The Thai Dragon

by Lilburne, Guy

  “Why are Scotland Yard interested in a murder case in Thailand?”

  “Sir Anthony Armstrong is the British Ambassador at the British Embassy in Bangkok. One of his Staff, a Sarah Appleby, who also happens to be his niece, was found murdered in her apartment two weeks ago. Apparently, she was chopped into pieces. Sir Anthony is not happy with the Royal Thai Police and he does not think that the investigation is going anywhere. He has requested a six months attachment for a murder squad detective from Scotland Yard to go to Thailand and see if they can turn it around. It landed on my desk a few days ago and I’ve pulled some strings. You got the gig Danny. It gets you off the hook here and at least you will get your pension. You will not have to live on a park bench or shelter under a bridge. It’s your last chance Danny. What do you think?”

  “Bob, I don’t know much about Thailand, but I’ve been starved of doing any proper police work for such a long time. I only ever wanted someone to give me a chance. I got tired of waiting to retire and waiting to die, I’ll be delighted to take the case. Holy Jesus, Mother of

  God! I’m going to Thailand.”

  Both men broke out into huge grins. They stood up and hugged each other.

  “All the stuff you need is in my case here Danny. There is a briefing sheet, but there is not a lot more on it than what I have just told you, visa authority, contact details for Sir Anthony, flight tickets from Heathrow to Bangkok and then onto Phuket, the times and contact details. Someone from the Royal Thai Police will meet you at Phuket airport. They already have your details and they are expecting you. You will be collected from here by my driver at 9:00am tomorrow morning and you fly at 1:00pm. I think you get to Phuket 24hrs later, but that’s because they are six hours in front of us. So Danny, have a shower and a shave and pack your case. You realise it’s our 50th birthday in two days? I always thought we’d be celebrating it together, but I’ll think about you Danny. Enjoy Thailand.”

  When Bob left, Danny sat back in the chair and finished his drink. He was going to pour another one, but stopped himself. In ten years of heavy drinking he never once went to work drunk, and he was not going to start now. He had things to do, clothes to iron and pack, toiletries to buy. He had a murder case to solve.

  Chapter 7 Meeting the Detectives.

  When the murder squad detectives at Kathu district police station received the details of Detective Sergeant O’Brien coming from Scotland Yard, Phong decided to search him on Google. They were all impressed to find a photo of a rather dashing detective receiving a medal for bravery from the Queen, albeit it was ten years ago.

  On the long haul flight from London to Bangkok Danny had lots of time to think and, when he put his watch forward six hours to Thai time, it was suddenly his 50th birthday. He thought about his friend Bob Malone and it saddened him that his friend thought that he was an alcoholic. Danny knew that he was not. Alcoholics have to drink all the time don’t they? Even when they do not want to, or they have something else they have to do, they still manage to drink. Danny only drank when he decided to and because he decided to. It’s just that he decided to drink most days. But he had not drunk anything since Bob had come to see him in the flat, and, now that he had put his watch forward, that was two days ago. He had only had a few drinks on the plane as it was free. So that proves it, he’s not an alcoholic.

  It was a relief when the plane finally landed at Bangkok and he could get off it. He had not managed to sleep at all during the flight and he had watched the new day get lighter as they flew into the East. It was now 8:30am local time and he had to hang around the airport for nearly two and a half hours before his connecting flight to Phuket, where he was hoping he was going to be met by someone from the Royal Thai Police. When he went outside the airport building to smoke, the intense heat and humidity made him start to sweat immediately. It was uncomfortable, but he needed a cigarette.

  As he got off the plane at Phuket International Airport the searing heat struck him again as he walked down the steps and followed the others onto a bus to be ferried to the airport building. Unlike the flight from London, which was all English holiday makers, this flight from Bangkok to Phuket was nearly all Thai people. It was just after 12:30pm now. He was hot and tired as he walked from customs to baggage reclaim and into Arrivals. His spirits lifted when he saw the beautiful woman holding up a large white paper with bold black print ‘Scotland Yard Detective Sergeant O’Brien’. She was very smartly dressed in a knee length skirt and matching jacket. Her long hair was tied up on top of her head. She smiled at him and it was the cutest smile he had ever seen.

  The two detectives recognised Danny O’Brien as soon as he came into view. He was the only person wearing a suit, but they would have recognised him anyway from the photo they had seen on Google. Tanyarat saw more than Phong had noticed. She saw that the Detective Sergeant had put on a couple of stone since the photo had been taken. His dark hair was now peppered with white and life over the last ten years had etched some lines into his face. His shirt was one size too small and he could not fasten the top button. His tie was pulled down a couple of inches from the collar. His suit was old and tatty and his smile was somewhat forced and hollow. As he got closer she could see in his blue eyes that he was a tormented and battered spirit. There was no gentleness left in his face. He had a vulnerability about him which she found attractive. Danny thought that the pretty lady holding the paper had the most beautiful brown eyes and he liked looking at them. He had not even noticed Phong until he spoke up in Thai.

  “The farang detective likes you, Tanyarat” he whispered in Thai.

  “Behave yourself Phong.”

  Phong looked at her, but she avoided his gaze.

  “Oh my Buddha! You like him too.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  Tanyarat and Phong both gave the British detective a high wai, which Danny tried to reciprocate, but put his hands up too high, nearly on top of his head. He looked as ridiculous as he felt. Tanyarat stifled a giggle and composed herself to speak.

  “Hello Sir, and welcome to Thailand. This is Detective Phong Janong and I am Detective Tanyarat Phatipatanawong.” She spoke excellent English, although with a heavy Thai accent.

  “Holy Jesus! You’ve got the longest name in the world, have yer?”

  Tanyarat did not understand what he had just said, but she smiled and nodded anyway. Danny stuck out his right hand to shake and, after a moment’s hesitation, Tanyarat and then Phong both shook it. It felt as awkward to them as the wai had felt to Danny.

  “Delighted to meet you both. Will we be working together then?”

  “I will be the one working with you and I will do everything I can to help you, Sir. It is the greatest honour for me to work with the great detective from Scotland Yard.”

  “Please just call me Danny.”

  “Thank you, Khun Danny.”

  “I can remember Phong’s name, but yours is so long. Tany…something? Would I be able to just call you Tany for short?”

  “You can use my nickname. Ying.”

  “Ying?”

  “Yes. In English it means female.”

  “Okay Ying. Thank you. Have you got a nickname Phong?”

  “Phong does not speak any English. Sorry. Only I speak English in our police station. That’s why I have the great honour to work with you. And Phong is his nickname.”

  “Oh, right.”

  Phong took Danny’s case and he followed them out, once again into the blazing tropical heat, to their car. The air conditioning was a blessing. Ying told Danny that his government had paid to put him up in the Patong Loft apartments. But first, they were going to take him to

  Kathu District Police HQ to meet the district commander, Police Colonel Sarit Wattana.

  Ying and Danny had made some kind of connection. Ying was excited to tell Danny that the colonel w
as going to present him with an award, because he had been shown the photo of the Queen presenting Danny with the medal off the Google site. And so he also wanted to give him a medal. Danny was a bit embarrassed and told her that he did not want a medal, but Ying explained that it was a great honour for all of Phuket to have a ‘Great Detective from Scotland Yard’ come to investigate the murder case. To refuse the medal would mean that the colonel would lose face, because he has invited some press there to take photos. All this was translated for Phong and the three officers laughed, as they all came to the conclusion that the medal presentation was more for the Colonel’s benefit than for Danny’s.

  Ying was genuinely excited to be about to work with Danny and could not wait for the ‘Great Detective’ to start spilling out some of his genius. So far he had not even mentioned the case and she was dying to know how he was going to solve it. The Thai Police had got nowhere with it even after offering a huge reward, which nearly always worked in the past. Eventually she summoned up the courage to ask him.

  “Khun Danny, how do you want to start with the case? What do you want from me? What do you want to do first?”

  “We’ll sort that out tomorrow. Today I just want to drop my case off at the apartment, get showered and changed and go and have a few drinks and something to eat. Then I need to sleep.”

  “Oh!”

  Ying translated for Phong and he laughed.

  “Your great detective is a very cool customer Ying” he said in Thai.

  “Ying, I’d be delighted if you and Phong would care to join me for something to eat later. My treat?”

  Ying discussed it with Phong, then told Danny that they would be delighted to accept his kind offer and they could show him a little something of Patong. As they were driving along it suddenly just started raining like Danny had never seen before. It thrashed down.

  “Holy Jesus!”

  “Yes” said Ying, shrugging her shoulders. “Rainy season now.”

  The medal ceremony was more formal than Danny had expected. A large canopy had been erected outside the front of the police station and some local dignitaries had been invited along. There were a lot more press people around than he thought there was going to be and even a camera crew from PGTV, which Ying told him was for the Phuket Gazette online newspaper. Colonel Wattana seemed to talk forever, only pausing every now and again to soak up the applause. Then he beckoned Danny up to the podium and presented him with a medal and Danny automatically put his hand out to shake. The Colonel did a better job of handshaking than the two detectives had managed earlier at the airport. Danny was invited to say a few words. Being put on the spot he did his best.

  “I’d just like to say…………I’d just like to say that it’s a great honour for me to be invited by the Royal Thai Police to help, in any way I can, to solve the murder of Sarah Appleby. I’m delighted to be here in Thailand and look forward to working with my Thai colleagues. Thank you.”

  A round of applause and then some of the press started shouting out questions.

  “How many murders have you investigated in England?”

  “Twenty-two.”

  “How many of them have you solved?”

  “All of them.”

  “Will you solve this one?”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  “Have you any leads yet?”

  “I’ve only just arrived. I’ll look at the case tomorrow.”

  “What do you think about the very brutal way in which she was murdered?”

  “I think it was very…..brutal.”

  “Have you got any message for the killer or killers?”

  “No. Not at this time. I will talk to him, or them, face to face when we meet. But I would like to appeal to anyone with information to contact me at the police station. Okay. Thank you.”

  Danny turned and walked back from the podium to Ying and Phong.

  “Holy Jesus Mother of God! I think these people all think I’m someone important.”

  “Yes, you are very important” said a smiling Ying.

  They drove him into Patong and they went to the Patong Loft apartments. Thankfully, the monsoon rains had stopped, at least for the time being. The apartments were a brand new built apartment block; three sides of a square built around a communal swimming pool.

  Phong and Ying both went into Danny’s apartment on the top floor to have a look. They all thought that the two-bedroomed apartment was beautiful and Danny thought ‘Thank God it’s got air conditioning’. It also had a computer and printer hooked up to the internet. Danny did not realise it, but the Thai police are not paid a lot of money and, to live in an apartment like this one, could only ever be a dream for Ying and Phong.

  Danny showered and changed into something more casual, while Ying and Phong waited in the living area for him, before they took him out into Patong. The late afternoon turned into early evening and then night, as the place really came alive. Danny treated them to a meal at one of the more expensive beach front restaurants. They introduced him to Bangla Road, the epicentre of the nightlife in Patong. Danny was impressed with it; the dazzling lights and loud music rattling speakers from every bar, hundreds of pretty girls all available for a few hundred baht, laughter, smiles, long legs and lots of brown skin on display. Ying and Phong took him to a couple of ladyboy bars. Phong teased Danny about them and Ying translated. Danny was amazed. Some of the ladyboys he could tell were men in frocks, but some of them were beautiful and, if Ying and Phong had not told him, he would never have guessed except that, maybe, they were just a little bit camp. The two murder squad detectives had both noticed how much Danny could drink and he drank fast. Not just beer, but he was having glasses of Jack Daniels or brandy as well. Phong had only had a couple of Singha beers and Ying only ever drank orange juice.

  It was sometime around midnight when they dropped him off at his apartment and Ying arranged to pick him up at 10:00am in the morning.

  Chapter 8 Murder Incident Room.

  Ying was delighted to see that Danny was already up and waiting for her, sitting in the shade by the swimming pool drinking coffee. She had expected to be banging on his door to awaken him after the amount he had to drink last night. He was looking fresh after his night’s rest. He had dispensed with the suit jacket because of the searing heat and the shirt he was wearing today was a better fit. She was amazed to see that he was wearing a green tie. Did he know that it was lucky to wear green on a Wednesday, or was he just lucky? She was wearing her little green emerald ear studs for luck today.

  Danny could not help but smile as Ying walked towards him. She had her hair down today and looked very smart and professional in another skirt/suit outfit. He already knew that he was going to enjoy working with her, not just because she was so attractive, but because he really liked her; she had a gentle kindness about her that made him feel comfortable with her. He felt as if he had met her some time before, but he knew that he had not.

  As she neared him she gracefully wai’d to him. Danny tried to wai back, but made an awkward hash of it. This time Ying allowed herself a giggle.

  “No. Not like that. Like this” she said, as she took his hands between hers and placed them low down on his chest. She held onto his hands for a moment longer then she needed to.

  “Now bow your head…….try again, but do it slowly and deliberately. There is no rush. Yes, you have a very beautiful wai now.”

  “Thanks Ying.”

  “There are many different types of wai, depending on who you wai to, but this is a good one for you, I think.”

  “Would you like a coffee?”

  “Can I have an orange juice please?”

  “Of course.” Danny waved the waiter over and ordered the juice.

  “Khun Danny, what would you like to do today?”

  “Ying, I think y
ou must be being polite, with the whole ‘Khun’ thing. But please, I’d be delighted if you just called me Danny.”

  “Oh sorry. Okay…..Danny, thank you.”

  “Well….”

  Danny lit a cigarette, inhaled and blew out the smoke. He watched it curl and rise into the warm air and took a moment to think. He had not been involved with a proper case for ten years and now, suddenly, he was in charge of one; a murder case at that. Even though Bob Malone had told him that it was a ‘non- starter’, he knew he had to start thinking like a detective again.

  “Well, I need to review the case. I’d like a face to face meeting with the pathologist. We need to have a look at the crime scene at some stage, and I’d like to see all the exhibits; officers’ statements, forensic and pathology reports, witness statements and interviews with suspects. So basically, today, it’s a case of let’s see what we have got so far.”

  Ying had taken out a writing pad from her leather bound folder and was writing down what he said like a secretary. She tapped the pen on the paper when she caught up.

  “If you want a meeting with the pathologist, then we will have to go to Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok to see the Doctor who performed the autopsy. I can arrange that for tomorrow. Everything else is at Kathu Police HQ and there are no suspect interviews, because we never had any suspects.”

  “That’s fine. We’ll go to the police station today and Bangkok tomorrow.”

  “Khun Danny. Sorry. I mean Danny. Will I be going to Bangkok with you?”

  “Yes, of course. From now on we are a team. We do everything together. Why?”

  Ying smiled shyly.

  “I fear that the Royal Thai Police will not want to pay for me to fly to Bangkok.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ll put everything on expenses. The British tax payer will pay for everything we have to do for the next six months.”