The perfect Way is without difficulty.
—ZEN POEM
You never know how a hunt will end until you’ve caught your prey or lost him forever. As this book goes to press, I’ve discovered a third way my hunt for Steven Wong could end. Canada now considers heroin trafficking to be a “victimless crime.” After an accused heroin trafficker has been on the run for 10 or more years, the Canadian Department of Justice asks itself whether it is worth the time and expense to keep the charges active. Never mind Interpol’s advice to its 181 member countries—in Canada, trafficking cases against successful fugitives are sometimes stayed after a decade. The criminal wins and the justice system admits defeat. The gangster gets his impunity.
On December 4, 2003, Steve won: his charges were stayed. At some time in the future, then, he could go on-line and find his mug missing from Interpol’s website. In the midst of a drug deal he could place a call from Manila or Tokyo and learn that Canada’s unofficial statute of limitations has kicked in for him. He could decide to announce he’s had amnesia for a dozen years, come home, and start life again as a respectable citizen. In which case I could catch him without catching him. Then he and I could sit down in his house and start all over again.