“Well, when money goes missing, it’s my job to find it. After I’ve found it I try to get it returned to its rightful owner.”
“And how do you do that?”
“Persuasion.”
“You make it sound so simple.”
“It sometimes is.”
Simon looked agitated and began to ask a question, but he was interrupted by a waiter carrying a huge platter. He placed it in the middle of the table while another waiter brought a bottle of soy sauce and a small plate of wasabi and ginger slices. “Lobster and geoduck sashimi,” Jessie said.
Ava looked at the thin, translucent white slices of lobster meat and felt her appetite soar. God, the Chinese know how to prepare seafood, she thought.
The five of them ate slowly, savouring every bit. The bottle of wine was emptied and replaced. Two more beers were brought to the table, the chilled bottles glistening. No sooner was the sashimi finished than the platter was replaced by a plate of grilled sliced squid with a touch of teriyaki sauce and a bowl of Manila clams drenched in black bean sauce.
Every so often a short, round bald man wearing an apron peeked out from behind the restaurant door. Simon’s father, Ava guessed. She gave him a vigorous thumbs-up. He beamed.
Next came a spiny Asian lobster, at least five pounds, steamed with garlic, ginger, and onions and cut into manageable portions; two blue crabs, deep-fried and served whole with a chili sauce; and bok choy drizzled with hoisin sauce. They were also served a plate of large whole prawns, the steam still rising from them, the garlic scent tickling Ava’s nose. Jessie and Amanda ate the tails, leaving Ava and the two men to suck the meat from the heads.
Ava was expecting a steamed fish to finish the meal, maybe a sea bream or grouper. Instead the little man came out of the restaurant with a platter holding the largest deep-fried pomfret she had ever seen. She had eaten the fish in Thailand but rarely in Hong Kong or China. It had to be close to four pounds, its skin a golden brown, the flesh on either side cut into cubes they could pluck with chopsticks.
“This is one of the finest seafood meals I’ve ever had,” Ava said to the man as he put the platter on their table.
He smiled at her, and then at Jessie and Simon.
“My father-in-law runs the best seafood restaurant in Sai Kung,” Jessie said. “This is nothing special — this is the way he always cooks. So make sure you come back, and make sure you tell your friends.”
“I will, I will,” Ava said, pleased by the way Jessie had praised him and promoted his business.
They all reached for the pomfret, but before Michael could take his piece his cellphone rang. He looked annoyed as he pulled it out of his shirt pocket, and then anxious when he looked at the incoming number. “Excuse me, I have to take this,” he said, standing and then moving off about twenty metres.
While the women ate, Simon focused his attention on Michael. Ava, watching the two of them out of the corner of her eye, saw Michael motion for Simon. Simon stood and left without saying a word.
Michael covered the mouthpiece of his phone as he talked to Simon, the smaller man nodding his head aggressively. Then Michael moved closer to the table and said, “Ava, can you come here for a minute?”
She thought the other women would find that to be a strange request, but they paid no heed when she walked over to join the men.
“It’s our friends in Macau,” Michael said. “They’re available tomorrow.”
“Where do they want to meet?”
“Macau.”
“Tell them to come to Hong Kong.”
“I tried. It’s a no-go.”
“Then tell them it has to be a neutral site, not their office or their lawyer’s office.”
“Okay.”
“Make sure you tell them I’m coming. No surprises,” she said.
The two partners exchanged glances, and Ava’s previous sense that Simon hadn’t been thrilled to see her was confirmed.
“I’ve already told them. They were reluctant, but I said that you’re our financial adviser and we need a fresh set of ears and some different approaches to handle this matter. We can’t just keep going around in circles,” Michael said, as much to Simon as to her.
Simon shrugged. Michael returned to the phone and told the caller they’d come to Macau, but only if the meeting place was neutral. She could hear