Страница 4 из 14
‘Any good?’ Ma
‘We had a great time…he didn’t show.’
‘Where is he now?’
‘He’s gone to the UK. He left a message for you.’ Ng pulled out a note from his jacket pocket.
Ma
JM
I won’t be around to bail you out so try and keep
out of trouble and don’t get yourself killed. Remember what I said—if you cross the line too often you can’t come back from the other side. Have given the cat to your mother. Watch who you trust, Ma
DW
Ng came over and patted Ma
‘You better not keep the new Super waiting.’ He gri
‘Thanks for the vote of confidence.’ Ma
‘He asked to see you the minute you got here,’ said Shrimp.
‘And there he is!’ Ma
‘Let us know which intersection you get,’ Ng called after him. ‘We’ll come and wave at you.’
Ma
5
‘You wanted to see me, sir?’
The newly appointed Superintendent was young for the post—in his mid-forties. He was ten years older than Ma
Wong was a slight man with a round face that was dominated by square chrome-rimmed glasses. His hair was pressed flat with the straightest side parting and a touch of psoriasis. He tugged at his cuffs now to hide the eczema around his wrists where the shirt-sleeves rubbed. His desk was super neat, just a desk-tidy full of sharpened pencils and highlighters and a photo of his wife and two kids in a dark wood frame. They all looked just like him. It was a lucky promotion for him. Ma
‘Don’t think for one minute I want you here, Inspector Ma
He replaced his pen back in the desk-tidy, sat back in his chair and stared hard at Ma
‘But…it seems I have no choice.’ Wong was forced to blink, but made up for it by smiling sarcastically. ‘You have made yourself some influential friends. Your assistance has been
especially
requested. That is why I had you recalled from vacation. You are to help in a kidnap case.’
‘Find someone else. I’m investigating a new trafficking ring. I can’t afford to take time out.’ Wong was going to drive Ma
‘As I said, you have been especially requested. Your
friend—
CK Leung—has insisted that you help in the investigation into his daughter’s kidnap.’
Ma
‘Whatever you think of him, Inspector Ma
‘Wealthiest triads, you mean. They look after their own. Let them sort it out between themselves.’
‘He happens to be the Dragon Head of the Wo Shing Shing triad society, yes, but he deserves our help like anyone else. Anyway, we have no choice in the matter. It is not a situation any of us like.’
‘The only daughter of his that I know is Victoria Chan, and she’s a grown woman.’
‘Amy Tang is his daughter by a girlfriend. She has been kidnapped—snatched from a boarding school in England. A ransom was paid two weeks ago but she hasn’t been returned. She’s the third wealthy Chinese kid to be kidnapped in the last two months in the UK.’
‘The others were returned unharmed?’
‘Yes.’
‘Did they take her in daylight? Were there any witnesses?’
‘It was during the day. Some children saw her with a man—but their descriptions aren’t good.’
‘He doesn’t know that. People saw him. That’s the point. He doesn’t intend to free her. This is not to do with money—not with
this
child. They’re making a statement. It’s to do with teaching CK a lesson. It’s triad business. Like I said—let them sort it out amongst themselves.’
‘We don’t have that option. You are from England, isn’t that right?’
Ma
‘I’m from Hong Kong. But my mother is British. I was educated in the UK.’
‘Well, we are sending you home.’ Wong laughed like a mountain goat falling off a cliff. Ma
‘Send someone else.’
‘It has to be you.’
Ma
‘In real terms I have nothing to lose by refusing. You intend to have me transferred anyway, it’s already common knowledge. I want some reassurance if I agree to go. So, here’s the deal…I go to London for you and, in return, I get to stay in the OCTB…for at least the next two years.’
Wong fiddled with his glasses, pulled at his cuffs.
‘All right.’
‘All right what?’
Wong sighed with a
‘If you go to London you can keep your job at the OCTB for the next two years. When will you be ready to leave?’
‘I need a quick shave and a shower. I’ll catch the overnight flight tonight.’
Wong returned to filling in his form with a grunt. Ma
‘Where have you been transferred to? Tibet? Outer Mongolia?’
‘London.’
‘What? Why?’
‘Temporarily—to help with an investigation.’
‘Awesome. Can we all go?’ Shrimp’s face lit up. ‘London is supposed to be
the
place to get vintage clothes—there’s Carnaby Street, Petticoat Lane, Brick Lane even.’
Ma
‘Why London?’ asked Ng.
‘Did you know CK Leung had more than one child?’
Ng shook his head.
‘Well, he does—a twelve-year-old daughter at school in England, and she’s been kidnapped.’
‘Why you?’
‘Special request.’
Ng wasn’t impressed. ‘Be careful, Ma
Deep doubts, deep wisdom, small doubts, small wisdom.
CK has a plan and evidently you feature in it. If they kill that little girl, God help them. If he blames you—God help you.’