The Chiang Mai Chronicle: A Declan Power Mystery by T. Hunt Locke

snuck away. Why would someone be following Oum? It didn’t add up. Perhaps Bangkok Man had put a tail on her. He’d figure that out later. It was enough to know his girl had made off safely. Now, he needed to focus on Christopher Minor.
    “Have you had any contact with Martin since you consummated your deal?”
    Minor hesitated. “I thought we were going to conduct an interview to shine a brighter light on World TEFL?”
    “And I will. That’s the easy part. But I’m after bigger fish and that’s where we’ll begin.” He knew he had Minor skittish. And rightfully so, it wasn’t only wayward punters who found themselves dropped dead in Chiang Mai’s famous moat. Businessmen as well had been dredged up casualties of the unwritten code of doing business the Thai way.
    “Martin came in last week,” he sputtered.
    “Had you arranged a meeting or was this from out of the blue?” Declan had gathered from his conversation with the ‘Mayor’ that Martin had been reaching out to whomever he thought could help wrangle him from the noose that was slowly closing around his neck.
    “Both. He had left a message with my secretary, a message I ignored. Then he showed up unannounced.”
    “What did he want?”
    “He complained that he was being harassed by King Mengrai University. Apparently they were pursuing a course of malicious litigation against him.”
    “How would you be involved?”
    “I was of course nervous about such an event. But my lawyers had assured me, before I purchased World TEFL, that any legal issues could only be directed towards Gay. All associations with the university had been severed prior to us coming on the scene.”
    “So, what did Gay hope to get out of you?”
    “It was blackmail pure and simple.” Minor hesitated once again unsure whether to continue.
    “Look,” Declan prodded. “I’m not the government. Whatever you had going on with Gay stays in this room.”
    The skittish businessman relented. “We had an agreement, a financial agreement, which would lessen my tax burden.”
    “Got it. You bought the joint for one price and recorded a different price on the bill of sale. That’s standard for Chiang Mai.”
    “Exactly, but highly illegal. Gay threatened to drag me into his legal woes by exposing this transaction. I presume he had already been in contact with the man you have spoken with from Bangkok.”
    “It makes sense,” Power mused. “And you gave him what he wanted I figure.”
    “Of course. I have too much invested to be sunken by a con-artist such as Gay.”
    Declan nodded in agreement. Christopher Minor wasn’t a bad sort. He was just a guy caught up in a bad situation. He’d get Declan Power’s five star recommendation. “What did he ask of you?”
    “That was the simple part. He wanted a document he had buried away in the company’s archives and one hundred thousand baht. I gave him both. Well, I gave him the money and I allowed a copy to be made of the document.”
    Power’s eyes opened wide. “I’d like a look at that document if you don’t mind.”
    “No problem Power. But now let’s talk about that column. I need to turn the tide against what is still being said on the blogosphere. I’m getting killed on Thai Visa.com. You can turn that around with this supposed column you’ve been dangling like a carrot.”
    “You’ve got your article Chris. I can knock it out tonight, have it ready for press next week, and pump a preview on a few blogs this week. My boss wouldn’t mind you purchasing an advert as well. And while we’re at it, I noticed your secretary. Quite a looker I must say. In any case, I’m looking to go in a different direction with my centerfold. She’d be a great way to launch my new page. I’m thinking about naming it the Chiang Mai Girl Next Door Page.”
    Minor let out a derisive laugh. He rubbed his chin giving the matter more thought. The benefits started to dawn on him. Then he frowned. “Nikki is quite attractive. But