Kiss and Die

Chapter 21

The next morning Mann, Tom Sheng and Mia met at the far end of the incident room. In the background an Urdu translator could be heard on the phone. He had been brought in to phone the Indian groups and see if anyone could identify the dead girl.

‘We are pretty sure she came from the Mansions,’ said Mann.

‘Then we flood the place with uniformed officers asking questions-’ Sheng said.

‘No,’ interrupted Mann. ‘The Mansions are a volatile, unpredictable place. There are an awful lot of people who will run when they see uniforms coming in. They will think it’s immigration. Even if they have nothing to fear they will panic.’

‘Christ, we have created another walled city,’ muttered Sheng, ‘and right in the middle of the business district. The sooner it’s knocked down the better.’

Mann shook his head. ‘You’re wrong. It serves a good purpose. It’s the cheapest place to stay in Hong Kong. One hundred and twenty nationalities live there at any one time. Where are they going to go?’

‘They’re mainly made up of illegal immigrants, overstayers and drug pedlars, every type of scammer and Triad. Fights are commonplace. Deaths are a daily occurrence. Now we have young Triads taking over in there.’

‘You go in there like some fucking stormtrooper and they’ll split, reform and make an even bigger problem somewhere else. It’s not only them in the Mansions. We also have the impoverished backpackers, poor migrant workers. Four thousand people live there amongst the sweatshops and saunas.’

‘I agree with Mann.’ Mia looked tired. They were all fractious. ‘Mann and Shrimp can achieve a lot more by being discreet in there. We want to try and find out why she was killed as well as who she was.’

‘I’ll get down there as soon as this meeting’s over with,’ said Mann. ‘I have other business in there. One of the schoolgirls active in the recruitment is a girl named Lilly Mendoza. Her mother Michelle is a singer.’

‘Have you had trouble with her before?’ asked Mia.

‘Now and again. Sometimes she had to double as a hooker just to make ends meet and feed her habit. I’ve ticked her off a few times. She used to have a bad habit of fleecing the johns she went upstairs with after her set. We haven’t had any complaints for a while. Either she’s stopped or found a new angle. When I’m in the Mansions I’ll pay them a visit.’

‘What about Victoria Chan?’ Sheng was watching Mann very closely. ‘You met with her?’

‘Yes.’ Mann put down his coffee cup and looked hard at Sheng. ‘She wants to redevelop the Mansions. She says she wants to make it a community project. I think we can be pretty sure she is lying and intends to make a luxury development out of it. She hopes that if her new group, the Outcasts, cause enough trouble then the Mansions will have to be pulled down.’

‘Why does she have to go to those lengths, why doesn’t she just do it?’

‘Because the Leung Corporation doesn’t own the majority share. I have inherited the majority share of the Mansions.’

A silence spread through the incident room.

Sheng shook his head and grinned. ‘This is all a very convenient home from home for you, isn’t it, Mann? Doesn’t it feel more than a little fucking ironic that we devote our lives to hunting down and eliminating Triads when we have one on our own doorstep?’

Mann looked at Sheng and then at Mia. She was willing him not to rise to the bait.

‘The thing is, your father wasn’t just a Triad; he was a damn good one. He made a lot of money selling heroin to the kids of Europe. I wonder how many lost lives he was personally responsible for taking. A lot more than we have ever saved, that’s for sure.’ Sheng looked at Mia. ‘How can someone whose inheritance includes large chunks of Triad dough, be considered a secure officer in the OCTB? We don’t know where his loyalties lie. Do you trust him to watch your back? Because I fucking don’t.’

Mann thought about it. ‘You’re right, Sheng. You are so right.’ Mann stood; Sheng got to his feet. ‘I am never going to watch your back. I don’t give a shit who sticks a knife into it. And…’ He picked Sheng up by his jacket lapels. ‘…If I do ever cross the line, Sheng, believe me I’m coming for you first.’