Cocktails & Dreams

by Lilburne, Guy

  “A message for you Mr. O’Bline” she said. “Your wife ring many times and she say to me she know you not want to speak her, so she tell me to write message and give to you. She say she very sorry everything past.” She wai’d to Danny again and he did a sort of one handed wai in return, but it looked more like a salute from the middle of his face than a wai. The girl giggled, turned and walked smartly away. Danny showered, shaved and dressed before he tried to read the note;

  ‘To my darling Danny.

  Nok tell me what happened. I am so sorry. I always had good reason to do the things I did. I had no choice. I did for my family, for my little sisters so that they wouldn’t have to. I am not proud of what I had to do, but I already tell you everything about me and I never lie. Now I cry too much. I very sorry for everything that happen. Now I ashame because I in love with you too much. I tell Buddha please not make me lose you. Here you always have wife and two babies love you and want you to come home. I know you not want speak me, but I want tell you I love you. I love you. I love you. Sorry so much.

  Ling xxxx’

  Danny felt the knot in his stomach tighten. The sadness he felt in his heart was still weighing heavy. He took a deep breath. It was just too painful for him to think about it. He put the note in the bedside cabinet. It was 08:30am and outside the sun was already hot and high in the blue sky. The cigarette packet and the bottle of brandy were sitting on the table on the balcony from the night before. The packet had one cigarette left inside and there was just an inch of brandy left in the bottle. Danny lit up the cigarette and blew the smoke out down his nose. He drank the last inch of brandy straight from the bottle. He took a tuk-tuk to Nok’s office and climbed the steep stairs to the reception. As usual, Nok and Meiwa were sitting on the floor eating food, which Meiwa had just fetched from one of the street vendors. Danny sat and joined them and emptied the bottle of water that Meiwa handed to him in one go.

  “Tee rak, I tell Meiwa about Bee know Daa. What you think this mean, tee rak?”

  “I don’t know yet Nok, but it is very relevant if she did know Daa, and even more so if she was with her in the hour or so before she was murdered. Why wouldn’t she tell anyone about that? What does she know that we don’t know?”

  “You think Marcus Davies make mistake?” asked Meiwa.

  “No, I think he knew what he was talking about. Nok did you say that a lot of Bee’s police record had been deleted?”

  “Yes, a lot of her personal details have been deleted.” Nok stood up from her sitting position on the floor in one easy motion, something Danny, like most farangs, could never master. She went to her brown folder and pulled out a copy of Bee’s police record and handed it to Danny.

  In the personal section, previous entries under ‘Family members’, ‘Next of kin’, ‘Details of marriage’ had all been deleted. The computerised record showed that all had been deleted by Darunee Khumsombot, which was Bee’s real name. It showed that she had deleted the entries some nine years ago.

  “She has deleted the entries herself’ said Danny. “Why would she delete her marriage details?”

  “Maybe she never been married” said Meiwa.

  “She must have been, because there was an entry under marriage details and she has deleted it” said Nok.

  Danny noticed from the section on her service record that she had previously served in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. He checked his notes. Bee had served in Bangkok and Chiang Mai at the same times that Mr. P (Peter Lawford) had also been in those places and at the times that the two ladyboys were murdered in Bangkok and Chiang Mai.

  “There are just too many coincidences” he said to the others, as he told them about the dates and places.

  “You think Bee know more about the ladyboy murders?” asked Nok.

  “Yes, I’m starting to get that feeling. We need to investigate the Bangkok and Chiang Mai murders, and have another look at the Phuket murders. We need to investigate Detective Bee. I want to know what she knows and I want to know why she hasn’t told anyone what she knows” said Danny.

  “And we want to know who she marry with” added Nok, nodding in agreement with herself. “And why she delete her husband” she said.

  Danny had a hunch sparked by Nok’s remark. He patted his pockets to locate his mobile phone and fumbled to turn it on. He rang Sharron Haines.

  “Special Agent Sharron Haines” she answered after two rings.

  “Hi Sharron. It’s Danny O’Brien.”

  “I know. How are you hun?”

  “Have you got Peter Lawford’s file handy?”

  Sharron clicked on the keys of her computer with her long, perfectly manicured nails.

  “Sure I have him up now.”

  “Did he ever marry?”

  “Just a moment.” Sharron scrolled down the screen. “He was married twice. First time in the States over thirty years ago to a Miss Margaret Simpson. She died just over ten years ago. Then ten years ago he married a Thai lady. I can’t tell you if they are still married or not.”

  “What was the Thai lady’s name?”

  “Darunee Khumsombot. The marriage was registered at Khet Prakhanong Registration Office, 1792 Sukhunvit Soi 54, Kwang, Bangjak, Bangkok 10250, if that is any help?”

  “Thanks Sharron. No, they are not married anymore. Peter Lawford is dead. I’m going to come and see you. I need to know everything you have on Lawford, his Thai wife Darunee Khumsombot and the murdered ladyboys in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. I’ll give you a ring when I get to Bangkok.”

  “Ok sugar, I can’t wait. You can take me out for the dinner you owe me.”

  “Bye Sharron.” Danny closed the phone and turned it off again.

  “Bee didn’t just delete her husband” said Danny. “She shot him dead. Her husband was Peter Lawford.”

  “Oh my Buddha! What are we going to say to Colonel Wattana?” asked Nok.

  “Nothing. Well, not yet anyway. We are going to find out exactly what is going on here before we say anything. I want to know what she is covering up here.”

  Danny and Nok packed overnight bags and Meiwa dropped them off at Phuket International Airport. They booked flights with Nok Airways and, just over two hours later, they were climbing into the back of a taxi outside Bangkok’s old Don Muang Airport. Nok asked the driver to take them to the Sukhothai Hotel on South Sathorn Road. It was five star and she had found it online before they left Phuket, after Danny asked her to find a hotel not too far from the U.S Embassy. The Sukhothai Hotel was only separated from the U.S Embassy by the Lumpini park, a large botanical gardens and zoo. It was close enough and Nok thought that the hotel looked beautiful.

  Nok spoke in Thai with the beautiful lady at the reception desk in the luxurious hotel and then spoke with Danny.

  “Tee rak, we share room or make separate?”

  Danny shrugged his shoulders. A thought of Ling shot into his mind and he cast it out just as quickly.

  “Up to you, I don’t give a feck.”

  Nok beamed one of her huge wide smiles and turned back to the receptionist.

  “Kha” she said.

  They dropped their bags off in the room. Nok had a bounce on the huge bed, excited like a child, while Danny showered. Then she showered, as Danny dressed again and rang Sharron Haines. They arranged to meet in an Italian restaurant called The Airplane, opposite the U.S Embassy, at 4:00pm.

  Nok came out of the bathroom giggling and wrapped in a soft white towel.

  “Tee rak, this hotel very posh. I very happy. Stay with you again like old days.” She skipped over to Danny and kissed him on the cheek.

  Chapter 32 I hope this helps.

  Sharron Haines checked her watch again. It was a Rolex, and not a copy. Sharron didn’t do fake. At least, that’s what she told everyone, but her nails and breasts told a
different story. It was 3:55pm. She stood in front of the large wall mirror in her office and pouted as she applied some more red gloss lipstick. She flicked her hair with her fingers until it was just right and then searched in the bottom of her handbag until she found the Chanel No. 5 perfume. She never wore anything else. She sprayed it on each side of her neck, down her cleavage and up her skirt. She pulled up her stocking tops and then smoothed down her skirt with her hands. She smiled at her reflection. She knew that she was looking good. She scooped up the papers for Danny from the top of her desk and walked out.

  Danny and Nok were already seated and waiting at a window table. They watched Sharron Haines crossing the road. Danny knew it was her at first sight. She picked Danny out in the window as she stepped onto the kerb, just as a taxi missed her by inches as it sped past and gave her a blast on the horn. In one smooth motion she went from waving to Danny to giving the taxi driver the bird. Danny stood up to greet her when she walked in. They shook hands and Danny introduced Nok. Nok noticed that Sharron was disappointed that she didn’t have Danny to herself. Danny could see that Sharron took good care of herself and he doubted that she was a woman who many men dared to mess with. They ordered food and drinks; Sharron had a gin and tonic while Danny and Nok drank orange juice. Sharron patted the green folder that she had placed on the table when she had first sat down.

  “I have printed off everything we have on Peter Lawford and everything I could find from press cuttings at the time on the two murdered ladyboys. The Bangkok ladyboy was called Chutima and the one in Chiang Mai was called Pukky. It’s a start Danny, but there is a lot of detective work to do on the cases. It doesn’t look like anyone was ever caught or even suspected” smiled Sharron with her rich Texan drawl.

  “Sharron, that’s grand. Thanks for all your help. Mike Hands said that you were the best field agent that he had ever known, and you haven’t let us down.”

  “Oh, Mike is a sweetie and my favourite English charmer” laughed Sharron.

  Nok was quiet. She thought that Sharron was flirting just a little too much with Danny and a surge of jealousy was swelling inside her.

  “Look Danny, if you want to drop off the paperwork and your secretary at the hotel, we can go out and make a night of it in the city” smiled Sharron, allowing her hand to rest on Danny’s thigh. It didn’t go unnoticed by Danny and especially by Nok.

  “I not secretary. I business partner. I owner The Great British Detective Agency and Khun Danny is marry to my sister Ling.”

  “Oh, I didn’t know that you were married Danny. Oh well, we can still have a night on the town. What do you think?”

  “Actually Sharron, we have a lot to do. We need to go back to the hotel and start going through these papers and kick on tomorrow with the investigation.”

  “Oh well, I hope this helps” she said, standing up and placing her hand on the file of papers. “I have some things to get on with myself actually, so I’d better get going.”

  “Thanks again Sharron. It has been a delight to know you” said Danny.

  Sharron leaned over and whispered in Danny’s ear.

  “If you change your mind call me.” She stood tall, turned on her heels and walked out of the restaurant without looking at Nok.

  “She just trying to get in your pants” hissed Nok.

  Danny laughed. Nok looked quite cute when she was angry. They settled the bill and went back to the hotel.

  After taking showers Danny and Nok sat on the bed. They were dressed in the luxurious white bathrobes supplied by the Sukhothai Hotel. The papers supplied by Special Agent Haines were spread out on the bed in front of them, along with the contents of the file already compiled by Nok. Danny and Nok read the press cuttings from the Bangkok Post, the Chiang Mai Mail and some more of the minor papers.

  “Jesus!” said Danny. “The ladyboy in Bangkok, Chutima, they have a photograph in the paper of her dead body. They describe how her dick was cut off and stuffed into her mouth. That must have been so shocking for the family.”

  “No, not shocking. Just normal in Thailand. This newspaper do same-same about Pukky in Chiang Mai” said Nok, pulling together the gaping bathrobe over her breasts. Danny was comparing computer printouts.

  “The time scales fit. Both Peter Lawford and his wife, Detective Bee, were in the right place at the right time. We just need to see if they are linked in any way to these two murder victims.”

  “We can speak to victims’ families” offered Nok.

  “You’ve turned into a great detective Nok” smiled Danny. “We will do that, but first I want to check out the registration office on Sukhunvit Soi 54, and see what they can tell us. We need to gather as much evidence as possible before we expose Bee.”

  “Why you think she cover up for husband, and then shoot him dead, tee rak?”

  “I don’t know, yet, Nok.”

  They carried on examining the papers and print-outs in the files for the next five hours and Danny kept making notes. After four hours Nok curled up like a cat and drifted off to sleep. After Danny had finished he cleared away the papers and woke Nok up.

  “Come on Nok, wake up will yer? It’s time to go to sleep” he said.

  Nok stood up, slipped off her robe and slid into the bed under the duvet cover. Danny took his robe off and got in next to her and flicked the light switch next to the bed. They lay next to each other, naked, in the darkness and silence of the night. They lay awake and in silence for a long time before Nok spoke.

  “Tee rak, do you want to make love to me?”

  “Nok, I don’t know what I want. I can’t think about anything to do with Ling. I love her, but the whole thing makes me feel sick.”

  “Nobody perfect tee rak. You know Ling love you with all her heart. Same-same me.”

  “I don’t know what is going to happen. I thought that my life was settled and sorted. I thought that I had found the happiness that I was searching for. But now it feels as if my heart is shattered.”

  “Why, tee rak? Ling do nothing wrong. Everything before she know you.”

  “Jesus! I know all this. I know it’s all me. Why am I so fecking angry all the time?”

  “I know tee rak.”

  “You know what?”

  “I know why you angry.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you have to forgive yourself before you can forgive Ling, even though she do nothing wrong. Then you can be angry with yourself and just love Ling. Then Ling love you and make you feel better about yourself and you have happy life. Simple!”

  “No not simple. I can’t understand my feelings.”

  “I understand. Tonight we make love and tomorrow we go to temple and pray Buddha to forgive me and you and then you forgive Ling.”

  “But then Ling might not forgive me.”

  “Yes she do. She love you true. Same-same me.”

  Nok rolled over onto her side and put her hand on Danny’s chest. She leaned over and kissed his neck. Her body felt warm and soft against his. Her hand slid slowly down his chest and stopped on his stomach. He didn’t want it to stop. His anger, his pain, his emotion, all mixed up in the pit of his stomach; rolled up in a mixture that he just couldn’t untangle without Nok. The feeling kept growing like a cancer, destroying his love for Ling. He turned his head, his mouth searching for Nok’s mouth in the dark. They found each other and kissed. Nok’s hand slipped further down and he felt her grip his passion, throbbing huge in her hand. They kissed and caressed for a long time in the dark before their entangled bodies locked together in lovemaking. It was long and slow, hard and passionate. It was of the moment and it was sincere. On a hot humid night in Bangkok city, it was the only thing in the world at that moment, which mattered.

  The passion washed over them like a tide and, just like the tide, it peaked and retreated in
the rhythmic motion of their lovemaking.

  “Jesus!” said Danny collapsing, sweating and panting on his back on the bed.

  “Oh my Buddha” said Nok. She flopped an arm and a leg over Danny.

  “Now you not feeling so angry, tee rak?”

  “No, not angry. Probably just guilty.”

  “That’s good tee rak. Now you not be angry with Ling. You just feel guilty with yourself. We can say sorry to Buddha tomorrow and everything be OK with you and Ling.”

  “Haha! So you just do all this for Ling?” laughed Danny.

  “Yes, of course. And for you and me. Love is like the sea. It complicated and sometime deep and sometime shallow, but it still always love. I just try to push you out of shallow into deep for Ling.”

  Danny just shook his head, He was sure that Nok knew what she was talking about, but he was too tired to work out what she was trying to say. She was right about one thing. His anger towards Ling had vanished. Now he felt terrible about himself. He felt guilty and realised that Ling was a good person and he was a bad person. He hoped that Buddha would understand. They fell asleep in each other’s arms in the cool of the air conditioned room.

  Chapter 33 Sukhunvit Soi Registration Office.

  Danny was awoken by Nok kissing his body. It was a pleasant way to wake up, but Danny stopped her. He didn’t know how he was feeling. His emotions were all over the place, but the overwhelming feeling was one of guilt.

  “Come on” he said. “We have a lot to do today.” He jumped out of bed and walked to the bathroom. Nok followed him in and joined him in the shower.

  After a good breakfast in one of the hotel’s restaurants they walked out into the heat of another Bangkok day. They walked to a nearby temple. From one of the stalls set up outside the temple Nok bought flowers, candles, gold leaf squares and incense sticks as offerings for Buddha and food for the monks. Danny paid the old lady standing behind the stall, who wai’d to him. Her dark brown wrinkled face broke into a wide open mouthed smile, displaying her one and only tooth, when Danny told her to keep the change.