‘What do you think he was doing there?’

‘I don’t know. Maybe he was tricked. Maybe he was lured there. Maybe he thought he was going to do some good. I just don’t know. But you can’t keep him in prison if he didn’t do it, can you?’

‘I caught him with the knife in his hand, Nina. I made the arrest myself. What can I say to you? He is denying it but won’t tell us who did it. His silence will be seen as guilt. I can see him going to prison for it if he doesn’t tell us who was responsible.’

Nina turned away from Shrimp and her eyes filled with tears.

‘I’m truly sorry.’ Shrimp wanted so much to reach over and touch her hands. They were rough from work but they were still beautiful hands. ‘If Mahmud didn’t do it then we have to find out who did and why he is shielding them. Are you a friend of Lilly’s?’

She looked back at him, her eyes panicking. They flicked up as her father passed. She willed Shrimp to wait before he spoke more. PJ had passed when she nodded.

‘I wondered why you were in the flat just now. It looked like there was a problem with Rizal. Is everything okay?’

‘Oh, thank you. Yes. I was cooking the curry for Michelle for her stall. She will lose business otherwise. The Filipinos in the Mansions rely on her to feed them. We don’t eat pork you see but she cooks it for them. But Rizal isn’t nice. I won’t go in there again unless Michelle is there. He isn’t a good man.’ She looked away, embarrassed.

‘And Lilly? She’s a friend?’

‘She’s younger than me. We don’t have so much to talk about. She is more a friend to Mahmud and Hafiz. She’s their age.’

‘Do you think she is the cause of a lot of trouble here at the Mansions?’ Shrimp asked.

Nina shook her head. ‘I think she has been led astray by the older ones. The Outcasts have taken a hold here. Nothing is the same as it was.’

‘A young girl was murdered. She was from here. She was an Indian girl.’

Nina nodded, she looked to see if her father was listening. He was pretending to be busy as he marched past them carrying things that didn’t need to be carried, wiping down already clean surfaces. Nina waited until he had passed. She whispered, ‘We all know about the troubles. We see it every day here. My father hardly leaves this restaurant so he doesn’t see it but we do. I knew Rajini. I liked her. She was quiet. She just wanted to go to school. She wanted to succeed.’ Nina shook her head sadly. ‘Maybe she wanted too much. I feel very sad. I hear she had a horrible death.’

‘They cut off her hands.’

‘So I heard. They brag about it – their new weapon, they call it, but it’s not new it’s very old.’

Shrimp looked at her. She realized he didn’t know. She stood and reached one of the Indian artefacts down from the wall. She handed him a coiled whip. ‘Be very careful. It is very sharp. It is called a urumi. It’s an ancient Indian martial arts weapon. This is the weapon talked about by the Outcasts. I see them practising on the roof here.’

Shrimp took it from her and allowed it to unravel towards the floor: three razor-sharp strips of metal, a flexible whip.

Chapter 56

‘Hey.’ Ali caught up with Shrimp when he came out of the Delhi Grill. He was walking down the stairs. ‘Leave my sister alone. She doesn’t go on dates, not with you or anyone.’

‘I didn’t ask her for a date. I am trying to solve the stabbing of a policewoman. I’m trying to find out as much as I can to help save your brother from going to prison. Isn’t that what you want?’

‘We told you what we know.’

‘Don’t you want to help your brother?’

‘It’s not a case of that; we don’t know any more than you. Why don’t you ask him?’

‘He’s not talking. He fears something else more than us, more than life in prison. What would that be, do you think?’

‘The gangs.’

‘How long do you think he’s been a Triad?’

Ali looked away in disgust. ‘Don’t be stupid. Mahmud is no Triad. Whatever he was doing there, it wasn’t Triad business.’

‘What’s his relationship with his father like?’

‘He is his pride and joy. You know we all do what we can. Things haven’t been easy. Our mum died five years ago. Since then we all have to help in the restaurant.’

‘Even you?’

He grinned. ‘It’s not my thing. I help in other ways. I buy the extras we can’t afford. I paid for Mahmud to get a better education. I paid for the extra lessons to learn to read and write Mandarin. I can’t do it. Mahmud is clever. He takes his studies seriously. He isn’t out chasing girls or taking ice. He has his heart set on being a doctor.’

‘So what the hell has gone wrong?’

Ali shook his head. ‘We are in crisis at the moment. The Mansions has gone fucking mad. People being chopped, killed. We are all scared of the future but now terrified of the present. We have nowhere else to go. We told you what we know.’

‘Did you? I think you left out more than you said.’

‘Where are you going with that?’ He pointed to the urumi, wrapped in plastic, in Shrimp’s hand. ‘That’s private property.’

‘You’ll get it back. Listen, Ali, no one wants to cause more trouble here. If you just let it run the Triads will take over this entire place and you’ll have gang wars every night. Is that what you want for your family?’

Ali took a deep breath and shook his head. ‘I’m sorry. I heard the rumours. I had an idea that it was Rajini, I should have been more helpful. I have to keep my family safe. I have to put them first. I know Mahmud was not involved in the attack on the officer. My father is about to have a breakdown thanks to all of this. I have to go. There’s nothing more I can tell you.’

As he walked away, he stopped and looked at Shrimp earnestly. ‘But please keep trying for us. I am sorry to be strict about my sister but stay away from Nina, she’s been through enough. She marries next month.’

Shrimp tried not to look like the news had impacted but inside a small jolt of pain had shot through his heart.

As he was about to step back onto Nathan Road, Nina caught up with him.

‘I am sorry. I shouldn’t have said those things.’ She looked behind her, breathless. She didn’t want to be seen talking to him. She stayed within the threshold of the Mansions.

‘No, you should. It’s no good hiding anything, Nina, it will just come out in the end and make even more trouble. Look, if I can help you in any way, if you need me, you call.’

She smiled gratefully as Shrimp handed her his card. It occurred to him he’d never seen anyone so lovely.

‘Can you read Mandarin?’

She nodded. ‘I am learning.’

He handed her his card. ‘My mobile number is on the back.’

He watched her go. She turned back to smile as she disappeared back into the crowds.

Chapter 57

Mann headed back to Headquarters. He went straight to find Sheng. He caught him in the locker room; he smashed him back against a locker, held him by the throat.

‘Did you order Tammy to carry on with Operation Schoolyard?? Did you countermand my order?’

Sheng breathed in his face. He waited until Mann loosened his grip and then he shook himself free.

‘No. I didn’t. You don’t need help fucking things up, you can manage it all by yourself.’

Mann let him go. He took the lift up to the top floor and the stairwell up to the roof. He needed to breathe. He felt his lungs collapsing. The only calm for him was on the roof. He pushed open the fire escape door and immediately the heat hit him. The sun was directly overhead. The sun was in his eyes. The dazzling light bounced off buildings and windows. He put on his sunglasses and stood, breathing deeply. The air was clean. The smell of the ocean. The sea was vast and beautiful on the horizon.

He walked across to the parapet. The eagle had been there and left its droppings, full of tiny bones. Mann picked up three black tail feathers, beautiful, flawless. He knelt down out of the wind, wrapped them in cloth and placed them inside his shuriken pouch.