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Authors: Colin Cotterill
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self-consciously.
“I’ll see whether Security can give me extra copies of the wanted poster,” he said. “It wouldn’t hurt to have them placed around the hospital. It might jog someone’s memory. We can write something like ‘If you see this woman – ’”
“Shoot her!” Dtui cut in.
“I was thinking more of ‘Please report her to hospital officials’ or something, just in case she tries again. It might help if we knew where she got the dead body from. We can’t do anything about that until somebody reports him missing.”
“And the problem with that,” Civilai said, “is that nobody trusts the police enough to report a missing relative.”
Phosy nodded. “I imagine the Lizard selected someone who wouldn’t be missed in a hurry. It’s odds-on she killed him. Meanwhile, we should watch our backs. I have my men guarding all of us but we still need to keep on our toes. We were all involved in messing up the Lizard’s coup plans. I’ll find out what background Security has on her.”
“There is one thing we do know about her that may be in our favour,” Madame Daeng suggested.
“What’s that?” Civilai asked.
“She’s a prima donna, a grandstander. If you think about it, she could just as easily have lobbed that hand grenade in through the window.”
“But that would have been too easy,” Dtui agreed. “She wants us to know how clever she is.”
“Perhaps she even wants us to match wits with her,” Daeng continued. “I’d wager she’s delighted we – that is, you, Dtui – foiled this first attempt.” There was a round of applause for Dtui, who pressed her hands together into a polite nop and bowed her head.
“But that means her next attempt could be even harder to detect,” Phosy added.
“Well, she’s met her match with this team,” said Dtui.
“Let’s hope so.”
When the bottle was finished and the meeting broke up, Madame Daeng insisted on walking Civilai out to his car. As a retired elder statesman he’d been provided a vehicle for personal use and a petrol allowance. In the United States, that gift would have taken the form of a new Cadillac. In 1977 Laos it amounted to a cream Citroen with one hubcap missing.
“Are you all right to drive?” Daeng asked as he prised open the door and climbed behind the wheel.
“Why does everybody ask me that?”
“Ooh, I don’t know. Perhaps the amount of drinking you’ve been doing lately makes them nervous.” She handed him the car keys he’d left on the table. “You’re not showing the bottle any respect. Or yourself. Are you sure you’re all right?”
“I’ve told you…”
“I mean about this investigation. Given your” – she looked back to be sure none of the others had followed them to the car – “involvement in the last coup. The Lizard…”
“Madame Daeng,” he said in a whisper, “I had no personal involvement with the perpetrators of the coup. I was involved in name alone. That woman is intent on hurting good friends of mine. Please don’t think I have any qualms about her being caught. This is personal. It has nothing to do with politics.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“And I wonder if I could ask you not to mention past indiscretions again.”
“Well, that depends, comrade.”
“On what?”
“On whether one day you might like to pay me a visit and talk about it all; how you’re feeling about things. I think it’s all this ‘not mentioning’ that’s driving you into your passionate affair with alcohol.”
Civilai turned the key in the ignition and pulled the starter. The car came to life with all the aggression of a food mixer. He slammed his door and smiled at her through the half-open window before heading off.
She watched him go: a man who had sacrificed his political career with one mad rush of blood to the head. Given his history, she would never really know why he’d allied himself with the coup leaders. But he’d momentarily walked the line
“I’ll see whether Security can give me extra copies of the wanted poster,” he said. “It wouldn’t hurt to have them placed around the hospital. It might jog someone’s memory. We can write something like ‘If you see this woman – ’”
“Shoot her!” Dtui cut in.
“I was thinking more of ‘Please report her to hospital officials’ or something, just in case she tries again. It might help if we knew where she got the dead body from. We can’t do anything about that until somebody reports him missing.”
“And the problem with that,” Civilai said, “is that nobody trusts the police enough to report a missing relative.”
Phosy nodded. “I imagine the Lizard selected someone who wouldn’t be missed in a hurry. It’s odds-on she killed him. Meanwhile, we should watch our backs. I have my men guarding all of us but we still need to keep on our toes. We were all involved in messing up the Lizard’s coup plans. I’ll find out what background Security has on her.”
“There is one thing we do know about her that may be in our favour,” Madame Daeng suggested.
“What’s that?” Civilai asked.
“She’s a prima donna, a grandstander. If you think about it, she could just as easily have lobbed that hand grenade in through the window.”
“But that would have been too easy,” Dtui agreed. “She wants us to know how clever she is.”
“Perhaps she even wants us to match wits with her,” Daeng continued. “I’d wager she’s delighted we – that is, you, Dtui – foiled this first attempt.” There was a round of applause for Dtui, who pressed her hands together into a polite nop and bowed her head.
“But that means her next attempt could be even harder to detect,” Phosy added.
“Well, she’s met her match with this team,” said Dtui.
“Let’s hope so.”
When the bottle was finished and the meeting broke up, Madame Daeng insisted on walking Civilai out to his car. As a retired elder statesman he’d been provided a vehicle for personal use and a petrol allowance. In the United States, that gift would have taken the form of a new Cadillac. In 1977 Laos it amounted to a cream Citroen with one hubcap missing.
“Are you all right to drive?” Daeng asked as he prised open the door and climbed behind the wheel.
“Why does everybody ask me that?”
“Ooh, I don’t know. Perhaps the amount of drinking you’ve been doing lately makes them nervous.” She handed him the car keys he’d left on the table. “You’re not showing the bottle any respect. Or yourself. Are you sure you’re all right?”
“I’ve told you…”
“I mean about this investigation. Given your” – she looked back to be sure none of the others had followed them to the car – “involvement in the last coup. The Lizard…”
“Madame Daeng,” he said in a whisper, “I had no personal involvement with the perpetrators of the coup. I was involved in name alone. That woman is intent on hurting good friends of mine. Please don’t think I have any qualms about her being caught. This is personal. It has nothing to do with politics.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“And I wonder if I could ask you not to mention past indiscretions again.”
“Well, that depends, comrade.”
“On what?”
“On whether one day you might like to pay me a visit and talk about it all; how you’re feeling about things. I think it’s all this ‘not mentioning’ that’s driving you into your passionate affair with alcohol.”
Civilai turned the key in the ignition and pulled the starter. The car came to life with all the aggression of a food mixer. He slammed his door and smiled at her through the half-open window before heading off.
She watched him go: a man who had sacrificed his political career with one mad rush of blood to the head. Given his history, she would never really know why he’d allied himself with the coup leaders. But he’d momentarily walked the line
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