Free Message From -Creasy 5 by A. J. Quinnell Page B

that gentleman. They paid me two hundred
thousand Swiss francs, which in those days was a lot of money. But then, part
of the job was to destroy all the documents in that temple. I read those
documents before I burned them. It was not edifying reading."
    Her
anger had been replaced by massive curiosity. "Are you saying that there
was a lot of corruption in the US Armed Forces during the Vietnam war?"
    He
nodded. "More than you'd ever guess. Since you're a student of history,
you might know that by the end of the sixties a vast industry had grown up in
and around the major US bases in Vietnam. The weekly turnover of the PX was
greater than that of Sears Roebuck. It ran into hundreds of millions of dollars
a month. Those bases became huge department stores, selling everything from
women's underwear to hi-fi sets. One Hong Kong Chinese tailor had more than
twenty retail outlets on the US bases. They even had night clubs with Filipino
bands and Australian strippers. It was like a giant spider's web, and the
spider in the middle was Bill Crum. He controlled everything from drugs and
women to whisky. He operated from a villa on the outskirts of Saigon and in
that villa, he lavishly entertained a great number of senior US Army officers,
especially those involved with supply. It was said that Bill Crum could supply
anything from a case of condoms to a brand new Abrams tank. He had girls in
that villa, and drugs, and what was known as Vietnamese gold, which came in
paper-thin strips. It could be moulded inside belts or suitcases or shoes. He
also had a recording system which would have impressed Richard Nixon. When the
war ended, he retired to Hong Kong, bought himself a yacht marina in the New Territories
and converted a disused temple as a home. Naturally, he took with him his
collection of documents, photographs and tapes. The problems started in the
mid-seventies, when some investigative journalists from the NBC Sixty Minutes
programme began to home in on him. Bill Crum was an American citizen, and the
US Justice Department started extradition proceedings. It was then that Bill
Crum applied pressure on certain very senior American generals, and I was hired
to eliminate Bill Crum and all the proof...I have to say that I did a good
job."
    Susanna
believed him. There was no reason why he should lie. Jens looked up from his
computer screen and asked Creasy: "So what was the connection between Bill
Crum and Van Luk Wan?"
    "It's
obvious. Van must have been working for him. In his own evil way, Bill Crum
must have had loyalties and, for him, a kilo of gold was peanuts."
    Guido
said: "If Bill Crum were alive, he would be the one to have baited the
trap for you. Did he have any relatives?"
    "Only
one. He had a daughter by a Cambodian woman. He doted on her. She was an only
child."
    "Did
she know it was you who killed him?" Guido asked.
    "I
would not have thought so. But then, looking back, I got a few things wrong. I
assumed that Jake Bentsen was killed in that fire-fight. I also assumed that
Van Luk Wan died from that bullet I put into his chest. So maybe she did know
who killed her father."
    "Do
you know where she is now?" Susanna asked.
    Creasy
pushed himself to his feet, saying: "I've got no idea. But maybe we should
start trying to find out."
    They
all stood up. The Dane asked: "Do we have a name for her?"
    Creasy
said: "She was called Connie, after Bill Crum's mother."
    He
looked at Susanna and said: "You've been of great help, Miss Moore, and we
appreciate it. I hope you'll join us for dinner tonight. Afterwards, we'll look
up some of the haunts that I frequented back in the old days, if any are still
left. Maybe we'll hear a whisper or two."
    "I'd
be glad to join you," she answered diffidently. "But maybe you guys
prefer to be on your own."
    It was
Guido who provided the answer. "Come with us, and keep us out of
trouble."

Chapter 16
    "He's
hooked!"
    Van Luk
Wan's face radiated malicious pleasure. Connie Crum asked: "Are