“Of course I heard nothing.”
“So what do you think happened, Mr. Gottesman? Who killed your client?”
“He had many enemies.”
“So I gather. But are any of those enemies on this plane?”
“He didn’t see any while we were waiting to board.”
“But you would have been in the VIP lounge, would you not? So you wouldn’t have seen everyone.”
“True,” said the Israeli. “But the only people in the forward cabin are those with business-class tickets. It couldn’t have been anyone from the rear of the plane, could it?”
“I agree,” said Inspector Zhang. “Now when was the last time you saw him alive?”
“I went to the toilet shortly before landing. I came back to find that journalist pestering Mr. Srisai. Then I read a magazine. Then the stewardess came around to tell us to fasten our seat belts, and when she checked Mr. Srisai, she realised something was wrong. She fetched the guy in the suit, and he said he was dead and covered him with a blanket.”
“You didn’t check for yourself?”
“They told me to stay in my seat. They said there was nothing I could do.”
Inspector Zhang nodded thoughtfully. “Was he an easy man to work for?”
The bodyguard shrugged. “He liked to do things his own way.”
“So he was difficult?”
“I wouldn’t say difficult.”
“There was an argument at security back at the airport, I’m told.”
“It was nothing. A misunderstanding.”
“About what?”
“The metal detector beeped. They searched him. I think it was his watch that set it off. He wears a big gold Rolex.”
“And there was an argument?”
“He didn’t want to be stopped. Men like Mr. Srisai, they are used to getting their own way.”
“And while you were in Singapore, where did you stay?”
“We moved from hotel to hotel, changing every few days. Last night we stayed at the Sheraton.”
“Because Mr. Srisai was concerned for his safety?”
The bodyguard nodded. “He said there were people who still wanted him dead, even though he had left Thailand.”
“But nothing happened during the flight to give you any cause for concern?”
“That’s right. I was stunned when they said he was dead. I don’t know how it could have happened.”
Inspector Zhang handed the bodyguard his passport. “You say that you have only worked for Mr. Srisai for two months.”
“That’s correct.”
“But I see from the visas in your passport that you only arrived from Israel two months ago.”
The bodyguard put away the passport. “That’s right. I was hired over the phone and flew out to take up the position.”
“But you had never met before then?”
The bodyguard shook his head. “A friend of Mr. Srisai recommended me. We spoke on the phone and agreed on terms, and I flew straight out to Thailand. Shortly after I arrived, shots were fired at his house and a maid was killed, so he decided to fly to Singapore.”
Inspector Zhang smiled. “Well, thank you for your time,” he said. He stood up and patted Sergeant Lee on the arm. “Come with me,” he said and took her through the galley and into the economy cabin, which was almost empty. The cabin crew were shepherding the few remaining passengers out of the door at the rear of the plane. “I think it best we speak here, so that the passengers cannot hear us,” he said. “So what do you think, Sergeant?”
She shrugged and opened her notebook. “I don’t know, sir, I just don’t know. We have an impossible situation, a crime that could not have happened and yet clearly has happened.”
“Very succinctly put, Sergeant,” said Inspector Zhang.
“We know that the victim couldn’t have been shot on the plane. That would have been impossible.”
“That is true,” said Inspector Zhang.
“But if he had been shot before he boarded, why was there no blood? And how could a man with a bullet in his chest get onto the plane, eat his meal and go to the toilet? That would be impossible, too.”
“Again, that is true,” agreed the Inspector.
“So it’s impossible,” said Sergeant Lee, flicking through her notebook. “The only solutions are impossible ones.”
Inspector Zhang held up his hand. “Then at this point we must consider the words of Sherlock Holmes in “The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet,”The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet,” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. For in that book the great detective lays down one of the great truths of detection—once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”
Sergeant Lee frowned. “But how does that help us if everything is impossible?”
“No, Sergeant. Everything cannot be impossible because we have a victim and we have a crime scene, and we also have a murderer that we have yet to identify. What we have to do is to eliminate the impossible, and that we have done. We know that he was killed on the plane. That is certain because he was alive for most of the flight. So it was impossible for him to have been killed before boarding. But we are equally certain that it was impossible for him to have been shot while he was sitting in the cabin.”
“Exactly,” said Sergeant Lee. “It’s impossible. The whole thing is impossible.” She snapped her notebook shut in frustration.
Inspector Zhang smiled. “Not necessarily,” he said quietly. “We have eliminated the impossible, so we are left with the truth. If he was not shot on the plane, then he must have been shot before he boarded. That is the only possibility.”
“Okay,” said the Sergeant hesitantly.
“And if he did not die before boarding, then he must have been murdered on the plane.”
The Sergeant shrugged.
“So the only possible explanation is that he was shot before he boarded and was murdered on the plane.” Inspector Zhang pushed his spectacles up his nose. “I know that those two statements appear to be mutually exclusive, but it is the only possible explanation.” He took out his cell phone. “I must use my phone,” he said and headed towards the rear of the plane.
The pilot came up to Sergeant Lee, and they both watched as Inspector Zhang talked into his cell phone, his hand cupped around his mouth.
“Is he always like this?” asked Captain Kumar.
“Like what?” asked Sergeant Lee.
“Secretive,” said the pilot. “As if he doesn’t want anyone else to know what’s going on.”
“I think Inspector Zhang does not like to be wrong,” she said. “So until he is sure, he holds his own counsel.”
“Do you think he knows who the killer is?”
“If anyone does, it is Inspector Zhang,” she said.
They waited until Inspector Zhang had finished, but when he did put the phone away, he turned his back on them and headed out of the door at the back of the plane.
“Now where is he going?” asked Captain Kumar.
“I have absolutely no idea,” said Sergeant Lee.
After a few minutes the Inspector returned, followed by two brown-uniformed Thai policemen with large handguns in holsters and gleaming black boots.
“Is everything all right, Inspector?” asked the pilot.
“Everything is perfect,” said Inspector Zhang. “I am now in a position to hand the perpetrator of the crime over to the Thai authorities.” He strode past them and headed towards the front of the plane. Captain Kumar and Sergeant Lee fell into step behind the two Thai police officers.
