The Code War

by Ciaran Nagle

  'So, Nancy, let me test your knowledge of Golden Luck,' said Jenny during a break in the flow of customers. 'How many storeys in the casino?'

  'Four,' said Nancy. 'And the higher they are, the more luxurious they are. And more expensive. And we're in the best of all, the Jade Room.'

  'Correct. And what kind of gambling do we do here?'

  'We don't do any gambling, because it's illegal in Hong Kong. At least 'officially' we don't.'

  'Correct.'

  'Instead, guests 'pretend' to gamble and their pretend bets are recorded and logged in a register. The real money is paid out later and collected by Brother agents.'

  'Correct.'

  'But Jenny, what happens if someone loses money and then the next day they refuse to pay up?'

  Jenny didn't answer. She simply looked at Nancy and rolled her eyes. Nancy understood. Anyone who refused to pay up would suffer the consequences.

  In fact, any gambler arguing the amount of his loss and reluctant to pay would soon find himself in the back of a car with three heavies testing the flexibility of his finger joints. In extreme cases he might enjoy an unexpected and protracted deep diving lesson in nearby Yaumati Typhoon Harbour. These extreme cases had become more common within the last year.

  Nancy had been taught to stand with her hands folded demurely across her waist welcoming customers at the door. Initially Nancy greeted customers in English while Jenny did the same in Cantonese. Customers, normally male, then indicated which of the apparitions in blue should guide them to a table. To her surprise many of them chose Nancy, probably a novelty factor, she thought.

  But there was also a subtler process going on inside Jade Room. Customers who arrived as couples were led to tables on the right of the room. Single customers, normally men, were led to the left. There, while they gambled and drank, they were joined by pretty hostesses who would engage them in conversation in exchange for highly priced drinks. A hostess was expected to prise at least twelve drinks a night out of her clients. These drinks were called whiskies and were served from a bottle with a Cutty Sark label but Nancy knew it was really cold tea. Clients drank real alcohol while hostesses were served from the Cutty Sark bottle. The hostesses aimed to match their clients drink for drink so while the client got more and more drunk and reckless with his gambling, the hostess remained sober and ready to move on to any other client who looked like a better prospect for wallet-lightening.

  If clients became amorous, which many did, they were smilingly advised that they should buy the hostess more drinks to give her 'more face' before they would be allowed to take her to a private comfort lounge for intimacy.

  Inevitably, these lustful visits to comfortable but dimly-lit one-bed passion parlours were not only expensive but brief. A hostess was expected to satisfy her client's needs quickly and then return to the tables as soon as possible to work her charms on the next one.

  Nancy was not expected to perform hostess duties, a fact she was extremely relieved about. But she soon developed a knack for matching up new clients with an appropriate hostess and then ensuring that the client bought enough drinks to merit the girl's continued company throughout the long evening.

  She also became an expert negotiator and seemed to know intuitively the maximum amount a man would pay for a girl and how to up the amount he would splash out for her services. She had rapidly learnt some specialised vocabulary for this price discussion including phrases like 'I can see that Mei Xing really likes you, she is very special' and 'Siu Mei does not normally go with men, she is nearly a virgin'. These were weak arguments but worked surprisingly well with a man whose brains were below his belt and who had drunk several brandies too many.

  Nancy was not unduly concerned with the unusual nature of her job. The Golden Luck casino and others like it had been in business since long before she came to Hong Kong, she reasoned. Her job was not to question what they were doing but to ensure clients got what they wanted - at an appropriate price naturally - and no-one got hurt.

  From time to time customers made a play for Nancy herself and even offered quite high amounts of money for time alone with her in a comfort room. But Nancy had ambitions for greater things and knew that her status would be diminished by such a move. She made a joke to her immediate boss, a smooth former protection racketeer called Ah Kwok, that she would not sell herself for less than a million Hong Kong dollars. As this was exactly the price of two new top of the range sports cars Nancy immediately won for herself the nickname Two Ferrari Nancy, a moniker that didn't hurt her at all.

  Fatty Lo was delighted to hear the reports of Nancy's progress. He had taken a big risk in employing the non-Cantonese speaking ghost female and now had the pleasure of hearing his staff praise her dedication along with his judgement in hiring her. He was eager to make more of Nancy's talent and to parade her as evidence of his ability to think differently from other gangsters.

  'Nancy, I want you to be a liaison and work with a new partner that is soon going to join Brother,' he said to her on the Monday of her second week as he visited the Golden Luck early in the evening. 'It is another business that is merging with us. But their managers are a bit afraid of us. I don't know why, maybe our reputation on the street. Sometimes too kind. I want you to smooth the way and show them that we nice people, treat them well. It will be good part of your training.'

  'OK great, when will that happen?' asked Nancy.

  'Soon enough, maybe a couple weeks, maybe less, I am working on it. But before that, tomorrow night I want you to accompany me to a little party that I'm having with some friends.' He was grinning wickedly as he spoke. Nancy was just starting to get slightly worried when Jenny Ling leant in close and whispered 'cock fight.'

  'That's right, cock fight' Fatty said with a warning glance to Jenny. 'It's just a bit of fun. You will see some feathers flying and much people shouting. But nobody get hurt and you meet some of my friends.'

  Two customers came in who recognised Nancy and walked towards her. Jenny came over to intercept them. She welcomed them and showed them to a table, then she returned.

  'You ever see cock fight?' Fatty asked Nancy when the customers had gone. 'You put two male hens close together in arena with no escape and watch them parade around like little generals. They hold out their chest and show off their macho. Then they tear living daylight out of each other while people around shout and drink beer.'

  'Er no,' replied Nancy, 'it's not a big thing in England. But we have rugby which sounds very similar. Except it's thirty males tearing living daylight out of each other, not two.'

  Fatty was delighted. 'Play rugby here too. Hong Kong sevens. Very famous. Maybe I take you some day.'

  Nancy nodded politely.

  'Do not tell anyone about tomorrow,' Fatty Lo warned, 'cock fighting illegal in Hong Kong. Wherever there is something illegal there is Brother also. Illegal make money.'

  Fatty left to continue his inspection tour of the casino and left Nancy and Jenny to their duties.

  'You ever go to a cock-fight?' Nancy asked her.

  'Oh yes, I remember it always. The macho show go on for hours. And that was just the men.' replied Jenny.

  Nancy giggled.

  Yaumati Police Station, Kowloon

  'Sir, I think we've got another one. Very horrible.'

  'Another what, Ah Tung. I can't read your mind.'

  'Murder sir. By Brother. It feels like another Brother killing. All the hallmark.'

  Dan sighed and turned away from his typewriter. 'Talk to me.'

  'We need to go there now sir, see for yourself.'

  Fifteen minutes later Dan arrived at the West Kowloon Mortuary with Detective Sergeant Ah Tung and Junior Investigator Liu Jai. They walked in through the swing doors and presented themselves at the reception desk.

  'D.I. Kelly about the body fished out of the Harbour this morning. May we see it?' All three flashed their warrant cards at the white-fatigued orderly.

  'Ah, Mr Kelly. Nice to see you agai
n. You always get the good ones. Lot of violence and blood' said the orderly.

  'Thank you Mr Fong, no need to remind me that I've got rubbish fung shui,' replied Dan,' rubbing the back of his neck in tiredness.

  Fong led them through several corridors to an open room where there were two naked male bodies lying side by side on gurneys. One was a European, fat with neat pearly teeth, obviously prosperous. The other was Chinese, thin, unshaven and with the hands of a manual worker. In life they would never have met, thought Dan, probably didn't speak each other's language either. Yet here they were in death, splayed out ingloriously for all to see like equals, all pretence at vanity gone.

  Fong went to the Chinese cadaver and turned it half over. 'As you can see,' he said pointing to the back, 'subject has been pierced several times with sharp instrument. Body put in harbour probably last night. Dead only 8 or 9 hours.'

  'Where are his clothes, was there any I.D.?'

  'Only a note in his shirt pocket, like those we've seen before. It says 'would not pay debts'.'

  'OK,' said Dan, 'someone will probably report him missing sooner or later. Then we'll get the name. Guys, let's get back and write the report. Thanks Mr Fong. Hope I never see you again.'

  'Thanks Mr Kelly, me too.'

  'OK, probably see you next week.'

  'Yeah, maybe sooner.'

  The three detectives returned to Yaumati centre and headed for the Double Happiness restaurant. It was 11a.m. and time for the first lunch of the day. Dim sum. There they were joined by the other four members of the squad. At first the conversation was jovial with lots of talk about girls, football and gambling. After a while Dan leaned forward and signalled that he wanted to speak to them all.

  'Brother are getting more violent and more arrogant by the week.' Dan was speaking softly because he knew that Brother had eyes and ears everywhere. 'They used to do their gambling and prostitution with barely a ripple of aggro. But something has changed and it's all based around just a few Brother establishments. The Golden Luck here in Yaumati is one and the Ho Tin Girl Friend Bar is another.'

  The ha gau and siu mai arrived in bowls together with two pots of bo lei tea. Liu Jai poured.

  Ah Tung butted in. 'Daai Lo, I have heard something similar from a DS in Mongkok. There the Brother drug dealers used to be the best disciplined. But recently a new boss in one housing estate has started attacking other triads. There have been several death-by-ten-thousand-cuts attacks in recent weeks. Some say that Fatty Lo, the founder of Brother, is getting soft and new bosses are coming in who don't respect the old ways. They are more violent. There may be a power struggle in the future.'

  'If that's the case, we need to know more about Brother', declared Dan in an urgent whisper. We need to get a picture of all their operations whether it's by activity like gambling and drugs or by territory. We need to know all the names of all the bosses, from the bottom of the organisation right to the top.'

  There was silence around the table. The plainclothes officers tucked into the dim sum and passed around the bowls of chilli and soy. Theirs was the only table not making noise.

  'Well?' said Dan.

  Eventually Ah Tung spoke. 'Daai Lo, you live in a nice flat in Ho Man Tin. Far away from Yaumati. But we all live here. Many people know us. It's one thing to arrest ordinary criminals, dealers and murderers. But if you go after Brother, word will leak out. They will know within hours if we start to target them as an organisation. Then maybe they come after us. We all have families, they can hurt us easily. We cannot fight Brother. Maybe a headquarters unit can fight them, but not us. We are just an ordinary CID team.'

  No-one moved to contradict Ah Tung and all eyes were lowered, intent on the provender in front of them. The sound of munching, swallowing and slurping dominated the table.

  'There is no headquarters unit,' said Dan. 'We're it. If we don't fight Brother, no one will. Then they just get bigger and bigger and they sell drugs to our children, your children, with no fear of arrest. Are you going to let that happen?'

  Ah Tung put down his chopsticks. 'Thank you Daai Lo, that was a lovely dim sum. I buy the next one. Now, I have to get back to the station to interview a witness. See you later.' He drew back his chair, stood up and left.

  Gradually all the others did the same until there were only two left, Liu Jai and Hui Fen, the only female member of the team.

  'What are you two doing here, haven't you got homes?' asked Dan miserably.

  Liu Jai and Hui Fen sat quietly for a moment, looking around. Hui Fen sipped some tea. 'My brother was attacked by a triad gang ten years ago' she said eventually. 'Hurt very bad. He is afraid to leave the house now. He never goes out.' She paused before looking Dan directly in the eye. 'I will help you.' Then without further ado she picked up her bag, stood up and left.

  Dan looked at Liu Jai. Eventually the junior cop spoke up. 'You're not safe around here either, sir. Despite what you say. In fact it can be dangerous for you to cross the street, even in daylight.' He waited for a few seconds. 'Especially when you're drunk.'

  Dan was used to a modicum of insubordination. And it was a standing joke that he liked a cold beer to wash down his lunchtime noodles. But Liu Jai didn't disappoint him. 'So I had better be part of the Brother squad too. Someone has to make sure you don't fall over in the road while you're fighting the biggest triad society in Hong Kong.'

  Dan saw a passing waitress and called for the bill. She walked past him and went to another table. 'I'm very glad that I've spent so much time encouraging and supporting you in your career, Liu Jai. I can see that it's appreciated.'

  Liu Jai got up, tapped Dan on the shoulder and left.

  Dan drank the last of his tea and tried again to get the waitress's attention. She ignored him.

  Golden Luck Casino, Yaumati, Kowloon

  'So, Kowloon means 'nine dragons'.' Nancy was polishing her nails while listening to Jenny who was perched on her bed in the dormitory she shared with Nancy and two other Brother women. 'Gau means nine. Lung means dragon. Put them together and you have gau lung which the English speak Kowloon.'

  'And did these nine dragons once blow flame and smoke all over the people of this part of China and turn them into fire cakes?' asked Nancy who was also cross-legged on her bed and still in her pyjamas.

  'No, they are still here. They not go away. The nine dragons are the nine hills that Kowloon is built on. The dragons went to sleep and people built houses and roads on them, that's all.'

  She threw a pillow at Nancy's head.

  'What if they wake up?' asked Nancy. 'If they're Chinese dragons they're going to be very, very hungry. How will we feed them?'

  She threw the pillow back at Jenny. Then she threw two more at her for luck.

  Jenny caught the pillows and stacked them on her lap. 'True. We definitely will need more food for them. Chinese dragon eat all day long. Maybe we ask America. Or the UN.'

  Lorry in the night. Tabards. Life belt. Lafi and his gun. Three boys. O my goodness, I never told Ealing I'm not coming back.

  'What's the matter, Nancy? Why so many shock?'

  'Oh, just something I meant to do. That's all. Listen Jenny, continue my education. How do I say in Cantonese 'may I use the phone to call England?''

  'You can not use any phone to call England. So I not teach you that phrase. Ordinary phones only use for call people in Hong Kong. You must go to Star Ferry Terminal. Find Cable and Wireless building. Call international from there.'

  'OK thanks. I'll do that.' She hesitated. 'Fancy breakfast?'

  'Sure,' replied Jenny cheerfully. 'Always fancy breakfast. Any time of day fancy breakfast. Got hunger like dragon.'

  Nancy had not seen any strange letters or numbers since she arrived in Hong Kong. She had forgotten about them completely, so much had happened.

  But when she and Jenny arrived down on the street all of that changed. A student's back pack in front of her bore the inscription 'Any time is 1.11 time'. When they sat down in the restaurant
and looked at the menu Nancy saw that the inside left page was numbered 1. and the opposite page was 11. Two Filipino men came in wearing Liverpool football shirts, one of them bearing 1. on the back and the other 11.

  Just co-incidence, thought Nancy. It's obviously on my mind again, that's all.

  Jenny was determined to help Nancy blend in. 'You order the food, Nancy. I tell you the words. You not look Chinese but you can sound Chinese.' And while they ate their congee soup together, Jenny gave Nancy the most intensive language lesson she had ever undergone. She learnt how to cut off her Cantonese consonants like a native, how to sing-song her way through each delicious word, how a change in tone could be the difference between life and death and how in Chinese conversation food was the new weather and money was the new sex.

  Two hours later, exhausted and crammed, Nancy stood up, hugged her new best friend Jenny and exclaimed in perfect Cantonese, 'Now I go out and forget all.'

  'No,' laughed the exuberant Jenny. 'You remember all. Got good memory, you. And especially when you become rich and powerful in Brother you remember all your friends and me too. Not forget us.'

  And when Nancy looked at her doubtfully Jenny went on, 'You going high, I can see that. You got talent. You got the talent that Brother like.' And this time Nancy didn't try to look doubtful and didn't argue with Jenny because already in the depths of her being she knew that Jenny was right and although she didn't have the ambition to go to the top, she knew she had taken to Brother like a Peking duck to water. She was fitting in to the triad society's centuries-old culture just as neatly as she had fitted into her elegant cheung sam and zipped it up tight at the first try.

  Then she went up to the counter and paid for their meal and picked up her dollar and eleven cents change, put it in her pocket, took Jenny by the arm and returned with her to the Golden Luck, chattering non-stop as they went to prepare for another slow midday opening, a long afternoon and a frenetic evening that wouldn't finish till two in the morning and all the while wondering was it one eleven, or one two, or one one one, or three, and how long was this going to go on and whoever they were why wouldn't they just leave her alone and let her go on finding herself, becoming the person she was always meant to be and building a solid, worthwhile career in one of Asia's foremost criminal organisations.