Jack nodded and said, “I believe that. But we are trying to solve Hang's murder. I think the murderer is in Canada. Those are the rules I have to play by.”
Tarah nodded and said, “Whoever did that to Hang ... at the very least, I'd like to see that guy sent here to a Vietnamese jail. It is tough enough over here for ordinary people. Try to imagine what the jails are like.”
“No colour TV or private rooms, I suspect,” said Laura, facetiously.
“Sorry,” said Jack. “If the murder happened in Canada, that's where he'll do his time. You said Hang had a sister?” he asked, changing the subject.
“Her name is Linh. She is younger than Hang is ... or was. I think she is about nine or ten.”
“Is she still around?”
“Actually, I haven't seen her either for ... my God!”
Pops marked another X on the calendar and looked at Linh, who was curled up in a ball on the mattress, facing away from him.
“Only two days left until your first red-circle day,” said Pops. “What special thing do you think the box will hold for you?”
Linh did not move.
“Look at me when I talk to you!” yelled Pops.
Linh remained still so Pops walked over and kicked her lightly on the back of her leg.
Linh yelled in rage and spun quickly, kicking up with her
feet and striking Pops on the shin, before leaping to her feet and crouching on the mattress in anticipation of his next move.
Pops stepped back and smiled with amusement. “That is great,” he said. “You are strong ... a fighter. You are the type who will endure much. Not wimp out and kill yourself like your stupid, stupid sister! Guess she didn't think you were worth trying to protect!”
Jack saw Chi enter the room with Bien a few steps behind her. He had a round face that seemed out of place on his thin body. He walked with his shoulders stooped, giving the illusion that his face was even bigger and rounder than it really was. His black eyes looked sadly out over puffy mounds of darkened skin. Jack saw a flicker of optimism when Bien glanced his way.
“Are you an American policeman?” asked Bien. “FBI?” he said, as he shuffled toward him.
“No,” said Jack. “We are both Canadian police officers.”
“Canadian?” Bien frowned, but said, “I know why you are here.” He looked at Tarah and continued, “I am sorry, I told Linh to lie to you before. The news you want to tell me, I already know.”
“Tell us what that news is,” said Jack.
“That my daughter ... Hang, was killed in a car accident. Have you brought me her body or her ashes?”
Jack shook his head and said, “Please sit down. First I must ask you to look at a photograph. I have been told that it is a picture of your daughter. It was taken after she died. There are lots of injuries to her face.”
Bien sat and his hands shook as he took the photo in both hands. He looked at it for a moment before pressing it to his chest while squeezing his eyes shut, but not tight enough to stop the silent flow of tears.
Several minutes passed in silence before Bien opened his eyes and looked at the picture again. He choked out the words and said, “Hang ... her face ... did she die quickly? Did she suffer?”
“I will tell you about how she died in a moment,” said Jack. “First I would like you to tell me who told you she died in a car accident.”
Jack saw Bien's eyes dart around the room before pausing and saying, “I do not know. It was a man I met at the market. He has relatives in America who told him the news.”
Jack watched Bien as he spoke. He grimaced at Bien's pathetic attempt to lie.
In Canada, many of the people who lie say they met someone they don't know in a bar. Here it is a market. What is he hiding? Why would he lie about the death of his own daughter ... unless ... damn it!
Jack cleared his throat and said, “Bien, if you do not wish to tell me who told you of her death, please tell me this. Where is ...”
“I told you, I do not know the person!”
Time to use another approach.
“You must be able to tell me how Hang came to be in Canada and why you believed she was in the United States?”
Bien shook his head and said, “It is late. I need to go. I have to be at work soon,” he added, getting to his feet.
“Bien, please sit down,” said Jack. “Hang did not die in a
car accident. She was murdered and her body was found in a Dumpster.”
Jack saw the shock on Bien's face as he gasped, grabbing the table for support as he fell back into his seat.
“That is not possible,” he said, as his brain grasped for other possibilities. “Perhaps after she was hit by a car she was put ...”
“She was chained and tortured for at least three or four months. Then she committed suicide, but because of what happened to her, it is still murder.”
“Chained and tortured! No! You are lying!” Bien's face went red with rage. “You hope to catch the men who are smugglers by using such trickery!”
Tarah burst into tears, startling Jack and Bien, who ceased arguing and stared at her in silence.
Several seconds later, Tarah regained her composure enough to speak in halting sentences to Bien in Vietnamese. After a short exchange of conversation, Bien sat back in his chair and wept openly.
“I told him you were not lying,” said Tarah, while fighting to regain her composure. “That the police in Canada would never say such a terrible thing to a parent.”
“Bien,” asked Jack gently, “where is your other daughter? Where is Linh now?”
Bien's face contorted in anguish and he emitted a moan that filled the room. Tarah moved to sit beside him and put her arm around his shoulders.
Bien looked at Jack and slowly shook his head. “She is in America, too,” he finally said, telling everyone what they already knew.
“Perhaps you'd better start at the beginning,” said Jack.
Bien told him how he was approached by local smugglers who arrived on his doorstep one morning. He described the events that followed, including a painful six weeks of worry
when Hang made the trip to America.
“She called me from America,” said Bien. “I did not send Linh until I knew that everything was as it should be. Then I put Linh on the boat. She too, called me from America.”
“When?” asked Jack.
“One week ago,” replied Bien.
Jack and Laura exchanged a glance. That was around the time they had followed the cube van to Vancouver Island and back to Richmond.
“Did Linh sound okay?” asked Jack.
“She was crying because she was just told by Mister Pops that Hang was killed by a car. She said Mister Pops was very nice ... but she was sad.”
“Did she say how she was smuggled into the United States?”
“A man drove her across the border in a car. She saw the signs saying it was the United States border. She was excited to see the signs.”
“She just went through the border as a passenger in a car?” asked Jack. “Didn't they ask for proof of ...?”
“No, no,” said Bien. “I asked her the same thing. She said she looked up and saw the signs but then pulled a handle to hide and the police at the border did not see her. I do not think that she was supposed to tell me that on the phone, but she was crying and not thinking very clearly. I think it was the same for Hang. She also told me about seeing the sign.”
“Jack,” said Laura. “She was in the trunk!”
“Folding rear seat,” said Jack, feeling nauseous.
“It was her that day who Dúc ...” Laura couldn't bring herself to finish as the realization sank in as to how close they had been to Linh.
Jack briefly clenched his jaw to quell his tears.
“You know where she is?” asked Bien excitedly.
Jack shook his head and said, “No ... but we do know who one of the smugglers is in Canada. The one, perhaps, who drove her in the trunk of the car.”
“You must find her,” said Bien. “She is not as strong as Hang. She is like her name.”
Tarah saw the puzzled look that Jack and Laura gave each other and said, “The translation of Linh means
Gentle Spirit.
”
“Hang's spirit is strong,” said Bien. “She would not commit suicide, knowing that Linh would be coming to such a place.”
Hang's spirit is strongâdon't you mean, was strong?
thought Jack. He looked at Bien and said, “I'm sorry. Our medical examination was very thorough.”
“How did she die?”
“She used some type of metal rod to ... to make herself bleed. By the marks ... and marks on her hand ... we know that it was self inflicted.”
Bien looked at Jack and said, “If that is true, she did not do it for herself. It would be for Linh. She loved her very much. She promised me that she would do whatever was necessary for her sister. If she died, it was to save Linh.”
Silence descended on the room for a minute as everyone became lost in their own thoughts. Eventually, Jack placed his hand on Bien's shoulder. “We will find her,” he said, forcefully. “We will also find out who did this to Hang.”
Bien nodded silently.
“I must call the Vietnamese police now,” said Jack. “There is a man I have been working with. He will want to speak to you.”
“Yes,” said Bien. “I will wait.”
Jack called Sonny and explained the situation. He handed the phone to Tarah to give directions, while watching as Bien walked over and opened the door and stepped outside.
Is he going to take off?
Jack glanced at Laura who had also noticed and they quickly followed.
Bien stood on the doorstep. For the second time that night the clouds parted, giving his face an eerie complexion as he looked up at the moon. He dropped to his knees and started crying, while speaking Vietnamese and looking up to the sky.
Jack felt Tarah's hand touch his arm and he turned and whispered, “We didn't say anything to him. He just came out here. Maybe he needs time to be alone.”
Tarah shook her head and said, “The translation for Hang is
Angel in the Full Moon
. Look up. He's not alone.”
It was six o'clock in the morning when Sonny dropped Jack and Laura off at their hotel with a promise to call them in a couple of hours after he spoke with his superiors.
As soon as they were alone, Laura said, “Jack ... we had her. She was in the trunk ... we just let her go.”
“I know.”
“I feel like crying. I'm so angry and frustrated,” said Laura, her eyes brimming with tears.
“It was me who let her go. It was my call.”
“I'd like to chain Dúc to a wall. He'd talk.”
“As nice as it is to fantasize, we don't have the time. We've got to do something, fast.”
“What do you think of this Mister Pops? Likely not his real name.”
“My guess is it falls in the realm of the nickname for Dad. I'm going to call CC.”
Jack called Connie Crane to tell her what they had learned.
“How the hell did she end up back in a Dumpster in Canada?” asked Connie. “And now her sister is with the guy, too? Jesus fucking Christ!”
“Dúc is the key,” said Jack.
“Yeah, like he's going to talk,” said Connie sarcastically. “I'm not even sure if we have grounds for a warrant. Even if we did, if we search and don't find her, she'll be killed once they realize we're on to them.”
“Check the border crossings,” said Jack. “See if Dúc has been across. If Hang did die across the line, why bring her back? I think this happened on our turf. Probably in the Surrey area. That's where she was found.”
“Dúc is running hookersâmaybe he's got a special place built just for the perverts.”
“A possibility. Actually, it's a sickening possibilityâthe Orient Pleasure is in Surrey. Get on it. You've got to get into his places for a look.”
“What about your informant? Don't you have someone connected to that place?”
Jack sighed. “Not anymore. Besides, if that friend had known about it, I would have been told. You've got to get a warrant and search everywhere.”
“How, without tipping our hand?”
“Call Rocco Pasquali with the City Anti-Gang Unit. Get him to help. If VPD takes out the warrants under a prostitution investigation, the bad guys may not clue in as to what we are really after. Make it look like the RCMP is just assisting them with the places outside of Vancouver.”
“That might work.”
“You've got to do this without mentioning my informant in the warrants, or anything to do with Hang and Linh. Also, don't mention anything about how the girls arrive at the parlours. Keep the warrants as simple as you can. Do both
massage parlours as well as their homes and any other building they own. Search everywhere. Attics, basements, out-buildings, hidden dungeons under garage floors ... look at everything.”
“Dungeons under garage floors?”
“I've seen it done for grow-ops. Hidden trap doors under workbenches. Search everywhere. Look for hollow panels. Use the narcs to help. They're good at it.”
“What if we don't find her? We could still be signing her death warrant if they get scared.”
“And if you don't search and she is there, she may die anyway. It's a chance I think we have to take.”
“Damn risky chance for Linh.”
“Do you have a better idea?”
Connie was silent for a moment and replied, “No.”
“They take credit cards at the massage parlours. Maybe you can match some names to your pervert list.”
“I'll do that. Especially perverts who live in nice homes.”
“Both Hang and Linh told Bien they were in a very wealthy home, but the standards here are different. Any home with more than a couple of rooms or two toilets is considered wealthy by Vietnamese standards.”
“I'll keep that in mind.”
“If you identify any perverts, take a look and see if they used the credit cards to purchase construction materials leading up to last January.”