Kiss and Die Read online

  ‘Be careful, my clever daughter. He who treads softly goes far.’

  ‘Trust me, Father. I know what I am doing. But when I have done it, will you be ready to hand it all over to me?’

  ‘Yes. When you have proved yourself.’

  Victoria closed her phone and walked back through the lounge. There was an orgy going on in her apartment. Two naked Russian girls snorted cocaine from her expensive glass table. Another sat on a man’s lap as he played cards, eyes rolling in his head. She was passed one to the other. A girl in her early teens danced naked in the centre of the room, so tired she lurched as she twirled. Her nose was clogged with methamphetamine; her head was buzzing but her body spent.

  Victoria passed through and came out to stand on her balcony to look out to sea. Out on the balcony the air was charged with the electricity of the storm. The gales were picking up, caught on a typhoon’s tail. She held tight to the railing as the gusts tossed her hair into the air. Victoria smiled to herself. The night had been a good one; it would be over soon. Victoria turned back to face the wind. It took her breath away as it picked up her hair and whipped it across her face. All those years arranging flowers, holding dinner parties, watching her husband lavish his concubines with expensive gifts. All those years she took the pill without him knowing. There was no way she was going to bear a child of his. There was no way she would allow the tyranny to continue. Lucky for her he had never managed to father a child elsewhere. Now she was free and now she stood and tossed her head in the wind and laughed with the exhilaration of it all. Yes, Mann had done her a huge favour when he took care of her husband and whether he liked it or not they were joined to each other. She and Mann would rule the Triad world together. One day he would have nothing left but her.

  The balcony doors slid open. The young dancer stood there naked, trailing a blanket behind her. ‘Come here, Lilly.’ Victoria beckoned her closer to the railing. The wind began to subside. They looked out as the first signs of dawn began to change the light and bring a mauve tint to the stormy sky. ‘You are a good girl, Lilly, beautiful and clever.’Victoria stroked her hair. ‘I have a present for you.’

  Lilly shivered. Victoria unclasped a gold bracelet from her wrist and clipped it on Lilly’s.

  ‘We have achieved much but there is still some left to do. We have to seal the deal. Then you will have so much jewellery, so many fine things and you will be by my side always.’

  She wrapped the blanket around Lilly’s shoulders.

  ‘There’s just one more thing I want you to do for me.’

  Chapter 37

  The autopsy was due to start at 7 a.m. Mann had driven straight there after writing up his report on the murder at the hotel. He had dozed for an hour in the car whilst he waited for the autopsy to begin. He sat in the car park outside and watched the coroner, Mr Saheed, arrive. Mr Saheed was a tall man of Indian descent, with a dry sense of humour and a bad memory for recalling other people’s lives. Mann gave him ten minutes then he rang the bell. Kin Tak answered. He glanced over Mann’s shoulder as if he saw someone else standing there and then quickly turned away.

  ‘Stop coming here!’ he shouted out as he turned to lead Mann into the autopsy room.

  Mann turned to look behind him. He saw no one there. ‘Who’s there?’ he asked Kin Tak.

  Kin Tak shook his head, small nervous jerks like a twitch. ‘No one. No one.’ He went off muttering under his breath, a running commentary to no one in particular and too low for anyone to hear or understand.

  Mann was used to Kin Tak’s outbursts. He knew he was harmless. His strangeness was part and parcel of his job. Mann slipped on a white overall.

  ‘Good morning, Inspector. We were about to start without you. Kin Tak already has some observations that he is bursting to share with you.’

  Max Kosmos’s body was lying on the steel autopsy table, tilted to allow the fluids to flow into the holes at the bottom and into the drain beneath the table. His abdomen had a greenish hue. It was beginning to swell with the build-up of gases.

  Saheed switched the Dictaphone on. He turned to see what was holding Kin Tak up. He was staring at Mann.

  ‘Get a move on, Kin Tak. I am waiting. It’s not often we get to practise our skills on a tourist, is it, Inspector?’ He looked up at Mann over his bifocals. Saheed didn’t remember that particular autopsy or what it had meant to Mann. He only remembered that Mann been present the last time they had to perform an autopsy on a foreigner.

  Saheed started the autopsy. ‘We have a white male of Mediterranean origin, five foot eight inches tall, two hundred and ten pounds. His head would weigh a further fifteen to twenty pounds, if we had it, which we don’t. Someone went to a great deal of trouble to make this man suffer before he died. It doesn’t look like it was an easy job or a quick one.’

  Kin Tak shook his head. ‘Very messy, bad job indeed, not the right tools at all.’

  Mann approached the table.

  Saheed continued, ‘He died from the wound to his heart. It was made by a blade not more than half an inch wide, thin, long. By the marks on the edges of the rib bone…’ Saheed ran his finger inside the chest cavity, ‘…it took several attempts to saw through the last four ribs on the victim’s right side. Looking at the scraping on the bone I would say a small, fine-bladed saw was used. I concur with the initial estimate that death occurred sometime in the early hours of yesterday morning. I would expect cause of death to be a sudden trauma to the heart. He did not bleed to death, although he would have done undoubtedly, given time. I can say he was tortured over a period of four or five hours. What can you tell me about the circumstances leading to this man’s death, Inspector Mann?’

  ‘I entered the hotel room and found him, his legs tied to the bed. You’ve seen the photos?’

  ‘Yes. Daniel Lu e-mailed them to us. It was quite a bloodbath. What was the motivation, in your opinion?’

  ‘Not your average robbery, if it was one. She took his wallet but that was to barter in exchange for drugs, we know she bought a good deal of sedative.’

  ‘I will have the results from toxicology for you in a few days.’

  ‘It can’t have been just sexual, although there was an element attached to it. He was seen leaving the bar with a woman the night he died. He was a known user of sex workers, men and women. We might find it’s a spurned lover, an angry mistress.’

  ‘Perhaps we can help you with some part of the theory. We found something in his chest cavity.’ Kin Tak picked up a specimen tray from the table behind him and tilted it for Mann to see.

  ‘Penis.’

  ‘Yes, it’s his penis.’ Saheed looked over his glasses at Mann. ‘But, that’s not all…Kin Tak has discovered something very important that links this murder with another. Haven’t you, Kin Tak?’

  Kin Tak was too excited to spit the words out so Saheed did it for him.

  ‘What did you notice about the blood splatter patterns, Inspector?’

  ‘Arcs of flesh and blood across the ceiling, sprayed around the room.’

  Mann looked at Kin Tak.

  ‘Yes, yes. And were there distinct arcs but following exactly the same line?’ Kin Tak almost shrieked.

  Mann thought back. The memory was implanted in his mind. There were three pronged arcs of flesh and blood crusted onto the hotel ceiling. ‘Yes. That’s what it was.’

  ‘It is the same weapon that took off the Indian girl’s hands.’

  Chapter 38

  Mann drove back to the office. It was eight thirty and the place was buzzing with the anticipation of a major murder investigation. Mia was waiting for Mann when he got back.

  ‘We’ve had a confirmation, it’s Max Kosmos. The gold ring on his finger is a matching wedding ring to his wife’s. The wife seemed bitter, angry.’

  ‘Is she on her way to Hong Kong?’

  ‘No. She says she’s staying with the children. You attended the autopsy?’

  ‘Yep and it’s thrown up something. The weapon
used to torture Max Kosmos is the same one used to mutilate Rajini.’

  ‘Tom Sheng’s not going to like that. He’d love to tell us to fuck off. Well, professionally anyway. He’s not the best at sharing cases. I’d rather you interview Michelle. You know her. Sheng’s heavy handed.’

  Mann nodded.

  ‘You better go and do it now. He’s busy getting the incident room set up so now’s your chance. You have half an hour.’

  Michelle was sat at the table when Mann punched in the door code and entered the interview room. Ng followed. Michelle looked up and kept her eyes on Mann’s as he walked in. Ng went to stand at the far wall. The room was only twelve foot square. The centre was taken up by the Formica-topped table shaped as a right-angled triangle. It was chained to the floor, as were the four red plastic chairs around it: two on the long side, one each on the others.

  Mann sat opposite her and pushed the photo of Max Kosmos across the table.

  ‘How long have you known him?’

  ‘About nine months.’ Michelle hadn’t had a chance to change and was still in her blue stage outfit. She had bags beneath her bloodshot eyes, blue eye shadow, smudged mascara. There was no natural light in the interview room although it was well lit for the two cameras that tracked events. The light bounced off the white polystyrene tiles on walls and ceiling. On the floor were grey carpet tiles.

  ‘Please, Inspector, let me go, my babies are at home. Rizal will be expecting me by now. There are things to get ready for the stall. What am I doing here?’ A couple of fat tears squeezed their way out. She wiped them hastily away. Her hands were shaking as she lit a cigarette that Mann passed over the table top. ‘Plus, I need a fix. Just a small amount, please.’

  ‘You’ll be out of here as soon as we are satisfied with the information you give us. We’ll let you call Rizal after the interview.’

  ‘What do you want to know?’

  ‘Max Kosmos – how well did you know him?’

  ‘He wasn’t a friend, as such. We had a meal together sometimes. He was lonely.’

  ‘What kind of meal? Afternoon tea or breakfast?’

  ‘All right, all right…Yes, I went to his room, sometimes. We had sex. He paid.’

  ‘When was the last time you had sex in his room?’ He could see she was about to lie. ‘Listen to me, Michelle. I found Max Kosmos, what was left of him, spread all around his hotel room. You want to tell me how he got like that?’

  She stared at Mann, her eyes searching his face. She looked across at Ng. He stared back. ‘He’s dead?’

  ‘Yeah. Cut to bits. His head hacked off, his skin stripped.’

  Michelle shook her head slowly from side to side, her eyes open wide. Her face registering the shit she just realized she was in.

  ‘Oh my God. I had nothing to do with it, Inspector, I swear.’ She began to hyperventilate. ‘Please believe me.’

  ‘But you had his wallet.’

  Michelle dragged on her cigarette and looked nervously from the table to Mann’s face, as if weighing up just how much truth she could get away with not telling.

  ‘When did you see him last?’

  ‘Three nights ago. But I swear he was fine when I left him.’

  ‘And night before last?’

  ‘No. He knew I wasn’t interested.’

  ‘Why?’

  She hesitated, looked guilty. ‘He roughed me up last time. I couldn’t work for a few days.’ She looked at Mann. She looked spent. It had been a long night.

  ‘Why did he do that?’

  ‘All right, he accused me of stealing money from his wallet.’

  ‘And did you?’

  She shrugged. ‘Sure. But only when he turned nasty. What happened to him?’

  ‘You tell me. He got killed by someone he took to his room that he probably intended to have sex with. The barman says you left the same time as him last night. You will be taken in if your prints are in that room, or any part of your DNA is in there. Now I can’t help you if you keep lying to me.’

  ‘I promise you I didn’t do it, Mann. Sure, I talked to him last night, in between sets, in my break. He wanted me to go upstairs with him but I was in the middle of a set. Anyway, I could see what mood he was in. He looked like he hadn’t slept for a couple of days. I told him I wasn’t well. He went out for a while and then he came back in with a girl. They sat at one of the tables, they had a drink. They left the bar about eleven. I left just after. I’d had enough. I knew Lilly was up to something; I thought I might find out what. I wanted to get home. There’s a lot going on. Lilly and Rizal…things aren’t good at the moment.’

  ‘Who did he leave with? Did you know her?’

  Michelle shook her head. ‘No. I didn’t get a good look at her. So many girls do a circuit of the hotel bars. I never saw her face. She could have been anyone.’

  ‘Tell me more about him. What kind of sex did he like? Was he into S amp; M?’

  She shrugged her shoulders. ‘He liked what everyone likes. He liked to get a bit rough. He didn’t like getting it back. I told you he got carried away sometimes, he got nasty.’

  ‘Bondage?’

  ‘Sometimes.’

  ‘Did you use props, handcuffs, tape?’

  She shook her head.

  ‘What about threesomes? Was he bisexual? Did he like ladyboys, young men?’ She hesitated. Mann waited. ‘Okay, let me reword it. What kind of men did he like?’

  Michelle looked flustered. Mann sat back in his chair and waited. Michelle looked around the room. She glanced over at Ng leaning on the wall. He stared back. Mann looked at the clock on the wall, it was 1 a.m. Michelle was jumpy.

  ‘All right, okay. Once, twice, I don’t know…I got him a boy.’

  ‘What kind of boy did he like?’

  Michelle rolled her eyes irritably. ‘Regular boy. He didn’t like ladyboys. He didn’t like gays. He liked a normal-looking boy.’

  ‘What did he like? Was he a giver or a receiver?’

  Michelle couldn’t look at Mann as she answered. ‘A giver.’

  ‘And you found one willing?’

  ‘Sure. This is Hong Kong, remember. People will do anything for money.’

  ‘Who was he? Someone you know well?’

  Michelle shook her head. ‘Just an Indian lad, lives in the Mansions. But you won’t find him. He’s a tout for a restaurant. He is just a lad, hungry for money. He means nothing.’

  ‘Do you often work with a male partner?’

  ‘Not often.’

  ‘But you have done before?’

  ‘Once or twice.’

  Mann looked at her hard. ‘How come you had Kosmos’s wallet?’

  Michelle stared at her hands resting on the table and then she took out a cigarette from her bag. The wardress stepped forward to light it for her.

  ‘It was passed to me.’

  ‘Who by?’

  ‘Look, Mann. I’ll tell you the truth. We have a little scam going here.’

  ‘Now, why doesn’t that surprise me?’

  ‘Cindy, Sandy and me. We get stuff for the working girls; we sell them dope, Viagra, GHB, whatever they need. I got his wallet in exchange for some pills.’

  ‘Who did you get it from?’

  ‘Well, that’s the thing…we don’t see the person. We get left a message. The waiting staff pass it to us, or the barman; we get told what they want and we put it in an envelope. Sometimes we leave it in the ladies, we all know where to look, sometimes we put it in an envelope and pass it back to the waiters. But, this girl, I have never seen. Honest. I’d tell you if I had.’

  ‘What did she want from you?’

  ‘She isn’t your average customer. All the other girls just want Rohypnol. She wants a type of GHB but not the usual. I had to source it. I found it from a supplier in Shenzhen. This time she bought a lot from me. The most she’s ever done.’

  Chapter 39

  Mann finished up his interview with Michelle and got to the incident room just as everyone
was cramming into the room, trying to find somewhere to sit or stand. Shrimp was busy pinning up photos of Max Kosmos’s body lying in a halo of blood-soaked Egyptian white cotton sheets.

  Daniel Lu came in late and stood in the corner by the door. Mann looked across at Sheng, he looked like he hadn’t had any rest either. He pulled at his tie and took off his jacket. His clothes were expensive but too flash. Around his wrist he wore a heavy gold chain that matched a thick gold ring he wore on the right hand.

  ‘As you all know a businessman named Max Kosmos was found murdered in his hotel room last night.’ Sheng addressed the whole room. ‘The reason we still have the members of the OCTB in here is because…’ Sheng flicked his head in the direction of the right-hand white board on which were photos of Rajini, ‘…the death of the young woman murdered in a Triad initiation ceremony and this man’s death are linked. It’s been confirmed that the same weapon was used in both murders. One to cut the girl’s hands off and two to torture Max Kosmos. Ng, what can you tell us about him?’

  ‘He was a forty-five-year-old American from Chicago. He’s middle management in an engineering projects firm. He is a frequent visitor to Hong Kong and does the Asia circuit every few months. Always stays at the Vacation Villas. This time he checked into the hotel four days ago. He was due to stay another day and then fly on to Australia.’

  ‘What was he working on here?’

  ‘Checking equipment supplied for container cranes down at the docks.’

  ‘Any Triad links?’

  ‘From him or his company, no. From the companies at the docks? Plenty.’

  ‘Mann, you were the first on the scene?’ Sheng had the look of one who was a chronic over-indulger: red faced, puffy eyes. He carried a little too much weight around his middle. It had aged him.