Read Chinatown Beat for Free Online Page B

Houses."
    Ten Catherine Slip was beyond the gymnasium, on the way to the East River. Long-haul trucks and black cars lay low under the ramp of the FDR. The main entrance to the building was along a deserted stretch of sidewalk, cracked and dropping down toward the river.
    They stepped into the stench of junkie vomit, passing graffiticovered walls. NWA, the rap group Niggers With Attitude, in big block marker. To the elevator. Niggaz 4eva.
    Apartment 16 was located in the crook of the long corridor. The uncle knocked. There was the sound of the peephole sliding open behind the two-way glass. A moment, then the uncle said, "It's me."
    The door opened into a small living room. A kitchenette, and bedrooms beyond. Plastic slipcovers on the couch and chairs. Aluminum foil on the wall above the oven and range. The smells of horn yee, salty fish and steamed rice.
    The father was fortyish but gray already and thinning. The mother was red-eyed; she kept her left hand over her mouth. Jack could almost hear the heaviness of her breath. The grandmother peeping out from one of the bedrooms. The girl was inside.
    " I'm loYu," Jack announced quietly, giving his surname, and family association by inference. He showed his badge to the father, looked to the uncle, then to the mother.
    " I understand your daughter may have been injured?"
    The mother gasped behind her hand. The uncle braced his sister.
    "For your daughter's sake," Jack half-pleaded, "she needs medical attention. Also, the physical evidence will help us catch this animal…"
    The father gave him a skeptical look. " The police have never been any help. They pick on us Chinese. I can get help my own way."
    Jack took a step closer and said, "Sir, your daughter may be pregnant. This is our first concern." The mother averted her eyes atJack's glance.
    "Please help us," continued Jack. "This beast is out there, running free. He may yet attack another Chinese girl. You can help us put an end to this."
    The father's mouth formed a sneer but he remained silent.
    "No one else will know. The victim's identity will be kept confidential."
    The victim. Victim. The word resonating in Jack's head. The mother began to cry, sobbing softly. Jack took a breath through his nose. The father was slowly relenting, realizing the limits of his options, Jack felt. He huddled with his wife, comforting her.
    The uncle led Jack to the near bedroom. The lights were dim, and the grandmother was stroking the girl's back, the two of them seated on the bottom bed of the double-decker. The little girl looked away, distant.
    Jack beckoned the grandmother to the hallway light and showed her the photographs from the perp file.
    "Was it any of these men?" he asked.
    She took maybe two minutes to view the seven photos.
    "None of these," she said. "He was lean, with short hair. Like you."
    "How tall?"
    "About your height. Shorter, but not by much." Five-foot-nine, Jack noted.
    "Eyeglassses?"
    "No."
    "Did you notice any scars? "
    "No."
    "A mustache?"
    "No. He looked like a regular young man."
    "Is there anything you remember clearly about him?"
    She paused for a moment, looking toward his feet. "He had on thick black shoes. They were dirty. Like he worked in a gung chong, a factory, or a chaan gwoon, a restaurant."
    As Jack jotted down the information, the girl appeared at the edge of the door, round sad eyes peering up at him. He smiled, taking the panda from his jacket.
    "Hi," he said softly to her, showing her his gold badge. "I'm a policeman, and I brought a friend for you." He gave her the panda. The girl accepted it, looking down at the floor. Jack knelt, his eyes at her level.
    "I'm going to punish the bad man who hurt you. But I'm going to need your help."
    The girl hugged the bear. Through the bedroom window, Jack could see the afternoon darkening, the overcast day running toward its end.
    "I'm going to take a walk with ah por-grandma. Sook-sookuncle-will stay with you. When I come back I'm going to ask you some