Thai Shorts

by Lilburne, Guy

  “I can help you with that one,” said Jules Lee, just happy to help. “He always parks it outside my bar because it’s such a big car park for the businesses and the apartments above and it’s never full. His car is outside now. It’s the big Toyota. He usually parks it there and takes a baht bus into town. Sometimes the car is here for a few days if he gets busy. If you know what I mean!”

  “Okay, thank you. I will have somebody recover it in the morning.”

  “My pleasure, Inspector.”

  “If either of you think of anything else then please give me a call.” Ping stood up and placed two of her police calling cards on the table.

  Jules and Burnie watched her walk out of the bar and across the car park to her car.

  “If I knew that she was coming into the bar tonight I would have put on my lucky red and gold shirt,” said Jules, lighting up another L&M red. He tilted his head back and blew the smoke up towards the ceiling.

  Ping got back to her apartment and turned the shower on before she walked into her bedroom to strip off. She liked the shower hot. She stood under it for a long time, washing the day away before she went to bed. She didn’t drink at home and her way of relaxing was to read a magazine or a book in bed. She liked adventure thrillers and her favourite author was the American author Mike Pettit and her favourite character was John Locke. She curled up in bed with ‘Dirty Money’, another John Locke story. She read until she fell asleep.

  Ping was up at 5:00am. She showered and ate and was in the murder squad room at 5:45am waiting for the rest of the detectives to arrive. They all arrived before 6:00am.

  The briefing started and everyone was updated and given various tasks for the day ahead. There was a loud knock on the briefing room door and a flustered looking young police officer came into the room and saluted Ping before he spoke.

  “Ma’am,” he gulped. “There has been another murder. Can you come with me now? I have been told to take you to the scene.”

  Ping nodded and told the detectives to carry on with their tasks. She turned to Yim.

  “Sgt. Dek I want you to carry on here. I’ll go and have a look and see what is in this new report.”

  Yim nodded and Ping left with the young police officer.

  Even at 6:20am the city of Pattaya was busy with people setting up business for the day. Cars, buses and motorbikes already clogged the roads, but they made steady progress through the city. Ping didn’t bother to ask the police officer any questions about the new murder report, because she knew that he only knew that he had to take her there. They arrived thirty minutes later at another expensive apartment complex with the usual 24 hour security, communal swimming pool and tendered gardens that the farangs seemed to like so much. Uniformed police officers were standing around outside the building talking to a few of the residents and some local Thai workers. The day was already hot. They all watched Ping get out of the police car in a very stylish blue two piece suit. Her long black hair was loosely pinned up. If she wasn’t a police detective then surely she would be a fashion model. She acknowledged the salutes with a nod and a uniformed police sergeant took her up to the victim’s apartment. Another officer was sitting outside and made a note of her name and the time she arrived on the crime scene log.

  “The door was open this morning and the cleaner found the body,” the sergeant informed her.

  Ping went inside with him. It was a spacious apartment with great views over the city. Everything in the apartment looked expensive. The victim was a white male. He was dressed only in a white bathrobe. His body was found in the main bedroom. He had been stabbed in the neck with a large bladed weapon from behind and fallen forward onto the king sized bed. His legs were on the floor from the knees down and it made him look as if he was praying. His right hand was underneath his body and his left hand was spread out on the bed in front of him. The third finger from his left hand had been cut off and was missing. There appeared to be no sign of a struggle which suggested to Ping that the victim knew his attacker. The victim was older than Gregory Thomas. Ping guessed that he was probably about 80 years old. There was no doubt that the two murders were linked. It couldn’t be a copycat murder because they had not released anything to the press about the finger being cut off from the first victim. Ping had a closer look at the body. The air conditioning was on which meant that it had been preserved in good condition. She estimated the time of death to be around 8:00pm the previous evening, but the pathologist would have to confirm that.

  “What do you think ma’am?” asked the sergeant, standing over her.

  “I think we are going to need more detectives.”

  “What do you want us to do?”

  “Get the forensics and the pathologist here. Check with security and seize any CCTV for the last 24 hours. I want a comprehensive list of everyone who lives in the complex and any visitors within the last day especially within the last 12 hours.”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  Ping took out her old Nokia phone and rang Yim.

  “Sgt. Dek, I want another twenty detectives. We have a serial killer! We will split the team into two teams. Team A and Team B. The new detectives will be split equally with the detectives that have already been on the original murder, so they can share the experience and knowledge that we have between us from the last 24 hours. You will head up Team B and work on this second murder and I will head up Team A. We will all work out of the same murder squad room. We have to find out what the connection is between our two victims.”

  “Yes ma’am. Ma’am, can I ask. How do you know that the murders are linked?”

  “The victims are wealthy white farang. They live alone. They were both killed by a single stab wound to the neck from behind with a large bladed knife. Neither made any struggle with the attacker and they both had their wedding ring finger cut off and taken by the attacker. I think at this point Sergeant we can assume that the murders are linked. Both murder teams will brief together so everyone is aware of any updates regarding both murders.”

  “Yes ma’am. I’ll get on it right away.”

  “Thank you Sgt. Dek.”

  The briefing room at 8:00pm that night was very crowded with the two teams of detectives. Some of the detectives had worked murder cases before. Some had worked more than one case of murder, but there wasn’t a single detective in the room who had ever worked on a serial killer murder case. There was an air of tension and apprehension hanging in the briefing room like a fog. The boards around the room had been re-assigned for the two victims and the big white board at the top of the room had both victims. It highlighted anything they had in common, but so far failed to link the two dead men through association or shared associates.

  “………so we now have a better picture of Gregory Thomas. But there are still associates that we need to trace. We have recovered his Toyota car, but there was little in it. It did have a ‘Sat Nav’ system in the car and we are having its history looked at. So at least it will tell us where he has been. I’m going to hand you over to Sgt. Dek now, who will update us all about the second victim,” Ping concluded.

  Detective Sgt. Yim Dek got to his feet to address the room.

  “Forensics has confirmed that the same murder weapon was used on both victims. Both victims died from a single stab wound to the neck with a large ‘Rambo’ type army knife and both victims had their third finger of their left hand cut off. We know that the first victim did not wear a ring but from photographs found at the second victim’s apartment, it appears that he did wear a big gold ring. We are looking for a serial killer ladies and gentlemen. We have no motive yet and, although nothing of value except for the second victim’s ring was taken, we cannot rule out robbery. The second victim was killed at around 8:00pm last night in his luxury apartment. So far CCTV has proved negative and the security at the complex did not notice anything unusual. Th
ere was no forced entry and no struggle, which would suggest that the victim knew his attacker. The second victim is Mr. Miles Causer. He was a 76 year old American and we know that he was a retired banker. He has been living in Pattaya for several years now and he lived alone. Like the first victim, he wasn’t short of money and he liked the local ladies, but other than that we do not know a lot about Mr. Causer. He had no computer, but we have his phone and there are a lot of contacts in the phone to be traced. As a matter of priority we have to try and link the two victims. Unless the killings were completely random then they must have a common link - either a person or a place or even a particular habit that brought them to the attention of their killer. We need to find that link. For all the new detectives who joined the team today I want to say thank you and welcome. You have all been partnered up with detectives who started on the squad yesterday so you will soon be up to speed on both victims. I’m sorry that today was a long slow day for you with a lot of sitting around and waiting, but it takes time to get everything into place. The Detective Inspector has told me that we can all have an early night tonight and we start again early in the morning. When you get here at 6:00am tomorrow there will be a lot of enquiry actions waiting for you. So go home now and have the evenings with your families, because this is going to be a long enquiry and we are all going to be working long hours.” Yim wai’d to the detectives and sat down. The detectives started talking amongst themselves as they gathered their things together and headed home.

  “Ma’am, we found a card for a massage parlour in Mr. Causer’s apartment. The parlour is on my way home. I was thinking about calling in there tonight,” Yim said in a low voice, as the last of the detectives left the murder room.

  “Good idea, Sgt. Dek. I’m going to dictate some actions ready for tomorrow. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Yim gathered his stuff together and left Ping talking to the civilian support staff who were typing out actions for her.

  The Happy Time Massage parlour was off Second Road near the north end of the city. The rain had started, but it was a warm mild rain and not the monsoon rain that would surely arrive any day now. A clutch of girls of various ages sat in front of the parlour. Some were sharing a plate of Som Tam, a spicy Thai salad. Others applied even more make-up or played games on their smart phones or waved and called out to passing farang; “Hello sexy man. You want massage!”

  Yim parked the car in the only available space on the opposite side of the road and further along the narrow soi then he would have liked. But getting wet in Thailand was a part of life. He walked back along the soi towards Happy Time Massage. It was only as he got nearer that he realised that some of the girls were in fact katoeys, or lady boys. He doubted that any of them, male or female, would have any sort of certificates that qualified them to do massage. A pile of shoes, both men’s and ladies’, were scattered on the floor around the door, which suggested that the parlour was both big and busy. Nobody was alarmed when he showed his police ID. They had already paid the police protection money for this month!

  Yim spoke to the mamasan in charge and showed a photograph of Miles Causer.

  “Yes. He comes in here many times. He usually has Noy if she is not already with another customer. Do you want to speak to her? She just finish a two girl massage.”

  Yim nodded and was shown to a small room at the back of the salon. He sat on the massage bed and waited the few moments that it took for the mamasan to bring Noy into him. She had a pretty face and was probably too young to be working there, but Yim was not concerned with that now. He introduced himself to Noy and she wai’d to him. He nodded in return and showed her the photograph of Miles Causer.

  “Yes. I know him. Khun Miles. He always gives me a good tip. I think he is a good man. What is the problem?”

  “The problem is he is dead!”

  Noy shot a hand up to her mouth and gasped. The shock was genuine. Somewhere from another room the sound of two girls giggling and a farang saying ‘Oh yes, oh yes’ floated into the room. Yim smiled and flicked his head in the direction of the noises.

  “I take it the farang has a bad back?” smiled the handsome detective.

  “He will have by the time Nung and Cat finish with him,” laughed Noy.

  “The man’s name is Miles Causer. What can you tell me about him?”

  “He likes massage with me and he comes in here most days because he goes into internet shop next door nearly every day. He comes in here for only one hour, but stays next door for long time. Maybe they can tell you better than me!”

  “Maybe they can. Thank you Noy.” Yim nodded and Noy gave him another very respectful wai.

  “How old are you Noy?”

  “How old do you want me to be?”

  Yim laughed, left the massage parlour and walked into the internet café next door. The place was clean and bright. There were twelve computers all fitted with web cams. Eight of the machines were being used - one by a farang and the other seven by Thai girls, who were talking to farang boyfriends. The boyfriends all seemed to be promising to come back soon and were seeking confirmation that the girls were still back on their farms and not working the bars in Pattaya anymore!

  Yim spoke to the young Thai man behind the desk at the rear of the shop. He was busy on his own computer, but looked up when Yim spoke to him and flashed his police ID. He gave a hurried wai as Yim showed him the photograph of Miles Causer.

  “Do you know this man?”

  “Yes. He is a customer. He comes in here most days, but not every day.”

  “I’m investigating his death. Can we access his history on the internet?”

  “Well you might be able to, but it won’t be easy. He has used most of the computers in here. He sits at whichever one is available and you would have to know his password, but I can tell you he only comes in here to play games.”

  “What about email accounts, documents, attachments, downloads and things like that?”

  “I have only ever seen him play games. He sits in here for hours playing war games.”

  “War games!”

  “Yes. One war game called ‘Black Ops’. It’s like Special Forces. He puts on the headphones and he can talk to other members of his team and they do battle with other players. They complete missions. They take it very seriously and games can take hours. I know his nickname on ‘Black Ops’ is ‘Machine Gun Miles’, if that is any help.”

  “Which was the last computer that he played on?”

  “This one in front of my desk. He was here two days ago and he was here for about five hours.”

  “I’m going to have to take this machine with me. It’s a murder enquiry. We will return it after we have finished looking at it.”

  The young Thai man behind the desk shrugged his shoulders and moved from behind the desk to unplug the computer and sign it over to the police.

  Ping worked at the murder room until 10:00pm, but then she was tired and needed something else. She needed a hotel and an attractive young farang who was feeling horny! She went to a small open fronted bar in Soi 4 off Second Road. She sat at the bar and crossed her legs. She smiled at the young Englishman. He smiled back with a shy smile and he went to speak to her. He bought her a drink and she told him her conditions. He couldn’t believe his luck and 30 minutes later they were taking a shower together in a nice hotel that the Englishman paid 600 baht for. The sex was good and she left him asleep and went home at 2:00am.

  At 5:40am Ping was in the briefing room and Yim was updating her about his enquiries of the previous night before they addressed the team of detectives.

  “He plays Black Ops!” said Ping, with some excitement in her voice. “A golfing friend of Gregory Thomas told me that Gregory played Black Ops all the time. Okay, get the computer geeks to look into it. See if there is any connection between the two men with
this Black Ops thing. I have a gut feeling we might be onto something. Tell them it’s a priority.”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  The detectives were briefed and left the squad room to start the day’s enquiries. Both Ping and Yim were busy with the admin. and were both waiting to hear from technical services. The call came at 11:30am. Ping took the call and made notes of what she was being told. At the end of the call she just said ‘Thank you’ and put the phone down.

  “We have our link!” She punched the air and Yim smiled and waited for Ping to tell him what the computer geeks had said.

  “Not only did both victims play Black Ops but they were in the same squad or team called Pattaya Ex-pats. They knew each other from the game. There are five members of the Pattaya Ex-pats. The computer boys said that they have to register with their email accounts and then they use nicknames so it might be that they only knew each other by nickname. The five players are;

  Miles Causer ~ Machine Gun Miles.

  Gregory Thomas ~ Thomas the Tank.

  Barry Hunt ~ Bazooka Baz.

  Stephen Davis ~ Sniper Steve.

  Alan Lowe ~ Low Down and Dangerous.

  The computer boys have traced their addresses through their email service providers. They all live in Pattaya. Come on Sgt. Dek, we have to get to these other people before the killer does. They must know who the killer is, even if they don’t realise it yet!”

  Ping and Yim dashed out of the police station. They went to see the men in the order that Ping had written their details down. The next person on the list was Barry Hunt AKA Bazooka Baz. He lived in a rented house on the ‘dark side’. The Sukhumvit Road is one of the longest roads in Thailand and around Pattaya it ran more or less parallel with the coast line. On the coast side of Sukhumvit were most of the shops, bars and hotels. The other side of the Sukhumvit was known locally as the ‘dark side’ and this is where a lot of the houses and apartments had been built over the years as Pattaya developed. There are many myths and legends as to why it is called the ‘dark side’, but it is probably because of the many power cuts it suffers! Barry Hunt lived in one of the bigger detached houses and there was a new white Mercedes parked in his driveway. Yim knocked on the door and rang the bell, but got no reply. The next door neighbour was a German farang who stated that he hadn’t seen Barry since yesterday, or maybe it was the day before. He told them that his car hadn’t moved either. Ping decided to force an entry into Barry’s house. The air conditioning wasn’t on and the rancid smell of a decaying body in the Pattaya heat hit them as soon as the door swung open. They covered their noses with their hands and went inside the house. The house was tidy and full of luxury items. Another wealthy farang!