Chapter 4: Chinatown Procedural
ABB gang members lined both sides of the derelict apartment that has been formed into a makeshift courtroom. The Asian warriors wore white wife beaters and had scarves of red and green- they wielded stainless steel pipes and baseball bats.
Ando roared. "All hail for the honourable Lord Lung, county magistrate of the Brockton Bay Chinatown Area.＂
The gang members roared and began to bang their weapons on the concrete floor, creating echoes around the hall.
Ando raised an arm and the hall became silent. He spoke again.
"Bring in the accused!"
Oni Lee smacked a brass gong with a wooden spatula. GOOOOONG. There was a mighty clang as the sound echoes all around.
Gang Members pushed the large double doors open and dragged in a bound Taylor, Fat Cho and Grace, who struggle in their restraints. Grace was the most agitated, while Cho and Taylor were somewhat mellow.
Grace roared angrily, "Unhand me you peasant, don't you know who I am!?"
Cho merely sighed and muttered underneath his breath, "Here we go again. Everytime something happens in my restaurant."
Taylor merely stared straight ahead, at the large mahogany desk at the end of the Hall. The masked visage of Lung sat behind a grand throne behind that mighty desk. Behind him, the Chinese Characters, "Great Dragon Under the Heaven" was displayed proudly upon a carved banner.
Grace growled, "Do you fuckers know who I am, and Lung, what the hell!?"
"Kneel!'
An ABB gang member shoved a struggling Grace to her knees and snarled at her. "That's right bitch, kneel!"
Cho and Taylor did not resist.
Lung spoke for the first time.
"Fat Cho...whatever your surname was. Taylor...Hebert. And Grace Ozawa- wait, are you related to that pornstar?"
"What!? No!….at least...I don't think so."
Lung chuckled and raised a reassuring hand, "It wasn't her real name anyway. Jeez, that there is anything wrong with-"
"Dammit, Lung!" Grace all but shouted, "Why are you doing this to me!?"
Lung growled, his eyes glowing. "If you speak out of turn again, you're going to be punished!" He stroked an imaginary beard sagely as he continued. "In court, there must be etiquette."
Ando bowed his head and agreed, "Well said my lord! Well said."
"This isn't funny, Lung!" Grace was not amused at this joke of a court. Something that was straight out of a cheap Chinese historical drama.
Lung roared and smacked his hand against his desk, his whole body quivering with restrained fury. "How dare you!? Ten smacks on the bum!"
He drew a wooden token- inscribed on it was the Chinese characters, "Ten Smacks on the Bum"- and threw it onto the floor with a bang.
Ando roared, "So the command has been issued, so it shall be done."
Two ABB gangsters stalked over to Grace and shoved her to the ground.
"What are you do- HOLY FUCKING SHIT! AAAAGH!"
The two raised their pipes and began to beat on the girl's buttocks and lower legs. After exactly ten smacks on the bum, they desisted and allowed a groaning Grace to get back up on a kneeling position.
"Holy fuc-"
Lung interrupted her tirade. "Do you need more smacks on the bum Miss Ozawa, or are we good?"
Grace remained silent, but glared at the stoic gang leader.
"If we're all done, let us review the case. Cho-
Taylor raised a hand. There was a moment of silence as some of the ABB members marveled at the sheer balls that the girl must possessed. Some gripped their pipes tighter in anticipation of another smacking of the bums.
Lung growled and pointed an index finger at the white girl. "Yes, white girl?"
"You said that you're an Imperial Magistrate? Isn't that only applicable in the C.U.I?"
Lung gestured at Ando who immediately produced a document sealed in a glass display case. He brought it towards the kneeling suspects so they could lean in and look at it.
It was all written in Chinese. Which Grace could apparently read, because she began to recite it out loud.
"By the authority of his divine majesty, The Emperor of the Chinese Union Imperial hereby recognizes [Redacted], codename 'Number Thirty-Nine', as a special agent of the Yangban with the corresponding rank of County Magistrate to act as Judge, Jury and Executioner in the maintenance of Imperial Law and the pursuit of justice. May the Emperor live and reign for ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand of ten thousand years. Unauthorized holders of this document is punished with painful death and the immediate execution of extended families. Issued January 1995. License expires... December 2008."
Graced looked up at Lung. "This is expired."
Lung sounded smug as he retorted. "And who's gonna arrest me? The Yangban?"
Taylor coughed. "But this is America. C.U.I. laws don't apply. You don't have jurisdiction."
Lung looked down at her. "Are you a lawyer?"
"No."
"Good. Because as County Magistrate, I am the only qualified lawman here. And I say I am legitimate. This is Chinatown. America has no authority here."
Taylor opened her mouth. Then she closed her mouth. Then she opened her mouth again- but Lung had ran out of patience with their impudence.
"Enough questions! Cho, tell us your story."
Cho wasn't at all surprised by the proceedings thus far and quickly summarized the events of this morning for the court to hear.
"And that's when other people showed up and someone must have reported to you."
Lung nodded. He turned towards Ando and the two whispered furiously back and forth before he seemed to have come to a decision.
"It would appear that there is insufficient evidence to convict the three of you for murder at this time. However, you're all under arrest until we can at least determine your innocence. You are confined to the dungeons, meals are free, but no coffee."
Ando was quick to follow with another: "So it is spoken, so it shall be done!"
Lung drew another wooden token and threw it on the floor. The Chinese Characters stated: "Jailed in Dungeons. With Meal Coupons. Coffee Forbidden."
"Court dismissed!"
"Weiwooooooo!" The ABB gangbangers chanted and slammed their weapons on the concrete floor again. The three suspects were grabbed by six other gangsters who dragged them away out of the hall of Chinatown justice.
Grace paced in jail and moaned. She was so pissed. That mockery of a trial and their detention was entirely unnecessary. She was Bakuda. Lung knows who she is. What the hell was this farce even!?
She glanced over at the relatively much more calm Taylor, who fidgeted as she sat on the wooden bench of their "jail cell." It was basically an abandoned basement somewhere in the apartment complex.
Taylor looked like she was really worried about something. She kept glancing up.
Grace went over and clasped a hand on the other girl's shoulder. "Hey it's gonna be alright. What you so worried about? Leave your stove on or something?"
Because if it wasn't alright, Grace was going to tear Lung a new asshole. Fat Cho was snoring, he didn't seemed worried about it all- so this was probably a common occurrence. Was this seriously how they dealt with crime in Chinatown internally? Report to Lung and get him to sort it out? That did make sense. In a twisted, gangster ghetto sort of way.
Taylor shook her head. "It's nothing. Just worried."
Grace nodded her head, not prying any further. She was probably just nervous because- hello, the Asian supremacist gangsters were holding them hostage. Taylor probably thought they were going to end up in a brothel. Or worse.
There was the thump thump thump of footsteps and suddenly a massive hulk of a man opened the door and walked in, followed by a smaller man. The hulk was wearing a trenchcoat. Grace noticed that the man forgoed a shirt entirely, opting to go topless and showing off his impressive (albeit slightly familiar) dragon tattoo.
She gulped. That was one hot guy. The guy following behind him wasn't too bad on the eyes either, he had a buzzcut and a mustache that looked like he had forgotten to shave for over three months.
The hulk nodded at them. "I am chief inspector Kenta."
He gestured behind him, "And that's my assistant, Lieutenant Lee."
"Uh, are you the police?" Taylor asked.
Cho, now woken by the intruder's entrance, snorted at Taylor's questions.
Kenta chuckled, a deep laugh. His accent had a vague Asian twang to it that somehow made him more attractive. Of course, according to Grace's ovaries, Kenta could be blind and mute and it wouldn't matter.
Shut up ovaries! Just shut up!"
She tried to imagine Michael Croft's hairy balls and immediately became disgusted enough to calm down and pay attention to what the Inspector was saying.
"I am not an American Chief Inspector. I am a Chinatown Chief Inspector, empowered by County Magistrate Lung to carry out criminal investigations as necessary."
Grace gaped at the insanity she was hearing. That didn't make any sense whatsoever.
"You can't do this to me! I am Baku- I mean I am an American Citizen and I have rights."
Kenta snorted. "Legitimate Citizens have rights. It remains to be seen if you are Asian enough."
"What kind of a Nationalistic Liberal crap is that-"
The Inspector held up a hand in a placating gesture. He looked at the three of them. "I am not without a measure of mercy. I will allow one of you to accompany us and help us investigate. I understand that you are an accomplished student of the chemical sciences? Perhaps you can help us, Miss Ozawa."
Grace bit her lips and glanced over at Taylor. The younger girl smiled and patted Grace on the shoulders.
"I trust you to clear our name, Grace. Go!"
She nodded and turned back to Kenta. "Okay. I will help. Even though we're all technically innocent-"
"Confessions can be legally acquired through torture under the Confucian judicial system."
"Uh…" Grace shook her head, resigned at the insanity around her. "You know what. Nevermind. Let's go solve a murder case."
She followed the two lawman out the door and the steel door clanged shut again. Taylor's eyes shifted up towards the ceiling again and she sat back down with a huff.
"God, what a mess."
Fat Cho laughed and tried to reassure her. "It's alright white girl. I've been jailed dozens of times. It will be fine. Lung is strict but fair. If you can handle threats of torture and keep your mouth shut, you actually could get away with murder. This is gangland afterall, however much we pretend Civil Law is actually in effect."
Taylor muttered underneath her breath. "It's not me I am worried about."
"Okay, so what do we know?"
Ando pointed towards the wheelchair outside the Dumpling Bar entrance. "That thing has some of the plastic cords that hung Annie tied to it."
Grace examined the wheelchair and nodded her head. "Seems like it. Taylor and I saw it this morning, but we didn't pay it much mind."
Kenta nodded and added another clue. "Cho also saw the wheelchair when he opened up the bar, so we can assume that the wheelchair and by extension the murder took place sometime at night."
Kai Lee came back from where he was investigating the stairs. "I found traces of blood- recent- on the stairways."
"Where?"
"All of them, seemed to go up several floors. I am not sure where it originated."
Kenta sniffed the air. Grace thought that was odd- but she was more surprised when Kenta began to walk over towards the stairs, sniffing the whole way. Lee and Ando seemed perfectly unsurprised by this behaviour and followed after the Chief Inspector.
Kenta looked up and gestured at them. "Lee is right, the scent of blood is thick on the stairs. Come on!"
They walked up the flight of stairs, Grace panting the whole way.
"Fucking. Ass. Stairs. Why can't we take the elevator?"
"Obviously, because we wouldn't be able to investigate the blood scent...wait!"
Kenta pointed towards someone's panty that was caught on the branches of a pot of a small tree that someone was growing outside their door.
"I think that's Annie's panties."
"Oh, how do you know?" Ando nudged Kenta on the ribs and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "I mean, did you and her-?"
"No! Definitely not!" Kenta denied immediately. He muttered underneath his breath. "Smells like her."
Grace suddenly shouted and drew their attention to the skirt and torn blouse that was scattered up the next flight of stairs. Several footprints seemed to have trampled over the evidence.
Kenta growled, "Stupid residents, stepping over important evidence."
Ando laughed. "It's weird how no one seemed bothered by the fact there was torn women's clothing everywhere."
Grace felt that was kind of disturbing- was Chinatown residents really that jaded?
Kenta was thinking- then he looked up and seemed to squint into a corner of the balcony ceiling. He pointed up and asked Ando. "Hey, is that a camera?"
Ando nodded. "Yeah. There's a couple of those around here."
"We have cameras?"
"Yeah. Lung asked to have them installed."
"Did he? Really?" Kenta asked dubiously.
Ando nodded, "He was especially adamant that multiple cameras were installed outside Cho's dumpling bar….oh shit."
Kenta muttered underneath his breath again. "Dammit Cho. Installing cameras without telling me?"
Outloud he berated Ando. "You didn't think to tell us that there was cameras outside of Cho's bar?"
He smacked the Japanese man on the head and nodded to Lee. "We need those footages. Both the ones along this flight of stairs all the way down to the ground floor and the ones outside of the bar. Go!"
On the static filled black and white monitor, Annie Kim bent down to tie her shoes when she suddenly looked up. She seemed to jump in fright, mouth open in a sudden scream as a wheelchair barreled into her.
The monitor switched to another camera, this time showing the next set of stairs. A wheelchair roared down the stairs, plastic cords tied to the vehicle and behind was a struggling Annie, whose long legs were kicking in the air as she was slammed repeatedly into the sides of balconies and stone stair edges leaving bloody stains behind.
Another view switch. The wheelchair inexplicably turned sharply around a corner and disappeared underneath another set of stairs, slamming Annie into a clothesline, scattering some granny's underwear everywhere.
The monitor switched again, Annie Kim had lost her clothing, her dress long since torn off of her by being caught in wires, clothes lines and other obstacles. She was raked over several pots of plants, one of which managed to tear off her panties with a branch.
The view changed again- this time showing a slowing wheelchair rolled across the screen to stop outside Cho's dumpling bar, plastic cords fluttering in the wind, but Annie nowhere to be seen.
Grace looked up and turned to stare at the rest of the investigative party. Everyone was staring with their jaws hanging open.
Ando was the first to speak.
"What the fuck."
Kenta rewinded the footage back to the second floor, when the wheelchair dragged a naked Annie around another corner and paused as the wheelchair was entering the view on the ground floor camera.
"Somewhere between the footage of her on the second floor stairs and the ground floor- her body disappeared...and what? Magically reappeared inside the freezer? That doesn't make any sense."
Grace raised a hand. "Not that I think we're jumping ahead a bit too far or anything-"
Her tone was entirely sarcastic. "-But I think maybe we should figure out where the hell the creepy death wheelchair came from. I mean, the ability to turn around multiple flights of stairs is not natural."
Kenta growled in frustration. "Are you sure we don't have any footages of the stair that connects the ground floor and the second floor?"
Lee shook his head. "None. I double checked. I even gave Indian burns to the tech boys responsible. They aren't hiding anything. I think."
At Grace's disbelieving look, Kai Lee felt the need to defend himself further. "They were nerds."
Kenta's eyes suddenly widened. He rewinded the footage again. Second floor corner. Wheelchair entering the view on the ground floor.
Grace was trying to see whatever it was Kenta had apparently found- but she wasn't seeing it.
Kenta pointed towards the timestamp. He rewinded the footage again.
"The timestamp."
Grace gasped.
"Holy shit."
Kenta nodded his head in agreement, eyes wide with disbelief. "When the wheelchair was dragging Annie around the second floor corner, the time was 04:51:07."
He fast forwarded the footage as the wheelchair reached the ground floor.
"When it reached the ground floor, the time was 06:03:29".
"Over a whole hour's difference…" Grace did the math in her head. She turned to Kenta, who was still rewinding the footage.
"What does that mean, Kenta?"
"It means that Annie's body didn't enter the ground floor through the stairs. The Wheelchair took her somewhere else, and then went down to the ground floor a whole hour later- like a murder weapon that was thrown away long after after the deed was done.
Kenta turned to Kai Lee. "Go back to the tech boys. I want the entire footage of the moments between 4:50 AM to 6:05 AM. It this wasn't tampered with- then we have a serious mystery on our hands."
He gestured to Ando. "Check the elevators. That's conceivably the only other conventional way Annie's body could have been brought down to the ground floor."
Grace thought of the bullshit parahumans could do and couldn't help but add. "What about unconventional ways?"
Kenta grimaced. "That's what I am worried about."
With a swoosh of his beige trench coat, the chief inspector stalked out of the security footage room, his team on his heels. They have a killer to catch.
A/N: Yeah, was really busy for the past couple days. Sorry for the delay.