‘I am leaving my job next month,’ she started. ‘Retiring. Although I could stay on, I’m not going to. This last eighteen months have been so terrible—I don’t want to work for a company like NAP. It’s changed so much since that awful woman Katrien took over two years ago.’

Magda leaned forward and whispered: ‘Alfie calls her the Bitch.’

Dorothy put her cup down and whispered back, ‘I know exactly what he means.’ She nodded, her eyes wide. ‘It’s a good name for her. She has got well above her station. I don’t know how she’s ended up with so much authority. She shouldn’t be allowed in charge of any of it.’

‘What do you know about her?’

‘She takes drugs. I caught her once when I went in to her office; she was snorting cocaine. She seems to have plenty of money coming in—she wears designer everything and that’s not cheap, although why she bothers, I don’t know; she always wears black, it could be any make. And she’s always taking time off to go away.’

‘Where does she get her money from, do you think?’ Magda sipped her coffee and listened hard.

Dorothy raised her eyebrows and rolled her eyes.

‘Men. That’s where from. She plays her little games with all of them. I’ve seen her out in town. She’s always with a different one. Ugly, dishonest—but always wealthy looking. She’s passed me in the street before now, in some top of the range flash car. She knows all the wrong people if you ask me. But I don’t think she’s planning to stay here much longer. She’s been going to Thailand at least three or four times a year the last two years. I think she’ll go and live there. And good riddance to her…I tell you something, though.’ Dorothy beamed. ‘She was riled the other day when Johnny Mann came in.’ She chuckled. ‘You should have seen her face!’

‘Did she know who he was?’ Magda asked, surprised.

‘I don’t know that but I do know that she cancelled the rest of the day’s appointments and left the office. Oh…look at the time!’ She panicked as she looked at her watch. ‘I have to go. She’s probably back in the office by now and that nasty little receptionist will be quick to tell her that I had a longer break than I should. But…’ Dorothy stood and put on her coat and scarf. ‘…I will start doing some serious digging for you and I will call you.’

She hugged Magda.

‘You can rely on me,’ she said as she disappeared.

Magda watched her go and was left with the feeling that she could trust and rely on her. She was happy with the way the meeting had gone. Alfie would be pleased when she told him everything she’d learned. It confirmed his suspicions about Katrien—that she was a nasty piece of work, capable of anything.

Magda arrived back at the apartment and punched in her door code. No cat this time. She walked up the stairs, and it was as she took the last few steps onto her landing that she had a sudden sense that something wasn’t right. As she turned the corner at the top of the stairs, she saw something that chilled her to the bone. Her legs buckled and she clasped her hand to her mouth in horror. Someone had nailed the cat to her door.

24

Mann drew up a chair and sat beside Shrimp as he drank his coffee. ‘What have you got for me?’

‘This.’ Shrimp picked up a glossy printout next to the PC and unfolded it. Mann recognised some of the photos on it. They were of Patong Beach. He’d seen them on the wall at NAP. There were before and after photos of the tsunami, and photos of projects that were being worked on. As Mann studied them, he thought of Daniel and of Magda’s account of that Boxing Day. Never again would he be able to look over the beach at the horizon in the same way.

His thoughts were disturbed as, from outside in the corridor, came the sound of a familiar male voice flirting with Pam. Ng came around the corner, his briefcase under his arm, smiling to himself. He was holding a piece of paper. He winked at Mann and fluttered the paper triumphantly in the air.

‘The old dog’s still got it—new girl, white blouse, tight skirt.’ He looked very pleased with himself.

Mann shook his head bewildered.

‘You must be fucking joking…How did you get her number?’

Ng always looked as if he’d just got out of bed. But the dishevelled look suited him and his sideways grin and puppy dog eyes brought him more than his fair share of female attention. He stopped mid-step when he saw Shrimp and feigned massive surprise.

‘What’s wrong with you? Why are you dressed like a normal person?’

‘This is my “project manager’s outfit”. I’m just trying it out for size. Buff-coloured trousers show that I am a professional used to working on sites, plus…’ Shrimp pulled the leg of his trouser to reveal sturdy lace-ups. ‘I have hard-topped boots—always safety first on the site. The vacancy just popped up. I couldn’t turn it down. I am going off to help rebuild a children’s nursery on Patong Beach that was destroyed by the tsunami and which they are halfway through completing.’

‘Huh?’ Ng tried to follow Shrimp’s quickfire dialogue. He always spoke too fast for him. Ng looked from Mann back to Shrimp and shook his head, confused. ‘I told you to look into it, not get yourself hired.’

‘No way, Shrimp,’ said Mann, shaking his head. ‘I appreciate it, but there’s no way I want you getting involved. You would get in serious trouble if the boss found out you were helping me. I thought you were studying for your law degree? You can’t afford to take time off.’

‘Forget it, boss, the law degree is in its final stages. I just need to find a case to show off my skills. Plus, I live for the adrenalin, you know that.’

Ng shook his head as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. ‘You might make a good lawyer—in the end—but, God, haven’t those children suffered enough? What do you know about building walls and laying floors?’

Shrimp thought for a couple of seconds and then shrugged. ‘I will pick up a book on it at the airport. I got Ting in Anti-Fraud to fix me up some credentials and references and they hired me subject to interview, which I did via webcam. I pretended I was from New York. To be honest, I would have hired me, Ting made me look so good. Plus they’re desperate.’

‘Ha.’ Ng shook his head, stupefied. ‘Good luck…’ He slapped Shrimp hard on the back. ‘You’ll need it.’

Ng sat down at his desk. As untidy as Ng was in his person, his desk was immensely organised: papers were gathered in neat piles, sharpened pencils lay in tidy rows.

‘Who interviewed you?’ asked Mann.

‘Versace suit, black—this season—grey silk Dior chemise underneath: understated chic.’

‘That’ll be Katrien—classy but as cold as ice. Okay, Shrimp. I do appreciate it but keep a low profile. Remember you have no jurisdiction there. Neither of us do. We get into trouble, we’re on our own. If the governments aren’t able to help the five missing kids, they sure as hell aren’t going to help us.’

Mann had been through many scrapes with Shrimp and Shrimp had always put himself on the line for Mann.

‘No sweat. I am just there for back-up for you. I want to do it and…I think you’ll need me out there. Besides, I’m owed a lot of leave so figured it could almost count as a vacation.’

‘He’s as bad as you. He never takes a vacation,’ grumbled Ng. ‘I wish I was owed leave. Let him go, Genghis. I will cover for him here.’

‘Okay,’ said Mann, reluctantly. ‘I guess there’s nothing I can say to change your mind. Thank you. I will pick up the bill for it all, Shrimp. When do you leave?’

‘Tomorrow evening.’

Shrimp scrolled through the pages on his screen and clicked on a link to YouTube at the bottom. Devastating images of the tsunami came up: the empty beach, the massive wave on the horizon, and the muffled voices of people in the background, screaming for help. Mann wanted to turn away but couldn’t. The tsunami had become personal to him now.