knew the answer already.
If Murphy Cody was alive in Bangkok and had remained silent for all these years, there had to be a reason. And if military intelligence didn’t know the reason, it didn’t look good for Cody.
‘Don’t play dumb,’ Sloan said. What the hell’s he doing in Thailand? I mean if he’s alive, why hasn’t he surfaced?’
Hatcher could think of a lot of reasons, none of them good.
‘Maybe he’s got amnesia,’ he finally offered.
‘Yeah, maybe I’m Doris Day, too, Sloan answered. ‘It’s a possibility. He could have amnesia.’
There was also the possibility that Cody had been a collaborator, or a defector, or a deserter, or that he was involved in drugs, murder, white 1avery or any of a dozen other crimes Hatcher could think of.
Sloan obviously had the same things in mind. He said, ‘I can’t think of a good way for this to turn out, if it’s true. There’s desertion, to start with. If he wasn’t killed, he still belongs to the U.S. Navy, heart and soul.’
‘Question is, why did he go underground in the first place?’ Hatcher said. ‘What I mean is, if he wasn’t killed and he wasn’t in Hanoi, where the hell was he?’
‘Well, wherever it was, the Navy was convinced he was KIA.’
‘Maybe that was his out.’
‘Or his trap.’
Hatcher nodded slowly. ‘Or his trap. So what’s this got to do with me?’
‘Nobody knows Thailand like you do, Hatch. You know the good guys
‘Improper,’ Hatcher growled -with a chuckle. ‘Very delicate, Harry.’
‘You get the point,’ Sloan continued. ‘We need somebody who knows the territory and can keep his mouth shut. And nobody I know is better at keeping quiet than you, old buddy. Besides, you were a damn good investigator in your day, if I do say so myself.’
‘My day’s not over, and don’t call me your old buddy. And who the hell’s we?’
‘Half a dozen of Buffalo Bill’s old staff. Look, this Thai, his name is Wol Pot, brought the trade-out to the embassy in Bangkok. Luckily, the IO there is one of Cody’s old exec officers, Lew Porter.’
‘Windy Porter?’
‘Yeah, you remember him?’
‘Vaguely.’
‘He interviewed Pot. Right away he sizes up the situation, puts Pot on hold and calls me. I round up a couple of the old-timers from S-town, we kick it around. Finally we had to take it to the Old Man.’
‘Why?’ Hatcher rasped.
Sloan stared hard into his eyes. ‘Because Buffalo Bill’s dying of cancer, Hatch. He won’t last the year.’
That stopped Hatcher cold. He had a hard time picturing General Buffalo Bill Cody with some insidious worm eating up his insides.
‘We all love the Old Man, okay?’ Sloan said, and his voice turned husky. He stopped for moment and swallowed hard before he went on. ‘He asked us the favor. If his kid’s alive, he’d like to see him once before he dies.’
‘What if he’s in trouble?’
‘That’s why I need you, Hatch,’ Sloan said, his voice still shaky. ‘If he’s in deep shit, Porter can’t handle it. He’s a burned-out old trooper. Point is, the general will meet Cody somewhere — anywhere — Hawaii, Tokyo, Sydney. Wherever Murphy wants t meet him. Nobody needs to know it ever happened.’
‘A trip like that would probably kill the Old Man,’ Hatcher said.
‘His quality time’s running out anyway,’ Sloan said with resignation. ‘The thing is, it has to be handled with satin and lace by somebody who knows the score, who can roll with it, no matter how it might go, convince the kid we’re not out to dump on him, we just want to give the Old Man one last gift.’
‘He’s hardly a kid,’ Hatcher said. ‘He’d be — forty-two now,’ he said, adding a year to his own age.
‘Go to Thailand and find him, if he’s there,’ said Sloan matter-of-factly. ‘Or put the old man’s mind to rest.’
‘Prove he’s dead,’ Hatcher rasped.
‘Yeah, One way or another.’
Hatcher laughed hard at that.
‘Navy’s been chasing down leads on Cody for fourteen years,’ he said, ‘and you want me to go to Bangkok, which has fifty million people, and turn him up, just like that.’
‘Nobody’s been looking for Cody. As far as the Navy’s concerned he’s dead meat. But you, hell, laddie, you’re the best I ever had.’
‘Can the shit, Harry.’
‘You got the edge, Hatch,’ said Sloan. ‘We’ll give you Wol Pot. We’ll give you Windy You know Cody. You know the territory. And you can keep your mouth shut no matter what happens. You proved that in Madrango. All I want you to do is go over there, find Cody and set up the meet. Or tell me he’s dead. Hell, you’ll even have Flitcraft at
