by Lee Weeks
Mann stepped over clothes scattered on the floor: a man’s shoes, a pair of men’s jeans: one leg inside out. He looked up. There were arcs of blood across the ceiling. The edge of the bed came into view. He saw a man’s feet. He came around the corner. The bed was turned dark brown with blood.
‘Jesus Christ,’ he uttered aloud as he looked at the headless, pulped body of a man lying on the bed.. He walked around to the side of the bed. On the bedside table lay a family photo covered in blood.
Chapter 33
Mann stepped back from the doorway and allowed Daniel Lu through. He had already got the hotel to erect a barrier on that side of the landing and to stop allowing guests back up to the floor. As the first officer on scene it was his job to secure it, stop it getting contaminated. Daniel handed him a protective forensic suit. ‘Put this on. You can help me till the rest of the team arrive. This is the only point of entry, in and out. Perp must have touched it. Dust the door for me.’
Daniel Lu was the best CSI investigator there was. He was tireless, he was meticulous. He had been the one to first examine Helen’s body when it had been found dumped in a bin bag at a reservoir in the New Territories. He’d never lost that look of sympathy and awkwardness whenever they met. It had been a hell of a day, a hell of a time.
Tom Sheng arrived straight after Daniel. ‘Who found the body?’ He didn’t bother with pleasantries. There was little love lost between Daniel and Sheng. It wasn’t just that they had Mia between them, they were opposite types.
‘I did,’ answered Mann.
‘You had a tip-off?’ He signalled to the two detectives with him to stay where they were outside the tape.
‘No. I was coming up to give him his wallet. I took it off one of the girls. He didn’t answer the door so I let myself in and found him.’
‘Who is the woman who gave you the wallet?’
‘Michelle. She’s a singer in the lounge bar.’
Sheng shouted out to one of the officers outside. ‘Go and pull in one of the singers, Michelle, have her taken to the station.’
Daniel had stopped in the centre of the room. His head turned methodically, taking in the whole scene. He stood over the corpse and looked up to the ceiling at the arcs of blood. He moved his position, looked up again. He started drawing a plan of the scene in a notebook. Daniel’s mind worked on many planes, he was clever on so many levels. He was sharp and cynical and driven but the one thing that Mann recognized in Daniel was that he was unhappy.
‘Do you know him?’ asked Sheng, in the process of putting on a forensic suit.
‘No. I’ve never seen him before. A man named Max Kosmos is registered to the room, I’m guessing this must be him.’
Daniel Lu walked around to the far side of the bed; he lifted the corpse’s shoulder and checked beneath. ‘The blood’s settled. He’s been dead approximately fifteen to eighteen hours. He was killed here.’
‘That would make it in the early hours of yesterday morning.’ Tom Sheng looked around at the room. ‘Nothing knocked over, no obvious signs of a fight. Motive?’
‘Not robbery,’ Mann answered. ‘The safe is locked and he’s still wearing his watch.’
He looked over the desk. ‘His laptop’s still here, and a briefcase.’
Daniel moved around the body and dictated into a machine as he went.
‘Deep lacerations to his torso and legs, cut right through to the bone. The flesh has been scraped away. They cut his hamstrings, his knee ligaments, anterior and interior, his elbow joints, all severed to prevent movement. Whoever it was, they must have done this before. It’s messy but it’s accurate.’
‘Cause of death?’ Sheng was busy opening the safe with the hotel combination.
Daniel looked up from where he was busy measuring the depth of the wounds on the victim’s chest. ‘Leave that,’ he said to Sheng. ‘They might have tried to open it. It’s an obvious place for prints.’ Sheng stepped back, muttering under his breath. Daniel began photographing the injuries. ‘The chest trauma is what killed him. The blood is pooled here…but not before the perp had their fun.’
Daniel Lu looked behind him at the brocade curtains, ‘The splatter pattern around the room means that all these injuries were inflicted whilst he was still alive. And this was a lengthy, prolonged torture. Perp took their time.’ He took a gloved hand and hovered over Max Kosmos’s chest. ‘These are strange wounds, really deep. He was lying down when these were inflicted.’ He traced the wounds with his finger. ‘They extend all the way across. Something literally scooped his flesh out in long strokes.’ He looked up at the ceiling where the three trails of blood and flesh had dried to brown sprays across the ceiling. ‘I don’t know what weapon made these. But someone definitely used our friend here for target practice.’ He went back to his position at the end of the bed. ‘They were standing here and used a downward action. They are about five foot three or four, I would guess. Right-handed.’
‘If not robbery then some kind of revenge, retribution? This man wasn’t just murdered, he was punished,’ said Mann.
‘It looks sexual,’ Sheng said.
‘Maybe,’ answered Daniel. ‘They cut off his penis but waited until after death to do it, unlike the amputation of his testicles which, judging by the amount of blood, was done when he was still breathing. Not a complete job though.’ Daniel Lu lifted the scrotum. ‘Sheng, make yourself useful, come over here and hold this up, I need to take a photo of the injury. ’
For a second Sheng looked as if he was about to pass on the honour of helping Daniel but then thought better of it.
‘Sure.’ He lifted the scrotum to reveal that it was cut through by a wire which was still embedded in the wound.
‘I’ve never seen anything like this done to a man,’ said Sheng, wincing a little. ‘I’ve seen girls left tied to the bedpost, serious injuries from sadistic role-playing. I’ve never seen torture on this scale and in such a public place. Perp took a hell of a risk.’
‘It could have been accidental,’ said Mann, busy dusting for prints around the safe deposit box and the minibar. ‘Cock humiliation, servant-mistress stuff. Some people get off on pain, maybe Max Kosmos was one of them, maybe the game went too far.’
‘It’s not a game I can see me playing any time soon,’ said Daniel.
‘He bought her a rose, whoever she was,’ said Sheng, looking at a single red rose lying on its side by the champagne bottle. ‘Where do people get those on an evening? A restaurant, a bar?’
Mann picked it up. ‘Nobody buys his girlfriend fake flowers.’
‘Perp left it?’
‘Yeah, I don’t think it belongs here.’ Mann took the camera from Daniel and photographed the rose before bagging and labelling it.
Daniel Lu placed the family photo flat between two pieces of absorbent paper and inside a plastic sleeve. ‘Whoever did this was sat on him whilst they delivered the final wound. My guess is they used a butcher’s knife to cut off his head. It must have taken a while. Judging by the saturation of blood here on the pillow I would say they tipped his head forward and cut from behind first. Then I think this print here,’ Daniel examined an oval blood stain on the sheet, ‘is from the perp’s knee. I think the killer knelt on his chest and used their weight to put pressure onto the knife and sever the spine between vertebrae three and four.’ Daniel pointed to the handprints in blood on either side of Max Kosmos’s chest ‘We should get some good results from these.’
‘There are more prints in the bathroom,’ said Mann. ‘Perp cleaned up before they left.’
‘Take what you need from the box and make a start,’ said Daniel, tying bags around the victim’s hands to preserve any evidence trapped beneath the nails.
Mann went into the bathroom. He lifted the bloodied towels from behind the sink and hung them over the wire across the bath – if they got put into an airtight bag they would be ruined. He looked at the lipstick stain on the mirror. A perfect pink pout. He took out some of Daniel’s fingerprin
t tape and pressed it over then peeled it off in one sharp, exact move. When he was sure it was as good a print as he was going to get, he wrote on the edge and then filed it in an envelope before leaning forwards and breathing on the glass to frost it. A heart appeared. Mann breathed again to see it clearly. He stood back from it, staring. The writing was smudged; all Mann could make out was
Roses are red… written underneath
Sheng appeared beside him and reached past him and sprayed the mirror with a fixative spray. ‘If it was so much trouble to get the head off, why did the killer bother?’
Mann stared at the misty heart in the mirror.
‘And where is it now?’
Chapter 34
In the blackness the basket swayed with the movement of the tide. The silt at the bottom of the ocean occasionally burst upwards in a flurry of disturbance as the head settled. Floating particles of food were dislodged; flesh, minute shreds chewed and expelled by creatures and left to float feather-edged until they settled in another layer of silt for the bottom feeders. Through the murk a man’s head nodded with the sway of the water, open eyed and slack-jawed. He wasn’t alone in the dark. A lobster moved tentatively closer, it swam through the trap and reached out its feelers and touched Max Kosmos’s face.
Chapter 35
Lilly walked through the first-floor landing and looked at the Africans as she passed. She wasn’t afraid to look them in the eye. The dead African lying at the bottom of the lift shaft was testament to that. The body would be eaten by the rats and the mangy cats. When it began to smell the caretaker would be called and someone would take it away like they always did. No one would investigate such a death in such a place amongst such a group of people.
Although it was day, it could have been night – the fluorescent strip lighting above their heads wasn’t working, a dripping overhead pipe had blown it. There were some corners of the Mansions that never saw light. Their booming laughs filled the corridor with a little bit of Africa. They were listening to the jangly sound of Kenyan folk music. The smoke around them was so thick it stung Lilly’s eyes. They always stopped what they were doing to watch her as she passed. She had the mix that appealed to them. Her skin was light, her eyes big and round. She had the makings of a shape beneath her skimpy clothes. She had the sass, she was a girl who knew how to tease.
Lilly caught David’s eye. He watched her from his stool inside the bar. He was not smiling. He didn’t fall for Lilly’s games. He knew they were deadly. He had seen her with the Outcasts. He knew she had secrets.
Lilly caught up with Mahmud. He was out with his sister Nina running errands whilst the restaurant was quiet. Lilly handed Nina a list. ‘Mum wanted me to ask if you can get these things for her, she’ll pay you later. I don’t know when she’s going to cook it. They are questioning her down at the police station. I don’t know why she doesn’t just get me to get them.’
‘It’s okay. Give it to me. I know these traders; I can get her a good deal.’ Nina took it from her.
Nina walked on. Lilly hung back with Mahmud. ‘What’s the matter?’ she asked him. ‘You’ve been avoiding me. We can still be friends, can’t we? Even if I’m not your girlfriend any more?’
Mahmud walked along looking at his feet. He was a shy lad, thoughtful. ‘Yeah, sure. Just been studying hard, that’s all.’
‘That’s not really the reason, is it?’
Mahmud went to defend it but he shook his head instead. ‘It’s all the trouble here, Lilly. I don’t want any part of it. I knew that girl who was killed.’
‘So did I. I didn’t like it any more than you.’
Lilly walked alongside him. Mahmud looked hard at her. He searched her face to see if she was telling the truth. ‘It’s all going wrong, Lilly. I don’t know what’s happened to you. You never used to like the gangs either. You’ve changed. Hafiz has changed too. I’m not having any more to do with it.’
‘Nobody asked you to. But remember, Mahmud, we’re all in this together. We are doing this so that we can have a better life.’ Lilly turned frosty. ‘Where’s Hafiz, anyway?’
‘He’s working. He’s in enough trouble with Dad, he doesn’t need any more.’
Lilly shook her head, shrugged. ‘A lot’s happened. Things that you don’t know about. I have to look out for myself now, Mahmud. I can’t rely on anyone else. That’s why I need the Outcasts. Victoria Chan has promised I will do well with them. She said she’d personally look out for me. She says I have what it takes.’
‘Yeah, but what does she want you to do for it, Lilly? You heard what the inspector said at school. Once you’re in you can’t get out. They will kill you if you try.’
‘Yeah, but you know what? Most days I feel like I am dead anyway. I don’t have anything to live for right now.’
They stopped outside Rajini’s father’s tailors. Inside they could see her father sewing on the machine. On the chair next to him her mother was sobbing as she sewed.
‘You’d think they’d take a day off. They only care about the money they’re not going to get from her.’
Mahmud looked at her, his eyes full of anger and sadness. ‘They are making Rajini’s shroud.’ Lilly walked briskly on. She was cross. He caught her up. They waited in silence for the lift. ‘Let’s go and sit on the roof. We haven’t done that in ages.’
Lilly looked at him and smiled. ‘Okay.’
They sat on the ledge and dangled their feet over Nathan Road. The sun was going down. As they sat their hands inched towards one another and rested, barely touching.
‘Tell me what you want to be, Lilly.’
Lilly took her hand away and kept her legs still as she stared down at the busy road below. She looked down at her lap as she replied. ‘I want to be rich. I want to have a house on the Peak. I want to have all designer clothes.’
Mahmud stared at her profile. ‘Is that all that matters to you?’
She looked towards the sunset. A slither of orange was beginning to stretch across the evening sky. She looked everywhere but at Mahmud. ‘Pretty much. I want to get out of this place. I want to have nice things.’
‘Is that why you joined the Outcasts?’
‘Yes.’ She looked down at her lap again. ‘It’s all right for you, Mahmud; your father will find the money to pay for you to go to college. You are smart. You can achieve anything you want to. You will be able to afford to escape from here.’
‘But I’ll never be rich enough to have a house on the Peak. I might become a doctor and travel. I might have a good living, enough to support a wife, a family, but I will never be rich, Lilly. It’s not important to me.’
Lilly turned and looked at him, her eyes catching the light from the sky, her face glowing. ‘I will, Mahmud. It’s everything to me.’
‘What about love?’
She turned away. ‘I don’t care about love. My mother loves Rizal, what good is love?’
‘The Outcasts are dangerous, Lilly; they could turn on you just as quick as anyone else. They don’t answer to anyone any more, they’re out of control. Victoria Chan is a terrible person. Ever since she came into our lives things have just got worse.’
Lilly was angry. ‘Victoria Chan is smart and beautiful. She’s everything I want to be.’ But she couldn’t stay cross at Mahmud. She knew he was only worried for her. She knew he had always loved her. ‘Listen to me, Mahmud. I know what you’re saying,’ she smiled sadly and looked at him, ‘but she can give me things, things I could never get on my own. She can get me out of this place. You are so clever. You will get where you want to go without people like Victoria Chan.’
‘I thought we could make it, you and I. I was hoping, you know? I always thought we’d stay together.’
She turned and looked him in the face, her eyes searching his. She reached over and kissed his cheek. ‘Save your hopes for someone else, Mahmud. You are too good for me. I am not the girl you kissed when we were ten. I am not the girl I was.’ Lilly slid her legs back around and stood to
leave. ‘Forget me, Mahmud. You and I could never be and I am in too deep now to get out.’
Chapter 36
Victoria moved to her bedroom to answer her phone; it was too noisy to talk in her lounge. She lived in a luxury penthouse apartment on the road to Stanley. She was giving seven of her top lieutenants a special treat – she had provided her men with the entertainment. They were simple creatures; easy to read, easy to please. Tonight was a victory celebration of sorts. It was to celebrate the beginning of the end. The beginning of a fight that would take her all the way. There was no stopping her now. She would court the best of the lieutenants in the Wo Shing Shing. As each of her pieces slotted into their roles she controlled them like a conductor played an orchestra. They were the new breed. They were loyal to her father, loyal to the organization but they would want a new Dragon Head when she showed them her power. Victoria sat on the chair in her bedroom in the semi-darkness. Her black leather cat suit traced her strong curves like a second skin, her diamond earrings caught the flash of lightning as she turned her head towards the window and watched the storm coming in.
‘You have done well, my daughter. But we need him broken before he can be rebuilt. Push for the prize now. Use every weapon you have. The Mansions are proving a suitable testing ground for you. You have been courting the right people. You have turned them on one another.’
‘They all want the same thing. They want money, power. They want bigger, better. They don’t think of the consequences. They don’t think of tomorrow. The Outcasts are unique, fearless. They are easy to please. There is one amongst them who is the most talented and most ruthless I have ever known; she will stop at nothing and yet she wants nothing in return except to be allowed to serve. I only have to suggest something and it’s done. I only have to dislike someone and they are dead. She sees me as her saviour.’ Victoria laughed at the notion.