THE GIRL IN THE WINDOW (The Inspector Samuel Tay Novels Book 4) by Jake Needham

people from MI6, ASIS, and the CIA in this room today?”
    Goh gave a very small nod, but he didn’t say anything else.
    “Didn’t you tell me this was your operation?”
    “It is my operation, Tay. And don’t you forget it.”
    “Either you’re dumber than I think, Goh, or you’re lying both to me and yourself. You can’t possibly believe MI6, the Australian Intelligence Service, and the CIA are here to hang around watching ISD. They’re here because they want something.”
    “They want us to grab Suparman. He’s not just our problem. He’s everybody’s problem.”
    “And if you do grab him—"
    “Not if, Tay, when.”
    “And if you do grab him, what do you figure happens then? All those guys congratulate you on a job well done, have a little chili crab, and head home? Rubbish. They’re going to want a piece of Suparman, too.”
    “I’m calling the shots here, Tay. Simple as that.”
    “Look, Goh, you can’t really—”
    “And another thing. Be careful who you talk to. You can’t be certain where their loyalties lie.”
    That pulled Tay up short.
    “What are you talking about?” he asked.
    “We have reason to believe that ISIS has supporters in Singapore, possibly even on the police force.”
    “But not in ISD.”
    “Don’t be ridiculous, Tay. I know our people.”
    “And I know ours.”
    Tay and Goh focused their most macho glares on each other, but after a few seconds Tay shook his head and looked away. He was wasting his time. Without another word, he turned around and started up the steps to the little auditorium’s exit where Kang was waiting for him with Sergeant Lee.
    As he climbed, Tay found himself looking at Sergeant Lee and realizing he had forgotten how attractive she was. Her Malaysian-Chinese ancestry had provided her smooth, golden skin to set off her striking Chinese features. She had straight, lustrous black hair that fell several inches below her shoulders, a wide face, high cheekbones, and deep brown eyes.
    Tay tried to remember exactly how their brief personal relationship had veered so disastrously off the rails. Had he broken it off, or had she? Maybe neither of them had really broken it off. Maybe they had just allowed the relationship to slink off somewhere and die a quiet death. Although he couldn’t remember exactly what had happened or how it had happened, the closer he got to where Sergeant Lee was standing with Robbie Kang the more certain he was he must have been out of his damned mind to let it happen.
    “Morning, Inspector,” Sergeant Lee smiled when he got to the top of the steps.
    Tay nodded, but he said nothing.
    “Bloody hell, sir,” Kang said, “what in the world—”
    “Not here, Sergeant,” Tay interrupted. “Let’s keep the conversation for outside.”
     
    Out in the anteroom the same guy who was manning the desk when they came in was waiting for them. He handed over their ID’s, telephones, and weapons. Tay was surprised to see Sergeant Lee was carrying, too, and even more surprised she was carrying a revolver. Patrolmen in Singapore were still being issued revolvers, but all the CID personnel he knew now carried the H&K forty calibre semi-automatics. Tay would have bet he was the last detective in CID with a wheel gun.
    He tried to see what kind of a revolver Sergeant Lee had without being too obvious about it, but he couldn’t be certain. It was big and he thought it might be something chambered in .357 magnum. His first thought was that a .357 magnum was a lot of gun for a woman, but his second thought was that he was glad he hadn’t spoken his first thought out loud. He was reasonably certain Linda Lee already thought he was a misogynistic old fart. No point in handing her solid proof she was absolutely right.
    Still, he couldn’t help but wonder a little about Sergeant Lee’s choice of sidearm. Why wasn’t she carrying the H&K semi-automatic like everybody else? Why an old fashioned revolver? Maybe she was just an old fashioned