Behind the Night Bazaar Read Online Free PDF

of the Pig— they were the same age. It was typical of him to mention a choice piece of information—prior knowledge of the victim and his habits, no less—to highlight Komet’s inexperience.
    ‘And what would lead you to believe that?’ A steely-eyed look from the lieutenant colonel and Pornsak’s smirk faded.
    ‘Encountered the victim in an official capacity, Sir.’ He straightened his shoulders. ‘Interviewed him on suspicion of soliciting. No arrest made at the time, Sir.’
    Lieutenant Colonel Ratratarn nodded. ‘Anyone else care to share something they might know about Khun Sanga?’
    ‘Ah, Sir, I h-heard he has a farang b-boyfriend.’
    It was Officer Tanin’s turn to impress the commander. Tanin had been in the same intake of recruits as Komet. A native of Chiang Rai province, he was a short, stocky man, the buttons of his chocolate-brown uniform straining over his barrel chest. His bug-eyes gave him a look of continual astonishment, and his grey teeth indicated he’d been overdosed with anti-malarial medicine as a child. Unlike Komet, he looked up to Pornsak. But lacking his arrogance and having a tendency to stutter, Tanin came across more as a parody than protégé of the sergeant.
    ‘Really?’ Ratratarn said, turning to him with exaggerated interest. ‘And just how did you hear that?’
    ‘Ah, ah…’ Tanin frantically scanned the scene. ‘H-he— sh-he—he told me.’ He gestured towards the small crowd in an adjacent bar.
    Among the gawping collection of scruffy street kids, bleary-eyed young men and a couple of bargirls Komet recognised from his beat, he spotted Tanin’s target: a striking figure in full make-up and blond wig, pantyhose shimmering beneath the split of a pearl-grey evening gown and feet squeezed into silver stilettos. If not for the pronounced Adam’s apple, which the kratoey instinctively covered with one hand, Komet could have sworn he was a woman.
    ‘Over here,’ Ratratarn barked.
    Panic flashed across the kratoey’s face.
    ‘I said come here!’
    He shuffled forward, a handkerchief held to his mouth.
    ‘Name?’
    ‘My professional name is Marilyn— aie !’
    The honeyed tones evaporated in a cry as Ratratarn grabbed him roughly by the wrist and twisted his arm behind his back.
    ‘I don’t give a shit about your professional name, arse-hole!’
    The kratoey’s body went limp for a moment, then Ratratarn yanked him back upright, eliciting another cry.
    ‘I-it’s P-Pairoj,’ he whimpered, ‘Pairoj Ni-Nilmongkol.’
    ‘That’s better. Man’s body, man’s name. Or are you one of those sick bastards who’s had the operation?’
    He put his hand between the man’s legs and squeezed. Pairoj yelped, and his free hand fluttered from his face to his crotch.
    ‘Obviously not,’ Ratratarn sniggered, swinging Pairoj around so he faced the corpse. ‘The thing is, someone has given our friend Khun Sanga here the operation. But I don’t think they used any anaesthetic, do you?’
    The groin of the corpse was black with semi-congealed blood. And blood lay in the palm of the outstretched right hand where Komet had found the severed penis. The kratoey turned his face away, tears making his mascara run.
    ‘I-I don’t know what happened,’ he sobbed. ‘I was doing a show at the Lotus. I was on my way home and saw the p-police car…’ ‘You told Officer Tanin here the deceased had a foreign boyfriend.’
    ‘N-no, I— aie !’
    Ratratarn twisted the man’s arm further.
    ‘You told Officer Tanin the deceased had a foreign boyfriend.’
    ‘Th-that’s right,’ Pairoj whimpered.
    ‘Good boy,’ Ratratarn said. ‘Now go and give your contact details to Officer Tanin so we can keep in touch, OK?’
    Ratratarn released his grip. Pairoj lost his balance and reeled forward, almost falling on the corpse. With a choked scream he backed into Komet who gently steered him over to Tanin. He felt sympathy for the transvestite: at least he’d shown some emotion, whereas