After their conversation, Fix and Passepartout often met on the ship's deck. Fix was careful not to ask too many questions about Mr. Fogg. Passepartout, however, started to wonder why this man was always around. Fix had first appeared in Suez, then traveled to Bombay, and now he was suddenly going to Hong Kong. Passepartout decided there was only one logical explanation: Fix was a spy sent by the members of the Reform Club to make sure Mr. Fogg was actually traveling around the world!
Proud of his discovery, Passepartout decided not to tell his master. He thought Mr. Fogg would be insulted that his friends didn't trust him. Instead, Passepartout planned to make jokes and tease Fix about his secret job.
On October 31st, the Rangoon arrived at Singapore, half a day early. The ship stopped to buy coal. Mr. Fogg and Aouda decided to go to the shore for a carriage ride. Fix secretly followed them, while Passepartout watched him and laughed at his silly spy games.
Singapore was a beautiful tropical island full of palm trees, brilliant flowers, and monkeys jumping in the branches. After a short ride, Fogg and Aouda returned to the ship. Passepartout was waiting for them on the deck with a basket of fresh, delicious mangoes. Aouda thanked him warmly, and by eleven o'clock, the ship sailed out into the ocean again.
Hong Kong was thirteen hundred miles away. Fogg needed to reach the city in six days to catch his next ship to Japan. Unfortunately, the weather changed. The wind grew incredibly strong, and the waves threw the ship around. The captain was forced to slow down for safety. This delay drove Passepartout crazy. He blamed the captain, the crew, and the weather.
"You are in a great hurry, then?" Fix asked him one day on the deck.
"A very great hurry!"
"And you really believe in this journey around the world?" Fix asked.
"Absolutely. Don't you, Mr. Fix?"
"I? I don't believe a word of it."
"You're a sly dog!" Passepartout said, winking at him.
Fix felt sudden panic. Did the servant know he was a police detective? The next day, Passepartout went even further.
"Mr. Fix," he joked, "will we lose you when we get to Hong Kong? Or will you go to America with us?"
Fix was embarrassed. "I don't know..."
"Oh, come with us! A company agent like you can't just stop in the middle of a job. But tell me, do you make a lot of money in your profession?"
"Sometimes yes, sometimes no," Fix replied nervously. "But I don't pay for my own travel."
"Oh, I am quite sure of that!" Passepartout laughed loudly, thinking about the Reform Club's money.
Fix ran down to his cabin, completely confused. He was certain the servant had discovered his true identity. But had Passepartout told Mr. Fogg? If they knew he was a police officer, why were they so relaxed? Fix decided that if he couldn't arrest Fogg in Hong Kong, he would tell Passepartout everything about the bank robbery. If the servant was an innocent man, he would surely abandon his criminal master.
Meanwhile, Mr. Fogg remained completely calm, acting like a machine that was perfectly on schedule. He treated Aouda with polite respect but showed no romantic interest in her at all, which surprised Passepartout greatly. As the storm tossed the ship, Fogg sat quietly, waiting to reach Hong Kong.