Some Serious Chitchat
Chapter 35
The team was meeting again at Dick’s hotel, but this time at the swimming pool out of earshot of the other guests. Everyone held one of those fruity, fruit drinks with the tiny umbrellas in their hands and bringing one another up to speed on the latest developments in the case. They had gotten along well over the past weeks and genuinely seemed to enjoy one another’s company. Camaraderie, cooperation and close coordination were important matters if they were to succeed in snaring their prey.
“Given Amar’s scathing reply to Albert’s e-mail, it looks like we’ve rattled his cage and he’s coming to us to seek revenge, as intended. It was a great idea on Al’s part,” Dick spoke to the pair.
“Who’s Al?” What’s a cage rattle?” Chi asked. “I know you Americans like to shorten names for the purpose of familiarity, but I’ve never heard him use the name himself or by anyone else for that matter. Also, your colloquialisms drive me crazy trying to understand them.”
“It was the name he used to sign-off on his e-mail to Amar. A common appellation or so I thought. Rattling his cage simply means we’ve irritated, angered him.”
“I know what a rattle is,” Chi responded while grinning. “It’s something your cowboys attach to venomous snakes in the wild west of your country so they can hear them coming,” he poorly joked.
Angie and I laughed so as to save what was left of Chi’s face.
“I don’t see any particular significance since we do the same with Thai names. Prasert becomes Sert, Kanchana becomes Kan, and a boy who wears glasses might be called Waen, meaning eyeglasses in Thai. Nicknames are more common than first names in Thailand,” Angie mentioned.
“That true,” Chi agreed. “So maybe it’s nothing, but I was a bit surprised when you referred to him as Al, that’s all. We pay close attention to names here and are sensitive to their connotations, and that’s why I asked.”
“Well, regardless, let’s move away from the name game and concentrate on the case. Who wants to report first?”
Angie volunteered. “I’ve been following Albert Wu as you ordered. So far there’s been nothing unusual in his movements, but I’m missing my beauty rest even though I have someone spell me from time-time,” she laughingly added to her report.
“If he’s up to no good and playing both sides against the other, I don’t know how he’s doing it. I’ve not noticed anything suspicious. He visits the market and occasionally dines at one the restaurants close to the mortuary, that’s about it. Sometimes he orders Chinese food to be delivered as well: all very routine and boring so far.”
Chi and I remained silent about her need for a beauty rest. Why she didn’t bother to buy another mattress of the same brand puzzled me to no end. How it went missing was another matter altogether.
“Good Angie, keep up the surveillance. I don’t think it’ll be long before Amar comes knocking on our door. We’d better be fully awake to greet him.”
“Chi, how about you, what’s new on your end?”
“The number of plainclothes police officers at the bridge has been increased as requested. With the additional manpower, we are now able to follow all of the monks crossing into Nong Khai and monitor their movements in the city. Typically, they visit the monasteries and temples and nothing more. Surprisingly, there aren’t that many monks, unless they’re travelling in mufti.”
Angie asked where mufti was because she’s never heard of the provincial town before. Chi shot her a dirty look and I didn’t say a word. Foreign languages and places could be so damn difficult to understand at times like this.
“Okay, it seems everything is going smoothly and now we have to patiently wait for our invited guest to show. That’s the toughest part of the investigation. However, I’m convinced Amar will show himself soon and that’s when we go into action.”
“Everyone needs to be especially cautious from here on out. One misstep and we could lose our prey or lose our lives. I pray we don’t,” I added.