CHAPTER 44
When Assistant Superintendent Mohamad Bin Salleh asked Eddie to suggest a hotel the Orange Premier was the only one he could think of. They were taken there in a police car and were checked in without their passports. “The Director of the Commercial Crimes Investigation Department will call you later this evening,” said the officer who checked them in. “His name is Datuk Abdu Rahim bin Hassan You are not to leave the hotel. Understand?” Then he left.
Isobel had suggested to Eddie that they “freshen up” and meet again in half an hour but Eddie was ready and waiting when Isobel stepped out of the lift in a fresh grey suit. She took one look at him. “Have you not changed, Eddie? Did you shower? Shave?”
Eddie rarely felt embarrassed but, in the last two days, Isobel had been finding some very sensitive areas in his conscience. “There wasn’t time,” he said. “And I need to organise some laundry,”
“So, have you done so?”
“I thought it was a bit late. I’ll do it in the morning.”
“And what will you wear tomorrow morning?” she spat. “Here, let me deal with it. Goodness me, Eddie, whatever next. And you are the one who constantly talks about setting standards. Where are your dirty things?”
“Other than what I’m wearing, on the floor in my room.”
She tutted and sighed, went to reception and then returned. “Right, go to your room, Eddie, place all the dirty clothes in the white laundry bag that you’ll find in the wardrobe and leave the bag outside your door.”
Eddie complied with the instructions and returned.to find Isobel sitting near the reception desk. “I changed my shirt,” he said. “The other one was a little crumpled.”
She looked at him. “But so is that one, Eddie. You are an utter disgrace. If we are to renew your role as scientific adviser to Vital Cosmetics, I think we will need to review the dress standards we set.”
Eddie sniffed like an admonished school boy.
They were eating pasta and tomato sauce in the restaurant when the Director of the Commercial Crimes Investigation Department, Datuk Abdul Rahim bin Hassan arrived in smart uniform, ribbons and badges. He was accompanied by another officer in equally pristine condition. Once introductions were complete, Isobel looked at Eddie as if to repeat her allegation that he was inappropriately dressed for such a meeting. Perhaps he was but when Eddie packed his bag in Oxford he’d only been thinking about krabok trees, krabok nuts, forest trekking with Buss and perhaps a day or two with Mark Dobson’s team.
They retired to a corner of the lobby, ordered coffee and Isobel described Vital Cosmetics. She explained Eddie’s role as scientific adviser and his professorship at Oxford. Being the guilty party, Eddie listened without interruption even when Isobel held up her hand to silence him.
Did the police director know Jeffrey Lim, Isobel asked? Yes. Not well but yes. He knew Jeffrey was a private investigator who specialised in commercial crime and ‘spied on businesses’ for a UK company. He knew that Interpol had once got involved in a fraud case Jeffrey had worked on and they’d last met six months ago. Jeffrey had been investigating the source of counterfeit drinks for a Taiwanese company. He had no idea how it had ended.
“It hasn’t ended,” Eddie said jumping at the opportunity. “One thing leads to another.”
“True,” Isobel said but then took over again. “The counterfeiting appears to be part of a much wider fraud that includes shipping poor quality or contaminated raw materials to my company in UK. It was professor Higgins who first made me aware of this.”
Eddie nodded. “And we’ve since found evidence of credit card fraud, Illegal logging of hardwoods, money laundering and other unpleasantries.”
“And narcotics?” the Director asked as if this particular unpleasantness was only linked to Eddie.
“Which we’ve only just discovered,” Eddie said.
“And then you were caught in possession of those narcotics at the airport,” he replied as if he might now ask his assistant for a set of handcuffs
“In possession of an unidentified white powder,” Eddie clarified.
“Which turned out to be a significant amount of an illegal hallucinogenic drug.”
“Found in my jacket pocket,” Eddie reminded him. “If I’d known what it was do you think I’d have handed it over to airport security along with my wallet, thirty pence in small change, a used train ticket, an old tissue and a bunch of keys?”
“Who gave you this drug?”
“I found it.” Eddie looked pleadingly at Isobel but found she was staring at him with her big black eyes as if to say, over to you, my friend. “On the floor of a warehouse,” he said.
“A warehouse?”
“Yes.”
“And how many warehouses do you think we have in KL?”
Eddie decided that was a good question. It was also time to either assist with their enquiries or risk public arrest in the lobby of the Orange Premier, trial by whatever system they used in Malaysia and, subsequently, the rope or the firing squad. Not only that but the UK press might have a field day resurrecting Huggy and his previous conviction for obstruction.
“On the floor of the warehouse of Vital Cosmetic’s Malaysian distributor,” Eddie admitted.
Isobel nodded and looked at the Director. Perhaps she, too, had visions of unwelcome notoriety without first trying a modicum of honesty.
“And who is that?” he pressed. His assistant, was draining his coffee cup and nodding in admiration of the clever interrogation methods of his boss.
Eddie glanced at Isobel, took a deep breath and said: “A company called PJ Beauty Supplies, but it would, in my humble opinion, be a serious mistake for a hundred police to turn up with sirens blaring and red lights flashing to search the premises and arrest innocent Jimmy, the warehouse manager and delicate Bella the office manager while those responsible close the place and fly to Moscow. “
At last the Director of the Commercial Crimes Investigation Department, Datuk Abdul Rahim bin Hassan nodded. He clearly felt he needed to delay action until he fully understood what was going on. Nevertheless, he also had to be seen to be doing something. “Do either of you have Jeffrey’s phone number?” he asked.
Isobel sighed and looked at him as if he was utterly incompetent. She checked her phone. “Here,” she said. Senior Malaysian Police Officer Datuk Abdul Rahim then stood up, excused himself, went outside and called Jeffrey.