Page 71 of The Killer’s Mark

‘Tell me what you know about Kai.’

‘You know him?’ Poe asked.

‘His mother. She hasn’t seen Kai for many years, though. I’m not sure she knows how to reach him.’

Poe sipped his tea. Thought about what he could and couldn’t say. He decided he was able to tell Xiang everything apart from who’d hired him and who’d told him Kai’s family might still be in Newcastle. Everything else was fair game.

After he had laid out everything – from being asked to find the woman in the porn film to what had led them to the Szechuan Palace – Xiang said, ‘Where do the triads fit in?’

‘I didn’t have a sniff of their involvement until I spoke to my art contact,’ Poe said. ‘And that wasn’t confirmed until they turned up at your restaurant. I knew some heavy hitters were mixed up in it all, obviously. The people who tortured and murdered Mark Buckby were too skilled at violence. Too organised. So to answer your question – other than Kai having gambling debts with the Forty-Fours, I have absolutely no idea how the triads fit into all this. All I was doing was trying to find a woman who once starred in a porn film. It kind of escalated from there.’

Xiang nodded. He poured more tea. And this time he filled the fourth cup. ‘Does that happen a lot?’

‘What?’

‘Things escalating.’

Esmerée snorted. ‘You wouldn’t believe some of the shit he’s done,’ she said.

Poe looked at her.

‘I spent two days with your wife; who did you think we were gonna talk about?’

‘I thought this girl was your daughter?’ Xiang said, his eyes twinkling.

‘I think we both know she’s not.’

‘Goddam right,’ Esmerée said. ‘As if my dad would be this butt-ugly.’

‘Who’s the fourth cup for, Xiang?’ Poe said. ‘Who are we waiting for?’

The kitchen door opened. A man walked in. Looked like a younger version of Xiang. He took a seat. Picked up his tea and said, ‘Thank you, Bàba.’ He blew on it and took a sip.

‘This is Chao, my son,’ Xiang said. ‘Were they followed?’

‘No, Bàba,’ Chao said. He turned to Poe. ‘What do you know about the Red Chamber, Mr Poe?’

Chapter 58

Xiang put his hand on Chao’s arm. ‘My son still enjoys the impetuosity of youth, Poe,’ he said. ‘He says things like that because he wants to see your expression. The surprise. He would be better served by giving you some context rather than playing silly games.’

Chao bowed an apology, although Poe thought this was a game they played often. There was genuine affection between them.

‘My son, as impetuous as he is now, had an even more troubled youth,’ Xiang continued. ‘When he was fourteen, he got mixed up in a Forty-Fours scam involving illegal seafood. The gang were smuggling abalone, a highly prized delicacy in Chinese cuisine, into Liverpool and selling it to restaurants. By the time my idiot son realised what a terrible mistake he’d made, it was too late. No one leaves the Forty-Fours.’

‘But?’

‘But in the end, they are businessmen. They were open to me buying his freedom. It cost me a lot of money, but how much is too much for your only child’s head?’

It was a rhetorical question and Poe didn’t answer.

Xiang settled back into his seat. Removed his hand from his son’s arm. ‘Tell your story,’ he said.

‘The Red Chamber are affiliated to the Forty-Fours, Mr Poe,’ Chao said.

‘Affiliated how?’

‘They hand over a percentage of their earnings and enjoy a measure of protection.’