Bob Lee was an influential and powerful Triad leader in San Francisco. He wanted to know the secret of Curious Notions, a store that sold technology unknown to the general public. Lee hoped that, with such technology, the Triads would find a way to overthrow Imperial Germany. When Paul Gomes, an employee of Curious Notions, asked Lee if the Emperor of China would be any better than the Emperor of Germany for the United States, Lee argued uncertainly that it would be. Paul Gomes wondered if Bob Lee was named for Robert E. Lee.