The 38 Million Dollar Smile - Stevenson Richard (е книги TXT) 📗
of water with a single plastic cup floating in it. All the Thais looked grateful, but I guessed that the three farangs — Timmy,
Griswold, me — were all thinking the same thing: Bangkok tap
water. No San Pellegrino was going to be provided.
§ § § § §
Just after eleven, two new guards turned up. They opened
the cell door, and one of them asked in English for Pugh, me,
Timmy and Griswold to follow them.
The second-floor captain’s office was more sanitary than our
cell, but it also lacked the charm we had come to associate with Siamese furnishings and decor.
The captain himself, the man who had arrested us at the safe
house, was present but he had little to offer us beyond a few
pleasantries. He said General Yodying would be along shortly.
264 Richard Stevenson
The captain apologized for Bangkok’s steamy weather.
Griswold asked if we would be permitted to phone the United
States embassy. The captain said no, that we should just sit
tight.
General Yodying ambled in around eleven thirty carrying a
sheaf of papers. The captain and Pugh wai-ed the general.
Griswold, Timmy and I followed their lead. The general wai-ed
us back and there were friendly exchanges of sa-wa-dee-cap.
He was big for a Thai, light skinned, with a broad forehead
and an immobile face. He was wearing a full dress uniform and
looked as if he might have come from a formal occasion,
possibly official. I doubted the general had dolled himself up
for us. He seated himself at his raised desk, and we took seats
across from and half a foot below him.
The general looked at Timmy and me and said, “It is a pity
your visit to Thailand has been disrupted by the taint of your
association with this bad man.” He indicated Griswold with a
curt nod. “And I certainly hope that neither of you shares Mr.
Griswold’s unfortunate tendencies. If so, I would advise you to
leave Thailand and take up residence instead in Phnom Penh,
Cambodia.”
I could see just enough of Griswold with my peripheral
vision to catch the flinch. He knew what was coming, and he
knew what had happened to him, and he knew he was finished.
“And you, Khun Rufus. I am surprised and disappointed
that you would allow yourself to be employed by such a
depraved pervert. I know you well enough to know that your
sexual appetites are entirely healthy. I suppose you are in it for the money — protecting a man like this — and I can appreciate
that. We all have families to support and temples to which we
must make appropriate offerings.”
Pugh looked at the general evenly but said nothing.
Flipping open his packet, the general pulled out a wad of
eight-by-ten color photos. He said, “Mr. Griswold, investigators under my command have compiled incontrovertible proof that
you have been molesting helpless little boys in and around
THE 38 MILLION DOLLAR SMILE 265
Bangkok. People like you have been coming to Southeast Asia
for years to prey on poor and vulnerable urchins like the ones in these photographs. But I have to tell you that those days are
over. Finished. Monsters such as yourself now serve long prison
terms for these despicable acts, and I want you to know that
you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Would
you like to make a statement?”
Griswold was entirely calm. His months of meditation were
paying off. He said, “I’ll make a statement. Aren’t you going to record it?”
“That won’t be necessary.”
“May I see the photos?”
“Of course.”
The general spread them out on his desk facing us. They
were bad. Boys no more than eight or ten grimacing and crying
as they were being penetrated by a foreigner who plainly was
not Griswold — although Griswold’s face had been ineptly
Photoshopped atop the face of the actual perpetrator.
Griswold said, “Where did you get these? That’s not me,
despite the crude attempts to make it look as if it is.”
“These photos were on your computer.”
Pugh said, “A mistake has obviously been made. I am in
possession of Khun Gary’s computer.”
“Perhaps you have one of his computers,” the general said.
“But this one was found in a hidden vault beneath the spirit
house in Mr. Griswold’s condo here in Bangkok. And of
course, the photos speak for themselves.”
Griswold said, “How much do you want? I have very little
left. Basically just what’s left in the vault under the spirit house.”
“No money was found in your vault, Mr. Griswold. Just
your laptop with these despicable pictures of your despicable
acts.”
“So what do you want from me? What can I possibly offer
you to secure my freedom, General?”
266 Richard Stevenson
“You can offer me nothing, Mr. Griswold. However, I am a
man of mercy. The only thing I require of you is your absence
from Thailand. Your visa to remain in Thailand was revoked
half an hour ago. Members of my department will personally
escort you to the airport at nine tomorrow morning. You will
be placed on a flight to Frankfurt and you will never be
admitted to Thailand again. We don’t want your ilk in our
country. We simply will not stand for it.”
Griswold said, “What about the Sayadaw U center? Will it be
built?”
The general smiled. “Of course, of course it will be built. If
that’s what you’re worried about, have no fear. Your name will
not be associated with the shrine, however, now that you have
the taint of moral corruption on you. And I should mention
perhaps that the center will be completed on a scale somewhat
reduced from what you had in mind. Your idea of it was far too
grandiose for Thai tastes. We are a humble people.”
Griswold sat quietly gazing at the general. After a moment,
he said, “I still love Thailand.”
“Oh, even though it has disappointed you! I am relieved to
hear that, Mr. Griswold. You are in many ways a good man —
despite your proclivities. You are a man of spiritual depth and
perspective. Perhaps after your soul has been purified by chaste behavior and generous offerings over a series of lives, you will return to Thailand under another, better guise. I am certain our immigration department would have no objection to that.”
Griswold said, “What about my friends here? They have
done nothing wrong. Of course, neither have I. But it seems as
if there is no point in discussing that.”
“No. You are correct. There is no point in discussing that.
But your friends will be released in the morning. Khun Rufus
can resume his colorful career as Bangkok’s Mickey Spillane.
And Mr. Donald and Mr. Timothy will, I hope, enjoy some of
the splendors of Siamese culture and civilization, and perhaps
have a pleasant visit at one of our hundreds of excellent
beaches. I don’t want them to return to America with a poor
impression of my country.”
THE 38 MILLION DOLLAR SMILE 267
Timmy said, “I like your beaches, General. We’ve been to
Hua Hin. But your criminal justice system leaves a lot to be
desired.”
Had Timmy fallen off his bicycle and landed on his head? I
had been determined to keep my mouth shut and leave for the
airport at the first opportunity. I thought, My God, he’s turning into me.
But General Yodying nodded sympathetically. “I do
apologize for detaining you, Mr. Timothy, and for doing so in
our admittedly fetid accommodations. Do understand, however,
that I could have left you all to rot over the weekend in that cell.
