Murder at Seething Wells (The Ralph Chalmers Mysteries Book 5)

by P. J. Thurbin

  ***

  The switchboard operator at the National University of Singapore spoke good English but Ralph’s pronunciation of Cavendish had obviously caused a problem. Peter had taken a year out from teaching at Kingston and was now at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory based on Lower Kent Ridge. He smiled when he finally recognized his friend’s voice on the line.

  “Hi you old bugger,” shouted Peter. “I thought you’d forgotten about us exiles sweating it out here in the tropics. It’s good to hear from you, old boy.”

  “I had a devil of a time getting the operator to understand who I wanted,” Ralph said. “I thought those Singaporeans spoke English.”

  “Or so we’ve been led to believe,” his friend chuckled. “How are you, anyhow? I hope you’re calling to tell me you’re on your way out for a visit. Marcia and I could do with a bit of civilized conversation.”

  “As a matter of fact I am. Granger has agreed to let me off the leash for a few days.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “As usual he has a bee in his bonnet and this time it’s a scheme to make money out of the poor Singaporean students. He wants to set up some sort of exchange programme between NUS and Kingston and he wants me to go out there and sort out the logistics. What’s the standard like out there anyhow?”

  “Much better than you might imagine. They’re pushing me all the time. These kids are good.” Ralph told him his schedule and explained that he would only be there for a few days, but he hoped Peter had some free time so they could get together.

  “It shouldn’t take more than a morning to take care of the University business, then we can get down to some important socializing. Why not bring Katie along and we can make a foursome of it? Marcia would love to catch up on the local gossip.” Ralph knew that Marcia was high maintenance. An early career as a fashion model had left her with a taste for life in the fast lane and sitting at home in a pinafore waiting for Peter to come home from college was not her style. But they were a good match. Peter was mainly interested in action and not too tolerant of an excess of reflection. And up to a point, Marcia enjoyed Peter’s happy go lucky approach to life. They’d had their ups and downs of course, but she had given him an ultimatum a couple of years back, and since then he had jettisoned his playboy lifestyle and things seemed to have settled down.

  “I guess you’ve heard about Stephen Chen over in the science department?”

  “It was on the Kingston website. Bad luck, that; but of course I didn’t know the chap.”

  “I don’t suppose you could keep your ear to the ground for any scuttlebutt about him over there?” Ralph pressed.

  “Uh oh. Sounds like you’re on the sleuthing path again, old chap. I thought the papers said it was an accident of some sort.”

  “Well, just in case you hear anything.”

  “Where’s that old tightwad putting you up, anyhow? I’d suggest Raffles, even if you have to top up the per diem yourself. It’s really the only place to stay. It has all the old world charm, and besides it’s bound to provide the right atmosphere, especially if you can talk Katie into coming along with you.”

  “I’ll check it out online. But meanwhile, any pointers about the politics out there?”

  “You’ll find it all a bit of a culture shock, Ralph. The buggers are over the top law abiding and disciplined. You probably heard about that American college kid who was arrested and beaten with a rattan cane for spraying paint on someone’s car over here. You can be fined for chewing gum or anything else on the subway, and dropping litter is a complete no no. They have a joke here that the Foreign Minister carries a few sweet wrappers in his pocket and surreptitiously drops them when showing overseas visitors the sites. He just loves to hear them cry ‘Look you missed that one’. Seriously Ralph, if you’re planning to talk business with the people at the NUS you’ll need to brush up on the culture and the politics or else they’ll just smile and freeze you out.”

  “Thanks for the heads up. I’ll be sure to do my homework ahead of time. How’s the teaching there, anyhow?”

  “They all want to bash away at the keyboard like Lang Lang. Sometimes their enthusiasm exceeds the talent, but it’s still refreshing after slogging my way around those luddites at Kingston.” Peter was the world’s expert on early church music and it always puzzled Ralph that someone as gregarious as his friend could be so serious where music was concerned.

  Having promised to do his best to bring Katie with him and to keep in touch, Ralph rang off and started to think about Peter’s comments. If what he had said about Singaporeans favouring a controlled way of life was true, then why hadn’t Stephen Chen kept his staff more informed about the progress of the research? And had the NUS had some sort of hold over him, perhaps through his family, who by all accounts were still living there? Peter was right. He needed to find out a lot more about Singapore before his visit.

  ***

  Ralph had agreed to meet David and Lance at the Blacklion in Surbiton for supper and a drink that evening. It meant he could avoid yet another microwave dinner on his own back at the apartment. The pub was not crowded, and having all ordered the daily special and pints of beer, the three friends sat in a corner booth where they would not be disturbed. While they sipped their beers and tucked in to their meal he told them what Claus Stein had said about Stephen Chen antagonizing the Singaporean government and the WHO with his paper by suggesting an imminent world flue pandemic and how Linham had hinted that the JI terrorist movement may have been involved in Chen’s death.

  “Wow, Ralph,” said Lance as he loaded his fork with a large piece of steak covered in onions. “No wonder you look so knackered, what with all that intrigue swirling around in your head. For me it’s straight forward. Either poor Chen got smacked by one of those animal rights guys, or I hate to say this of a colleague, but Richard Windham met Chen by chance as he walked out of Seething Wells after a few too many beers, saw red, punched him and poor Chen fell and bashed his head on the wet slipway by the river.” There was a silence as Ralph and David looked at Lance. Could it be that simple?

  Having ordered another round of beers, Ralph asked David about the politics in Singapore. David explained that the People’s Action Party, the PAP had been in power since 1959 but that smaller opposition parties such as the Workers Party of Singapore

  were constantly waging a campaign against them to try and get them out by focusing their criticism of PAP on the high cost of housing and the fact that the infrastructure is stretched.

  “Sounds like PAP has a lot to worry about,” interjected Lance.

  “Well you’re right, but so far none of the other parties have had much success. It always comes back to immigration policies and the human rights issues. The PAP has very liberal immigration policies and there has been a rapid increase of immigrants from neighboring countries over the years,” said David.

  “A bit like the Australian and New Zealand policies, wouldn’t you say?” Lance asked.

  “Not quite. You see the critical issue is that foreign workers account for 36% of the population but they have no vote. Of course the main criticism is not about the lack of their right to vote so much as the rate of increase of immigrants coming in.”

  “A bit like here,” said Lance. “What with people coming across from Europe and overloading the Health System and all that.”

  “Most of that is just opposition propaganda, Lance. You’re either in the EU or not. It just so happens that we are in,” said Ralph.

  “The Singapore Government’s big fear is that the radical groups could destabilize the

  country,” said David. “For example, over the last few years the threat of a worldwide pandemic of some sort has scared them. An outbreak of something that can’t be fixed, such as a SARS outbreak, could cause what the Americans would call a National Lockdown; quarantine of thousands of people, loss of trade and tourism. The impact would be enormous; the sort of scenario that the horror movies are keen to exploit with the masses.�
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  “No point in the old folk queuing up for their annual flu jabs as they do here then,” said Lance as he drained his tankard. “From what I’ve heard you get SARS for life. Sorry mates. Bad taste my saying that.”

  “So how does the government prepare for such events and keep the population and the radical groups under control?” Asked Ralph.

  “They use various legislation like the Internal Security Act. For example, they’ve used it against alleged al Qaeda linked terrorist groups inside the country. They arrested some fifteen members of Jemaah Islamijah for involvement in the Singapore embassies attack,” said David, declining an offer from Lance for a top up to his tankard.

  “That’s the third time I’ve heard someone mention the JI this week,” said Ralph. “Inspector Linham inferred that Stephen Chen may have had an interest in them. But we’re getting a bit obsessed trying to link everything from starting a SARS pandemic to terrorism with Chen. Well, David, you’ve given me some food for thought

  about what I might say or do when I’m in Singapore over the Christmas break.”

  The conversation moved on to the upcoming Rugby match.

  “Look, Cynthia and Jack and I are going and I have a spare ticket for the New Zealand England match at Twickenham. Which of you two wants it?”

  “Not me thanks. My kids are coming that weekend. But thanks for the thought,” said David.

  Ralph liked the idea of a day at Twickenham but was a bit concerned that it might end up as an excuse for a New Zealand style beer-fest. He’d heard of another colleague who woke up in a bed-sit somewhere with a bunch of hung - over hairy Kiwis. Still, he did fancy seeing the game.

  “Count me in, Lance. But I’ll make my own way there if that’s okay with you. I have to get back here in the evening.” He knew it was a half lie but he wanted an escape route in case things got out of hand. Cynthia could easily take care of herself and at the end of the day, Lance was a gentleman.

  They drank up and as Ralph drove home he decided to call Katie and see if she was up for a trip to Singapore.

  ***

  “What’s up, Ralph? I guess I must have fallen asleep.” Katie’s sleepy voice came down the wire and Ralph remembered that it was an hour later Paris time.

  “I meant to call earlier but got into a bit of a discussion with David and Lance down at the Blacklion.” He knew it sounded a bit lame.

  “Good for you. That’s a lot better than sitting at home working or listening to the radio by yourself.”

  “Well, I would have waited until morning because I knew it was a bit late, but I have

  something that I wanted to talk to you about.”

  “Well, now I’m awake, don’t keep me in suspense.”

  “Remember, I mentioned that Granger wanted me to go out to Singapore to set up some links with Kingston,” Ralph ventured.

  “I hope you didn’t wake me up just to tell me that old news,” Katie admonished as he heard a barely stifled yawn at the other end.

  “Well, no, not exactly. I just thought that if you didn’t have any plans over the Christmas break you might go with me. You know, make a bit of a holiday of it.”

  “Of course I want to go, Ralph. My social calendar’s not exactly filled up, you know.”

  Ralph told her about his conversation with Peter and how he and Marcia were looking forward to seeing them.

  “Peter suggested we stay at Raffles. I know it’s a bit pricey and I’ll have to top up the accommodation allowance, but what the heck. Peter says it’s run like it’s still part of the British Empire.”

  “Sounds very ritzy,” Katie said. “That Raffles was quite a guy by all accounts. I read that he was actually one of the good guys although he had a reputation for being a bit of a rake, and in spite of all of his good works for the anti-slavery movement and setting

  Singapore up as a British Colony, the local vicar in his parish church in England refused to let him be buried in the churchyard. How’s that for Christian charity?” Ralph remembered that Katie had studied history as an undergraduate and could challenge him on most historic figures in spite of his Cambridge education. “Some of the Aussies and Kiwis still associate Singapore with Changi jail and being prisoners of the Japanese there in World War 2. But I expect the place has changed beyond recognition since then.”

  “There’ll always be some who insist on keeping the debt running,” said Ralph, “but there comes a point when you have to move on.” He realized that with Katie’s past that was sometimes easier said than done and decided to move off the subject before she accused him of climbing on his high lion again.

  “So how are you liking it there?”

  “Much as though I’m enjoying Paris, Ralph, the teaching’s not quite what I expected. They don’t have an equivalent education department like the one at Kingston, so I’m working in a learning center with groups of students; not exactly cutting edge stuff. But at least I have my toe back in the door, so I’ve decided to just make the best of it for this year.” Ralph was not surprised. Katie’s job at Kingston had been pretty high powered and this was quite a step down. Still, it was an opportunity to put the Holloway saga behind her and get back on track.

  “What’s the apartment like?”

  “It’s good. My friend Marie Dupois, you know she’s the one who got me this job, is a good sport. The place is cute but a bit small for anyone who liked to spread out.”

  “And you said it was near the Sorbonne?”

  “Yes. Near that Hotel we stayed at in the Rue Soufflot in the Latin Quarter. It seems ages ago now. You remember, Ralph, when you were wrestling with whether or not you wanted to join your old pal from Cambridge and become an art salesman,” Katie laughed. Ralph recalled the episode. It was when Katie was a bit at loose ends in terms of her career and he had employed her as his researcher. He told her about Inspector Linham mentioning Stephen Chen’s girlfriend Li Mei.

  “Could you check around and see if she’s still working at the Chinese Embassy?”

  “Uh, oh, I think I smell a rat. Ralph, something tells me you’re on the sleuthing trail again,” Katie wailed.

  “No, nothing like that. I’m just a bit curious, that’s all.” He knew Katie didn’t believe it for a moment.

  “Hey, now I think about it, I heard somewhere that Stephen Chen had some connection to the university in Singapore. That wouldn’t have anything to do with your eagerness to go out there for Granger, would it?”

  “Of course not. But I did think that when we’re there we could perhaps look up Stephen’s parents and tell them about her. It might help them if they knew that he had a girlfriend and was not all on his own in England when he died.”

  “You’re not exactly subtle, Ralph Chalmers. Now why did I think it was all about whisking me to the mysterious East for a romantic interlude? I should have known there was a mystery to be solved.” Ralph was relieved to hear the teasing note in her

  voice. Why he thought he could pull one over on her he didn’t know.

  “Okay. I’ll see what I can dredge up about the elusive Miss Li. Better yet, why don’t you throw a few things in a bag and hop on the train. I can meet you at the station.”

  “I’m a bit tied up with teaching right now,” he hedged. He didn’t like to admit that work was not as easy as it used to be.

  “You just need a break. That sabbatical took more out of you than you think. And before that you had the Dorich House business. You’re not the young whippersnapper that you used to be, you know.”

  He winced at the suggestion. In his mind he was still in his 20’s and as fit as ever.

  “I’m off to Twickenham Saturday with Lance and Cynthia, but if you’re free the next weekend I’ll see you Friday evening at the Gare du Nord.”

  “Perfect. Marie will be in Provence visiting her parents so we will have the run of the apartment. It’ll be great. I can show you around the Sorbonne. It’s a bit decrepit as no one can agree who owns the building, so it has a tendency to just f
all apart. But you’ll love it.”

  They chatted on, updating each other on the local gossip and what they had been doing. But it had been a long day and they were both running out of steam.

  Having rung off, Ralph sank back into his favourite chair. Time for a bit of Mozart. The match that weekend and then he would be off to Paris to see Katie. He wondered if she would be able to track down Li Mei and if so what she would be like? And he had to get Margaret to sort out his travel to Singapore. It might be best to fly direct from Paris. As Lance so often reminded him, his mind never stopped. Maybe he should become a Buddhist and learn to blank out everything. Now to just come up with a mantra. With all those thoughts swirling around in his head, Ralph slipped into a deep sleep as the music took over.

  _________________

  Chapter 9

  As Eurostar from St. Pancras gathered speed for its journey to Paris, Ralph sat back in his seat and tried to relax, hoping that his iPod would block out the noise and chatter created by his travelling companions. Two French girls sitting opposite seemed intent on devouring every last scrap from a tin of sardines brimming with oil while gorging on some over ripe cheese which they had spread on bread rolls. They laughed and giggled as they sucked on plastic forks and gulped down red wine from a bottle. He tried looking

  out at the countryside that flashed by the window but found it impossible to resist looking at his companions. He guessed that the two girls had been over to London for a shopping trip or to see the sites and were returning home to parents, school and rules. There were one or two business travelers intently engaged with iPads or computer notebooks and a mix of day-trippers, holidaymakers and shoppers. With the sway of the train he dozed off and only awakened as it pulled in to the Gare du Nord. Just as he was wondering how he would ever find Katie among the crowds that milled around the busy concourse he saw her waving as she pushed through the crowds.