Everyone Burns (9 page)

I strolled back out onto the porch. The old man had not moved and seemed unconcerned with the presence of a stranger.

“This water’s very welcome,” I said. “My name is Braddock.”

“You speak Thai well for a
farang,” he responded. “I am Yai.”

From this vantage point, the sea was visible beyond the greenery and the roofs of Lamai. The abandoned development and the concrete road were hidden by the coconut trees, much to my disappointment. There w
as no other building close by that I could see.

“You have a good view of the sea from here,” I remarked.

He chuckled at some private joke, and said, “I like to look at the sea, yes.”

“
It’s unusual to find a Thai who likes sunbathing.”

He shrugged. “I am an old man, Mr
. Braddock. I want to feel the sun on my body while I can. I do not know how much longer I have to enjoy it.”

The world was quiet
while I sipped the water and thought about what to say next.

“I used to be a boat-builder,” he said, breaking the silence, “
but I cannot do that anymore. Now I carve miniature boats for the tourists.”

“You live alone? It must get
very lonely up here.”

He shrugged. “I like the quiet. My grand-daughter brings me food and supplies and cleans up. No other islanders will live around here. They think the place is cursed.”

“Why is that?”

A look of sadness flickered across his face. “Some thirteen years ago a man died in the coconut grove. Local people think his demon haunts the trees. And there have been things that have happened since.” He paused. “You saw the half-built houses?”

“Yes.”

“A businessman bought the land cheap because nobody else wanted it. He thought he would make a lot of money from the foreigners. But from the start there were problems. Local people were reluctant to do the building work. Two workers were bitten by snakes while they were clearing the land. Then a labourer died on the site of a heart attack
. Finally the businessman went bankrupt, and the project stopped. More bad things have happened recently. Everyone thinks it is the work of the demon. You know we Thais are superstitious. You will not find anyone around here after the sun has gone down.”

“Yet you are not afraid to live here.”

“If there is a demon he will not harm me.” He paused again, and then said sadly, “The man who died was my son.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for your loss.”

At this point, I thought the old man was going to break down, but he choked back the emotion and recovered himself.

“So, whether or not he is a demon, I should like to meet him. That’s why I live here; in the hope that he will come to me, one last time. So that I can comfort his restless spirit. I have been waiting for thirteen years. I will go on waiting.”

“But you’ve never seen anything?” I asked rather lamely.

The old man laughed suddenly. “That would be difficult.” He removed his sunglasses and showed me his opaque eyes. “
As you see, Mr. Braddock, I am blind.”

I tried to hide my shock, then realised I did not need to.

“Cataracts?” I said.

“Yes, cataracts.”

“You know there is a simple operation –”

He interrupted me with a wave of the hand, and put on his glasses. “Who can afford such things? At my age, it would be a waste of money. Better that my grand-daughter has whatever money we make. My only regret is that I have not seen her since she grew up. Although my hands tell me her face is beautiful.”

We let the words float in the air awhile. Then I said gently, “Yai, I am not exactly here on a social visit. I am a private investigator and I am looking into some recent events that took place nearby.” He was silent. “I am not the police,” I said as reassuringly as I could. More silence. “You mentioned some bad things that happened in the grove recently,” I prompted.

“Yes,” he said eventually.

“What do you know about them?”

He sighed, and his small body seemed to shrink further.

“The police came to see me three times,” he said. “The first time was about three months ago; then twice in the last few days. Different policemen. They told me not to talk to anyone about it.”

“I can imagine. But it’s OK. I already know. Two dead men have been found in the grove.”

He nodded. “My grand-daughter found the second one. I don’t know who found the first. The police questioned her too. She was very frightened.”

“Yai,” I said softly coming close to the old man, “
do you think your grand-daughter would talk to me?”

“I don’t think she will be able to help you, Mr
. Braddock. And I cannot either. I heard nothing.” He snorted bitterly, “Obviously I saw nothing.”

“Nonetheless, I would like to talk to her. With your permission
, of course. I swear I will not frighten her.”

He thought about it.

“I could meet her here, if you prefer. I would not ask if I did not think it important.”

Finally he shrugged. “I will speak to her, but I cannot promise anything. It is her decision.
”

I put a card into his hand. “Thank you. Please ask her to call me
soon. In the next day or so if possible.”

I put the cup back in his shack and left him
sitting there like the hero of Eliot’s
Gerontion
: the old man in the dry month waiting for rain. Except that Yai was not waiting for rain. He was waiting for something altogether different.

*       *       *       *       *

Charoenkul’s house is on the hillside above Bophut, on the north of the island and close to the Samui Golf Club. It is an impressive, two-storey villa with well-kept grounds and an air of superiority not unlike that of its owner. Clearly it cost more than an honest copper could afford.

The trip there from Lamai was quick, mainly because PC was driving; and by the urgency of his manner I took it that we were working to the Chief’s tee-off time.

My companions stayed in the car while I was shown into the sanctum by some lady-retainer. Kat Charoenkul was pouring tea.

“Ah, Mr
. Braddock,” she said rising and greeting me in the grand European manner, “It has been a long time. How are you?”

“I’m well thank you, Mrs
. Charoenkul.”

As always, she looked like she had just stepped out of a beauty salon. Her hair was not the usual Thai black
but coloured sandy-brown, and cut in a style that suited her exquisite cheekbones and Modigliani-like features. Her sky-blue dress hugged that toned body like it did not want to let go. And who could blame it. It made me want to lie on the grass and look up at the blue sky above me. Actually, it made me want to lie on the grass and look up at that sky-blue dress above me; but I needed to keep those thoughts out of my head.

“What happened to your face?
” she asked indicating the scar under my eye.

“Occupational hazard.”

“Some bar girl’s fingernail, perhaps?” she suggested, a mischievous smile playing around her red lips.

Knowing I may only have a moment before Charoenkul appeared, I dropped the formality. “Listen Kat,” I whispered urgently, “
something has happened. I need to talk to you. Alone. Can you meet me somewhere this evening?”

“Not this evening, no. We have a dinner engagement. What is it?”

“I can’t talk about it now. But we
need
to talk, trust me.”

“A mystery, Mr
. Braddock?” she smiled laconically. “How intriguing.”

Before I could say anything further, Charoenkul arrived, looking dapper in his golf gear.

“Ah, Braddock, good. You’re later than I expected. Let’s go into the garden.”

“I was just about to offer our guest something to drink, darling,” protested Kat.

“No time. I have to be at the Club for tee-off on the hour. If I’m late it will be very embarrassing. Come on, Braddock.” The Chief swept outside and I followed in his wake.

“We’ll have some tea after you have finished, Mr
. Braddock,” Kat called after us, “and I apologise for my husband’s bad manners.”

The Chief led me into his
sala which was furnished with large wicker chairs.

“We can talk here,” he said. “So what do you have to tell me?”

“First of all, let me say this would have been a more useful exercise if I’d seen the reports beforehand.”

“Yes, yes,” he replied impatiently
. “Just talk.”

I tried to arrange my thoughts into some kind of order.

“Obviously I can’t talk about the body or the method of killing, but there are one or two interesting things that strike me. The first is the location itself. Local people steer clear of it because it has an unsavoury reputation. There’s a superstition about an evil spirit which is reputed to haunt the place. That suggests the killer may have some very specific local knowledge: he knew it was unlikely anyone would be around there, particularly at night. But why use exactly the same location for the second victim?”

Charoenkul didn’t respond. He waited for me to go on. So I did.

“Well, one plausible explanation is that our man is just stupid and unimaginative. Another possibility is that, having seen the first murder go unreported and pretty much uninvestigated, the killer felt confident or arrogant enough to repeat his modus operandi.”

“I trust you are
not suggesting the Samui Police Force is responsible for the second murder,” Papa Doc said flatly.

“I’m not suggesting anything, Chief. I’m just exploring the possibilities,” I remarked breezily.

“You are also assuming that both murders were done by the same person.”

“I’m assuming a lot of things until I’ve seen those files. It would be quite some coincidence, though, if these murders are not connected, don’t you think?”

He relented. “Fair enough. What else?”

“I’m sure I’m not telling you anything you didn’t already know –”

“Never mind about that. Incidentally, I didn’t know about the local superstition. How did you find that out?”

“From an old man who lives in a shack nearby.”

“The blind man?” He snorted. “He didn’t mention that to us.”

“He probably didn’t want you to think he was crazy as well as blind.”

“Perhaps,” he said, not convinced. “Did he tell you it was his grand-daughter that found Boehme’s body?”

“Yes.”

“Do you want me to have her picked up so you can talk to her?”

“No thanks.” I didn’t want Charoenkul’s goons scaring the girl again. “I’ve already made arrangements myself to see her.”

“As you wish. What else?”

“I’m curious about how the victims got there. Whether they travelled independently or with their killer. It’s not exactly within walking distance of anywhere, and not somewhere you would go unless you had a specific reason.”

He nodded.

“Let me study the files, try and put some ideas together and get back to you. Otherwise it’s just guesswork. I also want to go back to the coconut grove after dark. I might be missing something important seeing it in daylight.”

“Very well.”

“I’d also like to speak to your original investigating officer, since I can’t very well talk to Katchai, and Chaldrakun and Tathip don’t know anything.”

Charoenkul shook his head slowly. “I’m afraid that would not be a good idea. My investigating officer has become far too cosy with the Surat Thani team. His discretion may be compromised. Sorry, Braddock, but I cannot afford the risk of his talking to you.” The Chief sighed. “It is a great shame. I fear my officer’s promotion prospects may be damaged after Katchai’s team have left the island. Anyway,” he went on brightly, “his work has been fully documented, and the files will be in your hands tomorrow.” He consulted his watch. “I have to go. We’ll talk again soon.”

I made to rise, but he indicated for me to remain in my chair.

“No, please stay. My wife seems very anxious to give you some tea before you leave, so you shouldn’t disappoint her. You must have bewitched her with your English charm, Braddock,” he said. “I wonder whether it is safe for me to leave her alone with you.” His mouth was smiling, but the eyes were cold.

I began to mutter something self-deprecating, but he was already going. “I look forward to our next conversation,” he called back over his shoulder.

Inscrutable.

I called Da on my cell
phone to let her know I’d be coming back to the office soon. She informed me I had a new-client appointment the next morning (“So don’t be late”), and that in addition Sinclair had called in to see me.

“I told him you were out on a case. He was quite insistent, even wanted your home address.”

“The cheeky bastard.”

“Anyway, he asked you to call him urgently. I can give you his number now if you like.”