Secrets That Cannot be Taken to the Grave

Lee entered the cathedral and deliberately took a seat in the aisle towards the back of the building near the door. His plan had been to slip in and out of the cathedral before the funeral began and then shortly before it ended, so he could be present at the service, but also be able to avoid having to speak to anyone.

Lee had practiced law successfully for many years so he was an old hand at planning and strategizing his way through every situation he had to navigate in his high-pressured life. The plans, schemes and strategies that Lee devised usually worked, but sadly, his nimbleness of mind and fleetness on his feet sometimes failed, like today.

Shortly after he sat down, he felt a tap on his shoulder and he turned to be confronted by the imposing figure of Madam Zhou standing behind him in the aisle.

In an instant, Lee knew the “Dragon Lady” must have positioned herself in the semi darkness next to the huge wooden doors of the cathedral, waiting in ambush for her prey, namely himself. She must have anticipated his moves and had been waiting for him. Damn.

“Lawyer Lee so good of you to have come to my husband’s funeral”, said Madam Zhou in her soft and deceptively demure tone of voice, “there is so much I need to urgently talk to you about that I am so glad we ran into each other just now.”

“Madam Zhou how pleasant it is to see you…”, Lee started his social speak but then had to stop in short order as he realized that they were at a funeral, “my condolences for your loss…”

Zhou raised her thin and wizened hand to curtail in an instant further redundant communication from Lee.

“Lawyer Lee as my late husband’s lawyer for so many years you should not be seated here,” Zhou said whilst holding her hand out for Lee to take in the manner of an upper-class woman wanting a man to escort her from one location within a ballroom to another, “you should be seated out in the front pews with me and my family.”

“But Madam Zhou those pews should be where your family members…”

Lee started his tepid objection but stopped abruptly he caught sight of an almost imperceptible change in Zhou’s expression. If it is true that some ‘looks could kill’, the expressions that Zhou could produce were capable of a range of other effects, not final like death, but equally effective.

Lee then stood up and Zhou wound her hand and arm around his arm, much like a snake making its way around the trunk of a tree. The two of them then made their way up the aisle without further negotiations.

As the two of them walked towards the front of the church they passed the seated social elite of the city. The deceased had been one of the richest men in the country and for years had occupied the headspace and fantasies of lesser beings, which in this case meant just about everyone.

Lee’s late client, Hong Boa Wen had been an exceptionally wealthy and influential individual, and so, it was no wonder that to the rich and famous there was no other place to be that afternoon other than in the hushed confines of the catheral. It may have been for a funeral service, but it was one that many would have died for a chance to be seen or pictured mourning at.

It was therefore, perfectly understandable that as Madam Zhou and Lee walked pass the great and the good were seated on both sides of them in the cathedral. Everyone worth anything was there.

As they walked along, Lee could not help but notice that all eyes and ears were on them, straining to glean any little bit of their conversation as they passed by.

“Lawyer Lee, I understand that my husband let it be known that your firm, and in particular you are in sole possession of his last will and testament,” Zhou asked in a low voice, “is this true?”

“Yes, Madam Zhou, what you’ve heard is true,” Lee answered, “I have the one true copy of your husband’s will in my safe.”

“Then I want a copy of it delivered to me today.”

“Madam Zhou I’m afraid that’s not possible because your husband’s instructions to me had been that the contents of his will had to be kept confidential for at least one month after his death, so that I could carry out certain ‘steps’ on his behalf without any risk of influence or interference to what he wished should happen to his estate.”

From Lee’s peripheral view he could see Zhou turned to face him at this point, but his part, Lee chose to look straight ahead and avoid her penetrating gaze.

“Surely your instructions from my husband could not have included keeping the contents of his will from me?!”

“They did Madam Zhou,” Lee knew his deliberately short answer was not going to satisfy his interrogator even before he finished saying it, “your husband’s wish was that nobody other than myself were to know his plans for the disposal of his estate until I had time to finish putting into place certain…’safeguards’ to ensure his last wishes be complied with.”

“That will not do,” Zhou said with a tone of voice that precluded ambiguity or room for negotiation, “I have a business empire to manage right now and a one month pause before I can make financial plans or take operational decisions is simply unacceptable. I will take you to court to force you to disclose my husband’s will in days not weeks.”

“You could try of course,” Lee said with confidence in his voice, “but your husband’s wishes were clearly laid out in his various powers of attorneys to me, all of which have been lodged in the court already and are open for review by the public.”

“I know,” Zhou answered in a tone less belligerent than the one she used a second ago, “my lawyers have read those documents and have advised me about them already.”

“Then you will know also that the powers of attorneys were properly executed and witnessed, and so no legal challenge to them is possible.”

“Yes…my lawyers have told me that as well,” Zhou answered in a manner that implicitly acknowledged the cul-de-sac they both knew she was in.

By now the two of them had reached the front pews of the cathedral where close family members of the deceased were already seated. Lee noticed that a seat in the first pew had been reserved for Zhou but some family members were already moving along to make space for him. Clearly, Madam Zhou wanted him to sit next to her and her minions were taking steps for that to be able to happen without having to get instructions for this to happen. Lee mused that the waters also parted before Moses without having to be told to do so.

Zhou and Lee were stood facing each other just in front of the alter whilst Zhou tried one more time to persuade Lee that his instructions could be dispensed regardless of what her husband might have wanted. Zhou’s tone of voice was no longer the soft pitch and volume she had started the conversation with. Her frustration with Lee’s intransigence was beginning to show.

Lee stood facing Zhou and the right side of the church and the alter, where he caught the eyes of the priest anxiously waiting for Madam Zhou to finish talking so he could proceed with the service. However, the man of the cloth could see the chief mourner was not ready to begin, so he just stood by the alter hoping his cue to begin the service would come soon.

Zhou meanwhile stood facing Lee and looking towards the left side of the church, where behind the lawyer, a small side section of seating was located. This side section formed part of a side chapel to the main body of the church and was usually empty during a service because everyone sat in the pews of the main body of the building. However, whilst the two of them were speaking and behind Lee's back, two figures sat down in the seats of that empty part of the church.

Zhou was midway through telling Lee one more reason why her will should prevail when she suddenly stopped talking and stared over Lee’s shoulder at the people behind him.

It took a few seconds for Lee to catch on that Zhou had stopped vociferating and realized that her attention was no longer soley on him. He turned to see what transfixed her and saw that she was looking at a lone woman and little boy sitting on their own.

Lee immediately recognized who they were and despite his best efforts, he gave the woman a look of horror and made a gesture expressing the exasperation he felt at that moment.

He had told her again and again not to come to the service but here she was and with her son in tow.

‘Perfect’, Lee muttered to himself, ‘this is just bloody perfect.’

Zhou caught sight of Lee’s reaction and demanded, “you know these people? How dare they sit so far in the front of the church don’t they know this section is reserved for my family and only for my family?”

Before Lee could respond, Zhou strode past him and at an astonishing speed reached the seated figures.

“You! How dare you sit here don’t you know that only family members are allowed to sit.”

The woman answered simply, "I know."

Zhou then abruptly stopped midsentence and stared in horrified silence, not at the insolent woman but at the little boy she was with.

The woman being shouted at looked to be in her thirties, and the little boy she was with looked like he was about ten years old.

“How is this possible?” Zhou uttered in astonishment, “how…how can this be?”

Lee who arrived at Zhou’s side knew instantly that he was too late.

All his efforts to keep his client's secret until the necessary legal safeguards and property transfers he was working on just went out the window.

Lee’s mind was racing as to what legal moves he could still take given what had just happened, but right now he had to deal with the mess that was before him.

Zhou turned to face Lee and with a blast her hot breath in his face she pointed to the boy and asked, “how is this possible? How?”

Lee followed Zhou’s finger and understood Zhou’s unfinished question was without the need for any more words being said.

The boy’s eyes, ears, chin and face, together with the distintive shape his head were the exact replica of that of Madam Zhou’s late husband. The connection between the boy and the dead man was evident without the need for any tests or the need for analysis of any kind.

In fact, Lee had seen baby and childhood pictures of his client before, and in his opinion, those photographs alone would have been enough to convince a jury of the boy's paternity.

Lee looked over at Zhou and noticed that she must be feeling faint as she was currently leaning heavily on a nearby church pillar.

“How is this possible?” Zhou plaintively asked out loud to no one in particular, “for over forty years I took steps all the steps I could to stop the old fool from having affairs or flings like his rich pals. For all those years, I packed him off to his office in the morning and I made sure he returned straight back to me in the evening. How is this possible?”

Lee was about to say something but then Zhou started again.

“I made sure all his drivers and office staff were loyal only to me, and I gave them all strict instructions only to drive him only to the office in the morning and then back home again in the evening,”

Zhou paused but before Lee could speak she added, “I made sure he was never allowed to go anywhere after he left his office apart from home, and when he had to be somewhere for social reasons, I was with him…always! How can this have happened?”

For a moment, Zhou fell silent then Lee said in a small voice, “it is true that for over forty years you constructed the perfect cage but every lunch hour the cage door was left unattended…”

Zhou swayed upon hearing what Lee had to say before slumping onto an empty pew.

The entire cathedral was then left in silence before the priest asked timidly, “shall we begin?”

End