The 38 Million Dollar Smile - Stevenson Richard (бесплатные книги полный формат .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.