Lee Weeks - Kiss & Die

‘My daughter has a business proposal she wishes to put to you.’

Victoria studied Mann as if he were on the menu. After she seemed satisfied about which bit of him she would eat first, she gave a slight curl of her perfectly defined vampire-red mouth. When she spoke she had the merest hint of a lisp. The tiniest gap between her front teeth. ‘Good evening, Inspector. I trust you have enjoyed the evening’s events so far. Did you win?’

‘No. My horse had a better offer right at the end.’ Mann sat back, sipped his vodka and studied her in turn. ‘Tell me, Victoria, what is it with you? I just don’t get it. Well-educated, independent woman of the new order. You could be anything you want. Why choose the life of a Triad?’ Mann’s eyes flicked towards CK. He wouldn’t interfere. He was studying them both as if he were the proud coach of two prize fighters indulging in pre-match banter.

‘I am proud to be working for the Leung Corporation.’ She smiled, her eyes lowered and she inclined her head in a deferential bow towards her father. CK inclined his head back to her. His eyes lit up with menace as he listened with pride to his daughter.

Mann put down his drink, leaned forwards and smiled at Victoria. The ice maiden had nerves of steel. Mann wondered how long it would be before CK had to watch his back; when the pupil became the master. ‘You can use your money, pretty it up to make it look respectable but we all know where it comes from in the beginning. It never crosses your mind that it’s made from selling children into brothels, killing teenagers with drugs. It never for one tiny second crosses that mind of yours to feel a sense of disgust at the way you make your money?’

‘All money comes down to a dirty beginning. I merely accept it once it comes into my hands and I use it to the best of my ability. We have donated large sums of money to local children’s projects in Hong Kong. We are happy to reinvest in Hong Kong’s future.’

‘Schools?’

‘Yes, part of our investment is in schools.’

‘You’re happy to recruit from the kindergarten, you mean?’ Victoria Chan went to answer. He didn’t give her the chance. ‘Which schools? Schools on the immigrant, no hope, wrong side of the track?’

‘If you mean the disadvantaged, then, yes. We aim to provide a better level of education for those struggling in this present system. A voice for the ordinary man who won’t get heard.’

‘That sounds almost democratic. If I hadn’t seen the result of your policies myself I might have gone part way to believing you. A young girl was murdered at one of your initiation ceremonies. I found her body dumped in a box and being eaten by rats. You didn’t give her a voice, did you? You and your underprivileged school kids are murdering one another on Hong Kong’s streets.’

Victoria Chan eyeballed Mann. She was as cool as a cucumber; he had to give her that.

‘The young girl’s death had nothing to do with me. As a goodwill gesture, as I believe the name of the Wo Shing Shing was somehow implicated, I intend to offer compensation to her family, when you establish her identity. Believe me, I was horrified. It is not my vision of the future, to take a young woman’s life who had so much to offer Hong Kong.’

‘Don’t make me laugh. Admit it; you don’t give a shit about girls like her, they’re ten-a-penny, plenty more where she came from. You’ve created a monster that you don’t have the experience or the knowledge to deal with, it’s out of control.’

CK went to intervene. Victoria’s flick of the eyes, the tiny lift of her perfectly manicured hand told him, No, let me handle it .

‘You have no evidence against me, Inspector; otherwise you would have arrested me already. I sincerely hope that you get whoever killed that poor girl.’ Victoria reached down and opened her briefcase and extracted a slim clear folder. ‘I thought you might be interested in seeing how I intend to help people like that girl’s family and many more. Since my father asked me to take over his business concerns, I have found many things. It seems that your family and mine are linked.’

She smiled politely but remained as cold as steel. Mann looked across at CK. He was enjoying every minute of it.

‘It seems our allegiance goes back even before my father took over the running of the company.’ She pulled out a paper from the file and handed it over to Mann using two hands and with a small bow of the head. It was quaint how they still managed to keep to Chinese etiquette whilst selling souls.

Mann picked it up and glanced at it. It was a photocopy of a handwritten document of the kind rarely seen nowadays. He recognized his father’s signature at the bottom. He recognized the wax seal, red stamp of his father’s Triad organization, the Golden Orchid. Mann had seen it many times in the last few months. His lounge floor was covered in papers with the same seal. But he hadn’t seen this one. He placed it back on the table and pushed it across to Victoria.

‘Let me summarize it for you.’ She was unperturbed, perfectly controlled. ‘It’s a copy of a document that I believe you hold. It is an old legal document that states that your father and the Leung Corporation were two of the original owners of the Mansions and together we hold the majority share. As you are aware, there have been many moves in the past to knock down the Mansions and build a luxury development. It is the best site in Hong Kong for redevelopment, right on the peninsula, right in the heart of the business district.’

Mann shook his head in disbelief. ‘You’re mad.’

She cocked her head to one side and her eyes narrowed to a feline stare as her mouth froze into a mirthless smile. ‘On the contrary, Inspector. For years no one knew who owned the majority share. That’s why no development of it was possible. But I have the evidence here…’ she glanced down at the old piece of paper, ‘…your father was the missing major shareholder.’

‘It’s full of immigrant workers and refugees with nowhere else to go. Where is your community spirit now? Don’t you care?’

‘Oh, I care, Inspector. It’s a fire trap. It’s only a matter of time before it burns down.’ Her eyes settled on Mann’s face, they were shining in the candle light, their colour changing, churning up the riverbed, exposing the weeds. She picked up her tea and sipped it, hardly wetting her lips as she did so.

‘Don’t even think it.’ The place fell silent with the atmosphere. The waiters slunk away to the other side of the restaurant.

‘You misunderstand me, Inspector.’ She smiled demurely, her red lips curling at their edges into a smile. ‘I am only stating the obvious. I am not insinuating that it is in my control. What I propose is that we turn it into the luxury development it was always meant to be but maintain some guesthouses, a restaurant or two.’

‘Keep a flavour, you mean?’

‘Exactly.’

‘And exactly how stupid do you think I am? Got any other propositions? That one stinks.’ He pushed the paper back across the table. He looked at her. She had a smirk on her mouth that said she had picked the ace from the pack and her magic trick had hit its mark. It had shocked one, thrilled the other. Mann’s heart began to slow; the blood in his veins started to freeze. He felt the anger rise inside him. Mann sat back in his chair and looked hard at Victoria. All those years married to Chan must have been her incubation period. Now she had hatched into a black widow spider and Mann was on the menu.

Victoria Chan didn’t flinch. She had learnt to suppress her emotions. Outwardly serene, but like a beautiful snake with exquisite markings, she lured and then waited to strike. She picked up the deed and closed the file shut, then she looked across at her father and bowed. ‘Excuse me, Father, I have many things to attend to.’