by John Muir
CHAPTER 18
GATHERING SUPPORT
Paradise Plantation, East of Iligan, Mindanao - Day 2
Yamada had already organised bulldozers and earthmoving equipment before he got the information about his kidnapping. They were to begin clearing an area of rain forest near the three large rocks he had recently located. The area was a little less than a kilometre from the packing sheds and nipa hut where he was now hiding.
The pretext for doing the basic ground clearing work was quite simple. The large area needed to be cleared for plantation of pineapple and mango in line with expanding company production.
According to the notes and records of his Grandfather, this area was the main site of hidden treasure. About 40% of the total war-time booty had been quickly buried around these rocks before the Japanese Army had to retreat. All those Filipinos, and some of his own soldiers who had assisted in the burial of the treasure, had been eliminated before he left the area. Then to try and ensure that none of the Filipino helpers had somehow managed to tell their families of what they suspected had been buried, Colonel Toshio Yamada eliminated all of their family members as well.
Because of the rapid regrowth of rain forest and the inaccuracy of the maps drawn, the three surprisingly conspicuous rocks had remained hidden from easy view for over 50 years. Yet they were in an area that both his Father and Grandfather had already searched. They simply never located the three large rocks.
Once all the ground cover had been removed, it would be easier for metal detectors to pick up good returns on the ground sweeps.
Yamada expected the ground clearing to take only five to seven days. He would only be able to use his metal detector at night. He could not risk being seen. He was supposed to be dead or in the hands of the kidnappers. Each night he would try and sweep the area cleared by the workers that day.
His family, still unaware that he was not in fact dead or the victim of kidnapping; had been telephoned by Ueda and told to return to Japan, supposedly for their own safety, until the body had been found: or a ransom demand, if one was received, had been settled.
Ueda had also contacted Daniello Seville, the company's finance director, to establish links for any questions about the attack on Yamada's Nissan. This was an area Ueda knew might prove difficult. Daniello Seville always considered Ueda an intruder into the financial workings of the company. In the absence of a supposed dead or kidnapped Yamada, Seville might choose this time for a power struggle.
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As far as Yamada was concerned, once he thought they had located all of the cache, Ueda would arrange for a digger to be left on the site. Ueda would also park a particular truck on site that the company owned. He had built some ingenious secret panels into the body work.
Yamada knew he just needed to stay out sight until they got whatever treasure they could unearth into the 'special' truck. Once that was done, he would ship the truck, as is, to Japan.
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Manila - Day 2
Ben, the Swagman manager, referred to his hotel log for details supplied when T.A. brought Marivic into the hotel. Pater cross checked that information in a long telephone call to Nilo in Cagayan de Oro. Though some of Nilo's information was only reasonable guesswork, it had resulted in Pater waiting where he now was.
Pater, San Miguel bottle in hand, watched the girls twist their bodies around the fireman's poles suggestively. He was sitting in the 'girlie bar' that Nilo had seen T.A. enter while he had been selling his 'Rolex' watches. Now, Pater was waiting and hoping that the dancer Marivic would in fact perform that night.
He thought about how surprised Nilo had been about his call. Surprised and pleased. Nilo too had suspected something strange had happened to T.A. beyond his initial disappointment that T.A. had not returned his calls.
Nilo too, on seeing the newspaper report and similarities in the photo, tied in the events with the brief conversation he had when T.A. told him about meeting a Japanese.
Even though he suspected something must have happened to T.A., he did not know what to do about it. Hearing from Pater meant he could now be of help to someone who might be able to help his 'Americano' friend.
Pater had to check out the validity of this dancer. She might know something of T.A's plans and intentions of which neither Pater nor Nilo was aware.
It was reasonably crowded, including some servicemen from an American destroyer and some partially intoxicated loud mouthed tourists in their mid to late twenties. From their accents Pater took them to be from Eastern Europe, though exactly where he was not sure, he thought he could pick up the occasional Serbian word.
When she came on stage, Pater found it difficult to believe that it was the same person that he had seen T.A. with a few days earlier. The face looked different, but then she was made up to look different for this dancing routine. But it was definitely the same girl T.A. had been with at the Swagman Hotel.
As she was dancing he was trying to think how he could broach the subject with her about T.A's apparent disappearance. Would she want to be co-operative and helpful? After all, according to T.A., the parting had not been a happy one.
Pater watched as Marivic stepped off the stage with another of the dancers and down the steps at the side. They both walked toward the group that Pater had picked as being from Eastern Europe.
He cursed to himself for not acting quicker. He should have told the barmaid earlier that he wanted to talk to Marivic. He did not have time to waste and yet he knew he had already wasted too much of it.
He hoped Marivic would choose not to go with these tourists. The final selection of a partner was the right of the bar girls. They were free to make the final decision on whether or not to accompany a client, even if the client had picked them.
It seemed that language was a problem in their communicating what was required in payment. One of the men behind Marivic had begun squeezing her buttocks as though testing a fruit. She did not like it and turned around to face him with a scowl on her face. The others in the group of five laughed, as did Marivic's co-dancer.
Pater hoped this would be enough for Marivic to decline the offer and return to the stage. However the pawing stopped and discussion seemed to continue in sign language. They seemed to finally agree on payment and Marivic and her friend turned to walk into the side room to get changed and leave.
Pater knew he had to act quickly to get Marivic's attention or to get her to change her mind.
Firstly he went to the door and spoke in Tagalog with the guards, handing them a wad of notes without even having the time to count them. Next he went toward the door that Marivic had gone through. One of the guards from the doorway accompanied him, brandishing his home brand rifle.
The barmaid was about to protest Pater entering the side-room. The guard muttered something to her and she stood back, watching silently.
When the two girls saw Pater enter, they let out a little scream, then, saw the guard had obviously approved the action.
Pater began to talk to her in Tagalog then switched to his more comfortable English.
"I need your help. A friend of mine and yours is in trouble."
"That's a new line," she responded.
"I'm talking about T.A."
At the mention of T.A. he saw the hurt expression appear on her face and sadness in her eyes.
"I think he's got into some trouble in Cagayan de Oro. I need help from anyone who knows him by sight and who thinks they can help."
Pater explained what he thought might have happened to T.A.
"Is there anything else that might help us find out where he might have gone or who he might have been with if he wasn't with the Japanese?" asked Pater.
"No. But he did promise he was going to deliver some presents that I asked him to deliver to my family."
"How can I find out if he has."
"I'd have to telephone a neighbour of my family to find out if he has been there."
"Can we do that now?"
"But what a
bout the men waiting? They have paid the bar fine."
Pater looked at the guard and reverted to Tagalog.
"The guard says there is no other way out. He will tell them that I am your husband and I have just found out that you work here and have come to take you home."
"The only problem is that they don't speak English. So they won't understand," answered Marivic.
Pater did not want any violence in the bar. If the police became involved it could be difficult for him.
"O.K. then, just straight out through the front door and hope we can get out before the customers know what has happened."
The guard suggested a distraction to take the customers attention away from the changing room. He would arrange a distraction.
The guard told them to get ready to leave as soon as the commotion began. He left the changing room and went to opposite side of the bar from where Pater and Marivic needed to make their dash.
A loud voice started yelling in Tagalog at the two dancers furthest away from the changing room. The two dancers were stunned and mystified. The guard's loud abuse continued. The attention of the customers was turned toward what was happening.
Pater grabbed Marivic's arm and they made a quick dash for the door. Having made it, they continued running even when they got outside.
Pater grabbed the first empty taxi he saw and they quickly clambered in the back seat, to the shock and surprise of the driver. It was not that Pater wanted the transport, he wanted Marivic to be hidden from anyone running out after them.
"How the hell is the guard going to explain that abuse to the girls?" asked Pater.
"They'll understand later when he explains it all to them, though he will have to soften it with money."
"Don't worry. I’ve given him plenty of that to go around," said Pater.
Pater asked the driver to take them to the Swagman. Within minutes they were there.
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Linamon, west of Iligan, Mindanao - Day 2
The work that Salim Hassan's two daughters had done had slightly reduced the facial swelling. Still, Salim was frustrated by the Hapona's continued coma.
This time he sent a follow up messages to the newspaper office in Iligan, telling them to contact the cannery company and demand a 200 million peso payment for the release of the Japanese. The instruction for the payment of the money would be forwarded later. Salim knew he did not understand finance and did not know whether what he was asking was too much or too little.
Some of the cousins, and friends, who had helped him in the kidnap, were militant members of some of the Muslim splinter groups. He had needed their help because of the weapons they were able to get. They would be expecting some financial reward. Most of his other cousins though had to be content with using machetes in the attack.
Salim felt bad about those who had been wounded, but there was no serious injury from which the men hurt would not recover.
The cannery response to his demand was to be printed in a particular way in the newspaper which he had now begun to read daily. He had seen this done in one of the 'Americano' movies he had seen that had subtitles.
Salim was feeling cheated in many ways by this Japanese. He knew Yamada spoke many languages including several Filipino languages. But Salim felt that this Japanese had treated him as an inferior because he only knew his local dialect and Visayan. Some of Salim's cousins spoke many Filipino languages and his cousin Omar was fluent in English. His favourite cousin, Omar Osani, was often used by the local council to translate English into Visayan, and vice versa, even though Visayan was not meant to be used in any government documents.
He envied Omar, but with a love greater than that which he had for his real brother.
Salim wanted to hurt this Japanese in as many ways as possible. He had originally planned to kidnap and kill Yamada's wife and children so Yamada might feel the pain Salim had suffered. His cousin Omar warned him against that because of possible reprisals by Yamada's wife's family, who were well respected Filipinos in the Lanao Del Sur region. No amount of secrecy would have been able to keep the identity of the perpetrators of that crime, from her family. So he abandoned those plans.
It was even a risk doing what he had done. But there was more understanding of his revenge motive if he kept it with just the Japanese as his target. It would be treated by others as if he had a just cause at the right target.
Still the Japanese slept. Still Salim kept his vigil, and would do so all night. If by the morning the Japanese had not recovered, Salim would sleep for the day and let his daughters keep watch to alert him of any possible changes. He made sure the daughters kept their malongs and head scarves handy in case the Hapona woke up. Then they would have to cover their hair and bodies immediately. Though, if he was going to kill him, it probably did not matter much if they did not cover themselves.
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Manila - Day 2
Pater expanded on what Nilo and he knew, and on what they both guessed might have happened to T.A.. Marivic sat and listened without interrupting.
He looked at her as he waited for a response. Her eyes reflected sadness and concern as she looked past Pater and toward the blank wall inside the office.
"I'll do everything I can to help him," she finally replied.
Pater looked at her and nodded. “We’ll have to fly to Cagayan de Oro.”
"And so will I."
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