Lights Out (21 page)

She looked again at Chow’s picture, her partner, and she signed and
shook her head.

“What is it?”
Luk
asked noticing her mood
change.

“Oh, it’s nothing” she said pointing towards the smiling picture of
Chow. “Just such a waste of his life.”

Not wanting to get morose, Lam quickly changed the subject.

“ I think I’m getting closer to finding out the sequence of events,
and this is where I’m going to need your expertise and knowledge of the Triads
and which gang may be responsible for this.” She said, moving towards the left
hand side of board, and the dead contractors picture.

“We always wondered why this old man”, she said tapping the picture
with her finger, “would attempt to get into the bank. He was never going to be
able to rob it. But that was never the intention. I’ve gone over this hundreds
of times. It was to see if he could get to the fourth floor undetected. To see
how far he could get before someone official stopped him. That’s all.” She said
blinking at the board.

“But that doesn’t make sense, he was bound to get picked up, his card
didn’t work for a start.” Jimmy countered, not following Lam entirely.

“That was their only flaw. The swipe card didn’t work. Had it been
working as intended, he could successfully have got through the security
entrance and he would have been in the building, undetected. He could have made
it to the fourth floor and exited and it’s possible that he could have done
this without being stopped and questioned.” She said.

“But other security camera’s would have picked him up moving around
the building, stepping into the lift. He would have been noticed.” Jimmy said.

“No, he wouldn’t. The camera’s we’re all down that morning, remember?
They were being upgraded. There was no footage whatsoever recorded during the
first few hours of that morning. That’s why we could only take
eye-witness
accounts of the security officers and Ryan
Harper into consideration. There was nothing to verify what happened, where or
when.” Lam finished, deep in thought now, she moved along the back wall and
stopped at an image of Ryan Harper and pressed her hand against the wall.

“She pointed a finger at Ryan’s image.” He was the key to all of
this, but he didn’t even know it yet.” She said, drumming her fingers on his
forehead on the paper picture, whilst she was thinking.

“In the background his girlfriend was planning the robbery with
meticulous accuracy. Every fine detail covered off. This has been planned for a
while. Her pseudo electronics company had successfully negotiated a contract
with the bank. They installed all of the new equipment exactly one week before
the robbery.

Her intended target was always going to be Ryan Harper. He had the
security clearance to get them through every area of the bank without
triggering an alarm or unwanted attention. She worked him and he naively took
the bait. So they started to get to know each other, meanwhile she’s planning
the whole event. But I think she needed security to make sure that he would
definitely be a part of the robbery. She wasn’t convinced if she could bribe
him with money, or other promises, so she used collateral, she used his closest
friend in Hong Kong, which also happened to be her closest friend.

This is where Robert Black comes in.
The
unsuspecting innocent in all of this.
He never knew of Lily’s
involvement until just before he died. He was supposed to be released shortly
after the robbery, but this was taken out of Lily’s hands.

“Poor guy. I hear her got a bullet in the face.”
Luk
said.

“That’s right.” Lam responded,
then
paused.
Temporarily stuck in
her own
thoughts.

Shaking it off she continued. “The timing was just perfect. The bank
is undergoing upgrades to their security cameras and systems and renovation
work inside the building in also being carried out. Contractors are coming and
going, there’s lots of noise and disruption. It’s clever, because staff are
less cautious, they don’t question when they see a new face, assuming that it’s
all to do with the renovation work.” Lam said, on a roll now.

“Then they had cover of the City’s ‘Lights out’ campaign. The whole
of Hong Kong being thrown into pitch darkness couldn’t be more perfect. It gave
her the ideal opportunity. A chance to get in undetected both supported by a
black out, and camera’s and motion detectors that could be easily switched on
and off. They had Ryan with them, their ‘key’ and obviously enough people to
help carry the money out.” Lam continued.

“She knew that she didn’t need to walk out with the money causing
them unnecessary risk. She could simply load up the rubble bags. She already
knew they would be collected the next morning at the same time that they always
were. It was the perfect way to get something out of the building unnoticed
and undetected. It was hidden in plain sight. No one even knew that the bank
had been robbed at that stage. The money was well and truly gone by the time
the alarm had finally been raised. She used her charm and guile to get the
truck driver to drop her off at a pre-determined destination, so that the bags
could be removed. It was so easy for her to bribe Choi. It was too much of a
temptation for him and probably more money than he could earn in three months.”
Lam was about to continue when Jimmy interrupted.

“Actually it would be four months salary.” His comment was greeted
with a glare from Lam.

“I asked him earlier today”, he muttered under his breath.

“They still had Ryan with them straight after the robbery.” Jimmy
asked Lam. “So what happened to him. Why not simply kill him, so that he
couldn’t identify them later?”

“They needed him to be the scape goat. He was already under
suspicious by us, and they knew his prints would be found everywhere. It would
buy them enough time to move the money, probably by laundering it, and release
Robert unharmed. He would verify that he didn’t know who had kidnapped him.
Ryan would already have tried to exonerate himself and would have given
descriptions of Lily and the other men involved. Our whole process would be too
slow for them. They are professional and are experts at covering their
movements and tracks and have been for years.”

Lam finished and looked for a response from Jimmy.

“So where is the money now?” Jimmy asked.

“I don’t know, and I suspect only Lily and a few loyal people will
know at this stage.”

“So, how do we find
Harper?” he asked.

“Harper I’m in contact with, but he’s running scared. He’s very high
profile target right now, so it’ll be hard to get him to come in and talk to us
on the record.”

“Hold on, you’ve been in touch with Harper?” Jimmy asked, a trace of
irritation in his voice.

“You’re supposed to keep me in the loop here, Lam.” He said, crossing
his arms in front of him, showing her that he was annoyed. “How am I supposed
to help you if you keep things hidden from me?”

“Look I had the opportunity to chat with Harper in private under his
conditions, that’s all, and he ran again. He doesn’t trust the police.” She
said, almost as though she felt the same way. “I don’t blame him at this stage.
The triads have infiltrated us in the past, they could easily do it again.” Lam
said. “Also, Lily is not the only person involved in this.” She stated.

“Go on”, Jimmy said.

“Harper told me that Lily called him after she heard that he’d
escaped the police and was on the run. She’d agreed to let him see Robert, to
check that his friend was at least alive. They met, and he persuaded her to do the right thing and release Robert.
Then another man came in, the same man from the robbery and the café. They call
him Ghost Face. He tried to shoot Ryan, but Robert got in the way.” Lam said,
picking up her black marker and drawing a cross through Robert Black’s name on
her board.

“So now we have two dead
bodies on our hands.” Jimmy said.

“What do you know about Ghost Face?” Jimmy asked, more interested
now.

“Harper described him to be in his mid-fifties, slender, but strong
with incredibly pale skin. He had cropped black hair, going slightly grey at
the temples. Whoever this guy is, he managed to not only convince Harper to be
a part of the robbery, by intimidation and kidnapping Rob, but he has also
shown himself to be very adept at killing.”

“Do you know him?” She
asked Jimmy hopefully.

“No, no. Not one of the names that I’m familiar with.” he said
confidently. “But it’s possible that he has another name, most Triads members do?”

“Well can you do a search of other known names or anything similar?”
Lam asked.

“I can, but if he was a leading triad member, then I would know him
already, and I don’t recognize the description or the name.” Jimmy said flatly.

Lam continued. “Harper didn’t think that it was Lily’s intention for
anyone to get killed. The contractor was unplanned, Rob’s murder was totally
avoidable, had they kept to their side of the bargain and released him straight
after the robbery. But it’s clear that something has changed, and there is a
shift in the relationship between Lily and this man, Ghost Face.” She turned to
Jimmy.

“This is where you come in. You know everything there is to know
about Triad gangs in Hong Kong. From what Harper has told me, and looking at
everything we have. This is definitely triad related; I’m 100% sure about that.
What’s the likely outcome between Lily and Ghost Face if they are both part of
the same Triad family?” She asked Jimmy.

“What’s the triad protocol when two members disagree over something?”

“It’s not good. A lot depends on hierarchy and it sounds as though
Ghost Face is probably either more senior or more respected. There are not many
women that we know of in triad societies. The odd one or two have come up in
the past. There is one main female that has become quite a legend in Hong Kong,
she’s an unknown to us, but we have learned over the years that she heads up
one of the biggest gangs. She’s been able to stay anonymous for years. She’s
very well protected from all sides and very well respected within the Society.”
Jimmy continued.

“Triads have rules, the same way that we do. If a member has gone
against one of the triad oaths, or has put one of the gangs into a situation
where they may get exposed, then it’s likely that person will be branded a
traitor. If this happens, a hit will be ordered by the head or by the triad
masters collectively, and that person will killed outright.” He said matter of
factly
. Continuing his thread, he said “and it’s not a nice
death. There’s an old ritual killing for traitors that some triad groups still
use.”

“What can we expect?” Lam asked.

“Well, firstly the death is very slow. It starts with cuts to the
body using a large knife or sword. None of the cuts are lethal, so death is
painful and drawn out. Normally we would expect to find a total of exactly one
hundred cuts, if we find a body at all. We’ve been told in the past that
sometimes the person carrying out the murder will bury the traitor alive. It’s
a horrible way to die.” Jimmy finished.

Lam was absorbing everything that he was telling her.

“That’s not good. We need to find out more about these people before
we get another body on our hands.”

“We haven’t been able to
trace the money yet. But I’m assuming it will be laundered somewhere known to
the triads. Do you know any of the money laundering routes? Are there places
that we can start to investigate, and people that we can talk to?” She asked
Jimmy.

“It’s not that simple. I’ll have to do a bit of research and digging,
I don’t want to discuss this too much in the open. I’ll be cautious and
discreet and see what I can find out. We first need to find out which triad
group we are dealing with here. Other groups will be aware, and may know
things, but we need to be careful how we approach this.” He finished.

Lam thought for a moment.

“We need to find Ghost Face. He’s the dangerous one, and without him,
I’ll never get Ryan to come in. He doesn’t feel safe whilst he is still out
there.” She said.

“I need you to find out as much as you can about Lily and Ghost Face,
see if any of your contacts have heard of them, or seen them.” She said.

“OK, but I think you should try and get Harper in here, we can offer
him protection. He’ll be safe here. If we can interview him again, there may be
other things that he can tell us about these two people that will help us to
close the net.” Jimmy said. “I can show him pictures of some of the triads and
see if he recognizes anyone.”

“OK, I’ll do what I can, but he was quite adamant about not coming
in.” Lam stood back and took in the contents of her board. It was starting to
form a story, but she still had so many holes and she knew that Jimmy was
right. Without Harper, she knew she couldn’t pull everything together.

“I’ll make a call.” Lam said, picking up her phone.

Lily drove out to the New Territories to the house that she kept
there. She’d taken the property on her Grandmother’s recommendation about two
years ago. Some money had come in after the death of her parents, and she’d
been advised to buy a place that was well away from the City, a safe house that
she could use if she ever felt that she needed protection, or just timeout from
the Society.

Her Grandmother also had a house, but hers was in China. It served
the same purpose and many times had assisted her Grandmother when she needed to
lay low.

Only her Grandmother and her lawyer knew the location of Lily’s
secret place.

It was situated close to the ocean in an area called the Gold Coast.
All of the properties that ate up the sea front were modern condominiums,
garish and ugly, but Lily had managed to find an old stone village house,
slightly higher up the mountain offering uninterrupted views of the ocean and
of the road that snaked and twisted it’s way up to the mountain to her front
door.

She had bought the house outright from an elderly Chinese family that
were happy to take the cash. The
purchase agreement had been drawn up in another name, which her lawyer had been
able to wrangle somehow, so it could be never be located through public records
or deeds and tied back to her.

She’d spent three months working with an architect, flown in from
overseas, on every aspect of the property. Tearing it down to its bare bones,
and re-building it sympathetically back to how it would have looked ninety
years ago. The architect had done a good job of mixing the old features with
new modern amenities. Her living room joined a huge decked terrace which
dropped down a few steps into an eternity pool, all overlooking the ocean and
beyond, with Hong Kong Island in the distance.

Security throughout was of course was state of the art with no
expense spared. Lily had rigged up the house incorporating her new digital
camera systems covering every aspect and angle of her home. She could monitor
this from her laptop remotely at any time.

Lily felt safe here, and for now it’s where she needed to be until
she decided what her next move should be. She knew that she had to speak with
her Grandmother. If Ghost Face got there first and managed to speak to all
eight Masters then her fate could be decided upon without her even having the
chance to defend herself. She knew that even if her Grandmother decided against
the ruling, that if all other eight Masters agreed, she would be over ruled.