surabaya
The Two Sisters of Borneo
The King of Shanghai
The Princeling of Nanjing
The Couturier of Milan
The Imam of Tawi-Tawi
The Goddess of Yantai
The Mountain Master of Sha Tin
The Lost Decades of Uncle Chow Tung
Fate
Foresight
THE DIAMOND
QUEEN
OF
SINGAPORE
An Ava Lee Novel
The Triad Years
Ian Hamilton
Copyright © 2020 Ian Hamilton
Published in Canada in 2020 and the USA in 2020 by House of Anansi Press Inc.
www.houseofanansi.com
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Title: The diamond queen of Singapore / Ian Hamilton.
Names: Hamilton, Ian, 1946– author.
Series: Hamilton, Ian, 1946– Ava Lee series.
Description: Series statement: An Ava Lee novel: the Triad years
Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 2019019118X | Canadiana (ebook) 20190191228 | ISBN 9781487002060 (softcover) | ISBN 9781487002077 (EPUB) | ISBN 9781487002084 (Kindle)
Classification: LCC PS8615.A4423 D52 2020 | DDC C813/.6—dc23
Book design: Alysia Shewchuk
We acknowledge for their financial support of our publishing program the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Government of Canada.
This book is dedicated to Sarah MacLachlan,
my publisher. She took a chance on me, and
sixteen books later, I hope I’ve justified it.
(1)
Ava Lee was nervous, which wasn’t a usual state for her. She was in her car, an Audi A6, driving up the Don Valley Parkway in the centre of Toronto towards the northern suburb of Richmond Hill, where her mother lived. Normally, visiting her mother, Jennie Lee, wouldn’t be a cause for concern, but sitting next to Ava was Pang Fai, arguably China’s finest film actress, and Ava’s lover. Fai was going to meet Jennie for the first time, and that was the cause of some of Ava’s anxiety. The remainder was because Jennie had invited a group of friends to meet Fai, and Ava had no idea how they would behave.
Ava and Fai had been lovers for almost a year. It was a monogamous relationship, despite the fact they had to struggle to find time together. Their work commitments had been one impediment; another was that Fai’s home was in Beijing and Ava’s in Toronto. But now Fai had no film work scheduled and Ava had no business issues that required her physical presence. They had spent the previous month together, virtually inseparable, in Beijing, Shanghai, and Fai’s home city of Yantai.
The trip to Yantai had been especially memorable. Fai’s sexuality was something she’d kept secret, certain it would ruin her career if it became public. Until she’d met Ava, her sex life had consisted of clandestine one-night stands. That secrecy had extended to her immediate family, until Fai and Ava went to Yantai. Before they arrived, Fai had dropped some hints to her mother about the nature of their relationship, but her mother obviously hadn’t picked up on them; she spent their first hour together trying to establish separate sleeping arrangements for Fai and Ava. Finally Fai had said, “Mum, Ava and I are going to sleep together. We’re in love. I know you would have preferred me to bring home a man, but that’s not how it is, and that’s not how it’s going to be.”
/> It had been awkward for a few days, but eventually everyone began to relax. At one point Fai’s father had said to her, “I never liked your taste in men. None of them were worthy of you, especially that Lau Lau. It’s nice to see you so happy with someone.” That caused Ava and Fai to exchange amused glances. Lau Lau and Fai’s marriage had been one of convenience rather than love. He had been one of China’s finest film directors until liquor, drugs, and the pressure of concealing his homosexuality destroyed his career. Ava, a huge fan of his work, had met Lau Lau while she was in Beijing to see Fai, decided to pay for him to go into rehab, and, over Fai’s objections, financed him to write a script. Fai thought nothing good would come of it. Ava agreed that was possible but was willing to take the chance.
After Yantai, Ava and Fai went back to Beijing for a few days and then decided to go to Toronto so Fai could meet Ava’s family and friends. Ava’s sexuality wasn’t a secret to her closest friends and immediate family, but it wasn’t something she saw any need to discuss. Her mother knew Ava was gay, loved her daughter, and was accepting of whatever Ava wanted to do, but that didn’t mean she wanted to know the details of her sex life. That suited Ava; she and her mother had co-existed happily without ever talking about it.
Ava and Fai had quietly arrived in Toronto the week before and had spent the days since getting adjusted to the time change. Ava had a condo apartment in Yorkville, a trendy district in the heart of the city, within walking distance of a myriad of high-end shops, first-class restaurants, various museums, and Queen’s Park, the seat of the provincial government. If she wanted to take Fai further afield, the subway line was almost at Ava’s front door and sights like Niagara Falls were just a few hours’ drive away. But the trip to Richmond Hill was the first time they had gotten into a car.
On her second day in Toronto, Ava had contacted her mother to tell her they’d arrived. Ava had told Jennie weeks before that Fai was a special friend and they were coming to Toronto together. Jennie’s first reaction was to want to organize a party for them. Her mother was a knowledgeable fan of Chinese films and an admirer of Fai’s work, so her wanting to meet the actress was expected, but Ava thought a party was too much. “How about you just invite a few of your female friends and perhaps some of my friends, such as Mimi, for a few drinks and appetizers?” she had responded.
“What if some of the husbands want to come?” Jennie asked. “Fai is just as popular with them.”
“No men,” Ava said fiercely. “Now, when do you want to do this?”
“Friday afternoon would work. Some of my friends from Niagara-on-the-Lake are coming into town Thursday for our regular mah-jong game. They can stay over,” Jennie said.
“Not too many people, please.”
“Just the mah-jong girls and a few others who are film fans,” Jennie said. “I’ll tell them to be here at two o’clock. That way you’ll miss the worst of the Don Valley traffic.”
“I can’t believe how green everything is,” Fai said, interrupting Ava’s train of thought.
Ava smiled. Their drive took them through the Don Valley, a long strip of inner-city wilderness, but Fai had voiced the same sentiment several times during their walks through the city, because even the urban areas were interlaced with parks and trees. She had also marvelled at the city’s air quality and the bright blue sky, which wasn’t a surprising reaction from someone who lived in Beijing. There the smog-laden sky was usually greyish black, and the air on many days was so foul that residents wore masks over their noses and mouths. “When you live here, you rather take it for granted,” Ava said.
They approached Highway 7, the southern boundary of Richmond Hill. Ava exited the Parkway and drove west, past a nearly continuous line of malls occupied by stores and restaurants all signed in Chinese. Ava saw they’d caught Fai’s interest and said, “There are more than half a million Chinese living in and around Toronto. This is one of the most popular neighbourhoods for them.”
“And this is where you were raised?”
“Yes, but I went to school in the city, at Havergal College, which is not that far from my condo,” Ava said. “You’ll meet my Canadian best friend, Mimi, today. We met at Havergal, so you can grill her about what I was like as a teenager.”
“When you say ‘best friend,’ do you mean she was a girlfriend — a gay girlfriend?”
“Not at all,” Ava said. “She’s straight. In fact she married my friend Derek Liang. I wasn’t crazy about the idea at the time, but it’s worked out very well. I’m godmother to their daughter.”
Ava turned right onto Leslie Street and started north. After three kilometres the landscape began to change from office and retail buildings to houses. After Ava turned left onto 16th Avenue and then took the next right, they were in a completely residential community, two-storey brick homes of only slightly varying design. When Ava’s father, Marcus, bought the house for Jennie, it had just been built; the driveway had been gravel and the front yard a sea of mud. Ava had never liked the sameness of the neighbourhood, but her mother loved the house, the front yard that she kept neatly trimmed, and the backyard where she maintained a herb garden. The house was now worth more than a million dollars and was her mother’s biggest asset.
“The houses are so large,” Fai said. In Beijing Fai lived in a tiny row house that shared a courtyard with about ten others, in a compound located in a hutong that was several hundred years old. Her entire living space was no more than a hundred square metres, and her parents’ home in Yantai was only marginally bigger.
“They are larger than most people need. It was the style then — the land was cheap.”
Ava turned onto her mother’s street. Jennie’s house was third on the left, and the first thing Ava noticed was how many cars were parked on the driveway and along the street. Hoping they didn’t all belong to people her mother had invited, she had a sinking feeling that they did.
She found a parking spot three houses down from her mother’s. She and Fai stepped out of the car into the bright sunshine of an early summer day, the heat moderated by a slight breeze. Wearing black linen slacks and a long-sleeved coral Brooks Brothers button-down shirt, Ava was dressed more formally than usual for a visit to her mother’s, but she knew that on this occasion Jennie would have been disappointed by anything less. Fai wore a loose-fitting light-blue sleeveless cotton dress that came to just above her knees. Even dressed so plainly — flat shoes, no makeup, and her hair hanging loosely around her face — Ava thought she looked incredible, and said so.
“I was trying for a low-key professional look,” Fai said.
“You’re a movie star. No one expects you to look professional,” Ava said, and then caught herself. “That didn’t come out the way I intended.”
Fai laughed. “Is your mother as direct as you?”
“With me and my sister, Marian, but usually not with anyone else,” Ava said as they reached the house and started walking up the driveway.
The front door opened before they reached it and Jennie Lee stepped into view. Ava guessed her mother had been on the lookout for them.
“Welcome, girls,” Jennie said, her voice filled with excitement.
Ava knew her mother was sixty or maybe a bit older, but Jennie was evasive when it came to the exact number. At five feet four inches she was an inch taller than Ava, and just as slim and fine-boned. She parted her hair — still jet black from expert colouring — in the middle and wore it stylishly curved to mid-ear. She spent several thousands of dollars a year on face creams; although Ava wasn’t convinced that the creams were the reason for her mother’s still unlined, wrinkle-free skin, Jennie was convinced they were.
“Hi, Mummy,” Ava said.
Jennie came down the front steps and walked towards them. Normally she and Ava hugged when they met, but this time Jennie’s attention was fixed on Fai. She held out her right hand, palm down, inviting Fai to take it. “It�
��s such an honour to have you here. And, my goodness, you are even more beautiful in person than on the screen. How is it possible?”
“And now I can see where Ava gets her looks,” Fai said. “Are you sure you’re her mother and not her sister?”
Unlike Ava, Jennie was never bashful about accepting compliments. “Thank you. I actually hear that quite often,” she said. “Let’s go inside — everyone is so eager to meet you.”
Ava was hoping her mother had restricted the guest list to her mah-jong and casino-trip friends, but when they entered the house, they found themselves facing several clusters of women, maybe twenty in total, all of them Chinese.
“Most of you know my daughter Ava. And this, of course, is her friend Pang Fai.”
“I think I’m going to faint,” one of the women said, which generated a wave of nervous laughter.
“Ava, when your mother said you were bringing Pang Fai to visit, I didn’t really believe her,” said a woman whom Ava recognized as one of Jennie’s long-time mah-jong partners.
“Why didn’t you believe me?”
“Because it was too fantastic to be true,” the woman said. “I apologize, Jennie.”
“How are you enjoying Canada?” another woman asked Fai.
“Well, I’ve only been here a few days, but so far I really like it. Everything is so clean here — especially the air.”
Someone else started to say something, but Jennie cut her off. “Ladies, that’s enough questions for now. Let me get Ava and Fai a drink and maybe something to eat. They’re not rushing off, so you’ll have plenty of time to talk to them.”
“Ava!” a voice said from the entrance to the kitchen.