The Allegation: A John Mackworth novel

by Tony Davies

  Just before 8pm Ping was stood alongside Mack as he pressed the entry phone button for apartment 17a and asked for Ah Chan to open the security gate. The expletive reply told him that Ah Chan didn’t live there. He then tried apartments 17b and 17c, which drew similar responses. Apartment 17d did not answer so he assumed that was the unit Luk lived in.

  He got in the lift and as it stopped on the 17th floor he was accosted by the sound of loud canto pop coming from apartment 17a. He could hear screaming and loud voices and assumed a party was going on there.

  He looked at the door of apartment 17d and pressed the doorbell while Mack hid in the stairwell. If someone answered the door Ping was to ask for Ah Chan and hope that this would not arise suspicion. It would just be a case of someone innocently knocking on the wrong door.

  As they expected, there was no answer so went up to the door. Fortunately, it had only two locks, a warded Yale and a traditional wafer.

  Two minutes Mack entered the apartment while Ping went down stairs to watch for Luk’s return. Mack certainly did not want to be caught inside the apartment. The lounge was relatively small, but was tidy and well furnished. It opened onto a small balcony, which offered a view over the adjoining buildings. The room contained a TV, DVD and sound system, sideboard and two lounge chairs. Off to the side was a small dining area with a table and four chairs, which led into a minute kitchen.

  Mack went to one of the two bedrooms and saw it contained a double bed and a large wardrobe with a selection of men’s clothes in it. The other bedroom was empty, save for two suitcases and a set of dumbbells.

  There were no family photographs or personal memorabilia on display. The only print on the walls was a large poster of Bruce Lee in his famous Enter the Dragon pose. It looked like a typical rented bachelor’s pad, devoid of personality. Mack assumed Luk regarded it as simply somewhere to sleep.

  The sideboard door was closed and when Mack opened it he saw a large number of DVDs. The titles ranged from ‘Black on white’ to ‘Losing their virginity’ and from the covers they all seemed to be hard-core porn. He scanned through them and saw one blank cover on which someone had written some Chinese characters he did not recognize. He put it into the DVD and turned it on.

  The recording was of poor quality, but that did not matter. He had struck pay dirt, it was the Stephen Chan DVD. He reached for his rucksack and pulled out a small laptop. As he inserted the DVD and began copying it to the hard drive. The silence in the room was suddenly shattered when his phone vibrated. Ping’s photo came up and Mack knew it was the signal he needed to get out of there. Luk was on his way back to the apartment.

  He put the DVD back in its cover and replaced it exactly where he had found it. He picked up his rucksack and headed towards the door. As he opened it he looked back at the room to see if anything was amiss. Something didn’t seem right and for a moment he could not work out what it was. He had turned the DVD off and nothing seemed out place, but something was wrong. He suddenly realised the door to the sideboard was slightly ajar and he remembered it had been closed when he had entered the room.

  He heard the sound of the lift ascending to the 17th floor and looked at the light display to see it was passing the 5th floor. He knew he had only moments to spare.

  For an instant he wondered whether Luk would be perceptive enough to notice the closed sideboard door. He decided he could not take the risk and rushed to close the sideboard door before launching himself at the entrance. He just managed to close the apartment door and enter the stairwell before the lift arrived and Luk stepped into the hallway.

  …………………………………………………………………………………………....

  “Yeah, we got lucky again. Look, we know there is more to Luk than just muscle. He may not be the brains behind everything, but he does know the angles. Making a copy of the DVD before he handed the memory card to whoever is behind all this makes perfect sense. It’s not a bad insurance policy to have in case something goes wrong. It was worth the risk seeing if he had it and fortunately he did.” Mack smiled at Ping and Lindy, but only Ping grinned back at him.

  “You could have been seriously hurt if he had found you there. One day you are going to take one risk too many and then you will be in big trouble. Anyway, you still haven’t told us Lee Wai was in the DVD.” Lindy’s tone displayed the concern she had over Mack’s antics.

  “Ah, the DVD, yes, we must remember that the allegation first brought us into all this.”

  Before he could say anything further Mack’s mobile rang and the caller display showed it was Don Taylor. A few moments after answering it he hung up and looked off into space, lost in his thoughts.

  “That was Don. Debbie Chan is now officially classified as missing. He thinks it is too much of a coincidence that her brother dies in unusual circumstances and a short time later she goes missing. He doesn’t think she has gone on holiday and is not the type to just disappear without at least letting her parents know. He has no evidence any harm has come to her, but his words were ‘foul play is suspected.”

  Lindy said sternly “Well I agree with him. This case is turning into something much bigger than we first thought and the best thing you can do is hand everything over the police and let them get on with it.”

  Ping sat demurely off to one side. He knew better than to get in the middle of an argument between Lindy and Mack. There was only going to be one winner and if history was anything to go by, that wasn’t going to be Mack.

  “No, I don’t agree” replied Mack equally sternly. “If the police discover something has happened to Debbie then they will launch an official enquiry and we will of course co‐operate. Until then, we have to fulfill our obligation to our client and that means proving whether the allegation is true or not and who was behind it.”

  Lindy stood up and paced around the room. “That is complete nonsense. You owe it to Debbie to do everything you can to find her before she comes to any harm, and that means telling Don everything. Besides, you should not be jeopardizing your standing with your ex-colleagues like this. You know we rely on them for so many things. If they think you have withheld information that resulted in someone getting hurt they won’t help you in the future.”

  “There is nothing to tell. All we know is that she is missing and that she said she was looking into Andrew Weston. I have already told Don she was interested in Weston. I don’t see any point in explaining the details of the allegation until we have a much clearer picture about who is behind it and why.”

  Lindy scowled at him. “I don’t think you should risk someone’s safety just so you can solve your case.”

  “I am not doing that. Trust me on this, if I thought telling Don everything would ensure Debbie’s safety I would do it. At this stage I don’t so I am not going to do it. Now, let’s move on. You guys need to see the DVD.”

  The skeptical look Lindy’s face told him that she was not convinced his approach was right. In a moment of irritation he was about to tell her that it was his name on the business registration certificate. Fortunately, the moment passed and he turned the DVD on and left the room.

  Chapter thirty four

  Lots of questions

  Andrew Weston fought off the urge to sleep and tried to focus on the task at hand. Tee had arrived early and they had enjoyed sex in the spa followed by a light dinner. Feigning the need to send an urgent email, he was now sat in his home study trying to determine why Westminster was having problems on several fronts. Tee was fast asleep in the main bedroom, no doubt dreaming of rich men and fast cars.

  The room was lavishly decorated with everything he could possibly need in a home office. He acknowledged he spent more time in the room than he should, but dealing with clients in different time zones meant he needed to be available at odd times. He often retreated to the room late at night to do emails and Tee knew better than to interrupt him while he did so.

  He drummed his fingers on the desk in front of him. So
meone was still selling shares in Atlas and the price had fallen another 3% that day. None of his regular sources could explain why it was happening and the inevitable call from his bankers was imminent.

  Another of his investments, Sunshine Hotels, was also the subject of a flurry of sales within the last few days and again, there appeared to be no reason for it. The hotel sector was chugging along nicely with decent occupancy levels and room rates. Sunshine was performing in line with the sector, so he was at a loss to know why shares were being sold.

  He told himself he needed to decide what to do with the allegation issue and the Paradise Cove project. The project seemed to be making little progress as Lee Wai continued to dig his heels in over the land premium issue. Wilson had told him the deadline for a decision had been extended for another week, but that was of little consolation to him. There was only one way to solve the problem and that was to force Lee Wai to come to his senses.

  During his career there had been times when nothing seemed to go right for him, but he had always battled through and things had worked out in the end. He was unsure whether this was one of those occasions or whether it was the start of something much more serious. Something didn’t feel right about the share sales or the position Lee Wai was adopting.

  He wondered whether he needed an outsider’s perspective on the situation. Perhaps people like Wilson were too close to the operation to see the bigger picture. As for Bent, he didn’t seem to think there was anything to worry about. To him, finding out why the shares were under pressure was only a matter of time. He told himself Bent had better hurry up or he would take a huge financial hit.

  He got up and walked to the main bedroom and quietly opened the door. The side table lamp was on and room was bathed in a soft orange glow. It gave him a feeling of warmth and security. Tee was curled up in a fetal position on the bed, soundly asleep, with not a care in the world. He knew the relationship could never be more than it was, but he was content with that. He enjoyed it for what it was and was grateful for the respite it offered from the stresses of the world he lived in.

  He took off his robe and stood naked in front of the bed. Tee stirred, looked up at him and smiled.

  ………………………………………………………………………………………..

  The summer heat continued unabated and seemed to envelope the city in a vice- like grip. In Central, businessmen still walked short distances to important meetings wearing jackets and ties as they had done for over a century. Women were a little more fortunate, although summer floral dresses from Laura Ashley were not de rigueur. It was business outfits from Chanel and Gucci that were deemed appropriate.

  Mack had braved the heat and the sultry conditions to take the tram to Central and had regretted it the moment he had boarded the crowded carriage. Even with his open collar and lightweight chinos he still felt hot and irritable when he alighted outside the Landmark.

  He was sat in Westminster’s boardroom and the impeccably groomed Weston and Bent were sat opposite him. He assumed that in their position everyone, well at least the hired help, visited them rather than the other way around. Then he reminded himself that they had visited his office. So much for stereotyping clients, he told himself.

  Bent interrupted his thoughts when he said “So it seems the allegation is unfounded and Stephen Chan did not have an affair with Lee Wai.”

  Mack replied “Well, not exactly. We can say that Lee was not the party in the DVD that was made. The exert we were given leaves that open to debate, but the full version clearly identifies Stephen with another, Chinese male. In terms of the allegation, that only leaves the innocuous photographs of Lee and Stephen together as evidence of a relationship. They can easily be explained through their tennis connection. We can’t find anything more substantive that would stand up to scrutiny in a defamation case.”

  It was Weston’s turn to ask a question “I am intrigued, how did you find the full version of the DVD?”

  “Let’s just say, good old fashioned leg work. I was asked to establish whether the allegation was true or not and I don’t often explain the methods I use to my clients.”

  Mack smiled when he continued “Please don’t be offended by that, focus on the result, not the method.”

  Weston yawned and stretched his neck. “So it looks as if our problem is over then. I still can’t work out why the party behind all this hasn’t contacted us again. That is very strange. Perhaps he realized he couldn’t substantiate anything and decided to drop the matter. But then there is Stephen’s death and Paul has told me his sister is missing. Very strange indeed.” He seemed puzzled and looked at Mack and Bent for a reply.

  Mack replied “The police have an open mind on Stephen’s death and Debbie may turn up at any time. I haven’t got to the bottom of all this, but with a little more time I will. I assume you would like to know who is behind it all. I certainly would. I don’t like my office door being spray painted and I don’t like being assaulted.”

  Bent said in an incredulous voice “You were assaulted, in connection with this case? You never mentioned it’

  “It wasn’t necessary for you to know, so there was no need to alarm you.” “I thought our deal was that you would keep us informed of everything”

  “Our deal was that you would be informed of everything that was important. I didn’t think that was and I still don’t think it is, so end of subject.”

  Weston frowned at Mack. “You should have told us. Anyway, let’s move on. I think you have done a great job in respect of the allegation. Even if we don’t retain you further I have a feeling that you will plough on regardless. On that basis I am happy to keep you on the payroll until you can tell us the full picture. But that does mean the full picture and I would like regular up-dates. Let’s not work on a need to know basis. Where does that leave us with you helping our American clients? We really do need to get on with that.”

  “I am happy to do that work, so please send through the details when you are ready. In the meantime, I have a few things I need to follow up so I will leave you guys to run your business and I will get on with mine.”

  ……………………………………………………………………………………………..

  How far should one go to protect the interest of a client? Is withholding information that may be useful in a criminal investigation morally acceptable?

  Could he argue that his only obligation was to his client when there was no clear evidence that a life was at stake?

  Mack was lost in his thoughts as he sat at home waiting for Em to arrive. She had texted to say she was running late, so he had heated up a bowl of instant noodles and taken a bottle of beer from the fridge while he waited for her. An hour later there was still no sign of her, but he was not tempted to make the ‘Where are you?’ call. Play it cool was his usual mantra and he saw no reason to change that approach. They were both adults and she could turn up when she was ready.

  His thoughts were focused on Debbie’s disappearance and what he should now divulge to Don. Her disappearing act seemed totally out of character and he doubted she had done it voluntarily. He was certain it was connected with the allegation. Well, as certain as he could be. He had been wrong in the past, and he knew he would be in the future, but his instinct told him it was all related.

  One good thing about his ongoing involvement in the case was that Lindy was happy with their improving cash flow position. Westminster paid well, and on time, and with the Rogers report being submitted and paid for, their bank balance looked extremely healthy. It took some pressure off him in terms of the Smith’s job offer. He was scheduled to go to Singapore the following week to meet the hierarchy there, although he was still undecided whether he would go. A healthy cash position did give you more alternatives when it came to the directions you could take.

  He got up and walked to the fridge. He took out another beer and told himself he must limit himself to two that night. He doubted Em w
ould want a drink when she arrived and if she did, he could always drink water. The self deception lasted only a moment or so and he put the bottle back in the fridge and closed the door.

  As he walked back to the couch, there was a loud knock on the door. He assumed ladies were supposed to knock gently, in which case Em was definitely not a lady. He walked to the door and without peering through the peephole, he opened it.

  Chapter thirty five

  Dark deeds

  The car moved quickly through the deserted streets of the New Territories. They had taken the Eastern Harbour Tunnel and driven on to Tseung Kwan O. With no traffic they had made good time and the driver was pleased with that. He wanted the night to be over quickly.

  He turned the radio on quietly and hoped it would not waken the passenger in the rear of the car. He had only ever seen her sleeping and he assumed she had been drugged to keep her submissive. He didn’t know what their plans were for her. His job was to drive her to a safe house in Ha Yeung Village and leave her in the hands of others.