Kiss and Die

Chapter 64

The Piccadilly Club was a private members’ club. It was British gentry style: polished brass, cracked leather chairs, Dunhill fixtures. It only accepted the wealthiest of clients but that didn’t stop there being a waiting list to join.

Mann was frisked at the entrance by two of CK’s bodyguards, then he was escorted up to the top floor. Eighty floors in the speed elevator later he was met by a portly English butler dressed in a plaid waistcoat and black trousers.

‘Follow me please, sir. You are expected.’

He led the way to the Red Salon. It was a lounge and private dining area. Its theme was deep, rich, cherry-red wood and brilliant gold. Around its walls was a library of classics shelved on a mahogany bookcase and there was a mahogany writing desk.

CK was sitting in the centre of a rectangular seating area. He was surrounded by his lieutenants, Red Poles. On their laps were Eastern Bloc hostesses: tall and sharp featured. They were young, beautiful; or they had been, once, when they had first been trafficked over. Long-sleeved dresses barely hid the needle marks in their arms.

CK watched him approach and so did the Red Poles.

‘Good evening, Inspector. Join us. Let me introduce you to my officers.’

Sitting next to CK was the pretty waitress from the restaurant at the race course, dressed in a straight-backed cheongsam. She sat bolt upright. She had a black collar around her neck and a chain attached. CK held the end. She had been transformed from an elfin-faced young beauty into a rouged doll. Her face was as white as a sheet and her eyes were as dead as a fish lying on ice in the fishmongers. Mann could see that she had sold her soul to the devil sat next to her. Two monkeys were being handed around and being fed rice wine. They were trying to perform acrobatic tricks but they kept losing their balance and crash landing onto the floor and the table. The fruit bowl turned and flew off the side of the table. The monkeys rolled on their backs, screeching.

Mann looked around at the assembled officers. ‘Don’t bother. I know as much as I need to know about them. I haven’t met the monkeys before, I take it these are the brains behind this outfit?’

CK lifted his hand to prevent any thoughts of retaliation and then he waved his lieutenants away.

One by one they got up and filed past Mann, the hostesses, half carried, half dragged as they tottered on their heels. Each Red Pole stopped to eyeball Mann as they passed him. Mann was used to the game. They didn’t go far. The dining area was around the corner to the right. Mann could still hear them talking, low, the girls were giggling, screeching.

The waiter arrived with Mann’s drink. He took it and felt the strong liquor burn his lips, the ice cool his throat and stomach. The Chinese girl did not leave. She stared ahead of her as if she saw her dreams. She was caught in the world of heroin. She existed only in her own mind. One of the monkeys had run off with the Russian hostesses. The other now stared at the Chinese girl, watching her face. It mimicked her expression. It jumped onto her lap and reached its baby-like hand up to touch her cheek. It grinned, worried, frightened. Her eyes turned slowly towards it. It screeched and jumped down onto the floor where it gobbled the spilled fruit and chattered away to itself.

‘What do you know about the death of my officer?’

CK smiled. He looked across at the Chinese girl as he addressed Mann. ‘Beautiful, isn’t she? She is my new pet. She is not permitted to talk. She is not permitted to move unless I tell her she may. If she pleases me she gets her reward. It is important to understand one another’s weaknesses as well as their strengths, isn’t it, Inspector?’

‘Was her weakness always for heroin?’

A waiter appeared, bowed low and took the monkey away.

‘No, her weakness was for wealth. I merely pushed her to see what she would do for it. It was her own flawed character that let her down, not my cunning. Before you let people in close to you, you must know their Achilles heel. Everyone has one. Your officer died because someone you know well has such a weakness. You have an enemy within. It is someone you have known many years. But, I have known him for even longer. I have something he wants.’ CK looked across at the girl. She looked as if she were crying. ‘Come, we will eat. Then we will talk more.’

As they approached the dining area the noise of screeching grew louder. They rounded the corner and saw the Red Poles and the hostesses sat around a traditional Chinese table. But there were no dishes on top of the table; the centre was bare except for a monkey’s head held in place by a metal clamp. The monkey was screaming in panic.

One of the Red Poles was smashing its skull.