Angel in the Full Moon by Don Easton Page B

main doors goes, you can keep it until you’re finished your investigation.”
    â€œMuch appreciated,” said Jack. “I notice you have security cameras. If need be, could we get a copy later to see who attends the party?”
    â€œThat could be arranged. We only hang on to them for a week.”
    â€œLong enough for us to decide if we need them. One more thing.”
    â€œWhat’s that?” asked Derek.
    â€œWhat’s your favourite brand of poison?”
    Derek smiled and said, “Thanks, but no. I don’t drink anymore. Since I’ve quit the job, I haven’t had to. Anything I can do to help you catch bad guys is fun enough.”

    Back at the office, Jack called a contact and learned that the cellphone being used by the Russians was listed to a massage parlour in Surrey called the Orient Pleasure. As the day progressed, he also obtained a list of phone numbers that had been dialled from the cellphone within the last month.
    Jack made a photocopy of the list and handed it to Laura and said, “Check out who the Canadian numbers are registered to. There are a lot of area codes here I don’t recognize. I’ll ...”
    â€œWhat are you two up to?” asked Quaile, entering their office.
    Jack glanced at him and said, “Laura and I are working on a pair of Russians.”
    â€œWhat are they involved in?”
    â€œNot sure yet, we’re just getting started.”
    â€œWe’re a little too busy, don’t you think, to be working on people when you don’t know what they’re even involved in?”
    â€œWe know they’ve met with the higher echelon of Satans Wrath. We think they’re worth looking at.”
    â€œSatans Wrath again? Still working on bums, I see. Well, keep me apprised.” With that comment, he turned and sauntered back to his own office.
    â€œWhat was that all about?” wondered Jack.
    â€œMaybe he’s decided to take an interest in police work,” suggested Laura.
    â€œAs long as we dress like we’re going to church and don’t claim overtime, he’s never cared before.”
    Jack shrugged off Quaile’s intrusion and checked to see who owned the Orient Pleasure. It was listed under the name of Tran Dúc, who, Jack discovered, lived in a house in Surrey. A further inquiry revealed that Dúc had a lengthy criminal record for assault, armed robbery, keeping a common bawdy-house and extortion. Most of the convictions were more than six years old and there was nothing recent.

    As the day progressed, Jack and Laura discovered that many of the numbers called from the Russians’ cellphone were to such places as Afghanistan, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Korea. A couple of others were to Sweden.
    â€œThese guys work for the United Nations?” joked Laura.
    â€œAfghanistan is a great country to go to if you want to buy a couple of tonnes of heroin,” replied Jack. “Some of these Arab and Asian countries could be smuggling routes.”
    â€œMakes sense,” said Laura, thoughtfully.
    â€œIt would, except that why would it make our friend nervous? You think he’d be glad to cut himself a piece of the action.”
    â€œEither that, or simply kill them if they’re too much competition,” said Laura.
    â€œExactly. I’m going to pass some of these numbers on to Interpol. See what pops up.”
    â€œDon’t hold your breath waiting.”
    â€œYeah, I know.”
    â€œIt will be interesting to see who shows up at the party tonight,” said Laura.
    â€œIf any Arab women show up, do you have a burka you could put on, so you could slide in and mingle?”
    Laura glanced at him and said, “Excellent idea. And you could put on a pair of donkey ears and come along as an ass. Oh ...” Laura paused and continued, “maybe you don’t need the ears.”
    Jack brayed like a donkey and they both