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Saving Fish from Drowning - Heal Burma

Saving Fish from Drowning - Heal Burma

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SAVING FISH FROM DROWNING<br />

The Burmese reporter cut in: “This man with a ponytail, this is a<br />

description of your friend, isn’t it?”<br />

“Correct,” Harry was seen answering with authority. “That could<br />

very well be Mark Moffett and his son, Rupert, along with Esmé, the<br />

daughter of my fiancée, Marlena Chu, who is also missing.” Four<br />

photos flashed up.<br />

“That’s me!” Esmé cried, and then instantly she pouted, saying, “I<br />

hate that picture.”<br />

Moff stamped his foot. “Shit! You blasted idiot, Harry! I’m here in<br />

bloody nowhere, not in Mandalay.”<br />

“Fiancée,” Marlena whispered to herself.<br />

“The worrisome part,” Harry went on, “is that they were led<br />

around by two men—”<br />

“But they were not Burmese,” the reporter cut in, “as we con­<br />

firmed earlier.”<br />

“Yes, that’s right. The witnesses said they appeared to be Indian<br />

or Thai, maybe even Chinese, in any case, definitely not Burmese,<br />

because, as you so astutely pointed out, the Burmese witnesses said<br />

they couldn’t understand a thing the thugs were saying. But what<br />

they did note, interestingly enough, is that they were speaking<br />

in gruff tones, and Moff—or rather, the man we think is Mark<br />

Moffett—plus the two youngsters, simply obeyed as if they were un­<br />

der the influence of something. The marionette maker and monks<br />

said it was a spell cast by Nats, which some Burmese believe are dis­<br />

turbed spirits who are very out of sorts because of a violent death<br />

centuries ago.”<br />

“Yes, they are very common here,” the reporter said.<br />

“Well, I believe they might have been drugged,” Harry continued,<br />

“which is a more rational explanation. They were reported to have<br />

the glazed look of heroin users—”<br />

The reporter broke in: “Heroin is strictly forbidden in Myanmar.<br />

The penalty for heroin using or selling is death.”<br />

373

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