The Borrowed by Chan Ho-Kei

Author:Chan Ho-Kei [Ho-Kei, Chan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781784971502
Publisher: Head of Zeus

IV

THE BALANCE OF THEMIS:

1989

KWAN CHUN-DOK STEPPED out of the elevator and into the murky corridor. A light fitting, grey with dust, dangled from the ceiling, its blinking bulb illuminating a cracked, pitted brick floor and white walls marked with unidentifiable stains and graffiti. The officers’ footsteps and voices from the intercom echoed disorientingly off the bare, windowless walls. All down the corridor were silent doors, each protected by a stern, imposing steel gate, as if in rebuke at the inadequate security of this building. It all seemed to proclaim that any resident imprudent enough not to take anti-burglary measures was inviting thieves to their door – which was in fact the case.

All the residents on this floor had been evacuated just minutes before, ushered down the stairs by the police. Kwan knew that the most dangerous time was over, and emptying the building now was like mending a fence after the sheep had all been killed. Still, they had to follow protocol. And of course, if concealed explosives were to blow up now and injure an innocent civilian, the police would have to take responsibility – and they were already in enough trouble.

If I were the commander, I might well have done the same, thought Kwan.

Kwan Chun-dok was the highest-ranking officer present, but he wasn’t directing this operation. He could have stayed in the command centre, or followed Keith Tso back to HQ, but he’d chosen to go to the scene instead. Why had he followed his colleagues into this building? Perhaps instinct, developed over more than twenty years as a frontline investigator.

Kwan was very clear what his position was. His rank meant his suggestions would be heeded, but that would undermine the independence of this regional investigation. So he’d do nothing, and just observe.

Now he wanted only to go to the stifling, airless space of the crime scene, and see for himself what his former subordinate must have seen.

A few minutes previously, Kwan had seen that subordinate in the lobby. The man had never reported to him directly – he was a junior investigator who had been assigned from another department to operations Kwan had directed. Still, his courage and judgement back then had left a deep impression.

He’d left this courageous individual lying helplessly on a stretcher, receiving treatment from paramedics.

Their eyes had met, and Kwan had been about to say ‘Well done,’ but then thought this might come across as sarcastic. Instead, he patted the officer’s uninjured shoulder, nodded slightly and walked to the elevator.

Standing in the corridor, Kwan seemed to feel the pressure of some time ago, of being on the line between life and death. Turning a corner, he passed through a wooden door and noted the clustered bulletholes in the wall. Two investigators were gathering evidence, meticulously examining and recording every mark.

Kwan continued on to the brightly lit scene of the crime.

Even without the headache-inducing flicker of the corridor lights, the atmosphere was hellish. The air reeked of gun smoke and blood. The floors, walls and furniture were all stained red and riddled with bullets.

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