The Ambassador's wife

three crimes and either knows, or thinks he knows, who committed them. If he didn’t commit them himself, he’s protecting whoever did. What else would explain his complicity in the murder of Ms. Parks?”

“If there was complicity.”

“Yes, sir. If there was.”

“If these photographs you’re talking about aren’t just a lot of crap.”

“Yes, sir. If they aren’t.”

“And, even if they aren’t crap, if you might not be misinterpreting them.”

“Yes, sir. If I’m not.”

“A whole lot of fucking if’s, my friend.”

“Yes, sir.”

Tay’s boss sighed heavily, then he leaned back and began studying the overhead light fixture.

“And what is putting DeSouza under surveillance supposed to prove?” he finally asked when the silence had gone on so long that Tay was beginning to fidget.

“If DeSouza is protecting someone, Chief, it would probably be someone he knows fairly well, someone he has a personal relationship with. By finding out where he goes and whom he sees we ought to be able at least to narrow down the possibilities.”

“Uh-huh. And that’s it.”

“No, sir.”

Tay paused. He didn’t want to say it, but he supposed there was no real point in beating around the bush.

“If DeSouza committed the crimes himself, he’s a cold-blooded serial killer. I think he’ll kill again, or try to.”

The OC abruptly lost interest in the light fixture and shifted his attention to the top of his desk.

“How long would all this take?”

Tay wasn’t sure what that meant. Was the OC weakening? Was he actually on the verge of giving Tay permission to set up surveillance on DeSouza?

“A couple of weeks,” Tay answered carefully. “Maybe a little more. That ought to be long enough to give us a reasonably good idea whether there’s anything there we ought to look into further.”

The OC blew air into his cheeks and let it out again. Tay knew he was being unreasonably hopeful, but right at that moment and against all the odds his boss looked very much like a man who was about to give him the go- ahead. Tay had no doubt at all that the right thing to do was to keep his mouth shut, to sit there in silence and let the OC do his considering. Still, as he had more times in his life than he cared to remember, Tay couldn’t stop himself from saying just one more thing.

“Nobody has to know this is being done, sir.”

The second he spoke, Tay could see in the OC’s eyes how badly he had just blown it. If biting his tongue off could have called the words back, he would have done it gladly.

“Oh really, Sam? You’re sure of that? What if you slip up and this man makes the surveillance? You figure we’d all just have a good laugh together and let it go?”

“I’ll make certain that doesn’t happen, sir.”

“Even if it doesn’t, it wouldn’t be a week before half of Singapore found out about it.”

“It’s not necessary to tell very many-”

“Right now you know and I know,” the OC interrupted, “and surely you’re not suggesting I agree to something like this without informing the Director of CID and God knows who he would think he ought to tell to cover his own ass. On top of that, if I actually let you do something this bloody dumb, you’d need at least a dozen men to pull it off. They’d all know. So that’s…what, maybe twenty people in all? Then it wouldn’t be long before twenty wives or girlfriends found out and then we’d really be off to the fucking races.”

Anger rose inside Tay, but he fought it down.

“So you won’t even consider my request, sir?”

“I have considered it, Sam. Your request to put this man DeSouza under surveillance is denied. The murder of Elizabeth Munson has been solved. The case is closed based on information received from American law enforcement authorities. The murders of the other two women occurred in Thailand. They are none of our concern. That’s it. That’s the end. Finito.”

The OC eyed Tay for a moment and then leaned back in his chair.

“Do you understand me, Sam?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You’re going to close the case and leave this alone?”

“That’s what you told me to do, sir.”

“I know that’s what I told you to do, Sam. My question is whether or not you’re going to do it.”

“I’ve always tried to do my job as well as I can, sir, and that includes following the instructions you give me.”

The OC knew, of course, that wasn’t exactly an answer to his question, but he was growing tired of fencing with Tay.

“See that you do, Sam. See that you do. But let me tell you one thing. If I get even the slightest hint that you aren’t following my instructions to the fucking letter, you and I are going to have a serious talk about your retirement. I can’t have my officers going off on their own because they have vague suspicions and friends in American intelligence. Do you understand that?”

“I understand that perfectly, sir.”

All at once, as if he had just thought of something far more important he had to deal with, the OC leaned forward and scribbled a note on a pad that was in front of him. When he was done, he glanced up.

“That’s all, Sam. You can go now.”

IT had been easy enough for Sergeant Kang to find out when DeSouza returned to Singapore and equally easy to find out where he lived. Over the weekend Kang quietly recruited five other CID-SIS detectives and organized the six of them into two-man teams. The first team picked up DeSouza on Monday morning when he left home to go to the American embassy. All six men continued working their other cases as usual, but in their off- hours they threw a blanket over DeSouza, covering him in twelve-hour shifts.

For nearly a week, DeSouza did absolutely nothing of interest to anyone.

And then he did something that interested everyone.

FORTY-ONE

“Yeah?” Tay mumbled. It was hardly the most courteous way to answer a telephone, and certainly not the most articulate, but it was the middle of the fucking night and he figured it would do.

“Sir? Is that you?”

“Robbie?”

“Yes, sir. Did I wake you, sir?”

“What time is it?”

“About one, sir.”

“Does that answer your question?”

“Sorry?” A pause. “Oh, I see. Right.”

Sergeant Kang cleared his throat.

“I’m sorry to bother you, sir, but I thought you should know DeSouza’s on the move and we’re not sure what to make of it.”

Tay sat up. He rubbed at his eyes with his free hand and swung his feet to the floor.

“Talk to me, Robbie.”

“Well, sir, Danny Ong and Sergeant Lee are with DeSouza tonight and Danny just called me. A taxi picked