Текст книги "Kiss & Die"

Автор книги: Lee Weeks

Соавторы: Lee Weeks
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Chapter 34

In the blackness the basket swayed with the movement of the tide. The silt at the bottom of the ocean occasionally burst upwards in a flurry of disturbance as the head settled. Floating particles of food were dislodged; flesh, minute shreds chewed and expelled by creatures and left to float feather-edged until they settled in another layer of silt for the bottom feeders. Through the murk a man’s head nodded with the sway of the water, open eyed and slack-jawed. He wasn’t alone in the dark. A lobster moved tentatively closer, it swam through the trap and reached out its feelers and touched Max Kosmos’s face.

Chapter 35

Lilly walked through the first-floor landing and looked at the Africans as she passed. She wasn’t afraid to look them in the eye. The dead African lying at the bottom of the lift shaft was testament to that. The body would be eaten by the rats and the mangy cats. When it began to smell the caretaker would be called and someone would take it away like they always did. No one would investigate such a death in such a place amongst such a group of people.

Although it was day, it could have been night – the fluorescent strip lighting above their heads wasn’t working, a dripping overhead pipe had blown it. There were some corners of the Mansions that never saw light. Their booming laughs filled the corridor with a little bit of Africa. They were listening to the jangly sound of Kenyan folk music. The smoke around them was so thick it stung Lilly’s eyes. They always stopped what they were doing to watch her as she passed. She had the mix that appealed to them. Her skin was light, her eyes big and round. She had the makings of a shape beneath her skimpy clothes. She had the sass, she was a girl who knew how to tease.

Lilly caught David’s eye. He watched her from his stool inside the bar. He was not smiling. He didn’t fall for Lilly’s games. He knew they were deadly. He had seen her with the Outcasts. He knew she had secrets.

Lilly caught up with Mahmud. He was out with his sister Nina running errands whilst the restaurant was quiet. Lilly handed Nina a list. ‘Mum wanted me to ask if you can get these things for her, she’ll pay you later. I don’t know when she’s going to cook it. They are questioning her down at the police station. I don’t know why she doesn’t just get me to get them.’

‘It’s okay. Give it to me. I know these traders; I can get her a good deal.’ Nina took it from her.

Nina walked on. Lilly hung back with Mahmud. ‘What’s the matter?’ she asked him. ‘You’ve been avoiding me. We can still be friends, can’t we? Even if I’m not your girlfriend any more?’

Mahmud walked along looking at his feet. He was a shy lad, thoughtful. ‘Yeah, sure. Just been studying hard, that’s all.’

‘That’s not really the reason, is it?’

Mahmud went to defend it but he shook his head instead. ‘It’s all the trouble here, Lilly. I don’t want any part of it. I knew that girl who was killed.’

‘So did I. I didn’t like it any more than you.’

Lilly walked alongside him. Mahmud looked hard at her. He searched her face to see if she was telling the truth. ‘It’s all going wrong, Lilly. I don’t know what’s happened to you. You never used to like the gangs either. You’ve changed. Hafiz has changed too. I’m not having any more to do with it.’

‘Nobody asked you to. But remember, Mahmud, we’re all in this together. We are doing this so that we can have a better life.’ Lilly turned frosty. ‘Where’s Hafiz, anyway?’

‘He’s working. He’s in enough trouble with Dad, he doesn’t need any more.’

Lilly shook her head, shrugged. ‘A lot’s happened. Things that you don’t know about. I have to look out for myself now, Mahmud. I can’t rely on anyone else. That’s why I need the Outcasts. Victoria Chan has promised I will do well with them. She said she’d personally look out for me. She says I have what it takes.’

‘Yeah, but what does she want you to do for it, Lilly? You heard what the inspector said at school. Once you’re in you can’t get out. They will kill you if you try.’

‘Yeah, but you know what? Most days I feel like I am dead anyway. I don’t have anything to live for right now.’

They stopped outside Rajini’s father’s tailors. Inside they could see her father sewing on the machine. On the chair next to him her mother was sobbing as she sewed.

‘You’d think they’d take a day off. They only care about the money they’re not going to get from her.’

Mahmud looked at her, his eyes full of anger and sadness. ‘They are making Rajini’s shroud.’ Lilly walked briskly on. She was cross. He caught her up. They waited in silence for the lift. ‘Let’s go and sit on the roof. We haven’t done that in ages.’

Lilly looked at him and smiled. ‘Okay.’

They sat on the ledge and dangled their feet over Nathan Road. The sun was going down. As they sat their hands inched towards one another and rested, barely touching.

‘Tell me what you want to be, Lilly.’

Lilly took her hand away and kept her legs still as she stared down at the busy road below. She looked down at her lap as she replied. ‘I want to be rich. I want to have a house on the Peak. I want to have all designer clothes.’

Mahmud stared at her profile. ‘Is that all that matters to you?’

She looked towards the sunset. A slither of orange was beginning to stretch across the evening sky. She looked everywhere but at Mahmud. ‘Pretty much. I want to get out of this place. I want to have nice things.’

‘Is that why you joined the Outcasts?’

‘Yes.’ She looked down at her lap again. ‘It’s all right for you, Mahmud; your father will find the money to pay for you to go to college. You are smart. You can achieve anything you want to. You will be able to afford to escape from here.’

‘But I’ll never be rich enough to have a house on the Peak. I might become a doctor and travel. I might have a good living, enough to support a wife, a family, but I will never be rich, Lilly. It’s not important to me.’

Lilly turned and looked at him, her eyes catching the light from the sky, her face glowing. ‘I will, Mahmud. It’s everything to me.’

‘What about love?’

She turned away. ‘I don’t care about love. My mother loves Rizal, what good is love?’

‘The Outcasts are dangerous, Lilly; they could turn on you just as quick as anyone else. They don’t answer to anyone any more, they’re out of control. Victoria Chan is a terrible person. Ever since she came into our lives things have just got worse.’

Lilly was angry. ‘Victoria Chan is smart and beautiful. She’s everything I want to be.’ But she couldn’t stay cross at Mahmud. She knew he was only worried for her. She knew he had always loved her. ‘Listen to me, Mahmud. I know what you’re saying,’ she smiled sadly and looked at him, ‘but she can give me things, things I could never get on my own. She can get me out of this place. You are so clever. You will get where you want to go without people like Victoria Chan.’

‘I thought we could make it, you and I. I was hoping, you know? I always thought we’d stay together.’

She turned and looked him in the face, her eyes searching his. She reached over and kissed his cheek. ‘Save your hopes for someone else, Mahmud. You are too good for me. I am not the girl you kissed when we were ten. I am not the girl I was.’ Lilly slid her legs back around and stood to leave. ‘Forget me, Mahmud. You and I could never be and I am in too deep now to get out.’

Chapter 36

Victoria moved to her bedroom to answer her phone; it was too noisy to talk in her lounge. She lived in a luxury penthouse apartment on the road to Stanley. She was giving seven of her top lieutenants a special treat – she had provided her men with the entertainment. They were simple creatures; easy to read, easy to please. Tonight was a victory celebration of sorts. It was to celebrate the beginning of the end. The beginning of a fight that would take her all the way. There was no stopping her now. She would court the best of the lieutenants in the Wo Shing Shing. As each of her pieces slotted into their roles she controlled them like a conductor played an orchestra. They were the new breed. They were loyal to her father, loyal to the organization but they would want a new Dragon Head when she showed them her power. Victoria sat on the chair in her bedroom in the semi-darkness. Her black leather cat suit traced her strong curves like a second skin, her diamond earrings caught the flash of lightning as she turned her head towards the window and watched the storm coming in.

‘You have done well, my daughter. But we need him broken before he can be rebuilt. Push for the prize now. Use every weapon you have. The Mansions are proving a suitable testing ground for you. You have been courting the right people. You have turned them on one another.’

‘They all want the same thing. They want money, power. They want bigger, better. They don’t think of the consequences. They don’t think of tomorrow. The Outcasts are unique, fearless. They are easy to please. There is one amongst them who is the most talented and most ruthless I have ever known; she will stop at nothing and yet she wants nothing in return except to be allowed to serve. I only have to suggest something and it’s done. I only have to dislike someone and they are dead. She sees me as her saviour.’ Victoria laughed at the notion.

‘Be careful, my clever daughter. He who treads softly goes far.’

‘Trust me, Father. I know what I am doing. But when I have done it, will you be ready to hand it all over to me?’

‘Yes. When you have proved yourself.’

Victoria closed her phone and walked back through the lounge. There was an orgy going on in her apartment. Two naked Russian girls snorted cocaine from her expensive glass table. Another sat on a man’s lap as he played cards, eyes rolling in his head. She was passed one to the other. A girl in her early teens danced naked in the centre of the room, so tired she lurched as she twirled. Her nose was clogged with methamphetamine; her head was buzzing but her body spent.

Victoria passed through and came out to stand on her balcony to look out to sea. Out on the balcony the air was charged with the electricity of the storm. The gales were picking up, caught on a typhoon’s tail. She held tight to the railing as the gusts tossed her hair into the air. Victoria smiled to herself. The night had been a good one; it would be over soon. Victoria turned back to face the wind. It took her breath away as it picked up her hair and whipped it across her face. All those years arranging flowers, holding dinner parties, watching her husband lavish his concubines with expensive gifts. All those years she took the pill without him knowing. There was no way she was going to bear a child of his. There was no way she would allow the tyranny to continue. Lucky for her he had never managed to father a child elsewhere. Now she was free and now she stood and tossed her head in the wind and laughed with the exhilaration of it all. Yes, Mann had done her a huge favour when he took care of her husband and whether he liked it or not they were joined to each other. She and Mann would rule the Triad world together. One day he would have nothing left but her.

The balcony doors slid open. The young dancer stood there naked, trailing a blanket behind her. ‘Come here, Lilly.’ Victoria beckoned her closer to the railing. The wind began to subside. They looked out as the first signs of dawn began to change the light and bring a mauve tint to the stormy sky. ‘You are a good girl, Lilly, beautiful and clever.’Victoria stroked her hair. ‘I have a present for you.’

Lilly shivered. Victoria unclasped a gold bracelet from her wrist and clipped it on Lilly’s.

‘We have achieved much but there is still some left to do. We have to seal the deal. Then you will have so much jewellery, so many fine things and you will be by my side always.’

She wrapped the blanket around Lilly’s shoulders.

‘There’s just one more thing I want you to do for me.’

Chapter 37

The autopsy was due to start at 7 a.m. Mann had driven straight there after writing up his report on the murder at the hotel. He had dozed for an hour in the car whilst he waited for the autopsy to begin. He sat in the car park outside and watched the coroner, Mr Saheed, arrive. Mr Saheed was a tall man of Indian descent, with a dry sense of humour and a bad memory for recalling other people’s lives. Mann gave him ten minutes then he rang the bell. Kin Tak answered. He glanced over Mann’s shoulder as if he saw someone else standing there and then quickly turned away.

‘Stop coming here!’ he shouted out as he turned to lead Mann into the autopsy room.

Mann turned to look behind him. He saw no one there. ‘Who’s there?’ he asked Kin Tak.

Kin Tak shook his head, small nervous jerks like a twitch. ‘No one. No one.’ He went off muttering under his breath, a running commentary to no one in particular and too low for anyone to hear or understand.

Mann was used to Kin Tak’s outbursts. He knew he was harmless. His strangeness was part and parcel of his job. Mann slipped on a white overall.

‘Good morning, Inspector. We were about to start without you. Kin Tak already has some observations that he is bursting to share with you.’

Max Kosmos’s body was lying on the steel autopsy table, tilted to allow the fluids to flow into the holes at the bottom and into the drain beneath the table. His abdomen had a greenish hue. It was beginning to swell with the build-up of gases.

Saheed switched the Dictaphone on. He turned to see what was holding Kin Tak up. He was staring at Mann.

‘Get a move on, Kin Tak. I am waiting. It’s not often we get to practise our skills on a tourist, is it, Inspector?’ He looked up at Mann over his bifocals. Saheed didn’t remember that particular autopsy or what it had meant to Mann. He only remembered that Mann been present the last time they had to perform an autopsy on a foreigner.

Saheed started the autopsy. ‘We have a white male of Mediterranean origin, five foot eight inches tall, two hundred and ten pounds. His head would weigh a further fifteen to twenty pounds, if we had it, which we don’t. Someone went to a great deal of trouble to make this man suffer before he died. It doesn’t look like it was an easy job or a quick one.’

Kin Tak shook his head. ‘Very messy, bad job indeed, not the right tools at all.’

Mann approached the table.

Saheed continued, ‘He died from the wound to his heart. It was made by a blade not more than half an inch wide, thin, long. By the marks on the edges of the rib bone…’ Saheed ran his finger inside the chest cavity, ‘…it took several attempts to saw through the last four ribs on the victim’s right side. Looking at the scraping on the bone I would say a small, fine-bladed saw was used. I concur with the initial estimate that death occurred sometime in the early hours of yesterday morning. I would expect cause of death to be a sudden trauma to the heart. He did not bleed to death, although he would have done undoubtedly, given time. I can say he was tortured over a period of four or five hours. What can you tell me about the circumstances leading to this man’s death, Inspector Mann?’

‘I entered the hotel room and found him, his legs tied to the bed. You’ve seen the photos?’

‘Yes. Daniel Lu e-mailed them to us. It was quite a bloodbath. What was the motivation, in your opinion?’

‘Not your average robbery, if it was one. She took his wallet but that was to barter in exchange for drugs, we know she bought a good deal of sedative.’

‘I will have the results from toxicology for you in a few days.’

‘It can’t have been just sexual, although there was an element attached to it. He was seen leaving the bar with a woman the night he died. He was a known user of sex workers, men and women. We might find it’s a spurned lover, an angry mistress.’

‘Perhaps we can help you with some part of the theory. We found something in his chest cavity.’ Kin Tak picked up a specimen tray from the table behind him and tilted it for Mann to see.

‘Penis.’

‘Yes, it’s his penis.’ Saheed looked over his glasses at Mann. ‘But, that’s not all…Kin Tak has discovered something very important that links this murder with another. Haven’t you, Kin Tak?’

Kin Tak was too excited to spit the words out so Saheed did it for him.

‘What did you notice about the blood splatter patterns, Inspector?’

‘Arcs of flesh and blood across the ceiling, sprayed around the room.’

Mann looked at Kin Tak.

‘Yes, yes. And were there distinct arcs but following exactly the same line?’ Kin Tak almost shrieked.

Mann thought back. The memory was implanted in his mind. There were three pronged arcs of flesh and blood crusted onto the hotel ceiling. ‘Yes. That’s what it was.’

‘It is the same weapon that took off the Indian girl’s hands.’

Chapter 38

Mann drove back to the office. It was eight thirty and the place was buzzing with the anticipation of a major murder investigation. Mia was waiting for Mann when he got back.

‘We’ve had a confirmation, it’s Max Kosmos. The gold ring on his finger is a matching wedding ring to his wife’s. The wife seemed bitter, angry.’

‘Is she on her way to Hong Kong?’

‘No. She says she’s staying with the children. You attended the autopsy?’

‘Yep and it’s thrown up something. The weapon used to torture Max Kosmos is the same one used to mutilate Rajini.’

‘Tom Sheng’s not going to like that. He’d love to tell us to fuck off. Well, professionally anyway. He’s not the best at sharing cases. I’d rather you interview Michelle. You know her. Sheng’s heavy handed.’

Mann nodded.

‘You better go and do it now. He’s busy getting the incident room set up so now’s your chance. You have half an hour.’

Michelle was sat at the table when Mann punched in the door code and entered the interview room. Ng followed. Michelle looked up and kept her eyes on Mann’s as he walked in. Ng went to stand at the far wall. The room was only twelve foot square. The centre was taken up by the Formica-topped table shaped as a right-angled triangle. It was chained to the floor, as were the four red plastic chairs around it: two on the long side, one each on the others.

Mann sat opposite her and pushed the photo of Max Kosmos across the table.

‘How long have you known him?’

‘About nine months.’ Michelle hadn’t had a chance to change and was still in her blue stage outfit. She had bags beneath her bloodshot eyes, blue eye shadow, smudged mascara. There was no natural light in the interview room although it was well lit for the two cameras that tracked events. The light bounced off the white polystyrene tiles on walls and ceiling. On the floor were grey carpet tiles.

‘Please, Inspector, let me go, my babies are at home. Rizal will be expecting me by now. There are things to get ready for the stall. What am I doing here?’ A couple of fat tears squeezed their way out. She wiped them hastily away. Her hands were shaking as she lit a cigarette that Mann passed over the table top. ‘Plus, I need a fix. Just a small amount, please.’

‘You’ll be out of here as soon as we are satisfied with the information you give us. We’ll let you call Rizal after the interview.’

‘What do you want to know?’

‘Max Kosmos – how well did you know him?’

‘He wasn’t a friend, as such. We had a meal together sometimes. He was lonely.’

‘What kind of meal? Afternoon tea or breakfast?’

‘All right, all right…Yes, I went to his room, sometimes. We had sex. He paid.’

‘When was the last time you had sex in his room?’ He could see she was about to lie. ‘Listen to me, Michelle. I found Max Kosmos, what was left of him, spread all around his hotel room. You want to tell me how he got like that?’

She stared at Mann, her eyes searching his face. She looked across at Ng. He stared back. ‘He’s dead?’

‘Yeah. Cut to bits. His head hacked off, his skin stripped.’

Michelle shook her head slowly from side to side, her eyes open wide. Her face registering the shit she just realized she was in.

‘Oh my God. I had nothing to do with it, Inspector, I swear.’ She began to hyperventilate. ‘Please believe me.’

‘But you had his wallet.’

Michelle dragged on her cigarette and looked nervously from the table to Mann’s face, as if weighing up just how much truth she could get away with not telling.

‘When did you see him last?’

‘Three nights ago. But I swear he was fine when I left him.’

‘And night before last?’

‘No. He knew I wasn’t interested.’

‘Why?’

She hesitated, looked guilty. ‘He roughed me up last time. I couldn’t work for a few days.’ She looked at Mann. She looked spent. It had been a long night.

‘Why did he do that?’

‘All right, he accused me of stealing money from his wallet.’

‘And did you?’

She shrugged. ‘Sure. But only when he turned nasty. What happened to him?’

‘You tell me. He got killed by someone he took to his room that he probably intended to have sex with. The barman says you left the same time as him last night. You will be taken in if your prints are in that room, or any part of your DNA is in there. Now I can’t help you if you keep lying to me.’

‘I promise you I didn’t do it, Mann. Sure, I talked to him last night, in between sets, in my break. He wanted me to go upstairs with him but I was in the middle of a set. Anyway, I could see what mood he was in. He looked like he hadn’t slept for a couple of days. I told him I wasn’t well. He went out for a while and then he came back in with a girl. They sat at one of the tables, they had a drink. They left the bar about eleven. I left just after. I’d had enough. I knew Lilly was up to something; I thought I might find out what. I wanted to get home. There’s a lot going on. Lilly and Rizal…things aren’t good at the moment.’

‘Who did he leave with? Did you know her?’

Michelle shook her head. ‘No. I didn’t get a good look at her. So many girls do a circuit of the hotel bars. I never saw her face. She could have been anyone.’

‘Tell me more about him. What kind of sex did he like? Was he into S & M?’

She shrugged her shoulders. ‘He liked what everyone likes. He liked to get a bit rough. He didn’t like getting it back. I told you he got carried away sometimes, he got nasty.’

‘Bondage?’

‘Sometimes.’

‘Did you use props, handcuffs, tape?’

She shook her head.

‘What about threesomes? Was he bisexual? Did he like ladyboys, young men?’ She hesitated. Mann waited. ‘Okay, let me reword it. What kind of men did he like?’

Michelle looked flustered. Mann sat back in his chair and waited. Michelle looked around the room. She glanced over at Ng leaning on the wall. He stared back. Mann looked at the clock on the wall, it was 1 a.m. Michelle was jumpy.

‘All right, okay. Once, twice, I don’t know…I got him a boy.’

‘What kind of boy did he like?’

Michelle rolled her eyes irritably. ‘Regular boy. He didn’t like ladyboys. He didn’t like gays. He liked a normal-looking boy.’

‘What did he like? Was he a giver or a receiver?’

Michelle couldn’t look at Mann as she answered. ‘A giver.’

‘And you found one willing?’

‘Sure. This is Hong Kong, remember. People will do anything for money.’

‘Who was he? Someone you know well?’

Michelle shook her head. ‘Just an Indian lad, lives in the Mansions. But you won’t find him. He’s a tout for a restaurant. He is just a lad, hungry for money. He means nothing.’

‘Do you often work with a male partner?’

‘Not often.’

‘But you have done before?’

‘Once or twice.’

Mann looked at her hard. ‘How come you had Kosmos’s wallet?’

Michelle stared at her hands resting on the table and then she took out a cigarette from her bag. The wardress stepped forward to light it for her.

‘It was passed to me.’

‘Who by?’

‘Look, Mann. I’ll tell you the truth. We have a little scam going here.’

‘Now, why doesn’t that surprise me?’

‘Cindy, Sandy and me. We get stuff for the working girls; we sell them dope, Viagra, GHB, whatever they need. I got his wallet in exchange for some pills.’

‘Who did you get it from?’

‘Well, that’s the thing…we don’t see the person. We get left a message. The waiting staff pass it to us, or the barman; we get told what they want and we put it in an envelope. Sometimes we leave it in the ladies, we all know where to look, sometimes we put it in an envelope and pass it back to the waiters. But, this girl, I have never seen. Honest. I’d tell you if I had.’

‘What did she want from you?’

‘She isn’t your average customer. All the other girls just want Rohypnol. She wants a type of GHB but not the usual. I had to source it. I found it from a supplier in Shenzhen. This time she bought a lot from me. The most she’s ever done.’