Kiss and Die

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 amp; 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.’