Number Twelve by Colin Cotterill

Author:Colin Cotterill [Cotterill, Colin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9786164560253
Publisher: Proglen
Published: 2019-09-28T16:00:00+00:00

We sat at Amazon the next day with our cappuccinos, celebrating the victory. Chom gave me a blow-by-blow account of what happened.

“So I pretended to be shopping,” said Chom. “I was out of uniform but I’m sure they all recognized the fact that someone of my grace and poise wouldn’t be buying any rip-off Chinese dress-ups. I stood back and glared at your boy for a few minutes. He was uncomfortable, sweating like a pig, although I can’t recall ever seeing a pig sweat. Perhaps they sweat inwardly. Or perhaps I just don’t hang out with enough pigs to be–”

“Chom!”

“Sorry. So I walked over to him, gave him one of my unnerving smiles, and flipped open my police ID badge, although he didn’t bother to look at it. He knew why I was there. All I said was ‘CCTV’ and looked up at the roof of the car port, where there wasn’t one. He didn’t follow my gaze. There was a long silence during which I raised one eyebrow and he slowly shook his head. He reached into the back pocket of his icky leather trousers and pulled out a wallet.

“‘How much do you want?’ he said.

“‘Twenty thousand baht,’ I said.

“‘Plus?’ he said.

“‘Plus what?’

“‘You know.’

“‘Are you suggesting that rather than drag you into my police car, fill out endless, mindless forms, and lock you in a damp, badly decorated cell, I might be tempted by a small donation for the police retirement fund?’

“‘Isn’t that what this is about?’ he said.

“‘Not at all,’ I told him, and he handed me the twenty thousand, although there was a lot more to be had in that fat wallet of his.

“‘That’s it?’ he said.

“‘That and a warning.’

“Don’t tell me,” I interrupted through my cappuccino moustache. “You said something about us being watched all the time. That the days of getting away with it are over. That crime no longer pays.”

“Nothing so crass,” said Chom, nibbling on his wafer biscuit. “I told him that leather pants would never become a fashion statement in a tropical country. Chafing, you know?”

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