Tea. Black tea, green tea, red tea, white tea. Tea roasted, fermented, smoked and untreated. Tea growing, being harvested, transported, packaged, sold and brewed and drunk. Endless types of porcelain, metal and wood utensils. Different brands, blends and prices. After staring at images and searching hundreds of papers and reports, Zuko was seized with a strong yearning for a hot, black cup of coffee. No, make that five by the way. As he stretched and flexed his sore neck muscles, his eyes alighted on his partner. She was seemingly absorbed in tapping her phone, ignoring the report that he'd set her to finish. A sharp call made her auburn head fly up.
"Suki! What's that you're writing? Urgent reports about the case, no doubt?" Internal echoes of his father yelling at his scared offspring rebounded in his mind, failing to temper the sharp tone.
Suki shot him a guilty look. "No. No, Zuko. Sorry, I just got some messages from my partner. She wants to take me out to dinner after work. Some fancy place in the City. Well, she just got her first salary from her new job, so…"
Zuko's eyes narrowed. "Suki, I'm sure you realize that all investigative work that we perform here is classified information, right? We are strictly forbidden from discussing ongoing cases with outsiders, be they partners, relatives or doctors. I just wanted to remind you of procedure."
She nodded, blushing. "Yes, Zuko! Of course! Oh by the way, Ty Lee mentions that you had luncheon at the restaurant where she works. She says to say hello and hopes that you enjoyed your meal."
"You may tell her it was very good. Now Suki, I trust you to…" He was momentarily distracted by the bright ping! issuing from his computer. The sound signalling that finally, his search for the identity of the management of The White Lotus Tea Shop had yielded results. That finally, his special search routes had succeeded in penetrating the web of affiliated corporations and anonymous funds that he kept encountering. That finally, something in this damned case would generate results, rather than more loose ends. Behind the data trickling in, images of white, many petalled flowers swirled gently, peacefully. Zuko took one look at the document and started.
Oh shit!
He was up and pulling on his jacket, startling Suki with the sudden crash of an overturned office chair.
"Suki, I need to go out and talk to someone who may have vital information about the case. No, you don't need to accompany me. Just finish that report and file it. Don't discuss the case with your girlfriend over dinner. I'm going out to pay someone a visit. Alone."
He was up and gone in a flash, leaving Suki to stare wide eyed at the door as it slammed back into place.
"Hey Lamarr! Getting good at filing by now, aren't you?"
Suki turned her head away decisively, ignoring Detective Chan's handsome grin. Apart from Zuko, she really didn't care for any of her colleagues. Her fingers tapped the keyboard, charting the events of the previous night. Damn. Spelling had always been one of her weaker points.
"Hey! Somebody awake here? I'm looking for the bloke in charge of the student slayings. Damn, this place stinks! A proper pigsty you've got here."
Suki reared behind her desk. "You… you will be wanting my partner, Detective Zuko Duchamps. He's out on an assignment at the moment. I'm his partner, Suki Lamarr. Can I help you?"
"Oh, I'm sure you'd be able to help me. If I didn't already have a date tonight, that is." The newcomer flashed her a grin that was more of a sneer. A tall gangly individual with longish dark hair and chiselled cheekbones, he wore a battered black leather jacket that made him look vaguely like an aspiring rock star or someone who'd been brought in for possession of illegal drugs. His comment caused a moderate amount of chuckling from the surrounding desks.
"Excuse me? Just exactly who are you?" Suki approached him with flashing eyes.
The visitor didn't bat an eyelash. Leaning nonchalantly against a filing cabinet, he kept chewing a toothpick, turning it around in an annoying manner. He reached out and flashed her a police ID. Faster than a lizard's tongue swiping a fly, it disappeared.
"Name's Lee. Detective Bruce Lee. Internal Affairs, if you've heard of it."
A ripple of shock shot through the room. Hastily rearranging her features into a mask of collegial politeness, Suki indicated her desk.
"Please, Detective Lee. Won't you be seated? There. So, you're here to…?"
The sneer subsided. The cold gleam in dark brown eyes remained. It penetrated Suki's mind, immobilizing her. Detective Lee reached into an inner pocket and pulled out a slightly crumpled document, hurling it onto the desk.
"I'm here to make a pickup. Department orders. All items of evidence from the student slayings will be transferred to us. It's an ongoing investigation, as I'm sure you are all aware. DI Zhao…?" He gestured airily with a long sinewy hand. The sniggering around them ceased immediately
Suki blanched. "I… Of course, I understand. But if I may venture to say something, DI Zhao had already been suspended when this case was opened. Also, I think my partner Detective Duchamps needs to be informed. The Chief of Police himself appointed him to the case.
The handsome stranger's sculpted features lit up. A flash of white teeth blinded Suki momentarily. Miraculously, the toothpick stayed put.
"Ah! Well that's no problem then! Look here!" A long wiry finger pointed at an official stamp and a curlicued ink squiggle on the front page of the creasy document. What looked like marks from a coffee cup tainted the main text area.
"You see? The Chief of Police himself ordered that all evidence of the case be examined by Internal Affairs. I'm sorry? No, not Deputy Chief Hakoda. The order was issued by Iroh Duchamps, current Chief of Caldera Police and interim DI of this Department. Now, hand over the goods. We don't want to be caught obstructing police work, do we?"
As Detective Lee exited, carrying sealed boxes, Suki slumped down heavily in her office chair. Her mind was whirling with urgent questions. Across the desk, Detective Chan cocked a wry eyebrow at her.
"Good luck at explaining that to your partner, Lamarr! Oh boy! Will Zuzu ever be thrilled! I can't wait to see his response."
The teasing miraculously shook Suki out of shock. Grabbing her purse and jacket, she was out the door in a flash, running down the corridor in search of the emergency stairs. In passing, she noted that the elevator was going up instead of down. As usual, a crowd of people were waiting for it to arrive. The elevator wove its way steadily up the floors, pausing at every lit number. With some luck, it might return to this floor in five or six minutes. Ah, but Suki was faster.
Ha!
With an internal cry of triumph, she ran down the corridor leading to the emergency stairs. Five minutes later, she emerged in the main hallway, panting and sweating. Just in time to see the tall, broad shouldered silhouette of a dark haired man in a leather jacket exiting the building.
He didn't have a car. Actually, that made him harder to tail than if he'd been driving. Dodging lithely between passers by, he kept disappearing in the flowing crowds. More than once, Suki had to excuse herself for accidentally bumping into some fat matron laden with groceries or almost knocking the briefcase out of a City broker's manicured hand. Yet, miraculously, she managed to locate the dull sheen of the black jacket every time. In and between the walkers he dove, keeping up an unflagging pace and stamina. Shit, the guy must be a trained athlete or something. Also, he had to be an expert on Caldera geography.
After half an hour, Suki noticed that the crowds were thinning out. They were on the outskirts of Caldera City, in a nondescript but respectable residential area. The street was deserted with the exception for a few stray cats and a flock of raven eagles perched ominously on the pointy roof of a large dark building. In the background, the tall silhouettes of the Industrial Area marked the end of the Caldera District. Shit. Once there, Suki's badge wouldn't carry half as much official authority. Holding her breath, she ducked into a dark alleyway to avoid detection and watched the tall gangly silhouette advancing down the street. Passing the large building, he suddenly turned left and headed for a door. Apparently he had his own key, because there was no doorman in sight.
Waiting patiently for a full ten minutes in the dark alleyway was a supreme strain. The street remained perfectly still and deserted. From what she could observe of the house in question from her hidden vantage point, it had a nondescript and unremarkable but neat and clean façade of tiles and sandstone. The windows were shut eyes, their curtains pulled. The rust coloured door remained closed. Keeping her head down, she slid quickly into the street, noting the sign.
Lake Rd 41-49
The rust coloured door was located further down the left, somewhere in the middle of the row of houses. She kept walking quickly, determined to find out the number and get out. Then, something happened that made her turn hastily and jump back down into shelter.
A woman had appeared from around the far side corner, that of number 49. Head held high, elegantly dressed, she approached rapidly. Her face was turned towards the houses, examining the doors. With a slight nod, she turned and marched up to ring the doorbell of the rust coloured door. As it opened by an unseen hand, she disappeared inside it.
Shit! What do I do now? Return to the Station or wait to see who else will enter or exit?
With a sigh, Suki settled down to stake her target out.
The sharp voice seared her like a brand.
"Detective Lamarr? What a coincidence! Fancy meeting you like this!"