Gone in Hong Kong (A Nick Teffinger Thriller / Read in Any Order)

by R. J. Jagger

  Teffinger recognized two of them.

  Claude Monet’s “Poppies.”

  Vincent Van Gogh’s “Self Portrait.”

  He didn’t recognize the other paintings, per se, but knew who the artists were.

  August Renoir.

  Edgar Degas.

  Edouard Manet.

  Each photograph had a date on the back.

  “So do you think our dead friend painted these, or do you think they’re reference photos of the originals?”

  Teffinger shuffled through them.

  “They’re too small to be reference photos,” he said. “He painted them. These are part of his shrine to himself.” A pause, then, “Maybe he sold these as originals, then the buyer found out they were fakes and decided that Pak would look better with a hatchet sticking out of the back of his head.”

  “That’s a good theory, actually.”

  “This is interesting,” Teffinger said. “Three of the pictures are of Claude Monet’s ‘Poppies,’ but each one has a different date on the back. Same thing for Van Gogh’s ‘Self Portrait’—there are three pictures of that painting, but each one has a different date.”

  Fan Rae studied them.

  “Maybe he made a couple of small changes to them and then re-photographed them,” she said.

  Teffinger looked at “Poppies.”

  “I don’t see any changes,” he said. “All three look identical.”

  “I’ll have the lab do a digital conversation and an overlay,” Fan Rae said. “If they’re different, it won’t be hard to tell.”

  “Let’s find out where he banked,” Teffinger said. “Maybe he made some deposits that can be traced—a wire transfer or something like that.”

  Fan Rae smiled.

  “You’re pretty sexy when you think,” she said. “Did anyone ever tell you that?”

  Teffinger grunted.

  “As a matter of fact, Sydney Heatherwood said that to me once,” he said. “She also added, Good thing it doesn’t happen that often.”

  “That is so freaky.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I was just about to say that same thing.”

  “Great, just what I need in my life, two Sydneys.”

  “I want to meet her,” Fan Rae said.

  “No way,” Teffinger said. “She has too many stories about me.”

  “Any bedroom stories?”

  Teffinger shook his head.

  “She’s my partner,” he said. “Even I have a few boundaries.” He cocked his head and added, “I did bounce a quarter off her ass once, though.”

  “Tell me about it,” Fan Rae said. “But not now, the next time we’re drunk.’

  THEY LEARNED A LOT over the next few hours. The five paintings depicted in the photographs were all from the same place, namely Musee d’Orsay in Paris, France. Teffinger was right about the other three artists.

  The Renoir was called “Nude in the Sunlight.”

  The Degas was “Absinthe.”

  The Manet was “At the Beach.”

  The interesting thing, though, was that the three photographs of Claude Monet’s “Poppies” were all slightly different paintings, rather than refinements or modifications of the same one

  “He painted that one three different times,” Teffinger said. “I wonder why.”

  “Maybe he didn’t like the way the first two came out,” Fan Rae said. “It took him three tries to get it the way he wanted it.”

  Teffinger shrugged.

  Maybe.

  But the first two looked pretty good to him.

  The same was true of Van Gogh’s “Self Portrait.” It got painted three separate times.

  The other interesting thing related to Pak’s bank account. He deposited $1,000,000 HKD on five separate occasions, cash each time.

  “He sold them to someone for a million each,” Fan Rae said.

  Teffinger nodded.

  That was true.

  “One thing baffles me,” Fan Rae said. “If he painted nine paintings and sold five, what happened to the other four?”

  Teffinger shrugged.

  He didn’t know.

  “The other thing that baffles me is—”

  “Wait a minute, cowgirl.”

  “What?”

  “You said One thing baffles me,” Teffinger said. “Emphasis on the One. Now you’re adding a second thing.”

  “I can’t add to the baffle list?”

  “Baffle lists are set in stone,” he said. “You can’t mess with baffle lists.”

  She punched him on the arm.

  “Okay, let me put it like this,” she said. “In addition to the One thing that baffles me, there’s something that interests me too.”

  Teffinger nodded.

  “Better,” he said.

  “And that is, who would be crazy enough to pay $1,000,000 for these replicas? There’s no way he could sell them as originals. Anyone with an Internet connection can find out in two minutes that the originals are in Musee d’Orsay.”

  Teffinger shrugged.

  “It is baffling,” he said.

  “And interesting.”

  Chapter Eighty-Five

  Day Eight—August 10

  Monday Morning

  ______________

  A MAN NAMED DEWEL HO SHEK owned the steel vessel in Aberdeen Harbour where d’Asia was staying. He went by the name Billy—Billy Shek—but only among friends. In the photography world he still used his legal name, probably because it had a more professional ring to it.

  “Billy,” Kong said. “I saw a spaghetti western about Billy the Kid when I was about ten. That’s the only Billy I’ve ever known.”

  “Well now you know two,” Tanna said.

  “What’s he like?”

  “He’s big.”

  “That’s not good.”

  No, it wasn’t.

  “D’Asia hardly ever leaves the boat,” she said. “When she does, it’s usually just a quick trip on foot up to the stores. Billy gets home at the same time every day, about five o’clock. They hang out inside until after dark. Then they come out on deck and drink wine.”

  “So they’re lovers?”

  Tanna shook her head.

  “No, they’re just friends,” she said. “I’m sure he’d like it to be more, but she’s way out of his league.”

  Kong spotted a rock and threw it at duck.

  He missed, but got close enough to scare the bird into the air.

  “You’ve done your homework,” he said.

  “I’ve been at this a while,” she said. “I’m ready for it to end. Here’s my plan. I’m going to find a way to make a move on Billy and get him to take me out. That will leave d’Asia alone, after dark. You swoop in and kill her.”

  Kong chewed on it.

  “Works for me,” he said. “We’ll do it tonight. If you can’t lure him away, we’ll both swoop in. I’ll take care of him and you can take care of her.”

  Okay.

  Fine.

  “Either way, it’s done and over tonight.”

  Chapter Eighty-Six

  Day Eight—August 10

  Monday Morning

  ______________

  PRARIE AND EMMANUELLE headed deeper into the tattoo man’s house. In the basement, at the end of a large room, they spotted a solid steel door. They opened it to find a windowless room with a bed and a bathroom.

  “This is it!” Prarie said.

  “Are you sure?”

  “You got to be kidding,” Prarie said. “I know every square inch of this place. Look at me, I’m shaking.” She held her hand out to prove it. Sure enough, it trembled.

  Emmanuelle got a strange look on her face.

  Prarie sensed trouble, then she understood.

  Someone was in the house, upstairs.

  There was no way to get to the outside from this level. The only way out was to go up.

  “What do we do?” Prarie whispered.

  “It might have been a trap after
all. If it’s not, he’s going to spot the broken window any second,” Emmanuelle said. “We need to get out of here now before it’s too late.”

  SHE HEADED FOR THE STAIRS. Prarie tried to follow but she couldn’t breathe and sank to the floor.

  Chapter Eighty-Seven

  Day Eight—August 10

  Monday Afternoon

  ______________

  TEFFINGER CALLED THE FLEMING to see if anyone left a message. No one had. He couldn’t justify the expense any longer and checked out as long as he was on the line. When he hung up, Fan Rae wanted to go back to Guotin Pak’s house and have another look around.

  “Why?”

  “Because there’s too much going on,” Fan Rae said. “We got blood on the windowsill, as if someone crawled through it and got scraped on the way down. We got lengths of rope lying around, as if someone had been tied up. We got the victim injured with a death star, then sewed up, then snagged in the head with a hatchet. There’s a story that connects it all and I want to know what it is.” She patted Teffinger on the knee. “You want to come with me?”

  Teffinger cocked his head.

  The Pak murder was interesting.

  It was fresh.

  He didn’t have a dog in that fight, however.

  He needed to stick with Syling Wu.

  On the other hand, he had no idea what to do next in that case.

  “I’ll tag along,” he said.

  AT PAK’S, THEY PARKED IN THE DRIVEWAY, unlocked the door and stepped inside. Fan Rae said, “I’m going to use the facilities,” and headed that way. Teffinger thought he heard something in the studio.

  Weird.

  He listened harder.

  Silence.

  When he walked into the room, a fist came out of nowhere and smashed him on the side of the head.

  Hard.

  Serious.

  He tried to stay on his feet but staggered and then dropped to the floor. His eyes focused just long enough to see a man dive headfirst through the back window, right through the glass.

  Then everything went fuzzy.

  “Nick!”

  Suddenly Fan Rae was there with him, pressing something cold and wet onto the side of his head, stopping the bleeding.

  “Did you see who did it?” she asked.

  “Just a bit,” Teffinger said. “I think it was Vance Wu but I’m not positive.”

  “Vance Wu?”

  Right.

  Vance Wu.

  “Vance Wu from the casino?”

  Right.

  Him.

  “Are you sure?”

  “No.”

  “WHAT WOULD HE BE DOING HERE?” Fan Rae asked.

  Teffinger shrugged.

  “I don’t know but I’ll tell you one thing,” he said. “Whoever it was, I’m impressed. I’ve seen guys jump through windows on TV a million times, but that’s with safety glass and mats. This guy did it for real. You got to be a little bit nuts to do it for real. If it was me, I would have taken the extra half second to go through the front door. I wonder if he cut himself.”

  He staggered to his feet, tested his balance and eased his way over to the window.

  The glass was shattered.

  They saw no blood, not a drop.

  “Now I’m even more impressed,” Teffinger said. He felt something warm on his neck and touched it.

  “Nick, sit down. You’re bleeding all over the place.”

  FAN RAE’S PHONE RANG. She spoke in Cantonese and increasingly wrinkled her forehead as she talked. Two minutes later she hung up and said, “I’m going to have to bail on you for a few hours tonight.”

  Why?

  What’s up?

  “I need to help someone with a project,” she said.

  Teffinger opened his mouth to ask another question, then he paused.

  He suddenly realized what was going on.

  Fan Rae and Tanna were going to kill d’Asia tonight.

  He looked at her, searching for something on her face to tell him he was wrong, but her face was stone, cold stone, hard stone.

  “What’s that look for?” she asked.

  “I have a look?”

  Yes.

  He did.

  “You’re looking at me with a look.”

  “I guess it’s just that I pictured us together tonight,” he said.

  She kissed him.

  “I won’t be gone for long,” she said. “To make up for it, when I come back I’ll be your sex slave.”

  Chapter Eighty-Eight

  Day Eight—August 10

  Monday Afternoon

  ______________

  WHEN POON CALLED KONG shortly after lunch and wanted to know what Kong was doing, he told him he was smack in the middle of planning the d’Asia project, which was going to go down tonight. Kong flirted briefly with the thought of telling Poon about Tanna, but didn’t see an upside to it. “Do you want to make some money this afternoon equal to the d’Asia project?” Poon asked.

  “Are you serious?”

  He was.

  Dead.

  “I’ll have you back in plenty of time for tonight,” Poon said.

  A half hour later, the Predator picked Kong up at Aberdeen Harbour and whisked him to Macau. There, he was met at the dock by Jack Poon and Vance Wu.

  “Do you know how to drive a boat like this?” Poon asked.

  “You mean twin screws? Sure, no problem.”

  “Good. We’re going to go on a little treasure hunt for our eyes only.”

  “What kind of treasure hunt?”

  “The kind you won’t even believe.”

  Interesting.

  They lashed a rubber dinghy to the swim platform and headed southeast into the South China Sea. Twenty kilometers later they hit the Dongoo Dao islands. Poon directed them to the smaller island, to the east, which was less than a half kilometer around. On the south side sat a sandy beach.

  Deserted.

  “I own this island,” Poon said.

  “Nice.”

  “Not nice, paradise,” Poon said. “I bring women here sometimes.”

  “Nice work if you can get it,” Kong said.

  THEY ANCHORED THE PREDATOR in fifteen feet of clear aqua water, threw a shovel into the dinghy and rowed ashore. When they got there, Poon pulled a gun from out of nowhere and pointed it at Wu.

  He made a mark in the sand with his foot, not more than a few meters from the edge of the water, and told Kong to start digging.

  Kong was pretty sure what Poon had planned but he didn’t know why nor did he perceive Poon to be in the mood to answer questions, so he picked up the shovel and dug, and didn’t stop until Poon told him to.

  Then Poon said, “Put him in.”

  Kong pushed Wu in.

  “Fill it up but let his head stick out.”

  Kong did it.

  Within five minutes, Vance Wu was buried up to his neck in the sand.

  Poon squatted down and looked Wu in the eyes.

  “I saw this once in an old pirate movie and promised myself I’d do it to someone some day,” he said. “Apparently, you’re the someone and today is the day.”

  Wu wasn’t impressed.

  “I heard about your scare club,” he said. “This isn’t going to work. You’re going to have to find another sucker.”

  Poon looked out at the sea.

  “The tide’s coming in,” he said.

  Chapter Eighty-Nine

  Day Eight—August 10

  Monday Afternoon

  ______________

  THE FOOTSTEPS COMING FROM UPSTAIRS suddenly stopped. Prarie pictured the man with the tattoo staring at the broken window, stopping in his tracks, and listening for someone in the house. She pictured him tiptoeing to get a knife or a gun or a hammer. Instead, the front door opened and then closed. A few seconds later, a car fired up outside and drove away.

  They tiptoed up the stairs, looked around, saw no one and got the hell out of there.

  When they pas
sed the gas station at the crossroads, the small green car was next to a pump. A strong man with a wild tattoo on his neck was filling the tank. He fixated on the women as they drove past.

  “He recognized me,” Prarie said.

  Emmanuelle pushed harder into the pedal.

  “No way,” she said. “Not with your new hair.”

  “No, he did,” Prarie said. “I saw it in his eyes. He recognized me but just couldn’t place it. Once he finds out the house was broken into, he’ll figure it out.”

  The tires squealed.

  The car drifted over the line.

  Emmanuelle brought it back and said, “It doesn’t matter. He’ll never find us.”

  Prarie grunted.

  “He’ll be calling every hotel in Hong Kong within the next half hour,” she said.

  “Relax,” Emmanuelle said. “You worry too much.”

  ON THE DRIVE BACK, Emmanuelle made a phone call to her P.I. friend in Paris and gave him a new assignment. He said, “I’m on it,” and called back in twenty minutes. “Okay, that house is titled to a man named Dick Jin Lin. Just for grins, I ran a preliminary background check on him. Stay away from him.”

  “Why?”

  “You don’t want to know.”

  Yes she did.

  So he told her.

  “Do me a favor and dig deeper,” she said. “I want to know who his friends are.”

  “How am I supposed to find that out from Paris?”

  “I don’t know. I only know that I need you to.”

  WHEN THEY GOT BACK to the hotel, the elderly woman at the reception desk frowned when she saw them.

  They sensed trouble.

  “What’s wrong?” Emmanuelle asked.

  “You were right,” the woman said. “Someone came looking for you.”

  “Who?”

  The woman handed her a black and white printout of a man’s face. “I printed this off our security tape for you,” she said.

  Emmanuelle studied the face.

  Prarie did too.

  It was a man in his mid-thirties, good looking, with a square chin, jet-setter eyes and a refined-slash-rugged look. He’d be right at home dining at the finest restaurant or trekking through the wettest rainforest. He looked like a man who knew what he wanted in life and had figured out how to manipulate the world to get it.