The Flower Girl

by Lilburne, Guy

  “Oh no! I would definitely admit it if I had done it.”

  “Why would you?”

  “I just would. I’m an honest man and I want to help.”

  “Thanks Dean. You seem like a nice person. What do you think about men who hit women?”

  “I think they should go to prison. I hate women beaters.”

  “Have you ever hit a woman?”

  “No! Never. I’m a calm person.”

  “That’s good Dean. You seemed to get a bit aggressive after arrest today.”

  “I was just upset and scared. I never meant anything I said.”

  “Do you get angry easily, Dean?”

  “No! Never. It never solves any problems.”

  “Have you ever had any problems?”

  “No! None. I’ve been lucky.”

  “So you are what, 48 years old now?”

  “49.”

  “Happy family life?”

  “Yes. I have a great family life; wife and two kids. Well grown up now and making their own way in the world. They don’t live at home anymore. Just me and the wife.”

  “Happy marriage?”

  “Yes, very happy. Perfect, I would say.”

  “Where is your wife now?”

  “She stayed at home. She doesn’t like Thailand?”

  “Oh! Has she been before then?”

  “No. Never actually been, but seen programmes on the telly. You know………”

  “But she is happy for you to holiday in Thailand without her?”

  “Yes, very happy. My wife doesn’t like holidays. She likes to stay at home, so I always have to holiday on my own. But it makes it a happy marriage.”

  “I understand Dean. So you like Thailand?”

  “Yes. I like Thailand.”

  “Is this your first time here?”

  Dean hesitated. He needed more thinking time. Something inside him was telling him that he was being led into something by the officer. It sounded like a loaded question. He needed longer to think it through and the consequence of the answer he was about to give. He didn’t want to commit to anything that he couldn’t backtrack from.

  “Pardon?”

  “I said, is this the first time that you have been to Thailand?”

  Dean’s mind was spinning as he decided on his answer. If he said that it was his first time it would be a perfect alibi. He couldn’t think properly. He felt under so much pressure. Just as he was about to answer, he suddenly realised that they had his passport. It was stamped so, of course, they would know that he had been in Thailand before and they would know the dates that he had arrived and departed. The panic passed.

  “Dean, I was asking if you have ever been here before?”

  “Yes, sorry. Yes, I have. I was just thinking about my wife. Sorry. I am a bit worried about her.”

  “Why are you worried about your wife?”

  “Oh! I am sure she is OK. I just worry about her sometimes.”

  “You are a good husband Dean.”

  “I try to be.”

  “You are sweating Dean. Are you OK?”

  “Yes, I’m fine.”

  “How many times have you been to Thailand?”

  “Three or four times. I think this is my fourth. They have taken my passport, but if you look in there it should give you the dates that I was here.”

  “Thanks Dean. I have your passport in my briefcase, but it is always better for me to ask you and you to answer. It is important to me that I hear and understand what you have to say. Did you know Pin Pistok, The Flower Girl?”

  “No. I don’t think so.”

  “You don’t think so?”

  “No. I don’t remember that name and I don’t know any flower girls. Was she Thai?”

  “Yes Dean, she was. Did you have any Thai girlfriends when you were in Thailand?”

  “No. Not girlfriends. I made friends with a lot of people. I like Thai people, very friendly.”

  “Thank you Dean. So you didn’t know The Flower Girl?”

  “No. I don’t think so. But, if she was selling flowers, then it is possible that I might have bought a flower off her.”

  “Where did you stay when you visited Thailand on your previous visits?”

  “Karon Beach.”

  “Always Karon Beach?”

  “Yes, always same hotel. The Karon Inn Hotel on Patak Road. It’s cheap to stay there.”

  “Last July you were staying in Karon Beach in the Karon Inn Hotel, at the time that The Flower Girl was murdered.”

  “Was I? I wasn’t aware of any murders when I was here.”

  “Yes, you were, Dean. It was a very nasty murder. You are right. The victim was pregnant at the time.”

  “Yes, I heard that, but only from the BBC news, when they said that you had just caught and charged her killer with the murder.”

  “Steven West.”

  “Yes, I remembered his name, but I don’t know him. I have never met him or anything like that. In fact I have never heard of him.”

  “Oh! He has heard all about you, Dean.”

  Dean didn’t answer. For the second time during the interview, panic shot through his entire body like an electric shock that made his brain and his body shake. He still didn’t know who Steven West was. He waited for the Detective to drop a bombshell, hut he didn’t.

  “So you were in Karon Beach at the time of the murder, but you have never met The Flower Girl, Pin Pistok?”

  “Yes. That is correct.”

  Detective Sawat Deewat picked up his briefcase from the seat next to him and put it on the table. He laid it on its side so only he could see into it.

  “I want to show you some photos, Dean.”

  Dean Wilkinson gulped hard.

  “OK.”

  “These are photos of the murder scene” he said, putting four photos on the table in front of Dean.

  “It looks very beautiful. The scenery I mean.”

  “Have you ever been to this place, Dean?”

  “No. Never.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. Positive.”

  “The killer bashed her brains out with a rock. This is the actual murder weapon, Dean” said Sawat, sliding two photos of the rock in front of Dean.

  “We have DNA from the victim on the rock from traces of blood and hair that were stuck to the rock. Have you ever seen this rock before?”

  “A rock is a rock.”

  “Have you seen this one before, then?”

  “No. Never. If that was found at the murder scene then I definitely have never seen it, because I have never been to that place.”

  “This is a photo of the victim.” Sawat slid a photo of Pin across the table to Dean. It was a photo of Pin that had been taken by one of the bar girls and showed Pin with a gentle smile and an armful of flowers. She was looking straight into the camera and straight out of the photo at Dean.

  “She was a pretty girl.”

  “Have you ever seen her before?”

  “No I haven’t.”

  “This is the same girl.” Sawat pushed four photos over the table showing Pin on a mortuary table. Her face purple and grey, bloated and grotesque, her skull caved in, her mouth drooping and gaping. Dean no longer knew what emotions an innocent man would be displaying now, so he just looked at the photos in silence.

  “Did you do this, Dean?”

  “No. I told you. I have never met this girl before.”

  “Are you sure, Dean?”

  “Yes. I am sure. Very sure.”

  Sawat slid another photo across the table. It was the photo of Dean and Pin together looking very happy together with their arms wrapped aro
und each other.

  “What do you think about this photo then Dean? I don’t understand how this could have been taken of the two of you together, if you had never met her before!”

  Dean’s brain was spinning and rattling around in his skull like a pea in a cup.

  “Oh! That girl! Yes, I knew her, but I didn’t realise that it was the same girl. She wasn’t a flower girl when I met her. She was working in a bar. She was a bar girl with lots of customers and boyfriends.”

  “So you paid her to have sex with you?”

  “Yes, I probably did. I can’t remember, but she wasn’t a flower girl.”

  “What was her name?”

  “I can’t remember.”

  “Pin Pistok?”

  “It might have been. I can’t remember.”

  “Well, this photo wasn’t taken in the bar where you met her. So, you must have taken her out of the bar.”

  “Probably. I can’t remember.”

  “Take a closer look at the photo, Dean.”

  “At what?”

  “At the necklace you are wearing. Is it real gold?”

  “Yes, I think so. Why?”

  “Did Pin buy you the necklace?”

  “No. It was a gift from my wife. A gift for Christmas one year.”

  “Where is it now?”

  “I had to pawn it in a shop back in Leeds, last year sometime. We were short of money, so I pawned it to buy food and I never went to buy it back. It’s gone. I don’t know where it is now. It’s sold.”

  “In Leeds?”

  “Yes.”

  “Would you like me to get it back for you, Dean?”

  “No. It’s gone now. It was not that important, just a gold necklace.”

  Sawat pulled a clear plastic exhibits bag from his briefcase and pushed it towards Dean Wilkinson.

  “Well, I managed to get it back for you anyway, Dean. Do you recognise it?”

  “No. That is not mine. It’s a different one.”

  “It is the same one Dean. Look. It is identical to the one in the photo. It is a Thai necklace, made in Thai gold and sold in Thailand. Your wife couldn’t have bought it for you in England for a Christmas present. The other thing that proves to me that this is the necklace that you are wearing in this photo is that we have found your DNA between the links of the chain. It must have cut into your neck when Pin snatched it off your neck when you were caving her head in with the big rock.”

  “It doesn’t prove anything. So what? OK. It is my chain and Pin might have given it to me. So what?”

  “It was found at the murder scene; the same place that you have just told me that you have never been to before in your life. The game is up Dean. I have a witness from the Karon Inn Hotel who will say how much time you spent with Pin. I can show from your phone records in England, the times and dates of every phone call that you made to her. I can show from Bank records and Western Union every time that you sent her money. Oh! And guess what? I lied about taking DNA from the unborn baby. I can prove that you are the father. As we say in the police ‘You’re Fucked’.”

  “I want a solicitor.”

  “Really, really fucked. It will be the Death Penalty for you.”

  “Can’t I do a deal? It was an accident! I didn’t mean to kill her! It was an accident.”

  “I don’t think anyone is going to believe that you accidentally picked up a big rock, accidentally bashed her head in with it and then accidentally threw her body into the sea. My advice, Dean, is to make a full and frank admission and throw yourself on the mercy of the court and hope that the court will be prepared to show you more mercy than you showed to Pin Pistok.”

  “Will they show me mercy?”

  “I doubt it, but it is your only hope.”

  Dean Wilkinson sat in silence for a long few minutes, thinking through his options. He decided on making a full and frank admission. The mercy of the Thai courts was his only chance to avoid the Death Penalty. He knew that, as Detective Sawat Deewat had said, ‘The game was up’. He took a deep breath and told Sawat all about the murder. He was charged with the murder of Pin Pistok three hours later. After charging Dean Wilkinson with the murder, Detective Deewat left other officers to fingerprint and photograph the prisoner. They also took more mouth swabs from him to confirm the DNA. Wilkinson was informed that the British Embassy was aware of his predicament and they would visit him in Bangkwang Prison the next day. Dean Wilkinson was destined to spend the rest of his life in The Bangkok Hilton.

  Chapter 16

  The Old Temple on Karon Hill.

  I first heard that I was going to be released from Phuket Prison from Aa, of all people. She told me after one of the guards told her, after the Governor had told him, after Sawat had told him about Dean Wilkinson admitting to the murder and having been charged with it. Aa found me sitting in the shade along the far wall of the Quad after breakfast. She came running over flapping her arms around and then stood, fanning her face with her hands and getting her breath back, before she spoke.

  “Sa-teven, you get released today, darling” she gasped.

  “You are kidding!”

  “No. I not joke. I speak true.”

  I could hear the murmur going around the Quad and the crowd around us started to grow to listen to what she was saying.

  “How do you know, Aa?”

  This was the news that I had been waiting for, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up for nothing.

  “The guard, he tell me and the Governor tell him. You be released today for sure. Detective Sawat come to collect you. Yesterday they arrest Dean Wilkinson at Bangkok airport and he admit murder Flower Girl. He has been charged with the murder. Today you be free man, darling.” Aa hugged me and then turned to the growing crowd and told them in Thai what she had just told me but, as usual, when she was playing to a crowd, she became very dramatic and mimed the whole arrest scene from the airport and which, according to her mime, included a chase and a shootout,

  I was getting used to nothing happening very quickly in Thailand, but that day everything seemed to happen very quickly. Aa had not long finished her mime when two prison guards came walking across the Quad towards us. They spoke to me in Thai. Aa translated, telling me that they were taking me to say goodbye to the Governor and I was going to be released. I stood up to follow them through the Quad to the main building. Aa and Bee hugged me again and they were both in tears. They and a number of others followed me through the Quad. As we walked everybody in the Quad started to stand up and applaud. I don’t mean a few of the people or even most of them. I am not exaggerating when I tell you every single person stood up and applauded, even the farangs and prison guards. Other people came out of the buildings, or came to the windows and clapped me, as I walked across to the main building. It was emotional and I couldn’t have played it cool even if I wanted too. I cried and laughed and smiled and waved.

  I was taken to the Governor’s office. I had not met him before. I knew who he was of course and I had seen his photo up around the prison, always set slightly lower than the King’s. The Governor, Mr Tri Augkaradacha, was a very smart looking man and spoke good English. He had a pleasant smile and I found him to be a charming man. We shook hands and I happily signed a form to say that I had no complaints about the way I had been treated. The Governor himself walked me to the main reception area where I was once again put into my orange jumpsuit. I shook hands again with the Governor and we said goodbye.

  “Thanks for having me” I said, not knowing what else to say.

  I was taken to a waiting room, where I expected a long wait for the usually very late Sawat, but to my great delight he was already in the room waiting for me. I was happy to see his smiling face and I think he was happy to see me. We shook hands and then hugged each other.

 
“We arrested Dean Wilkinson yesterday at Bangkok airport, Steve.”

  “I know, and he has admitted the murder.”

  “News travels quick in Thailand.”

  Sawat opened his briefcase and handed my belongings to me in a sealed plastic bag. My belongings didn’t consist of much, just my passport, my wallet and my watch.

  “Come on matey. You’re a free man, so why are we standing around in a prison!”

  We were escorted out to the front of the prison, back out into the sunshine. Somehow the sun shone brighter on this side of the wall, the sky was bluer and the air was fresher. Actually the air didn’t smell so fresh. I could smell a sewer from somewhere.

  We walked to Sawat’s car, a brand new Mercedes. Believe it or not I had never sat in one before. It was a beautiful car.

  “Are we going straight to the airport?”

  “No. Not today, Steve. I have paid for you to stay in a nice hotel for the next two nights and then you will be flying home on Thai airways. I haven’t paid for your flight. You have to thank the Thai Government for that.”

  “You are paying for me to stay in a hotel?”

  “Yeah. I thought it might be nice for you to stay somewhere nice, Steve and tomorrow there is a memorial service for Pin at the old temple on Karon Hill. A lot of the bar girls and local businesses have contributed towards the memorial service and a bit of a farewell party in the temple grounds for you, Steve. Oh! That reminds me. The prison Governor is coming and he said that you can invite two inmates of your choice to come along.”

  “Aa and Bee. That’s who I’d like to come.”

  I was struggling to take everything in. Maybe I was in shock a bit. It wasn’t quite sinking in. Sawat spoke to the Governor’s secretary as he drove along the road, back towards Phuket and then on towards Karon and Patong.

  “Where are we going now Sawat?”

  “I’m taking you to the Jungceylon shopping centre in Patong. You need some new clothes, Steve.”

  “I don’t know if I have enough money and there won’t be much left in my bank account.”

  “Don’t worry Steve, it’s my treat.”