“Oh, no, not a problem. I’ll just call her in.”
“I prefer if I talk with her outside, without your presence. It’ll feel less like a grilling if it’s just me and her.”
Peter gave her a reluctant nod and watched her exit his office.
Leslie closed the door behind her and pulled a chair up closer to the assistant’s desk. She extended her hand and officially introduced herself.
“It’s nice to meet you, Inspector. My name is Vicki Wing. Is everything okay? Do I need to schedule another time for you to come back and see Mr. Song?”
“No, I’d like to ask you a few questions, if you don’t mind.”
“Me?” She pressed her hand against her white blouse, covering the circular jade pendant she wore on a gold chain.
“You’re not in trouble. This is just a formality. Could you tell me how long you worked for Mr. Song?”
“If I include this year, then it would be fifteen years even.”
Leslie made a mental note that Vicki had started the same year the building was constructed. “That’s a long time? Were you the first assistant Peter had?”
“No, another person held this job before me.”
“Did you know her?”
“No, I didn’t. And it wasn’t a ‘she’ but a ‘he.’ I believe his name was Gerry Chang, if my memory serves me correctly. I found a few of his personal items in the desk when I cleaned it out on my first day.”
“Do you know why he left the company?”
“I had asked Mr. Song that same question, only because he mentioned Gerry worked here for just two months.”
“And what was the reason he gave you?”
“He said Gerry had suddenly passed away.”
Chapter 19
A past employee of Peter’s dying the same year the building was built—that was too much of a coincidence for Leslie to ignore. She immediately brought Peter to HKP Headquarters. Lee had already picked up Roger Song for his DNA sample when Leslie called him and told him what she had learned. Lee detained Roger from that point on.
The Songs were being held in separate interrogation rooms. Both had been there for about thirty to forty minutes with absolutely no contact with anyone. They were told that they were not under arrest but further questioning was needed, and then they would be free to go.
Lee and Leslie stood behind the two-way mirror watching Peter fidget on the stool.
“He sweats a lot. Was he this nervous when you questioned him at his office?” Lee asked.
“Not nearly as bad, but it makes you wonder, doesn’t it?”
Lee nodded. “Just to be thorough, should we swab his assistant’s mouth?”
“Let’s do that. I don’t think she’s involved but you never know. So we’re in agreement on how we’ll play this?” Leslie confirmed, still staring ahead.
“Yeah, I think this approach will loosen their mouths.”
“Okay, I’ll handle Peter. You take care of Roger.”
A few seconds later, Leslie entered the small room that held Peter and took a seat on a metal stool opposite him.
“You have no right to keep me here. Why am I handcuffed? You said we were only talking.”
“You shouldn’t have been. I apologize.” Leslie undid the handcuffs, and Peter rubbed his wrists. “Feel better?”
He nodded.
“Can I get you something to drink? A soda? Coffee?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“Okay. Let’s talk about Gerry Chang, your assistant.”
“Is that what this is all about?”
“According to your current assistant, he worked for you for only two months. That’s not very long. Usually turnaround like that indicates a problem.”
“There was no problem. Gerry died.”
Leslie cocked her head off to the side and clucked her tongue. “A dead person sounds like a problem to me. How did Gerry die?”
“He had a heart attack.”
“At the office?”
“No.”
“I see. And how did you learn that Gerry had passed away?”
Peter chewed on his lower lip before hesitantly opening his mouth and then shutting it again.
<><><>
Lee entered the room sipping coffee from a mug and holding a bottle of water. Roger sat in the chair, slouched forward toward the table with his head down. It wasn’t until Lee sat on the stool and set his mug on the table that Roger acknowledged his presence by raising his gaze slightly.
“You’ll ruin my business,” His voice had turned raspy since they last spoke.
Lee unscrewed the cap of the bottle and handed it to Roger, who promptly gulped half of the water before using the back of his hand to wipe his mouth.
“Maybe you should have been honest with me from the beginning.”
Roger sat up straighter. “Honest? I’ve been nothing but honest with you. I had nothing to do with that body in the building.”
“Do you know Gerry Chang?”
“What’s he got to do with all of this?” Roger’s mouth hung slightly ajar as he waited for a response.
Lee didn’t answer. Instead he picked up his mug and slurped his coffee.
“I don’t understand what you’re talking about. Gerry’s been dead for…” Roger trailed off as the obvious struck him. “You don’t think the body in the building is Gerry, do you?”
“I know Gerry died the same year the building was constructed.”
“So did thousands of other people in Hong Kong. And anyway, Gerry died of a heart attack. It’s true; go ahead and ask Peter.”
“Did you know your cousin kept tabs on the building from the day it was built to the day he brokered the deal to sell it to you?”
Roger shook his head slowly. His eyes took on a glassy appearance. “This can’t be happening.”
“We were able to extract DNA from those remains. It’s only a matter of time before we match it to Gerry.”
Lee’s last response snapped Roger to attention.
“But Gerry died of a heart attack.”
“Were you there when he died?”
Roger jerked his head back. “No.”
“How can you be sure he died that way?”
Roger babbled for a moment before finding his words. “Peter told me he found Gerry lying dead in his bed.”
“Do you have any idea why Peter would be at Gerry’s place? Were they close friends maybe?”
“Close friends? They lived together.”
<><><>
“Please don’t make me repeat myself. It’s a real drag,” Leslie said, her tone even.
Peter didn’t bother to hide his distaste for being held like a criminal. His exaggerated breaths conveyed that point to a T. “Gerry was an old friend of mine. I knew him since we were teens. We went to the same school. Shortly before his death, he had fallen on hard times, and I wanted to help him out. I gave him a job and a place to stay temporarily.”
“You rented an apartment for him?”
Peter shook his head. “No apartment. He stayed with me.”
“You didn’t happen to lend him any money during these tough times, did you?”
Peter nodded. “A lot. More than I would have liked.”
Leslie was surprised by Peter’s admission but held her gaze steady and controlled her emotions. “Clarify ‘a lot?’”
“HK$200,000. I know the money makes it look suspicious but I’m telling the truth about his death. I found him dead in his bed one morning.”
“Did I mention the skeleton we found still has its full jaw intact?” Leslie leaned forward and rested her both forearms on the table.
Peter shrugged. “So?”
“That means we have a full set of teeth. You know how easy it is to match dental records with today’s advancements? Will you still stick with the same story when we match it to Gerry? And even if your cousin is saying something different?”
“What’s he saying?”
“You know we can only offer on
e of you a deal.”
“What deal are you talking about?”
“The one given for cooperating.” Leslie smiled. “Don’t you want it to be you?”
“Roger doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He wasn’t there.”
“Yes, that’s exactly what he said, except he’s not one-hundred-percent sure how Gerry died. He said there wasn’t an autopsy.”
“You’ll never be able to match those teeth to Gerry.”
“What makes you so sure of that. We have the capability.”
“Because I had Gerry cremated.”
<><><>
Leslie met Lee back inside the room that gave them a view of Peter.
“I’ve got to hand it to you, Leslie. Your hunch that Peter knew Gerry on a personal level was dead on. Roger readily admitted that Peter and Gerry lived together. Were they lovers?”
“I don’t think so. Peter told me he simply helped him out with a job and a place to stay, but he lent Gerry a lot of money—HK$200,000.”
“So something comes between them and they start arguing over the money. Peter gets angry and accidently kills Gerry. He panics and hides the body in the building that’s being constructed.”
“Something like that, except he’s claiming that he had Gerry cremated.”
“You believe him?”
“Until we have proof otherwise, no.”
Lee tilted his head slightly. “Well, I definitely have Roger believing he might be caught up in something fishy. He’s questioning everything he knows about what happened. Telling him we were able to extract DNA from the remains and it being only a matter of time before we match to Gerry, played brilliantly.”
“Does he know that we can’t match it unless we have some personal item of Gerry’s or collect a sample of DNA from a known relative?”
“Not a clue,” Lee said with a chuckle. He then looked at his watch. “An SEO team should be hitting both Roger’s and Peter’s places right about now and collecting samples of anything and everything. If we come up with DNA that’s different from the Song cousins, I’ll have Dr. Fang test it against the two profiles he already has. So, how sure are you that skeleton is Gerry Chang?”
“Honestly? About fifty-fifty. The money gives us a motive, Gerry died the same year, and Peter admits to keeping tabs on the building. There’s a possibility. Better to clear the path and hit a dead end than to ignore it completely.”
“So now what?”
“Let ’em stew while we have a conversation with Dr. Fang.”
Chapter 20
“I’m telling you, a DNA sample is useless unless we have another sample to compare it to, either one from the victim or DNA collected from a blood relative, ideally the parents or a sibling,” Fang said as he snapped on a pair of latex gloves. “Without that, this body will remain unidentified. There’s nothing I can do about that.”
“Have you tested the DNA for Peter, Roger, and Sheila?” Leslie asked.
“My assistant is conducting those tests. I’ll know the results shortly.”
Fang walked over to the skeleton and ran a finger gently along the jawline of the skull. “You know your other option of identifying the remains is through dental records. Look at the teeth. They’re perfectly intact. A match will be easy. If you can provide me with the victim’s dental x-rays, I can make a comparison.”
Fang removed the gloves and tossed them into a rubbish bin. “I’m also aware that an SEO team is scrubbing the apartments of both men right now.” Fang tilted his head from side to side. “I’ll be honest. The odds of finding something left over from Gerry after fifteen years… It’s a stretch, but I’m not one to say never. We’ll test any DNA that’s recovered. Let’s see what the team comes back with.”
Leslie and Lee returned to the holding rooms, no further ahead than when they left.
“I still feel good about building this case around Peter,” Lee said. “But unless we can identify that body, it won’t stick. If he did kill Gerry Chang and that’s his body we recovered from the building, then Peter covered his tracks pretty well.”
“They’ve sat long enough,” Leslie said. “Let’s see if their imaginations ran wild.”
From the moment Leslie entered the interrogation room, Peter demanded to see his lawyer. The waiting seemed to have the opposite effect on him.
“I’m not saying another word,” he barked. “You can’t keep me here. I’ve done nothing wrong. I demand to make a call right now. Every minute you hold me will work against you because I’m speaking the truth about Gerry Chang. You’ll see.”
“If you’re so sure that the body we found isn’t Gerry, then you should be willing to help us prove it. The innocent always cooperate.”
“I have no problem talking, but I still want my lawyer here.”
Leslie headed over to the other interrogation room, and Lee told her that Roger was demanding to speak with a lawyer. “Yeah, I got the same response from Peter. It seems like they’ve both run out of patience.”
“Yeah, and if we don’t officially charge them with something, we’re going to have to cut them loose.” Lee glanced at his watch. “We already held them longer than we should have.”
“Let them have their phone call.”
It was nearing nine p.m., and the cousins had been detained for about three hours. Both men had their lawyers appear shortly after they made the calls. Leslie released Roger soon after his lawyer arrived, but she held Peter for additional questioning.
“You can’t hold my client. From what you’ve told me, you have nothing substantial.”
Michael Kadin, Peter’s lawyer, kept his tone calm and professional. A handshake was the only friendly gesture Leslie elicited from him. She couldn’t recall ever meeting him or hearing his name, which was strange considering her long tenure with HKP.
“Mr. Kadin, we’re simply trying to identify a body. Your client has told us he’s willing to cooperate.” Leslie gestured to Peter. Lee stood quietly, leaning against the glass partition with a notepad and pen in his hand.
“My client has voluntarily provided a DNA sample and told you everything he knows. He’s cooperated.” Kadin pulled down on the lapels of his jacket, signaling the meeting was over. He was dressed nicely in a navy blue Hugo Boss suit, with a clean-shaven face and neatly groomed, light brown hair.
Leslie turned to Peter, who was still seated. “Did Gerry have a dentist? If we can get a hold of his dental records, we can see if they match the body we have. This will be the quickest and easiest way to clear you.”
Kadin also turned to Peter and nodded for him to answer.
“He asked me once who my dentist was, but it was a long time ago, and I don’t know if he went or not.”
“Give us the name of the dentist and let us worry about that.”
“Dr. Kim. I believe his first name was Jin. He’s Korean.”
Lee wrote down the name of the dentist.
“You mentioned that Gerry died of a heart attack. Did you call the paramedics? Was he rushed to hospital and declared dead there? Was an autopsy done? A third party confirming that can help.”
“There was no way I would pay for an autopsy. He was dead when I went to wake him that morning. Clearly he had a heart attack.”
“Oh, so you’re also a physician qualified to determine the cause of death purely through eyesight?” Lee questioned, his tone heavy with sarcasm. “Is that what you’re saying?”
“Look, Gerry had no family. I was all he had.” Peter patted his chest as the lines in his brow deepened. “Why pay good money to a doctor so he can tell me something I already know? And anyhow, because he had no family, there was nobody to tell. Why go through the trouble? I hired a funeral home to handle the cremation and that was it.” He looked away as he let out a forceful breath.
Lee readied his pen again while Leslie and Kadin stared at Peter. A beat later, Peter blurted out the name of the business that handled the cremation. “We appreciate your help and we apologize for the inconven
ience. You’re free to go,” Leslie said.
Peter kept his head down and mumbled as he walked past her.
Kadin stopped a foot in front of her. “From this point forward, if you want to speak to my client, I need to be present. Clear?”
“Aye, aye, captain,” she said, saluting Kadin.
The lawyer ignored her smartass comment and exited the room.
Lee glanced at his watch. It was late, and he was beat. “I’ll call the funeral home and hunt down the dentist first thing in the morning. We’ll know soon if all of this was worth it.”
“Questioning people is always worth it,” Leslie said before exiting the room.
Chapter 21
Po Po and the kids were exhausted from all the walking we did during the day. To be honest, so was I. We didn’t need to put it to a vote; we were staying in that night.
“Ryan. Lucy. Bathe. Now.”
Both kids were lying on the bed watching TV. I knew if they didn’t shower then, it would damn near be impossible to have them do it after they’ve eaten. They both groaned as they dragged themselves off the beds. Lucy walked into her and Po Po’s room. Ryan made a beeline to our bathroom.
While the kids bathed, I put in an order to room service: a chicken burger for Ryan and a grilled cheese sandwich for Lucy. Po Po wasn’t too hungry and wanted only a bowl of jook, rice porridge. I ordered a chicken Caesar salad for myself.
After dinner, the kids dozed off, and I took the opportunity to talk to Po Po before she faded. I had ordered hot water with our dinner and asked Po Po to join me on the balcony for tea. I used the tea leaves I purchased from a small shop near our hotel. While our drinks steeped, we enjoyed the view of the skyline across the bay.
“Po Po, I want to talk to you about something that’s been on my mind all day.”
She looked at me with inquisitive eyes.
“What you said earlier about Peng and Mei’s marriage being arranged…was that the truth?”
“Of course. Why you think this way?”
“It’s just that…well, I know how these things work. The status thing confuses me. You didn’t come from money, and it seems like Mei’s family did, so…” I waited for Po Po to finish my sentence.
Kowloon Bay (Abby Kane FBI Thriller Book 3) Page 7
