Hungry Ghosts (23 page)

When he looked back at
Buajan the other man was shaking his head.

“I don’t understand the motive for
either murder. I guess with Tathip it has something to do with Chaldrakun’s brother’s death, but
Sinclair?
We don’t know of any connection.”

“There is none. Chaldrakun was after Braddock.”

Buajan looked at the Chief quizzically.

“Braddock called me,” Papa Doc announced simply. “Oh, by the way you can stop ringing Braddock’s phone now.”

“He
called you
, sir?”

“Yes. He’s in a bit of a funk. He wouldn’t say where he was but he’s clearly worried Chaldrakun’s going to have another try at killing him.”

“So Sinclair was killed by mistake?”

The Chief nodded.

“Is Braddock coming into the station?”

“Apparently not. At least, not at our convenience.”

“And what exactly is Braddock’s connection to Tathip and Chaldrakun?”

Papa Doc drummed his fingers on the desk.

“I don’t know – yet. But if I know Braddock I don’t think he’ll try to leave the country, not without his precious housekeeper anyway.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“When we have finished interviewing Ms. Lastri officially I want covert surveillance on her. Whenever she checks out of hospital I want her followed. She’ll lead us to Braddock. It is possible that he’ll turn up at the hospital, but I think it unlikely.”

“I’ll get straight onto it.”

“Oh, and send Ho up. I feel I should congratulate him on his diligence.”

“He’d probably rather not be disturbed
right now, sir,” responded Buajan.

“Why is that?”

“He’s at the morgue. Having fun.”

26

David Braddock’s Journal

Nathon Lamphongchat puts down his cell phone and looks first at my father then at me.

“As you heard,” he says, “Bumibol
will call me tomorrow.”

“Where is he?” I ask.

“He didn’t say.”

“What are you going to do, Nathon?” This is from my father.

The Thai’s eyes do not leave my face.

“That depends on what
it is your son has to say.”

So I recount the story of Preechap Chaldrakun; of how the policeman had developed an unhealthy obsession about Lamphongchat’s niece and how this in turn had led to a killing spree of
farangs who showed any interest in her. I explain how, through a combination of circumstances and events, I came to discover the truth about the ‘burning murders’; and why, following the police’s fitting-up of a vagrant for the deaths, it was necessary for my self-preservation to kill the policeman.

Through all of this my father and Nang sit looking
alternately incredulous and concerned, while Nathon Lamphongchat regards me steadily. No emotion registers on his face. I make a mental note never to play poker with him.

When I have finished he says, “Bumibol says his brother killed the
farangs
to protect Wiwatanee.”

“That’s bullshit,” I respond. “The only person she needed protecting from was Chaldrakun. He was a psycho. And not a high-functioning psycho either,” I add.

“How much does Wiwatanee know of all this?”

“She doesn’t know anything. I saw no need to give her a lifetime of guilt and recurring nightmares
. But now she’ll have to know.”

Lamphongchat drops his
gaze. “Yes,” he says quietly.

“Of course if you hadn’t taken it into your head to give that lunatic policeman the job of minding her, none of this would have happened.”

At this my father interjects, but the Thai holds up his hand.

“No, Edward, your son is right.
In the last few minutes I have become very well aware of the consequences of my poor choice, Mr. Braddock. I am also inclined to believe your version of events; a version which no doubt Wiwatanee can confirm if so required.”

“You have managed to get yourself into some deep trouble, David,” observes my father. “Taking part in the killing of a policeman – even if it was the other man that did the actual deed – is a dangerous game to play. Your behavio
ur is thoroughly reckless.”

Nang touches him on the arm.

“Edward,” she says, “bearing in mind whose genes David inherited, what would you have expected him to do? Run away?”

My father turns to her. I expect to see irritation, but in fact a look of love passes between them and he pats her hand. I envy that look.

“I shall have to decide what to do about Bumibol,” Lamphongchat announces. “But it is delicate.”

“I can tell you exactly what –” I begin, but he cuts me off.

“This is a family matter. I understand you have an interest, Mr. Braddock –”

“That’s a major understatement.”

“However, Bumibol Chaldrakun has been a member of our operation for many years. He knows things about us,” he states pointedly. “I have to consider the best way to handle the situation. If he were to fall into the hands of the police it could be awkward.”

“Maybe you should just let him kill me then. That would resolve your dilemma.”

“You have a nice line in sarcasm there, David. May I call you David?”

“Sure, why not? We’re practically family now after all.”

Nang suppresses a laugh.

“Anyway,” I go on, “I’d better tell you that I’ve asked Jingjai – sorry, ‘Wiwatanee’ – to bring my housekeeper Ms
. Lastri here. As long as Chaldrakun is on the loose I want her somewhere safe. I presume she
will
be safe here?” I ask bluntly. “I’m not bringing her here to be ritually slaughtered by one of your suited gorillas.”

“This is the lady who Bumibol attacked? Yes, she will be safe. I give you my word.”

I bite my tongue. Another cutting remark might not be well received.

“An American friend of mine will escort them and make sure they are not followed.”

Nathon nods.

“Go and shower, David,” says Nang.

“I want to know what you and my father are doing here first.”

“Shower and change
first
,” she chides, “then we’ll explain everything.”

I look at my father. He looks back.

“All right,” I say with reluctance. “I’ll be back down in fifteen minutes.”

I shave and take a hot shower. Standing under the jets I feel the knots in my muscles start to soften. I try to let my mind go blank but I can’t stop thinking about Wayan and the way she sounded on the phone.
What happened to her is your fault
, my brain says to me.
Yours, yours
.

As I emerge naked from the en suite, Nang is sitting in a chair in my bedroom looking at me with an amused expression.

“Jesus Christ, Nang! You scared me half to death,” I exclaim reaching desperately for a towel.

“It’s good to see you’ve kept yourself in shape, David, in spite of
all the cigarettes.”

“Would you avert your eyes please? You’re freaking me out.”

“Don’t be such a princess. I’ve seen you naked more times than I care to remember.”

“Yes, but not recently.”

She giggles.

“Do you remember that time I caught you masturbating in your room when you were fourteen?”

“It’s not something I’m ever likely to forget, is it? Yeah, thanks for
that
trip down Memory Lane.”

“Oh, shut up. Put
on some clothes and give your step-mum a hug. You haven’t greeted me properly yet.”

I dress quickly, take her in my arms and kiss her on the
cheek.

“There now. Isn’t that better?”

It is
. As always, her petite Thai form looks beautiful and well-dressed, belying her sixty-something years. She smells of jasmine.

“God, I
so wish you were twenty years younger and not married to my father,” I say. “In fact, you don’t even need to be twenty years younger; just not married to pops would be enough.”

“So you keep saying.”

She laughs and sits me down with her on the bed.

Then the smile fades and she becomes serious.

“Listen, David,” she says quietly, “I know you and your father have trouble getting along, but just this once I’d like you to be a bit understanding. What he has to tell you is difficult for him.”

“So that’s why you’ve come up here? To soften me up?”

“No, I’m here because I love you both and you are both stubborn, alpha-male Braddocks.”

She raises an eyebrow and waits for my response.

“OK, I’ll play nice. But I have a lot on my mind right now, Nang. I’m being hunted by some nutter and I’m worried about Wayan.”

“Your maid?”

“My
housekeeper
. She’s not a maid.”

“This is still the same girl you brought here from Bali? She’s still with you?”

“Yes, but she’s a woman, not a girl.”

“
Is she now?
”

She gives me
that look
.

“It’s not what you think.”

“Yet you’re worried about her.”

“Of course I am. She was attacked and received what could have been a very nasty head injury. And all that was my fault. She could have been killed. The man she was with
was
killed.”

Nang
decides not to pursue this further and squeezes my hand.

“All right. Come downstairs. Let’s talk.”

When Nang and I arrive back in
the lounge, my father is sitting on a sofa with Nathon Lamphongchat putting the finishing touches to some kind of diagram. A maid is pouring tea and she brings two more cups.

“Do you want something to eat?” asks Nathon.

“Later,” I reply. The combination of a shower and Nang seeing me naked has woken me up.

The Thai moves onto a chair to allow my stepmother to sit next to her husband.

Nathon says earnestly, “Before we go any further, I have agreed with your father that he is at liberty to be entirely transparent with you on family matters.”

I say nothing.

Neither man knows quite how to begin, so Nang takes the lead.

“The first thing you
should know, David, is that Nathon here is my nephew.”

“But that would make him your brother Cheepa’s son. And your family name was Patcharawat, not Lamphongchat.”

“My family history is a little more complicated than that.” She takes one of the sheets of paper from my father and hands it to me. It is a hastily-drawn family tree.

“You see,” says Nang
, “my mother Saengdao Wichon was married twice. Her first husband was an army officer called Kasem Lamphongchat with whom she had two sons, Surapong – or ‘Sura’ as he was known – and Lek, a sickly child who died before his second birthday. The same year that Lek died, Lamphongchat himself was killed in an accident during a military training exercise.

“Saengdao was an attractive and lively woman and despite the fact she already had a child, she wasn’t short of suitors. Fifteen months after Lamphongchat’s death she married for a second time. Her new husband, Pravuth Patcharwawat, was a minor civil servant. Cheepa was born in 1938 and I arrived two years later.”

Nang pauses to make sure I am following. The telling of the story also seems to be affecting her. I nod encouragement and she continues.

“My father was killed in an Allied bombing raid on Bangkok in 1944, and after the end of World War II hostilities it was hard for mother to keep us fed
and clothed. But somehow she did; although most of my memories of my childhood are of feeling hungry and wearing other kids’ cast-offs.

“
When I was sixteen, my mother died from septicaemia following a botched medical procedure. Shortly after that I met your father.”

“So Nathon here is Sura’s son?”

“Yes,” pipes in Lamphongchat. “And as you can see from the chart I had a brother, Lek – named after my uncle who died in childhood – who himself passed away due to a heart attack a few years ago. Wiwatanee is his daughter.”

I turn to my father.

“So why not just tell me this years ago? Obviously I knew Nang had a brother called Cheepa, although I’ve never met him. But so what if she had a half-brother? It’s no big deal. Have you been trying to conceal from me the fact that there are gangsters in the family? Why bother? That’s hardly much of a big deal either.”

A memory shoulders its way into the front of my head.

“Wait a minute. A few years back you went to a funeral in Thailand. For an old friend of the family, you said. That must have been Sura’s funeral, right?”

My father and Nang both nod.

I look at the three faces. Then another light bulb goes on.

“There’s something else odd here. Why doesn’t Jingjai recognize the Braddock name? I realise she’s been reluctant to have dealings with her family, but she must know she has a great-aunt called Nang who is married to an Englishman called Braddock. So why has she never said anything to me about the Braddock name? Christ, we’re related!”

At this point I am SO glad I haven’t slept with Jingjai
.

Nang leans forward and touches my knee.

“Yes, she knows she has a great-aunt called Nang, but she knows me as Nang
Brown
, and on the one occasion she briefly met your father she was introduced to him as Edward Brown. So she wouldn’t have made any connection to you.”

Nathon and my father exchange a glance.