Kiss and Die

Chapter 39

Mann finished up his interview with Michelle and got to the incident room just as everyone was cramming into the room, trying to find somewhere to sit or stand. Shrimp was busy pinning up photos of Max Kosmos’s body lying in a halo of blood-soaked Egyptian white cotton sheets.

Daniel Lu came in late and stood in the corner by the door. Mann looked across at Sheng, he looked like he hadn’t had any rest either. He pulled at his tie and took off his jacket. His clothes were expensive but too flash. Around his wrist he wore a heavy gold chain that matched a thick gold ring he wore on the right hand.

‘As you all know a businessman named Max Kosmos was found murdered in his hotel room last night.’ Sheng addressed the whole room. ‘The reason we still have the members of the OCTB in here is because…’ Sheng flicked his head in the direction of the right-hand white board on which were photos of Rajini, ‘…the death of the young woman murdered in a Triad initiation ceremony and this man’s death are linked. It’s been confirmed that the same weapon was used in both murders. One to cut the girl’s hands off and two to torture Max Kosmos. Ng, what can you tell us about him?’

‘He was a forty-five-year-old American from Chicago. He’s middle management in an engineering projects firm. He is a frequent visitor to Hong Kong and does the Asia circuit every few months. Always stays at the Vacation Villas. This time he checked into the hotel four days ago. He was due to stay another day and then fly on to Australia.’

‘What was he working on here?’

‘Checking equipment supplied for container cranes down at the docks.’

‘Any Triad links?’

‘From him or his company, no. From the companies at the docks? Plenty.’

‘Mann, you were the first on the scene?’ Sheng had the look of one who was a chronic over-indulger: red faced, puffy eyes. He carried a little too much weight around his middle. It had aged him.

‘Yes. I went to Vacation Villas to speak to Michelle Mendoza after I saw her daughter Lilly near the scene of Rajini’s murder. Lilly’s been identified by our agent in Operation Schoolyard as a recruiter for the Outcasts at school. I wanted to find out what her mother knew. I’ve kept an eye on Michelle over the years. She is a heavy drug user, mostly ice. She has an abusive partner, Rizal, and a couple of small kids as well as Lilly. When she gets desperate she has a habit of fleecing the customers. She looked nervous when she saw me so I followed her to the cloakroom and got her to empty her bag; that’s where I found Max Kosmos’s wallet.’

Sheng interrupted. ‘I will interview Michelle myself as soon as we’re done here.’

‘I’ve just done it,’ said Mann. He looked across at Mia. She wasn’t looking at Sheng. He was glaring at her. He knew she must have given permission. ‘She told me she knew Max Kosmos. She had had sex with him before on a few occasions. The last time was three nights ago. She said she saw him leave with a woman at about eleven on the evening he was murdered.’

Sheng folded his arms over his chest. He was furious with Mia and Mann but trying to hide it. He listened to Mann’s account whilst looking at the floor, perched on the side of the table, tapping his foot, agitated. He looked up. ‘Is she lying?’

‘She’s certainly not telling the whole truth. The barman confirmed that he saw Max Kosmos leave with a woman but also added that Michelle left just before.’

‘Maybe she is part of a double act or maybe she got a call later and then went to his room.’

‘Did Michelle say he was into anything weird?’ asked Mia.

‘He was into threesomes – boys and girls. They were sometimes joined by a young Indian lad from the Mansions. I’ll press her on that. Get a name. We’ll search her apartment and get a print from Rizal. I don’t put anything past Rizal.’

‘Had to be someone he accepted easily into the room,’ said Mia.

‘Not necessarily,’ said Mann. ‘People let their guard down in hotels. You never think twice about answering the door. You expect it to be a safe environment but the truth is anyone can get in a lift and come up to the floor and knock on the door.’

‘If it was the woman he was seen leaving the bar with then she must be attractive – twenty to forty?

‘Maybe even younger,’ said Mann. ‘Lots of girls can make themselves up to look eighteen these days. That’s all she needs to be to pass unhindered into clubs, bars, hotel lounges. It’s not as if anyone ever checks ID.’

‘A schoolgirl murderer – that would be the first in Hong Kong,’ said Shrimp.

‘What about the wallet?’ said Sheng. ‘How did she say she got that?’

‘She told me about a system she has for giving dope in exchange for wallets, money, whatever the girls manage to get. She’s dealt with this person before on a few occasions. This time the drop was much larger than usual.’

‘So, the perp’s planned this and it might not be a one-off. Fuck, that’s all we need. Daniel…injuries?’

Daniel pinned up photos. ‘Apart from sexual mutilation and decapitation, he was tortured. If you have a look at this photo…’ he pointed to the close-up of the bedroom ceiling, ‘…you can see three arcs of blood which went across the ceiling. They were made at exactly the same time. That means the weapon we are looking for has three blades and is capable of lifting out the flesh and firing it at great speed and velocity in an arc several feet across the ceiling. It has stripped him of most of the flesh from his torso.’

‘My guess is it’s a customized street weapon but it is an unusual one,’ said Mann.

‘Each band of metal is at least an inch wide.’

‘So it’s the same person?’ said Sheng.

‘No, not necessarily. The weapon is the same, that’s all,’ answered Mann.

Daniel continued, ‘Added to that, his chest was opened by several frenzied cuts and slashes with what looks like a small-bladed knife, there is scraped off flesh, and the bottom four ribs were removed, two of them by breaking. Victim was alive until this point.’

Daniel was filling the central board with the images of Max Kosmos’s mutilated body. Mann didn’t need to look closely at the photos, he still held a snapshot of the scene in his head. Later on, years from now, he knew it would feature somewhere in his dreams. The incident room was hushed, even though it was full of officers, and only the sound of a DC tapping on a keyboard came from the far end.

‘Trace elements left behind at the scene, Daniel?’

‘We found three types of hair in the room, apart from the victim’s.’ Daniel continued. ‘Pubic hair on the victim’s body that’s not his. We also found a long human hair, it’s been analysed. It is hair that’s been treated, dyed, bleached before that. The chemicals in it are linked to ions used for human hair that’s made into wigs, or hair pieces.’

‘Lots of women wear wigs or clip-on hair pieces made from real hair,’ said Mia. ‘We’ll see where the hair came from. We might get lucky with a particular manufacturer.’

‘Perp used a wire to wrap around his testicles, the type electricians use,’ said Daniel. ‘They used bondage tape to tie his legs. I think it’s a common enough one; it’s one that sticks to itself. We are still analysing it to see if we have anything of the perp on there, but the perp doesn’t seem to care what we find: we have DNA and prints.’ Daniel finished pinning up the last of the photos. ‘This print,’ he pointed to the knee print on the sheet by Max Kosmos’s body, ‘is a woman’s knee: slightly different shape to a man’s, narrower, trapezoid. Men’s are rectangular, more prominent bone at the top.’

‘We have a woman killer, alone or with an accomplice, but definitely a woman. What can we tell about her from the scene? Risk taker. Not interested in money. She’s in it for the thrill, retribution, revenge. She doesn’t care if she gets caught. She likes to take it to the edge – she gets off on it,’ said Mann.

‘She must have worked up to this,’ said Sheng. ‘Max Kosmos could easily have come round. Perp knows their stuff but they must have had practice along the way. Find out if any other businessmen are missing here in Hong Kong. Find out if there were any un-followed complaints, anything at all that would fit this. Can’t have been the first time she harmed someone.’

Shrimp stepped up to the board and pinned up the photo of Ishmael. ‘One of the Africans in the Mansions told us that his brother had a secret girlfriend in the Mansions and that he has now disappeared. He is pretty sure the Outcasts had something to do with it or that they know something.’

‘How long ago was that?’

‘A year. Should we alert the business community about the killer?’ Shrimp asked.

Mia Chou shook her head. ‘No, definitely not. We risk hitting the Hong Kong economy where it will do the most damage. Hong Kong only exists for business. We can’t risk putting the businessmen off coming.’

Sheng looked around the packed room. ‘Okay, let’s be clear about who’s handling what. Daniel Lu will handle all forensics for both murders so that we can see what’s reoccurring. Michelle Mendoza stays in custody. I will handle all interviews from now on. My team will do all the background on Max Kosmos. We’ll get a search started for all missing foreign businessmen that fit the perp’s specs in case there are other victims we don’t yet know about. Mia’s team will deal with Rajini. Ng, you can liaise between the two departments. I want to know what is cross-referencing across both camps. Keep us on track. If there is a link to the Outcasts then it follows to the Mansions too. Rajini Singh was from there. Max Kosmos was staying just a few doors up from there. Shrimp, your English is Americanized, I want you to be the businessman decoy and go undercover in the bars, stay in Vacation Villas. It’ll take a couple of days to set it up. We need to make you look good, give you a watertight cover. You’ll be watched by a team from my department. You’ll be wired all the time. We need to get behind the Outcasts, our murderer could be one of them. Operation Schoolyard continues.’

‘No,’ said Mann, ‘it’s too risky. I’m stalling it for now.’

Sheng didn’t answer at first. He stared at Mann coldly then he turned to Mia. She nodded. Sheng threw up his hands exasperated. ‘No fucking way…’

‘Something’s not right. Tammy’s at risk. We need more information. I’ve told her to sit tight. It can’t be rushed into. There’s too much at stake. I want it to work. No way am I letting her walk into a trap.’