The Code War (51 page)

Down on the street, traffic was almost
stationary and the air was thicker than usual with smoke and
fumes.

'Come on,' said Nancy, 'I had a big
night last night so I'll treat you to dim sum at the Ho Fook. It
will be more comfortable indoors.'

They entered and took their table
in the middle of the big salon which was already filling up with
hungry shoppers and textile businessmen. Kippah-capped Jews talked
gold with smiths out of Shanghai while German investors mulled
casino interiors with Macau architects. Red streamers decorated the
walls and papier maché dragon's heads blessed the diners and warned
evil spirits to depart this world. Or at least go next door to a
rival eatery and curse them instead.

While they were eating, Nancy related
the events at the Blue Diamond and how it seemed that hostilities
had been set aside and Golden Horse were now clear to join Brother,
all reputations and honour restored. She played down her role in
the affair but Jenny could guess her performance had been
pivotal.

As they were talking Ko-yee, Fatty
Lo's messenger and office administrator, entered the restaurant and
stood near the door peering around. Spotting Nancy he came over,
nodded to Jenny and then with great courtesy addressed himself
directly to the westerner.

'Miss Nancy, Mr Lo would be pleased if
you would have dinner with him tonight at the Furama Hotel on Hong
Kong Island. He will send a car for you at seven.'

'Miss Nancy,' exclaimed Jenny after he
had gone. 'And the Furama! You've gone up in the world, my
dear.'

But even more surprising, a few minutes
later the dapper, moustachioed figure of Frenchy appeared in person
and presented himself before the pair. After greeting Jenny with a
peck on the cheek he turned to Nancy.

'Miss Nancy, may I congratulate you on
your diplomacy last night. You rescued victory from a very
difficult situation. You have become a person of stature in our
fraternal order. Would you do me the honour of joining me for
dinner tomorrow night at the Peninsula Hotel so we can discuss your
rightful place in the company?'

After he had left the two women were so
engrossed in their conversation they didn't notice the young
western man who sat down at the next table with an elderly,
shabbily dressed beggar woman.

'Nancy, do you realise what's
happened?' asked Jenny, her eyes wide in astonishment. 'Fatty is
trying to reassert himself as Brother leader again and Frenchy is
also pitching to take over. They're both trying to get you to
endorse them. Nancy, you've become...' Jenny couldn't think of the
word.

'King-maker,' said Nancy in English. 'I
don't know the Cantonese for that.'

'Yes, I understand that word,' said
Jenny, excitedly. 'But the king-maker also becomes the second most
important person in the organisation. You will be the power behind
the throne. Nancy, in due course you might become the..well,
Brother of Brothers isn't quite right. They'll have to make up a
new title for you. You could be the next Dragon Head of
Brother.'

Nancy considered this for a moment. 'You
know, I'm not sure that's really what I want. I don't know that I
want to go that high in the organisation.'

As Jenny frowned, Nancy continued.
'Don't get me wrong, I like Brother and I want to build my career
here. I think I can help them become more professional and
outward-looking. But I'm not sure I want to be leader. I'm just not
that ambitious.'

'Poor child,' said Jenny only
half-mockingly. 'There must be something in the soy sauce that's
turned your brains into minced pork today. You have leadership and
ability gushing out of every pore in your tough-as-dragon-scale
skin. You have all these hard men eating out of your hand and you
want to be a passenger in the car and not the driver. Don't worry.
Your madness will pass, Nancy. You'll be better by dinner time.'
And Jenny squeezed Nancy's hand before adding in a whisper, 'And
when you are Dragon Head, you will need a secretary. Someone you
can trust and throw pillows at when you get stressed. I think I
know someone who can do that job very well.'

As Nancy laughed Jenny suddenly looked
down at her watch. 'I have to be at work, I'm late,' she said,
jumping up. 'See you later.' And with a kiss on the cheek she was
gone.

Nancy sat back and found herself gazing
up at the chandelier. It's hundred pendant crystals reflected the
reds and yellows and whites from all around the crowded room. They
twirled gently this way and that as the door opened and customers
went in or out, letting in a draught. Two of the crystals detached
themselves from their holders. They reshaped themselves into the
letters t and e and then journeyed around the rest of the
chandelier like a slow train, threading, looping, swooping,
circling and porpoising in and out, around and around. Always t
followed by e, never the other way around.

Nancy wasn't frightened. There was
already so much drama in her life that a little weirdness wasn't
going to make a great deal of difference. Who was afraid of the
alphabet?

Red Siste

Pretty obvious what was coming next.
Been obvious since the second s really. Calm though she was, a
slight shiver ran through Nancy's body as she spoke the two words
to herself. But no-one in Brother had ever used those words
together before. Well, whatever was going on it was out of her
hands. Anyway, time to think about more important things. Can I
afford to buy a new dress for my dinner dates?

'Hello,' said a male voice beside her,
in English.

Dan looked down at the diminutive figure
of the old woman beggar.

Damn it. He was dog-tired and his
nerves were frazzled and he had just arrested a senior officer of
the most powerful criminal organisation in Hong Kong. He
wante
d sleep and he wanted a drink. Not
necessarily in that order.

Yet here on the busy streets of the
richest area of Kowloon was an old, frail woman who just wanted a
hot meal. Dan fished in his pocket and found a $HK100 note. That
was a week's spending money. He couldn't afford to part with that.
The woman looked at him, her expectations raised, the gratitude
already in her eye. He couldn't walk away now.

The Ho Fook restaurant they were
standing beside wasn't one Dan had used before. Detectives were
creatures of habit like everyone else and Dan's squad tended to
stick to the places they trusted. Maybe it was better he took her
somewhere he wouldn't be seen by anyone he knew.

'Yap lei ah,' he said, trying to hide
his lack of enthusiasm. 'Sik faan.' Come in. Let's have a bite.

'Doh je, nei yau sam.' Thank you, you
are so kind, said Ruth.

She turned suddenly, more
nimb
ly than he expected and led the way
into the restaurant to a table near the middle of the room leaving
him in her wake. How did she walk so fast, an old lady like that?
She must be really hungry.

'Thank you, sir, you will be much
blessed,' said Ruth, laying a hand on Dan's arm after he'd sat
down. Dan was nervous of the bedraggled, hunched old lady but tried
not to show it. He hoped she would not embarrass him by calling out
to other diners or slopping her food.

A waitress appeared an instant later.
Crikey, thought Dan, I've never been served that quickly before.
The woman ordered a dish of Singapore noodles with a plate of choi
sum and oyster sauce. Dan ordered tea and a beer. He looked about
him. Mixture of Chinese and westerners. Odd for Yaumati, not that
many white faces came this far north of the Star Ferry usually.
Beside him, two young women were engaged in earnest conversation,
oblivious of everyone else.

The waitress returned with the food and
drinks - fast again! - and set them down on the table. The beggar
woman tucked in and ate noisily, looking up and smiling at Dan from
time to time.

Dan tried to drink his beer
slowly. He looked at the two women again. The western one looked
English by complexion but was speaking not bad Cantonese. Not seen
her around here before. A light went on in his head. No, couldn't
be. She looks much too nice to be the mysterious western newcomer
making headlines at Brother.

He turned back to his guest. The
old woman had finished her meal. She burped loudly and smiled at
him, dabbing the corner of her mouth. 'Thank you, sir,' she said,
then rose, bowed and headed straight for the door. Gratitude!
Another diner walked into her path and bumped into her. A
bluish-white feather fell to the floor as she continued her journey
and left the restaurant without looking back.

Dan looked down at his glass which was
empty in a seriously unfunny way. Another beer or home to bed?

Beside him, the Chinese girl had
left and the westerner was staring at the chandelier with a curious
mixture of concentration and calmness.

Always worth a shot.

'Hello,' he said. 'My name's Dan. Do you
speak English?'

The girl turned and looked at him as if
she'd been dragged from another galaxy.

'Yes,' said Nancy, guardedly.

'Oh, well I was just going to have
another beer. I see you're alone. Can I join you and buy you a
drink?'

'Actually I was just about to…'

She stopped and stared. Dan's neck
chain dangled forward. A little silver ingot fell out in front of
his shirt and settled at a slight angle over his top button.
1.11

Dan noticed the surprise
on Nancy's face. 'Are you, OK?' he asked,
looking down and fingering the ingot which had clearly caught her
attention.

Nancy looked back at Dan's face and then
down to his ingot again.

'That number,' she said, 'what does it
mean?'

'Oh that,' said Dan, suddenly
embarrassed. 'Er, well.'

He was still sitting at the adjacent
table with his body half-twisted round to face her. A waitress
passed and asked if he would like anything else.

'Er, well,' said Dan looking down at his
glass and back at Nancy. 'Erm.'

Nancy pulled back a chair beside
her. Dan slid across, suddenly feeling both pleased and out of
control at the same time.

'Get him a beer please and I'll have
some tea,' she said commandingly to the waitress.

Dan looked at Nancy anew. She was
attractive certainly. But there was something about her that seemed
quite high powered, forceful even. She'd spot any bullshit
instantly for sure.

'Thank you, don't worry.
I'll pay,' he said, trying to regain the
initiative.

'It's on me,' said Nancy
decisively. Bloomin' hec, this woman was a force.

'The number,' she reminded him. 'You
were going to tell me about it.'

'Oh yes, the number.' Dan wanted to talk
about anything but the number.

'What's in a number?' he laughed.

'I don't know, what's in a number?'

Jiggered.

'Well it's something I had made.
When I came here. To Hong Kong, that is. I'd forgotten I was
wearing it actually.' Dan fingered the silver ingot for a moment
before tucking it back inside his shirt.

'So, is it a lucky charm?'

'No, that wouldn't be right, not a
charm,' Dan blurted. 'Well if you must know, it symbolises, I mean
it means, I mean it represents the Trinity.'

'The Trinity?'

'Yes.'

'And what's that?'

'Er..God.'

'God?'

'Yes. All three.'

'T
here
are three Gods?'

'No. Just one.' He laughed
weakly.

'One God. But three of him. Fascinating.
Explain.'

Dan shrugged his shoulders
helplessly. 'I can't. It's a mystery. It's just one of those
things. You can't explain it.'

'Try harder.'

Dan's
smile was becoming increasingly forced. He wanted to
romance this woman. But she had him on the ropes and wouldn't let
him off.

'OK, let me think for a moment. Right.
There's one God. But three persons.'

'Is it
Jesus, Mary and Joseph?'

'No. They're the Holy Family.'

'Oh. Is it Peter, Paul and Mary?'

'No. They're a singing group. But they
had a great hit with Puff the Magic Dragon. What sort of music do
you like?'

Escape. Off and running.
He looked down and noticed Nancy's legs in their
black tights.

Nancy seemed about to answer. Then her
expression changed back.

'Three persons. Who are they?'

He
felt
like he'd walked out of gaol and then been re-arrested.

'OK, I've got it now.' He'd get
through this bit quickly and then move on to some witty chatlines.
'They're God, the Holy Spirit and Jesus.'

'I've heard of Jesus. Good, we're making
progress. So why is he God? And who's the other one?'

'The other one?'

'The middle man. I mean the middle God.
The Holy Spirit. Where does he come in?'

Dan drew a deep breath. Only a few
hours before he'd conducted a brilliant bust. He'd arrested a major
drugs dealer from Hong Kong's biggest crime organisation. As a
result his name was all around headquarters. It was the kind of
fame every policeman wanted. Yet now he was involved in trying to
explain the unexplainable to a complete stranger. It wasn't fair.
He was also very tired and slightly woozy with the beer.

But she wasn't going to let him
go. 'Come on, you're doing so well. Are you OK for
time?'

Dan could see Nancy was enjoying
herself
. She had crossed her arms and
there was a semi-smile on her lips.