The Fourth Watcher: A Novel of Bangkok

17
The Leading Sphincter on the Planet

Rafferty?" Prettyman says, knitting his brow in a way that would make most people look thoughtful. "The same last name as you?"

"He's my father, Arnold," Rafferty says, trying not to grind his teeth. "As I told you a minute ago. Maybe you should speak English more often."

Prettyman tears his eyes away from the front door of the bar. He's been watching it the same way Leung watched the door of the restaurant, and probably for the same reason. Eighteen years' worth of CIA training dies hard.

Ignored by both of them, three lightly clad girls dance listlessly on the stage. Except for their shoes, which are high-heeled, calf-hugging boots, they are saving a fortune on clothes. They shuffle their feet and hang on to the vertical chrome poles as they endure "Walk of Life" for the three-thousandth time. Their exposed skin, and there is quite a lot of it, is goose-bumped; the bar is aggressively air-conditioned. Rose once told Rafferty the bar owners kept the places cold so the girls' nipples would stand out.

One of the girls wears a large triangular plastic watch, and the others glance at it from time to time. Two of the bar's other main attractions sit in the laps of overweight customers, and another has been sufficiently lucky, or unlucky, to be taken behind the curtain in one of the booths.

"So you're asking me to check up on your father?" Prettyman asks, having apparently reviewed the conversation in his mind. His eyes flick to Rafferty's for confirmation. "Not a very close family, is it?"

"I barely remember the man," Rafferty says, wishing it were true. "He disappeared into China more than twenty years ago. Not a lot of cards and letters. But here's the thing, Arnold. He's got-how should I put this?-he's got skills."

"Living in China for those particular years would take some skills," Prettyman says listlessly. A Steely Dan riff punches its way through the speakers, and he turns to eye the girls onstage as though he is wondering about their Blue Book value. "Where in China?"

"Shanghai and Shenzhen. Yunnan, Fujian. Also, apparently, a little time in Pailin. In Cambodia." Frank had mentioned Pailin in the tuk- tuk on the way to the restaurant.

Prettyman looks remotely interested for the first time. "Pailin is old Khmer Rouge and rubies. Fujian is people smuggling. Shanghai and Shenzhen are everything we can both think of, and lots we can't. You think it's any of that?"

"For all I know he makes Garfield the Cat in a plush-toy factory. That's what I'm asking you to find out, Arnold." He decides, on the fly, that the word "triad" might dampen Prettyman's enthusiasm. Such as it is.

Prettyman's lifeless eyes go back to the door. Then he says, "Money, of course."

"Of course. Twenty thousand now and twenty more when you come through."

"Thirty. When I come through, thirty."

"I'm a little squeezed at the moment, Arnold." Nothing like understatement.

Prettyman nods. "Then you'll owe me."

One of the girls onstage stumbles, grabs the arm of the one next to her, and they both go down, laughing, in a tangle of elbows, thighs, and buttocks. Rafferty turns at the sound.

"You want one?" Prettyman is following Poke's gaze. "Add it to your tab."

"Thanks anyway, Arnold. I'm sort of booked up."

"Suit yourself." Prettyman regards the girls another moment, looking like a man counting his change, then seems to come to a decision. "China," Prettyman says. "I'm still connected in China. I don't know about that money, though. Seems pretty short."

Rafferty touches Prettyman's arm, and Prettyman yanks it back, all the way off the table. "Arnold. I'm not in a mood to be fucked around with. It'll cost exactly what I said it would cost."

Prettyman says, "Or?"

"Or," Rafferty says. "This is a nice bar. Mirrors, sound system, lots of liquor, those fancy booths, everything. Lot of cash sunk into this room. Cops would line up to bend you over a barrel for a higher cut. I know a lot of cops, Arnold." It's not exactly true, but it's enough to make Prettyman purse his lips. Then he shakes his head slowly, a man who has grown used to disappointment.

"No bargaining, no give-and-take," Prettyman says, and sighs. "None of the old back-and-forth. It's not the same world, is it, Poke?"

"I doubt it ever was."

"Maybe not." Prettyman looks depressed.

"One more thing, Arnold." Rafferty taps the table for emphasis. "What you find out, whatever it is. It belongs to me. It is not capital. It's not for sale, loan, or affectionate sharing. The man may be one of the world's premium assholes, he may be the leading sphincter on the planet, but he's still my father. This is bought and paid for by me, not merchandise for additional profit."

Prettyman turns to him, gives him the full blue-eyed treatment. "Poke," he says, "don't you trust me?"

Rafferty looks at him.

Prettyman shrugs and turns back to the door. "Just asking," he says. ment of fact. I wasn't saying anything, and I told you so. Let's review, okay? You told me I had a problem-"

"You do."

"And I said, as I recall, 'You're telling me.'" Arthit's hard gaze doesn't waver. "Maybe someone should be recording this conversation. That way we'll only have to have it once."

"In an hour or two, somebody probably will be recording it."

Rafferty grabs a breath and lifts both hands. "Okay, okay. Let's admit I came in here with a bad attitude. So let's pretend I didn't, and that I've just this second come through that door with a big smile on my face and offered you a beer. 'Hi, Arthit,' I said. 'What a nice surprise to see you again so soon.' Something like that. Would that make anything better?"

"No," Arthit says.

Rose comes in from the bedroom and stops at the sight of him. "Poke," she says. "We have a problem."

Rafferty is struck by a bolt of pure panic. "Miaow? Is it Miaow?"

"No," Arthit says, his face softening slightly. "It's not Miaow."

"Okay," Rafferty says. His spine loosens a bit. "Rose is here, Miaow is all right. How bad could it be?"

"Bad," Arthit says. Peachy contributes a stifled sob. Arthit looks at her as though he's just realized she's in the room and says, "I shouldn't be here."

"He came because I called him," Rose says. She is speaking Thai. "I didn't know who else I could-"

"He's a great guy," Rafferty says. "We don't even need to vote on it. What the hell is wrong?"

"I really should leave," Arthit says. "This is completely inappropriate."

"Poke taught me that word last night," Rose says. "It means you slept with a poodle, isn't that right, Poke?"

"Yes, although I wasn't applying it to Arthit. What do you mean, you should leave? And why the hell isn't there anywhere for me to sit? I have no intention of taking bad news standing up." He moves toward the couch, and Peachy shrivels in a manner so abject that Rafferty is instantly ashamed of himself. "Did we sell the hassock?" he asks Rose.

"It's in the bedroom. I was standing on it. To hide something."

"I really shouldn't be here," Arthit says, making no move to leave.

"I'll get it," Rose says, leaving the room.

"While you're at it," Rafferty calls after her, "bring whatever you were hiding."

"For the record," Arthit says, "I did not suggest that she hide it." He sounds like he's on television.

"Well, gee, I hope that gets you off the hook, whatever the hook is. Do you want a beer?"

"I guess," Arthit says. "This is as good a time to be drunk as any."

When Rafferty comes out of the kitchen, a bottle of Singha in each hand, Rose is standing by the white leather hassock, clutching a wrinkled brown paper supermarket bag. Peachy is staring at the bag as though it has a red digital countdown on its side, signaling the number of seconds before the world ends.

Rafferty hands Arthit one of the beers and takes a long pull off the other one. Then, as insurance, he takes another long pull and sits down on the hassock. Rose gives him the bag, and he opens it.

He sees rectangles, green and white and brown and white, a loose, disordered pile of them. Closes his eyes, squeezes them tight, opens them wide, and looks again. Nothing has changed.

"Thirty-two thousand dollars," Arthit says. "Six hundred thousand baht, all in thousand-baht notes, and one hundred fifty American hundred-dollar bills. All brand new. And, since it's almost certainly counterfeit, it's exactly what Agent Elson is looking for."

"In the desk," Peachy is saying. She claws her fingers through her hair again, snags them on the same clot of hairspray, and lets her hand drop. "The middle drawer. Rose knows. It's the drawer I keep the account books in."

"That's right," Rose says. "We advance money to the girls when they're short, and that's where Peachy puts the book we track it in."

"Is the desk kept locked?" Rafferty asks. He is on the floor now, leaning against the wall. Rose shares the couch with Peachy, who is finally sitting upright.

"No." Peachy starts toward the hair again and stops herself. "There's no reason to lock it. Nobody would go into it."

"Someone obviously did."

"Why were you in the office?" Arthit asks. He has replaced Rafferty on the hassock, which he sees as a position of greater authority, and is working on his second beer. His face is beginning to turn red. Two more and he'll look like a stop sign.

"Why? It's my office." Peachy sounds bewildered by the question.

"On Saturday," Rafferty says. "He means, why were you in the office on Saturday?"

Peachy starts to answer, then shakes her head as though this is leading somewhere she doesn't want to go. "I'm always in the office. I go in every day."

"Why?" Arthit says.

"Because… because…" She blinks heavily, and then her face seems to crumple, and Rafferty knows she is moments away from tears. "Where else would I go? What else would I do?"

"Family?" Arthit asks.

"Oh," Peachy says. "That." Her lower lip does a watery little ripple. "We, I mean, I- Well, not really, you know, I mean…" She undoes a button with shaky fingers and does it up again. "I spend a lot of time in the office."

"Okay," Arthit says uncomfortably. "Sorry. So when you left on Friday-"

"Last night," Peachy says, and Rafferty suddenly sits up. All this started only last night? The proposal to Rose, Agent Elson, his father, the money? All since last night?

"When you left the office last night," Arthit says. "Was everything normal? I mean, was the place the way you usually leave it?"

"Sure," Peachy says.

"And did you lock the door?"

"I always lock the door." The questions seem to be calming her.

"This morning, when you went in- Wait, what time did you arrive?"

"About eleven." The hand goes up again, but this time it pats the hair instead of ravaging it.

"At eleven, then. Was the door still locked?"

"Yes. I had to use both keys to get in."

"And you double-locked it when you left."

Rafferty sits there, admiring Arthit at work. Peachy's eyes go unfocused, as though she is doing addition in her head. "I think so. I usually do. But sometimes I forget." Arthit has been sneaking a hit of beer while Peachy thinks, and now he lowers the bottle. "Who else has a key?" "Um…" Peachy says. A blush mounts her cheeks. Her eyes rove the room like someone looking for an exit. She passes her index finger over her front teeth and inspects it, scanning for lipstick. Then she says, "Who else has…" "I do," Rose says. "Yes," Peachy says, looking relieved. "Rose. Rose does." "Nobody else." "The landlord," Rose says. "Who's the landlord?" Arthit asks. "Somkid Paramet," Peachy says, naming one of the richest men in Bangkok. "He owns the whole block." "Scratch the landlord," Rafferty says. Arthit tugs at the crease in his trousers and stares longingly at the bottle of beer in his hand. "When does the cleaning crew come in?" "Never," Rose says. "Peachy and I clean the place on Mondays. We go in early." "Rose does most of the cleaning," Peachy says apologetically. "When I was growing up, I never learned how to clean properly. And my husband, my former husband's family, they…" Arthit's eyes flick to Rafferty, who finds something interesting to study on the carpet. Rose admires the ceiling. Peachy's genteel upbringing has been a frequent topic of conversation among them. "And when you went in this morning, everything was still in place?" "Except for that." Peachy indicates the paper bag without looking at it. "Right, right. Except for that." Arthit sits back and stares out through the sliding glass door at the lights of Bangkok. The bottle of beer dangles from his hand, forgotten for the moment. "Well," he says to Rafferty, without turning, "isn't this interesting?" "It's fucking riveting." Even in her distraught state, Peachy stiffens at the word. "Here's the thing, Arthit," Rafferty says. "It's Saturday." "Thank you," Arthit says, inclining his head. "I always like to be reminded what day it is."

"They didn't know she'd go in."

"Ah," Arthit says. He shifts himself around and stares at the wall above Rafferty's head. "That's right, isn't it?"

"What's right?" Rose asks.

"Whoever put that money there," Arthit says, "doesn't know it's been found."

"Monday," Rafferty says. "They think it'll be found on Monday."

"It's not much, is it?" Arthit says.

"What's not much?" Rose asks with an edge in her voice.

"One day," Rafferty says. "Before whatever is supposed to happen actually happens. We have one day to try to screw it up."

"It's a little better than that," Arthit says. He hoists the beer and swallows. "We also have tonight."