Stephen Knight - White Tiger

“No way. I wouldn’t do a thing like that.”

“Things looked pretty tense there for a moment.”

“I might have suggested bad luck would befall him and all his generations if he didn’t get the fuck out of here, but that’s just a traditional Chinese way of saying goodbye.”

Under other circumstances Ryker might have smiled, but there was nothing funny about this entire situation, nothing at all. “When I give you the okay, take her back to her sister’s place. Call ahead and tell the sister you’re coming. I’ll ask Spider to call Taravel, arrange for a black-and-white to keep an eye on the street. You’ll be on the high priority watch list until further notice.”

Chee Wei let out a whoosh of breath. “You really think this Lin guy will send his goons after her?”

“To be honest? No. Victor Chin’s going to report what happened, and Lin’s going to come at this through the suits at City Hall. Jerko will chew Spider’s ass and he’ll chew mine. If we absolutely have to, we’ll arrange for Lin to see Miss Zhu, but on our terms. Until then, we haven’t got reason to keep her locked up here, so we keep her safe at home instead.”

“I don’t get it. You don’t even like her. Now you’re bending over backwards to make sure she’s okay.”

“I am a complicated person,” Ryker said. He clapped Chee Wei on the shoulder and went to square things with Hoffer. Then he went upstairs and sought Spider, who was in his office talking with Wallace. Ryker knocked on the door and opened it. Wallace glared at him over his shoulder, his jaw rigid and his eyes ablaze. Ryker took enormous pleasure in pretending he didn’t exist. “Sorry to interrupt, Lou. Got some news for you.”

“Wallace, give us a couple of minutes.”

Wallace looked as though he were about to argue, but instead he got up and left the office without a word. Ryker gave him plenty of room. Spider beckoned him in, and Ryker shut the door and took a seat. He explained what had gone down with Victor Chin and voiced his opinion that Chin was now working for James Lin, or at least could be presumed to be acting with Lin’s interests at heart. Spider took the news without reaction. Not so when Ryker told him that he’d offered Xiaohui police protection. Spider slapped his pen down, sat back and stared at him.

“We’re juggling manpower here so we can put maximum effort into solving this case, and you’re giving Chee Wei time off for babysitting duty? Jesus Christ.”

“She’s no baby. The lab couldn’t pin anything on her but she might still know something. If she does? She might just pucker up for Chee Wei. He impressed her in the interview room. Even if she doesn’t ante up, the situation is going to shake Lin. He might think she knows something we want to keep from him.”

Spider leaned forward, elbows on his desk, knuckles showing white. “Listen to me, detective sergeant. James Lin will have your head in a roll if you play games with him. I’m not sure I can stop that from happening. But that’s beside the point. You need a cataract operation. We’re not after Lin. We’re after whoever killed his son. I want Lin out of my life. That goes for Jericho, too. He’s already called me wanting an update only thirty minutes after the damn meeting broke up.”

“Then give him an update. We’re getting at the Zhu woman another way. We think she’s more likely to loosen up if we release her, but keep someone close to her. Meanwhile, we’re still looking at the hotel security tapes and interviewing everyone we can think of. Something’s going to break, Lou, and I don’t mean Cueball’s brain.”

“Funny man. All right, we play it your way, for now. Anything else?”

“Need you to call the Lou at Taravel patrol and assign a squad car to Chee Wei.”

“Just so you can needle James Lin.”

“Nuh-uh. To protect a frightened girl from a bunch of guys who might not respect her civil rights. That Russian guy traveling with Lin? He’s trouble. Our paths have already crossed. If we hadn’t put a patrol car out front, they would have snatched Zhu from her sister’s house. I wouldn’t like to bet what they would have done to her to make her talk.”

“No shit?”

“That’s the people we’re dealing with, lieutenant. Don’t let the suits and the polite crap fool you. James Lin is used to getting what he wants. Just ask Victor Chin.”

“I’ll make the calls. Oh, and stay out of Cueball’s way, he’s pissed as hell, got some crazy idea this is all your doing.”

Ryker left Spider to it and went back downstairs. On the way he remembered Sandra Raymond. He’d meant to call her again but the big meeting with James Lin and the city’s finest minds had derailed his train of thought. She’d missed the morning’s excitement. He called her now, and she picked up after the third ring.

“Detective Raymond. Missed you at the station house. Where are you?”

“Are you kidding me? I’m still at the Mandarin,” she said, sounding weary. “We’ve interviewed over fifty guests. You have no idea. These people have social secretaries. They won’t let me in their rooms without an appointment. ‘Come back later this afternoon.’ I’m like, ‘We’re investigating a murder here, open the fucking door.’”

Ryker squeezed into a corner to let a couple of female cops march a skinny junkie upstairs. “From the tone in your voice, I’m guessing no one saw anything.”

“Damn right.” Raymond sighed into her phone, venting her anger. “Hey, I talked to Morales. He said the surveillance video only showed the Chinese woman and morning room service. You’ve arrested her, haven’t you? So why am I still here?”

“You’re there in case someone reports seeing a ninja assassin climbing down the outside of the building.” Ryker almost missed his footing as the crazy thought solidified and hit him between the eyes. “Sandra, I want you to check with the manager. Find out who’s staying in the rooms beneath the Taipan Suite. Go talk to them.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“It’s worth a shot.”

“No, I mean the CSI team already checked it out. I talked to that guy, Klein? He said they dusted the doors, checked the locks, blue-lit the entire balcony and the balcony below. Nada.”

Ryker reached the holding pen and got himself buzzed in. Raymond’s signal faded as he passed through the doors and headed for Hoffer’s desk, but came back again as soon as he cleared the metalwork. “Can’t do any harm to talk to the occupants anyway, while you’re waiting for your next social appointment.”

“Okay. I got it covered.”

Hoffer had his book open and the envelope with Xiaohui’s belongings ready and waiting. Ryker signed the book and the clipboard that Hoffer held out, effectively releasing her from custody.

“Did Klein say anything else?” Ryker asked Raymond.

“You get brain cancer from these things,” Hoffer opined. Ryker crossed his eyes and stuck his tongue out, and headed for the interview room.

“He hit on me,” Raymond said.

“He hits on everyone. Don’t think you’re special. What did you say?”

“I told him I have AIDS.”

“Ouch. But he asked you for a date anyway, right?”

She chuckled, a throaty sound which pleased Ryker no end. Maybe he’d lost the knack of pleasing women, but at least he could still make them laugh.

“Keep doing what you’re doing, Sandra, it’s appreciated. News update, we’re releasing the hooker,” he said. “Not nearly enough evidence to hold her.” He didn’t go into detail about James Lin; plenty of time for that later, and Raymond’s diary was hectic enough at the moment.

“With respect, Sergeant, what am I missing?” Raymond said. “If no one else was in the hotel room, she has to the killer, right?”