Chapter 4: The Birth of One and The Loss of Another
Two days later, Charlie Chan had just went inside of another abandoned building on a different side of town. The room he entered was as dark as it was large, but the detective was anything but frightened of the eerie surroundings.
"Vito?" Charlie called. "Tony Vito? I know you're in here."
All of a sudden, lights were turned on and the ingenious detective was surrounded by a large group of thugs with chains and bats. Among the hoodlums was a long-haired man in a trench coat, wearing glasses. He approached Charlie while smoking a cigar.
"Very clever, Chan," the man complimented. "I must say I'm surprised to see you here. My sources told me you were heading for my other condemned building in Albany."
"I'm in no mood for your pointless taunting, Vito," the angered Charlie demanded. "Return my wife to me this instant."
The evil drug dealer snapped his finger, signaling his boys. Two of his men dragged in Chunhua, without her coat, by her arms. Charlie was horrified. His poor wife had been badly bruised and beaten to near death.
After she was thrown to the floor, Charlie rushed to his weakened soul mate. "What have you done to her?" he furiously asked.
"Well," Tony Vito smirked, "I intentionally meant for her to be bait to capture both you and her, but then I had a change of heart and decided to make her my new bride instead. Sadly, she didn't like my idea too well, and so I decided she needed to be punished. But don't fret, Chan. I'm a generous soul, so I'll slip you both in a nice pair of cement shoes and let you go free…in the Hudson River."
"You're too kind," Charlie sarcastically replied. "But I'm afraid I'll have to turn down your offer."
At that very moment, an army of policemen burst in and pointed their guns at Vito and his gang, forcing them to surrender.
Within several minutes, all of the drug dealers were arrested and being loaded inside of the police vans while the unconscious Chunhua Chan was being placed inside of an ambulance truck and taken away.
A police sergeant came up to the saddened Chan. "Mr. Chan," he apologized, "I can't tell you how truly sorry I am about your wife. I just don't know what to say."
"But I do, Sergeant Barnwell." Charlie calmly faced the sergeant and ordered, "Officers, arrest him!"
In an instant, two officers grabbed the sergeant. "Chan," Barnwell panicked, "what's the meaning of this?"
"It is obvious, Barnwell," the intelligent detective explained. "Every time we have attempted to apprehend Vito at his hideouts, he has always eluded us. After examining the building on Cornell Street, I could tell that Vito and his men evacuated at least an hour before we arrived. It was obvious someone was tipping him off, meaning there was a leak in the police department. And I talked to several policemen after Chunhua disappeared. Only two officers knew my wife and I were investigating Vito's condemned Cornell building, you and the police lieutenant. Also, I purposely informed you I was heading towards the old building in the capital city, Albany, so Tony would remove his illegal merchandise there and bring them here, where I knew he was currently hiding out."
The police lieutenant walked up to Chan carrying a box. "And here's the merchandise here. Heroin, cocaine, cannabis, and every other drug you can think of."
"But that doesn't prove I'm involved!" Sergeant Barnwell denied.
To prove otherwise, Charlie Chan pulled out a half-burnt sheet of paper. "I'm afraid this does, Sergeant," Charlie denounced. "Fortunately for me, Vito's men didn't succeed in completely burning all of their paperwork in the Cornell warehouse. On this paper is a list of the drugs Tony was selling and the men who were selling them. Among this list is the name Barnwell. Ralph Barnwell."
With that, the treacherous officer was taken away as Charlie walked towards his car to leave.
He entered his vehicle and as he drove off, he prayed, "Please, be okay, my dear Chunhua."
Over three hours later, Charlie Chan sat in the waiting room of a building known as the Rose Hospital. With him were his nine children, all of whom were terribly worried for their injured mother.
Suddenly, a nurse came from an operating room carrying something wrapped in her arms. "Mr. Chan?" she called. "Mr. Charlie Chan? May I have a word with you?"
Charlie, whom was holding his one-year-old daughter in his arms, stood up from his seat. "Certainly. Suzie, hold Mimi, please."
"Sure, Pop," Suzie said as she took her baby sister.
Charlie walked towards the nurse and the kind-hearted woman handed to him a wrapped-up newborn baby.
"Congratulations, Mr. Chan," she smiled. "I am happy to say your wife, despite her condition, was able to give birth to a beautiful baby boy. She named him Scooter. Scooter Chan."
Charlie awed his new son, but despite this wonderful news, something else quickly concerned him. "And how is my wife?" he asked. "Will she be all right?"
The nurse's smile quickly turned into a frown. "Mr. Chan, I'm sorry," she lamented, "but there's something I must inform you."