Cockroaches(61)

“If this is the cold season what’s the—?”

“All right, Harry.” Liz didn’t look as if she thought talking about the heat would make it any more bearable. “What about Woo, Nho? Any clues?”

“Nothing. I had a serious talk with Mr. Sorensen at Thai Indo Travelers. He says he doesn’t know where Woo is, he’s no longer employed by the firm.”

Liz sighed. “And we have no idea what he did in Harry’s apartment. Nice. What about Brekke?”

Sunthorn had got hold of the caretaker in the block where Brekke lived. In fact, he could remember the Norwegian had come home some time after midnight on the night in question, but he couldn’t say precisely when.

Liz informed them that Forensics was already busy combing through Brekke’s office and apartment. They were examining his clothes and shoes in particular to see if they could find something—blood, hair, fibers, anything—that could connect Brekke with the murder victim or crime scene.

“Meanwhile,” Rangsan said, “I have a couple of comments to make about the photos we found in Molnes’s briefcase.”

He pinned up three magnified photos on a board beside the door. Even though the images had churned around long enough in Harry’s brain for them to lose some of their initial shock effect, he could feel his stomach heave.

“We sent them to the Vice Squad to see what they could make of them. They can’t connect the photos with any known distributors of child pornography.” Rangsan turned one of the images. “Firstly, they were developed on German paper which is not sold in Thailand. Secondly, they’re a bit unclear and at first sight reminiscent of private amateur snaps not intended for distribution. Forensics spoke to an expert who stated that they were taken from a distance with a telephoto lens and probably from outside. He thinks this is a window sash.”

Rangsan pointed to a gray shadow at the edge of the picture. “The fact that the photos are still professional suggests there is a new niche market to be catered for, the peeping Tom segment.”

“So?”

“In America the porn industry earns huge sums selling these so-called private amateur snaps, which are actually created by professional actors and photographers who intentionally make everything look amateur by using simple equipment and avoiding the most dolled-up models. It turns out that people are willing to pay more for what they think are authentic bedroom shots. The same is true for pictures and videos that appear to have been taken from a flat across the street without the subjects’ knowledge or agreement. The latter appeals particularly to peeping Toms, people who get off on seeing others while imagining they’re unobserved. We think these photos fall into this category.”

“Or,” Harry said. “Or it could be the photos weren’t meant to be distributed; they’re taken for blackmail purposes.”

Rangsan shook his head. “We’ve considered that, but if so the adults ought to be identifiable in the picture. A typical feature of commercial child pornography is that the abusers’ faces are concealed, like here.”

He pointed to the three photos. You could make out the bottom and the lower part of someone’s back. The person was naked apart from a red jumper, on which they could see the bottom of a figure 2 and a zero.

“Suppose it was still going to be used for blackmail but the photographer didn’t include the face,” Harry said. “Or he just showed the blackmail target copies where he couldn’t be identified.”

“Stop!” Liz waved with one hand. “What are you saying, Harry? That the man in the photo is Molnes?”

“It’s a theory. He was being blackmailed but couldn’t pay because of his gambling debts.”

“So?” Rangsan said. “That doesn’t give the blackmailer a motive to murder Molnes.”

“He might have threatened to report the blackmailer to the police.”

“Report the blackmailer and then be convicted for pedophilia?” Rangsan rolled his eyes, and Sunthorn and Nho made poor attempts to conceal their smiles.

Harry hunched his shoulders and raised his hands. “As I said, it was a theory, and I agree we should drop it. The second theory is that Molnes was the blackmailer—”

“And Brekke is the abuser …” Liz rested her chin on her hands, gazing thoughtfully into the air. “Well, Molnes needed the money, and that gives Brekke a motive for murder. But he already had one, so that doesn’t really get us anywhere. What do you think, Rangsan? Is it possible to rule out the possibility that it’s Brekke in the photos?”

He shook his head. “The photos are so unclear we can’t rule out anyone unless Brekke has any defining features.”