Return to Mandalay (45 page)

Klaus nodded. ‘We have contacts in the UK too,’ he said. ‘I am sorry, Eva, but I must confess that when we first met …’ He sighed. ‘I had been informed that you were in Yangon. We knew that you worked for the British company that was under investigation. But we did not know in what capacity.’

She stared at him. ‘You mean you engineered our meeting?’

He spread his hands. ‘I had no choice. But I liked you immediately. I was sure you were not involved, you can be certain of that. I even tried to warn you, if you remember.’

About Khan Li and Ramon, that was certainly true. ‘And when you saw me going into the warehouse last night?’

He nodded. ‘I assumed I had been mistaken at that point. I assumed you were involved after all and that my judgement, it was unsound. You were looking very guilty.’

Eva remembered the surreptitious knocking on the warehouse door. How she had slipped inside. The fact that they hadn’t even put on the lights …

‘I thought you an excellent actress,’ Klaus said. ‘Until I saw what the two of you were doing. As you pointed out, why would you be breaking into your own property? I knew then that you two were innocent, that you had stumbled on the truth.’

‘But what should I do now?’ Eva asked. She could hardly
go back to Bristol and pretend that everything was fine when her boss was about to get arrested for gem smuggling. She didn’t even want to contact Jacqui by email. But she was still working for her, she had promised to keep in contact and in two days’ time she was going to Bagan to examine more pieces that were for sale. She would have to do something.

Klaus frowned. ‘Do you know who is responsible?’

‘Not really.’ She shook her head. Then she remembered how resistant Leon had been to her examining the packaging of that shipment. Jacqui had never really confirmed that, had she? She remembered Jacqui’s questions and how she’d repeatedly told her to take care. She remembered the row between Jacqui and Leon too, before she left for Myanmar. Was it possible that Leon hadn’t wanted her to come here at all? That he realised she might find out what was going on? ‘But I have an idea,’ she said. She told him what she knew.

‘I will take it from there,’ said Klaus. ‘Do not worry. By the time you return …’

He didn’t have to finish the sentence. By the time she returned, she would be looking for another job. Whether Jacqui Dryden had known what was going on or not, the Bristol Antiques Emporium would be finished. ‘I’ll have to resign,’ she said.

‘But not until you return to the UK, please, Eva,’ said Klaus. ‘We do not want to risk alerting them, not at this stage.’

‘Very well.’

Ramon put his hand on hers, sending a signal of silent
sympathy. ‘And what happens next?’ he asked. ‘To Khan Li, I mean?’

‘I do not want to frighten him off too soon,’ Klaus said. ‘I have been trying to get close to the man.’

Eva shuddered. ‘Why?’

Klaus spread a napkin on the table and pulled a pen from his shirt pocket. He made a drawing.

‘A spider’s web?’ said Eva.

‘Indeed.’ Klaus drew the spider right at the centre. ‘The more you can find out about him, the more easily you can capture him and his entire world. So you tantalise him. With a fly perhaps.’ He drew a fly on the outside of the web. ‘And out he comes to investigate. Out of his safety zone, you see? And then …’

‘You move in for the kill?’ suggested Ramon.

‘Exactly.’ Klaus screwed up the napkin and tossed it to one side. ‘I posed as a buyer. I had to prove I had the necessary finances, I had to give evidence of my credentials, they were very thorough.’

‘Yes, they would be.’ Eva recalled her own rather pathetic attempt to do a similar thing.

‘And how close did you get?’ Eva could see where Ramon’s thoughts were heading.

‘What do you mean?’

‘For example …’ Ramon was unable to keep the excitement from his voice. ‘Did Khan Li ever invite you to his house?’

‘Yes, of course.’

Eva and Ramon exchanged a swift, conspiratorial glance. A rich buyer. How could Khan Li not want to show it off to him? But Klaus wouldn’t help them, would he?

Ramon leaned forwards. ‘Have you seen the chinthe?’ he whispered.

‘The …? Ah.’ Klaus tapped his nose. ‘Yes, I know the piece you mean. It is a beautiful item. Very old, very rare stones. Pigeon-blood rubies as they are known, not after the blood of the bird, but the colour of the whites of their eyes. That piece is a master, an absolute master. And of course …’

Eva could see his mind working out the link, the resemblance to what they had found in the crate.

‘Yes, they showed it to me.’ Klaus finished his coffee and pushed his cup aside. ‘That kind of man will always want to display what he owns to the rest of the world, I think.’

‘I agree.’ Ramon fell silent.

‘It is only a pity,’ Klaus said, ‘that it is not part of a pair.’

Eva and Ramon exchanged another complicit glance.

‘But of course it is not for sale,’ said Klaus. ‘It is far too fine. The price … We are talking a great deal of money here. It is part of your national heritage that piece, I think?’

‘Did you wonder where they had obtained it from?’ Eva asked, shooting a glance at Ramon. He shrugged and nodded.

‘Yes, I did,’ Klaus admitted. He looked from one to the other of them. ‘But I did not want him to become suspicious of my motives. And so I did not ask.’

‘It’s part of the long story I mentioned last night,’ Eva told him. ‘It’s the reason I got involved in the first place.’

Klaus sat back in his chair. ‘As I said before, I am listening …’

‘When I knew I was coming to Myanmar,’ Eva began, ‘I told my grandfather. He used to live here, you know. And he asked me to do something for him.’ And between them, taking up the story when the other left off, Eva and Ramon related what had happened since the chinthes had first been given to Suu Kyi by Queen Supayalat at the time of the rout of the Royal Palace.

Klaus listened gravely, nodding from time to time. When Eva got to the bit about flying to Myanmar with the chinthe in her travel bag, he gaped at her in astonishment and then laughed so much he almost choked.

‘It is so very interesting,’ he said when they had finished. ‘And naturally the pair – they should be together, as you say. But why are you telling me all this? How do you imagine I can help you?’

‘Anyone who gets close enough to Khan Li to be shown that chinthe,’ Eva said, leaning forwards, fixing Klaus with a gaze of entreaty, ‘would be close enough to take it and return it to its rightful owner.’

Klaus laughed. ‘Even if I could take it, Eva, and I might do it just to please you, you know’. He patted her hand. ‘All hell would break loose. You would be in considerable danger. They might even stop you from leaving the country. And as for you …’ He glanced at Ramon. ‘Your family would never be safe.’

He was right, of course. The copy Ramon had made was of excellent quality. But was it good enough?

‘You should tell the police.’ Klaus addressed this to Ramon. ‘You should perhaps have told them when the chinthe was originally stolen.’

Why hadn’t they? Maya had insisted it was because she had no evidence of ever owning it, but Eva wondered. Had Khan Li or one of his associates got to one of Maya’s household just as he had got to Ramon’s warehouse manager? He had certainly found out somehow, where the chinthe was kept and that the family were not taking it with them to Maymyo.

‘You know as I do, that would not work,’ Ramon said. ‘Men like Khan Li have too many contacts. And besides, we have no proof of ownership. It is our word against theirs.’

‘Plus the fact that you now own the other chinthe once again,’ Klaus said. ‘But you are right about the police. They are idiots and usually in someone else’s pay. What you need is a professional.’

‘Like you,’ said Eva.

Klaus shook his head. ‘Do you not think they would notice their precious chinthe is missing?’ He laughed. ‘Though I would love to deprive them of it, for the personal satisfaction alone.’

Ramon pulled his bag towards him and took something out. Eva knew what it was. ‘Can I trust you?’ he asked Klaus.

‘Of course.’

Ramon looked at Eva. They had gone so far. This might be their last chance. ‘I think we can,’ she said.

He nodded as if satisfied. ‘I have a plan, Klaus,’ he said. ‘If you can go round there one more time before the family are exposed as the criminals they are …’

‘Yes?’ Klaus watched with interest. ‘I think I can do that. They are waiting for me to make a decision about a certain gemstone I might buy.’

‘Perfect. And when you go …’ Ramon unwrapped the replica chinthe and handed it to Klaus. ‘I want you to take this.’

He stared at it. ‘But …?’

Ramon leaned closer. ‘It is not what you think,’ he said. ‘Please allow me to explain.’

On today’s walk round the lake at Mangerton Mill, Rosemary was on her mobile talking to Alec. It was almost, she thought, as if their previous conversation hadn’t taken place. They skirted carefully around their danger zones, reverting to the politeness that had always served them well.

She had told him already about Eva’s revelation. About Maya and that fact that she had a half-sister she’d never known about.

‘That’s amazing,’ he said. ‘How does that make you feel?’

Which was, she had to confess, getting a little bit close to that danger zone. ‘Confused,’ she admitted.

When she’d returned to Dorset less than two weeks ago, she had come because she needed to think about things, because she wanted to see her father, take stock. Rosemary looked around her at the smooth lake, the water ever so gently buffeted by the breeze, at the trees now a burnished copper and gold, the grass already cloaked with crumpled leaves. She’d never really admitted to herself why it was so necessary to come back here in order to think about these things and consider her future, but it was. Sixteen years ago she’d wanted nothing more than to escape from this landscape
that held her so firmly in the painful grip of the past. But now … She seemed to need it in order to make sense of who she was, what she needed, what she had to do. Was it her roots? Her childhood? Her marriage to Nick? She didn’t know. But while she’d been here, the vice-like grip of the landscape in which she’d grown up had relaxed into something that was still holding, but was now comforting too. A place where she felt grounded and complete. A sanctuary. She realised with a dip of panic that she didn’t want to leave.

‘And your father?’ Alec asked. ‘How did he take it?’

Rosemary couldn’t help smiling. ‘He was confused too. Actually, I’m not sure that he took it in, not properly. A couple of weeks ago he must have felt that he didn’t have any daughters. And now he’s got two.’

‘He’s still not quite himself then?’

‘Not really.’ Or perhaps he was himself. He was living far more securely in the past than the present, telling her long, rambling stories about his days in Burma, about Maya and the war, about his family, Rosemary’s family, and his obligations. Perhaps he was more himself than he’d been for a long time.

‘His mind’s still wandering,’ she said. ‘But every so often he comes back to me and the here and now and he grips my hand – he’s so strong still, it’s astonishing – and I look into his eyes, Alec and …’ She felt the tears welling again. They were never far from the surface these days.

‘And?’

‘And I know that somehow everything’s alright between us again.’

‘I’m glad,’ he said. ‘Really glad for you.’

It was hard to believe, Rosemary thought, that so much had happened since she’d left Copenhagen. But what about Alec? She surveyed the leaves on the path in front of her. It hadn’t rained in the last couple of days and as she stepped forwards they crunched under her suede ankle boots. The scent of autumn, crisp and fungal, was in the air, the spiders’ webs, spun between blackberry bushes, glittered in the weak sunshine. ‘And what’s been happening with you?’ she asked.

‘You mean, have I said “yes” to Seattle.’

Rosemary left the path and ventured on to the grass, still damp from the morning dew. The moisture began to seep on to the suede of her boots, darkening the tan. ‘I suppose that I do.’ Seattle, she thought.

‘If I said “yes” to Seattle …’ He paused. ‘Would you come with me?’

That was a big question. But was it the right question? On the other side of the lake was a man with a toddler. They had a plastic remote-controlled boat and the man was stepping down into the reeds to launch it. Rosemary thought of her own child, Eva, and she thought of her father. He might not be with them very long; she knew in her heart that he was fading fast. But Eva … Alec was her husband. But, ‘I can’t leave her again,’ she said.

There was a heartbeat of silence between them.

‘She’s a grown woman, Rosemary. She’s not a child anymore.’

‘I know that.’ The child on the other side of the lake clapped delightedly and, together, father and son followed the progress of the boat as it chugged determinedly out into the centre of the lake.

‘And you have your own life to lead.’ He hesitated. ‘We have our life. Don’t we?’

‘Yes.’

She heard him sigh.

‘But I can’t leave her again.’

There was a pause. ‘I understand.’ Nevertheless, she heard the impasse in his voice. And that was the thing with Alec. He always had understood. He had understood her grief over Nick and so he had never challenged it, never made her feel that it was time to move on. If he had forced her to confront it, she sometimes thought. If he hadn’t simply accepted her for what she was … So, what? Was she now criticising him for being too compliant, too kind, too understanding? That was hardly fair. And yet only when someone really challenged you, could you discover where you stood.

The little boat was on her side of the lake now, heading for a tangle of rushes. There was a brief flurry of rudder and leaves, and then it choked and came to a standstill. On the other side of the lake there was a commotion and she heard the little boy begin to wail.

Gingerly, Rosemary stepped down on to the little beachy bit of the lake which had a damp sandy bottom and a few tiny pebbles. If she went a little further and reached out …
Her leather-gloved hand came into contact with the stern of the boat, she gave it a little push. And it was freed. She stepped back. Looked down at her boots. Ah, well. Over on the other side the man waved a thank-you and the little boy gave a whoop of delight. And the boat chugged on back to home straits.