Richard Henry Lee was an American San Francisco Police Department officer and member of Sergeant Bill O'Hara's Chinatown Squad during the 1870s.
Biography[]
Lee talking with O'Hara about the "Swordsman" investigation
Richard Henry Lee was born in Savannah, Georgia, and his family fought for the Confederacy during the American Civil War; his two older brothers were killed at the Battle of Gettysburg. However, Lee sheltered a family of freed slaves at his farm after the war, becoming close with their daughter Nora. After two of Lee's cousins attacked and murdered Nora with a sickle, Lee murdered both of his drunk cousins, forcing him to flee to San Francisco, where he joined the San Francisco Police Department.
Lee's wanted poster
In 1878, he caught the Irishmen Branwell Morgan and Kevin Davis murdering two defenseless Chinese men in Chinatown, and he agreed to take the stand against them. He volunteered to join Sergeant Bill O'Hara's Chinatown Squad in spite of his unpopularity among his peers, most of whom were Irish Union Army veterans, and he investigated a series of murders that occurred at the dawn of the Tong Wars. His relationship with O'Hara deteriorated after witnessing O'Hara's corrupt dealings with the Tongs, and he investigated the Long Zii Tong's opium business before O'Hara later confronted him about his past. O'Hara and his squad saved Lee from the bounty hunter Stephen Gresham, truly accepting him into their unit, and Lee and O'Hara continued to work together to fight crime. Lee was ambushed and injured by the Fung Hai Tong, but O'Hara watched over him while he was in a coma. Lee came to be considered family by the O'Haras, and he rescued the family from the Fung Hai, only to discover that the Fung Hai had attacked O'Hara's home because O'Hara had been working as their muscle for a few months.
Lee as a Treasury agent
Lee later helped with a raid on the Fung Hai den, killing several hatchet men. He also helped capture Jacob Fok, who had murdered Mayor Samuel Blake, but he was disgusted by Fok's lynching and rescued a Chinese woman from the Workingmen during the ensuing race riots. Lee contemplated resignation, but O'Hara persuaded him to stay on. Lee formed a relationship with a Black bartender named Abigail Gacy, who had previously attempted to rob him, and she helped him kill the bounty hunters Greg McTaggart and Lance Richards. Not long after, Secret Service agent Edmund Mosely persuaded Lee to help him shut down the Tongs' counterfeit money operation in exchange for cleaning up Lee's mess in Georgia. While Abigail was reluctant to have her lover wear the badge again and return to Chinatown, Lee said that he would do anything it took to get the chance of buying them a future together.
Lee's work with Mosely resulted in a raid on the Hop Wei headquarters, as the counterfeit bills Lee had obtained were mostly found at Hop Wei businesses. Hop Wei leader Young Jun was arrested and nearly deported before the rival Long Zii Tong used its political connections to secure his release in exchange for a share of Hop Wei's counterfeiting income. Not long after, however, he was kidnapped by Abigail's brother-in-law Happy Jack - who disapproved of his relationship with Abigail - and Wang Chao, a black marketeer who was wary of Lee's investigations. Lee and a betrayed Chao were sent on a train to Georgia to face the vengeance of Lee's aunt Violet and her sons Bo and Carter, and, while they were being taken to Savannah, they attempted to escape, reconciling in order to knock Carter unconscious and kill Violet and Bo. When Carter regained consciousness and grabbed a gun, Lee was forced to kill Carter, and he and Chao buried the bodies before returning to San Francisco, where they killed Happy Jack at Abigail's bar and had their vengeance.
Lee reuniting with O'Hara
Lee proceeded to rejoin Mosely, and, after they captured the counterfeiter Yan Mi, her lover Ah Sahm came to the police station and offered to lead them to the printing plates if they would let Yan Mi go. Lee, Mosely, and the SFPD proceeded to raid the print shop and retrieve the plates, after which Mosely thanked Lee for his help and told him that he would sort out his "clerical matters" on his return to DC. Lee then reunited with O'Hara, who offered him a job back on the force. Lee said that he would not carry water for the Chinese or do political favors for men like Mayor Walter Buckley, but O'Hara - now the chief - agreed to sort things out, bringing Lee back onto the force.