CHATEAU OF SURPRISE
Cavalier stood to take a phone picture of the stunning chateaux looming at a bend in the canal about a hundred and thirty metres away as they chugged slowly towards them. Cavalier zoomed as close as he could with the limited range. He stopped, lowered his phone, stepped to the front of the boat and stood on a seat for greater elevation. He turned to Jacinta.
‘Could I have those glasses I gave you, please?’ he asked.
Jacinta frowned and handed them to him.
Cavalier put them on. He picked up movement in the wooded, sloping garden that ran from Chateau William’s lawn about forty metres to a small, wooden jetty.
‘Anything the matter?’ Jacinta asked.
‘Does your French archaeologist friend normally play hide and seek behind trees when guests are arriving?’
‘What?’
He handed her the glasses. He watched her reaction. She turned to him.
‘I swear, I don’t know …’
Cavalier slipped the Glock 17 from a side pocket in his backpack.
‘How many of them …’ Cavalier asked nervously, ‘police? Did Makanathan put you up to this?’
‘You said you trusted me!’ Jacinta said, a slash of fear mingled with anger in her expression. ‘I tell you, I had nothing to do with this.’
‘Sit over there,’ Cavalier ordered, motioning to the seat next to the pilot, who had slowed the boat to a near standstill from the shock of seeing the weapon. Cavalier searched the garden again, and then lifted his sights to see the first level of the chateau. He adjusted the vision. He could make out Makanathan at a balcony with another woman.
‘Makanathan is there,’ he said. He turned to the pilot, pointed to wooden staircase leading to a house on stilts, and in Thai said tersely, ‘Pull in there.’
‘She must have monitored my call to you this morning,’ Jacinta said. ‘She could have tapped my phone. My secure cell is not working. I used an old one to speak to you. She must have monitored it.’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ Cavalier said. ‘You two get off here.’
‘Victor, I swear on my father’s grave,’ she said in Thai, ‘I had nothing to do with any police trap!’
Cavalier motioned for her and the pilot to jump off the boat. When they were on the staircase, he manoeuvred the boat back along the canal. He used the glasses to scour the chateau again. Figures were darting from the garden.
In a few minutes he was out of the canal and on the river, unsure where he should attempt to make land. The boat was very slow. He eased into the river’s centre, close to four anchored pleasure boats, about a hundred metres apart, where he could see people congregated on the decks. Bunting, balloons and ribbons festooned the deck areas of the first boat, indicating some sort of celebration was in progress. A large sign hung over the side proclaimed: ‘We Stand UNITED. Ten Year at the Top of the Valley.’
As he drew closer, he could hear a band playing. He put away his gun, drove to the forty-five-metre-long boat. He could hear the band playing a dirgy version of The Godfather movie theme. He called in Thai to one of the crew members in a smart navy and white suit and bow tie, who was near the railing. The crew member looked down.
‘Sorry, I’m late,’ Cavalier called, ‘could you throw me a rope ladder?’
The man looked shocked and waved him away. One of the tourists was leaning on the railing, a glass in one hand and a cigarette in the other. He bent forward and yelled to Cavalier in an American accent: ‘Hey, Buddy! You with the group?’
‘Which group are you?’
‘United Tech.’
Cavalier nodded, pulled his wallet from his pocket and waved a piece of paper from it.
The man looked momentarily perplexed but told another crewman to throw him a rope ladder. Cavalier grabbed the ladder and pushed the little outboard boat off with its motor running. It drifted down the river towards the second tourist boat.
Cavalier climbed aboard. The American handed him a drink and guided him to about a hundred guests on the deck, who were sipping cocktails and eating pre-lunch snacks. Judging from the noise, the conviviality had been going on for some time. The American introduced himself just as two police helicopters flew over the ship and distracted them. Cavalier was about to introduce himself as Claude Garriaud, but checked himself, and said, ‘I am Laurent’.
‘Are you with the French franchise?’ the American asked after picking his French accent.
Cavalier nodded, apologised for being late and used the traffic as an excuse.
‘Jeez, Laurent!’ the American said with a laugh, ‘you gotta allow for an extra hour in Bangkok!’ He looked over-refreshed as he took a glass of red wine from a passing waiter’s tray. The ship rocked a little and began to move.
‘We’re away!’ the American said.
‘It’s a four-hour trip, isn’t it?’
‘One goddam way, Buddy! It’ll be at least eight hours before we dock back at the hotel.’ He downed his drink and looked for a waiter to take another glass.
‘Where you staying?’ the American asked, slurring his words.
‘The Shangri-La.’
‘We all are! When did you arrive?’ The American looked at his backpack and laughed. ‘Travelling light?’
‘Got in only an hour ago, from Paris. Knew I was late. Hired the boat and here I am.’
‘Like your initiative! The French director is here somewhere,’ the American said, tiptoeing to look around the crowd. ‘I’ll find him for you.’
‘Can I use the bathroom?’
‘Of course. It’s below.’ The American pointed to a staircase leading to a lower deck. ‘Throw your pack down in any of the cabins. It’s perfectly safe here.’ He winked at Cavalier. ‘If you get lucky you can take a gal down there. All the Thais on board are hookers!’
‘Thank you, Monsieur,’ Cavalier said. He excused himself and descended the stairs. He found a cabin, locked the door and removed the backpack. He looked out a porthole and could see police helicopters flying low over the line of the four tourist ships, which were all pulling up anchor and sailing off.
After Cavalier’s boat had been moving a few minutes, he noticed a police launch powering along near the riverbank. It stopped near the little outboard Cavalier had been on. He watched until they were out of sight and then lay back on a bunk bed. He was too uptight to sleep. After an hour, in which his nerves subsided, not even the sound of dancing feet and the clunky band playing old rock numbers could stop him from slumbering off.
*
Jacinta’s host Pia laid out breakfast and coffee for her and Makanathan in the beautifully groomed Chateau William gardens. Waiters hovered. One police car was parked near a garage. Two cops were outside their car, waiting for instructions from Makanathan.
‘Police choppers are searching for him on the river,’ she reported, ‘and two cars are driving back to the Shangri-La.’ She paused to stare at Jacinta. ‘Your friend will be apprehended by the evening. It would be advisable for you to disclose what you know about him.’
Jacinta’s expression remained enigmatic.
‘Had you known Monsieur Garriaud before the trip?’ Makanathan asked.
‘Azelaporn said you slept with him.’
‘That’s not true, although he ordered me to.’
‘Why did he do that?
‘Oh, he suspected him.’
‘Of what?’
‘Better ask him.’ Jacinta shrugged.
Makanathan paused again. She ruffled her spiked hair and sighed. ‘Did you suspect Monsieur Garriaud of being an assassin?’
‘No. Azelaporn is paranoid.’
‘I hate the man. He was very rude to me, as was that horrible Cortez fellow. I can’t understand why someone with your talents would work for Azelaporn. He always made it difficult when we had to liaise over a crime.’
Jacinta showed no reaction. Makanathan sipped her coffee.
‘That Australian fellow Dempster helped you fight off the terrorists, did he not?’ she asked.
‘He assisted me, that’s true.’
‘Was he a good shot?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘But you killed the attackers.’
‘You should be thankful he was on board,’ Jacinta said, with a measure of indignation. ‘He helped stop those suicide bombers from destroying the train, and everyone in it.’
‘Of course, I am grateful to you—’
‘You and your husband were the most senior Thais on the Express,’ Jacinta interrupted. ‘We all know how ISIS operates. You would have been killed first. The Filipino offshoot always decapitates the most important victims first.’
Makanathan swallowed involuntarily.
‘Do you think the American Blenkiron could have murdered Cortez?’ she asked, trying to sound unperturbed.
‘I don’t see how it could be possible.’
Makanathan pulled a face of agreement.
‘Why did you contact Monsieur Claude Garriaud after the train trip was over?’
‘I like him. I like him very much. I wanted to see him as a friend.’
‘If he is innocent, as I believe you are, why did he escape just now?’
‘I have no idea.’
‘Hmm,’ Makanathan said. Her phone rang. She stood up, mouthed ‘excuse me’ to Jacinta and wandered a few metres away in the garden. Jacinta heard one end of the conversation.
‘Where was it? … Disappeared! … You’re not saying he went into the water? … I’ll be there in half an hour.’
She rang off and signalled to the policemen at the car.
‘I may need to chat with you again,’ she said shaking hands with Jacinta. She nodded a farewell and walked up to the police car. She was soon driven off at speed and Jacinta could see her in the backseat on the phone again.