===
October 15, 2009……12:35 a.m.
===
For the first time since so long, the city street seemed to be echoing in silence. The street was in the shadow of sounds from all the others, sitting in the very middle of Hong Kong, China. It was closed off from one end to the other, barricaded by police cruisers with their sirens still on and their engines still hot. The only people there were the men in uniform, and the investigators with proper badges. The entire street was drowned with a heavy, ghastly scent of decay.
“Where’s the heart of the scene?” he asked, shining his badge to a man standing tall in his uniform. The badge read Ron Ng, and contrasted with the deep black of his jacket as he tucked it back inside, unnecessary for the time being. He pulled and ducked under the yellow tape, walking into the busy crime scene with a straight, emotionless face.
The officer nodded at Ron as another inspector walked up from behind him. This man, he was a bit different from Ron. With Ron calm and casual in a striped collar shirt, light jeans and a black jacket, this man was in an uptight suit, formal enough for a ballroom dance. He nodded at the officer and walked with Ron as they headed up to the center of the street, where most of the investigating crew was gathered at. His police badge read Bosco Wong.
“You got here pretty early Bosco, I’m surprised,” Ron commented, glancing at him.
“I happened to be nearby. But I’m not a slacker you know,” he replied.
When they got to the body, Bosco flinched at the surprising sight. Ron on the other hand, dove right into work and bent down to closely examine the corpse. The victim was a girl, and by the look of her face she seemed no more than twenty-five at most.
Her corpse was lying in a black plastic trash bag, ripped open by probably the forensic team or the person who called the cops. The crimson colored blood was still oozing out from the bag, slowly and sickening to the stomach. Her major wounds that possibly caused the death were at her neck where her arteries are. Ron slipped on a pair of white, latex gloves as he tilted her head over, his stomach clenching up as the horrid sight finally got to him. The wounds on her neck looked old, and she couldn’t have been murdered today, but some time before.
After looking around the body for any more information, Ron stood up. He balanced himself, dizzy from the awful scent of decay that was strongest where he stood. He then turned to Bosco. His expression changed immediately from a puzzled look to a straight and brooding complexion. Ron signaled Bosco to walk with him, leaving the area where the sickening scent was at its strongest.
“She possibly died being choked to death, but the killer wasn’t using rope, I’m sure of it.”
“What do you suggest that they used? And why not rope?” Bosco asked in reply.
“The cut is too thin and deep to be a simple rope. It could be a wire or something close,” Ron answered. “What I’m worried about is why the killer would choose to use this method. He or she could’ve just picked up a gun or knife and make it faster.”
“Maybe it was another one of those night life vengeance things,” Bosco suggested. “We’ve seen some of those in the past, when gangs take revenge using the most sickening method possible.”
“Maybe, but why are we called to the scene? It’s a murder case. This should be Team A’s case.”
“I’m not sure yet, but I think she has something to say about it,” Bosco replied with a smirk as he pointed to the girl approaching. She was walking at a fast pace towards them, her attire awfully revealing with a plunging neckline from her blouse, and the expression on her face made her seem more like a model on a catwalk rather than a police investigator.
Ron grinned at the sight. “Hello Kate,” he greeted her.
“I figured you’d be wondering why I called you so late,” Kate spoke with a straight, get down to business, tone. “Well this should bring up some answers.” She held up a large bag of white pills, most likely ecstasy. The bag probably weighed more than a pound with its size and all the pills still in it. “We found this near the body. It was in a black backpack and was probably forgotten by the killer. This might be what the killer was after, so it wasn’t Bosco’s vengeance theory.”
“Ok, so that adds more to why this murder happened, but that still doesn’t answer my question as to why we’re called here,” Ron replied. “We specialize in the triad and underground activity crimes, these types of murders are for Team A to worry about.”
“Alright, then go talk to the forensics. I spoke to Fala earlier and she said this might have something to do with us since it could be triad related. We recognized this girl’s face as being a part of the 14K triad group, but we’re not one-hundred percent on it. She’s trying to run a quick test now. And also, I found this,” Kate explained as she showed Ron an empty bottle of Heineken beer in a large evidence bag.
“I get it,” Bosco announced. “In the 14K, there’s this guy who is always seen with a bottle of Heineken. I think his name is…”
“Raymond Lam,” Kate finished. “We’ve been following his activities, and that’s probably why we’re called to see this. It might have something to do with him.”
“I’m going to talk to Fala, inform me more about this alright?” Ron spoke as he walked away.
He weaved his way to the group of forensic team members, making his way to the petite and gentle looking girl in the white blouse. Ron’s known her well, she may look weak and feminine but she is far from it. When he neared her, she must’ve noticed him. She looked up at him with a bright smile, far too bright for a night like this.
When she smiled he saw the striking resemblance between her and her older sister, the woman of which he’d been stuck with for most of his life. He smiled back, wondering why Fala would have such a big smile on her face. Then he remembered, Fala could care less about who died and who the victim was, she was so carefree and relax that it was kind of scary.
“I didn’t expect you’d come since it’s so late,” Fala greeted him. “I thought you’d be in bed.”
“I’m not that lazy, don’t believe everything your sister says,” Ron sighed. “So Miss Wu what…”
Before he could finish, Fala had already cut him off with her rant of details. “The victim is confirmed to by Alice Chan by DNA testing. She’s a member of the 14K triad group, and that is why your team was called instead of Team A. She works under Raymond Lam, another 14K member. Kate found a beer bottle that could possibly be his, but we can’t confirm that yet,” Fala stopped briefly, taking a breath from talking too fast. “Your team found a bag with at least a pound of drugs in it. There might have been more because of the white powder it left all over the inside of the bag, but we can’t find any of the other drugs so someone must’ve taken it.”
“That’s all?” Ron asked.
“For the moment, yes.”
“Did you tell Nancy yet?” He suddenly asked, remembering that his fiancée hasn’t shown up yet.
“I already told her. She was here way before you were,” Fala smiled. “Why didn’t you two come together?” She asked as Ron let out another sigh.
He shook his head. “Usual stuff, you know. She’s mad at me for getting mad at her when she let that druggie go the other day,” he replied.
Fala only smiled apologetically. “That’s my sister for you, she’s a total softy.”
“Yeah, I know,” Ron sighed, rubbing his forehead with his palm. “I’ll see you later. Now I’ve got to go find her, and drive her home. When I left I noticed her car is still there.”
“Good luck, she’s always on the move. Tell her I said hi.”
Ron walked off of the crime scene, heading for his car parked at least a block over. His hands were in his pockets as he tried to think about this new case, but his thoughts were elsewhere. He can’t help but think about Nancy, why she’s always on the move and where she could possibly be at this late of the night. He shook his head and sighed. Not only did he have to worry about the case, he also had to go find his fiancée before she could get herself into trouble.
===
October 15, 2009……1:30 a.m.
===
She was beginning to run out of breath. As she ran after the man, her legs were growing tired and her heart was racing fast, but she wasn’t going to stop. Instead she managed to let out another yell, screaming at him to stop running. He didn’t, but she noticed that he was growing tired as well. Her eyes lit up when she saw him run into what looked like a tea house. She picked up speed quickly and closed in on him. By the time they got through the door, she was able to put her hand on his shoulder and with a hard squeeze she stopped him from running.
“Nice place, you’re so smart aren’t you?” she asked sarcastically when she realized they were surrounded by triad members and shockingly familiar faces.
“Yeah, damn it,” he breathed, bending over and trying to catch his breath.
“Table for two please,” she smiled at the waitress that led them to a table deeper in.
As she sat down, the man was still breathing hard. He had sweat on his forehead, which was a shock to her since it was rather chilly outside on a late autumn night. She casually poured the two of them tea, luring in no attention from the threatening crowd that surrounded them. The smile on her face struck him hard as he started to fear of what she might do to force him into talking and spilling whatever scoop he had.
“Nancy Wu,” he breathed, trying to catch his breath.
“Ruco Chan,” she replied calmly as she passed him the tea, waiting for him to talk.
“Why do you always have to do this? You’re going to get both of us killed.”
She laughed at his remark. “It was your fault you ran into a triad filled restaurant. Don’t blame me. I was only planning on stopping you in an alley and then kicking the answer out of you.”
“I told you, I don’t know who killed the girl,” he argued, trying to keep his volume low.
“But you know why she was killed, and I need that answer,” Nancy replied with a serious look.
“I don’t know that either!” he exclaimed, stopping himself suddenly and looking around, fearing he might’ve caught some unwanted attention. Luckily, no one was paying any attention.
Nancy reached into her pocket and was about to pull something out. Ruco knew what it was she will take out and suddenly jumped up from his seat. He reached over to cover whatever she was going to pull out. His heart was racing so fast it felt like it was going to burst out of his chest. He had a pale white face as he looked up at her. First he was relieved he caught her in time, worrying she might pull her badge out to lure the inhumane monsters in this restaurant into dealing with him. But then he was scared to death when he realized his hand was ridiculously close to the center of her pants and between her legs. She looked down at him, eyeing him if he moved any closer and threatening him. He swallowed hard.
“Sit back down and I won’t pull it out,” she spoke with a cold hard tone.
He had no choice but to listen. Ruco sat back in his seat, looking at her with waiting eyes in case she decided to pull another crazy stunt that could get both of them killed.
“Now I want answers. Why was that girl, no, why was Alice Chan killed?”
Ruco sighed. “She’s Raymond Lam’s girlfriend, or at least one of his girlfriends, so he couldn’t have killed her. But I heard she was working with another gang and making profit for them, so the members must’ve been eyeing her a long time ago. It could be that the disagreeing members took her out without Raymond knowing. That’s all I know, I swear. Please don’t do anything reckless,” he begged.
“You’re lucky,” Nancy smiled. Her smile was so charming is scared him after how scary and intimidating she looked earlier.
Ruco swallowed hard again. Normally, Nancy’s stunning smile would make him want to pull her into his arms and just kiss the hell out of her, but her status as a police investigator and fiancée of the infamous Inspector Ron Ng just killed all the motivation he had, and besides that those factors could easily get him killed if he came any closer to her publically.
She stood up, acting casually as if they had just finished a normal conversation. Nancy pulled out a small wad of cash and that was when Ruco’s eyes lit up. She dropped it on the table, handing it to him as a small fee for being her little spy, somewhat. Ruco took the money without hesitation, counting it over and over again with greedy eyes.
“You’re paying for the tea,” Nancy added with the money. “And next time, just stop and tell me, you don’t have to run ten blocks knowing I’m going to catch you anyways.”
“You don’t have to rub it in,” Ruco replied. “I’m still feeling bad that a girl caught up to me.”
“Then visit the gym more often. You’re a supposedly a triad and yet you’re so wimpy.”
Ruco stayed in his seat, watching as Nancy blended in nicely with the other crowds of triads around them. She headed out the door without stirring much attention. After he lost sight of her, he could finally let his breath out and actually enjoy the cool tea that had been sitting there for a while.
Nancy was out on the street, swinging her purse around and around with her hands. The expression on her face was relaxed and her full attire blended in perfectly with the rowdy partiers that surrounded her and crowded the streets. In her black skinny jeans and low cut tank underneath her white jacket, she was practically invisible. Her casualness was lost and she panicked when her phone suddenly rang. She searched her bag for the little thing as she kept on walking, trying to get out of this part of town as quickly as possible and hoping no one recognized her. When she finally found her phone, she hesitated to pick up the call.
“Hey sweetie,” she finally spoke over the phone.
“Nancy where are you?” Ron’s voice sounded louder than usual. “Fala said you were at the crime scene earlier but why did you leave?”
“I had something urgent I needed to do,” she scrambled for a suitable reply.
“What did you have to do?”
She froze. Being mad at him, she had forgotten that Ron was the type of person who needed to make everything crystal clear. That explained the reason why his line of justice was so defined, and why she was mad at him in the first place. He was way too strict. After a quick moment of thought, she finally spoke.
“I saw someone I thought looked familiar and thought maybe he had something to do with the case,” she lied.
“And did he?”
“No,” she sighed, trying to sound as disappointed as she could, even after he success in buying the information she needed off Ruco.
“Alright. Well where are you right now? I’ll pick you up.”
“No that’s ok. I’ll be home soon anyways. Talk to you then honey, bye-bye.”
She hung up quickly, relieved that Ron didn’t catch onto the fact that she was lying and was only making up a story to cover it up. Nancy then had to worry about how to tell Ron of the information she bought off of Ruco, without actually telling him she bought the info. If she did, it would only stir up yet another disagreement between them, and another argument was the last thing she would want.
“You’re such a liar,” a feminine voice laughed.
Nancy looked up, confused at first. Standing a couple feet ahead of her was the woman she wanted to see. It was a little unexpected, but Nancy could use a chat with this woman right now. She smiled at her, walking up casually as they exchanged smiles as greetings. Nancy then sighed and placed her hands behind her back, walking beside the woman.
They have known each other since grade school, and were practically like sisters. Perhaps Nancy’s relationship with this woman could be even closer than her relationship with Fala, her little sister, but that was only a quick glance. She’s been in different situations with this young woman, and she’s been in different situations with her younger sister. They were both on different terms, but yet they were so similar.
Nancy smiled and seemed to have relaxed a bit more. “You nosy lawyer, where have you been for the past few days?” Nancy asked.
“I’ve been to the Mainland,” she replied, smiling as she gripped her handbag. “I had a lot of work you know. I can’t keep prying clues out for you every case.”
“Well are you interested in this new one I’ve taken up?” Nancy asked, showing Tavia the small set of papers Nancy had just taken out of her bag. “I know you take cases up based on your level of interest, so how about this one?”
The woman smiled. Her smile was just as gleaming as Nancy’s but in a different tone. While Nancy’s was mischievous and active, hers was calm and collective. “Nancy Wu,” she began. “Once again, you have convinced Tavia Yeung to become a nosy lawyer for you,” she laughed at the end of the statement. “But I think it will be a little harder this time based on the scarcity of the evidence and information.”
Nancy looked at her with a confused and empty expression. “Can you not use big words around me? I’m not smart like you and I find them kind of scary,” she laughed awkwardly.
“Oh I forgot,” Tavia smiled. “I’m book smart, you’re street smart. Alright,” she giggled.
“So what do you say we go get something to eat? After chasing down Ruco I’m starving,” Nancy suggested as she wrapped her arms around Tavia’s shoulders, casually clinging onto her with a giant and wide smile on her face.
Tavia laughed and nodded. “I still don’t think that you as a cop should be buying information from a triad, but that’s your way of doing things. I guess if Ron doesn’t find out about it, it means you’re good.”
“Shh!” Nancy hushed. “If anyone here heard you say that, you’re going to get me killed!”
Tavia laughed apologetically as they kept on walking. She always wondered why she was willing to help Nancy, even though Nancy’s way of doing things are a little different than what a normal investigator would do, and Nancy’s methods could easily get her killed if someone messed up, but yet she still helps her anyways. When she turned to look at Nancy, the carefree and relaxed smile on her face suddenly reminded Tavia something she learned about this woman a long time ago. Tavia knew that her friend was only putting on a mask, and underneath that mask was a clever and calculative investigator with high deductive skills. Tavia smiled, realizing again what the main reason she helped Nancy was. Though her methods are odd and her perceptive is a little different, she does get the case solved quickly and pass the right judgment.
===
October 15, 2009……4:00 a.m.
===
The apartment was dark and it echoed in the night. As Nancy silently closed the door and crept inside, she noticed something on her couch. She took silent, careful steps over to the set of white leather, and finally noticed him. Her fiancé was lying on the couch, one hand behind his head while facing the door and fast asleep. She relaxed herself, knowing that when Ron is asleep he could sleep through a storm.
“You silly goof,” she sighed, knowing that he had waited for her the whole night.
Silently, Nancy crept into their room, leaving the door open when she left in case it suddenly made more noise when she attempted to close it. In her hand was a heavy fleece blanket, warm enough for a chilly autumn night. She unfolded the blanket and placed it gently over Ron, pulling it over and covering him from his neck to his toe. She then knelt down beside him, watching him quietly as he slept. Nancy had a smile on her face as her breathing lowered and softened.
No matter what they argue about, they can’t stay mad at each other for long, and that was a fact. She had already forgotten all the rage and disagreements she had in her when she left the house this morning. Maybe this was the main reason why they’re still together after all this time. She sighed and quietly got up from where she knelt. Walking casually now, she made her way over to their study area on the far side of the room, where all the windows were. She sat down in the chair, a bit surprised at how cold it was.
On their computer she knew where Ron kept all the old files of information. She figured that if the victim, Alice Chan was related to Raymond Lam they would have something about her, since they’ve been following Raymond’s actions for so long. She scrolled through the many folders neatly organized by date and type, trying to look for what she needed. Organization made it so much harder for her since she could never find things quickly, but it was how Ron liked it so it was what she will have to deal with. Her eyes widened when she saw a set of pictures, taken a few months ago. She smiled in realization that maybe she’ll be able to tie the information she had bought off Ruco into this case without having Ron wonder how she got this information. Excited in knowing she could be of some help to her fiancé, she looked through more files, hoping to find more links from the police’s information to her own. Since young she’s been determined to do well as a cop, but with Ron Ng, the infamous investigator as her fiancé, she can’t help but feel at a loss to him. Nancy pierced her eyes closer to the screen, looking carefully through everything, determined to be a big help in cracking the case.
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