Kompot Koknar
'WHAT DOES IT ALL mean?' a puzzled Kev asks.
'This was drawn up when I was living in Laos. I'm amazed it is still in existence. I'll happily explain the formula and its meaning, but first, how did you get it?'
'Someone threw it into the lake at Kaeng Krachan just before the helicopter crew shot its owner to bits.'
'And its owner, what was his name?'
'Pu Yai.'
'And what did Pu Yai look like? I mean before they shot him to pieces.'
'Thai, we assume anyway, or at least he was Asian, getting on. He was a bad-tempered person. That's about all I know.'
'Now, I suppose you want to know what that paper stands for?'
Mike was looking at the fax once more.
'Please go on. I want to know what caused the death of my mate and others.'
Mike took a deep breath before he spoke.
'As you know, I was naughty as a kid, but although I was wayward, I am not bad. I discovered I had a skill: mixing things to make other things. I told you most of this the other night. In Wales, we have magic mushrooms, and we also have plenty of cannabis plants. I started mixing them, and the kids loved it. After that, I moved on to more powerful drugs. Coke mixed with heroin and other mixtures. Then, I was caught by my dad and shipped out. All of this, you know. Sadly, the pattern continued. I was in Laos with a few backpackers, and we were all experimenting.'
'Go on. You told me all that. What is on the paper?'
'Have you ever heard of Kompot or Koknar?'
'No, sounds like a communist dinner.'
'No, it is not. They are both made from opium or, should I say, poppy seeds and other parts of the poppy stalk. Cheap heroin is used in Poland and other Balkan places. Plus, in the east of Europe, they mass produce amphetamines, so a heady mix. While in Laos, a man turned up one day and gave me a sack full of Eastern Europe's finest exports.'
Mike could not hold an embarrassed laugh.
'Please pass me the fax again, let me show you. That is the chemical formula for Kompot.' Mike was warming to his specialist subject. 'That is hashish, and there is opium. This is the amphetamine mix. And that my friend makes the potion special - Mandrake.'
He pointed out the quantity of each part.
The chemist carried on. 'Mandrake grows in hot countries. They have used it over the years for various things. As a painkiller, to encourage dreams, and as a poison, to name a few.'
Mike was in full flow. 'This, my friend, is what I named "Crazy Medicine". In Thai, they call it "yaa baa". They now sell it throughout the country, and I believe they have changed the formula from my original. I assume it will make it easier or cheaper to produce.'
'Is it dangerous?'
'That's why I had to write the correct formula. Enough of it can be fun, but too much, it is perilous.'
'But I still donʼt understand.'
'I worked for an Asian man with a ferocious temper. I turned all these ingredients into pills, easy to buy, sell and take. People could not get enough of it. As you know, the ingredients all grow here or nearby. Thailand is great for marijuana, for example. The poppy for opium is excellent and plentiful in the North.'
'Is marijuana in southern Thailand better than here?'
'I'm not sure, but the stuff I had to use came from somewhere else.'
'That's it, Pu Yai was on buying trips. Kaeng Krachan, for example, was where he got marijuana. The East German connection must have supplied the kompot and amphetamines. They must have shipped over a new batch. Swapping it for rubies. It's all adding up.'
'You never thought I was selling the bar, did you?'
'I was unsure what it was about, but it did not look kosher.'
'Why are they interested in me now?'
'Because, my friend, they lost your formula. No! I know what it is. They need you to go back to producing pills. With the original formula, maybe they failed themselves.'
'And they got you here to hand over another or to change the old one,' said Pat.
'They are producing amphetamines and need you to change the formula independently. Cheaper to produce, plus more addictive, equals more sales.'
'Kev, you have got to ring Black,' suggested Skylab.
They decided Mike and Pat should go ahead with the meeting, arrange it for tomorrow, and see what the Londoner has to say. They would carry on as if they suspected nothing. Kev and Skylab would stay close but out of sight. They would have to keep calm until Black and his mate Skip could get here.