Sea of Fire

Chapter Thirty-Three

Monica Loh had never felt comfortable conversing with outsiders. To her, that meant anyone who was not a member of her immediate family. She had always been able to prove herself with actions. She felt confident in any situation where physical or command skills were required. She was proficient at judo, skilled with handguns, and emphatically prepared to carry out orders. That was what an officer of the Singaporean military did.

Conversation was a different matter. FNO Loh could never anticipate every question, and she hated saying, "I don't know." That was a sign of weakness. She was particularly uncomfortable talking with men. Rarely was the conversation simply what it seemed to be. She usually felt that they were talking down to her or tolerating her. Sometimes they were looking at her body and not even listening. She could always tell. Thoughts relaxed them. When the mind was engaged, only their eyes were alert. But when men were exposed to physical stimuli, their entire body became tense, predatory.

Fortunately, Jelbart and Coffey had not been with her when she told them about Dorothy Darling. The conversation was only about what she knew, which was not much.

Loh told them how the thirty-five-year-old woman had gone to Singapore with her young daughter Jessica-Ann. They went to the famed Jurong Birdpark early one morning, two hours before it opened to the public, then went off by SUV into the surrounding hills. Mrs. Darling was a pilot and an avid fan of hang gliding. While her daughter picnicked with Mrs. Darling's personal secretary, Robin Hammerman, Mrs. Darling and her longtime flight instructor from Cairns drove their car higher into the range. They brought a powered hang glider — a tandem unit that looked like a large motor scooter suspended from a traditional hang glider. The unit was an early, homemade model. It did not have the ballistic parachute system that came with later designs.

Loh told the men how the engine of the hang glider caught fire shortly after liftoff. While Jessica-Ann watched, the blazing hang glider briefly circled the hills before plunging into a dense wood.

"That had to have left some serious psychological scars," Lowell Coffey suggested.

"The girl described the sight as a red-and-black bird," Loh said. "She said there were screeches coming from it."

"Jesus wept," Jelbart murmured.

"Was this information contained in an official investigation report?" Coffey asked.

"I only read the Australian newspaper reports, which were rather graphic," Loh told him.

"Many of the local rags tend to be that way," Jelbart admitted. "I don't like reading or repeating that rot."

"I did hear that Mr. Darling's bank accounts were flagged and watched," Loh said.

"By which nation?" Coffey asked.

"Australia," Loh said. "According to those newspaper accounts, which I've read, the man's wife was allegedly having an affair with the flight instructor. Prosecutors wanted to see who Darling might have paid to sabotage the engine. If they found anything that would have given them an actionable crime, they could have made a case for intent to cause death.

"The murder investigation was the start of the search, but the end was somewhat surprising," FNO Loh continued. "There was not enough of the engine left to examine, and investigators did not uncover any sort of payoff from Mr. Darling to whoever may have executed this crime. But they did find evidence of unusual financial activity."

"Unusual in what way?" Coffey asked.

"Mr. Darling was putting more money into Singapore banks at a lower interest rate than he could get in Australia," Loh said. "And he was keeping it in liquid assets only."

"Was that in the newspapers, too?" Coffey asked.

"No," she replied.

"Then how do you know?" he pressed.

"I briefly dated a banker. He liked to impress me with the names on accounts he was managing," she said.

"Hence the 'briefly dated,' " Coffey said.

Loh did not respond. But the American attorney was correct.

"This banker bloke told you that the government was watching Darling's accounts?" Jelbart asked.

"He did," Loh replied. "He did not tell me what they may have found out, if anything. I'm not sure he would have known."

"So you don't really know the extent to which the government is investigating Darling or what else they may have found," Jelbart said.

"No," Loh said.

"If they had evidence connecting Darling to the death of his wife, they would have gone after him," Coffey said. "Australia and Singapore have an extradition arrangement."

"I can't imagine him being careless enough to leave any kind of trail," Jelbart remarked.

"As American presidents and corporate CEOs have demonstrated with regularity, powerful people often feel bulletproof," Coffey pointed out. "Though I am intrigued, FNO Loh. You seem pretty certain that Jervis Darling had his wife murdered."

"By all accounts, he is a possessive man."

"And are all possessive men killers?" Coffey asked.

"I believe most people would be killers if they thought they could get away with it," she answered.

"I'm not sure I agree, but that's not important," Coffey said. "FNO Loh, do you have access to the government files on Darling?"

"I don't know," Loh admitted. She found herself over-enunciating the words as she forced them from her mouth. "But I'll find out," she added.

"When you do, ask if they have anything on Mahathir bin Dahman, a Malaysian billionaire," Coffey said. He spelled the name for her. "Have you ever heard of him?"

"Again, only what I have read in the newspapers," she said. "He is heavily involved in the development of real estate."

"Any scandals?" Coffey asked.

"None of which I am aware," the officer reported. That was a somewhat milder form of "I don't know." It did not come out any easier. FNO Loh wished she did not feel as though she had to impress these two men. They certainly were not pushing her.

"All right," Coffey said. "Anything you can find will be more than we have now."

"Have you heard anything more about the sailor from the sampan?" Loh asked.

"The last report I had from the hospital was about ninety minutes ago," Jelbart said. "The patient was sedated and not speaking."

"Do they have anyone who can speak Malay in case he does say something?" she asked.

"The intercom is on, and there is a voice-activated tape recorder at his bedside," Jelbart said. "Anything he says will be recorded and played for someone who can translate. I'll make certain you hear it as well."

"Thank you," she said. Loh had to admit that for men, these two seemed all right.

"The question is, what do we do while we wait?" Coffey asked.

"If I may make a suggestion," Loh said.

"Please," Coffey replied.

"I will contact Singapore for those files. But we have a saying in the military: 'Do not wait. Advance.' "

"I'm sure that reads well in a textbook," Coffey said.

"It works in practice, Mr. Coffey," Loh replied. It felt good to say that with certainty. "I believe that we should try to collect our own intelligence about Mr. Darling."

"I'm a coastal police officer, not a spy," Jelbart said. The warrant officer was not complaining. It sounded to Loh as though he were frustrated. And a little concerned. "I'm also afraid that the more Australians who know about this, the greater the odds of Darling finding out. We're still talking about theories, and highly speculative ones at that."

"Our top spy will land in Australia a few hours from now," Coffey said. "He'll know what to do."

"I can tell you what we have to do," Loh replied.

"Can you?" Coffey asked.

"Yes." It felt good to be able to answer this one, too. Because the answer was not only right, it was obvious. "We should not waste time following the 130-5 trail. It is already cold."

"What should we do?" Coffey asked.

"Make sure that Jervis Darling is unable to kill," she replied. "Again."