他有個小說家好友準備發表一篇以田納西州為背景、唐人街圈子的謀殺案。故事的主角都是華人，也都有中文名字，小說家要海明威找人幫忙驗證一下這些主角的英文拼音，於是我有了個有趣的英文猜燈謎遊戲，寫下來讓大家一起消遣。
以下為普通話拼音。英文部分為小說家說明主角的背景，以及所對應中文名字的英文意思。
Gui-Ling Min: meaning Evil Clever Spirit
This character is the mother. According to my research, women don’t necessarily take the surnames of their husband, but keep their family surname
This character is also my killer.
The use of this name/meaning is a challenge to readers to see if they can be sleuths in other ways than collecting evidence.
明詭靈 — — 假設這些都是普通話拼音，這個人的名字應該叫做明詭靈，姓氏可能拼錯了，應該拼為MING。如果姓「閔」（拼為Min）就是個有慈悲心的人，不大符合這個邪惡的人設。這也的確像是個虛構的人物，有誰真的會叫自己的小孩「詭靈」呢？
Heng Wu: meaning Persistent Tiger
This character is the father.
His personality is one that is dominate and insistent. He believes in tradition and is pushing for a traditional arranged marriage for his daughter.
He is my victim.
恆虎 — — 這個明顯就是拼錯了，應該拼做Heng Hu。這個像是武俠小說的主角。
Heng Zhi: meaning Persistent Will/Purpose/Ambition
This character is the first-generation Chinese-American daughter of Min and Wu.
She is independent, smart and determined.
For those reasons, she is the prime suspect.
恆志 — — 不過這個名字比較中性，不太像女孩子的名字；感覺比較像法師的道號，不過我想小說家的讀者反正是美國人，應該不會太講究。
Zhang Tam: meaning a sheet of paper/a classifier to discuss/speak/converse
This character is a Chinese matchmaker.
He presents with folders of potential candidates and spends his time smoozing parents to ensure financial gain.
He is victim #2
張談 — — Tam應該拼為Tan。張嘴就談，說個不停，這個名字太適合當媒人了。
Chen Li: meaning Old Powerful
The man the matchmaker want Zhi to marry
He is victim #3
這題比較簡單： 陳力。這個名字和「恆志」倒是天造地設的一對，一個有力量、一個有堅定的意志，這種組合還將真是攻無不克！
這個小說家明顯學過中文，就算是虛構的人物也要確認拼音正確與否，對作品的人物名字非常講究， 精神令人佩服。（雖然這些主角的名字不大像現代的華文名字，但也算盡力了！）
