Foul Lady Fortune

The story shifts to a mansion in Shanghai owned by the Hong family. It’s midnight, and middle son Orion is relaxing at home, musing on his family’s misfortune. His father, General Hong, has been accused of treason for accepting bribes from the Japanese. Although he has been cleared of these charges, they’ve disgraced the family. Hearing a noise upstairs, Orion goes to investigate. Although he masquerades as a playboy, Orion is a Nationalist agent. Up in his father’s office, he finds his estranged brother, Oliver, searching for something. The siblings trade bitter recriminations because Oliver has sided with the Communists. By the time the elder sibling leaves, Orion still hasn’t found what he was searching for.

Meanwhile, in one of the city’s dance halls, a drunken patron is about to leave as an unnamed assailant targets him. Outside, as the tipsy man staggers down the street, he’s attacked and given a lethal drug injection.

The following morning, Rosalind arrives in Shanghai and walks to her apartment. She lives in a building owned by the grandmotherly Lao Lao, who is also part of the Nationalist spy network. The old woman prepares breakfast for Rosalind and informs her that Dao Feng, her trainer and handler, wants to see her at five o’ clock. As Rosalind eats, she reads the newspaper. It reports that two people have been found poisoned by drug overdoses. Another story features the doomed romance between her dead cousin Juliette and a rival gang member named Roma. Both were killed in an explosion in 1927.

During that year, Rosalind was on the verge of death herself from scarlet fever. Her sister, Celia, took her to visit a scientist named Lourens Van Dijk, who was once a White Flower gang member. He injected her with chemicals that saved her life and rendered her nearly immortal. After her recovery, Rosalind was recruited as an assassin by the Nationalists. When she went searching for Lourens to find out what he did to her, he’d disappeared.

Rosalind goes to the Golden Phoenix restaurant to meet with Dao Feng. Much to her surprise, he’s waiting for her with Orion Hong. She instantly dislikes the lothario, who seems to be eyeing her as his next sexual conquest. Dao Feng briefs both agents on the recent poisonings. The number may be much larger than two, going back years. Dao Feng says that the victims were injected with lethal chemicals. Rosalind suspects that this may have some connection to her own experience.

The Nationalists don’t know who’s behind the poisonings, but their source can be traced to a Japanese newspaper called Seagreen Press. Dao Feng says, “Two positions have opened up—one interpreter assistant and one reception assistant—so we’re pulling some strings and sending you both in” (57). Rosalind and Orion are tasked with identifying the spy ring operating inside the press, which is orchestrating the poisonings to further destabilize Shanghai’s volatile political atmosphere. Dao Feng informs his agents that they’ll be assuming the identities of a married couple. Rosalind is less than thrilled at the prospect of working so closely with Orion.

Rosalind’s sister, Celia, works in a small photography shop far outside the city. She was born biologically male but identifies as female and has been living as one ever since. She’s also a Communist spy operating a spy cell in the photo shop. Her closest associate is Orion’s brother, Oliver. The two are in charge of training junior spies. The junior agents do little more than observe the enemy’s movements, but Oliver is often called away to handle more violent duties. One of the trainees tells Celia that Oliver will soon be the handler for Priest. This is the code name for the Communists’ deadliest assassin. While the two agents are having this conversation, they’re overheard by a shop patron who turns out to be a spy. Oliver executes him without hesitation.

That evening, Orion moves into Rosalind’s apartment for the sake of their married-couple cover story. His clutter and incessant talking annoy her. When he goes out for a meeting, she snoops through his possessions and finds a news clipping related to his father’s trial for treason. Orion went on record to declare his father’s innocence, while Oliver insisted that the general was guilty. Rosalind resolves to keep her guard up around her new partner.

Meanwhile, Orion is meeting with his best friend, Silas Wu. They’ve known each other since childhood when they attended an English boarding school. Silas is a double agent whose allegiance is with the Nationalists. He and Orion have arrived at a restaurant that Orion’s father frequent, but the elder Hong isn’t there. Instead, the two men encounter Orion’s 17-year-old sister, Phoebe, whom Silas has a crush on. Although she isn’t an agent, she passes messages for the Nationalists. Phoebe says she may have been followed. Outside, Orion sees a suspicious-looking man with a green tie. He chases him down: “The man’s mouth was set in a snarl, but his eyes were entirely blank. Like he had been disturbed while sleepwalking, and still he did not wake” (97). The man escapes, but Orion is disturbed by his odd behavior and worries about Phoebe.

Meanwhile, in another part of town, two old men are drinking and discussing politics in a bar. They bemoan their country’s uncertain future given that so many foreign interests are jockeying for control. Much later, one of the men leaves the bar and doesn’t realize he’s being followed until it’s too late. He has become the newest victim of the phantom poisoner.

The next morning, Rosalind and Orion go to the office to start spying on the Japanese newspaper operation. Orion is unaware that Rosalind is the assassin known as Fortune. He knows only her alias, Janie Mead. Rosalind dislikes the layers of subterfuge she must manage for this assignment. After meeting her coworkers, Rosalind encounters a Russian girl from her past: “Alisa Montagova, the last of the White Flowers. And from what Rosalind had heard from Celia—Alisa Montagova, a Communist spy” (110).

The girl goes by Liza now. During their initial conversation, Rosalind discovers from Liza that the Communists know nothing about the poison plot. They’ve infiltrated the newspaper for other reasons. Later that morning, Phoebe visits Rosalind and Orion. She purportedly arrives to see the newlyweds, but she brings a hidden message for Rosalind to meet with her handler during her lunch hour.

When Rosalind goes to see Dao Feng, she learns that the Communist operatives installed at the newspaper are trying to intercept a file that contains the real identity of Priest, the Communist assassin; apparently, the Japanese have paid a large sum of money for this information. Rosalind’s handler wants her to get to the file before the Communists can destroy it. She’s instructed not to let Orion in on this part of her assignment. Dao Feng reminds Rosalind that with Japan’s invasion of Manchuria, the country is at war. To protect Nationalist interests, he gives her carte blanche to do whatever’s necessary—including murdering anyone who gets in her way.