Jackpot

42

Arrow briefly wondered how he would be received by the Macau police. He never worried that they weren’t in his pocket or on his side, but the nature of Ziggy Peng’s work for him had occasionally put Ziggy into conflict with them. Would their investigation of his murder be used to dig up dirt on Arrow that they could use later against him, or use to increase their bribery fees? Had they arrested Billy Barnett knowing the man was of interest to Arrow?

His worries were quickly put aside when he was greeted at the door by the secretariat for security himself. Arrow had called his casino security people to find out what had happened during the arrest, and then had his interim security chief call the police station and let them know he was on his way. The chief was conciliatory and apologetic that one of Arrow’s men had been killed under their watch.

“That’s very kind of you,” Arrow said, taking a seat in the pale green office of the public safety director. “I appreciate your concern during this difficult time.”

“We were very concerned to hear that this man had been murdered in his own hotel by one of his own assistants and a movie producer from the United States.”

“As was I,” Arrow said. “I’ve been handling some very important business with some VIP guests in town and I assumed I could leave my security needs in the care of Zhou Peng.”

Arrow could see the secretariat’s face swell with curiosity when he heard the mention of VIP guests, and Arrow made a mental note to keep his activities related to the testimony even closer to his vest than normal. The last thing he needed was a curious police executive nosing around and scaring the U.S. government delegation even further.

“What kind of VIP guests?”

“We have many VIPs at the Golden Desert,” Arrow said quickly. “It’s why my business is so important to this country, and why the security of my property is paramount.”

“We will make sure that the two killers are punished to the fullest extent.”

“I appreciate your diligence in this matter,” Arrow said. “But in the case of the movie producer, his stature, along with his status as a U.S. citizen, brings some complications. I’d like to deal with him myself.”

The secretariat was losing his patience and his attention span was beginning to wander. It seemed Arrow had ruined the mood by not letting them take Billy Barnett and hang him in the public square as an example.

“We don’t usually hand over murder suspects to private citizens.”

Arrow put on his most somber face and leaned in closer to the man.

“Between you and me, man-to-man, I think we only have one murder suspect here. This woman, Dale Gai, was sneaking around Zhou Peng’s back. And I have reason to believe she was not loyal to me or my interests in this country. This movie producer was just another dumb American blinded by a woman, and I’d hate to see him suffer for that bad choice.”

“You can take the movie producer away from here now. The woman stays.”

“I understand,” Arrow said.

They finished off the conversation with pleasantries and empty promises to keep in touch with each other about their operations. then Arrow went to meet Billy Barnett for the first time.