Authors: Stephen Knight
Spider grimaced as if he didn’t like the mental image either. “You heading back to the Mandarin?”
“It’s the place to be. Then I’m going to pay Valerie Lin a visit, see what falls out of the tree when I shake it.”
Spider motioned with his head and Ryker followed him into his office, closing the door as soon as they were inside. Spider settled in his chair and said, “What’s to be gained by hassling James Lin’s daughter-in-law?”
Ryker had never thought Spider was the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he didn’t think he was totally stupid either. Nonetheless he spelled it out. “That video increases doubt over the Zhu woman’s being the murderer. Like it or not—and I don’t—Valerie Lin is similar in size to whoever hid in that breakfast trolley.”
“Hold on. You’re forgetting she has a witness who swears she was home. The housekeeper. It’s in the report.” He tapped a folder on his desk. “The original’s in the murder book. The phone records checked out too. It’s just like she said, she was calling her sister in China when Danny Lin joined his illustrious ancestors. For your information, we had to request authorization via the chief’s office before we could pull those records.”
“Her sister-in-law,” Ryker corrected him.
Spider opened the report and flipped a couple of pages. “My mistake, not hers. Seems like anything to do with the Lin family has to be cleared by a couple of security agencies. You see where I’m going with this?”
“The housekeeper is a loyal family servant who’d swear Valerie Lin was playing Gypsy Rose Lee on Broadway at the time of the murder, if she was ordered to. Meanwhile, Valerie Lin drove to the hotel with her favorite chopping knife.”
Spider made a show of looking around the room. “What is this,
Candid
Fucking
Camera
? Let’s keep it sane, okay? Mrs. Lin is not, repeat
not
, to be hounded by you at this or any other time. She’s a grieving widow, for Christ’s sake.”
“I’m aware of that, and I didn’t say I was going to hound her.”
“Sounded pretty much like it to me.” Spider drummed his fingers on his desk top. “Leave Valerie Lin alone. For the moment, anyway. I’ll talk to Captain Jericho, see what he says. Best I can do, Hal.”
Ryker thanked him and retreated gracefully. He intended to raise the subject again first thing in the morning, unless they got another break through Chee Wei or from the hotel video.
As if he were telepathic, Chee Wei called at that very moment to report they’d arrived safely at Xiaohui’s sister’s apartment. “I’m pretty sure we weren’t followed, and there’s nothing suspicious in the street. I’m looking out the window now.”
“Outstanding. How’s Princess Xiaohui?”
Chee Wei chuckled. “Happy to be with her family. She talked about getting some more stuff from her own apartment. I told her I didn’t think that was a good idea. The sister says she’ll call one of her cousins, ask them to pick it up.”
Ryker checked his watch. “I make it three-twenty. What say we skip the three-thirty call and make it four o’clock? Thereafter every thirty minutes. When Debbie goes home you call me.”
“Ten-four, mother hen.”
Ryker looked for Morales. Debbie Price was in the process of hanging up after a telephone call when Ryker approached her desk and said, “Hey Debbie, have you seen Detective Morales?”
“He’s a little down today,” Debbie said. She’d straightened her curly red hair and added blonde highlights. The overall effect made her look ten pounds lighter and ten years younger. Ryker wondered if she might have her eye on someone, and realized that someone could well be Luis Morales, given Debbie’s preference for Latino men. Relationships between squad members were discouraged for perfectly logical reasons, but clerical staff weren’t cops, which meant that technically they weren’t part of whatever squad they happened to be assigned to. “I saw him at the end of the hall. He didn’t even notice me.”
“That’s hard to believe. Hair’s looking nice, by the way.”
Ryker stepped out into the hallway. Sure enough Morales stood by the window at the far end, by the stairs, toying with a Styrofoam coffee cup. He glanced over his shoulder as Ryker approached.
“Just needed some air,” Morales said.
“It’s allowed,” Ryker said. “I should have asked—how’d your court case go?”
“Liquor store owner changed his mind. Local gang threatened to put a cap in his ass, you can bet on it.” Morales crushed his cup. “Two punks walk free and start planning their next hold-up. I just hope I’m there when it goes down. Ah, fuck it. What’s happening with you?”
“Bet you wish you were in Chee Wei’s shoes. He’s with the Chinese girl we brought in. Camped out in her living room.”
Morales grinned. “You gotta be shitting me. Whose ass do I have to kiss to pull that kind of duty?”
“Mine, but I’m not in the mood right now,” Ryker said. “Tell you what, next good-looking girl comes in, she’s all yours. Reason I’m here, Sandra Raymond’s still at the Mandarin, she could do with some help. I’m heading over there. Wouldn’t mind having you along.”
“Sure. Gets me out of this place.” Morales dunked his crushed cup into the bin, his mood brightening visibly. They returned to the squad room and Ryker briefed Debbie on Chee Wei’s assignment and his half-hourly check-ins. She assured him she’d be there till six, as soon as she took that call she’d let Ryker know and pass the baton to him. The flicker of interest in her eyes as she glanced at Morales didn’t go unnoticed by Ryker, though Morales seemed unaware, as he cleared his desk and grabbed his coat. Ryker collected his Glock from his desk and Spider gave them a nod and wave from his office on the way out of the squad room.
Ryker quickly brought Morales up to speed with the rest of the stuff while they cut a path through the city’s late afternoon traffic.
“There’s a rumor going around,” Morales said. “I dunno who started it. You and the widow-woman Lin got the hots for each other. Anything to that?”
“Jesus.” Ryker shook his head. “Chee Wei loves his soap opera, doesn’t he?” Morales laughed, confirming the source of the “rumor.” Ryker wanted to knock it on the head instantly, since at least half of it was true. He decided attack was the best form of defense. “I’ll tell you this, Luis, she’s damn fine-looking. I’d go so far as to say ‘sizzling.’ It’s beyond belief that Danny Lin would rather pay for pussy when he’s got a sex fantasy waiting for him at home.”
“She impressed you that much, huh?”
“The day I end up in bed with someone like Mrs. Danny Lin is the day I get religion.”
“You’re not a religious man.”
Ryker was only too glad to change the subject. “Not in the church-going sense. Do I believe in God? Sure, it was drilled into me as a kid. And it feels good to know there’s a higher being responsible for everything—and someone to blame when things turn to shit. It gives me my place in the universe, you know?”
Morales nodded, taking it seriously. “Yeah. Yeah, I know exactly what you mean.” He leaned forward to look up at the imposing structure that was their destination. “Sometimes I think that’s what all churches should look like. So high they touch heaven. People should be able to step in an elevator, go right to the top, and step out into God’s waiting room. Make an appointment with His secretary. Sit down and talk to the Man Himself. Feel His love. Know His purpose.”
“Pull over, Morales,” Ryker said. “You’re under arrest for driving under the influence.”
Morales was still laughing when they turned into the entrance to the hotel’s parking lot. Ryker showed his shield to the guy on the barrier, who let them through. There were plenty of empty spaces. Ryker assumed most guests must arrive and depart in chauffeur-driven limos rather than in beat-up Fords with municipal license plates that needed a wash and wax.
Ryker called Sandra Raymond and asked her to meet them in the lobby. There she introduced them to the duty manager, an impeccable middle-aged man with a pencil mustache that was so precise it must have been trimmed using a microscope and surgical scissors. Ryker assured the manager they would keep as low a profile as possible, and only disturb guests if and when it became absolutely necessary. As soon as the manager went on his way, Raymond vented her anger. “Every time I tried to talk to someone, that oily little dick shooed me away and put his tongue up their ass.”
“As long as none of them were female, between five zero and five-six, we’ll let it pass,” Ryker said. “Have you had a chance to look at the lobby tapes?”
“This way,” Raymond said. She led them to a room just round the corner from the elevators and out of sight of the entrance. She knocked on the door and entered. A big man whom Raymond introduced as Duffy turned in his chair and nodded to Ryker and Morales. Besides his uniform he wore a lightweight wire headset and mike. In front of him were eighteen flat screen monitors arranged in three banks of six. Ryker counted as many tape machines stacked to one side and numbered. The monitor images changed constantly, cycling through various floors and hallways, some empty, some not.
“You’re ready to go,” Duffy said, pointing to one of the tape decks. Raymond offered Ryker a second chair, which he declined like a true gentleman. Morales grabbed it and pretended to sit down, then laughed and offered it to Raymond.
“Thanks,” she said, dropping into the chair with a sigh. “Been on my damn feet all day. I’m claiming for shoe leather, and Lieutenant Furino better okay it.”
“So what’s on TV?” Morales asked. “Spongebob Squarepants?”
“This,” Raymond said, leaning forward to press the Play button. She pointed to the lower-right TV monitor, which showed a view of the hotel lobby and reception desk. The time stamp said 08:17. Ryker felt a tingle of anticipation in his stomach. She’d found something! Six customers stood at the reception desk, attended by three hotel clerks. Further back, a woman of around sixty sat on a couch reading one of the pamphlets scattered on the coffee tables, which advertised tours of the city, trips around the Bay, restaurants, attractions. Pedestrians and street traffic were visible through the glass doors. The uniformed doorman stood in profile, one eye on the street and one on the lobby. The time stamp changed to 08:18 and from somewhere off to the left, a woman wearing a long black coat over black pants and shoes appeared. She strode to the entrance without pause. The doorman saw her coming, opened a door for her, and smiled pleasantly. She went down the steps, turned left and was instantly lost in the stream of passers-by.
“You think that’s her?” Morales said.
“She knew the position of the camera,” Ryker said. “Didn’t turn round, just kept walking. We saw her hair, that’s all. Same length and style as the woman we saw on the suite hallway tape.”
Raymond’s nimble fingers worked the tape deck controls. The tape ran in reverse. The doorman opened the door and the woman back-stepped into the lobby. She’d almost vanished off-screen, returning to the point where she’d first appeared, when Raymond hit Play again. The woman walked toward the entrance. Her reflection showed in the glass doors. Just before the doorman opened the door for her, her reflection became more solid, almost equal in quality to a low-resolution digital camera picture. The doorman’s uniform jacket, behind the door, darkened the glass and somehow gathered sufficient light to show her face, clearly enough for Ryker to realize she was Chinese. Raymond hit a button and the face swelled to fill the TV monitor. The edge of the screen flickered uncertainly while the center of the picture remained stable, giving them a blurry but almost-distinct mug shot. To Ryker’s relief, she looked nothing like Valerie Lin whose features were softer and more feminine. Not that this woman was by any means ugly. He thought of Michelle Yeoh, whose strong features had mesmerized him throughout
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
.
Raymond indicated a slimline printer connected to Duffy’s master control panel by a USB cable. Ryker expected the printer to do something, but Raymond picked up a folder with the hotel logo instead, and opened it to show him a glossy hardcopy of exactly what was on the TV monitor. “Here’s one I prepared earlier,” she said. “So how are we doing?” Her smile told him she already knew she’d made a lot of people very happy, starting with Ryker and not necessarily ending with Captain Jerko.
“You’ve shown this to hotel staff?”