Lost Innocence: The Accused. Part One Read online

EIGHTEEN

  THE PLAQUE read HARVEY GOULD, P I. It was the middle of the day, but the blinds were closed. Inside a desktop sat flanked by three non-matching chairs, a creased, leather sofa and a bookcase full of fiction.

  A middle-aged man lay back with a pair of briefs hanging around his ankles. A gorgeous, young lady was bent over him in a pair of pink panties that stretched over her pert buttocks. Her head was bobbing up and down and her long, thick black hair swished around her neck with each bob. Harvey lay motionless, moaning.

  He was an ex-pat who’d lived in Thailand for many years. He was short and stocky with dark brown hair and light brown eyes. He currently had one lady in his life for which he cared for-his assistant Bo: She was assisting him now.

  He’d found her working the seedy hostess bars of Bangkok and taken her home. They’d become more than friends, she knew the capital well and had helped him on a few cases. He’d offered her a better life and with his investigative skills and her knowledge of the streets, they made a good team.

  Harvey’s body suddenly stiffened. He was about to let go, when the Mission Impossible theme rang loudly on his phone. Her head popped up, Harvey pushed it back; she couldn’t stop now. She continued. He finished. She left for the bathroom. The phone was still ringing. Harvey answered, out of breath. “Hello?”

  “Is this Harvey Gould PI?”

  “Hello? Yes, this is he.”

  “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine. I was just working out. Who is this?”

  “My name is Nigel, Nigel Walker.”

  “Hello Mr Walker. What can I do for you?”

  “I’m looking for a couple of missing Thai girls.”

  “Are they officially missing?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Are the police looking for them?”

  “Not that I know of.”

  “Do you know them, personally?”

  “No, not personally.”

  “Can I ask why you are looking for them?”

  “Can we meet? I’m at The Landmark.”

  “I know it well.”

  “Are you free today?”

  “One second, let me see.”

  Harvey laid the phone on the table and rustled through some papers. “Mr Walker?”

  Nigel coughed.

  “I have a window after six.”

  “Why don’t we meet in the pub downstairs, say around seven?”

  “That works for me, see you then.”

  Harvey hung up, took a tissue, wiped his crotch then pulled up his shorts. Bo stepped out of the bathroom fully dressed. “Who that?”

  “It was a client. We have a case.”

  “It about time.”