𝐃𝐘𝐍𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐘 ── 𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒛𝒚 𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒔. ✔︎

𝟬𝟭𝟲.

AFTER LANDING in Chiang Mai, the ancient Thai city known as the "rose of the north," Nick and Ramona were driven by Jeep to an estate nestled in the foothills of Doi Inthanon. Like so many of the great houses hidden in these parts, the walled compound was tucked away up a long, steep road and virtually invisible from the outside. But past the tall, fortresslike gate, Ramona found herself in a sybaritic paradise that defied description.

The residence was comprised of eight wood-and-stone pavilions built in the traditional Royal Lanna Thai style around an artificial lake, all interconnected by a series of bridges and walkways. As they were led through the lush gardens and onto a wooden walkway that floated on the lake, a thin layer of mist hovered over the still waters, adding to the feeling that he had stepped back in time.

At an open pavilion overlooking the center of a lake, an elderly man nattily dressed in tweed trousers, a maroon cardigan, and a peak cap was sitting at a beautiful wooden table, cleaning the inside of an old Leica camera with a tiny brush. On the table rested three or four other old cameras in various states of repair.

The man looked up as the Young siblings approached and grinned widely. Ramona could see that the hair under his cap was snow-white, and though he must have been in his early nineties, his face still retained its handsome features. He put down the camera and got up with agility that surprised her.

"Nicholas and Ramona Young, what a pleasure! Did you have a good journey?" the man said in English tinged with the slightest British accent.

"Yes, Your Highness, thank you." Ramona nodded polietely

"Please call me Jirasit. I hope I didn't rouse you too early?"

"Not at all-it was great to get an early start, and your plane landed just as the sun was rising." Nick replied.

"I had your aunt Catherine arrange it for you this way. I think the mountains are at their most beautiful right at dawn, and I must confess, I am a very early bird. At my age, I'm up by five and quite useless by midafternoon."

Nick and Ramona simply smiled, and Jirasit clasped Nick's and Ramona's hands in his own. "I am glad we are meeting. I've heard so much about you over the years!"

"Really?"

"Yes, your grandmother was inordinately proud of you both. She talked about you kids all the time. Come, sit, sit. Do you take tea or coffee?" Jirasit asked as a flurry of servants appeared with trays of refreshments and food.

"Coffee would be great." Nick nodded

"I prefer tea," Ramona smiled

Jirasit uttered a few words in Thai as the servants began setting up an elaborate breakfast on the wide stone ledge of the pavilion. "You'll have to excuse the mess, I have been indulging in my favorite pastime," Jirasit said, as he moved his cameras to one side of the table to make room for the coffee and tea service.

"That's quite a collection you have there," Nick said.

"Oh, they're all rather obsolete at this point. I prefer shooting with my digital Canon EOS these days, but I do enjoy cleaning these old cameras. It's very meditative."

"So you were in quite frequent contact with our grandmother, then?" Ramona asked.

"Off and on, over the years. You know how old friends are...we would skip a year here and there, but we did try to stay in touch." Jirasit paused for a moment, staring at an old Rolleiflex twin lens on the table. "That Su Yi... I shall miss her."

Nick took a sip of his coffee. "How did you two become acquainted?"

"We met in Bombay in 1941, when we both worked at the British India Office."

Ramona sat forward in her chair, surprised. "Wait a minute, is this the Indian branch of the War Office? My grandmother worked there?"

"Oh yes. She never told you? Your grandmother started out in the code-breaking office, and I was in the cartography department, helping to create a detailed map of Thailand. The cartographers didn't really know Thailand well, especially in these remote northern parts near the border, and we needed accurate maps in the event of an invasion."

"How fascinating. I always pictured her luxuriating away in some maharaja's palace during the Japanese occupation." Ramona nodded thoughtfully, stirring her tea.

"Well, she did that too, but the British, you see, enlisted her to do some...sensitive diplomatic work as soon as they realized what she was capable of."

"I had no idea..."

"Your grandmother had a certain allure that's hard to put your finger on. She was never one of those typical beauties, but men just fell at her feet. It came in very useful during the war. She was good at influencing those rajahs in certain directions."

Nick reached into his satchel and took out the leather box that Su Yi had entrusted to them placing it on the table. "Well, the reason we're here is that our grandmother wanted us to return these to you."

"Ah, my old Dunhill case! I never thought I'd be reunited with it after all these years," Jirasit said like an excited child. "You know, your grandmother was a very stubborn woman. When she insisted on returning to Singapore during the height of the war-complete madness, I tell you-I gave her a few of my most valuable possessions. My father's Patek and these gold sovereigns, and a few other things, I can't remember what. I thought she would need them to bribe her way into Singapore. But see, she hardly needed them after all." Jirasit began winding the pocket watch, and then he held it up to his ear. "Listen? Still ticking perfectly after all these years! I'm going to have to tell my friend Philippe Stern about this!" Jirasit picked up the packet of old envelopes tied in ribbon and studied them for a moment. "What's this?"

"I have no idea. I assumed they were yours, so I didn't open them," Nick said.

Jirasit untied the ribbon and began sifting through the letters. "My goodness! These were my letters to her after the war. She saved every last one of them!" His pale gray eyes clouded over with tears, which he flicked away quickly.

Ramona had brought with her a prospectus of hers and Nick's Tyersall Park buyback scheme, and she was about to tell Nick to take it out of his satchel to show Jirasit when the man abruptly stood up and announced, "Come, let us attend to the matter at hand!"

Ramona nor Nick had any idea what he was talking about, but they followed Jirasit as they strolled swiftly toward a pavilion on the other side of the lake, marveling at his pace. "Jirasit, I hope I'll be as agile as you are when I'm your age!" Nick commented as he was far behind both Ramona and Jirasit.

"Yes, I hope so too. You seem quite slow for your age. Do keep up! I picked up yoga when I lived in India, and I've never stopped my daily practice. Also, it's important to keep your body alkaline, young man. Do you eat chicken?"

"I love chicken." Nick nodded

"Well, stop loving it. Chickens reabsorb their own urine-and so their meat is extremely acidic," the man said as he quickened his pace. When they reached the glass-walled pavilion, Ramona noticed two guards flanking the entrance.

"This is my private office," Jirasit explained. They entered the room, which contained nothing but an ancient gold statue of Buddha inset into a niche on one wall and a beautiful black-and-gilt desk facing a window onto the lake. Jirasit went to a door against the back wall, and placed his hand on the security scanning pad. A few seconds later, the deadbolt unlocked automatically and he gestured for Ramona and Nick to follow him into the room.

Inside, Ramona found a space that resembled a walk-in vault with built-in cabinets along every wall. At the corner was an old antique Wells Fargo safe that had been bolted into the floor. Jirasit turned to the Siblings and said, "Here we are. The combination please?"

"I'm sorry, you want me to give you the combination?"

"Of course. This is your grandmother's safe from Singapore."

"Um, I have no idea what it is," Nick said, surprised by this turn of events.

"Well, unless you're good at safe-cracking, you're going to need the combination. Let's see, why don't we call Catherine in Bangkok and see if she knows what it is?" Jirasit took out his phone and moments later had Catherine on the line. The two of them spoke animatedly in Thai for a few moments, and then Jirasit glanced up at Ramona. "Did you bring the earrings?"