Singapore Sling Shot - Andrew Grant [7]
So what had befallen Stanley Loh? No doubt I could dial up CNN or Asia News or go online to find out, but I wouldn’t do that. I’d pick up The Straits Times when I got on the plane. I had no doubt that he had met a nasty end. Sami wouldn’t have called me unless he wanted to use my particular skill set.
The thing is, as a nanny or a shrink I’m useless. Sami knows that only too well. He also knows that I can offer him only two things: my friendship and what is perhaps my singular talent. That talent is not particularly marketable in the world at large, however in the world Sami and I spent many years living in, and perhaps the world Sami still lives in, my skills are a currency in themselves.
If I had a CV, it would probably dwell on the fact that I have the unique ability to find people and kill them. I am a hunter. I’m trained to hunt people to the death, and that being the case, Sami probably wants me to kill someone. So be it!
Out of the shower, I stood dripping on the plush carpet as I used my laptop to book a flight to Singapore. Mai Ling was dressing. She knew a cue when it came her way, even when it was unspoken. I gave her cab money and made a promise that I’d call when I got back. I probably wouldn’t call, and she probably wouldn’t expect it. Our words were just farewell smoke. There are plenty of girls like Mai around Hong Kong, and variety, they say, is the “‘spice of life’. Cynical? Yes, I am a cynic and that’s, in part, why I am still alive. I doubt anything and everything. In my world there are no such things as coincidence and luck, good or bad. It just is or it isn’t.
Maybe I won’t survive Singapore. Of course, if my old friend and enemy Tuk Tuk Song dies in the meantime I may return to Thailand instead, and I may not ever come back to Hong Kong.
It is 02:30. My flight to Singapore is the early 07:10. Cathay bus. I try to find tourist clothes but my wardrobe doesn’t extend that far. I’ll shop when I hit town. It’s about a four-hour flight on a good day, so I’ll have plenty of time. I selected my Ed Davidson passport from the twenty or so in my under-floor safe. There is a current Amex in the same name. I add a back-up passport and a few thousand US dollars in cash and pack a small bag. Unfortunately I will be leaving my favourite hardware behind. My Walther P99 stays in the safe along with the several other weapons stored there. They included the .380 Beretta I took from Sir Bernard Sinclair after I killed him. Ah, the memories!
I got dressed and made coffee. No more alcohol, at least until I’d read the newspaper. I hadn’t done much of anything physical for almost four months and it showed. I knew I was seriously out of shape and quite probably I was going to regret that. The life of the rich and indolent unfortunately overtook me in the aftermath of the Thai incident. Incident is a pretty ordinary word to describe a most extraordinary situation, I suppose, however it will do for now.
At 05:15. I was in a cab on my way to Chek Lap Kok Airport. Oh, by the way, my name is Daniel Swann. Pleased to meet you!
4
FAMILY AND STAFF EXECUTED — SINGAPORE IN SHOCK
Singapore is in shock following the discovery late yesterday of nine bodies in the luxury Goodwood Hill residence of Singapore business entrepreneur Stanley Loh. Initial police reports indicate that all nine victims had been shot execution-style.
The dead have been formally identified as: Stanley Loh, 65, his wife Helen, 60, son Arthur, 27, daughter Amy, 25. Also found dead at the Loh’s exclusive Goodwood Hill residence were staff members, identified as: Cheah Kah Hin, 78, Teoh Sui Lan, 77, Mary Yap, 47, her daughter Emily Yap, 26, and Michael Yee, 29.
The police have released no further details, but are appealing for information from the general public. Mr Loh was one of the principals behind the Intella Island Development, the proposed creation of a twelve-hectare artificial island to be constructed off Marina Bay. The US$6-billion development has been hailed as the most significant development