《Midnight in Peking》

On a frozen night in Peking, in January 1937, British teenager Pamela Werner was brutally murdered, her body dumped in one of the Chinese capital’s ancient alleyways. Her killer escaped justice, disappearing into the chaos of World War II and Japanese invasion—until now.

It was a murder that shocked Peking society, and became an instant tabloid sensation. The body of British teenager Pamela Werner was dumped in an alleyway beneath Fox Tower outside the capital’s Legation Quarter, her heart removed and her body mutilated. Fear and rumour spread through a close‐knit international community already made nervous by Japanese troops, poised to invade.

Pamela was an ordinary teenager—a Tientsin Grammar School pupil, she played netball and enjoyed ice‐skating with friends at the French Club. British and Chinese detectives followed a wide range of leads, first discounting theories of Triad mafia rituals, vengeful “fox spirits” of ancient lore and Blue Shirt anti‐Japanese assassination squads. Was it a botched hit by anti‐communist elements? Her body was, after all, discovered close to the home of communist sympathizer and Red Star over China author Edgar Snow, and the young girl bore a resemblance to his wife, Helen Foster Snow. As investigations proceeded, a darker society began to emerge from the shadows of the Peking Badlands, populated with colourful characters such as White Russian brothel manager Mme Leschinsky and Shura, a half‐Korean hermaphrodite and Japanese spy.

Suspicions quickly rested on three suspects. Pamela’s father, ETC Werner, was a former British diplomat with a reputation as a difficult and moody man, whose own wife’s death was considered suspicious. Tientsin Grammar School headmaster Mr Yeates was suspected of an improper relationship with Pamela, who boarded at his home; he was bundled quietly out of China in the days following her murder, never to return. And then, there was the shocking discovery that American dentist Dr Prentise was, by night, the leader of a sex club that procured young girls for western men.

With the invasion of Japanese troops, however an entire society disappeared for ever. Investigations were halted by World War II, and Pamela Werner’s murder has remained unsolved for more than 70 years. Pursuing the killer through exhaustive research that includes Scotland Yard archives and interviews with surviving relatives of Peking society, historian Paul French brings this tragic tale to a thrilling, unexpected and long overdue conclusion.

1937年1月，一位年轻英籍女士被谋杀，此事震惊了整个北平；随后警方就谋杀事件展开调查，但由于此后战乱不断，调查被迫中断。凶手也一直逍遥法外，直至最近，凶手才最终“浮出水面”。

在这宗离奇的谋杀案75年后，保罗•佛伦奇在《北平一夜》中最终揭秘，同时也淋漓尽致地展现了一个时代终结的生动画卷。

1937年，19岁的英国女孩帕米拉在天津上国际学校，爸爸是英国驻华外交官，花样年华，男友英俊，美好的人生就在眼前。

1937年一月的一个傍晚，帕米拉计划和朋友吃下午茶、溜冰，回家吃晚饭，但是她的家人再也没有看到她。

她是一个英国外交官的孩子，家住盔甲厂胡同，在北京站东街附近。傍晚时分，她从这个门出来，踏上了不归之路。

路上要途经船板胡同，当时外国妓女主要营生场所（相当于今天的三里屯）。不是八大胡同哟！八大胡同是中国人去的高级娱乐场所，相当于今天的天上人间。帕米拉途经后沟胡同的北京基督教会崇文门堂。冯玉祥曾经在此洗礼，并举办婚礼。这就是她最后的出现的地方——苏州胡同的法国俱乐部附近。

她和朋友喝了茶，滑了冰，可能还和中国的小伙吃了些晚饭。她的尸体第二天早上被发现在东便门角楼下的绿地上。一个早起遛鸟的老人报了警。她脸上、身上都是刀伤，肋骨外翻，心、肺都不见了，她的女性生殖器也被阉割了。尸体的惨象震惊了整个社会。

1937年的北平是一个错综复杂的社会，活跃着各类角色。中国人杀的？外国人杀的？情杀？仇杀？劫杀？反日？反共？错杀？

当时北平最好的侦探和英国派到中国的最好的侦探Dennis联手破案。1937年，破案的技术条件很低，不能判断血型，不能做DNA鉴定，连第一犯罪现场都没有找到。

虽然两国政府都说随便找个中国人顶罪吧！但是这两个侦探非常有良知，最后锁定的嫌疑犯都是外国人。两人也结成了终身好友。

嫌犯一：她的父亲：性格古怪的英国外交官，老婆死的不明不白。

嫌犯二：她的校长：她的语言学校的校长，被传和这个小姑娘有不正当关系。凶杀案后，他立即被遣送回国，而且被要求终身不得从事教育行业。

嫌犯三：美国牙医：公开身份是牙医，实际上运营着一个外国妓女俱乐部。后来因为心脏病突死在北京的街头。

还有一种说法呦！斯诺一家就住在帕米拉家旁边，斯诺正在写《红星照耀中国》，帕米拉和斯诺夫人打扮体型都很像。斯诺怀疑是中统本想暗杀斯诺夫人，但是找错对象了。

1937年的北平动荡不安，日本的入侵导致社会的分崩离析，这个凶杀案也就不了了之。三个嫌疑犯背负着世人的怀疑，却无力洗涮，最后相继去世。

70年后的今天，历史学家Paul French历经5年，采访了7位当时的见证者，找到150页当时的侦探笔记，结合历史资料，终于揭开了这个凶杀案的谜底。

这个凶手他住在东交民巷里，房子至今还矗立在小巷中，见证着这段被堙没的历史。

Paul French studied history, economics and Mandarin in London and has an M.Phil in economics from the University of Glasgow. He is now based in Shanghai as a business advisor and analyst. He is the author of four works of Asian History; Carl Crow: A Tough Old China Hand, North Korea: The Paranoid Peninsula, One Billion Shoppers: Accessing Asia’s Consuming Passions, and Through the Looking Glass: China’s Foreign Journalists from the Opium Wars to Mao.