The Dying Beach (35 page)

She imagined both the Thai and local English-language media would have a field day with a story involving the attempted murder by cobra of a farang. Hell, the international media would probably get in on the act. She could envisage the photo shoot, staged Thai police–style: Choom at a table with his hands cuffed and a nameplate in front of him; the cobra on the floor, teased by Charlie to rear up and flare its hood for the photo; Paul in his boots, wielding a torch, standing alongside Sergeant Yongyuth and pointing to his assailant.

While she might still be required to put in an appearance if the case went to trial, she suspected Sergeant Yongyuth could be relied upon to help minimise her involvement. Jayne's presence would only serve to remind him of his own mistakes. And though he was no brute—his reprimand for implying he might use force to extract a confession still smarting—as a Thai cop, he would be accustomed to the multiple ways in which justice might be served in his country.

It was in both their interests to let Paul take centre stage.

She'd have to tell Paul about Pla's late husband, of course. Chances are it would come out in the investigation, and she didn't want Paul caught off guard. Provided he wasn't too precious about it, she'd suggest he be the one to bring Pla's past to the attention of the cops: to point out how her history as both an environmental activist and a widow might account for her courageous if rash decision to go up against Choom.

Jayne wondered as she closed her notebook and signalled for the bill whether Paul had the stomach to see it through. She'd do her best to brief him on what to expect from the investigation, and she had lawyer friends in Bangkok who could support him during the trial if it came to that.

But the outcome would be beyond her control. The thought made her feel lost and liberated in equal measure.

The morning was hot and damp, hinting of the monsoon to come. To hell with keeping a cool head. She would get through the outstanding tasks in Krabi as quickly as she could, be a pushy foreigner if that's what it took, and get back to Bangkok as soon as possible.

An image came to mind of sitting on the balcony of her Bangkok apartment with Rajiv, watching the monsoon rain fall from the awning in a curtain of water. It would be their first monsoon together. If she played her cards right, the first of many.

Jayne dialled Rajiv's number as she walked, needing to hear his voice. She needed to tell him she was coming home.

A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS

T
he Dying Beach
owes even more to the love and support of my partner and fellow crime writer, Andrew Nette, than my previous two novels, drawing not only on his plotting skills but also on files from his time spent working with Towards Ecological Recovery and Regional Alliance in Bangkok (
www.terraper.org
).

I relied heavily on the TERRA publication
Watershed
for insights into Thai environmental campaigns and the activism of Thai villagers. However, the organisation fabricated for this story, TEDO, is in no way modelled on TERRA, whose staff and volunteers showed us every hospitality during our time in Bangkok.

For their continued support, I'm grateful to Michael Heyward and the talented team at Text Publishing: Mandy Brett, Rachel Shepheard, Kirsty Wilson, Jane Novak, Anne Beilby, Chong Weng Ho and especially Alison Arnold. Caro Cooper provided helpful feedback on an early draft. For her insightful comments and edits on the penultimate draft, sincere thanks to Emma Schwarcz.

In Krabi, thanks to Nattanan (Tina) Tiemlai; Prajuk (Tak) Engchuan, my guide to Neua Khlong district; and Seema Prabhu, author of the
Your Krabi
guide and website (
www.yourkrabi.com
). Thanks to Caroline Deacon and Alison Morris for sharing photos and stories of Krabi in the late 1990s; and to Christian Mortensen for his insights into rock climbing in Railay.

In Nakhon Si Thammarat, thanks to Somchit Nak Padit, my guide to Khanom district; and Goong Nang at the Shadow Puppet Museum for explaining the role of the joker in the
nang talung
.

Thanks to the author/blogger known as Kaewmala for assistance with Thai idioms. Her book
Sex Talk
(Heaven Lake Press, 2009) proved a valuable resource in writing this novel, as did
Heart Talk
by Christopher G. Moore (Heaven Lake Press, third edition, 2006).

For kind assistance with Thai–English translations and transliterations,
khop khun na ka
to Premrudee (Eang) Daoroung and Kathryn Sweet.

For legal advice, I remain grateful to Richard Fleming.

I'm indebted to Richard Barrow and the team at Thai Blogs for insights into Thai life and culture (
www.thai-blogs.com
) and also to those at the Paknam Web Forums who responded to my questions about idioms, superstitions and fish (
www.thailandqa.com/forum/forum.php
).

Jordyn Redwood is a suspense novelist and nurse whose blog, Redwood's Medical Edge, is designed to help authors write medically accurate fiction (
jordynredwood.blogspot.com.au
). In responding to my query about what a dead body looks like after twelve hours in the water, she was assisted by Chief Deputy Coroner Charles Brining. My thanks to them both.

In researching this novel, I read a translation of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand's Environmental Impact Assessment of the Krabi Thermal Power Plant Project (1998). While this project provided inspiration for the one in the novel, the experts and villagers and the consultations between them are all products of my imagination. Likewise, the Krabi Golf Driving Range should not be mistaken for the Scenic Mountain Driving Range invented for this story.

While the Krabi Snake Farm is real, and I base my description of the King Cobra Show on experience, all characters and events associated with the snake farm of this novel are fictitious.

As always, I take responsibility for any inaccuracies, not to mention the outrage of setting a crime novel in one of the most beautiful parts of the planet.

Finally, thanks to my daughter Natasha for being such great company on all our travels.