The Borrowed

by Chan Ho-Kei

  ‘I’ve heard a journalist friend say so. As for this recent spate of violent incidents, we at Starry Night share the feelings of our fellow Hongkongers, and hope the culprits are brought to justice as quickly as possible.’

  He was talking as if none of this had a damn thing to do with him! Lok cursed silently.

  ‘Will Candy Ton’s album be coming out as scheduled?’

  ‘This album represents Candy’s sweat and tears. These ruffians wanted to prevent her fans from enjoying her music, and we’re not going to let them get their way. The CD will be on shelves this week as planned,’ said Boss Chor solemnly. ‘The concert that would have accompanied the launch is cancelled, of course. Instead, we’re organising a candlelit remembrance, with various singers performing. This is planned for the middle of next month...’

  All of a sudden, Lok remembered Kwan telling him to ‘listen to music or watch TV after work’. That wasn’t fatherly advice; he’d been given a tip.

  Lok realized he’d been looking in the wrong place all along. ‘You have to be patient when you’re angling for a big fish. If you can’t get him on the hook right now, just still your heart and wait, and keep an eye on the surface of the water. You may only have an instant, when the opportunity arrives.’

  His eyes remained on the screen, but he was no longer paying attention. His mind was now focused on that flickering moment of opportunity. A chance to charge Boss Chor with incitement and conspiracy to cause Candy Ton’s death.

  5

  THE MOMENT Sonny Lok arrived in the office the next morning, his entire team sensed something odd. Even the usually oblivious Cheung could tell his commander had things on his mind.

  ‘Commander.’ Ah Gut rapped on his door. ‘I’ve pulled the file of every low-ranking member of Hing-chung-wo, then compared their build against the four killers. I’ve got seven possible matches—’

  ‘Don’t bother, you won’t find the culprits there.’ Inspector Lok sighed deeply, and was silent for a moment. ‘Ah Gut... do you think I’m fit to be your commanding officer?’

  Uncertain what Lok was getting at, Ah Gut couldn’t answer right away. ‘Commander, I haven’t worked under you for long, so I can’t answer that. But you’re always good to us, and when Operation Viper went wrong you didn’t take it out on us. We all feel we can trust you.’

  Inspector Lok smiled, seemingly pleased with this answer. ‘So if I were transferred somewhere else, I could leave with an easy conscience?’

  ‘Commander?’

  ‘I’m taking sole responsibility for today’s operation. If there’s an inquiry, it’ll all be on my shoulders.’ He stood. ‘Ah Gut, let’s go arrest the mastermind behind Candy Ton’s death.’

  ‘Who’s that?’

  ‘Boss Chor.’

  Ah Gut was stunned. ‘Chor Hon-keung? Why would he want to kill Candy Ton? Commander, do you have any evidence?’

  ‘No,’ said Lok simply.

  ‘In that case...’ At that moment, Ah Gut understood why Sonny Lok was taking complete responsibility for whatever came next. Picking a fight with Boss Chor, without any proof to back you up, was sure to lead to all kinds of problems, especially when you were an insignificant commander of a little District Crime Unit. ‘Commander, are you trying to lure him into a confession?’

  ‘No,’ smiled Lok grimly. ‘An old crocodile like him won’t be foolish enough to say anything incriminating. But it’d go against my principles to sit by and shut my eyes, to protect my career, when someone is blatantly breaking the law. Even if we can’t bring charges against him, I still want Chor Hon-keung to know that he can’t just do what he wants in Yau-Tsim District.’

  Ah Gut wanted very much to tell Lok that if he were to ask his question again, the answer this time would be, ‘You’re an extremely worthy commander.’

  Lok and Ah Gut headed to Starry Night to invite Boss Chor to assist with their inquiries. Outside the main entrance were throngs of reporters who’d been there since early morning.

  ‘Inspector Lok, are you here to ask Boss Chor about Candy Ton?’

  ‘Inspector Lok, do the police have any confirmed suspects?’

  ‘I heard Eric Yeung’s father, Yam Tak-ngok, has been arrested. Is Mr Yeung a suspect too?’

  Lok didn’t respond to any of these questions, instead asking the receptionist to inform Mr Chor that the police were here.

  ‘Officer, do you need more information about Candy Ton? I’m only in charge of administration, I don’t know if I can be much help.’ Boss Chor wore a designer suit, his hair neatly parted, looking nothing at all like an underworld figure.

  ‘Mr Chor,’ said Lok, keeping his voice level, ‘I’m Inspector Sonny Lok from Yau-Tsim District, and I’ll have to trouble you to accompany us to the station. We suspect you may have something to do with a murder case.’

  For just a second, Chor looked like he couldn’t believe this was happening, but in the next instant he’d returned to his businesslike appearance, pasting a smile onto his face. ‘In that case, I’d like to have my lawyer with me. Is that all right?’

  ‘Go ahead.’

  Chor spoke briefly into the phone, then followed Lok and Ah Gut out through the horde of startled reporters.

  ‘I’m just helping the police with their inquiries, providing a few leads, that’s all.’ Boss Chor strenuously presented a relaxed front, but the journalists weren’t going to miss an opportunity, and were already ferociously snapping away.

  The three men reached Tsim Sha Tsui station to find Boss Chor’s lawyer waiting for them. Once again, everyone in the precinct was shocked by Lok’s tactics. Just a few days ago, he’d brought in the boss of Hing-chung-wo, and now the ‘untouchable’ Boss Chor was showing up here too.

  ‘Mr Chor, please have a seat.’ In the interview room, which happened to be the one in which they’d spoken to Uncle Ngok, Lok placed Chor and his lawyer on one side of the table.

  ‘Inspector Lok, I don’t understand why you’d waste my client’s time by insisting he come here,’ said the lawyer. ‘If it’s evidence you’re after, he could just as easily have provided it in his office.’

  ‘We believe Mr Chor is involved in incitement and conspiracy to murder,’ said Inspector Lok, cutting straight to the chase. Chor raised his eyebrows but said nothing. His lawyer’s hand was up anyway, indicating he should be quiet.

  ‘Who’s the victim?’ asked the lawyer.

  ‘A client of Starry Night Entertainment, Candy Ton.’

  ‘Inspector Lok, this is ridiculous,’ said the lawyer. ‘Why would an entertainment company’s boss want to hurt the most promising singer on his roster, the one with the most future earning power?’

  ‘So according to you, the killer must be someone with a grudge against Starry Night or Mr Chor himself, seeking to hurt Candy Ton in order to damage his business?’ Lok replied.

  ‘I have no idea. We’re the victims here. Catching criminals is the job of the police, not ours.’ The lawyer’s frosty glare swept across Ah Gut and the inspector.

  ‘Can Mr Chor shed any light on the attack on the actor Eric Yeung?’ Lok changed the subject suddenly.

  ‘I’ve only heard about it from a reporter friend – that was the first I knew of the incident.’ More or less the same response he’d given at the press conference the day before.

  ‘Do you have any guesses, Mr Chor? Why Eric Yeung was attacked, for instance?’

  The lawyer was about to answer when Boss Chor raised a hand to stop him, and said, ‘As a private citizen, I’m guessing it was because he misbehaved on a regular basis, making enemies and bringing punishment upon himself. I’ve heard his father was the Triad figure Yam Tak-ngok. So the attack on him might have something to do with gang activity – but the police would know far more about that than an ordinary citizen like me.’

  What a bastard, thought Lok.

  ‘How about the director Leung Kwok-wing, the actress Shum Suet-sze, or the TV host Jimmy Ding? Do you know them?’

  ‘
Of course I’ve heard their names. I might even have met them at some event, I can’t remember.’

  ‘Leung Kwok-wing was beaten up three years ago. Last year, Shum Suet-sze and Jimmy Ding were separately dragged into vans, held for five hours and threatened by thugs. All these incidents happened after the individuals made remarks about Mr Chor or Starry Night performers. What do you have to say about that?’

  ‘These two things aren’t connected,’ interjected the lawyer. ‘Before Jimmy Ding was attacked, he slammed the Hong Kong government several times on his radio programme. Have the police brought the Chief Executive in for questioning?’

  ‘Naturally, I’d regret it if fans were to take the law into their own hands in retaliation for their idols being insulted,’ smiled Boss Chor.

  Inspector Lok realized there was no need for the lawyer to be there – Chor was perfectly capable of brushing every speck of dirt off himself. He’d asked for the lawyer purely so that he himself could go on the attack and mock the police.

  ‘Mr Chor, you mentioned earlier that Eric Yeung’s attack might have been due to his father being a Triad figure, but now you’ve just said it might be fans taking the law into their own hands. Isn’t that contradictory?’

  ‘Those are different possibilities – I’m just guessing here.’ Boss Chor smiled again. ‘The performers we work with appeal to different levels of society, and if some of their fans are Triad members, that’s not something I can control.’

  ‘Mr Inspector,’ said the lawyer, the other half of the double act, ‘you keep bringing up matters that have nothing to do with Mr Chor. I can’t imagine what evidence you have connecting my client to Candy Ton’s death. If you carry on like this, I’ll consider making an official complaint. You invited Mr Chor to come to the station, and tomorrow that’ll be all over the news media – a PR blow for Starry Night. We have the legal right to pursue this.’

  Shaking his head, Lok decided to plunge the knife straight in.

  ‘Before this, I’d thought Candy Ton was killed by Hing-chung-wo thugs,’ he said. This sudden change in direction left Chor, his lawyer and even Ah Gut baffled.

  ‘Then—’

  Lok put out a hand to shut the lawyer up, and went on, ‘Ms Ton was insulted by Eric Yeung, after which Mr Yeung received a punishment beating from underworld thugs who were unaware his father was Hing-chung-wo’s boss, Yam Tak-ngok. According to this theory, Mr Yam or his underlings had ample motivation to seek revenge on Candy Ton.’

  ‘Then you ought to go arrest this Mr Yam,’ chuckled Boss Chor.

  ‘But Mr Yam couldn’t have ordered this attack. The criminals were surely Triad members, but not from Hing-chung-wo. They were Hung-yi Union men – that is, your subordinates, Mr Chor Hon-keung.’

  ‘Officer, what you’ve just said is defamation against my client’s reputation,’ threatened the lawyer, standing suddenly and placing both palms on the table.

  ‘Hang on, let him continue,’ said Chor suddenly. Ah Gut could see the lawyer hadn’t expected this move, and was looking warily at his client.

  ‘First of all, I’d like to talk about what happened on the night of the 22nd,’ Lok said at a leisurely pace. ‘That evening, Candy Ton was driven home by her agent, but didn’t actually enter the building, because Mr Chor Hon-keung had arranged a secret meeting with her. I’m not sure what excuse he used, but he was her boss, and had just taken revenge on Eric Yeung on her behalf, so she had no reason not to keep the appointment. But it was a trick to lure her into a trap, because Mr Chor himself didn’t show up. Waiting instead at the location were some low- ranking thugs from Hung-yi Union, sent there by Big Brother Chor himself.’

  The lawyer had several objections to this, but each time he looked at Chor and, seeing no signal, allowed Inspector Lok to continue.

  ‘The scene was perfect for an ambush. Few passers-by, no homes or businesses in the vicinity, and most importantly, nowhere for the victim to escape except up the bridge.’ As Lok spoke, he kept his eyes fixed on Chor’s. ‘Put one or two men on the bridge, and the prey would find herself surrounded.’

  ‘Inspector Lok,’ Boss Chor grinned suddenly, ‘are you feeling quite all right? Nothing you’ve just said makes any logical sense. Even if I were a Triad leader, as you claim, why would I kill the employee with the highest earning potential? That’s already hard to understand, let alone why I’d lure her to a public place so she could be ambushed by my “thugs”. Why not just kidnap her? I’m sure she’d get in any car I asked her to, and then she’d be mine for the taking. Both motive and method are full of holes – even a complete outsider like me can see that.’

  ‘Let’s talk about motive first.’ Lok’s tone remained exactly the same. ‘True, Ms Ton is Starry Night’s highest-earning singer for now, but she was about to jump ship. Once she signed with her new agency, she’d be of no value to Starry Night, and everything you’d invested in her wouldn’t just be wasted, it’d become the property of your rival.’

  The inspector knew how much market share meant to Chor. The way he was intent on expanding Hung-yi’s territory showed how focused he was on getting as close to a monopoly as possible.

  ‘Inspector Lok, I don’t know where you heard this rumour,’ retorted the lawyer, ‘but Candy signed a ten-year contract with Starry Night. She couldn’t have left for another seven—’

  ‘What if the contract was invalid?’ said Lok coldly. From the expressions on the faces of Chor and the lawyer, he knew he’d scored a point. ‘According to Hong Kong law, minors below the age of fifteen need the permission of a parent or guardian to work. Candy Ton joined Starry Night at the age of fourteen, which means the contract she signed isn’t legally recognized. When the Japanese agency that wanted to poach her learned this little detail from Candy’s own lips, they knew it was the loophole they needed. It was too late by the time you discovered this – knowing she had the opportunity to develop her career with a bigger company, she naturally wouldn’t be willing to sign a new contract with you.’

  ‘The Japanese company trying to poach her is just industry gossip, there’s no evidence for it,’ said the lawyer. ‘And even if there was, it’s ridiculous to slander my client in this way – to suggest he’d commit murder over this.’

  ‘That’s just the first motive, I haven’t come to the second and third,’ Lok went on. ‘Losing the goose that laid the golden eggs was now inevitable, and simply cutting his losses and parting ways might have seemed like the best plan, but Mr Chor is a crafty businessman, and even with a dead goose, he’d be sure to use every scrap of its flesh. There’s no better PR than the death of a star – as long as you have the rights to her work, you could make enormous profits. But crucially, the death would need to be eye-catching enough for maximum publicity, turning the deceased into a “fallen star” – that’s how you hit the big sales.’

  This theory had occurred to Lok the day before, when Boss Chor had mentioned Candy’s forthcoming album at the press conference.

  ‘So not only did you plot to have Ms Ton attacked in a public place, you also tipped off some paparazzo so he’d follow her – basically, you arranged for the assault to be filmed. You hoped the bloody attack would be on the cover of every magazine, only the journalist wasn’t quite as conscience-free as you’d expected – his first response was to send the footage to the police.

  ‘This little show killed two birds with one stone,’ Lok continued, before the lawyer could butt in. ‘You may already have known that the police had their eye on Yam Tak-ngok, which meant this would be a good time to wipe out Hing-chung-wo – but if Mr Yam had named a successor, that’d be a variable you hadn’t accounted for. When Ms Ton was murdered, anyone who knew of Eric Yeung’s relationship to Mr Yam would put the blame on Hing-chung-wo, and Boss Chor would have an excuse to do whatever he wanted to Hing-chung-wo in return, without breaking the Triad code of honour or provoking intervention from other districts. The underworld is like a battlefield, and all you’ve lacked so far was an excuse to g
o to war.’

  ‘My client will not be responding to any of your conjectures,’ said the lawyer, furrowing his brow. ‘Everything you’re saying is completely unfounded. If you do have evidence, please produce it now.’

  ‘True, I don’t have any evidence, but one of your underlings made a mistake.’ Inspector Lok kept his tone neutral. ‘At first I guessed it was Hing-chung-wo thugs who moved the corpse because they’d murdered her accidentally and were panicking, afraid that Hung-yi Union would take revenge. Then I found out the body was naked, and I understood the real reason. It wasn’t the corpse that had to be removed, but its clothes. Mr Chor, have you seen the video of Ms Ton being attacked?’

  ‘I have. So what?’

  ‘No one would have expected tiny, delicate Candy Ton to lash out at her attacker the way she did. That punch landed pretty hard, and caught him right in the face. Even with a mask on, you’d expect a nosebleed or a tooth knocked out, wouldn’t you?’

  In the video, the man she’d punched had immediately clapped his hand over the lower part of his face.

  ‘That thug would have realized his face was covered in blood, and that some of it might have stained Ms Ton’s clothes. Gang killers aren’t usually that fussy about staying anonymous, but this was different – the whole plan hinged on concealment, not of the killers’ own identities, but of which Triad they belonged to. If the police caught the gangsters and used DNA evidence to prove their guilt, it would be clear they were from Hung-yi rather than Hing-chung-wo, and that would wreck Boss Chor’s scheme. There wouldn’t have been time to strip the corpse at the scene, so they could only move the body and deal with it elsewhere.’

  ‘If it happened the way you say, wouldn’t that just mean there was no evidence?’ said Boss Chor coldly, looking distinctly uncomfortable.

  ‘The clothes are gone, but the blood wasn’t necessarily on the clothes.’ Inspector Lok produced some photographs of the stairs leading to the bridge, taken from different angles. ‘The Identification Bureau has searched every inch of the railing, and found traces of blood in the exact spot touched by the man who was punched by Candy Ton. That video recorded the whole incident – that’s indisputable proof. So now, we just need to find who the blood came from. So, yes, I have no evidence right now that Mr Chor ordered the killing, but the testimony of the diminutive killer should do.’