Alex raised an eyebrow, staring at Kenneth, who seemed determined to be stubborn.
"Remember," Kenneth said. "If I die, I won't be able to tell you anything useful. However, to win this battle, you'll have to kill me. It's a lose-lose situation for you."
He glared at Alex and continued. "I just want to remind you that when I'm dead, countless people in the American Martial Arts Association will hate you. They will seek revenge."
"There are already a lot of people in the American Martial Arts Association who hate me and want to kill me," Alex responded, smiling. "Many are threatened by me. After all, I've reached this position at a young age, and some people are convinced I don't deserve it. I'm sure that in the future, I'll receive even more threats."
"You don't understand what's going on," Kenneth said, sneering. "But I do. I wanted to see how you handle yourself, but now I know, so I think it's time we let things settle down for a while."
"Mr. Petrie, you still don't get it," Alex said, smiling again. "You did all this to force me to make a move. Well, you win. I'll make a move."
Kenneth stared at him.
Alex turned around and said, "Will, give me those acupuncture needles."
There was a flurry of activity as Will ordered a few people to find the needles. When they returned, he handed them to Alex while giving him a questioning look. Alex took the needles, turned back to Kenneth, and with a few quick moves, stabbed them into Kenneth in a few choice locations.
Kenneth froze. He had thought he was going to be punished, but now he stared at Alex in astonishment.
But his expression soon changed. He grimaced, and his body twitched, and then his stomach began to make peculiar noises. He grew uncomfortable and fidgeted in his seat.
Will was the first one to understand what was going, and he burst out laughing. "Mr. Petrie, is there something wrong? Perhaps you need to go to the bathroom?"
Kenneth stared around wildly, his profound embarrassment apparent. "Alex, what have you done to me?" he asked desperately. "Hurry up and undo this."
He had been a martial artist for many years, and he had never heard of such a punishment. His stomach was beginning to hurt now, and the gurgling sounds were growing even louder. He felt humiliated, and he was worried he might lose control. If he were to have an accident, and word got out about it, he would never live it down.
His desperation got the best of him, and he gave in. "I'll tell you everything I know. I took a bribe from the president of the Baltimore Military Academy and stopped investigating what happened to his new students' tuition fees." He took a deep breath and continued. "The vice president of the American Martial Arts Academy wanted supplements. I was going to help him, but after receiving the bribe, I didn't."
Kenneth shook his head, angry that he had started to talk, but unable to stop himself. "My son seduced more than a dozen female students. I tried to stop him, but I wanted to protect him, so I covered it up."
"Kenneth, you aren't telling me everything," Alex said. He could tell Kenneth was only giving him partial facts, and that he was holding back a lot of information. He stared at the other man, a wicked glint in his eyes, as he said, "It seems the punishment has to continue. Perhaps I'll leave you alone for a bit." He clapped his hands and prepared to leave.
"Wait, I know more," Kenneth said with a grimace, and then he continued to speak. "The wife of the head of the Rumble Club was brutally attacked and knocked unconscious by the vice president of the club, Marvin Smith."
**
By that evening, Alex had gotten all the information he could from Kenneth.
Alex asked Jeffrey to continue cleaning up the arbitrator's office, but also to keep things quiet.
With everything under control, he confidently moved forward with his plan to get rid of all the troublemakers in the association.
But he was particularly interested in learning more about the attack on the wife of the Rumble Club's president.
In Kenneth's confession, Marvin Smith had gone from being the vice president to president a few years ago, and to celebrate, he had invited Kenneth over for a drink.
While they had been drinking, Marvin had confessed that he had been hired twenty years before to attack the president's wife. She had been gravely wounded, and Marvin had bragged about the achievement.
He had taken on the job because he had owed a huge amount in gambling debts, and even though he had known the consequences were serious, he had still taken on the task.
Later, Marvin had taken the money he had acquired for performing the deed to pay off his gambling debts. Then he had joined the American Martial Arts Association and had gradually climbed to the position of president of the Rumble Club.
The Rumble Club was one of the oldest and most respected martial arts organizations, and its strength was well known to all.
But because he had attacked the president's wife, Marvin was worried he would be found out. It had been a high-profile case, and the investigation had been ongoing, so Marvin had been worried that all would have been lost if it had come out that he had been the attacker.
Kenneth had been shocked to hear the story, but he hadn't said anything. Even after Marvin had sobered up, Kenneth had pretended he hadn't heard anything.
Marvin, not knowing exactly what he might have said in his drunken state, had chosen not to bring it up either. But just in case, he had started to pay Kenneth more money to keep him happy and quiet.
I wonder if I should say anything to Clark about all this? Alex wondered, as he sat in the car. Since he had become so close to Clark, he had started to care a lot about the older man's business matters. I really don't have any evidence yet. I only have what Kenneth told me, and that was given under extreme pressure, so I need to wait until I have more. There's no need to worry Clark unnecessarily.
Alex decided to contact Marvin in person before saying anything to Clark.
His phone rang, interrupting his thoughts. He took the call on his Bluetooth headset, and he soon heard a sharp female voice. "Alex, how have you been?"
Alex was surprised, and then he chuckled as he answered, "Well, well, Grandma Spice, it's been a long time. How are you?"
He had never expected her to call him. She was a blind old woman who had worked for Georgina at the Moon Palace. He called her Grandma Spice, because she was feisty, and no one seemed to know her real name. She had been looking for a cure for her blindness for a long time, but her condition was not an ordinary one, and she had not yet found a cure.
Alex thought about his skill with acupuncture needles. He had been studying and practicing, but he had surprised himself with how he had handled the needles earlier. Not every acupuncture specialist could have done what he had done to Kenneth.
He turned his attention back to Grandma Spice, still marveling that she had called him. He didn't think she knew how to use a mobile phone, and yet there she was, on the other end of the line.