The Spectator by Timothy Balding
Author:Timothy Balding
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: murder, social media, dictators, media, newspapers, dictatorship, world politics, london england, murder fiction
Publisher: Upper West Side Philosophers, Inc.
Published: 2023-11-11T00:00:00+00:00
Smashing children against trees
Marjorie has called Roger and asked for a meeting. Sheâs heard back from Cambodia and says that theyâre maybe on to something.
âSo, did we find his trace?â asks Roger, inviting her to sit down.
âOur âSok Charyaâ probably doesnât exist. Itâs a very common name and our man, the one weâve hired, that is, didnât even bother to try and track any of them down. He did much better, though. He figured that few Cambodians could get rich in business, as we told him he had, and remain out of public view. At the same time, something struck him about the timing of this Sokâs exile. His departure coincides pretty much with the creation of the war crimes tribunal in Cambodia. Quite a few prominent people appear to have âdisappearedâ around about then â¦â
âIt took thirty years after the genocide to set up a tribunal?â asks Roger.
âYes, indeed. And even then, they only found five people to judge, three of whom died before they got round to it. They donât seem very assiduous to bring their butchers in for the reckoning, to say the least.â
âAnd our Sok?â
âOur man in Phnom Penh, who is well connected with the foreign Embassies and thus has a way to get to the tribunal investigators â itâs all a mixed UN-Cambodia process â has procured a long list of the people who were wanted when they began their work all that time ago. Happily, it includes photos of most of them. Heâs sent it over ⦠and weâve taken a picture of your neighbour.â
âHow did you do that?â
âBill was in the neighbourhood and hid in the woods behind your homes,â Marjorie smiled.
âYou could have asked me first, you know.â
âYou were otherwise engaged and we didnât have time. Bill was due on another job. Anyhow, he didnât have to wait long. Mister so-called Sok was gardening and he shot away.â
âAnd?â
âTo cut a long story short, we ran a facial through the recognition software â or something like that, the photo boys have the details â and your chap resembles one of the wanted. A certain Khieu Sen. Weâre far from certain, because thereâs a difference of twenty years between the photos, at least, and the technology can be a bit dodgy. Itâs not like DNA analysis.â
âAnd whatâs this Khieu accused of exactly?â
âHe was apparently a key figure in one of the death camps, the âkilling fieldsâ, as you will remember they were called. A senior officer in the special branch, which was in charge of internal security. Heâs on the wanted list for so many crimes, that I canât even remember them all. Genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, rape, murder, torture. He liked to get personally engaged, as it were. One of his specialities was smashing babies and children against trees to break their heads open.â
âJesus,â is all Roger can think to say. âJesus wept.â
They both stare at their shoes for a minute or two.
âWhy wasnât this beast picked up before?â asks Roger finally.
Download
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.
Dark Humor | Humorous |
Satire |
The Hating Game by Sally Thorne(17762)
Cat's cradle by Kurt Vonnegut(14097)
The Break by Marian Keyes(8736)
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan(8484)
A Man Called Ove: A Novel by Fredrik Backman(7794)
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes(5889)
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion(5351)
A Year in the Merde by Stephen Clarke(4776)
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman(4750)
Beartown by Fredrik Backman(4664)
Audition by Ryu Murakami(4224)
The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren(4219)
Beach Read by Emily Henry(4151)
China Rich Girlfriend by Kwan Kevin(3984)
Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan(3853)
Ayesha At Last by Uzma Jalaluddin(3756)
Lamb, the Gospel According to Biff by Christopher Moore(3087)
Hardcore Twenty-Four by Janet Evanovich(2950)
The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion(2831)
![](/ebook_detail_files/space.gif)