Cocktails & Dreams

by Lilburne, Guy

  “The victim has not been identified yet. You!” he pointed again.

  “The first victim was a ladyboy working from Cocktails & Dreams ladyboy bar. Is the second victim a ladyboy and was she a sex worker?”

  “I don’t have that information right now. As I told you before, I have detectives at the scene right now and I will hold a further press conference tomorrow, when we have more information. You!” he pointed again, not wanting any one journalist to get up a head of steam. He was already feeling under pressure; he didn’t want panic and he didn’t want anyone to use the words ‘serial killer’.

  “Was it the same murder weapon?”

  “It is too early to confirm. At this time we have no evidence to link the two crimes.”

  “But it could be?”

  “I don’t want to speculate at this time. You!”

  “Do you think Patong has a serial killer on the loose?”

  There was an expectant hush. This was the question everyone wanted to ask and the directness made the Chief stammer before he answered.

  “I… I don’t want to speculate…….”

  “If Patong has a serial killer, how will it affect the tourist trade and local businesses, bars, restaurants, hotels? And, if the serial killer is targeting sex workers, how will you protect them and how will this be reported around the world? Do you think it will reflect Thailand in a bad light? Are the police and the government turning a blind eye to the sex trade that fuels the economy in parts of Thailand?”

  The questions landed like knockout blows from a heavyweight boxer. Mentally the Chief was already reeling from the aggressive questioning to which he had no answers. He was feeling hotter by the second and could feel the sweat running down his cheeks and forming over his top lip.

  “At this time we have no evidence to link these crimes…….”

  “But if the crimes are linked, then what? What are you going to do to reassure the people, the workers, the residents and the holidaymakers in Patong?”

  “Eh, we have things in place……..” he was faltering.

  “We haven’t had a murder in Patong for over two years, and now we have had two in as many days. What are the police going to do about it?”

  Inspiration flashed in the Chiefs brain like an alarm. The murder two years ago was the Sarah Appleby case. The Great British Detective, Danny O’Brien, came over from Scotland Yard and solved an unsolvable case. Detective O’Brien had become something of a hero in Thailand and even more so after it came to light that, last year, he was working for the Thai government and helped crack an international drug smuggling and people trafficking ring. This was reported worldwide and gained Thailand a lot of respect in the world community. Thai people loved getting respect and, furthermore, the Chiefs very own nephew now worked for the Thai government intelligence service and had become friends with Danny O’Brien. All these thoughts flashed through Colonel Wattana’s mind and he could barely keep the smile from him lips. Now, once again completely in control, he played his ace card, which he knew would win him the day. He stood up so the whole room could see and, with both hands motioning for the maddening crowd to sit, quiet was once again restored.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen, I cannot disclose everything to the press at this time, but what I can tell you is that I already have things in place. At the very first bit of evidence that suggests we have a serial killer on our hands, then I intend to call in the services of the best detective I have ever known, The Great British Detective Khun Danny O’Brien, decorated for his great detective work by the Queen of England, by me and by the Thai government.”

  Satisfied, almost smug with the shocked silence and then excited chatter, the Chief turned and walked out of the room. Danny O’Brien had become something of a press celebrity in Thailand and the Chief had just given them great headlines. For the moment at least, the pressure was off.

  Chapter 10 The Day unfolds.

  The Colonel used his handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his face as soon as he got back to the sanctuary of his office and for the next few hours he was busy making and taking phone calls. Very quickly he had it confirmed by the detectives at the scene that they suspected it was the work of a serial killer.

  “Don’t tell me what you suspect, tell me when you know” he snapped.

  In all the phone calls with politicians, businessmen and his own bosses, he gave a liberal sprinkling about the idea of recruiting the ‘Great British Detective Danny O’Brien’ as a consultant on the case, to calm everyone’s nerves, as if he was administering Benzodiazepine. It seemed to have the same effect.

  The most important call that he made was to his nephew, Captain Gee Wattana, a special agent in the department of Special Investigations for the Ministry of Justice of the Royal Thai Government. He made it from his mobile phone to his nephew’s mobile phone.

  “Uncle! How nice to hear from you. How is auntie?” said the captain, answering the call.

  “Gee, I need your help.”

  “Yes, I have seen the black clouds of the news and press storm gathering. But how can I help you?”

  “I want you to get Danny O’Brien to take up this case. I want him as a detective consultant to the police.”

  “Uncle, this is impossible. His wife is due to have their first baby any day now and I know that Danny is happy with his life now. He won’t want to do it.”

  “But you are his friend now. I want you to go and speak to him, I don’t care what you have to say to him, but I need him on this case. My career could be hanging on it. Tell him money is no issue, he can name his price” said the colonel, shoving a handful of roasted watermelon seeds into his mouth.

  “Uncle, money is not his issue. He is happy now and retired. Ling told me that he doesn’t even drink or smoke anymore.”

  “Who is Ling?”

  “His wife.”

  “Gee, I don’t usually ask anything from you, but you have to do this for me. Go and see your friend. I need him on this case. Ring me tomorrow and tell me how you got on.”

  “Ha! Uncle. You have always asked more of me than anyone, and I am in Bangkok. Danny O’Brien lives the other side of Udon Thani. But, yes once again, I will try to do what I can for you. I’ll ring you tomorrow.”

  Within a few hours forensics had proved that the second ladyboy murder victim had been killed with the same gun. The Chief was told by his own detective that there were no further leads at this time, and he was not happy. When he told them that he intended to draft in Danny O’Brien onto the case, the detectives were not happy, especially Detective Bee Khumsombot, who said it was disrespectful to her ability as the senior investigating detective. She fumed, and not so silently. For the rest of the day her investigating partner Pon took the brunt of her anger, but as usual he just smiled and soaked up her scorn. Just before the working day was about to end Pon had slipped out and returned with a bright orange potted Euphorbia plant. He put it on the desk in front of Bee.

  “Here, I thought that this might brighten your day. It won’t be so bad working with the Great British Detective” he smiled.

  Bee stood up, kicked her chair under the desk as she pulled her jacket from the back of it and draped it over her shoulder. She picked up the potted plant, turned and started heading for the office door without saying a word. Pon smiled after her, but she did not see. As she neared the door, she dropped the plant into the tin waste paper basket. The paper already in the bin dulled the thud, but everyone in the office saw it and she walked out of the door without looking back. Pon tried to keep the smile on his face as everyone in the office looked at him, but it slipped away as his cheeks flushed red. He felt a hot embarrassment sweep over him.

  “Why do you bother with her?” asked Li, the only other female detective in the office, finally breaking the silence.

  “Oh, she is alright. She
doesn’t mean to act the way she does” said Pon, now also slipping his jacket on. He had already decided on heading for a bar.

  “She’s a bitch” said Li.

  Chapter 11 A new beginning.

  Life in a village in Isaan, just outside Udon Thani, was suiting Danny O’Brien. He had grown to love the slower pace of life and the community that had taken him to their hearts; but most of all he loved his beautiful wife Ling. He never ceased to be astounded by her beauty and her good heart. He loved looking into her soft, brown, almond shaped eyes. He loved her high cheek bones, her full lips, her long neck, her tanned skin, her warm sweet smile. What he didn’t like was being woken up at 6:00am on a rainy morning like today, to walk to the temple to take food for the monks, but it was important to Ling. It wasn’t an everyday event, but sometimes she just felt the need to go and today was one of those days. Ling had already been up since 5:00am, along with her Mama and other relatives, cooking fish, curries and rice, which they would take to the temple, along with bottled water and energy drinks for the monks. The sun wouldn’t be up for another half an hour yet, but by the time Danny had drunk the hot tea that Ling always used to coax him awake, along with a kiss, and had a shower it was 6:30am. The sun was now up and the rain had stopped.

  Danny, Ling, her Mama and her two little sisters, Am and Om, along with half a dozen other ‘relatives’ who had been sleeping on the floor at Danny’s house, all walked to the temple where they prayed, gave food and received blessings. The temple was an old wooden one and consisted of one large room built on stilts with wooden steps leading up to it. The bottom few steps always seemed to be covered with the abandoned shoes of the congregation. The wood was bleached of colour by the Thai sun, and worn by the monsoon rains for as long as anyone living could remember. There were four monks at this temple and they slept in a little wooden house raised on stilts behind the main temple. The smell of burning incense sticks and fresh cut flowers carried in the humid warm air. It never ceased to amaze Danny how many of the villagers were at the temple at this time in the morning. Always he was greeted with smiles and wais. He was part of the community now and he liked being a part of it.

  Ling, now heavily pregnant, still managed to kneel and wai before the elderly, be- speckled monk sitting on the raised area of the temple next to the big golden Buddha. She held the wai with her left hand as she held out her right hand while the monk blessed her and tied a white, cotton weaved thread around her wrist. He chatted to her and chuckled as he spoke. His be-speckled face was kind and had a wisdom that only came with a long life time of meditation. Danny knelt next to her and then received his weaved cotton blessing. The monk kept talking to Danny and again chuckled a lot. Danny couldn’t understand a word, so he just smiled and nodded when the monk did.

  Danny, Ling and the others walked down the eight steps from the temple and found their shoes amongst the dozens that were now abandoned on the bottom step and on the red dusty ground. Ling slipped her hand into Danny’s and they headed back towards home.

  “Darling, do you know what the monk he say to you?” asked Ling.

  “He blessed me.”

  “Yes he blessed you” laughed Ling. “but he also say that you will become papa today.”

  “Today! You are not due for another two weeks.”

  “Monk never wrong and he tell me that I become mama today. I think true. I very happy.”

  “Well, don’t get too excited Ling. Let’s see what happens.”

  “I pack bag when we get home.”

  Ling turned and spoke in Thai, telling everyone what the monk had told her and Danny. Everyone clapped and whooped. Danny shrugged his shoulders. The procession made its way back to the farm. The young skipped ahead, laughing and playing. They found something interesting on the ground that Danny couldn’t see, but the children had to flick whatever it was with a stick. It caused squeals, screams and more laughter before they skipped off again. Some of the older members of the procession were stooped and walked slower, lagging behind everyone else, but there was no rush.

  Ling went upstairs as soon as they got inside the house and packed her ‘hospital bag’ with toiletries, clean underwear, a change of clothes and nightwear. Mama made Danny an instant coffee and then started chopping a variety of fresh vegetables. Somebody turned the large screen TV on and turned the sound up loud on some Thai game show. The kids were running around and playing while two of the dogs outside were barking at something, either imaginary or real. There was a lot of noise, chatter and laughter. Just another day in Danny and Ling’s house.

  Ling came back downstairs carrying her bag.

  “Darling, we go to hospital now please” she said to Danny.

  “Ling, we can’t just go to the hospital because the monk said the baby will come today.”

  “Darling, baby really come today. My water just break. Please take me to hospital quickly time.”

  Danny could see by the look on Lings face that she wasn’t joking and he realised this was it. This was the day he was going to be a daddy again. Danny rushed to help Ling down the stairs and out to the pickup truck parked outside. Danny was only focused on his beautiful wife and helped her into the cab. Mama, Am and Om also scrambled in via the driver’s door and squeezed in behind Ling. Another half a dozen people climbed onto the flat back of the pick-up and Danny set off to Aek Udon International Hospital on Posri Road. Mama rang the maternity ward on the number they had been given, to tell them that Ling was on her way and was already having quick contractions. Danny abandoned the pick-up at the car park. Once at the reception Ling was taken into a private maternity room and examined. The midwife made small talk as she checked Ling, asking her if she knew what she was going to have. Ling told her that she did not, and that she had not had a single scan during the pregnancy because she just knew that she didn’t have to. This was a baby that was meant to be born. Danny assumed that he would be the only one allowed into the ward with her and was surprised when the entire gang from the farm all followed him into the ward. Within 30 minutes Ling was in the delivery room taking on gas and air, crying and screaming and telling Danny that she was going to kill him for doing this to her, as she crushed his fingers as if she was trying to snap them off. Danny wiped her face with a cool towel with his other hand. He was leaning over her and kissed her face.

  “I love you Ling” he smiled through tearful eyes.

  “Liar” she said and kept huffing and puffing and pushing with the contractions. Her jet black hair was sticking to her face and spread out onto her white pillow like a black velvet exotic flower.

  The midwife looked up from between Lings legs.

  “The baby is coming now Ling. The head is ready to come out, just one more push.”

  Ling pushed and her cheeks filled out with air.

  “Not push through the mouth Ling, push through the bottom” said the midwife.

  “Aghhh!” screamed Ling and suddenly Danny heard the squelching sound and the cry of a new born baby. The midwife flopped it over her mother’s thigh and pegged the cord before cutting.

  “Well done Mama and Papa. You have a baby girl.”

  Ling was still screaming and pushing and panting.

  “Oh my Buddha! You’re having twins. Push again Mama.”

  A second nurse took the baby and wiped her and weighed and measured her as the Doctor checked her over. She was fine and had a good pair of lungs and wasn’t afraid to use them. She was wrapped in a blanket and handed to Danny. His piercing blue eyes sparkled with tears.

  “Jesus! Hello baby, I’m your papa. My name is Danny O’Brien, I’m not Thai, so I hope you can still understand me now.”

  He kissed his little girl. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Her skin was light, but darker then Danny’s. Her hair was dark brown and she already had a lot of it. Her eyes were black. Her skin was soft and
felt like the finest velvet. Danny was stroking her tiny face with his finger, tears of pure joy trickled down his face.

  “I love you” whispered Danny and he gently rocked his daughter.

  Two minutes after the birth of his big sister a baby boy was born. He wriggled and whimpered a bit, but it wasn’t the loud cry like his sister.

  “It’s a boy” announced the midwife. The cord was cut and he was weighed and measured and checked before being wrapped. Danny handed his daughter to her mama and his son was put into his arms. Everyone in the room was smiling.

  “Hello son, I’m your daddy and I want you to know that I love you very much” he said.

  Danny put his son in his mama’s arms. Ling was laughing and crying, happy and sad. She was tired and elated, all at the same time.

  “Darling we make two” she said.

  “Yes, I noticed that. I saw them, two of them. Holy Jesus!”

  “What are we going to do now?”

  “We are going to be a family. I love you so much Ling. Are you happy darling?”

  “Yes, I very happy. I think we did good darling.”

  “Yes we did good.”

  They hugged and kissed and laughed and cried. The twins were introduced to a lot of ‘relatives’ when they were all taken back to the maternity room.

  Chapter 12 Back to the farm.

  It was a very emotional day for Ling and especially for Danny, whose thoughts drifted back and forth from his beautiful wife Ling to his new twins and all the future happiness that life now seemed to promise. He remembered his first wife and his two children, who were all murdered by a London east end organised crime family in revenge for a police ‘undercover’ operation that went wrong, when Danny shot dead one of the gangsters main men, ‘Mad’ Micky Harrison. That was nearly twelve years ago, but Danny still carried a broken heart from the loss of his entire family. Now he had a new one.