The Half-Child

by Angela Savage

  ‘But—’

  ‘I’ve wasted enough time. Don’t follow me.’

  Ignoring the hurt on Jayne’s face, Mayuree straightened the bag over her shoulder, turned and strode out the door of the hotel. Her heart ached for the loss of her son, but she could not fight fate. He’d been given a chance at a better life, far from the reach of vengeful ghosts. And this time Mayuree would do the right thing by him.

  She’d become a good enough mother to let him go.

  41

  Jayne’s face burned, she could hardly breathe. Like the time decades earlier when instead of swinging out on a rope into a river, she’d lost her grip and landed flat on her back in the dirt. You’ve had the wind knocked out of your sails, sweetheart, her Dad had said, rubbing her back. You think it’s your body hurting, but it’s mainly your pride.

  She had no idea how long she stood in Mayuree’s wake. The next thing she knew Rajiv was at her side.

  ‘I found them,’ he said. ‘I found where the King family is staying and—’ She stopped him with a raised hand and shook her head.

  ‘Mayuree?’ he said.

  She nodded. ‘Let’s get out of here.’

  They found a coffee shop nearby. She let Rajiv order while she lit a cigarette. She smoked half of it trying to figure out what she said to trigger Mayuree’s change of heart. She dialled the woman’s number. No answer.

  The coffee arrived and she looked up to see Rajiv watching her across the table. He raised his eyebrows and tilted his head, a delicately posed question.

  ‘Mayuree doesn’t want us to get her son back,’ Jayne said, tipping the ash from her cigarette.

  ‘I am guessing that much,’ Rajiv said. ‘But why?’

  Jayne sighed. ‘She thinks it’s Kob’s destiny to live in America, that he’ll be better off. She doesn’t think she’s fit to be his mother.’

  She drew back hard on her cigarette, her words spilling out with the smoke. ‘I guess Alicia and Leroy King feel the same way. Doesn’t matter that the kid was stolen. He’s better off with them. And behind the scenes is that arsehole Frank Harding and his lackeys at the centre in Pattaya, preying on women like Mayuree, telling them how much better off their children would be without them. It’s no bloody wonder she feels unworthy. Mayuree would have no reason to believe people like her ever get justice. We’ve got to prove her wrong.’

  She butted out her cigarette and started gathering up her things. ‘I need to call my friend Max at the Australian Embassy. Maybe he can come with us to confront the Kings to prove it’s official.’

  Rajiv cleared his throat. ‘You just said Mayuree doesn’t want us to pursue the matter.’

  ‘Yes, but I can’t believe she meant it. It’s just symptomatic of how little control she’s had over her life.’

  ‘And you think it would be helping matters to take control from her in this instance, too?’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘By suggesting we ignore Mayuree’s decision, we are giving ourselves the right to take the control away from her again.’

  Jayne frowned. ‘Maybe we know better in this case.’

  Rajiv leaned over and took her hand. ‘Jayne, have you considered that Mayuree might be right—that the baby is better off?’

  She recoiled from his touch. ‘Are you serious?’

  Rajiv held up his hand. ‘Please do not be jumping down my throat. As your assistant, I’d do everything in my power to assist you in pursuing this case if that is what the client wanted. But I come from a different world than you. And in my experience—’ he paused to find the right words ‘—as someone raised in a country even poorer than Thailand, I humbly suggest the child may have a better life with people who have the means to shelter him from the sort of…strife that is beyond his mother’s control. And I think Mayuree knows this, even if you don’t.’

  Jayne slumped in her chair. She had expected Rajiv to support her. As an Indian national, surely he’d take umbrage at the assumption a child was better off growing up in the West? Instead he was using his Third World credentials to suggest she was in the wrong—the exploiter, the one who failed to understand. That made it twice in an hour she’d had such an accusation levelled against her.

  She’d longed for Rajiv to stand up to her. But not like this. Not to make her doubt her own judgment. She needed confidence to survive in a place where her values were at odds with the majority, and resist the pressure to assimilate or leave. She needed confidence to succeed in her work, too, to trust her instincts. Jayne hated Rajiv for undermining her.

  More than that, she hated him for being right.

  Jayne straightened her shoulders and signalled for the bill. Rajiv knew he had to act quickly.

  ‘I am sharing your frustration,’ he said. ‘But we can still build the case against those people at the centre in Pattaya to prevent them from continuing to prey on women like Mayuree.’

  ‘We don’t have much of a case without Kob,’ she shrugged, taking out her wallet.

  She was angry, readying herself to walk out on him again. Rajiv’s experiment in standing his ground was falling well short of winning her over. He needed to change tack.

  ‘I do have something for you—’

  He was cut off by the ringing of her mobile phone. She glanced at the screen.

  ‘Hello Police Major General.’

  She turned her profile to Rajiv but stayed at the table.

  ‘The mother has decided not to pursue the case,’ she said flatly.

  ‘No need to try and sound surprised, Police Major General,’ she added after a beat. ‘You warned me it was a long shot. I guess all that leaves us with is the search for Frank Harding and—’

  Something Wichit said stopped her mid-sentence.

  ‘You’ve found Khun Frank?’

  She spun around to face Rajiv again.

  ‘Floating face down in Pattaya Bay,’ she repeated.

  ‘What?’ Rajiv gasped.

  She held up her hand, frowned into the phone. ‘What do you mean no leads? What about Frank’s involvement in the adoption scam?’

  Rajiv strained to hear what the Police Major General was saying.

  ‘So they all get away with it except Chaowalit?’

  ‘…’

  ‘You’re not thinking of dropping the charges against him?’

  Rajiv’s eyes widened.

  ‘…’

  ‘I’ll get back to you.’

  ‘What was all that about?’ Rajiv asked.

  ‘Frank Harding’s dead and so is the case against the New Life Children’s Centre.’

  ‘At least that means the adoption fraud stops, isn’t it?’

  Rajiv said.

  Jayne shook her head. ‘I doubt it. Frank might have been the front man, but I strongly suspect Doctor Somsri and whoever’s behind him were the ones pulling the strings.

  Chances are they’ll live to defraud another day.

  ‘Meanwhile, I’m trying to get a revised verdict into Maryanne Delbeck’s death, but the only way I can do that without exposing Sumet is to allow the police to cut a deal with Chaowalit, which means he’ll probably walk on the assault charges.’

  ‘Why not expose Sumet?’ Rajiv asked.

  ‘I can’t see anything would be gained by it,’ Jayne said.

  ‘He knows he made a terrible mistake and he’s trying to make amends. I honestly believe he’ll do more good in the monastery than he would in prison. But then again, what do I know? I’m just an insensitive farang.’

  Rajiv ignored the dig.

  ‘Besides,’ she added, ‘bringing Sumet into it means going public on his relationship with Maryanne. And you can imagine what the press here and in Australia would do with that. This probably sounds stupid, but I feel like Maryanne was let down by everyone she loved, and I just want to do the right thing by her. I’m not protecting Sumet.

  I’m protecting Maryanne.’ She sighed. ‘I wish I knew what she’d have wanted.’

  ‘I may be able to
help.’

  Rajiv reached into his bag and handed her a sheaf of print-outs.

  ‘From Maryanne’s email account, the contents of the inbox and sent items folder. Unfortunately, I could not retrieve deleted items as they had already been removed from the server. It’s a common default setting and—’

  ‘Too much information,’ she said, shuffling through the paper. ‘Did you find anything interesting?’

  ‘In the drafts folder.’ He indicated the page at the bottom of the pile. ‘A message saved but not sent.’

  She read through the text and smiled.

  ‘You’re a genius.’

  Rajiv nodded his head. ‘So you’re no longer angry with me?’

  ‘I didn’t say that.’

  He shrugged and lit a cigarette, an emotional smoke–screen.

  ‘Jayne, I need to—’

  ‘Look, Rajiv—’

  They both spoke at once. He nodded for her to continue.

  ‘I’m feeling crappy about the way I’ve treated you. To be honest this document—’ she waved Maryanne’s email in the air ‘—makes my life a hell of a lot easier. And I’d like to do something for you in return. Can you meet me tomorrow morning at seven-thirty at Bangkok Noi station?’

  ‘Bangkok Noi station? What will I be doing?’

  ‘Tell your uncle you’ve had a tip-off about a cache of war histories from a book dealer in Kanchanaburi.’

  ‘Kanchanaburi?’

  ‘Yes,’ she said, smiling again. ‘Shouting you a trip there is the least I can do.’

  ‘Shouting?’

  ‘It means the trip is on me—I’m paying. Think of it as a bonus.’

  Rajiv walked home through Pahurat’s laneways with a spring in his step. He might not be hero material but he was smart and resourceful, just like Hanuman the Monkey King in The Ramakien, which he had finished reading that afternoon.

  As in The Ramayana , with Hanuman’s help, Rama rescues his beloved wife Sita from the demon king Ravana. But in the Indian version, Rama is so tortured by doubts about Sita’s fidelity, she allows herself to be swallowed up by the earth to prove her love to him. In the Thai account, Rama and Sita get to live happily ever after.

  Rajiv took it as a good omen.

  42

  Dear Sarah,

  It’s been so long since I last wrote, you must have given up on me. Sorry. When I explain what’s been going on, I think you’ll understand.

  Remember a couple of months ago I told you about Sumet, the guy I was seeing? Well, things have become pretty serious. Actually, that’s the understatement of the year. Truth is, we’re planning to get married and we’re having a baby.

  Don’t freak out! I know it seems sudden, but it feels totally right. From the moment I met Sumet, I felt like we were destined to be together.

  I know we’re young and have only known each other a short time (blah, blah, blah), but Thailand has taught me that life is too short to hesitate when you find what you really want. In the time I’ve been here, two babies have died at the centre where I work. Makes you realise how important it is to seize the day.

  We’re planning to live in Thailand. Sumet says we can get a relative of his to come and live with us to help cook and clean after the baby is born, which sounds good to me!

  Obviously I’ll want to bring the baby to Australia at some point to meet you and the rest of the family, which is where you come in.

  Sarah, I need to ask you a BIG favour. You know you’re my favourite aunt (grovel, grovel), and we’ve always had a lot more in common than either of us have with Dad. Could you please help me tell Mum and Dad about Sumet and the baby? I know Dad will go ballistic and I just don’t want to have to deal with it. I figure if you break it to him, give him the chance to vent his spleen, I can talk with him after he’s calmed down. Would you do this for me?

  In case you’re wondering, I feel fine. I’m 12 weeks’ pregnant, which the doctor says is out of the danger zone. You’re the first person to know after me, Sumet and Doctor Apiradee.

  My darling auntie, I promise I’ll name the baby after you if it’s a girl, though we don’t know what we’re having. I honestly don’t mind, though Sumet wants a girl. I think you’d really like him, Sarah. And I’m sure if you could see how happy I am, you’d be happy for me.

  Always your loving niece,

  Maryanne

  43

  Kanchanaburi’s infamous floating karaoke bars were moored indecently close to the JEATH War Museum, named for the key players involved in the construction of the Death Railway: Japan, England, Australia, America, Thailand and Holland. Jayne couldn’t help wondering how the ghosts of the Allied POWs, Asian labourers and their Japanese captors felt about the flashing lights and reverberating din. Did the ascendancy of karaoke—literally ‘empty orchestra’—make the Japanese ghosts feel superior? Did the others sit on the riverbank and shake their heads to think they fought and died for this?

  ‘Let’s go there for dinner,’ Rajiv said.

  ‘Are you serious?’

  He wiggled his head. ‘The one called Mae Klong is supposed to have the best food.’

  As part of atoning for her recent behaviour, Jayne had left the itinerary to Rajiv. He’d booked separate floating huts for their accommodation and barely allowed Jayne time to put down her bag before whisking her off to spend the afternoon exploring the town’s attractions. Not exactly romantic, but as angry as she’d been with Rajiv, as confused as he sometimes made her feel, Jayne was attracted to him. More than ever. She proposed the trip to Kanchanaburi with the idea it would either make or break them. So far the signs were not great. She hoped her luck would improve over dinner, but a karaoke restaurant didn’t bode well.

  She picked out the Thai script for ‘Mae Klong’ from one of several floating huts lining the docks. The main room had two walls, one flanked by a large wooden bar and lined to the ceiling with bottles of alcohol on shelves backlit with pink neon. The other wall at right angles to the bar contained a small, darkened stage with a television to one side and a cordless microphone resting in a stand. The restaurant was otherwise open-sided, with clusters of tables and chairs between the bar and stage and the kitchen on the upper deck.

  Over a meal of jungle curry spiked with whole red chillies and sprigs of green peppercorns, they de-briefed on the Maryanne Delbeck case.

  ‘You know, Maryanne wrote in her email that she was twelve weeks’ pregnant, but she was only eight weeks at the time she died. She drafted that letter four weeks before she intended to send it. She must have felt so lonely.’

  ‘Hmm,’ Rajiv murmured. ‘And it was written the day before she died, isn’t it?’

  Jayne raised her eyebrows. ‘You’ve been paying attention.’

  Rajiv smiled and helped himself to one of her cigarettes.

  ‘So what have you decided to tell the family?’

  ‘My report to Jim Delbeck will attribute Maryanne’s tragic death to a case of high jinks gone wrong, and explain that Maryanne’s friends were too scared to go to the police. I’m counting on him to understand, given his prejudices about Thai cops. At least I’ll be able to reassure him Maryanne was never suicidal. And I’ll send the official paperwork showing the revised verdict of accidental death.’

  ‘And if he wants to take it further?’

  ‘I’ve thought about that. If Jim Delbeck wants someone to blame, I reckon the best bet is to dangle Doctor Somsri before him. After all, the doctor defrauded everyone by fabricating Maryanne’s mental illness.’

  Rajiv whistled through an exhalation of smoke. ‘Nice touch.’

  ‘Yeah, we might yet put him out of business—at least temporarily.’

  Jayne pushed aside her plate and reached for a cigarette.

  ‘I also want to send Maryanne’s email to her aunt. I’ll leave it to her to decide how much more Maryanne’s parents need to know. And I’ll ask for her postal address so I can mail her the diary. Is it possible to add a note to the email?’

>   Rajiv wiggled his head. ‘Of course. I am thinking it’s about time you obtained an email account.’

  ‘You’re determined to get me using it, aren’t you?’

  ‘Up to you,’ Rajiv said, ‘How long do letters from Australia normally take?’

  ‘Between one and two weeks.’

  Rajiv wiggled his head again, a gesture Jayne had come to realise could mean as many different things as a Thai smile.

  ‘I guess if the Thai police are using email, it can’t be that hard, right?’

  Rajiv smiled and held a lighter to Jayne’s cigarette.

  ‘At this rate, I really will have to put you on the payroll as my assistant.’

  His smile faded.

  ‘I am not wanting to be your assistant,’ he said. ‘I am wanting to be your partner.’

  Jayne opened her mouth to protest but Rajiv held up his hand.

  ‘Please, let me be putting forward my case. You are a very clever detective, Jayne. You are bold and intuitive and this, combined with your ability to speak Thai, makes you very successful. But you are disorganised—’

  ‘Hang on a minute—’

  He held up his hand again. ‘I cleaned up your apartment when you were in hospital, and if you don’t mind me saying, your files were a mess.’

  Rajiv was right. Paperwork had never been her strong suit.

  ‘I can help with that and more. I have excellent research skills, I am good at problem solving, and I can teach you to use modern technology to improve your business.’

  ‘Like how?’

  ‘Like using the internet—you can do background checks, look up addresses, make travel bookings. The possibilities are endless.’

  Jayne toyed with her cigarette. Rajiv had a point. As more private detective services opened in Bangkok, she was at risk of becoming outmoded.

  But did she want a partner? She’d never given it serious consideration. Yet looking across the table, it struck her that if she did want a partner, Rajiv would be perfect.

  ‘What about the bookstore?’ she said.