Behind the Night Bazaar (22 page)

He made a show of checking his mobile phone for messages; there were none, but the digital chimes and bright flashing lights were guaranteed to attract a few envious looks. Officer Tanin who was standing by the noticeboard turned to see where the noise was coming from.

‘Sergeant Pornsak,’ Tanin said, ‘I was hoping to see you. I—’

Pornsak cut him off by raising a hand, the other still pressing the buttons on his meu teu. He frowned as if some vital message appeared on the screen and nodded, before switching off the phone and restoring it to his belt.

‘What is it, Tanin?’ he said gruffly. ‘I don’t have much time.’

‘It’s Officer Komet, Sir,’ Tanin said. ‘I think he’s got a farang girlfriend.’

Pornsak started. ‘What?’

‘I-I saw them, Sir, Officer Komet talking with a farang woman, at the Mountain View Lodge. In the garden. Around midnight.’

‘Dog fucker!’ If Komet had found the woman before him, that blew his best chance of getting back into Ratratarn’s good books.

‘She was very nice,’ Tanin said, tracing the outline of a woman’s body in the air. ‘I saw them on my rounds and—’

With a glance at the roster, Pornsak left Tanin mid-sentence and rushed to the lieutenant colonel’s office door.

‘Sir!’ He came to an abrupt halt and saluted.

‘What do you want, Pornsak?’ The lieutenant colonel sat behind his desk, a crease in his brow.

‘Sir,’ he said, panting slightly, ‘Officer Tanin reports seeing Officer Komet conferring with a farang woman last night. I wondered if this meant we’d had a breakthrough in the case and—’

And I could be excused from sentry duty,
he’d wanted to add, but the lieutenant colonel cut him off.

‘What?’ Ratratarn rose to his feet, fingertips splayed on the desk. ‘Sergeant, what the hell are you talking about?’

‘Komet, Sir. I had reason to believe he’d located the farang woman we’ve been looking for. Didn’t he say any—?’

‘Where’s Komet now?’ Ratratarn said.

‘I checked on my way, Sir. He signed off an hour ago.’

‘Find him. No, wait! Is Tanin still here?’

Pornsak dashed back to the front desk where Tanin was signing off and dragged the younger man back to Ratratarn’s office.

‘Sergeant Pornsak tells me you saw Officer Komet meeting with a farang woman last night,’ Ratratarn said.

‘Y-yes, Sir,’ Tanin stammered. ‘At the M-Mountain View Lodge.’

‘Who was she?’

‘I-I don’t know, Sir,’ Tanin said. ‘I just saw Officer Komet talking with her in the garden. I thought she might be his girlfriend.’

Ratratarn shook his head. ‘Tell me, Officer Tanin,’ he said with exaggerated courtesy. ‘Do you think you could recognise this woman again?’

‘Hmm, maybe,’ Tanin said.

‘Maybe isn’t fucking good enough.’ Ratratarn’s hand shot out across the desk, grabbing Tanin by the collar. ‘Could—you—recognise—the—farang—woman— again?’

‘Y-y-yes, Sir!’ he cried.

‘Good!’ Ratratarn released his grip and sent Tanin reeling to the floor. ‘Let’s go to the Mountain View together. I want to have a little chat with this farang woman about the nature of her relationship with Officer Komet.’ He picked up his cap. ‘Sergeant?’

‘Sir!’ Pornsak stood to attention.

‘Find Officer Komet and bring him here at once. I want to know what the hell he’s playing at…And Pornsak,’ he added, ‘let’s surprise Officer Komet, shall we?’

Pornsak saluted, turned on his heel and marched back down the corridor. He wasn’t sure what was happening, but at least he seemed to be back in favour with the lieutenant colonel. Only minutes ago he’d actually been jealous of Komet. But right now, Officer Komet Plungkham was the last person whose shoes he wanted to be in.

Ratratarn couldn’t tolerate the thought of being duped by a junior officer from the ban nok. At the Mountain View Lodge, he learned only one farang woman had checked in on Tuesday, a French Embassy employee named Marie with a diplomatic passport to prove it. Ratratarn flashed the ID photo at Tanin who confirmed it was the woman he’d seen with Komet. He instructed the receptionist to summon her, brushing aside protestations that the guest didn’t take breakfast for another half-hour.

The receptionist placed the call, her cheeks reddening as she apologised to the person on the line. Ratratarn noted the farang spoke Thai and was wondering what that said about Komet’s strategy, when his mobile phone rang. He checked the caller’s number.

‘
Krup
,’ he grunted. ‘What is it, Pornsak?’

‘Officer Komet’s house is empty, Sir. No wife, nobody. Could be they left in a hurry, too. There’s still food on the stove.’

‘Where’s Officer Komet from? What’s his hometown?’

‘Nakhon Phanom,’ Tanin piped up.

‘Tanin says Komet’s from Nakhon Phanom,’ Ratratarn said. ‘Check the bus terminal. Talk with the neighbours, see if they know anything. Find out what the hell’s going on.’

As he hung up, a blonde woman approached the desk. At the sight of the two policemen, her scowl deepened.

Ratratarn mustered all the charm he could manage. ‘
Kor thort krup
, Khun Marie,’ he said, ‘I wonder if I might have a word—’

‘Look,’ she interrupted him, ‘I already told the other officer I don’t know anything.’

‘What’s that?’ Ratratarn feigned innocence. ‘Have you already spoken with one of my officers?’ He shot Tanin a look warning him to keep his mouth shut.

‘Yes, last night,’ Marie said. ‘I was on my way to bed then and now you’ve woken me up this morning. What is it with you people?’

Ratratarn opened his notebook at a random page. ‘Excuse me, Madam,’ he said, ‘but according to our records, three farang women are to be interviewed. One says she’s a victim of gem fraud, one reports theft of her credit card whilst trekking, and a third is wanted for questioning in relation to the death of a Canadian last weekend.’

‘That was me!’ she said. ‘That’s what your officer was asking about. But I explained that I only know what I read in the papers. He was very persistent. Even insisted on seeing my passport. Said he was looking for someone who might be in disguise.’

‘And you didn’t call the police in relation to a gem scam or a stolen credit card?’

‘No, I didn’t call the police at all.’

Ratratarn closed his notebook. ‘My apologies, Ma’am. There’s obviously been a misunderstanding. Rest assured I will see to it personally that those responsible are disciplined, and steps taken to ensure such mistakes do not occur in the future.’

The woman nodded curtly.

‘I trust the spirit of co-operation between our two countries will not be adversely affected,’ he added.

He smiled at his paraphrasing the platitudes of that arse-licker from the Canadian Embassy. But the woman thought the smile was for her.

‘
Mai pen rai
,’ she said.

‘S-Sir, do you want me to follow up on the stolen credit card?’ Tanin said as they returned to the car.

‘What?’ Ratratarn said. ‘What the hell are you talking about?’

‘The stolen credit card you mentioned, S-Sir. I have experience in this area and—’

‘Shut up, Tanin.’

Ratratarn wanted to believe Komet was working in their collective interests, but he could smell a rat. Although Komet maintained he hadn’t come up with any leads on Jayne Keeney from his survey of the town’s hotels and guesthouses, he was onto something if he was going around interviewing Thai-speaking farang women about the dead Canadian.

Ratratarn recalled Komet giving him a list of places where women in Jayne Keeney’s age group had been registered. Back at the Bureau he shuffled through the papers on his desk until he found it, scanning the list to see where else Komet might have been.

‘Son of a bitch!’

The Mountain View Lodge wasn’t even on the list. The document was a hoax.

Ratratarn collapsed into a chair and rubbed his temples. When Pornsak rang to report that, according to the neighbours, Komet’s expectant wife had gone home to have her baby, Ratratarn saw an opportunity.

‘It seems we were mistaken about Officer Komet,’ he said. ‘I’ve just found a report he left me on his interviews with various farang women, including the one Tanin saw him with at the Mountain View Lodge. He was taking initiative, Sergeant, which is to be commended—though in future such initiatives must be authorised in advance through the correct channels.’

‘Sir?’ Pornsak sounded confused.

‘Go home, Sergeant. Come back for your regular shift tonight.’

‘For more surveillance duty?’ he asked plaintively.

Ratratarn decided to let him sweat. ‘We’ll see about that when you come in.’

The lieutenant colonel smiled as he switched off the phone. That took care of any loss of face he might have had with Pornsak, and Tanin was too stupid to worry about. That only left Komet.

When Pornsak said Komet’s wife had gone away for her confinement, Ratratarn realised the food on the stove wasn’t the sign of an abrupt departure; it was the dutiful wife’s parting gesture. And as Komet didn’t know Ratratarn was onto him, no doubt he’d turn up for work that night as usual. All Ratratarn had to do was wait.

As soon as Komet left, Jayne ordered another coffee, wiped down the table with a serviette, and took what she needed from her backpack: pen, gluestick, stapler, dictionary, surveillance photos, and the police report she’d swiped from David Freeman. The report had been printed single-sided, making it easy for Jayne to lay out the alternative scenario, drawing arrows from the printed text on the right to her notes and photos on the left.

She began with the interviews conducted by police where Nou’s body was found and made a note of her personal communication with Pairoj Nilmongkol. She went through the official account of Didier’s death and its aftermath, picking it apart using the information Komet had given her. Here, she knew her source would carry more weight and noted:

Personal communication as per signed confession
(see attached), Police Officer Komet Plungkham,
Thurs 9 May 1996.

Next she wrote:

Max Parker (Second Secretary, Australian Embassy,
Bangkok), a close friend of M. de Montpasse, can
testify to his character in order to counter police
claims that amphetamines were found on the
premises.

Thinking of Max made her feel guilty, and she made a mental note to contact him.

On a blank page, she translated Komet’s statement into English, pasting in photos of Kelly, Ratratarn and Pornsak as illustrations. She also noted ‘confirmation by an independent witness’ that Sanga was with Kelly around 1am on the night of his death, not long before his body was found at Man Date.

Satisfied with her handiwork, Jayne stapled Komet’s statement to the inside front cover, added his photograph, then sat back and lit a cigarette.

‘What’s that?’ Mark gestured at the smoke and screwed up his nose. ‘Breakfast of champions?’

She tilted her head to kiss him, simultaneously pulling the police report closer. ‘Hardly breakfast!’ She folded her arms on top of it. ‘It’s nearly midday.’

‘That explains why I’m so hungry,’ he said. ‘Any chance of getting some food around here?’

‘You’ll have to ask her.’

At a nearby table, Ornsri’s daughter was cutting square paper napkins into smaller squares and stuffing them into bamboo holders, a bored look on her face.

Mark went over to confer with her, while Jayne slipped the report into her backpack. On instinct, she felt compelled to keep her latest findings a secret.

‘Nah, nothing doing here,’ Mark said, sauntering back to her table. ‘Want to go out for something?’

‘Ah, I’ve got a few things to do. Why don’t we meet up again for dinner tonight?’

He cocked his head. ‘Anything wrong?’

‘Nothing a hot shower and a decent sleep won’t fix.’

Mark handed her the room key and kissed her. Jayne felt a twinge of guilt as he left but resisted the urge to run after him. She slipped 100 baht under the napkin holder and returned to her room.

She’d felt elated after her meeting with Komet; his confession confirmed her every instinct about Didier’s death. And it had been enormously satisfying to pick the police report to pieces, substantiating her case with evidence even David Freeman would have to concede raised ‘reasonable doubt’ about the official account. But she didn’t know how she could use that evidence without putting Komet in danger. The word-of-mouth statements from Pairoj and Nalissa amounted to little on their own. Komet’s confession held it all together, not only because he was a material witness to the conspiracy, but because of who he was. A repentant rookie. A cop with a conscience.

When she asked what would happen if word got out about their meeting, Komet used the same phrase as Nalissa.
Kam sanong kam
—
What goes around, comes around
. Much as she admired his courage, Jayne did not share his faith in karmic retribution. If she went public, it would be her fault if anything happened to him.

She thought of talking it over with Mark, but she still wasn’t sure how committed he was to the whole idea. He hadn’t mentioned Didier since the night they met and seemed uneasy if Jayne brought up his name. It was almost as if he were jealous.

Then it occurred to her that since Mark had promised to release information on the murders to the media once he arrested Kelly, Jayne could draft a press release on his behalf. Something that drew on Komet’s evidence and was substantial enough to provoke an inquiry, yet worded in such a way as to protect him. She’d give a copy to Mark at dinner and know from his reaction whether or not he was serious about keeping up his end of their deal.

She finished her cigarette, took out a pen and opened her notebook.

M
ark proposed they meet at the Riverside. Simone looked tired when she arrived, though seemed in good spirits. As they drank cold beers at a table on the river’s edge, she pointed out quirky translations on the menu.

‘How about some “drunken nuts” for starters,’ she grinned, ‘or maybe “ripped mango with salted sauce”? Or “cold Chinese crystal slide pork roll”—what the hell is that? Oh, here’s a good one under European food: “canelloni vegetariani”.’