The Ideas Pirates Page 5

  ‘Forty?’ That was older than Dad.

  ‘Fifty four but I feel like a ten year old.’

  The twins doubted he felt like them.

  ‘Is acupuncture when you stick needles in people?’ Amy knelt around on the seat.

  Dr Chung looked over the top of his glasses at Amy.

  ‘Acupuncture is about balancing your body. I help people with back pains. And with bone problems. I’ve worked with Chinese athletes. Some went to the Olympic Games.’

  ‘Ace.’ Amy was impressed. “ If you’re a bone expert, do you fix tiger’s bones?’

  Dr Chung peered over his glasses. ‘No. I don’t. Some herbalists use ground tiger bone in their medicines. Internationally, tigers are protected animals. If tigers all go, so will their forests. And that affects everybody.’’

  ‘Our parents are always talking about saving the forests.’ said the twins. ‘They take photos ALL the time!’

  Sometimes the twins got tired of eco-photography.

  Dr Chung continued. ‘That’s why poachers are hunting wild tigers illegally for their bones. These are used in some traditional medicine... for problems like rheumatism.’

  ‘Rheumatism?’ Christopher repeated.

  He’d had heard the word before, but couldn’t remember what it meant.

  ‘Stiffening joints -mainly from old age.’

  Dr Chung AND Aunty Viv might need to know about that soon.

  ‘Do some people sell fakes?’ Amy was sleuthing again.

  ‘Yes. They sell fake animal parts.’ From the way he spoke, Dr Chung didn’t approve of tiger poachers or fake tiger bone sellers.

  ‘Fake animals?’

  Dr Chung smiled. ‘The animals aren’t fakes. It’s just the seller pretends they’ve come from a different animal. Snow Leopard and Asian Golden Cat bones have been sold as tiger. Street pedlars have sold cattle bones pretending they came from tigers.’

  ‘How can you tell the real ones from fakes? Especially if you haven’t got a tiger bone there to compare it with?’

  ‘Difficult. Fake tiger bones are usually made from cattle bones which are much larger, thicker and heavier. Bear bones are greasier.’

  Dr Chung sipped his tea. Amy sniffed. The smell was unusual but pleasant.

  ‘I blend my own. Herb teas heal and refresh. Most are from dried plants or flowers .’

  ‘Which is your favourite?’

  ‘Rosemary is a memory tonic. And I like sage. It improves your alertness. Sage is the “thinker’s” tea. If you brew leaves quickly and drink it hot, you get more vitamins that way. Try it. I’ll ask the attendant for more hot water.’

  Minutes later, Amy tried a sip of Dr Chung’s sage tea. It might be helpful for an airport sleuth to think more clearly.

  ‘What’s it like?’ asked Christopher wrinkling his nose.

  ‘Just tastes like weak herby tea.’ Amy didn’t like to be rude but lemonade tasted much better. ‘Thank you.’

  Dr Chung smiled. ‘It’s an acquired taste.’

  ‘What about tiger bone? Is that made into a tea?’ Tigers interested Christopher more.

  ‘A small piece is sliced off a bone and crushed. The bone is made into a poultice , boiled with other materials to make a broth or soaked in wine.’

  ‘Do people like drinking that?’ Amy didn’t like the sound of it. She’d rather have sage tea.

  ‘Some think it will make them well.’

  ‘Does it?’

  ‘Nothing is certain. But sometimes, if you believe, then it happens, ‘ continued Dr Chung. ‘Other times, things are exaggerated. Now the Chinese Government wants to set up their own “tiger farm”. Tigers breed well in captivity. Then they could legally use parts from tigers.’

  ‘Why is it legal?’ asked Amy.

  ‘They would be captive-bred, not wild. And they could use bones from those which had died naturally.’

  ‘Yuk.’ Christopher could imagine that. Dead tigers!

  ‘But traditional medicine is about more than tiger bones.’ Dr Chung added.

  ‘Any fakes “ bad name” the good things about traditional medicine. This bone was just an example, to show at the conference in Singapore. Here, have a feel. Then I’ll put it away in my bag.’ Dr Chung let them handle the bone.

  ‘I’ve been to the Tiger Balm Gardens,’ Winston interrupted. ‘Has that got anything to do with it?’

  ‘Not really.’ said Dr Chung. ‘Although a balm is a kind of ointment. My company in Hong Kong makes some. A new one will be released very soon.’

  Christopher remembered the airport lounge message. ‘Does it have ‘orchid’ in the name?’

  Dr Chung looked surprised. ‘How clever of you to guess that.’

  ‘My Dad says his company make the best drugs in the world.’ Winston was feeling left out of the conversation. ‘INTERNATIONALDRUGS is the best.’

  Dr Chung turned quickly. ‘Winston is your given name. What is your family name?’

  Delighted to be in the centre of things, Winston told him.

  ‘Ah, I think I’ve met your father,’ said Dr Chung. ‘ He’s VERY interested in our formula I’m meeting him in Sydney later this week.’

  Christopher was curious .’How did you get the bone through the security scanner?’

  ‘I told the officials. Bones show up on the scanner. So do skeletons. Another visit, the officials did ask me about a skull. That was for a lecture too. That was when I first met Winston’s father, in Hong Kong.’

  Soon the attendant served lunch. Amy looked suspiciously at the foil covered main meal. ‘What is it?’

  ‘Chicken.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘What did you think it was? Tiger? Or rhino?’ Dr Chung winked.

  Amy smiled. She liked Dr Chung better than his sage tea. She hoped he wasn’t the one Gloria was watching.

  After the meal, Dr Chung went to the far toilet. The twins talked about their suspicions. Amy examined the page showing all the places to which the airline flew. She traced the distances from Hong Kong to China. ‘It’s close. Sort of. Dr Chung said he came from Hong Kong.’

  ‘Him and a few million others. You’ve got mysteritus again Amy.He hasn’t done anything wrong!’

  ‘Most people don’t carry tiger bones as hand luggage. Gloria said Hong Kong was the centre for selling illegal tiger bones to America. The bones come from China.’

  ‘I didn’t hear her.’

  ‘It was when you were taking shots.’

  As Christopher turned away, Amy read it aloud.

  ‘Imports of medicines containing tiger bones are illegal under the US Endangered Species Act.’

  ‘You mean because the tigers are endangered?’

  ‘Shhh. Yes. ‘Amy continued. ‘Hong Kong is the major exporter of tiger products seized in America.

  Hong Kong trades with China. D’you think Doctor Chung might be involved in something illegal?’

  ‘Why? Because he drinks herbal tea? Even Aunty Viv does that!’

  Later, Christopher remembered Dr Chung’s links with Winston’s Dad’s drug company. Maybe there was a connection?

  It was nearly time for the in-flight movie to start. The attendants tidied up. Window blinds were shut and the screen slid down from the roof. Winston came to visit again and sat in an empty seat nearby, still talking. Amy wished he’d shut up. She wanted to quiz Dr Chung to find out any links with the tiger bone scam.

  ‘Were you born in the Chinese Year of the Tiger?’

  Dr Chung laughed, ‘No. D’you know how that started? I’ll tell you the story if you like.’

  Dr Chung sounded like an ace storyteller. She didn’t want to think of him as a smuggler or a fake anything.

  ‘According to Chinese legend, Buddha told all the animal kingdom to attend a meeting. Only twelve came
.’

  ‘Was one of them a tiger?’

  Dr Chung nodded. ‘Another was a snake.’

  ‘What about a spider?’ suggested Winston.

  ‘No.’

  Motor Mouth Winston looked disappointed.

  ‘What about the dog?’ added Christopher. ‘We were born in the year of the dog.’

  ‘Dog people are supposed to be friendly, honest and trustworthy. They are good listeners and loyal to

  their friends. Are you?’ asked Dr Chung.

  ‘I guess so,’ said Amy.

  Dr Chung continued, ‘ Buddha named a year after each of the twelve, in order of arrival. And so the Chinese calendar covers twelve years, each with twelve months. Each of these animals behaves in a certain way. Experts in the old traditions say that a person acts like the animal that gives its name to the year of the person’s birth.’

  ‘Wow! A year of the tiger-but not of the tiger bone!’ suggested Winston.

  Dr Chung laughed. ‘Not all are fakes you know. Some herbal medicines work very well. Where do you think some drug companies learnt how to make medicines? From the herbalists.’

  ‘From the research chemists,’ interrupted Winston. ‘My Dad say DRUGSINTERNATIONAL are the biggest in the world. That’s why people keep trying to steal their formula.’

  ‘The biggest is not necessarily the best.’ said Dr Chung softly

  ‘Are you good at keeping secrets?’ Amy wanted to know more about how some herbal medicines were made.

  ‘Try me.’

  ‘I’ve been reading this In-flight article about tiger bone scams ...’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And since you seem to know a lot about tiger bone too...’ Amy wasn’t quite sure how to go on.

  Dr Chung glanced at the magazine cover.’Have you looked at the names of the writer and photographer of the article?’

  Amy hadn’t. Mum would be cross about that. She believed all photographers should get credit for their work. Dad AND Mum’s names went on all their work.

  Amy skimmed across the page. ‘... by Dr Henry Chung,’ she read out. ‘Oh. Is that you?

  Dr Chung nodded. ‘I’m not a smuggler of fake tiger bones. I’m trying to draw attention to problems. I want to stamp out fakes.’

  Amy felt bad. She’d made a mistake this time. Perhaps she was suffering from mysteryitus, as

  Christopher always said.

  ‘You’d better talk to Gloria,’ Christopher changed the subject. ‘She’s chasing idea pirates on this flight.’

  Amy smiled a little. Nice of Christopher to help her out. He wasn’t bad to have as a brother. Better than Motor Mouth Winston.

  ‘Ideas pirates!’ Dr Chung looked thoughtful. ‘ Thieves who steal ideas, recipes and formulae. We’ve been having problems too, with people copying our herbal recipes.’

  ‘Do people really want recipes for sage tea?’ Amy couldn’t believe that!

  ‘No,’ laughed Dr Chung. ‘But for some other herbal remedies.’

  ‘Who has been copying them?’ asked Christopher.

  ‘We have our suspicions, but I’d rather not say.’ Dr Chung looked stern.

  Christopher looked closely at the magazine. ‘These are your photos? They’re good!

  I’m taking some for my next term’s school project. I’m doing “airport people” as my subject. D’you think I could take a photo of you and the tiger bone? ‘

  ‘What would you write underneath?’ asked Winston who’d been listening for once .’If it was me, I’d call it ‘passenger and leg luggage, instead of hand luggage.’

  Dr Chung laughed at Winston’s idea. And Amy agreed that for the first time, Winston had said something clever. But she was also a little bit sorry that Dr Chung wasn’t a smuggler.

  Chapter 8

  Cassette Piracy

  ‘Noticed any pirates yet?’ Gloria asked as she slid into Dr Chung’s empty seat. The herbalist was chatting with people up at the front.

  ‘Are you keeping an eye on Sebastian Baggy Pants down the back?’ Amy said.’He’s still carrying that cassette.’

  Christopher looked up from his sketch.’Old fashioned pirates went to sea, not up in the air.’

  Gloria shook her head.’ Not this sort of pirate.’

  ‘How would you recognise a pirate disc or tape?’ Winston was still hanging around.

  Trouble was, they couldn’t get away from him. Unfortunately there were a few free seats just near the twins. Winston had found them within ten minutes of taking off. And he kept coming back. The attendant didn’t mind as long as she knew where he was.

  Gloria explained as she rummaged in her bag. ‘Plain cover. The title might be typed rather than printed. And the actual copy might be pale from all the prints taken.’

  ‘But you wouldn’t be able to see that when it was still in the case!’

  ‘True.’

  ‘Anything else?’ At the scanner, Baggy Pants’s video looked ordinary on the outside. Everybody was more concerned with his spiders.

  Meanwhile Amy thought about her mysterious e-disc. She should tell Gloria but she felt reluctant to share the mystery. She wanted to solve it by herself. And work out about the 3 DISC card.

  ‘The copyright warning when you play the video would be missing. You know, that one about being fined if you infringe the copyright of the owner.’

  ‘What does that mean?’ asked Winston. It was a fair enough question, but he was SO annoying.

  ‘Copyright infringements are when someone is cheating by using another’s work ... and getting money for a brand or a book or a song or something else.’

  ‘Like a recipe or a formula.’ Amy suggested as Gloria continued.

  ‘Sometimes a person can be licenced to sell a brand. That’s legal and okay. But others are thieves, passing off something as their own.’

  ‘I’ve heard of X rated .’ Winston said.

  ‘They’re the ones we’re not allowed to see.’ added Amy leaning over.

  ‘Copyright means that the person who created it should be allowed to get the credit for the film or book or whatever. Like our parents’ photos. They get paid every time people use the photos.’

  ‘Who do YOU think should get the money from a recording when it’s sold ?’ asked Gloria.

  ‘The singer,’ said Amy.

  ‘And the song-writer,’ suggested Christopher.

  ‘What about the composer of the music,’ said Winston.’ Or the band?’

  ‘And the music shop owner.’ added Christopher.

  ‘We bought a disc at a market stall,’ Amy felt guilty. ‘Are we pirates too?’

  ‘No. You haven’t deliberately set out to sell lots of copies from the original. And rip off the creators.’

  Christopher winked hard at Amy. She stared at him. He winked again and nodded. Sometimes the twins thought on the same wave length. Sometimes they didn’t. He’s heavying me to tell Gloria about the mystery e disc thought Amy.

  ‘Tell her,’ hissed Christopher.

  Amy wanted to ask about the ‘slipper orchid’ message- except that she felt bad about not telling Gloria earlier. She tried to catch Gloria’s eye but she was sharing security’s latest success.

  ‘Last week we caught some idea pirates who work through the mail. The sniffer dogs helped. They found the disc in the mailbags.’

  ‘Clever dogs. After all, it is the Chinese Year of the Dog,’ added Amy wondering when and how she could mention “slipper orchids” and e discs..

  ‘While we were waiting at Changi ... something mysterious happened ...’

  Not noticing, Gloria continued. ‘Then it was delivered by a police officer disguised as a postman.’

  ‘Why?’ Winston didn’t follow that.

  ‘So the suspect signed an Australia post receipt. Then we had some evidence
.’ explained Gloria. ‘We must have evidence. It’s not enough just to suspect someone ... like Baggy Pants. There needs to be a reason for searching his belongings.’

  ‘Ah.’ Now he understood. Evidence.

  ‘Can’t you ask him to show you what’s on it?’

  ‘Awkward at the moment. Haven’t anything to play it on to check.’

  ‘Could you run it through the plane’s entertainment channel?’ suggested Christopher.

  Gloria smiled. ‘That’s an idea-but only if nothing embarrassing were on it -and we wouldn’t know yet, would we? In fact, it may be something inside that worries us.’

  ‘You mean the missing hospital drugs?’

  ‘He does seem to keep it within sight all the time.’

  ‘He’s weird! Look.’

  Baggy Pants was sitting holding his cassette case in his lap. He was staring at it. Then patting it! Like a pet!

  ‘What d’you reckon is on it?’

  ‘Perhaps it’s about him.’ What else could be so fascinating?’

  Amy made up her mind. It was time to show Gloria.

  Standing on the seat, Amy rummaged in the overhead locker feeling for her bag and the e disc to show Gloria. Her hand touched something soft and furry. And it wasn’t Edwina! It moved.

  ‘Hey! There’s something alive here! Feels tiny. And furry.’

  Overhearing, Baggy Pants got up. ‘ Have you found one of my babies?’

  ‘Your babies?’ The only baby Amy had seen was the crying one which the mother wanted to change.

  ‘My spider babies! ‘

  ‘Not more of them! I thought Singapore security checked you.’ Gloria was cross.

  ‘Where did you keep them?’

  ‘Inside this cassette case.’

  ‘Thought so,’ muttered Gloria. ‘It was too light. Open it up please.’ Her official voice became much louder.

  Nervously Baggy Pants opened the video. Inside the cassette space were about ten tiny spiders - just moving. Furry black legs were mixed up.

  ‘Why are you smuggling them?’ Winston burst out. ‘It isn’t fair. I told them about Tammy and I wasn’t allowed to bring her.’

  Baggy Pants just looked sadly at his moving cassette.’I love spiders. They are the most beautiful creatures. I just wanted to take them home, put them in the linen cupboard and watch them.’