THEY ALL GAVE THEIR opinions on what had happened.

After listening to what they each had to say, Black was pleased with his decision to control things here.

'You will not like this,' Black started.

'We donʼt like any of it,' Kev butted in.

'I suggest you talk to Pi Meow,' he put up his hands. 'I know, I know.' A surrender, possibly? The group in front of him had looks of incredulity plastered all over their faces. Black carried on, 'Wait a minute,' hands up again. 'Look, it is likely the Cockney person was nothing to do with Pi Meow. And when Pi Meow's men were here, the girls were not in sight, right?'

'Yes, but it's also possible they tricked us into uncovering the girls,' suggested Kev.

'Yes, by fooling us into believing it was your man,' added Skylab.

'It was not us, we would use no one with an accent like that, and also, I donʼt think it was Pi Meow. Is he that clever?' asked Black.

The cry went up, 'Who was it?'

'I believe it was Pi Meowʼs customer. He must have got wind that the girls were missing and decided to cut out the middleman.'

'Possible, I suppose, but unlikely, and surely he will expect us to be annoyed about his thugs bursting in,' said Kev.

'But you donʼt know who they were,' stated Black.

Khun Daeng left the inquest. He had seen a policeman outside giving their van a good look over.

'You can't park like that.'

'Officer, I'll get it moved straight away,' said Daeng.

He got the keys from the driver in the office. He returned to the vehicle just as the policeman tried to open the door. Another more senior police officer joined them.

'What is in there?'

'Nothing to interest you,' as Daeng flashed his Embassy ID. At that, the police officers returned to their station, unhappy at being upstaged. A young girl greeted them as they reached the entrance doors. Her leather jacket was partly unzipped, revealing a skin-tight t-shirt. She needed their views on some things that were happening around town. The brown-uniformed men shifted their gaze and found some time for her questions.

Back at the office. 'Sorry, Mr Black, I had to show my card. I was sure you did not want them looking inside the vehicle or wasting our time with a lot of questions.'

Kev piped up, 'Great, now what are they going to think of us?'

'Yes,' said Black. 'It will get them wondering.'

'Not only the police but also Pi Meow, heʼll think we are working for the Embassy. This gets worse!'

All present could see that Mr Black's brain was active and about to burst ahead with another of his ideas.

'Right, this is what we do. We will arrest Michael Gains. No, let us say we are borrowing him for questioning,'

Black's mind was made up. He slammed the desktop, hinting that the conversation was over. Not so, as queries flew at him.

'Just one question, who is Michael Gains,' asked Skylab. She continued forgetting how to count to one, 'One more question. Why?'

'Your second question first. If we remove Mr Gains from the area, it will take all the pressure off this office. We will allow the local plod to laugh at us by saying we went to the wrong place.'

Black had no reason to explain his need to question Mike, for Lord K, or his investigation.

'Pi Meow will surely hear about the Embassy cock up. Hopefully, he wonʼt make a connection. You feign innocence regarding the girls, and you donʼt know anything about them. Do not forget; nobody knew the London man or why he came to your office. And to answer your first question, Michael Gains is Mad Mike.'

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He was changing the subject for a minute. 'I am afraid I have to report sad news relating to Sombat. They killed him, or should I say. We suspect they killed him while on a job for the Embassy. Sorry, but I can't tell you more at this stage.'

As Black did not know the full facts, he left the office.

Mad Mike was slumped across his bar, not a customer in view. People kept walking past, not even looking in. Pat had left for the market. So an unsuspecting Mike was alone.

The three Embassy men went into Headrock waving their IDs. As no one was present, the sight of official-looking cards did not matter much, and Mike was only there in body. He did not put up any resistance as he got shovelled into the black vehicle.

The darkened van sped its way through Hua Hin. Soon joined the unusually light traffic to Central Bangkok. They placed an agitated and puzzled lad in an outer office to Black's place of work. Again, the secretary was busy—this time with the over-active coffee machine for those kept waiting by her boss. At the same time, Black was on the phone with London.

'Sir, I have information regarding Mike Gains. I have him with me at present.'

'Good, excellent show, Black. Tell me more,' said Lord K.

'Sir, he comes from a perfect family. His father owns an accountancy business. His mother, a housewife, devotes her time to charity work. They live in a five-bedroomed manor house near Swansea, that's Wales,'

'Yes, yes, I know where Swansea is.'

'I'm sorry. Michael went to a superb Public School. He was not exactly setting the world alight with most of his schoolwork. Except for science, in which he excelled. He was excellent at the high jump and a damn good quick bowler. He did not cause his local police any trouble. If he did, his father smoothed it over at The Freemasons, if you know what I mean.'

'Okay, that's up to 18 years old; what about recently? Stealing, violence or drugs, for example?'

'There is something. He was supposed to join his father's company; instead, he or his father decided he should take time out.'

'Take time out?'

'Sir, it's a mystery. He went travelling. He lost his passport and ended up here with a passport supposedly issued in Laos.'

'And my daughter, did you see her?'

'No sir, but I have got someone to watch out for her, a local girl. They seem friendly. A good girl, I believe.'

'Thank you, Black, excellent work.'

Black moved back into the adjoining office. His visitor would have to wait at least for another cup of coffee.

'Hello, Mr Gains. As you can see, I work for the British Embassy. I want to ask you a few questions about your visit to Laos.'

Lord K smiled as he reported, 'Darling, I have some good news for you regarding our Patcharat. She is fine and enjoying life in Hua Hin. She has a lovely girlfriend and works as a translator for a travel company.'

'Oh! That is wonderful news. Thank you, Darling. Maybe she is settling down?'

Back in Bangkok, Mr Black was a brilliant liar. A natural, not a skill you are taught by special services training school. Either you have it or you donʼt. Mr Black had it.

'Mr Gains, or shall I call you Micheal? Or would you prefer Mad Mike?'

'You can call me a taxi! What am I doing here? More to the point - why?'

'Now Micheal, I have been talking to my colleagues in Vientiane. I think you know the place?'

'And?'

'Do you want to tell me about it? I may need your knowledge of Laos or, more to the point, some people there. I am sure you donʼt want your family to know what you got up to there?'

'I'm sure you know already.'

'But I want to hear all about your visit to Laos and the people you met in your own words.'

'From the beginning?'

'If you don't mind.'

'I was not great at school, but I was good at chemistry, a gift, they told me. I was experimenting a lot in those days. One day while I was at home, my father, who is nobody's fool, caught me making something I should not have been making. Something to make all my friends happy. Hence my nickname, Mad Mike. Anyway, my father decided it was better for me to 'travelʼ rather than bring disgrace to the family. Any news relating to his son, the chemist probably would not help his business one bit.'

'Yes, please carry on. I know all that. It's Laos I want to hear about.'

'By the time I got to north Thailand, I was using the local plants for personal use only. I was recruited to teach Lao chemists how to do it. They were paying a decent fee. But I liked it too much, the produce, not the money. That was when things got out of control—leading to a cooling-off period in a flea-bitten cell—then kicked out of the country. At least they gave me a new passport, broke but alive. And I came here. With the plan to start afresh.'

'When you say, 'they gave you a new passport,' who gave it to you.'

'One of the Lao blokes who was always hanging about. Now I think about it; he often talked to a falang who was with him.'

'Yes, but where did he get it?'

'I did not ask, why would I care? But there was a big guy, white, maybe something to do with him? He was often in and out of there. Was he from the Embassy?'

'Just to let you know, your passport would not have been issued in Laos. May I see your passport?'

'Yeah, you can, but it's not here.'

'Okay, no mad rush. Next time I'm in Hua Hin?'

Not that seeing the document would help to identify the forger.

Black continued, 'We will put you up in the Dusit Thani. For two nights, the one here, not the sister hotel, the one near your bar in Cha-Am. Don't attempt anything stupid or mad, and it's for your good. Then you can return to your bar and tour business. As if nothing happened. Relax with the hotel's movies for two days.'

'Look, I donʼt understand what the hell is going on. But, Iʼll do what you say, as long as you tell Pat I'm okay, not with another girl, and not in trouble. As you probably know, we donʼt have a phone in the bar or at home.'

'Of course.'

Mike went to the Dusit Thani Hotel, not in the big black van, to enjoy the room's well-stocked minibar.

Pat returned from the market with arms full of fresh vegetables and chicken. She planned to make a Massaman Curry for Mike.

But no sign of Mike.