Kiss and Die

Chapter 90

Mia caught up with Mann and Ng in the locker room. ‘I have to suspend you. You’re now officially a suspect, Mann. Don’t go anywhere until it’s all cleared up.’

Mann looked at Mia’s face. She was fuming but she was also devastated. He nodded. He knew she had no choice. He would have done the same thing.

‘She has refused a rape test. She is not pressing charges. She is probably looking for some payout. Christ, Johnny, I don’t know what the hell is going on. Either you have been stitched up better than Kin Tak can sew up a corpse or you are so out of your head you just don’t know what the hell you are doing any more. Which is it? Either way your fucking judgement is seriously impaired. What the fuck were you thinking?’

Mann took a deep breath in through his nose and bowed his head against the locker door. He rocked his head from side to side against the cold metal. ‘I don’t know. I blacked out. I don’t remember anything after leaving the bar. I woke up this morning and she was in my bed. I don’t think we had sex but I don’t know.’

‘Jesus Christ! Yeah, well that doesn’t inspire huge confidence in me. You have lost it, Mann. You have compromised your judgement. You’ve been crossing the line too often recently, Mann. At a time when Victoria Chan is after your blood and stopping at nothing to stitch you up, you seem to be doing everything to give her a helping hand.’

‘You don’t have to suspend me, Mia. I resign.’

‘No. I don’t accept your resignation. I don’t want your badge. Just go home, Mann, stay out of trouble till we sort it out.’

Mann took out his weapons belts from his locker. Ng was watching him.

‘You’re not alone in this, Genghis. Shrimp and I will do everything we can to clear this up fast and then you’ll be back.’

‘I hope so, Ng, I feel like I’ve been nicely sewn up. Mostly by myself. I am no use to you or any one here any more. As Mia said, I’m a liability.’

Ng watched him leave.

Shrimp caught up with him as he took the lift down.

‘Boss, I didn’t get the chance to tell you something about Tammy’s death. It couldn’t have been Mahmud. I checked the autopsy report of the wound that killed her; the knife went in at an angle, right to left across her body. Mahmud is left-handed. He couldn’t have done it. Shall I get him released?’

‘You better check with someone else, Shrimp. I wouldn’t trust my judgement at the moment.’

Mann walked through the turnstile to the exit. He stood in the garden outside Headquarters, his head bowed, he shook his head. He felt defeated.