LITMIR.BIZ

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ugly.’ He passed the camera to my father who viewed the image, his face rigid with control.

      ‘The Turtle’s not pretty either,’ I said, and Simone giggled.

      ‘You really are a turtle,’ Roland said with awe.

      My father passed the camera to my mother. She stared at it with her eyes wide. She glanced up at John, then back at the image. She didn’t say anything.

      I took the camera from her and passed it back to Roland. ‘Could you do me a favour, Roland?’

      ‘Of course, anything, Lady Emma,’ he said, without looking away from the image on the camera.

      ‘Could you make a copy of this for me, my friend?’

      Roland glanced up at me, then at John. ‘Of course.’

       Chapter Four

       O h, good, you’re out. After breakfast, come into my office.

      I didn’t wait; I made myself a cup of tea and went straight into the study. Gold and John sat on either side of the desk.

      ‘Your parents are still asleep,’ John said.

      ‘Probably the time difference screwing them up,’ I said. ‘They’ve never been overseas before.’

      ‘It’s only two hours,’ Gold said.

      ‘They’re worn out,’ John said. ‘You’ve been dragging them around too much. Take them for a drive today, rest their feet.’

      ‘Okay,’ I said. ‘I’ll take them out to the New Territories, away from the concrete and pollution for a day. We might go to the riding stables — the Country Club’s gardens would probably be a nice change for them.’

      ‘Good idea,’ John said. ‘I thought you should know about this — Gold just told me. He’s been cultivating a senior police officer and heard some interesting information about the investigation into Kitty Kwok.’

      ‘That’s not a very honourable thing to do,’ I said. ‘I’m surprised at both of you.’

      ‘I didn’t know he was involved in the investigation until we’d been going out for a while,’ Gold said. ‘Purely a happy coincidence.’

      ‘Yeah, right, a coincidence,’ I said. ‘Wait a second, he? Oh for God’s sake, John, are any of your staff straight?’

      Gold chuckled. ‘I thought you knew.’

      ‘Gold’s a stone,’ John said. ‘Gender neutral.’

      ‘I think the term is bi, but it doesn’t really apply to us,’ Gold said. ‘We can take either gender, but in essence we are neutral. If we like someone, we mould ourselves to fit their preference.’

      ‘And you’re my staff too, technically, Emma,’ John said. He grinned broadly. ‘I thought you and Louise were very close.’

      ‘Oh my God, you are such a guy sometimes,’ I said. ‘Louise and I were friends.’ I leaned over the desk and looked him right in the eye. ‘Is the Turtle female? It’s yin.’

      He avoided the question and gestured towards Gold, his grin not shifting. ‘Kitty Kwok investigation.’

      ‘I do not understand the animal preoccupation with gender,’ the stone in my ring said. ‘It’s more of a nuisance than anything else. And Gold, I am extremely disappointed that you would become involved with one of these . . .’ It hesitated, then said with emphasis, ‘Fleshies.’

      Gold’s eyes widened.

      ‘Ignore it,’ John said. ‘It is being offensive because it craves attention.’

      ‘Yeah, it’s a troll,’ I said.

      Gold’s mouth flopped open. John grinned broadly. The stone made a weird squeaking sound, like someone rubbing glass with a damp cloth, but didn’t say anything.

      Gold shook himself out of it. ‘The police are bewildered by the nature of the laboratories producing the hybrids. Police in Europe, Australia and the US are investigating the other business interests, but at this stage it’s just the kindergartens that seem to be involved in the underworld activity. Tautech, the biotech company, hasn’t been doing anything that they can nail it on. Only the kindergartens have been used to generate funds and launder money for One Two Two’s network.’

      ‘So they won’t stop the biotech labs,’ I said.

      ‘No,’ John said. ‘And it appears that the Demon King is letting it go too.’

      ‘Damn,’ I said. ‘What about the thefts from the stone circles in Europe? Have they put that together?’

      ‘No,’ Gold said, his face rigid. ‘But every single stone Shen, both Eastern and Western, is out for demon blood on this.’

      ‘The Grandmother of All the Rocks herself has put a price on One Two Two’s head,’ the stone in my ring said. ‘That demon will pay.’

      ‘Do you think Wong has more stone elementals than those he threw at us the other night?’ I said.

      ‘Hard to tell, my Lady,’ Gold said.

      ‘He probably threw everything he had at us,’ John said. ‘That was his big final thrust. And he failed.’

      ‘One thing I forgot to mention,’ Gold said. ‘The police are keeping this very quiet — if it gets out there will be mass panic.’

      ‘What?’ I said.

      ‘They found large refrigerators full of blood and tissue samples,’ Gold said. ‘In the kindergartens.’

      ‘Oh my God,’ I whispered. ‘She was harvesting from the kids.’

      ‘I cannot conceive of the sort of creature that would carry out such atrocities,’ John said.

      ‘You sure she’s not a demon?’ I said.

      ‘Only a human would be capable of something like this, Emma,’ John said. ‘Demons do not possess that sort of depth.’

      ‘Wouldn’t the kids go home and tell their parents or the domestic helpers?’ I said.

      ‘Not if they’ve had their memories wiped,’ John said grimly. ‘Quite common for children to come home from kindergarten with a small wound, plastered over, treated with disinfectant, and say that they fell in the playground. The staff apologise and claim that it is a minor scrape. Perfectly normal.’

      ‘You’re right,’ I whispered. ‘I cannot believe this.’ I had a sudden horrible thought. ‘You knew Kitty well, John. Did Simone ever go to the kindergarten here on the Peak?’

      ‘Yes, for a while,’ John said. ‘Leo posted himself inside, guarding. I had to make a special arrangement with Kitty, but provided I paid her extra she would let me do anything. Simone didn’t like the regimentation and Leo was a nervous wreck, so after two weeks I gave up and took her out. That was about six months before you arrived.’

      ‘So Leo was guarding her,’ I said. ‘She never sustained any minor injuries. They never took a sample off her.’

      John’s face said it all.

      I put my head in my hands. ‘No.’ I looked back up at John. ‘Did she remember?’

      ‘No,’ he said, his face rigid. His eyes unfocused. ‘Your parents are outside the door. They’ve gone into the kitchen.’

      ‘Anything else?’ I said.

      ‘We need to discuss the new Disciples,’ Gold said.

      ‘Let me go and say good morning and I’ll be right back.’

      ‘I

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