“They aren’t going to spare someone with his own teeth for a dead-end mission like this, are they now?” said Bruce.

Siri cleared his throat loudly.

“If Civilai was here he’d beat the pair of you with his walking stick for disrespecting your elders,” he said. “Compared to us lot, the Russian’s barely out of diapers. But I don’t think he’s our man. His name doesn’t ring any bells. Who else do we have?”

“Two Poles that covered our war with the French,” said Phosy. “They fit the age bracket. Their names are Zielinski and Wisniewski. They would have been in Hanoi or on field assignments when you were in Vietnam.”

“Don’t forget this information came from their own CVs,” said Daeng. “There were war correspondents who spent all their time overseas in bars and in various beds. They made up stories and the only excitement they had was what they wrote on their CVs afterward. We have to consider a lot of this data could be bogus.”

“Anyone else?” Bruce asked.

“Just the one East German,” said Phosy. “Ackerman. He was based in Hanoi during the war with America. Made a name for himself there. The embassy seemed quite proud of him. Made him sound like some sort of hero. It was a coup that they persuaded him to come to Laos of all places. They said he turned down more interesting offers.”

“He’s my favorite so far,” said Daeng.

“Mine too,” said Dtui.

“I don’t know,” said Siri. “I don’t recall offending any Germans. I need to run all these names past my Dr. Watson.”

“Who?” Phosy asked.

“Civilai,” said Siri. “He’s my facts and figures man. He could tell us if we met any of the journalists on the list. He has a remarkable memory for names.”

“Madam Nong says he still has the runs,” said Nurse Dtui.

“Well, that’s very inconsiderate of him,” said Siri. “If he didn’t refuse point blank to accept my boundless medical experience, I’d ride over there to Kilometer Six and fill him full of aloe. Snails, indeed.”

“Is somebody treating him?” asked Bruce.

“He swears by Dr. Porn,” said Daeng. “He was on his way to see her when I had my medical appointment. He said she didn’t find anything potentially fatal. Said he’d be right as rain soon.”

“He wouldn’t find a better doctor in this country than Porn,” said Dtui. “Present company excepted.”

Daeng laughed. Siri bowed.

“He says he prefers to visit a general practitioner because they make their decisions based on symptoms,” said Daeng. “They’re less likely to cut you open and take a look under the bonnet.”

“After all these years he still sees me as a mechanic,” said Siri.

“So until he’s feeling better,” said Dtui, “what do we do about the men on our shortlist?”