Mystery of the Disappearing DOS, 

Part VII

by Ignatius Filchworthy

Editor: We could, of course, summarize what has taken place already regarding the sudden disappearance of the Director of Studies of the Our Lady of the Ubiquitous Tears Secondary School, but why spoil all your fun, when you can read the first five parts yourself?

Part I:       Click here.
Part II:      Click here.
Part III:     Click here.
Part IV:    Click here.
Part V:     Click here.
Part VI:    Click here.

Now, on to part VII....

Having been caught by Father Silvio just as I was going to pass out – and, surprisingly gently, I might add – I immediately collected myself, and together with the Father, took hold of Khun Pranee to calm her down as she ran towards the door of Khun Wan's apartment – in which process we naturally got the blood dripping from her hands onto our own clothes. Upon seeing Father Silvio's face, Khun Pranee began to look even more terrified, until, in a most unpriestly manner, this fearsome "man of the cloth" suddenly drew her to himself and hugged her tightly, comforting her as much as he could, or so it appeared. It only lasted a couple of seconds, but it happened.

As for Sister See, Father Silvio now just stood wordlessly in front of her with one hand clasping each of her shoulders until she stopped screaming. Being situated at an angle to where he was standing, I actually thought I saw a tear well up in the corner of his right eye and saw his back shake momentarily, as though he was sobbing. That could not be, of course, I told myself, this phenomenon just being one more adding itself to the overwhelming and surreal confusion that was mine at this scene, and indeed in the several days of scenes that had preceded it.  I would now have pinched myself as a reality check, had I not looked down and seen (and felt) Khun Wan't bood dripping from my own right thumb onto my trousers. I felt woozy again!

Others now entered the apartment, and one thankfully covered Khun Wan's body with a clean, white sheet. Shortly afterwards, two police officers accompanied by Khun Pong arrived and ordered everyone out of the room, both they and Khun Pong staring rather in amazement at Father Silvio, it seemed – or did I just imagine it?

The latter now spoke. "Well, gentlemen, it took you long enough to get here! The wages of sin to be sure!" An amazing transformation now came over the Father, as he grinned wickedly at the new group. "You've got a naked whore's body here leaking all over the place, and I've got a young man [he nodded towards me] who just can't stay out of trouble and needs some fatherly guidance! Now, if you'll excuse us, gentlemen, we've all got a kid's school to account for! As for you, Khun Pong, I will be speaking with you later today." These three gentlemen looked rather chastened by this, with Khun Pong in particular showing what may have been some kind of relief.

Outside the apartment building and near the street, Father Silvio halted our group and explained in a low, kindly voice, "There is a very good reason for how I talked just now, and you must understand that my thoughts and feelings are the same as yours. However, each of us needs a shower and a change of clothes at this point, and I want all of you to go home and do that except for Filchworthy here, who I'm taking home with me. Then, Filchworthy, who will be going to the school to get paid, will call you ladies and arrange to meet  with you about an important matter afterwards. Please, I beg you all – say nothing to anyone about what I have just said, or what our plans are. Otherwise, we can each and all end up just like poor Khun Wan. Understood? I say, do you all understand me completely?" The Father looked at each of us individually and earnestly as he asked this, and we each nodded our understanding.

Upon being assured by both ladies that they would do exactly as he asked, Father Silvio and I hailed a taxi for each of the two ladies and then made our way to the apartment parking lot where he had left his car, a very impressive late model BMW, I might add, that made you want to go for a long drive – possibly to just about anywhere, I thought, as we both got into it.

Once on the street, I began trying to make sense of some of these events. Needless to say, the longer this affair went on, the more out of my element I realized I was. Nothing made sense, nor did I have any idea where the Father really was about to take me. I was curious about a lot of things, though.

"Who called Sister See about the 'terrible accident' in Rick's apartment building?" I asked, " I'm sure all of you must have arrived just before I did, from the ladies' reactions."

Father Silvio thought for a moment. "We honestly don't know who called," he said, "though Sister See said it was a man. Frankly, I suspect Khun Pong, but I don't know that." The Father looked uncomfortable, as he clearly anticipated whatever it was he wished to communicate with me about.

With a sudden inspiration, I made the Father even much more uncomfortable as I said, "So, Father, if you're not actually involved in all of this, how do you keep Father Bernardo's mouth shut?"

It was a near-fatal question, as Father Silvio momentarily lost control of his car and nearly drove us off the road into a ravine, his brakes screeching loudly as he finally bullied the car to a stop just along the edge of the road. His face was ashen, and he was breathing heavily as he gasped, "Filchworthy, dammit, just when I think you're only a foolish and impetuous little smart aleck jerk, you amaze me by defining most poignantly not only just how dangerous you are to our whole operation, but also how dangerous you are to the personal safety of each and every single one of us, including that unfortunate young lady who died back there!" He ended this speech nearly screaming at me, and I did wonder, at least for a queasy moment or two, if in fact I might really have been a factor in Khun Wan's death. Somehow, though, I thought there must be a lot more to it than just that.

"Well, Father," I continued, "that being the case, you may as well answer my question."

"Father Bernardo is a fool," he answered, "He trustingly passes all of the dirty work on to me, while taking the credit for it and enjoying his own debaucheries.  My function is that of work horse for Bernardo. In the process of that, I have to threaten people like you, or even Pranee. And I had to arrange for Bill Wakely's beating, though the people I chose to administer it were hired to take it easy on him. Bill's condition, in case you haven't guessed, is not nearly as bad as people think it is."

I was shocked for a moment beyond my ability to respond. Recovering finally, I continued cruelly, "And... do you also send little children to be sexually abused by predators?"

The Father's face reddened with anger. "No," he said, regaining control of himself, "that's the one job Father Bernardo holds onto. My actual function has been to unearth how the whole operation works, and I believe I know nearly everything now except for who in our school, besides Father Bernardo, facilitates it. We believe it may actually be a woman, but we don't know that for sure, nor do we have any idea who it could be."

"Are Rick Keyhorn and little Bik okay?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Do you know where they are?"

"I can't tell you that either."

"How does the paedophile operation actually work, Father, and who profits from it?"

Father Silvio sighed in partial resignation, bringing the Beamer back onto the road. "I can tell you things in a general way," he said. "Up to now, there are about fifty older boys in our school, or who used to attend our school, who are now 'hardcore'. In other words, their financial and other rewards are such – and their sexual way of life is such – that they now recruit most of their young peers themselves, and such is the sophistication of this operation that a number (with the naive blessing of their own parents) are shipped all over the world, where they continue their 'educations' in every possible way. What makes the operation work so well is that the boys, whether here in Thailand or abroad, are almost always treated like little princes until they become of age, at which point, it grieves me to say, they have a tendency to 'disappear'  or perish in 'accidents', after which their 'mentors' pay relatively lavish sums of money to the surviving parents. So who profits? The rich people get richer, all over the world. And the sexually perverted rich get sexually enriched – while, finally, the kids' parents make a bit of money on the deal, though they were not knowingly part of it, and would not have been. As you Americans say, it sucks."

"So where are you taking me now?"

"To kill you, of course," he smiled coldly at me.

"What!" I screamed at him in both horror and anger.

"Well," he smiled, "either that, or scare the soup out of you so you don't represent a threat to the syndicate."

"Am I?"

"Well, up to now, you've done a fairly good job of playing dumb. But you're obviously cheeky, and sometimes that can be taken to mean you know more than you do. Now, I just want you to look cowed and taken aback.

"Not hard," I assured him. "Now, where are you really taking me?"

"I've taken you around the backwoods a bit, but we're actually close to your apartment. I'll be dropping you off there in about three minutes."

And so he did. After a shower and a change of clothes, I took up my mobile phone and made a necessary call.  "Hello, is this Khun Nitiya?"

"Nitiya speaking."

"Khun Nitiya, this is Ig Filchworthy, and I want to ask about a book. It's called I'm innocent by S. Franciso De Campo."

"That first name is 'Silvio'?"

"Yes."

"That's a true story. We're waiting for a shipment. If you get an urgent need for the book, just let me know and I will lend you my own copy."

"That's very nice of you, Khun Nitiya. Please give me a call when you get it in."

"I will. Goodbye, now."

So, Khun Marisa of Interpol had now confirmed that Father Silvio, my hottest "suspect" in the whole paedophile operation, was in fact innocent. Not for a moment heeding Father Silvio's warning to "back off" of my investigation, I could only wonder what, now, I could do to get it back on track, or at least help Khun Marisa in her efforts to shut down this fiendish endeavor once and for all.

In any case, with the fridge and kitchen cabinet both running low on supplies, and  my wallet running low on money, I needed to hasten to the school to get paid. Prior to leaving, I left a note for Lek explaining the bloody clothes, at least extensively enough that she wouldn't be calling around to find out what hospital my now probable corpse might be in (such was the nature of her love)!

At the school, I found both Sister Srisuda and Khun Pranee resting, it seemed comfortably, on cots in Sister See's office. Behind the sister's desk with a large cash box on top of it, sat a matronly lady teacher I had previously seen somewhere . "Yoo muts bee Missadur Feeltswoody," she said grinning. "Yoo famous young man. Dese two," she said pointing at the two other ladies, "dey not like sight of blood, no?" She laughed raucously.

With a sinking feeling, I suddenly remembered that I had totally forgotten to call Sister See and Khun Pranee to make an appoinment with them. Even worse, Father Silvio had forgotten (I hoped not intentionally) to tell me what to say the appointment was all about. Stupid me!

Perhaps this was just as well under the circumstances, however, as from around the corner of Sister See's desk now peeked Father Bernardo, his face beaming. "Welcome, Mr. Filchworthy, to the Lord's bounty on this auspicious occasion." He smiled sweetly and offered me his hand to shake. The ubiquitous little Bible, I noted, was now missing from his garb.

Next month, Part VIII.

ENROLL NOW!