by K W Frost
Child stood up and walked out to Smaille and Stulz.
‘Okay, I’ve got it,’ Child announced. ‘I know who can tell us what’s going on here.’
‘Who?’ asked Stulz.
‘Mr Kioki.’
‘Well, we were just talking about him too,’ Smaille nodded. ‘Even if we can find him, how would we get him to talk?’
‘Perhaps I can help,’ suggested Child.
‘It’s not going to be easy,’ Smaille said grimly. ‘Kioki is a very rich and powerful man. You can’t just walk up to men like him and say, ‘You are under arrest’. He would be bailed out again and free to walk the streets before you finished the sign-in paperwork. Besides — we have no proof. We can’t even reliably place him at these premises. I’m sorry, Simon, we just can’t get to him yet.’
‘I can,’ Child replied promptly.
‘Look, we have to do this thing legally,’ Smaille explained. ’There are some rules which we must follow — we can’t break the law here.’
‘I can’ repeated Child, looking between Smaille and Harrison.
‘What do you mean?’
Child’s next response was low and urgent. ‘I mean, I’m willing to break the law,’ he muttered quietly. ‘Look, I didn’t tell you everything before… I’ve already committed murder.’
‘Murder!’ exclaimed Harrison.
‘Yes, murder,’ Child continued. ‘Those gang members who were blown up in their car at Mount Eden? Well, that was my doing. I’ve done it once before and I’m prepared to do it again, if the cause is right. But murder won’t be necessary if you let me do what I do best. I can lure Kioki away to a secluded place and then you can interrogate him there.’
‘And how are you planning to pull that off?’ Harrison asked.
‘I’ll simply ask him to meet me,’ Child said calmly.
‘And why would he want to meet you? Stulz interjected.
‘Because he’ll want to know what I know…’ Child explained. ‘Just think about how everything has happened so far. Kioki realised that Whittingham was being followed, so what does he do? He makes sure Goody gets intercepted on the street. When Kioki works out that Whittingham’s office has been penetrated, he gets it security checked, and sends his own men to do it. Kioki even sent someone to check Whittingham’s house. He knew that someone was on to Whittingham. And who was that? It was the man who recovered the container of drugs from the ocean, the man who tried to negotiate a deal with Whittingham — the man in the security photo seen bugging the offices. It was me.’ Child paused. He had everyone’s attention all right. ‘So, what would you do if the man who had penetrated your clandestine plans called and asked to meet you?’ Child asked the group.
‘You’d want to meet him,’ Smaille nodded slowly, ‘but you’d want to go somewhere private… somewhere where you could control the situation.’
‘Exactly,’ Child stated bluntly.
‘We’ll just have to make sure that we have the upper hand.’
Chapter Forty-Three
It took half an hour of furious checking from the foreign nationals security team to locate Kioki. Even then, all they had agreed to do was pass on a note to him. During this time, the retrieval squad arrived in white overalls and masks. Harrison was the only police officer they spoke to as they collected the two bodies and took them away for formal identification. They were quick and efficient, and were gone again in under ten minutes.
Child waited for Kioki’s call. He leant against the wall in the outer office, watching Stulz clean his gun. Harrison had taken position out in the small reception area. He told anyone trying to enter the sixth floor that it was closed for police training. Smaille checked on Goody but there was no progress or breakthroughs to report on. Breaking the codes and reprogramming the software was proving difficult. Samantha had walked out to speak to Child but it soon proved futile. She returned to watch Goody’s work instead. In the right-hand room, Ritson watched over the two prisoners, alert and attentive like all good watchdogs. A heavy silence hung in the air.
Suddenly, Child’s cell phone beeped. Child answered it before it could ring a second time. ‘Yes, Child speaking.’
‘Mr Child, this is Kioki here. I was asked to contact you. I hope the reason behind this is important.’
‘Very important,’ Child replied. ‘Important for both of us I believe, Mr Kioki.’ ‘Really?’ Kioki replied, irritated by Child already. ‘I don’t know you, Mr Child, how should you know what’s important to me?’ Kioki was playing it very close to his chest. Child knew it was time to rattle him.
‘Because I know everything, Mr Kioki,’ Child stated calmly. ‘I know all about Albert Whittingham—’
‘Whittingham? I do not know this man…’ Kioki growled in response.
Child continued, ignoring the interruption. ‘I know about your little company posing as a securities firm,’ Child continued. ‘In fact, I’m standing in its outer office right now.’
‘I’m sorry, Mr Child, but I don’t know what you’re talking about…’
‘Please, Mr Kioki, I’m trying to be reasonable here. The company is called Blue Water Securities — you were here yesterday with Mr Whittingham, who is now dead. Now, are we going to meet or do I go to the police?’
‘The police?’ Kioki barked. ‘You have no proof of anything. This is a cheap bluff, Mr Child.’
Child noticed that although Kioki was on the defence, he wasn’t denying his involvement any more. ‘I have no direct proof yet but I soon will,’ Child said. ‘Also, after sharing my story the police could make it very difficult for you… couldn’t they.’
Kioki began to waver. ‘Why have you contacted me, Mr Child?’
‘Because, Mr Kioki, I don’t really want to go to the police,’ Child said smoothly. ‘I won’t get any real help from them. Whittingham didn’t do business fairly and look where it got him? Hopefully you’ll be more realistic and be willing to pay for my silence… and then I will just walk away and you can continue working on your little operation here.’
‘You want money,’ Kioki said stonily.
‘That’s it, I want money,’ Child confirmed. ‘It has always been about the money for me. I want $100,000 available to be collected in an hour from now. For a man with your wealth of resources and credit that amount of money shouldn’t pose too much of a problem.
‘You drive a hard bargain, Mr Child,’ Kioki replied, all pretences of innocence now gone. ‘However, I do agree that things will go smoother if we can resolve our differences. Now, if you are where you say you are, please put Mr Tagahasi on the phone.’
Child looked over at Smaille who had been listening in on the conversation. Smaille shrugged. Child nodded. ‘Well, that’s going to be rather difficult, you see,’ Child replied. ‘When I arrived earlier on, a young man in the office broke Tagahasi’s neck. Unfortunately, I had no option but to shoot him for self-protection. He is dead now too,’
‘Tagahasi’s dead?’ Kioki asked quietly.
‘If he was a middle-aged Asian man manning the computers, then yes, I’m afraid so.’
‘How do I know that you’re telling the truth, Mr Child?’ demanded Kioki.
‘You’ll just have to trust me, won’t you?’ Child said, a cold edge in his voice. ‘Or would you rather come up to the sixth floor of the old Waterhouse Trust building and call in on your Blue Water Securities offices? You must know where they are, as you came here only yesterday…’
‘Very well, Mr. Child, we have a deal,’ Kioki muttered. ‘I hope your silence is worth it.’
‘Believe me, Mr Kioki, my silence is worth much more than that,’ Child added.
‘I presume that you have a suitable meeting place in mind?’
‘Yes, Whittingham had an old warehouse down by the waterfront off Quay Street,’ Child explained. ‘I’m sure you can find it. I’ll leave the doors open to allow you to drive in. And please, Mr Kioki, no funny business. I’ll see you in one hour.’ Child ended the call.
; ‘That was one smooth con job, Simon, well done,’ Smaille grinned. ‘You weren’t a used car salesman in an earlier life, were you?’
‘No,’ Child grinned back, ‘but try a group of reluctant teenagers, they’re an even harder sell.’
‘Right, we have work to do,’ Smaille said, taking back control of the room. ‘Ritson will keep watch over our prisoners. Goody will continue to monitor the computers, and Gray can assist him. Harrison is keeping watch over the foyer down the corridor, which leaves Samantha to run communications from here. Stulz and Child, it’s up to the three of us to handle Kioki.’ Smaille and Stulz checked their handguns.
Child grabbed the stun gun from workstation in the next room. ‘Don’t mind if I borrow this again, Gray?’ he asked.
Gray nodded and shrugged. He had other things on his mind. ‘Just make sure you come back safe, Simon,’ Gray muttered.
‘Sure will, Gray,’ Child replied. ‘You know me, I’m always careful.’
As Child, Smaille and Stulz prepared to leave, Samantha came rushing out from the inner office.
‘Stop, wait,’ she called out. She walked towards Child holding out a Glock pistol in its shoulder holster.
‘Take this, Simon, you need this more than Goody anyway.’ Holding the gun by its barrel, she offered it butt-first to Child. Child slowly reached out and took the gun from Samantha.
‘Thanks,’ he said as he slid his jacket off.
‘Just make sure you come back safe, Simon, for my sake,’ Samantha said before turning back into the next room.
Chapter Forty-Four
The Sky Tower’s service elevator rose up the through middle of the building, hidden from sight by the visitor elevators lining the outer-layer. The glass-fronted elevators faced outwards, allowing the visitors a spectacular view of the surrounding city. The three men from Lah Wah Restaurant arrived thirty minutes ahead of schedule. Each man pushed a commercial chef’s unit made of stainless steel. Two armed security guards stood at the elevator doors facing outwards. One had a clipboard in his hand. A man named Wu Young approached the guard with the clipboard.
‘Hello, we are chefs from Lah Wah Restaurant,’ Young said politely. ‘We need to go up to begin our dinner preparations.’
Luke Doone had been in security for over ten years already, but this was by far his most important assignment. He was not expecting anyone to arrive for another thirty minutes. Checking his clipboard, he saw that four chefs from Lah Wah Restaurant were on he list.
‘You’re early,’ Doone stated.
‘Yes, we left in plenty of time and got through the traffic more easily than expected,’ Young explained. ‘We are very grateful for this great honour we have been given. We are keen to begin our preparations to ensure everything is perfect.’
‘After I check everything in your unit, sir,’ Doone replied. ‘We can’t be too careful tonight. Can I see your identification card please.’ Wu Young, Yong Yang and Hu Seng all produced the correct identification required. They were exactly who they said they were. They submitted to Doone’s individual searches and an electronic scan. Everything was in order.
‘Where’s the fourth member of your group?’ asked Doone, determined to do
everything by the book. He didn’t like that one team member was absent.
‘Head chef Mitsu is preparing a special sauce,’ Young explained. ‘It wasn’t quite ready in time, but he will be arriving as soon as possible. Wu Young’s glib answer slid off his tongue. They had prepared answers for all possible questions.
‘Yes, well, alright,’ Doone agreed, ‘but we’ll need to check over your cooker.’ ‘Certainly, sir, but please don’t stir the sweet and sour sauce, as it is simmering nicely and will lose its flavour with exposure to the air.’ Doone checked over the whole unit. The knives were left alone, as what self-respecting chef would be without a variety of kitchen knives. Nothing had been left to chance. Mitsu and his protégés had scorned the use of guns, instead using their own specialist skills. These skills made an easy work when it came to eliminating a sitting target. Only this target was to be the biggest of them all.
‘Okay, you can go up,’ Doone nodded, happy with his inspection. ‘You’ll only find Mr Jones up there, everyone else has yet to arrive.’
‘Don’t worry, we’ll introduce ourselves to Mr Jones.’
‘I hope things go well for you tonight,’ Doone said pleasantly.
‘Thank you, so do we,’ Young replied with a smile. The elevator ride upwards only took forty seconds. When the doors opened, an unfamiliar man stood facing the three chefs. Howard Jones had already been called by Doone and was expecting their arrival.
‘Welcome gentlemen,’ he said warmly. ‘You will find your facilities just around the corner. Could I please have any mobile communication devices? Due to the small number of people tonight, the chefs have been allocated a small internal room on the same level as the restaurant for their preparation, rather than working on the level down.’
‘Certainly, Mr Jones,’ Young complied, passing Jones his cell phone. ‘We were warned of this precaution, so I’m the only member of my team with a cell phone. I do hope that you’ll contact me if it calls.’
‘No, sir, it will be turned off for the next five hours,’ Jones stated, ‘so let’s hope no one needs to contact you urgently.’ This was exactly what Young wanted to hear, as this confirmed the correct arrangements had been made. Things were going to plan and no last minute interruptions were expected.
‘Please, right this way,’ Jones said as he gestured towards the kitchen areas. He swiftly placed Young’s cell phone into a box in the reception desk and locked the drawer.
As Jones returned from behind the desk and turned away, Young nodded to Yang. Yang stepped forward and expertly struck Jones behind the ear, catching his limp body as it fell to the floor. Yang easily supported the weight.
‘Place him down with the emergency fire shelters,’ ordered Young, ‘and make sure he won’t disturb us.’ Young retrieved his special identification tag and pinned it to the front pocket of his shirt. Wu Young, Detective Inspector. Young was now in charge of the Sky Tower.
The third man, Seng, took the thick metal stirring rod and the tube of hot chill paste and headed down the internal stairwell. Five minutes and over a thousand steps later, he reached the bottom. Taking out the metal rod, Seng took off the metal screw top and shook the tube outwards. Out slid some telescopic metal tubes. Holding the base against the wall, he pulled out the hollow tubes until the top pushed up against the door, just inside its handle. Holding the light yet extremely strong rod, Seng pressed a small button on the side of the tube. The canister of compressed air hissed loudly as it filled the inside of the rod, transforming it into a rigid tube, locking each part in place. The emergency door could no longer be opened. As an extra security measure, Seng took the tube and squeezing an inch of chili paste out from the top. Next, he pressed the clear, quick-dry glue around the edges of the doorframe. This effectively sealed the door shut. Now the only way up the tower was via the elevators. Seng turned and began his long climb back up the stairs.
It was half an hour later that the first guests and other chefs began to arrive. The special guests were warmly welcomed by a very polite detective inspector Young, who greeted them politely. He removed all portable telecommunication devices from people on arrival. He even double-checked selected personnel for weapons, he correctly assumed that most political leaders brought one minister and one security member along with them. Young received some grumbles about his security measures, but because they had been agreed on beforehand, he quietly got his way still. It took almost an hour for all the guests to arrive.
Yang and Seng prepared the excellent meal they were to serve to the guests, Young appeared to have been in charge of official delegations all his life.
Once Mitsu arrived at the Sky Tower, stage two of the plan could begin.
Chapter Forty-Five
Child stopped outside the old warehouse. Le
ss than three days ago he had met with Whittingham here. Fortunately, the door had only been pulled shut and it was easy for Child to drive his Toyota into the empty building.
Driving in a large circle, Child stopped with his utility lined up, pointing towards the door. The last time he had been here it was night and visibility was poor. Today, the sliver of sunlight streamed in through the half-open sliding door. A couple of old dusty skylights placed high among the steel rafters lightened the gloomy interior slightly.
‘The building is empty,’ Child spoke into the microphone hidden under his collar.
‘Good, just remember keep him talking and we’ll get him from behind,’ Smaille’s voiced squeaked through the tiny speaker.
‘I’ve got it,’ said Child with confidence.
He settled down to wait. According to his watch, Kioki still had fifteen minutes to arrive. Child did not expect him to be late.
Child had another quick look around the old warehouse. Light particles of dust, stirred up by the Toyota’s tyres, were dancing and reflecting in the patches of pale sunshine. The warehouse was bare apart from a few old discarded packing cases in one corner. All the ground floor windows were boarded up with old boards and remnants of cartage pallets. Child carefully scanned the interior but didn’t find any hidden menaces. He then returned his attention to the open door from which Kioki should soon appear.
Unbeknown to Child, two sets of eyes watched him in the warehouse.
Mitsu had arrived at the warehouse ten minutes before Child. He had received an urgent call from Kioki and promised him that he would take care of the problem personally.