Chapter 5

Roger hung up the phone and it started ringing as he began to walk away from the phone. He looked at the Caller ID but he didn't recognize the number. He had thought it might be Bart trying to find out where he was staying.

Roger picked up the phone, "Hello?"

The lawyer's shaky voice spoke, "Mr. Boring, this is Irvin Thalman. I'm down in the lobby and I was wondering if it's OK to come up. I know I'm a little early but..."

"Come on up," Roger said, cutting him off.

Roger listened to the elevator coming up the shaft. When the door opened an overweight man dressed in a suit that looked like it came from a low-end thrift shop walked into the room. His eyes kept looking at every door of the apartment as if he expected someone to burst through the door and open up with a machine gun.

"Mr. Boring?" the lawyer said in a quaking voice.

"I'm Roger Boring."

"Can we sit at the dining room table? It would make it easier to go over the papers."

"What papers? What was this about a house?" Roger almost shouted.

The lawyer looked like he was going to faint, "Please, Mr. Boring sit down and I'll go over all of it with you."

Roger walked over to the dining room table with the lawyer. After they sat down the lawyer spent several minutes sorting his papers out and arraigning them in neat piles. Several of the papers the lawyer picked up and read as if they might contain an error.

"This is the deed for the house and this is the tax bill; the taxes have been paid and the new tax bill won't come for another year."

"Whoa. Back up a minute. I can't afford a house."

The lawyer turned white, "No, Mr. Boring. This house was one of Ben Chu's properties. He is giving it to you. He had us transfer the deed yesterday in your name. We had your signature put on all of the paper work. Mr. Chu gave me a sample of your signature and ... well, everything is in your name now. The house is completely furnished and the landscaping is superb."

"I can't accept this," Roger snapped.

He could hear the lawyer gasping for breath and he saw that the man's face was a pasty white, "Mr. Boring ... I can't ... if Mr. Chu ... Mr. Chu said ... oh, my ... please Mr. Boring; Mr. Chu said that I was to take care of this for him."

The phone rang and Roger got up to answer it, "Hello?"

It was Ben Chu, "Roger. Has my lawyer gotten in touch with you?"

"He's here now. Ben, I can't let you buy me a house. You don't owe me anything, please..."

"Well, Roger. There is a story about that house. The man that owned it owed me a lot of money and since I had financed the house for him; I took it back. He has left the country and there is no way that I can undo the deed transfer. To do so would cause a lot of attention to be drawn to me and I think that we both know that that would be unwise. The house is yours now. The man that owned the house gave me his car too. I had the title transferred in your name. The title, registration and insurance papers are under the driver's seat. If I had kept the house it would have been a burden to me and might have called unwanted attention to me; so you are doing me a favor by taking it off my hands. I have friends that know how to do these things. There is no paper trail that anyone can trace to you."

Roger thought for a minute before he answered, "What you are saying is that if I refused the house it could cause you a lot of trouble."

"Exactly. It's a very nice house and I wish you much happiness in it. Now, this morning you can go and see your new house. The house key is under the passenger seat of the car. I would like you to have dinner with me tomorrow night at eight. I own the Jilin (a coastal province of China) Restaurant. We serve American as well as Chinese dishes. The food is exquisite. I'll see you then. The house is ready for you to move into if you'd like to move in today. I'll have my men bring your things to your house."

The phone went dead and Roger walked back to the lawyer. He listened as the lawyer went over all of the papers; papers that Roger had "already signed."

When the lawyer had gone over all of the papers he paused and took a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his face.

Roger wanted to see how far Ben Chu had the lawyer under his foot, "I don't think that I'll accept the house."

The lawyer went white and began to gasp for air, "No ... Mr. Chu ... you have ... I can't tell..."

Roger held up his hand, "OK, I'll take the house."

The lawyer slumped in his chair and Roger was afraid that he had gone too far. He was afraid that the lawyer was going to have a heart attack. After several minutes the lawyer recovered enough to gather all of the papers in a folder and hand them to Roger. He got up from the chair and murmured that he had to leave and pressed the button for the elevator. When the elevator came the lawyer jumped into the elevator and the door closed.

Chu had apparently made sure that it was OK for him to leave so Roger decided that he'd get out of the apartment and see his new house. He was sure that Chu would be pleased to have his apartment back. The lawyer's papers had given the address of the house as in Bodega Bay, just north of San Francisco. Roger knew that some of the homes in Bodega Bay were in the multi-million dollar range.

The elevator door opened and the Chinese tailor rushed into the apartment holding three suits. He made Roger try each of them on; speaking in rapid Chinese constantly. As soon as the tailor was satisfied that the suits were perfect he went to the elevator and started down to the lobby. Roger could hear him chattering all of the way down to the lobby of the hotel.

Roger looked around the apartment to see if there was anything that he would have to have and then pushed the button for the elevator. The elevator operator just looked straight ahead and didn't speak. In the lobby Roger walked to the front desk.

John Hung saw him and rushed over to the desk, "Is there anything that I can do for you, Mr. Boring?"

"Yes, I think that I'll go home. I was wondering if you could call a taxi for me. I have to get my car."

Hung smiled, "Mr. Chu had your car sent over last night. It's parked in our garage. I had one of my people fill the gas tank as Mr. Chu asked."

Roger put his hand in his pocket and felt that his car keys were still in his pocket. He was sure that he never wanted to get on Ben Chu's bad side.