Page 90 of The Killer’s Mark

‘If you can work out how to,’ Poe said. ‘But don’t be hasty. There is a way out of this.’

Gilliard lifted his head. Held Poe’s eye. ‘There is?’

Poe glanced at his watch. ‘It’ll take at least two hours for Alastor’s guys to arrive. That’s how long you have to convince me you’re not a threat to national security.’

‘And how do I do that?’

‘First of all, I need Go to Bed Early to leave.’

‘Why?’

‘Because he’s a gloater. And in my experience, gloaters can’t be trusted.’

‘And Detective Constable Hawksworth?’

‘Susan can stay.’

‘Andrew, please wait outside Mr Poe’s offices. Don’t leave this floor, though.’

‘Maybe he can get the hippy to read his palm,’ Esmerée said.

‘Who are you?’ Gilliard asked.

‘Uh-oh, Chief Inspector,’ Poe said. ‘From now on, I ask the questions.’

Chapter 73

‘Tell me everything you know about the Red Chamber,’ Poe said. ‘Everything the FBI knows about the Red Chamber.’

Susan Hawksworth looked to her boss. He nodded.

‘This is bigger than the NCA and the FBI, Poe,’ she said. ‘Way bigger. We’re leading on it as it’s believed the main players are domiciled in the UK, but in partnership with Europol and Interpol we’re assisting with active investigations in the US, Germany, France, Denmark, Canada, Estonia, Australia and Belgium. A few others I can’t remember off the top of my head.’

Poe took his time answering. ‘OK,’ he said. ‘We’ve stumbled into something big. Tell me about them. Who are they? What do they do?’

‘What have you found out?’

‘They’re either an offshoot of the Forty-Fours, or they’re affiliated. They certainly hand over a percentage of their money. They run a high-end concubine service. The man I spoke to thought the punters paid a seven-figure fee per annum. Half goes to the Red Chamber; the other half is put into an investment fund. The woman is given access to it when her twenty-year contract is complete.’

‘Go on.’

‘Because the Red Chamber had a problem with competitors, they use a gifted artist called Kai Jin to tattoo an exquisite portrait of the woman on the sole of her foot. There’s a tattooist in this building, and she tells me that’s an incredibly difficult tattoo to do. Painstaking work and it’s easily damaged.’

‘You’ve been busy,’ Gilliard said. ‘How long have you been working on this?’

‘Three days.’

His eyes widened. ‘Three days? It’s taken us almost five years to get to this point. And we didn’t have the name of the tattooist until we overheard you talking about him.’

‘DCI Flynn did say he doesn’t hang about, sir,’ Susan Hawksworth said. ‘What do you know about Chinese concubinage, Poe?’

‘Not much. I only found out about the Red Chamber this afternoon.’

‘In that case, I’ll give you a potted history. In pre-modern China, it was illegal for a man to have more than one wife, but it was socially acceptable for him to have as many concubines as he could afford. The concubine’s position was inferior to the wife’s, but superior to servants and slaves. They were recognised sexual partners and were expected to bear children for the man they were attached to.’

Poe saw Esmerée stiffen. She held her tongue. Her hand didn’t do anything crazy. He said, ‘The children weren’t considered illegitimate?’

‘No. Although they were legally inferior in status to the wife’s children, they were still legitimate heirs.’