Tom Sheng caught up with Mann on his way back to his office.
‘Who gave you permission to interview the suspect?’
‘My boss.’ Mann walked away.
Sheng held Mann back by the arm.‘Let’s get this straight. You run everything by me from now on. Something doesn’t smell so good about you at the moment, Mann. I am getting the whiff of corruption. You’re in the wrong place at the right time these days. I’ll be watching your every move. I am going to sit in the monitoring room and run that tape back. If I find anything, I mean anything, I don’t like, you’re suspended.’
Mann felt his breathing slow. He held his breath deep inside his lungs, took it right inside his diaphragm. ‘Do it, Sheng. I’ve got nothing to hide. Mia wanted me to interview Michelle. Your interview techniques have been known to start with a hand up the suspect’s skirt. You’re a dirty bastard.’
‘If you don’t like the colleagues you work with then why don’t you fucking leave? You have your father’s money. You have your Triad family – fuck off. From now on you work on solving Rajini’s murder and following up on the Outcasts and only that, leave the rest to me. And, of course,’ he smiled smugly, ‘carry on doing what you seem to do best: ingratiate yourself with the top Triad brass. It’s a home from home for you.’ Sheng was inches from Mann’s face. He was frothing at the mouth.
Ng came up beside Mann and steered him away down the corridor towards Mia’s office.
‘Leave him. He will never change. Rotten wood cannot be carved. We have work to be done.’
Mia looked at him as they walked into her office. He could see by her face she was expecting him to go ballistic. He’d already decided he wasn’t going to. It didn’t stop him imploding though. He began to feel like his feet were in quicksand. He had the feeling Sheng wasn’t alone in his thoughts, he just didn’t hesitate to voice them.
Shrimp was the last one in, he closed the door behind him. Mia looked at him.
‘You okay with going undercover?’
Shrimp beamed. ‘Yes Boss. I need to choose my outfits carefully, grey suit, striped shirts, fancy glasses, jazzy tie. No, forget the tie, keep it young conservative.’
‘Don’t get carried away,’ said Ng. ‘The only reason you’re doing it and not me is that you sound like a Yank. Otherwise it would have been my operation. You know Mann can’t do it because he’s known in all the bars.’
‘I want you and Mann to head back to the Mansions now,’ Mia said. ‘Get as much information as you can before Sheng goes marching in there and all hope of solving this case marches out. Don’t let the rules stop you from asking questions about Max Kosmos. Ng will feed it back to the other team. Find that weapon.’