Read Online Inspector Zhang and the Disappearing Drugs by Stephen Leather - Free Book Online
Authors: Stephen Leather
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exhibitions and I discovered that he is a big fan of Cajun food and as I'm from New Orleans we had a lot to talk about. During a very long Sunday lunch at the Bourbon Street restaurant he gave me his business card and said that if ever I needed any assistance I shouldn't hesitate to contact him.
I have done just that, several times, and he has always been helpful and never asked anything in return.
I called him on his cell phone and he answered after just two rings.
“Khun Chauvalit, how are you this fine day?” I asked in my very best Thai.
“Working hard for little or no appreciation, as always,” he replied.
He asked me about Noy and I asked him about his wife and five children, and then I got around to the point of the conversation and asked him about Jon Junior.
“He flew in on Delta on January the eighth with a tourist visa. I'd like to know if he's still in Thailand and if so if he'd arranged to have his stay extended.”
“I'm not in my office just now, Khun Bob, so I'll have to call you back.”
I gave him Jon Junior's passport number and date of birth, thanked him and ended the call.
The Clares had been told that the American Embassy had contacted the police and the hospitals, but I've learned from experience that embassies aren't the most efficient of institutions so I didn't think it would hurt to check for myself. I had a list of local hospitals in my desk drawer and I methodically worked my way through them, patiently spelling out Jon Junior's name and his passport number. He hadn't been admitted to any, and there were no unidentified farangs.
Farangs. That's what the Thais call foreigners. It's derived from the word for Frenchman but now it's applied to all white foreigners.
Okay, so Jon Junior wasn't lying in a hospital bed with a broken leg or a ruptured appendix.
So far so good.
I phoned my best police contact, Somsak. Somsak's a police colonel in the Soi Thonglor station, just down the road from my apartment. He's a good guy, his wife's a friend of my wife but our real connection is poker. We play every Friday along with four or five other guys, taking it in turns to host the game. Somsak's a ferocious player with a tendency to blink rapidly whenever he draws anything better than a pair of kings. He never bluffs, either, just plays the percentages. He's a tough player to beat; he either blinks or folds.
Somsak's assistant put me through straight away.
“Khun Bob, how are you this pleasant morning?” said Somsak.
Somsak always called me Khun Bob. I could never work out whether he was being sarcastic or not, but he always said it with a smile. He always spoke in English, too. My Thai was better than his English but he was close to perfect so it was no strain.
“I'm trying to find a missing American,” I said. “He's a young guy, came here as a tourist but it looks like he's teaching English now. He hasn't been in touch with his parents for a while and they're starting to worry.”
“And you're wondering if he's been caught trying to smuggle a kilo of white powder out of the country?”
“It happens.”
It happens a lot. Despite the penalties – and Thailand still executes drugs smugglers – there are still hundreds, maybe thousands, of backpackers and tourists who try to cover the costs of their trip to the Land of Smiles by taking drugs out of the country.
Heroin is cheap in Thailand.
Really cheap.
A couple of hundred dollars a kilo. For heroin that would sell for a hundred times as much in New York or London.
“I will make some enquiries,” said Somsak. “You have checked the hospitals?”
“Just before I called you.”
“Why are you contacting the police and not his parents?”
“His parents spoke to the embassy and they said they'd talk to the police. I'm just covering all bases, that's all.”
“He is a good boy, this Jon Junior?”
“He's from a good family. “
“I hope he is okay.”
“Me, too,” I said. “How are
I have done just that, several times, and he has always been helpful and never asked anything in return.
I called him on his cell phone and he answered after just two rings.
“Khun Chauvalit, how are you this fine day?” I asked in my very best Thai.
“Working hard for little or no appreciation, as always,” he replied.
He asked me about Noy and I asked him about his wife and five children, and then I got around to the point of the conversation and asked him about Jon Junior.
“He flew in on Delta on January the eighth with a tourist visa. I'd like to know if he's still in Thailand and if so if he'd arranged to have his stay extended.”
“I'm not in my office just now, Khun Bob, so I'll have to call you back.”
I gave him Jon Junior's passport number and date of birth, thanked him and ended the call.
The Clares had been told that the American Embassy had contacted the police and the hospitals, but I've learned from experience that embassies aren't the most efficient of institutions so I didn't think it would hurt to check for myself. I had a list of local hospitals in my desk drawer and I methodically worked my way through them, patiently spelling out Jon Junior's name and his passport number. He hadn't been admitted to any, and there were no unidentified farangs.
Farangs. That's what the Thais call foreigners. It's derived from the word for Frenchman but now it's applied to all white foreigners.
Okay, so Jon Junior wasn't lying in a hospital bed with a broken leg or a ruptured appendix.
So far so good.
I phoned my best police contact, Somsak. Somsak's a police colonel in the Soi Thonglor station, just down the road from my apartment. He's a good guy, his wife's a friend of my wife but our real connection is poker. We play every Friday along with four or five other guys, taking it in turns to host the game. Somsak's a ferocious player with a tendency to blink rapidly whenever he draws anything better than a pair of kings. He never bluffs, either, just plays the percentages. He's a tough player to beat; he either blinks or folds.
Somsak's assistant put me through straight away.
“Khun Bob, how are you this pleasant morning?” said Somsak.
Somsak always called me Khun Bob. I could never work out whether he was being sarcastic or not, but he always said it with a smile. He always spoke in English, too. My Thai was better than his English but he was close to perfect so it was no strain.
“I'm trying to find a missing American,” I said. “He's a young guy, came here as a tourist but it looks like he's teaching English now. He hasn't been in touch with his parents for a while and they're starting to worry.”
“And you're wondering if he's been caught trying to smuggle a kilo of white powder out of the country?”
“It happens.”
It happens a lot. Despite the penalties – and Thailand still executes drugs smugglers – there are still hundreds, maybe thousands, of backpackers and tourists who try to cover the costs of their trip to the Land of Smiles by taking drugs out of the country.
Heroin is cheap in Thailand.
Really cheap.
A couple of hundred dollars a kilo. For heroin that would sell for a hundred times as much in New York or London.
“I will make some enquiries,” said Somsak. “You have checked the hospitals?”
“Just before I called you.”
“Why are you contacting the police and not his parents?”
“His parents spoke to the embassy and they said they'd talk to the police. I'm just covering all bases, that's all.”
“He is a good boy, this Jon Junior?”
“He's from a good family. “
“I hope he is okay.”
“Me, too,” I said. “How are
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