Stephen Leather: Inspector Zang and the disappearing drugs

"And what did the technicians find?"

"That the CCTV footage was fine. The simple fact is that no one entered or left the apartment while we had it under surveillance."

"Then let us go and examine it ourselves," said Inspector Zhang.

They left the apartment and Inspector Kwok locked the door and pocketed the key. They rode down in the lift together and walked through reception. "Before we go to New Phoenix Park, I'd like to see where your surveillance teams were," said Inspector Zhang.

Inspector Kwok took them around to the back of the apartment block to the car park and showed them where the surveillance team had been parked. Inspector Zhang looked up at the building. They had a clear view of the bedroom windows. There was no way that the drugs could have been moved through the windows without being seen from the car.

They then walked to the front of the building. Inspector Kwok pointed at the apartment block across the road. "We were able to use an apartment over there," she said. "I had two men in a bedroom on the fourth floor with a clear view of the balcony."

"Can we go inside?" asked Inspector Zhang.

"It is just an apartment," said Inspector Kwok. "It is owned by a prison officer who was happy to assist the police."

"I would just like to see what the view is like. If it's no trouble."

Inspector Kwok nodded and took them across the road. There was an intercom by the entrance and she pressed the button for the apartment on the fourth floor and after a couple of minutes she went back to Inspector Kwok and Sergeant Lee. "The husband is at work but his wife is home and she's happy for us to go up," she said.

"Excellent," said Inspector Zhang.

They went up to the fourth floor and the prison officer's wife already had the door open for them. She was Indian in a bright blue sari and she offered them tea which Inspector Zhang politely declined. "We only want a quick look through your window, madam, then we shall be on our way," he said.

Inspector Kwok pointed at a door. "We used that bedroom," she said. "We had two men in there at all times, working in eight-hour shifts," she said. The prison officer's wife opened the door and smiled for them to go through. It was a small room with a single bed and a small built-in wardrobe and dressing table. There were no personal effects so Inspector Zhang assumed it was a spare bedroom.

There was a single window overlooking the apartment block opposite. Because the apartment they were in was on the fourth floor and the apartment where the drugs had been kept was on the sixth floor, it was impossible to see inside. In fact all that could be seen was the balcony. "One cannot see inside the apartment from here," said Inspector Zhang.

"No, but they had a clear view of the balcony. And no one went onto the balcony throughout the surveillance."

Inspector Zhang went up to the window and stood so close to it that his breath fogged on the glass.

"I do not wish to cast aspersions on your team, but you are sure that they were never away from their post?"

"They are professionals, Inspector Zhang. And they kept logs every fifteen minutes."

Inspector Zhang nodded thoughtfully. "Very well," he said. He turned around to face her. "Now it is time for me to look at the surveillance footage," he said.

Inspector Kwok drove her Lexus to the New Phoenix Park headquarters. Inspector Zhang and Sergeant Lee followed her. "That is a very nice car," said Inspector Zhang.

"Very expensive," said Sergeant Lee.

"I did not see a wedding ring on her finger."

"No, she isn't married," said Sergeant Lee. "Are you wondering how an inspector can afford a Lexus?"

"Like you said, it is an expensive car," said Inspector Zhang. "Is she from a wealthy family?"

"No, her father is a waiter, I think. And her mother works in a department store."

Inspector Zhang folded his arms. "And is there gossip, Sergeant Lee?"

"There is always gossip," said the sergeant. "This is Singapore. Shopping and gossiping are our main occupations."

"And what is the gossip concerning Inspector Kwok?"

"I really couldn't say, Inspector," she said. "She is a colleague and I am pleased for her."

"Pleased for her?"

"Pleased at her rapid advancement. It is good to see a woman progressing through the ranks so quickly."

Inspector Zhang looked across at her but couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not. He folded his arms and they drove the rest of the way in silence.

They walked into the building together and Inspector Kwok took them up to a meeting room on the second floor where there were several desktop computers and a large flat screen monitor on one wall. There was a technician waiting for them, a young woman in a pale green trouser suit, and she stood up as they walked in.

The technician arranged three chairs so that they could sit facing the monitor and then she sat down at one of the computers.

"What is it you would like to see, exactly?" asked Inspector Kwok. "We have seven days of surveillance video and in most of it nothing is happening."

"When the drugs arrive, and then later when you and your team went inside," said Inspector Kwok.

The technician nodded and tapped away on her computer keyboard. An image filled the monitor. The corridor outside the apartment. The apartment number was clearly visible on the door.

"You can't see the lift but you will see the men come into view," said Inspector Kwok. As she finished the sentence two men appeared on the screen, pushing trolleys. There were five boxes on each trolley. The older of the two was a Chinese man in his late fifties, grey haired and with a tired face. He was wearing blue overalls with the name of the company on his chest, as was his companion, a chubby Indian man in his early twenties.

The Chinese man stood his trolley by the door and bent down to take the key from under the mat. Inspector Zhang read the time code on the bottom of the screen. It was just after ten-thirty in the morning. Sergeant Lee was scribbling in her notebook and as he looked across at her she nodded at him, letting him know that she was making a note of the time. The man unlocked the door and pushed in his trolley, followed by the Indian. Then the door closed.

"They went inside and left the boxes in the sitting room, next to the sofa," said Inspector Kwok.

The door remained closed for just under three minutes, then the two men reappeared with empty trolleys. The Chinese man relocked the door and put the key back under the mat, then the two men pushed their trolleys towards the lift.

"The door then remained locked for seven days," said Inspector Kwok. "No one went in or out before me, seven days later."

"And the room was under constant surveillance?"

"I was there eighteen hours a day and there were always at least two detectives in the observation room," said Inspector Kwok. "And once we discovered that the apartment was empty I myself watched every second of the video, albeit speeded up, of course."

Inspector Zhang rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "And the two men who delivered the drugs. Who are they?"

"The owner of the company, Mr. Yin. It was Mr. Yin who opened the door. And one of his workers. A Mr. Chandra."

"And was there anyone else from the company involved?"

"There was a driver, but he stayed outside with the van."

"Very well. Can we now jump ahead to when you and your team entered the apartment."

The technician tapped on her keyboard again and the picture jumped. According to the time code they had advanced almost seven days. Inspector Kwok walked to the door, followed by two male detectives and two uniformed officers. She bent down, picked up the key and slotted it into the lock. She seemed to have trouble with the lock and she stepped aside to let one of the uniformed officers try. "I didn't realise it was a security lock," she said. "It had to be turned twice."