Lost Innocence: The Accused. Part One by John Daysh Page B

man who had
used meditation and Buddhism to help release the guilt of his
crime. From what he claimed, it had not only preserved his sanity,
but kept him alive.
    The room filled with
shouting from the inmates. John cocked his head to one side,
listened then announced, “Someone has died.”
    I watched as a
motionless body was poked, prodded, pointed out to a guard then
dragged away by a couple of trusties.
     
     

 
    SEVENTEEN
     
    NIGEL WAS in the shower singing Sinatra’s ‘My Way’, but
his way , which
was sadly out of tune. Ten minutes later, dried and dressed, he was
walking through the lobby, when he was called over by a pretty
receptionist. She handed him an envelope. He opened it. Inside was
a photo of a pretty young girl standing at a bar in a white dress.
She wasn’t posing for the picture; it was as if she hadn’t even
known it was being taken. On the back was a note written in
English: ‘Find Puku - find Mia.’
    “ Who gave you this?”
he asked. She asked a colleague who asked someone else, who then
asked someone in the back - nobody knew.
    He left the hotel,
found Pang by his car and showed him the picture. “Somebody’s
trying to help.”
    “… .Who?”
    “ I don’t know.
Yesterday at the bar, did you tell Mon where I was
staying?”
    Guilt reared its ugly
head on Pang’s face.
    “ It may have worked
in our favour. Somebody brought us this picture with a note on the
back.”
    Nigel took out his
phone, flicked to the picture of Mia and compared it with the
picture of Puku.
    “ Look at this Pang. I
think Puku is Mia’s sister.”
    Pang nodded. “Where
you want to go?”
    “… Back to the
bar.”
    Nigel and Pang
returned to the bar and parked on the opposite side of the street.
Pang was about to step out when Nigel stopped him. “Wait a minute.
I think Mon’s expecting us. None of the girls are outside. Do me a
favour, walk around the back and see if there’s any sign of police
cars tucked away.”
    Pang walked off and
returned a few minutes later. “No police car, but I look in back
window and see Mon with men. Look like security. What we
do?”
    “ We wait and see if
Mia comes out. It may take a while. We’ll need coffee and
doughnuts.”
    Pang walked off into
the night.
    Nigel was watching
the bar and craving for a coffee, when his trusty driver suddenly
appeared at the door. He leapt from his seat, caught his breath
then wound down the window. “You frightened the life out of me.
Where were you?”
    “ Sorry, but I not
find doughnut.”
    He handed Nigel a
plastic cup of cold coffee then climbed into the driver’s seat.
“You see Mia?”
    “ Not yet.”
    “ What we
do?”
    “ I think we’re
done.”
    “ Where you want to
go?”
    “ Back to the
hotel.”
    “ What about the
doughnuts?”
    “ They’ll have to wait
for another day. We should get some sleep. We have an important
appointment with a lawyer, tomorrow.
    The following morning, Nigel and Pang arrived at a modern office building on Ratchada. After
looking online for a reputable law firm which handled criminal
cases, Nigel was quietly confident that he had found his
guy.
    Arriving on the
fourth floor of a plush-looking office-block, they stepped through
some automatic doors and were greeted by an attractive young lady
wearing glasses like a French teacher in a porn flick.
    “ We’re here to see Mr
Pamon.”
    “ Please follow me,”
she replied in perfect English.
    They followed her
into a modern office with a long conference table and four leather
chairs. Nigel smelled the fine leather - he approved.
    “ Please have a seat,”
she smiled. Nigel and Pang took a pew as the receptionist knocked
on a back door, poked her head round and spoke Thai.
    A young, smartly
dressed Thai man with short, immaculate hair entered with some
paperwork and approached them. His breath was minty fresh and his
face looked photo-shopped. “Hello, Mr Walker. I am
Pamon.”
    Nigel rose and shook
the lawyer’s hand with a firm grip.