“Do we know who this Chinese man is?” Lam asked. “ Someone must have seen him come in, his name should be on the visitors list?”
“No, he wouldn’t leave a name, and Chow didn’t write up a report. No one at the Station knows who this man is, or what he came in to say. We can only guess at this stage that whatever it was relating to led Chow to his death.”
Lam sat back heavily into her chair. Stupid, stupid boy, she thought angrily.
Chow was so innocent, so keen to do well and be liked by her. It’s my fault, she chastised herself. I should have let him get more involved, so that he didn’t have to go sneaking off behind my back to prove himself.
The Chief’s voice brought Lam back to the present.
“It’s not your fault Lam”, he said simply, as though he could read her thoughts.
“But I do need to know that you can deal with this. I can take you off the case if you need a few days? “
“No!” Lam interrupted a little too quickly, cutting off the Chief before he could say anything else. “That’s not necessary. I’m in the middle of the Bank case, and I think it could be related. I need to find out who did this to Chow.” Lam said with steely determination in her voice.
“I can do this.” She said, her voice calmer now.
“Lam, it hasn’t been that long since your last partner. I would understand if...”
“I’m fine Chief.” Lam cut him off again, but she was less aggressive now. “I can manage this”.
Lam knew that if she wavered even slightly, gave the Chief a single doubt then he would have her off the case in a heartbeat.
The Chief nodded silently, and hesitated for a moment.
“OK, keep me informed. I have the task of speaking with Chow’s family this morning and I’d like to be able to tell that we are onto this, and that we can catch the bastard that killed their son.”
The Chief nodded once at Lam indicating that their meeting was now over.
Lam pushed back her chair and stood up. She walked out of the Chief’s office in silence. The main office was quiet. Many of the police officers were still down at the bank taking statements. Only a handful remained at their desks, much to Lam’s relief. Of the few that were left, she felt their sympathetic eyes on her as she walked past their desks and down the corridor. It was as though a heavy blanket had fallen over everyone as she walked past.
She knew what they were thinking. No one expects to lose a partner, but it’s inevitable in this line of work that on rare occasions it will happen. They just couldn’t believe that in the short space of two years it had happened to Lam, twice.
11:40am
Lam sat at her desk flicking through a report that had landed on her desk ten minutes before. Her team had started to pull together the finer details regarding the robbery. She now had interview notes, photos and layouts of the bank and personal information about the two missing staff members; Ryan Harper and Robert Black. Lam scanned the first page of the report, she read and re-read the same page twice as she tried to absorb the words, but all she could think about now was Chow. Resigned and consumed, she closed the report and pushed it away from her.
She was under pressure for answers. She had the Chief bearing down on her from one side and the Media on the other. The media had jumped on the case, and the Police were now taking calls from every major network. It seemed that everyone wanted a statement.
The one thing that Lam didn’t have yet was a positive match on the palm print and fingerprints. She had worked hard to get the lab to process the prints ahead of anything else that they were working on, and when her charms didn’t work, she threw in the Chief’s name to get things rolling. Finally they promised her that they would push it through as quickly as possible and would call her if a match came up.
As if reading her thoughts, Lam’s phone suddenly rang, making her jump, she quickly regained her composure and grabbed at the receiver.
“Lam. Yes” Lam listened intently, a frown forming on her face. “Are you one hundred percent sure? OK, can you send it through to me. Thanks for rushing it through.” Lam replaced the receiver then immediately picked up the phone and dialed a number.
“It’s Detective Lam, I need you to send someone round to Ryan Harpers apartment now, you’ll need a warrant. We need to have a good look inside his apartment. He may actually be there if we’re very lucky. If he is at home, bring him in for questioning. Call me if you find him.” Lam finished the call. Her mind was racing ahead of her now.
Lam pressed the dial button and punched in another number.
“Mr McIntyre, it’s Detective Lam. Yes, I’m well thank you. We’ve just had the results back from the lab and we have a name. I’m sure that you won’t be surprised to hear that the prints belong to Ryan Harper. I’m afraid it seems that he is a lot more involved in this than we had hoped. We are still trying to locate Ryan Harper and Mr Black.” Lam said, then paused as she listened to John’s reply.
“I’ll keep you up to date and please just call if you have anything that you would like to discuss.” Lam finished the call and sat back heavily in her chair. She was hardly going to have time to worry about Chow right now. She would put this case to bed first and then hunt down Chow’s killer.
Chapter 18
11:50am
Ryan had had a lucky escape. He had slumped into the back of the taxi, and kept his head down until they reached the city. He’d asked the taxi driver to take him to Tsim Sha Tsui, via the Cross Harbour Tunnel and into one of the busiest places in Hong Kong; Nathan Road. He stepped out of the taxi and scanned the area. It would be a perfect place to hide in plain sight. Here tourists and locals filled the streets from the early hours of the morning until midnight. There was a constant chatter in the air, people were talking on their mobile phones, every few paces Ryan was accosted by an Indian tailor offering him a made to measure suit for under four hundred dollars. He weaved between people as he walked, avoiding elbows, women with small children in pushchairs, old men with walking canes and tourists with huge camera’s strapped across their bodies. There was hardly enough space to walk on the pavement without bumping shoulders with someone, or treading on toes. People here walked with a purpose. They had places to go and things to see. No one would take notice of a blonde-haired westerner in this part of the city. To anyone looking, he was just another tourist. He would be able to blend in easily whilst he decided what he should do next. Ryan stood back from the moving sea of people and stepped into a shops doorway for a moment. He still needed to find out about Rob, and the only way that he knew how, was to call Lily. He had put it off for long enough, and now he had no choice.
Ryan pulled out his phone and dialed Lily’s number, letting it ring until it reached her voice mail.
“This is Lily”, her familiar sultry voice purred into Ryan’s ear, making him feel sick. ”I’m not able to take your call, please leave a message after the tone.” There was a pause and then a click.
“It’s Ryan, the Police came and I had to leave the apartment. I need to know that Rob is OK. Call me.” Ryan pressed the red off button and pushed the mobile deep into his trouser pocket.
He reached into his wallet and went through the back note section to see how much money he still had. He counted out one thousand dollar note and four one hundred dollar notes. It wasn’t much. I’ll have to draw more, he thought, then dismissed the idea. What if they trace me using an ATM?
Ryan was about to close his wallet when he caught sight of a name card. He pulled the card out of the wallet and folded out the dog-eared corners.
Detective Inspector Sarah Lam, Direct line: 2305 3886. Ryan rubbed his thumb across the name card trying to decide what to do. Not yet, he thought, not yet. And pushed it deep back into wallet for safekeeping.
Ryan’s mobile started to ring. His heart immediately started to pound as he clumsily fumbled for his phone. Looking down at the small screen, he could see that it was an unknown number.
Ryan took a deep breath
and pressed the green call button. “Hello”. He said almost breathlessly, he tried to calm himself, pacing up and down on the pavement.
“Ryan.” Lily spoke calmly and gently, immediately putting Ryan on guard. “I’ve just listened to your message. Where are you now?” She asked with a little concern.
“It doesn’t matter where I am.” Ryan replied bluntly. “I just need to know that Rob’s OK. I have done everything that you have asked of me. The deal was that once it was all over, that you would release Rob and I can go back to normal.” Ryan paused and waited for Lily’s response.
“Ryan, just tell me where you are and then we can meet and talk.” Lily tone was gentle soothed him momentarily. Then he remembered.
“Do you really think that I would tell you anything? You’ve sent the police after me once. You could do it again. I’m not prepared to stand here and wait to be arrested.” Ryan tried to keep his voice calm, but his anger was starting to work its way through.
“Look Ryan, I need to know where you are so that I can come and meet you. Rob’s fine, he’s alive, you kept him alive. But things have changed and we need to talk. I need to see you.”
Ryan sounded skeptical. “Why Lily, so that you can kill me, get rid of any remaining witnesses. I don’t think so. I want to speak to Rob.” Ryan asked, this time his voice was stronger.
“You have to trust me that he’s OK.” Lily said.
“Trust? That ship has sailed Lily. There is clearly no trust left between you and I. I don’t know what you’re involved in and I don’t care, but you need to keep to your side of the deal and let Rob go.” Ryan said, feeling his confidence grow with each word.
“Look I think I can arrange for you to speak to Rob, but I can’t get him released yet. Ghost Face wants to keep him for a bit longer, he’s not happy that you have disappeared. Now he sees you as a potential risk. I can try and arrange for you to see Rob tomorrow. You’ll have to wait for my call.” Lily clicked off her mobile leaving Ryan standing with the receiver in his hand.
Lily punched in another number on her phone and waited patiently whilst it rang.
Eventually the call was picked up and a male voice answered.
“Yes.” Was the abrupt greeting that she always received from Ghost Face.
“We need to discuss Harper. I’ve just spoken to him. He sounds frightened and I don’t expect him to go to the Police. He won’t come to me. He just wants Rob to be released as he was promised.”
“No. Mr Black stays where he is.” Ghost Face replied firmly.
“I don’t understand why you need him still. The job is done. He has played his part.” Lily said.
“Let me explain something to you. We may have been successful in taking the money from the Bank, but your friend Ryan slipping away from the Police has changed our plan and puts us at risk. So keeping your dear friend Robert will just help us to ensure that Harper doesn’t do or say anything stupid. I’m sure you can appreciate the delicate position that we are in at the moment?” Ghost Face said.
Lily remained thoughtful before she replied carefully. “I understand the situation, it won’t take long to launder the money, I’ve set everything in place. But it’s better for us if he gets taken into Police custody. It buys us the time we need and that way we know exactly where he is. Once he’s been arrested, you said yourself that your friend can make arrangements and tie up the investigation for a long time. It puts us in the clear. Having him out in the open and keeping Rob locked up for longer than we agreed changes things significantly. It’s not part of the plan.” Lily finished.
“Your plan doesn’t work. I was a fool to listen to you. Now we have a loose end, which I will have to tie up myself. Keeping Ryan alive was a mistake. I should have disposed of him as soon as we finished the job.”
“You’re wrong.” Lily responded. “I know him better than you. I think he’ll go straight to the police after he’s seen Rob, after he’s sure that his friend is still alive, but until then, we don’t know what he’ll do. That’s what’s worrying me.”
“And Rob, is he likely to become a loose end too?” Ghost Faced said, criticism lacing his words.
“Rob will be interviewed by the police. He’ll think that Ryan and I have betrayed him, and had planned it all along. Eventually, Ryan will be cleared and the two of them will become friends again. Other than myself, no one else needs to be implicated. I knew that my relationship with Rob would be lost once we decided to do this. I just don’t want to see him hurt or be held longer than necessary.” Lily said, a trace of sadness in her voice.
Ghost Face remained silent and allowed Lily to finish her speech. A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
“Interesting. I’m not sure that I really believed that you would be willing to forfeit your friendship for something far more important. It pleases me to hear that you will first protect The Family.” He said darkly.
Immediately Lily could feel the colour coming to her cheeks. She had let her guard down, and shown a softer side to Ghost Face. She was angry with herself for allowing her emotions to come in the way of business.
“Until Harper is in Police custody, or dead, whichever happens first, Rob will not be released. Do what you need to do to get him into custody, but I warn you. The first sniff of deceit and he will be disposed of. Until then, there is no need for you to call me again.” Lily was left with a dead ring tone in her ear. She switched off her phone and thought about what she was doing.
It was inevitable that at some point she would have to remove herself from normal life. She thought back to the night before and realized that things changed the second that she stepped across the Bank’s threshold. Up until then, she still had a choice. And now? She thought. Now The Family comes first.
Chapter 19
Six Months Earlier
Lily had everything ready for her Grandmother. She’d been working night and day over the last month to get everything in place and now it was time. Now Lily sat in the drawing room of her family home, the midday sun pouring through the framed windows. Lily looked around her and allowed herself to relax a little. She loved this room. Everything was so familiar and comfortable, and relatively unchanged over the years.
She had chosen to sit on one of the comfortable mink coloured shot velvet couches that faced the centre of the room. Behind her on the vast back wall hung panels of painted silk with dramatic mountain scenes, and sunsets all hand painted. They had started to yellow slightly with age around the edges, but the paint was as vibrant as the day the brush touched the ink. Under her feet was an elegant carved carpet. It had been in the house for as long as Lily could remember. Rich with red, gold and yellow exotic birds and bordered with ornate oriental flowers that climbed and twisted across the floor.
She had placed her laptop on the low Elm wood Kang table in front of her. The exact place where years before she had knelt on the floor to do her homework. To her left, toward the main entrance of the room, stood a large wooden tea chest that held a pale grey stone sculpture. Lily knew this piece so well. It was the Goddess of Mercy. Her Grandmother had been named after this Goddess and her Grandfather had bought the ancient sculpture for his wife as a birthday gift one year. Towards the French windows that led onto the terrace was a large antique lacquered screen in black and ornate gold. She remembered hiding behind this as a child and being scolded by her Grandmother when the Amah and cook had searched the house from top to bottom, only to eventually discover her there.
The door opened and one of the maids came in carrying a bamboo tea tray. She placed it on the low table and smiled at Lily. “Your Grandmother is just coming.” The young girl said and smiled.
Lily nodded and replied with a ‘thank you’ and busied herself with preparing the tea. Her Grandmother was very traditional and insisted on tea ceremonies during every family visit. Lily had been taught from a young age and it was expected that each time she came, a ceremony would take place.
Today they had Jasmine tea, one of
Lily’s favourites. Not too strong, unlike some of the other bitter black teas that her Grandmother liked, but a gentle fragrant tea, pale yellow in colour and easy to drink.
Lily slid down onto her knees in front of the low wooden table and picking up a small clay teapot, scooped in the dried tealeaves, until it was three quarters full. The fragrant smell was already potent in its dried form and Lily took in a full breath of its aroma. She took a larger clay teapot that contained the hot water and poured it into the smaller pot, raising the pot up at a full arm’s length so that water poured out like a narrow waterfall filling the pot below until all the leaves were covered.
The door of the room opened a second time and instead of the maid, her Grandmother walked in.
“Just in time”, Lily said as she continued with her pouring being careful not to lose her focus.
Her Grandmother sat heavily on the couch just to the right of Lily. Her old body was slow these days, but she still held herself as upright as she possibly could, always elegant and graceful despite her age. Dressed in her usual Mandarin attire, with her silver hair perfectly coiffed, she rested her hand on Lily’s right shoulder for a moment before placing her hands demurely in her lap.
“Continue”. She said to Lily.
Lily emptied out the first of the tea into small teacups resting on a bamboo tray and filled them until the water overflowed. She re-filled the teapot again, this time emptying the teacups over the small teapot. She did this three times, each time allowing the tea to brew for slightly longer causing the flavour to infuse even further.
Finally she poured the tea into the two teacups, and placed them onto a small bamboo holder. Holding one with two hands she passed the first teacup and holder to her Grandmother bowing her head slightly as she did so. Her Grandmother took the tea with two hands and took a small noisy sip. Lily sat back up on the couch and picked up her own tea, enjoying the warmth of the cup in her hands.
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