by John Muir
CHAPTER 17
NEWS HEADLINES
Manila, Luzon - Day 2
The morning newspapers briefly reported on page one of the kidnapping of a Japanese industrialist, then referred to page five for more details.
Pater sat in the Swagman dining room. Between brief readings of some articles in the Manila Bulletin, he was enjoying his poached eggs on toast with lots of pepper and excess ketchup.
He had turned over to page five and folded the paper in half, propping it against the ketchup bottle so he could read while he was eating. A photograph of the kidnap victim was partly obscured by the fold in his paper. He picked up the paper and unfolded it to have a look at the full photo.
"Whew. Shit," he exclaimed not realising that his utterance was audible.
"Complaining about the food are you?" It was Ben who had been about to walk past Pater on his way to the restaurant kitchen. "Well no bloody wonder with all that sauce you put on," he went on with a grin.
"No, no," answered Pater. "It’s just that this photo threw me for a second. I thought it was T.A."
"Here, let’s have a look. Yeah, there's quite a bit of a resemblance. Who is it?"
"Some Japanese has got himself kidnapped by some Muslim group. But this happened between Iligan and Marawi. Same island; wrong place. This guy doesn't look very Japanese to me."
"No, not to me either. Probably the wrong photo over the name. Anyway, your friend was heading off to Cagayan de Oro to start with. Going up market a bit while he was there, so he thinks. Gonna stay at the VIP Hotel he said. Stayed there once myself on a golfing jaunt. Acceptable but ordinary."
Ben put his hand to his nose and pushed it flat and grinned. "You know Pater, you could probably get a job with this Government if you looked more like a Filipino."
"Then I'd probably have to shoot the crap out of some corrupt official just to get my own money. No thanks."
Ben nodded and moved off.
Pater decided he would check on each new issue throughout the day as it came out. If this did turn political he just might end up with a call.
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Near Linamon, west of Iligan, Mindanao. - Day 2
Salim had only dozed occasionally during the night. He wanted to be awake when the Hapona recovered consciousness. He wanted to begin taunting him as soon as he could for the Japanese sins and those of his ancestors.
For the present, this Japanese was cheating him by being unconscious. He was robbing Salim of months of pent up revenge by sleeping through this time when he was meant to be suffering retribution.
He was disgusted and repulsed by the Hapona. The smell of his emptied bladder on the floor had meant the clothes worn were impregnated with the smell. The muggy heat accentuated the smell. How dare he piss on the home of this family after what his guards had already done to his wife.
Salim knew he personally needed proper sleep and fresh air. His cousins would be arriving at different times during the day to look at and talk to this Japanese, and to relieve Salim of his vigil. Salim did not expect any trouble. The ankle bracket holding the chain could not be slipped and the floor bolts could only be undone from under the floor which was the ceiling of the vacant and unused part of the house below.
When two of his cousins arrived, Salim decided to undress the Hapona to get rid of the urine smelling clothes. His first thought was to just cut them off, then, he thought the suit, though soiled, might still fetch a reasonable price if cleaned up and sold later.
After undoing the ankle bracket with the help of his cousins, the Hapona was stripped to his underwear. Despite all this movement, the Hapona showed no signs of awareness or awakening.
To rid the urine smell of the underwear, Salim poured diluted antiseptic over them.
His cousins and himself, were both surprised at the hairiness of this Asian. Perhaps the Japanese were different. They all knew that this Japanese was a mixture of many races anyway, including Filipino. But to them he was still the Grandson of the murderer of their ancestors.
As they rolled the Hapona onto a tarpaulin, his cousins examined the injuries. After poking and prodding at the rib, chest and back bruises they looked at the head injuries.
Both cousins nodded and expressed some concern. The face was so swollen that they decided it would be preferable to wash the head with cool water and try to reduce the swelling. There was barely enough gap between the very dry lips to distinguish where the mouth was, although the swelling of the lips would have given away the position of the mouth. The cousins were concerned that the Hapona might have suffered brain damage and be in a permanent coma.
Salim called to his two daughters to fill buckets with water and bring clean rags. When the girls arrived with the required items, he ordered them to carefully wash down the Hapona thoroughly with warm water to clean him. Then use some cold water to reduce the swelling on the head and the bruising on the body. He left the room with his cousins. While they discussed the possible complications that Salim's temper had caused to the plan, the girls began their task.
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Manila, Luzon - Day 2
As each newer edition hit the streets, Pater bought it. He sensed that something was not right.
The stories gave little extra information about the kidnapping until some extra information appeared in an early afternoon edition. In that, a reporter in Cagayan de Oro had done some research behind the story.
The wealthy Japanese plantation and fruit cannery processing plant owner, a Mr Ken Yamada, had been doing business in Cagayan de Oro. On completion of his business he had checked out of the VIP Hotel the previous morning to return to his plantation home near Marawi. The kidnapping had taken place between Iligan and Marawi. The bodies of the driver and one of the bodyguards were found by an abandoned Nissan Patrol belonging to Mr Yamada's company.
The Army, Police and Air Force helicopters were sweeping the area, but felt little could be achieved until some ransom note or other demand had been received.
Pater's senses heightened when he read the name of the hotel. He immediately returned to the Swagman Hotel and discussed his worries with Ben, the manager. Though Ben did not share Pater's concerns, he offered Pater the use of his office and telephone to make any necessary inquiries.
Pater started with a call to the Cagayan de Oro reporter. He had nothing to add to the story printed and new nothing about any 'Americano'.
Next he spoke with the VIP Hotel reception desk. "Yes, Mr Yamada had checked out early the previous morning. We do have a Mr T.A. Cholmondelly-Tapper staying here, but nobody has seen him for a couple of days. He has not taken any meals here for a couple of days. His clothes and suitcases are still in room 308. If he has left he has not paid his account. We are not worried because he has pre-signed a Mastercard voucher."
Pater listened to the information offered and with each word his suspicions seemed to gain ground.
"Have you contacted the Police or filed a missing person report?" asked Pater.
"No sir. We have no reason to do so."
"Has he telephoned anyone at the Hotel to say where he is."
"No sir."
"Well, did he phone anyone while he was in the hotel?"
The clerk excused himself and after a few minutes returned with the room’s telephone records.
"Yes sir."
Pater took down the details after a minor protest from the clerk about the confidentiality of such matters.
"The number he phoned sir appears to be the same number that has been telephoning him every few hours to try and speak with him."
Pater felt this was important and again wrote down the details. After thanking the clerk for his assistance, he telephoned the given number of Nilo in Cagayan de Oro.
Next he called the Cagayan de Oro office of Paradise Plantation. They simply advised that Daniello Seville, the Finance Director, was handling all information about the rumour; but currently he was not available for comment.
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