Chapter 53
The man claiming to be Kai Jin was in his forties.
He wore a black suit and a white shirt. No tie.
The tattoo on his hand was a dragon’s head.
Of course it was, Poe thought. The Chinese loved dragons.
Then he checked himself. He’d made an assumption.
The man might not be Chinese. Poe was aware there were ways to differentiate between people from East Asia, but he wasn’t sure what they were.
Saying that, he was in a Chinese restaurant, and he was in Chinatown.
On the balance of probability, the man sitting opposite him was likely to be Chinese.
Poe didn’t think he was Kai Jin, though. He didn’t look like an artist. He looked like a gangster. He was vibrating a dangerous energy. Reminded Poe of the sound that pylon cables made when it rained. So instead of asking the man how he’d found him, he turned to Esmerée and said, ‘Run.’
Esmerée didn’t hesitate. The man was blocking her in, but she was fifteen and didn’t mind diving to the floor and sliding under the table. She skidded beneath Poe’s legs and was up and out of the restaurant in under ten seconds. She stopped by the window, but Poe mouthed, ‘Run,’ again.
She did.
‘Who was that?’ the man said, bemused.
‘My padawan.’
He frowned.
‘My friend uses the word sometimes,’ Poe explained. ‘I have no idea what it means.’
‘Why are you looking for me?’
‘You’re Kai Jin?’
‘I am.’
‘I don’t think so,’ Poe said.
‘Do you know what Kai looks like?’
‘I don’t.’
‘Then how—’
‘Because Kai is a gifted artist and the dragon tattoo on your hand is cross-eyed. In fact, it’s so cross-eyed, when it cries both sides of your hand will get wet. You’re a Poundland Lisbeth Salander – the man with the boss-eyed dragon tattoo.’
The man smiled. Fixed. Not amused, but afraid to lose face.
‘I am Kai and—’
‘Draw me something,’ Poe said. He slid a paper napkin across the table. Took a pen from his pocket and uncapped it. ‘Draw me a circle. That’s supposed to be the test of a true artist, isn’t it? Whether you can draw the perfect circle.’
The man nodded at someone behind Poe. He heard them approach the table. He didn’t turn. He thought that might be a mistake. Someone took the seat next to him. He glanced to his left. The new man was as big as a bear.
‘Oh good,’ Poe said. ‘Oddjob’s arrived.’ He paused. ‘That doesn’t work, does it? Oddjob was Korean. Do me a favour and pretend I didn’t say that.’
‘You are to stop looking for Kai Jin,’ the hand-tattoo guy said.
‘Aww, but I’ve only just started.’
He used two fingers to mime a pair of scissors. ‘If you don’t, we’ll cut you and your padawan into little pieces.’
‘Thank you,’ Poe said.
The man frowned. ‘For what?’
‘For confirming the Forty-Fours are part of this. I did wonder. I thought triad involvement was a fanciful notion. But you two fools have moved my investigation along nicely.’
Hand-tattoo guy spat on the table. ‘I am not Forty-Fours. I’m much, much worse. If you value—’
Poe reached under the table. Grabbed him by his balls. Pulled and twisted. Hand-tattoo guy gasped. His eyes began streaming. Snot bubbled out of his nose and hung there like egg white.
‘And I’m much worse than anything you can imagine,’ Poe said. ‘If you ever threaten me again, I’ll turn you into a fucking eunuch.’
The bruiser at Poe’s side cocked his fist.
‘Rethink that move, dickhead,’ Poe said. ‘I repair dry-stone walls for a hobby; I have an exceptionally strong grip. If you don’t make like a Russian and Fuckoffski, I’ll tear this idiot’s balls clean off.’
Hand-tattoo guy snapped something in Chinese. Sounded like ‘bo’. Poe didn’t know what it meant, but the bruiser did. He got up and left the table. Stood out of reach but facing Poe and glared at him.
Poe eased his pressure on the man’s testicles. Didn’t let go, though. He wasn’t stupid. The triads preferred to keep a low profile, but public violence wasn’t unheard of.
‘How do you think this ends, Mr Washington Poe?’ the man said. ‘I’m a soldier. One of many.’
A movement in the window caught Poe’s eye. He said, ‘How many do you have?’
‘Excuse me?’
‘How many soldiers do you have?’
‘Hundreds.’
‘Jolly good. I on the other hand have tens of thousands. I think you’re about to meet some of them now.’
And then the restaurant filled up with police officers.