Welcome to Hell by Colin Martin Read Free Book Online

again.
    Still, I didn’t give up.
    Two and a half years passed before I got a real lead. And it happened in the most unlikely of places. Because I was European, I was forced to leave Thailand every three months in order to get a new tourist visa.
    I often travelled into countries neighbouring Thailand for a few hours or a day to give the impression that I was a tourist travelling through the region. On one such trip in June 1997, I crossed the border into Laos to spend a few hours shopping before returning to Thailand.
    While I was in Laos I met an Australian man, and we got talking. One thing led to another, and I told him my story.
    After I’d finished, he said that he knew a man who fitted O’Connor’s description. At the time, I carried a picture of O’Connor with me at all times, and I showed this to him.
    ‘That’s him,’ he said. ‘That’s Mitch!’
    Mitch, he told me, was a crook – a professional con artist – and was best known for selling and dealing in fake diamonds. He had organised scams selling fictitious gold and diamond mines, and even sold fake share certificates. To the best of my friend’s knowledge, at the moment he was involved in something to do with construction machinery.
    He said he didn’t have Mitch’s address or phone number, but would try his best to locate him for me. I gave him my work and home phone numbers.
    A few weeks passed without any news. Then when I went home one night, my wife told me that someone had called and wanted me to call them as soon as possible. It was my friend.
    He told me that O’Connor was currently operating a construction scam in Bangkok. He gave me his address and phone number. This was the closest I’d ever got to O’Connor.
    I was determined to make no mistakes. If living in Bangkok had taught me one thing, it was not to trust the police.
    So I decided to find O’Connor myself. I planned to entrap him and call in the police when I had him cornered.
    I felt alive for the first time in years. I quickly began investigating O’Connor – and discovered that he had never even moved out of his apartment.
    I hadn’t bothered checking his apartment because I didn’t think anybody would be stupid enough to stay at the same address if they knew the police were out looking for them.
    It was then that I realised that the police had been lying to me for years. They’d never looked for O’Connor, and they’d certainly never tried to arrest him.
    There was only one explanation that made sense: O’Connor must have paid them off. Nobody could walk around so freely if the police were really trying to arrest them. Nothing else made sense.
    Given that I knew I couldn’t trust them, I figured there was a good chance that they’d tip him off if I told them of my plan.
    I tried to remain calm.
    I knew I couldn’t risk phoning him, just in case he recognised my voice. So I asked one of the secretaries at the company I was working for at the time to do it for me. She phoned O’Connor and explained that she worked for a large construction company, and her boss had heard he had some machinery for sale. She said the boss was interested in buying equipment if the price was right.
    O’Connor took the bait. When I arrived at work the next morning, I found a fax waiting for me. It was signed Mitch. He’d sent an introduction letter and a list of his machinery for sale and the price per machine.
    I couldn’t believe it – his company was called Offshore Construction Services. He hadn’t even bothered to think up a new name.
    Although I wanted to go and punch his lights out there and then, I knew I had to play the long game. If I jumped straight in he’d know something was wrong.
    So I responded to his fax in writing and asked for more information about the machinery for sale. I signed off as Mr Bill Turner.
    For the first time in years, I felt as if I was winning. I asked a number of friends for help.
    An American friend of mine called Chuck offered to play the