** Re-edited in November**
In a Chinese restaurant, Jie Ai meets up with Bob Tchaikovsky.
Jie Ai is the Chinese interpreter in Flushing that heard an old man, Mr. Lai, complaining about seeing an American ghost walking. Mr. Lai said, that person he saw was supposed to be dead. If that person was still alive, walking around, then that person must be some kind of a ghost. Jie Ai didn't report this "ghost story" to the police initially. But the old man, Mr. Lai, has repeatedly asked Jie Ai to must tell the police. Mr. Lai also said, there was a white man threatening him. He believed that white man was dangerous. So, Jie Ai decided that he should still report that to the police just in case.
Immediately after Jie Ai filed the police report, Bob asks to see Jie Ai.
Bob Tchaikovsky is the young guy working in the police records department. He sees all kinds of records, including that "ghost sighting" report, so he wants to talk to Jie Ai.
They got a complimentary pot of tea, and Jie Ai appears to be quite happy.
"What did you want to ask me?" Jie looks at Bob.
"So, can you describe to me what the old man, Mr. Lai saw exactly? What kind of undead man?"
"Mr. Lai tells me, he saw an American man that he thinks must have died long time ago is still alive. So, it must have been a ghost."
"What does this American man look like? The one that Mr. Lai thought was dead?"
"Mr. Lai said that American man was a young man, about in his early 20s, blond, tall, light eye color. Hair is short but comb to one side in an old fashioned way. Actually, now that I'm describing, he kind of looks like you, Bob. Hahaha."
Bob smiles, making a dismissive hand gesture. But Bob knows, Jie Ai isn't wrong. Bob does fit the description of "the living ghost" the Chinese old man saw.
Bob then says, "Oh, well, I'm sure there are many young American men who might look like me. So how does Mr. Lai know that young man was supposed to die already?"
"Mr. Lai said, he lived in Northeastern part of China for a long time before becoming an immigrant to the United States. He first saw the young American man when he was still in China. Mr. Lai was still very young, but he remembered, he saw one particular young man there, and that young man stopped a bio-weapon bacteria plant from being destroyed."
"Hmmm," Bob sips tea and sits back.
Jie Ai thinks Bob needs more background story, "So, after the World War II, the losing side always wanted to destroy their war crime evidence. And in Northeastern China, Japanese was trying to destroy a bio lab, to cover up their bio-war evidence. The lab was a Japanese Imperial Military special unit, called 'Unit 731.' The leader of Unit 731 was Dr. Shiro Ishii. He was creating diseases and he conducted bacteria experiment on people, alive. Like, actually growing bacteria on Chinese people and watch the bacteria eat them alive."
Jie Ai stops, trying to look up some information on his cellphone. He types in Unit 731 and then shows it to Bob, "I couldn't believe it at first. I actually looked it up. Look. It was real! You can just search Unit 731 and Shiro Ishii on the internet, you'll see."
Bob nods, "I have heard of it, don't worry."
Jie Ai looks impressed, "You have heard of it? But this part of history is not very well-known."
"It's not a big deal that I know this part of the history." Bob says, and his voice sounds very sad.
Jie Ai then asks, "So do you want me to tell you more?"
"Sure. I want to know what Mr. Lai knows."
"So the Imperial Unit 731 tried to destroy the evidence by dumping all the bacteria and viruses into the river. But Mr. Lai told me that a young American man suddenly appeared out of nowhere. That young American man looked like he was covered in dirt. One Japanese soldier shouted out 'American Red Devil!' I guess that's what the young man's nickname. So that young American man started to fire gun shots at the Imperial Army soldiers who were about to destroy the bio weapon evidence. And all those soldiers were shot to dead by that American man."
"Um. Two things. First, that young American man's face was very dirty. How did Mr. Lai recognize him and knew him to be American? Second, the Imperial soldiers did not die. They were only shot at their foot." Bob speaks as if he was there and he saw what happened.
"Oh. I guess, how did you know all the details?"
"I just know the young man was only trying to stop the soldiers from destroying the evidence and contaminating the river. So, how did Mr. Lai know who that American was?"
"OK. I actually asked Mr. Lai the same thing. Mr. Lai said, he recognized that young man's uniform, despite being dirty. It was American uniform. Mr. Lai then used a common Chines idiom-- even if that American man becomes ashes and dust, Mr. Lai could still recognize him. Anyway, Mr. Lai said, the hair, the eyes, and the way he walked.... were all the same. He was sure of it."
Bob looks very solemn.
Jie Ai chuckles, "That man left a strong impression on Mr. Lai, especially because that man did something that changed Mr. Lai's life. Mr. Lai said that young American man stopped the Imperial Army Unit 731. Therefore, saving many Chinese people who were being experimented on."
Bob seems to already know all of this. "But sadly, later on, the Unit 731 was never held responsible. The victims were forgotten. The U.S. government secretly bought the Unit 731 experiment files from Japan. And war criminals, such as Dr. Shiro Ishii, were never punished or prosecuted." Bob sounds angry now. He waves away his emotions, and then asks:
"Anyway, how did Mr. Lai see the young American soldier die?"
"Mr. Lai said he saw the young American jumping off a cliff after he rescued the people out of Unit 731."
Bob takes a quick sip of tea and sets the small Chinese ceramic tea cup down, "I see. Yeah, the young American had to jump because he had to let the Japanese and the Chinese know that he's gone and no need to try to find him. He didn't want anyone to question why he knew about Unit 731."
"OK. You seem to know that, then."
"Yes. I know that young man did jump off a cliff. So when and where did Mr. Lai see young man again in New York?"
"I don't know when. I just know probably somewhere near Chinatown."
"Ah," Bob nods, seemingly knows about that, too. "I see. Chinatown is also very close to where the City Hall and where the New York City courthouse is. I was there the other day, that's probably why."
Bob is now mumbling, implying he was also there when Mr. Lai saw "the ghost" come back to life. Jie Ai doesn't understand what Bob is saying.
"And who was threatening Mr. Lai, trying to learn more what he saw?" Bob asks.
"A guy who is very muscular with short military crew cut hair."
"Did that guy say his name was Keith Hutchins?"
"Hmm, Mr. Lai's pronunciation is off, but yeah, I think it was a guy with military crew cut hair named Keith, and Keith asked Mr. Lai to tell him more about the ghost."
"OK. That is weird. You must tell Mr. Lai not to talk to Keith again. I can try to keep an eye on any reports about Keith."
"That will be great. Thanks."
They leave the Chinese restaurant soon after.
Jie Ai mumbles to himself: Why does Bob know so much about Chinese history?
That is because, Bob was that "Red Devil." Bob was the young man that went over to where Unit 731 was and shot those Japanese soldiers.
Bob's real name is Robert B. Smith. Bob has to hide his name, because he cannot let anyone know he is still alive.
Robert/Bob would like to clarify, he didn't shoot any soldiers to death.
OK. Robert/Bob did lace the bullets with the bacteria that Japanese were creating inside their lab. But Robert thought it was only fair that the soldiers tasted their own medicine. And use their own antidote. After all, that was their experiment, wasn't it?
=== ~*~ == Author's note == = ~*~==
Unit 731 and its experiments are real. You can search them online. Anyone helping and conducting those experiments were never prosecuted.
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