Chapter 501

“Inspector Li,” Arthur smiled, gesturing for her to take a seat beside him. They were meeting at a local hawker center not far from her station, though it was distant enough that the number of police personnel were low. Especially in the later part of the work day, close to when most would be getting off-shit. No one wanted to work longer than necessary after all.

The Inspector was clad in business casual; much like most police detectives on TV. They didn’t need to wear uniforms, though the dark uniforms of the regular police were pretty easy to pick out. Detectives too, in a sense, since there was a way they looked at the world that set them apart, a certain wariness and awareness that was unusual.

Easy, at least, for someone like Arthur. His own perceptive and mental abilities had leapfrogged and minor details like that were becoming second nature to notice, patterns in the way people moved. He always had that to some extent with martial artists, a sense of how individuals who had been trained move and the way a dancer or a trained fighter shifted.

It was different, no matter what they might want to tell you. It was clearest in some movies, like Serenity where that slip of a girl moved like a dancer with no power or force generated in her graceful movements. Less so in Asian movies where the authenticity of the fights were important – well, except certain Asian dramas where being pretty was more important.

Kind of like how good looking the Inspector was. Not that he’d tell her that, especially not with the way she was glaring at him already.

“You asked to speak with me?” Ivy said, sitting down. In moments, a hovering waiter was by them, asking for their drink order.

Arthur waited until the man was gone with their orders before he replied. “I did. Alone.” He tilted his head to the side. “But you brought your partner still. Should we send him a drink in his car?”

Inspector Li twitched, then raised a hand. She made the order and a plastic bag with filled ice and a straw and rose syrup water was sent out. Arthur shook his head a little, and at her questioning look, explained. “Too sweet.”

“It’s what he likes,” she explained.

“That’s why we have so much diabetes in this country,” Arthur replied. “And obesity. Too much good eating.”

“True.”

“What’s good here?” His gaze danced over the multiple hawker stalls, curious to see what she had to suggest. Not far away, his bodyguards had plates before them, nearly all the dishes in the place already ordered and the pair working their way through the sampling. A fact that the inspector had likely noticed but was ignoring to do small talk.

“The char kuey teow isn’t bad. But the claypot chicken is the best.”

“Then, let’s get some.” Arthur pitched his voice. “Yao Jing. Orders for the Clan too.” The big man nodded, shifted on his seat and wandered over, already pulling at his stuffed wallet in his back pocket. He would be reimbursed, of course; but such a small expense he might not even bother. The man was terrible at keeping track of money like that.

“Late nights?” Ivy said.

“Lots, I expect.” Arthur reached into his pocket, pushed the mobile over. “A gift.”

“What is it?”

“Code is 1234.” Arthur continued.

“Whose is this?” Ivy used a tissue paper she had extracted to pick it up, turn it over slightly by the edge as she frowned.

“The man who tried to kill me.” At the look she gave him, he shook his head. “We didn’t kill him or anything. He’s gone too, as far as we know.”

“Really?”

“Yes.” Arthur smiled, happily lying through his teeth. He was quite good at that, he figured, but it mattered little if she did not believe him. “Hopefully you can get something useful from that.”

“So you knew who tried to kill you.”

“I suspected.” Arthur shrugged. “TG Group has been bothering us for a while. As have some gangs. The Hai San, Mamak Gang and I guess, this Templer gang?”

“They’re mostly around Jalan Templer.” Ivy frowned. “They’re not that big, so why…”

“I don’t know.” Arthur pointed at the phone. “I figure that’s your job to figure out. And deal with them. Maybe you can find out more than we can.”

“You shouldn’t be doing this,” Ivy said, though the way she said it seemed more rote. As though she was not expecting Arthur to listen.

“I won’t be.” He smiled a little. “That’s why we’re giving this to you. Investigating and all that, that’s your job. As is dealing with the criminal elements.”

“And TG Group?” Ivy said, eyes narrowing. “Will there be any leads in this?”

“Not that I can tell.” Arthur shrugged. “But I’m no detective. None of us are. Maybe you can find it. Either way, we’ll deal with them.” At her narrowing eyes, he added. “Business wise.”

“Your Clan? It’s not that big…”

“Not yet.” Arthur smiled grimly. “But the MacKenzie’s are big, as are the Prime Group. They’re going to start going after their businesses,” where it made sense, and where they might only suffer a small loss or decrease in profit, “while we just focus on what we do best.”

“What’s that?”

“Getting more Climbers through the Tower and bringing more Tower stones, of course.” Arthur grinned. “See how they like when we reduce their Tower profits too.”

“Oh…” She tapped the phone. “You know I can’t use this I court, right?”

“Whatever. I’m sure you can do something with it.” He had some vague ideas from watching TV – American TV – that there were things like chains of evidence and the like. However, not only were they not using the American legal system, but also; that was only a concern if you were really upright and focused.

Which, considering they were Malaysian detectives had almost no chance. Life here was still closer to the old film noir set of practices, where the police were bribable, but there were those who tried to do their jobs – just, you know, with a little less ethical concerns.

“Is there anything else?” she said, tilting her head to the side. “Are you willing to tell me more about how you got this?” Arthur shook his head and she sighed. “I could drag you back and question you.”

“You could, but then we’d call the Manager and you’d be doing paperwork and having people scold you.”

She let out a sigh but accepted his words. He might have given her a piece of evidence, but how he acquired it, he had not said. Any good lawyer could argue their way out of that one. “Then…?”

“Sudah lah.” Arthur stood up, nodded to the young lady and strolled away. Only to be paused to wait, as their rather large order was still stuck being cooked.

Sometimes, even cool exits were messed with by the practicalities of life. At least he managed to get some goreng pisang while he waited.