Cocktails & Dreams

by Lilburne, Guy

  “Why am I sorry to Bee? What did I do?” asked Danny slightly bemused.

  “You make her lose face.”

  “OK.” Danny shrugged his shoulders and they walked over to Bee, who was already standing and putting her jacket on.

  “Bee, I’m sorry if I said something wrong. I really didn’t mean to say anything to upset anyone. I just want to catch a killer. I’m sorry.” He offered his hand. Bee looked into his deep blue sparkling eyes that somehow seemed to soften his hard and battered face. She let out an audible sigh and then smiled and wai’d to Danny. Then she took his hand and shook it.

  “Mai pen rai ka,(not to worry)” she said.

  Danny and Nok, Bee and Pon all walked out of the conference room together, all smiles. For the time being at least the underlying tensions were forgotten. It had been an interesting briefing meeting for everyone.

  Chapter 27 Loving Mr. P.

  Bee had been assigned two uniformed officers to help her track down Peter Lawford. They reported to her in the detectives’ office within twenty minutes of the de-briefing meeting finishing. Bee furnished them with Lawford’s details and photograph.

  “I don’t want you to bother with any hotels” she said. “This man has already been here for nine months and I think he will be in a long term rent, so visit all the letting agents and any private rents you can find. You report directly back to me with anything you find. I will put the word around the hotels, just in case he is staying in a hotel.”

  The two officers nodded their understanding and left the office. Bee looked at her watch.

  Danny and Nok went back to The Great British Detective Agency. Meiwa was already there sitting on the floor and eating the spicy noodles that she had just bought from one of the street vendors in the soi below the office. She wai’d to Nok and Danny as they walked in and offered to share her food. Nok sat on the floor with her and helped herself to food. Danny declined and laughed.

  “Jesus Meiwa, I’ve never seen anyone eat as much as you and you’re still as skinny as a sparrow.”

  Danny sat at Nok’s desk and rang Sharron Haines. The phone rang twice before she answered it.

  “Special Agent Haines” she said in her heavy Texan drawl.

  “Sharron, it’s Danny. How are you doing?”

  “Hi Danny. How was your meeting?”

  “Good thanks. Tell me about the dead ladyboys in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. I think you’ve done some great detective work there Sharron.”

  “Why, thank you sir. I aim to please/” She swivelled around in the red leather chair so she could see herself in the big mirror. She tilted her head to one side and pouted. She looked at her own body shape in the reflection, like an antique dealer might examine some rare exotic Chinese vase. She crossed her legs and ran her finger in slow circles over her thigh, feeling the fine gossamer of her stockings on her fingertips.

  “Is there anything to tie Lawford to the murders?” asked Danny.

  “No, only the fact that he was in both of those locations at the time of the murders. Like I said to you before Danny, they were different MOs from the current shooting murders, but sometimes that happens with serial killers. They sort of just develop their own style.”

  “How did the ladyboys die in Bangkok and Chiang Mai?”

  “They were stabbed with a long blade and, in each case, they weren’t found until sometime after the murders. In each case they had had their genitalia cut off and placed in their mouths.”

  “Jesus! Their dicks were shoved in their gobs?”

  “Well yes, I guess you could put it like that. Danny these two cases were never linked officially, but I’ve got a feeling that they are linked. I think it’s the same killer.”

  “I think you are right and I think they are linked to your man Lawford.”

  “We are thinking along the same lines then Danny. There isn’t much more I can tell you about them, but I can send you what details I have and you can do with it what you will.”

  “Thanks Sharron. Can you fax them?”

  “Sure thing. I’ll do it now.”

  “Thanks Sharron. Bye.” Danny closed the phone.

  “Goodbye Danny O’Brien” said Sharron to herself as she put the phone down.

  Yupaporn thought that she was falling in love with Mr. P. She had never met anyone like him before. He had given her so much money and, after staying the night in his hotel, he took her to the Jungceylon centre and bought her a solid gold chain. He wasn’t just treating her well, he was spoiling her. They spent the day on the beach eating and drinking, before going back to his hotel in the afternoon for a shower, more sex and some sleep. In the late afternoon Yupaporn got out of bed and showered. Mr. P was still asleep. She had to be at work in another four hours and she had to go home and eat and get changed. She left him a note giving him her address and asking him to meet her later, either at her address or at the pool hall. She kissed his head before she left. He smiled but didn’t wake.

  No alarm was raised when Yupaporn failed to show up at work and nobody was too concerned when she didn’t answer her phone. Everybody in the place knew that she had met and was falling in love with Mr. P, so it was no surprise that she didn’t turn up for her shift at the pool hall.

  Kathu police received a phone call just after 8:00pm. The caller’s number was withheld and the caller refused to give their details, saying that they didn’t want to get involved, but stated “I have just seen a couple running through the woods near to the Safari Beach Disco. It was too dark to see them properly, but they were fighting and arguing with each other. I heard them shouting and screaming. I could tell from their voices that it was a man and a woman and I heard them struggling. It sounded violent. Then I heard a scream and a gun shot and I ran away. I was very scared and it was dark up there. I came into the town before I rang you.”

  “How long ago was this?”

  “I don’t know. I had to run to my motorbike parked on the main road and then drive into Patong. Maybe 15 or 20 minutes ago.”

  “The Safari Disco doesn’t open until 2:00am. What were you doing up there?”

  “I was walking my dog in the woods. I cannot give you my name because I am scared it might be the serial killer and I don’t want him coming after me. I’m sorry, but you had better get the police to look in the woods.” The phone went dead.

  Within another ten minutes uniformed police on motorbikes were parking up on the main road between Patong and Karon Beach and making their way on foot through the woods near to the Safari Beach Disco. After another ten minutes one of the policemen found Yupaporn’s body. A single gunshot wound to her chest, fired up close. On the ground, partially hidden by her body, was a Smith & Wesson 38 snub nose special; possibly dropped by the shooter in the struggle. The officer gave a loud blow on his whistle and the other policemen came running to him. He wai’d to Yupaporn’s body and then to Buddha.

  The control room rang the Chief and then rang detectives Pon and Bee. Both were taking a shower when they received the calls, but said they would get there as soon as they could. The Chief rang Danny, who was in his hotel room watching Liverpool on the wide screen TV playing in a champions league cup match; they were winning 3 nil away from home.

  “Jesus!” said Danny. “I’ll meet you there.”

  Danny showered and took a tuk-tuk from the hotels entrance on the beach road. Bangla Road was already closed off to vehicles for the night, so it took him the long way around the one way system through the town and, when he got to the woods near the Safari Disco, there was already a large police presence. The crime scene investigators van was already there and he saw the Chief talking to Detective Pon. As the tuk-tuk pulled up and Danny paid the driver, Bee arrived from the other direction on her motorbike.

  Danny, Bee, Pon and the Chief were guided by a uniformed officer to the
scene. Two big arc lights were illuminating the body and photographs were being taken. The immediate area was taped off. The lead CSI officer wai’d to the four of them from his kneeling position next to the body, his note book and pen still held between his fingers as he wai’d. He got to his feet and walked over to them at the edge of the taped off area.

  “It’s another ladyboy” he began. “The killer has dropped his gun this time, and it looks like the same weapon that killed the others. Forensic tests will confirm in the next few hours.”

  “Jesus!” said Danny. “It looks like your man Westeveld has a good alibi for this one.”

  “Do we know anything about the victim?” asked Detective Pon.

  “No, not yet.”

  “Is there anything else?” asked Bee.

  “The gun is a 38 special and the serial number is still on it.”

  “What’s the serial number, can you write it down for me?” said Danny.

  The CSI officer looked in his note book and copied it on a new page and ripped it out, handing it to Danny.

  “Look, I’ll leave you guys to it. I’ll see what I can do with the serial number and we’ll meet up in the morning” said Danny. They all wai’d to each other and Danny got one of the uniformed officers to take him back to the Holiday Inn Hotel on the back of a police bike.

  He twisted the cap off a cold carton of orange juice from the mini bar and lay on the bed. He searched Sharron Haines’s mobile number on his phone and pressed the green handset icon. It rang twice.

  “Special Agent Haines,” said Sharron, already seeing it was Danny who was calling her.

  “I don’t suppose that you are still in your office at this time?”

  “Hi Danny, no I’m not. I’m at home, just showered and I’m lying on my bed wearing Channel No. 5 and not much else” she laughed.

  “Sharron, the serial killer has just struck again. This time he has left his gun at the scene. Can I give you the serial number? I’m hoping that we can link the gun back to Peter Lawford.”

  “Sure Daniel, go ahead.”

  “Daniel?”

  “I like the name Daniel. It’s so British and so sexy.”

  “Jesus! I’m Irish, and the name’s Danny.”

  “Ok, give me the number and I’ll see what I can do in the morning.”

  Danny gave Sharron the serial number, thanked her and said goodnight before closing the phone.

  “Jesus! Danny O’Brien” said Sharron in a mock Irish accent. “You are one tough cookie.”

  Danny caught the last five minutes of the game. Liverpool won 5 nil.

  Chapter 28 Another De-brief.

  “Hi Sharron” said Danny into his mobile phone. He leant his head to one side and wedged the phone between his shoulder and ear as he wrapped the towel around his waist. He sat on the edge of the bed, still dripping from the shower.

  “Hi Danny, I came into work early for you today” she laughed.

  “Thanks Sharron, I appreciate that. Did you find anything?”

  “Well, you were hoping that there was a link between the gun left at the last murder scene and the suspect Peter Lawford. Well, I might be about to make you a very happy man.”

  “I take it there is a link then?”

  “The gun belongs to Lawford; well actually, officially, it belongs to the NYPD. The gun was issued to Lawford when he was a serving officer, but he filed a lost/stolen report just before he retired. It happens more often than you’d imagine. Officers like to keep souvenirs of their police service. The NYPD are going to fax me a copy showing this serial number being issued to Lawford and the lost/stolen report. It looks like you have got your serial killer Danny.”

  “We haven’t got him yet, but we will do. Thanks for all your help Sharron, you’ve been grand.”

  “Danny, give me a ring next time you are in Bangkok. You owe me a dinner remember” laughed Sharron.

  “Sure I will. Bye.”

  Danny dressed and rang Nok to see if she wanted to go to the briefing at police HQ, but she told Danny that she would meet him afterwards at the detective agency. He told her about the murder weapon being registered to Lawford. Danny had a relaxing breakfast in the hotel restaurant and then took a tuk-tuk to the district police HQ. When he walked into the briefing room Bee greeted him with a smile and a wai. It was the very first time he had ever seen her smile and the first time he realised how attractive she was. He returned the wai and sat next to her and Pon on the front row of seats.

  Colonel Wattana walked into the room with his usual entourage and they took their seats at the tables at the front of the room. He briefed the room about the fourth victim and the gun found at the scene. He asked Danny if there was any update on the murder weapon. Danny stood up and wai’d to the Chief and to the rest of the room before he spoke.

  “Yes. The serial number on the gun links the weapon to Peter Lawford, the man who calls himself Mr. P. He was a policeman in New York and it was his service revolver. He reported it lost or stolen just before he retired from the police.” Danny sat down again.

  “Good work” said the Chief. “What can you tell us about the victim Detective Bee?”

  Bee stood and wai’d to the Chief and to the room.

  “The fourth victim is a katoey called Yupaporn. She worked in the pool hall above the Tiger Inn restaurant on Rat-U-Thit Road. From some of the staff at the pool hall we know that she was seeing Mr. P. Some even say that she was in love with him. They have identified Mr. P as Peter Lawford from the photos that we showed them.”

  “How close are we to tracking down Mr. P” asked the Chief.

  “We have stepped up security at the airport and on the main road from Phuket to the mainland. We have been circulating his details to hotels, guesthouses and long term rentals, but nothing has come back yet.”

  “What about a public appeal? Have we thought about getting his photo up around the city? Maybe a reward for information?”

  “Yes sir, we did think about this, but we didn’t want to scare him off. We didn’t have the evidence of the murder weapon before and there might be panic amongst the public if we now announce that the person we arrested at the airport is not the serial killer.” Bee sat down again.

  “I will take that risk” said the Chief.

  “Sir.” Bee was back on her feet. “I think I can find this man without putting up wanted posters, risking any panic amongst the public and potential lack of confidence from businesses and politicians.”

  Bee knew that she had touched a nerve, as the Chief always had one eye on politics and business.

  “OK. You have one day to find him. If not, I want posters up by tomorrow. Now we know who Mr. P really is I want him in before he has a chance to strike again. This is the priority. I want Peter Lawford arrested today. Everybody on the case.”

  Colonel Wattana got up from the top table and left the room and the noise levels rose once more as people chatted and exchanged ideas. There was a buzz about the place, a feeling that Peter Lawford’s days as a free man were now numbered.

  “I’m going to go and release Westeveld” said Pon.

  “Khun Danny, would you like to come out with me today. Maybe between us we can be lucky and catch a killer” said a smiling Bee.

  Danny shrugged his shoulders.

  “Sure, that would be grand. I’d be delighted.” Danny didn’t know what had brought about the change in Bee, but suddenly she was a different person and a lot more likeable.

  “I’ll pick up my gun from the office just in case” she smiled and Danny followed her out of the conference room and up the stairs to the detectives’ office. He watched her slip off her jacket and put on her shoulder holster. She checked her weapon and holstered it before putting her jacket back on. She picked up a black leather zipped folder and tucked it und
er her arm.

  “OK, let’s go” she said.

  “Where are we going?”

  “To find a killer. We’ll start off at the Tiger Inn where he picked up his last victim.”

  The drive to the Tiger Inn from police HQ was a short one. Three tuk-tuks were parked outside the Tiger Inn, in the space reserved for them amongst the long row of parked motorbikes. Bee pulled up on the opposite side of the road and they dodged the traffic as they crossed the busy road. Bee opened her leather folder on the seat of the first tuk-tuk and showed the driver the photograph of Mr. P. The driver was nodding his head and talking quickly in Thai to Bee. He told her that he remembered the man taking Yupaporn in his tuk-tuk to the Vietnamese restaurant, giving him a big tip to wait outside while they went in to eat, and then he took them to the man’s hotel.

  “Which hotel?” asked Bee in English.

  “The Royal Paradise Hotel,”

  Bee could see the Royal Paradise Hotel further back along the road from where they were standing. She pointed to it.

  “That Royal Paradise Hotel?”

  “Yes, I took him and Yupaporn to the Royal Paradise after they had eaten at the restaurant, sure.”

  The reception lobby of the Royal Paradise Hotel was huge. Bee spoke to the receptionist who confirmed that Peter Lawford was a guest at the hotel and gave his room number. Bee asked for the manager.

  “Mr. P is here in a room on the top floor. As far as they know he is in his room now, because he hasn’t handed in his room key to reception yet. I’m going to get the manager to open the door to his room with the master key and we’ll go in and arrest him.”

  “Shouldn’t we get some back up or a firearms team or something?”

  “I have a gun and a pair of handcuffs, that’s all we need. But, if it makes you happier, I’ll call for a marked vehicle to join us.” She radioed for a marked vehicle and advised that she was about to arrest the serial killer suspect. A number of cars responded to the call and all over Patong police cars put on flashing police lights and sirens and started speeding to the Royal Paradise Hotel.