shut, since the rule with cops is to never volunteer any information. Even with a cop as hot as Miss Hoang.
‘Any society,’ she continued, ‘even one such as ours, has its undesirable elements, and certain of these elements have been offered large amounts of money to eliminate you as quickly as possible. Would you perhaps know why?’
I shook my head. From the look on Nhu’s face, I sensed there was something else coming.
‘What can you tell me about a man named Brett Tozer, who was also working on the film with you?’
What did Brett have to do with this? I wondered. ‘Mr Tozer is an associate producer,’ I said, ‘and people with that title don’t usually do any actual work. He was flying out to New York yesterday afternoon, as far as I know.’
‘Mr Tozer does not appear to have boarded his flight and this morning the body of a man answering his description was discovered floating in the Saigon River.’
This was a bit heavy. ‘Did he drown?’ I asked. ‘Was it an accident?’
Nhu said something in Vietnamese and one of her officers produced a photograph from a satchel. It was Brett Tozer all right, no question of that. The photograph had been taken using harsh direct flash, which isn’t too flattering at the best of times, but poor old Brett was way beyond caring. He was on his back on a mortuary slab, and he hadn’t drowned, that was for sure. He probably had enough lead in him to make swimming difficult, though. The photograph clearly showed five big bullet holes smack in the middle of his chest. Brett hadn’t needed to fly all the way from New York to the Gold Coast for the shooting to start again – the shooting had come to him.
‘It appears it is most dangerous for you to be in Vietnam,’ Nhu continued. ‘It is imperative that you leave the country immediately. I assume you have your passport with you.’
I nodded. ‘Zippered pocket inside my jacket.’
She spoke to one of the officers, who found the passport and handed it to her. She passed it to one of her waiting entourage with brief instructions. He saluted and left.
‘Now, Mr Murdoch,’ said Nhu, standing up. ‘We will leave this market with you in my custody in full view of everybody. Several streets from here at a convenient location we will remove the handcuffs and you will leave my vehicle. The officer who just left will meet you at the airport with a ticket and boarding pass for the next available flight out of the country. He will also escort you onboard the aircraft.’
It looked like she had everything sorted.
‘This way you will bypass all normal immigration formalities,’ she continued, ‘but there will be an official departure stamp in your passport to avoid difficulties on arrival at your next destination. Please ignore the fact that your boarding pass may be in a name not your own, since you are officially in police custody.’
Nhu seemed to have thought of everything.
‘My clothes —’ I started to say, but she interrupted me.
‘Are being collected from the hotel and will be waiting for you at the airport.’
She really had thought of everything.
‘I suggest that after you leave my vehicle you go by cyclo to the airport,’ she advised. ‘Inefficient, yes, but less obvious than a taxi and more difficult to follow without being observed. I doubt anyone will think you would travel this way. One of my officers will travel behind you, discreetly, to ensure there are no … incidents on the journey.’
This wasn’t the way I’d hoped to end my stay in Vietnam, especially after just meeting Nhu. You had to wonder about the whole karma business. Why was it that every time I met a nice girl, someone came out of the woodwork looking to kill me? Was I paying for mistakes I’d made in a past life? Or was it because of some nasty incident I’d been involved in during this one? God knows, there’d been enough of those.
And what about Brett Tozer? Last time I’d seen him alive he was on his phone, which
‘Any society,’ she continued, ‘even one such as ours, has its undesirable elements, and certain of these elements have been offered large amounts of money to eliminate you as quickly as possible. Would you perhaps know why?’
I shook my head. From the look on Nhu’s face, I sensed there was something else coming.
‘What can you tell me about a man named Brett Tozer, who was also working on the film with you?’
What did Brett have to do with this? I wondered. ‘Mr Tozer is an associate producer,’ I said, ‘and people with that title don’t usually do any actual work. He was flying out to New York yesterday afternoon, as far as I know.’
‘Mr Tozer does not appear to have boarded his flight and this morning the body of a man answering his description was discovered floating in the Saigon River.’
This was a bit heavy. ‘Did he drown?’ I asked. ‘Was it an accident?’
Nhu said something in Vietnamese and one of her officers produced a photograph from a satchel. It was Brett Tozer all right, no question of that. The photograph had been taken using harsh direct flash, which isn’t too flattering at the best of times, but poor old Brett was way beyond caring. He was on his back on a mortuary slab, and he hadn’t drowned, that was for sure. He probably had enough lead in him to make swimming difficult, though. The photograph clearly showed five big bullet holes smack in the middle of his chest. Brett hadn’t needed to fly all the way from New York to the Gold Coast for the shooting to start again – the shooting had come to him.
‘It appears it is most dangerous for you to be in Vietnam,’ Nhu continued. ‘It is imperative that you leave the country immediately. I assume you have your passport with you.’
I nodded. ‘Zippered pocket inside my jacket.’
She spoke to one of the officers, who found the passport and handed it to her. She passed it to one of her waiting entourage with brief instructions. He saluted and left.
‘Now, Mr Murdoch,’ said Nhu, standing up. ‘We will leave this market with you in my custody in full view of everybody. Several streets from here at a convenient location we will remove the handcuffs and you will leave my vehicle. The officer who just left will meet you at the airport with a ticket and boarding pass for the next available flight out of the country. He will also escort you onboard the aircraft.’
It looked like she had everything sorted.
‘This way you will bypass all normal immigration formalities,’ she continued, ‘but there will be an official departure stamp in your passport to avoid difficulties on arrival at your next destination. Please ignore the fact that your boarding pass may be in a name not your own, since you are officially in police custody.’
Nhu seemed to have thought of everything.
‘My clothes —’ I started to say, but she interrupted me.
‘Are being collected from the hotel and will be waiting for you at the airport.’
She really had thought of everything.
‘I suggest that after you leave my vehicle you go by cyclo to the airport,’ she advised. ‘Inefficient, yes, but less obvious than a taxi and more difficult to follow without being observed. I doubt anyone will think you would travel this way. One of my officers will travel behind you, discreetly, to ensure there are no … incidents on the journey.’
This wasn’t the way I’d hoped to end my stay in Vietnam, especially after just meeting Nhu. You had to wonder about the whole karma business. Why was it that every time I met a nice girl, someone came out of the woodwork looking to kill me? Was I paying for mistakes I’d made in a past life? Or was it because of some nasty incident I’d been involved in during this one? God knows, there’d been enough of those.
And what about Brett Tozer? Last time I’d seen him alive he was on his phone, which
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