Bangkok Haunts

multi-task?
I shake my head again. She sighs and lies flat on her back. I join her, so we are both looking at ourselves in the ceiling mirror, which distorts somewhat. Perhaps the purpose is erotic, for everything appears longer.
    “What do you want to know?”
    “How the Parthenon really works.”
    Her elongated features in the ceiling mirror give me a shrewd look. “Why don’t you tell me what you know so far?”
    “I know that there are only a hundred and fifty official members. The subscription fee is not that high, and there’s no way such a small number can keep a place like that going. A membership that small couldn’t even keep you in your silk gowns.”
    In the mirror a female demon nods gravely. “You’re pretty shrewd. So how do you think it works?”
    “Secret membership,” I reply. “There are some impressive names on the membership list, but not half as impressive as they could be.”
    She nods. “Correct. Not many people know about it, not even the girls. Nothing is written down.”
    “Tell me how it works.”
    “We call them the X members. Actually, they are the founders. It’s their money that keeps the place going. For them it really is a private club. They get the pick of the girls, anytime, anywhere, any kind of service, on call 24/7. One of the
mamasans
gets a message from the manager: such-and-such a girl is to go to such-and-such an address at such-and-such a time. The girl does as she’s told—she doesn’t know anything about X members. She doesn’t mind because she gets paid double and is given the next night off. Sometimes the assignation is upstairs at the club. Usually she won’t know who she’s sleeping with. We’re all simple country girls—we don’t know much about HiSo.”
    “You mean a private room like we used?”
    “No. These are the
real
private rooms. You get to them by private elevator.”
    “Who are the X members?”
    “Who do you think? The highest fliers in Thailand—senior army officers, very senior cops, bankers, businessmen, politicians. Pretty much the same sort of men as the official members, but much more senior.”
    “So the official members are basically fall guys?”
    A shrug. “They get their money’s worth. Very often they’re business associates of the secret members, so it pays for them to join.”
    I turn to examine her face. “Do I need to ask you how you know all this?”
    A shake of the head. “I’m quite popular with the X members. I talked them into making me
mamasan
so I didn’t have to go with the official members anymore. Better one big bastard once a week than a little jerk every night.”
    “And Damrong?” I ask. “She was popular with the secret members too, no?”
    She turns away and speaks to the wall. “Tell me what happened to her. Is she dead?”
    “Yes.”
    “I thought so. Are you investigating for her family?”
    “Not exactly.”
    She turns to study me. “She wasn’t popular with everybody. A lot of men saw through her, and women didn’t think she looked special.”
    “But the rest, among the X members?”
    “Suppose she was popular with one of them, what about it? What difference if she’s dead?”
    “It’s my job to investigate.”
    A pause, then: “She was a kind of genius prostitute. The genius was all in her instinct, which was so fast, so accurate, she was more like a wild animal. She would know in a single glance if a man was going to fall for her or not. The ones she couldn’t reach in the first ten seconds, she ignored. They ceased to exist for her. That gave her time and energy to concentrate on the others. The suckers. She understood what a lot of girls don’t, including me.” I raise my eyebrows. “The bigger they come, the harder they fall. I never would have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.” As she speaks, her left hand seeks out mine. “She was my friend, though. She was very kind to me. She protected me.”
    Now we are looking at each other eyeball to eyeball. “From what?”
    “A pig. I told her I didn’t think I could carry on with him. I was losing all self-respect—of course I was never told his name. He paid big money, but he was brutal. She seduced him herself, got him away from me. She didn’t seem to mind sadism. Maybe she was kinky that way. Or maybe I’m just too sensitive. She even shared with me the money he gave her the first time he had her. That’s the kind of woman she was.
Jai dee mark mark.
” Shaking her head: “But I