“Good, then we’re all in agreement. Let us not waste any more time,” Kulawnit said as he pulled himself into the back seat of the SUV. “Tell us everything you know so far about my son’s death.”
On the road to the Police Morgue, Phuket, Thailand
“I sent them out on patrol to investigate some information I received from an informant — that three British or Australian guides were taking their wealthy clients into the Khlong Saeng Wildlife Preserve to kill endangered animals for trophies,” Major Preithat said from the front seat of the SUV. “We’ve had many such complaints against foreign guides in the last two years; but when we investigate, we almost never find evidence of illegal kills.”
“Instead, you find them in possession of legal kills, and with all of the proper documentation; as if they knew your Rangers were coming?” Bulatt asked.
“Yes, exactly.”
Bulatt could almost hear the Major’s teeth grinding together.
“Our Interpol associates in Russian are facing the same situation,” Bulatt said, and then hesitated before continuing on. “In their case, the foreign clients — mostly hunters from the United States — are wealthy enough to bribe the Russian permit officials and their supervisors, who make sure the efforts of Russian game wardens in the area are focused on ‘less valuable’ suspects.”
“That may be our situation as well, only worse,” Preithat said bitterly. “Our informant also suggested these guides were working under the protection of a senior Forestry Division Ranger.”
“One of your own men?” Bulatt blinked in surprise. “Did the informant give you a name?”
“No, but I — ” Preithat hesitated and looked over at Colonel Kulawnit who nodded his head silently.
“I had reason to believe one of my Captains might be taking bribes — from the foreign guides as well as some of our own criminals,” Preithat continued. “I was investigating this possibility when one of my informants called yesterday morning. So I sent Captain Choonhavan on an assignment that would require him to spend the next two days in Surat Thani. After he left, I sent Lieutenant Kulawnit and Sergeant Tongproh out to patrol the Chieo Lan Reservoir area with a pair of Rangers they brought down from headquarters.”
“So that no one in your office except you would know Lieutenant Kulawnit and Sergeant Tongproh were out on patrol last night?” Bulatt asked.
“That was my intent,” Preithat replied with a heavy sigh. “With Choonhavan out of the way — and unable to provide a warning or a false permit at the last minute — I had hoped these guides might be caught in the act with their wealthy client.”
“Do you know if Lieutenant Kulawnit and his patrol made contact with these individuals?” Bulatt asked.
“No, I don’t. The last radio contact we had with them was late last night when Lieutenant Kulawnit advised our dispatcher they were going to investigate a gunshot in the southern portion of the Khlong Saeng Preserve.”
“So we do know that someone was poaching in the Preserve last night?” Kulawnit asked.
“We think so, but we don’t know where. There are so many tire tracks on the roads, and the rains make it very difficult to distinguish and follow any one set. However,” Preithat added, “we do know that someone with an Australian or possibly British accent tried to contact Captain Choonhavan late last night. Unfortunately, the night duty clerk hadn’t been properly briefed, so she provided the caller with his contact information in Surat Thani.”
“So we must assume he’s been warned,” Kulawnit muttered. “Do we have him in custody yet?”
“No, we are looking for him now. We have a witness who thinks they saw him leaving his hotel early this morning with a Caucasian male.”
“We need to find him quickly,” Kulawnit growled.
“Yes, we will, Khun Prathun,” Preithat promised. “In the meantime, we know that three Australian or British nationals checked out of the Shining Wind hotel late last night, along with an American hunter who is extremely wealthy. They stayed in expensive suites and ate expensive meals; but, at the moment, no one at the hotel can find any of their records. We’re trying to locate the hotel manager now.”
“Did anyone see these men leave Phuket?” Kulawnit asked.
“Not that we’ve found so far,” Preithat replied. “We know a helicopter arrived at the Phuket heliport late last night, and a private jet took off shortly thereafter. It seems likely they would be connected. We’re talking with the night shift personnel at the airport and examining their records now.”
“Assuming it’s an American plane, if you can get me the registration number, I’ll try to track it down from our end,” Bulatt said.
Preithat made a quick note in his field notebook.
“We also understand that the three guides often chartered a local helicopter and pilot, and two local workmen to assist in their hunts. The helicopter is missing and we’re trying to locate the workmen and the pilot now. And we have some information that the guides owned an expensive fishing yacht — the Avatar — which they moored at Phuket Harbor. The Avatar is no longer at the harbor, and no one seems to know its whereabouts. We’re looking for the harbor master now.”
“Major Preithat, you seem to be looking for a large number of people related to this incident,” Bulatt said hesitantly. “I don’t mean to sound critical. It just seems… unusual that so many significant people would suddenly be so difficult for the Thai police to find. Conspiracies can be large, of course, but — ”
“It is very unusual, and puzzling,” Preithat agreed. “It’s understandable that the people involved would try to disappear if they knew we’d found Lieutenant Kulawnit and his team; but we have that information tightly controlled.”
“What about your informant?”
“There are two who have been providing us information. One is a corrupt businessman named Yak who works out of Surat Thani. What you would call ‘organized crime’ in your country, only in Thailand they are not so much organized as competitive. When pressed, he grudgingly provides information, but mostly about his competitors. The other is a Malaysian pirate named Kai. We have reason to believe that these informants may be conspiring to control the illegal guiding business in southern Thailand.”
“By control, you mean putting themselves in direct competition — and presumably in conflict — with these Australian or British guides?”
“Yes, but I should add a working alliance between these two informants is highly unlikely,” Preithat said. “These are extremely devious, daring and dangerous adversaries. I’m sure they’re both planning on cutting the other out of the business once they’ve eliminated their competition.”
“But do you really think either of them would be devious and daring enough to arrange for the death of Lieutenant Kulawnit?” Bulatt asked.
“No, I don’t,” Preithat said after a moment, “I cannot believe either of them would be so stupid.” His eyes flickered briefly to Colonel Kulawnit, who remained stone-faced and silent. “They’d know the consequences would be severe, and impossible to escape.”
“So Captain Choonhavan is probably your best lead?” Bulatt suggested.
“Yes,” Preithat agreed. “And when we find him, I’m certain he’ll be anxious to tell us everything he knows about these foreign guides.” Preithat turned to stare out the windshield at the isolated facility they were rapidly approaching. “Very anxious, indeed.”
The Police Morgue, Phuket, Thailand
The familiar heavy odors of death and decay hit Bulatt the moment he followed Colonel Kulawnit and Major Preithat in through the double-doors of the police morgue.
Kulawnit’s two bodyguards — both hardened investigators — took positions inside the doorway with their M4 carbines at the ready, apparently unaffected by the familiar sights and odors. The room was air-conditioned; but the straining chillers and air-handlers were no match for the effects of Thai heat, humidity and insects on human corpses.