“I never wanted to come between you and your friends,” Axel had said as she left his hotel room. She would give him the benefit of the doubt on that one, she decided. How could he have known things would work out this way? But to get so close to her and not to give her the slightest inkling of what he was up to? He had come into the gallery looking for smugglers. That’s essentially what he’d said. They were on a list and he was checking everybody on the list. His interest in collecting had been a ruse so he had a reason to come back. He was good, she conceded. They hadn’t had a clue.
But what about those mysterious phone calls he was always getting that he took in private? He said they were business. Now she knew they were probably police business. Interpol business. That annoyed her when she thought about it because it meant he was conspiring against her — against the gallery, at least — in front of her. Damn! The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. His behaviour was totally duplicitous. Had he been honest about anything? He had been conducting an investigation, not forging a relationship. They had been at cross purposes the whole time.
He had said he loved her. Should she demand he prove it? Should she call his bluff? Find out for once and for all? Either he loved her and wanted to be with her, or he had been using her and would find a way out. One way or the other, she needed to know.
But first she had to see what she could do about Dinah and Angela. They were being held, but had not yet been charged. Henry Fong, the lawyer who Maris had called, told her they were in a detention centre near the Polo Club. He could arrange bail, he said, but they could be held for forty-eight hours without charges being laid, so there wasn’t much he could do until then. If charges were not laid after forty-eight hours, they would be let go. Best to wait, he said. In the meantime, he had arranged a visitor’s pass for Maris so she could talk to them, but not both of them at the same time. Maris said she wanted to see Dinah first, then Angela.
Dinah was a mess. She knew enough about the Singapore prison system to be afraid. She told Maris not to be surprised if they locked her up and threw away the key. “And I haven’t even done anything,” she said.
“I know,” said Maris, “and Henry’s doing everything he can to get you out of here. Just try not to go crazy. We’ll get you out.”
“How could Axel have done this to us?” she said. “I thought he was our friend. I thought you and he were … you know … close.”
“So did I,” said Maris. “I don’t know what to think now. I keep going over everything in my mind until I’m more confused than ever. The bottom line is that he’s a cop, Dinah, and duty comes first. He told me he’d been working on this case for a couple of years. He didn’t know anything about the gallery, just that it was on a list of possibilities that he was checking.” She was shaking her head. “I just can’t believe that this is happening.”
“Believe it,” said Dinah. “And be glad you’re on that side of the Plexiglas.”
Maris smiled. “I’d trade places with you if I could,” she said. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Have you talked to Angela yet?”
“No. I’m seeing her next,” said Maris. “Do you think she knows anything about this?”
“I have no idea,” said Dinah. “For all I know, she’s the mastermind behind the whole thing. You know Angela, which means, I suppose, that neither of us knows anything about Angela. She comes and she goes. The shipments come in and the shipments go out. Your guess is as good as mine.”
“Don’t worry, Dinah. You’ll be released. They won’t find anything and they won’t be able to hold you.”
Dinah nodded but she looked defeated. “I hope I can stand another twenty-four hours of this. They keep asking me the same questions, over and over. And I keep giving them the same answers: I don’t know anything. I don’t know what they’re talking about. I didn’t see anything.”
“Hang in,” said Maris. She couldn’t think of anything else to say.
Angela was cool and calm when Maris saw her. Even her hair was neatly combed, whereas Dinah looked like she hadn’t slept or eaten. Angela looked the same as she had when Axel had taken her in for questioning. Her clothes weren’t even wrinkled. She didn’t say anything to Maris at first; she just watched and listened.
“Henry’s doing everything he can to get you and Dinah out of here,” she said. “They only have forty-eight hours to charge you, then they have to let you go.”
Angela nodded. “Dinah didn’t know anything about it,” she said. “They have to let her go.”
Maris stared at her. “What are you saying?”
Angela looked straight at her. “If they charge me,” she said, “I will say nothing. It will be up to them to prove their case. And that will be difficult.”
“Are you saying you knew about this?” said Maris.
“I’m not saying one way or the other. But Dinah definitely knew nothing about this. Don’t let them railroad her, Maris. Talk to your friend” — she emphasized the word friend — “and tell him they have to let her go.”
“I don’t understand,” said Maris. “You knew about the smuggling?”
“I’m not saying I did and I’m not saying I didn’t. All I will say is that there are some very powerful people behind it and it’s unlikely they’ll be caught. It’s unfortunate that Peter discovered what he did.”
“So Peter didn’t know anything about it,” said Maris.
“Peter didn’t know anything about it.”
“Thank you, Angela. I needed to know that. But it got him killed, didn’t it?”
Angela nodded.
“Why are you telling me this?” Maris said.
Angela shrugged. “A moment of weakness,” she said. “It won’t happen again.”
Maris closed her eyes. She felt dizzy and knew if she stood up, she would probably pass out. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. Angela was still looking at her with the same unreadable expression. In that moment, she realized that Axel had been right. And the letter from Peter that she had given to Simon Lam had merely confirmed his suspicions and sped up the investigation. Had she made a terrible mistake or would things have turned out the same way without the letter? She would probably never know.
Maris took a taxi back to Dinah’s apartment. There was nothing to do but wait.
Why? Why had Angela done it? Why had she risked everything, including Peter’s life, as it turned out? The money? Had it been worth it? She thought of a hundred questions she wanted to ask Angela, but it was too late. She wouldn’t be able to ask them now. Angela had probably said all she was going to say. And why had she said it to Maris? That was one of the hundred questions. Why me?
Maris managed to sleep a few hours that night but she was awake at dawn pacing the apartment and drinking coffee. Her insides were in a knot and she threw up the coffee, which made her feel even worse. She found some cooked rice in Dinah’s fridge and heated it in the microwave. She poured some milk over it and ate a couple of spoonfuls. Coffee on an empty stomach; she should have known better.
At ten o’clock, Henry Fong called. “They’ve released Dinah,” he said, “but Angela’s been charged with smuggling illegal contraband into and out of the country, and as a possible accessory in Peter’s murder. They know she’s not the big fish, but she’s not talking. It’s probably not worth her life,” he said.
A few hours later, Axel brought Dinah home. She hugged Maris and burst into tears. “Come on,” said Maris. “Get out of those filthy clothes and I’ll run you a nice, hot bath.” While the bath was running, Maris put the kettle on and made a chicken sandwich for Dinah. She asked Axel if he wanted a sandwich and he said, no, but he wouldn’t mind a cup of tea.
While Dinah soaked in the tub, Axel and Maris sat in the living room not saying much. Then Axel’s phone rang and he left the apartment to take the call.
Maris crept over and opened the door a crack to listen to the conversation. “I can’t come home yet,” she heard him say. “We’ve made an arrest in the case and I have to stay to tie up all the loose ends.” Then he said, “I miss you, too.” Maris quietly closed the door.
When he came back into the living room, she said, “You’re married, aren’t you?”
Axel hesitated, not knowing how to respond. Then he nodded. “Yes,” he said.
“You were speaking English.”
“Yes,” he said. “My wife is from England. We met while I was attending a series of lectures at Oxford. Five years ago.”
“So all those calls you took, those business calls at night … they were from her?”
Axel nodded. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m really sorry.”
“Not as sorry as I am,” she said.
He started to speak and she put up her hand. “Don’t,” she said. “Don’t bother.”