The Allegation: A John Mackworth novel

by Tony Davies

  “Are you honestly telling me the right person hasn’t come along yet? That you haven’t found the right person, the one in a million girl who will become your soul mate. That is a load of horse shit.”

  She paused before saying “There are numerous people out there you could settle down with and be happy and content with. No-one is perfect, it’s all about compromise. Everything in life is. The truth is, one day you will come to a point in your life when you will feel the need to ‘settle down’ and then you will compromise. You will overlook lots of ‘failings’ and focus on the good things. Yes, that could even happen to you. Until that time comes along you are content to break a thousand hearts in the pursuit of a good time. Or have I got you wrong?”

  Mack looked intently at her. “I am not sure where all your aggression has come from. There I was, thinking you are a sweet innocent girl but here you are sounding all bitter and cynical.”

  He laughed to lighten the mood and went on “Well, not bitter, but shall I say worldly wise? I bet if you asked all the couples here tonight, everyone in a serious relationship would say they trust their partner and some would mean it. Most would say they had found their girl in a million, but I am sure you are right, they could just have easily found someone else who was just as compatible.

  “As for me, for now I enjoy being single, although I should imagine I will grow up one day and become an adult and we will see what happens then. I am not sure why the conversation has gone down this route though.”

  Em looked at him seriously and said “Oh, don’t worry, I am not looking at you as the solution to my mother’s prayers, that I find some great guy who will whisk me off and marry me. The truth is, I don’t see you as a playboy, but then again, I don’t necessarily see you as the marrying kind either. Perhaps you have a secret yearning for the unobtainable?

  “And I am not sure why I want to know what you are really looking for. It certainly isn’t some motherly feeling that I want to take care of you or anything like that.”

  She smiled and stroked his hand. “You can trust me you know. We may not know each that well, but you can relax with me. Where all this ends up, who knows. Does it matter? I don’t think so, as long as we are enjoying the moment and we will both enjoy it more if we relax and open up a little. So open up and tell me how your day was, what is troubling you and we will see if talking helps. Now, let’s order, I am starving.”

  Mack looked at the menu but didn’t see the words. His mind was elsewhere. Em’s long tirade had certainly taken him by surprise and it was clear something had happened which had helped formulate her views on men. Not that it mattered though. In his eyes it didn’t diminish her appeal or his desire for her. Everyone had hang-ups and skeletons in the closet, it was only a matter of degrees. At least she had been forthright and had expressed her feelings without fear of rejection. He could feel himself being drawn to her and wondered where it would all end.

  Chapter thirty two

  Things are never what they seem

  Andrew Weston looked at the screen on his desktop and decided something was definitely amiss. The share price of one of the listed companies he had helped to float the previous year, Atlas International, had fallen by over 15% in the last week. It seemed a number of investors were dumping the stock and yet his research department hadn’t alerted him to any negative press about the company or the sector it operated in.

  The company owned a large clothing manufacturing and retailing operation in Hong Kong and China. Thirty per cent of the company’s stock was held by his client, an Indonesian family, with the rest being spread over a large number of investors. Westminster owned just under 7%, most of it leveraged.

  The family had owned the business for a number of years and had built it into a profitable operation. When they decided it was time to sell so they could focus on their Indonesian operations, he had persuaded them they would get a better price by a floating it rather than going through a trade sale. If the share price kept falling that certainly wouldn’t be the case.

  The family didn’t want to increase their exposure so there was no question of them supporting the stock. That meant he would need to call in some favours from a few of his chosen clients. The alternative was to burn the client and lose a great deal of money himself. He knew he had to find out what was behind the fall before the inevitable call came from his bankers and the client. His bankers would be worried about their loan and his client would want some reassurance that the fall was going to be reversed, and quickly.

  He brought up the company’s share register on the screen. The majority of the shares that had been sold had been owned by nominee companies, which was a little unusual given that most small investors bought in their own name or through transparent Hong Kong companies.

  He got up and walked slowly to the window. He couldn’t afford to lose his credibility within the close-knit community of Indonesian families he dealt with. It was one of his power bases and one he intended to preserve at all costs.

  Perhaps it was just coincidence that the stock price happened to be fall at the same time as the allegation regarding Lee Wai surfaced. He had asked Bent to look at who was behind the nominee companies and expected to have an answer shortly. In the meantime, there was little he could do but make some calls and start buying the stock.

  …………………………………………………………………………………….

  It was 7pm and the room was empty apart from two men sat in lounge chairs and a waitress attending to their needs. The waitress kept a discreet distance away so she could not hear their conversation. She knew of Luk’s reputation and she knew it was best for her if she remained invisible.

  “What will you do with the body?” asked the man with the red tie as he slumped in one of the reclining chairs.

  “Why do you want to know? You always leave those details to me.” It was said with a tone of disdain and the speaker immediately regretted the words. He tried to recover the position by saying “I meant no offence.”

  The man with the tie smiled and spoke in a calm voice “None taken.” He glanced at his watch. “Anything else you need to tell me?”

  “No, nothing. I haven’t found out everything you asked yet, but you gave me five days and so far I have only used three of them. I still have time.”

  “Don’t let me down on this, there is too much at stake.”

  “I have never let you down and I won’t on this occasion. Anyway, the task is easy enough and the work offers, how shall I put it, a degree of satisfaction.” He grinned. “Yes, satisfaction is the right word.”

  He smiled again at the man with the tie and waved at the waitress to bring him another drink. The girl came to the table with a bottle of red wine and poured it slowly into his glass. She looked about twenty five and had all the sophistication you would expect of a girl from a Wong Tai Sin housing estate. Which in the man’s opinion meant none at all. Still, he thought she had an attractive body if you liked long legs and full breasts and he knew her attributes could be put to good use at some point in the future. He filed an image of her naked body in his mind and turned his attention back to the man opposite.

  “Keep talking” said the man with the tie in a dispassionate voice.

  “Nothing much to say. Our other operations are running smoothly enough.”

  “Good. Call me when you have the information I asked for.” He sat up from the reclining chair and headed towards the door.

  The man sat on his own for a few minutes drinking his wine. He had no specific plans for that evening and was undecided whether to finish the bottle or head elsewhere. He glanced in the direction of the waitress and saw she was stood near the door. She looked utterly bored and he assumed she had several hours before the end of her shift. The evening was hardly likely to get any more exciting for her. Unless he intervened. He waved at her and as she approached he said “I want you to do something for me.” The girl inwardly groaned and tried to smile, a task she almost achie
ved.

  Chapter thirty three

  Getting some leverage

  The building was quiet, but Mack told himself that was to be expected. It was 10am on a Sunday morning after all. Not many people were ready to make pornographic movies at that time of the day, especially not on that day of the week. People needed a rest day, even in Hong Kong.

  The foyer was deserted as he made his way to the lift. Getting out of the lift he strode up to the front door of Sam Ng’s studio and knocked loudly on it. A few moments later the door was opened slightly and Sam peered out. He recognized who it was and stepped out, quickly closing the door behind him. He was in what Mack assumed was his usual attire of white open neck shirt and tight blue jeans.

  “Welcome. First you show me money. No money no show.” He seemed nervous and looked up and down the corridor.

  Mack’s voice showed no emotion when he said “Okay, but first you confirm that we are ready to go. That you have the guys and the boys and we can make the DVD this morning. I don’t want to disappoint my buyers.”

  “Yeah, okay to do it now if you have money. Like I said, show me.”

  Mack opened the brown paper bag he was carrying to reveal several wads of US 50 dollar bills. He showed the bag to Ng. “Don’t worry, it is all there. Let’s get started.” He pointed at the door and Ng quickly opened it, glancing up and down the corridor as he did so.

  As he entered the studio Mack saw two young Chinese boys sat on a large double bed at the far end of the room. They were wearing school uniforms, complete with maroon ties, white shirts and short grey coloured trousers. They were about twelve years of age and were animatedly playing a game on what Mack assumed was an ipad. They looked up at him but didn’t acknowledge him in any way and quickly went back to their game.

  Two Chinese men in their late twenties dressed in business suits were sat in a corner of the room. They stood up and gave him a quick nod of their heads. They knew he was the client and had money to throw around. A good performance today might mean more work in the future.

  A camera had been set up facing the bed and a man Mack assumed was in his late twenties, was stood by it. He looked like a computer nerd, complete with a bright orange UCLA t-shirt and thick horn rimmed glasses. Mack assumed he was the cameraman.

  Ng brushed past Mack and stood by the camera. He said sternly to him “These are my people, you pay me, I pay them. No introduction needed. You only watch, not tell me what to do. I do this many times. You not disappointed.”

  Before he could say anything further Mack said “Remember, I want hard core porn involving those two juveniles. Got it?”

  Ng responded arrogantly “Yes, I got it. You want hard core. What you think we here for. Make Donald Duck movie! We start now so just enjoy, okay!”

  He motioned the cameraman to start recording and then ushered the two men towards the boys. As he did so, Mack reached into his pocket and within seconds the door flew open and four largely built men in overalls and balaclavas burst into the room.

  ………………………………………………………………………………………..

  It was 4pm on Sunday afternoon and Lindy and Mack were sat in the Starbucks in Hopewell Centre. It was crowded as usual, with a full mix of families and maids. Sunday was the day off for most of Hong Kong’s 50,000 plus Filipinas and most of them used the day to descended on Central and Wanchai to meet their friends.

  Lindy had managed to find a table near the door, but conversation was difficult above the din of Tagalog and Cantonese emanating from every table.

  Lindy had dressed down for the occasion and was wearing her Pippy Longstocking outfit, complete with pigtails, a loose pink shift dress over blood red leggings and bright yellow trainers. Mack knew better than to comment on her outfit. He was in a pair of dark chinos and a non descript blue T shirt, an altogether different look to Lindy.

  They had agreed to meet to discuss the morning’s events at Sam Ng’s studio and the location was convenient for both of them. The air conditioning would not be working in their office on a Sunday afternoon and Starbucks offered fresh coffee and blueberry muffins.

  Mack was obviously in a buoyant mood as he described the reaction on Ng’s face when the door to his studio opened and the ‘police officers’ burst in.

  “I know we got lucky, but sometimes you deserve it. You linking Ng to the DVD production was our lucky break. Well, lucky yes, but it was really down to you. Thanks.”

  Lindy’s face lit up with a radiant smile but she didn’t respond and sat quietly waiting for Mack to continue with his story.

  “We now know Ng made Stephen’s DVD and it was filmed in one of those Kowloon Tong love hotels that specialise in bookings by the hour. We showed him the start of the DVD and he immediately recognized the room. He had set up the camera to run by remote control so he didn’t get to see what happened in the room.

  “He says he didn’t book the room, the client did. The hotel has ‘lost’ the booking reference, which isn’t unusual as no-one wants a record kept of their trysts in that sort of place.

  “Unfortunately, we can’t get hold of a full copy of the DVD. Ng swears that the client was there and he took the memory card with him. He didn’t get a chance to make a copy. If that is true, someone else edited it, which isn’t difficult I suppose.”

  “Does he know who the client is?”

  “He says he doesn’t. He thinks we have him cold on conspiracy to produce child pornography and he knows he will get five years inside for that. He hasn’t yet realized we are on dodgy grounds legally, I am a private citizen after all, and I am not sure how Don would react if I told him what we had done. Nevertheless, when I spoke to him he hadn’t had time to think it all through, which is what we expected. It seemed pretty obvious from his attitude that he would rather risk spending five years in prison than tell us who the client is. That means he must be very afraid of that person.

  “Now who do we know who could instill that kind of fear and is tied up in this in some way?” He smiled when he said “Luk is the obvious candidate. He is certainly intimidating, a known triad, or at least he was, and Ng would definitely not want to upset him by naming him as the client. I don’t know whether he is the mastermind or simply the muscle behind it all. I suspect the latter as this seems to be more than a simple extortion case. I think we are missing the big picture here.”

  They both sat in silence for a few minutes before Mack declared “We really need a copy of the full DVD. And I think I know how I might be able to get it. If we get a lucky break that is.” He smiled and dialed Ping’s mobile number.

  ……………………………………………………………………………………….

  The foyer was poorly lit and Ping’s back ached from having sat in one position for too long. The building’s caretaker finished work at 6pm every night so Ping was sat in his chair surveying the foyer. Gaining access to the room had been easy enough. The caretaker had not even bothered to lock the door. Since there was only space for a small desk and one chair and contained nothing of value he could see why. It wasn’t even air-conditioned and he was glad he had brought along a bottle of water to drink.

  He was wearing his Yankees baseball cap and kept his head down while he read a football magazine in front of him. When Mack had phoned him and told him he wanted him to find out whether Luk lived in the building he had followed him to, he had thought it would be an easy task. Discussing the matter with Mack had quickly dissuaded him of that.

  Ping did not want to risk being seen by Luk and was aware that on the last occasion it was obvious Luk was concerned about being followed. Risking his luck twice was stupid. He could ask someone in the building if he lived there and in which unit, on the pretext he was a friend or something. But there was a chance that could have got back to Luk and that was something he was not prepared to risk.

  Mack and he had decided the only solution was to wait to see which floor the lift stopped at when he eve
ntually returned home. Mack told him no-one ever took notice of caretakers as they were just part of the furniture and so far he had been right. Several people had entered and left the building and no-one had even glanced in his direction.

  Of course, there would be no guarantee Luk would get in the lift on his own, but it wasn’t a big building and the lift was not designed to take more than four or five people. Only four apartments per floor meant that if they got lucky they would narrow it down to a manageable number.

  Fortunately, luck was on their side and Luk had returned to the building at around 5pm and had got out on the 17th floor. He was still in his apartment and Ping was waiting for him to leave.

  At precisely 7pm Luk got out of the lift and walked past the management office. He did not see Ping behind the locker. He exited the building and turned left towards the direction of the Golden Jade restaurant. Ping waited ten minutes and then phoned Mack.