Lee Weeks - Kiss and Die

‘He wouldn’t have taken that long. He hasn’t much fat on him.’

Daniel was knelt beside the body, examining the blackened corpse. Hafiz’s charred body was lying on its side, hands tied behind his back. His knees up around his chest, where the body had shrivelled as it burned.

‘They’ll save a bit on the cremation anyway. They could ask for half price, half the job’s already done for them,’ joked Sheng. Daniel didn’t comment. Sheng left him to it. ‘I’m going to talk to the family. I’ll catch you back at the station.’

Sheng made his way back down the stairwell. The Delhi Grill was the site of mourning. It had Indians queuing to pay their respects to PJ and the family. He walked past the mourners and found PJ sat at one of his tables, Flo next to him. Ali was standing, talking to people as they approached the table. Nina was busy laying out plates of food and drinks for the mourners. She kept her head down, she moved silently around as she worked.

PJ looked up as Sheng approached.

‘Mr Kahn, a word please.’

Ali gently eased the mourners out. Nina got a chair for Sheng. He thanked her. She smiled at him. His eyes lingered on her as she went about her work again, refilling the plates of food ready for new mourners.

He turned back to PJ and Flo. ‘My sympathies for your loss.’

‘Where is his body now?’ asked PJ. He had aged twenty years. His face hung in sorrow.

‘He will be moved shortly.’

PJ groaned and hid his eyes as he wiped them. ‘Still on that stairwell?’ Sheng nodded.

Ali placed his hand on his father’s shoulder. ‘It’s all right, Dad.’

PJ rounded on him. ‘It’s not all right,’ he said angrily, shrugging off Ali’s hand. ‘You said it would be but it’s not. Two of my children lost. One dead, the other in prison. How is that all right?’

Ali looked nervously at Sheng and back at his father and spoke to him in Urdu.

‘English please.’ Sheng spoke. ‘I can get a translator here if you need.’

‘No we don’t need that.’ Flo spoke. Her eyes burned with sorrow and anger. ‘We can all speak English. Hafiz was murdered by the Africans.’

‘Did anyone see it?’

‘Of course not. We smelt it though. The Mansions was full of smoke. People said you could hear him begging for mercy as he burned to death.’

‘Did anyone try and help him?’

Flo shook her head. ‘No one helps in these Mansions, not unless you want to be killed next.’

Sheng stood. ‘I will leave you for now, I’ll get someone in to take your statements. Hafiz’s body will be taken to the morgue for the autopsy. It will be released to you as soon as we have finished with it.’

PJ nodded his head, his eyes on the table. ‘Nina, show the officer out,’ PJ said, always polite, always respectful.

Nina stopped her work and walked Sheng to the door. He stopped to speak with her.

‘What do you think about it, miss?’

Nina looked up at him. Sheng wasn’t usually partial to Indians. He had never dated an Indian woman but this one had something about her that appealed to him. She had a full chest beneath the silk and the sari; she had a beautiful face and light skin.

‘My brother had got in with the wrong people.’

Sheng raised an eyebrow, he nodded. He smiled. ‘Do you live here with your family? You’re not married?’

Nina shook her head. ‘I live with my grandmother.’ She looked away shyly and down at her feet. ‘I am engaged to be married.’

‘Not yet though, hey? I tell you what – it would be really helpful to catch your brother’s killers if we could meet for a private chat about it all. I would like to help you and the Indian community. I am sure, with the right information, I could change things in here. Does that sound good?’

‘Of course. Thank you. You’re very kind.’ Nina smiled nervously. She was anxious to get away.

‘Fine then. We’ll have a private meeting, you and I, somewhere quiet where we can talk and I’m sure we can achieve a lot.’ Sheng grinned. ‘I’ll ring you here and arrange something. Don’t go anywhere.’

Shrimp looked closely at the computer image of the skull found by the fishermen. It was worn smooth, its right side was missing. The teeth were all there except for the molars on the right at the back. Shrimp clicked on the program until he had produced a projected image of the whole skull.

He took the photo of David’s brother, Ishmael, and enlarged it. He studied it closely: Ishmael had only one significant scar on his face, the one extending from his mouth to his ear on the right side. The skull was missing on the side.

He enlarged and cropped the photo till he was left with an A4 photo of his face. He scanned it into the computer and superimposed it over the skull found by the fishermen. He took it straight to Daniel Lu’s department.

‘I’m impressed. It’s a good match. Can you get his brother in here for a DNA match?’

‘Possibly,’ said Shrimp. ‘They’re a bit wary of police stations.’

‘Okay, I’ll give you a swab kit. Have you time to go back in there? You’re undercover from tonight.’

‘Yes. I’ll ring him. Get him to meet me. I’m not worried about being recognized undercover. I’m not moving from the bar. It’s all travelling businessmen in there. Plus, I have a great disguise.’

Shrimp phoned David. ‘Can you meet me at the park at the back of the mosque?’

Shrimp could see by David’s face that he was expecting bad news. They walked away from the park aviary and past the old men playing chess. They found a shaded bench and Shrimp told him what he believed. David listened, his head down.

‘The scar on Ishmael’s face, how did he get it?’

‘He was hit with a metal bar. It cut all the way from here to here.’ David ran his finger down the side of his face. ‘It knocked out four of his back teeth.’

‘He was doing the same sort of business as you here, wasn’t he?’

David nodded and then shook his head perplexed. ‘I don’t understand. He was doing well here in Hong Kong, he even had a girlfriend.’

‘Did you meet her?’

‘She was someone from the Mansions. He said it had to be kept secret. He said her name was Pearl, or Rose, I can’t remember. He liked her a lot.’

‘Did he tell you anything about her, age, height, second name, anything you can think of?’

‘He said she wasn’t Chinese. He didn’t say if she was tall or not. He said she had a nice figure. She was young.’ He shook his head. ‘My mother will cry forever when she hears this news.’

‘I am sorry, David. I need to ask you something else. Was he married?’

David shook his head. ‘No.’

‘You sure?’

‘Yes.’ David looked across at Shrimp. ‘So, she has killed others?’

Shrimp nodded. ‘We think so.’

‘Why did she kill my brother?’

Shrimp shook his head. The words in his head: there always has to be a first.

Ruby had seen Hafiz’s burnt body on the stairs but it meant little to her now. They would all die at some time. The difference is that Ruby would choose when and how.

Humming to herself, she picked Peter Thorne’s head out of the sink. She held it tightly to stop it slipping and slid it into a plastic bag, then another and two more. Then she tied them tightly and placed the head in her handbag, ready. She had a lot of things to do today. She went around the room and gave each of her dolls a kiss.

‘Mummy has to go out now so be good, babies. If anybody knocks on the door, don’t answer it. Mummy is taking Daddy somewhere special today.’

She stopped by a doll with a shock of curly blond hair. ‘This was your daddy.’ She placed the photo she had taken from Peter Thorne’s wallet into the doll’s lap, resting it on the stiff edge of her frilly skirt. ‘I know, I know.’ She looked around at her dolls. ‘Everyone needs a daddy.’ She scanned the room and her eyes stopped on a baby doll sucking its thumb, it had a blue cap on its head. On its tummy was a photo of a man, his family had been cut out, only his head remained. ‘Do you love your daddy, Steven Littlewood? Or you, little Louis?’ She picked up a ruddy-faced chuckling doll with painted plastic hair coming down its forehead in a kiss curl. ‘Of course you do.’