Free THE GIRL IN THE WINDOW (The Inspector Samuel Tay Novels Book 4) by Jake Needham Page B

lined end to end with vendors’ carts selling tourist junk. Opposite the alleyway on the other side of Temple Street, Tay saw the entrance to the small hotel called the Santa Grande.
    “Whichever CID officer is on duty,” Goh continued, “will remain at the Santa Grande until we need you. If something arises which requires the exercise of civil police authority, I’ll call for you on the operations channel and give you instructions. If I don’t call for you, you’ll wait in the room and stay out of the way.”
    “Wait a minute,” Tay cut in. “You want CID to sit in a hotel room twenty-four hours a day waiting for you to call us?”
    Goh tossed out another of his obnoxious grins. “I thought I’d find something for CID to do that you could handle, Tay.”
    “That’s ridiculous,” Tay snapped.
    “I’m sorry you think so, but I’m running this operation and that’s what you’ll be doing.” Goh turned back to the room. “There will be no one on the operations channel except for the three surveillance posts, the CID post at the Santa Grande, and my supervisory post. I want you to stay off the radio until you have located and identified Suparman. Is that clear?”
    A few people nodded.
    “Okay,” Goh concluded, “any final questions?”
    For his part, Tay had lots of questions, but he knew it would be prudent to save them for a private conversation with Goh. Starting an argument in front of everyone else would do nothing but piss Goh off and create even more ill will between CID and ISD, if such a thing were even possible.
    Nobody else spoke up either.
    Welcome to Singapore , Tay thought. Where we obey orders and don’t ask any questions .
    “I want everybody in place before the sister arrives so the first shift will begin immediately and run until six tonight,” Goh said. “The second shift will run from six until two in the morning, and the third shift from two until ten tomorrow morning. We will maintain that schedule until we have Suparman or until his sister leaves the hotel and checks into the hospital.”
    “ISD personnel already have their assignments and will be covering the two surveillance posts on Temple Street plus the post in the restaurant overlooking the loading dock. Tay, you can assign your people however you see fit as long as one person from CID is always on standby at the Santa Grande Hotel. Everybody got all that?”
    There were a few more nods, but nobody spoke up.
    “Okay,” Goh said as the screen behind him went dark and the lights in the room came up. “Get out there and nail this bastard for me.”

CHAPTER TWELVE
    PEOPLE GOT TO their feet and began shuffling up the steps toward the exit. The other two men sitting at the table stood up and, without even a nod to Tay and Goh, began climbing the steps, too. Tay stayed where he was and watched them go.
    So who the hell were those guys?
    After the room was largely cleared, Tay pushed his chair back up and stood there waiting for Goh to acknowledge him.
    Goh looked the other way and said nothing. It was a childish power play and Tay knew it so he just stood there and waited Goh out. Eventually Goh gave up, as Tay knew he would.
    “You have a question, Tay?”
    “Yeah. Who were those two guys sitting up here with us?”
    Goh’s eyes flicked automatically toward the last backs at the top of the stairs. Tay thought he saw a frisson of anxiety, but perhaps he was mistaken. Goh wasn’t a guy to be anxious about much of anything.
    “We have several observers attached to the operation,” Goh muttered as the last of the men left the room.
    “Observers?”
    “You want me to define the word for you, Tay? Observers are people who observe.”
    Tay just looked at Goh as if he knew there was more and waited.
    “Besides,” Goh shrugged after a few moments, “I’m glad to have the support if we need it.”
    “Support from who?”
    “The UK, Australia.” Goh paused. “The US.”
    “In other words, you telling me there were