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‘There will be no favouritism,’ Tom Sheng continued. ‘First of all, let’s be clear about events. What happened last night, Ma
Ma
‘We got an anonymous call through to the hotline at 9 p.m. saying that there would be an initiation ceremony taking place that evening in Mong Kok.’
‘Any trace on it? Any chance of voice recognition?’ asked Sheng.
‘No. I’ve played it back. It’s someone being paid to read the details. It’s been sent via a third party. I left with Officers Li and Ng and we split into three teams, each covering a different section of Mong Kok.’ Ma
‘So, you didn’t have enough manpower?’ Tom Sheng interrupted.
‘It wouldn’t have mattered if we’d had a fucking hundred times that amount,’ Ma
‘Why would someone want to run the risk of you finding it?’ Tom Sheng asked.
‘Because it was a special night. They knew we wouldn’t find it but they wanted to make sure it was acknowledged. Not only was the girl sacrificed but a new society was born. It is a branch of the Wo Shing Shing. I found their emblem amongst the burnt oaths. And I found this…’ Ma
‘What’s the purpose of these new societies? Why change the format? Why start recruiting girls and ethnic minorities? What is the need for it?’ asked Sheng.
‘The Triads have always targeted the teenage underdog. The young Indian population feel abandoned. They feel marginalized. They can no longer compete. The Indians and the other minorities used to be on a level playing ground, now someone’s dug up the goal posts and moved them. School places are allocated by a points system and the higher up the social scale you are the more points you seem to have. Plus you have to read and write Mandarin.’
‘What do we know about the victim?’
‘We don’t have a name for her yet. The autopsy showed she died due to asphyxiation when her throat was cut. We know she was of Indian descent, approximately fourteen years of age.’
‘What’s the latest on Operation Schoolyard?’ asked Sheng.
Mia answered, ‘We have one operative in the school. She’s twenty but looks much younger. It’s been hard to infiltrate; hard to get someone convincing enough. She joined a month ago as a student in the senior school. Her aim is to infiltrate into the new gangs. It’s a tricky area, new to us, dealing with girls, and immigrants.’
‘This initiation was brutal,’ said Ma
‘She’s twenty,’ said Mia. ‘There are people in this room who went undercover at that age. The difference is, she’s a woman. But that isn’t a problem. We need to play the same game and keep up.’
‘All right.’ Tom Sheng looked around the room. ‘There’s one thing we haven’t covered. Operation Schoolyard is all about infiltrating the ranks of the new Triads. What we need now is someone to give us an insider’s view on what is really going on at the top. We need to know who’s making all the decisions that filter down to these kids. Who’s pulling the strings? We need an insider.’ Tom Sheng looked at Ma
Chapter 8
Ma
Ma
He checked his watch; he was early. He had time to phone. He stood on the walkway and took out his phone.
‘Mum?’
She was pleased to hear his voice, he could tell. ‘Are you better? I haven’t seen you properly since you came back from Burma.’ Her accent was old school English: loosened a little by modern times but still tight, taut.
‘I’m all right, Mum. I’ve been busy.’
Ma
‘Have you time to come over soon?’
‘I’ll see. I have so many things to sort out at home.’
‘Your father’s affairs?’ A frosty, hurt voice.
‘Yes.’
Ma
‘Look Mum, I have to go. I’ll call you later.’
Ma
Now his father’s secrets were out, Pandora’s Box was open. His father hadn’t just had another family in Amsterdam; he had supplied most of Europe with heroin. His father wasn’t just any Triad, he was a very good one. The chatter of the birds greeted him as he walked up into the botanical gardens off Albany Road at the top of Central district. Apart from that it was quiet; it was too early for the tourists. The place had the smell of the tropics, freshly washed, birds squawked. Fountains filled the air with their fresh cool sound. Across the square he saw a small figure sat on a bench, her head down, her feet scuffling at the seeds and fallen leaves that had yet to be brushed up by the park attendant. Ma
‘How’s it going? Aren’t you supposed to be in school?’ Ma
‘Yeah, but I’m building up my rep as a wild child.’ Tammy sipped her can of Coke. ‘I’ll go in a minute. I’m just missing maths.’
‘Did you hear about last night?’
‘I heard about it. I heard that someone got killed.’
‘Yes. A young Indian girl. We are still waiting for formal identification. Do you have any idea who she is?’
‘They say she was someone from the Mansions. Her family lives there, they have a tailors on the first floor.’
‘Why was she killed, Tammy?’
‘I don’t know. There are a lot of rumours. They say she was an informer from another society, that she had told someone outside about the ceremony, that she had accepted money in exchange for information. I don’t know. I think maybe she was just picked as a show of strength. Now everyone is really scared. A lot of the girls are really shaken up by it. I have seen them huddled together, whispering, crying. It’s finally hit home that it’s not a game.’