A question about a plot element in a novel I want to write . . .
Note: I said “novel.” Fiction, that is–not a situation I’m really in.
Suppose a US expat was a suspect in a crime that occured in the US. Murder, as the case may be. He has motive for wanting the guy dead, so naturally the police want to question him. How would they go about doing that? Would they ask the Taiwan police to question him? Would they send somebody to Taiwan? Would they ask the suspect to return to the US? I would think they would need more than “We think he didn’t like the victim” to deport or extradite him.
Any ideas? Here’s hoping none of you are in or have been in this situation. 
What they’d do is get some really young-looking cops (kind of like Johnny Depp in that 80 show 21 Jump Street), dress them up in backpacker clothes and send them to Taiwan in the guise of English teachers (they already know where the suspect works and plays). The cops would befriend him and one drunken evening they’d spike his drink, bundle him up in an old carpet and whisk him away to a small fishing harbour near Tanshui, where they’d hide him in the hold of a small coastal sampan. The sampan would head out to sea to rendesvous with a US Navy sub in the waters north of Taiwan, but a sudden typhoon would spring up, catching the young and charismatic cops unaware and unprepared. The sampan would founder, leaving the cops and the suspect afloat on the open sea. After a traumatic few days in the water during which they’d have to fight off sharks and stuff, they’d eventually wash ashore on a small, seemingly uninhabited island, where they’d manage to light a fire, dry off, and cunningly devise a way to catch fish using a pair of cargo shorts and a birkenstock sandal. Unbeknwonst to them, however, the isalnd is actually home to a pair of elderly Japanese Imperial Army soldiers unaware that the war has ended, who begin stalking and killing the cops and then…
when does the obligatory “Asian looking” actress come into play in this drama?
And I see you have wisely avoided any involvement with the Taiwan LEO’s.
An open car, a bullet that mysteriously turns, a homemade gun, a superficial wound to the stomach, a mystery gunman, mystery gunman found dead… look, Taiwan already provides so much material for a great novel.
[quote=“TainanCowboy”]when does the obligatory “Asian looking” actress come into play in this drama?
And I see you have wisely avoided any involvement with the Taiwan LEO’s.[/quote]
SHe would of course be one of the cops, but she’d have been a bit confused as to her destination and would have dressed as if she was going to Japan. So she’d have nothing to wear except for a white blouse, a tiny plaid miniskirt and those fall-down socks. She’d lose the blouse and the skirt in the typhoon but not the socks and the black loafers.
If I was the “fictional character”, I would lay low and try to hide. Or else get in touch with Richard Hartzel and find out what my rights were. Or else just give myself up and face the music. Good luck.
Great thread. I knew this baby would write itself . . .
[quote=“sandman”][quote=“TainanCowboy”]when does the obligatory “Asian looking” actress come into play in this drama?
And I see you have wisely avoided any involvement with the Taiwan LEO’s.[/quote]
SHe would of course be one of the cops, but she’d have been a bit confused as to her destination and would have dressed as if she was going to Japan. So she’d have nothing to wear except for a white blouse, a tiny plaid miniskirt and those fall-down socks. She’d lose the blouse and the skirt in the typhoon but not the socks and the black loafers.[/quote]
They realize they’ve washed up on Ishigaki-jima when she goes into a Family Mart and sees there is sock glue on the shelf for her fall-down socks. That’s when the old Japanese Army guys show up and force the whole troop into sexual slavery.
Helicopters . . . it needs helicopters that explode in mid-air.
And slow-mo kung fu sequences. . .