I’m back. Most people don’t even know I left, I know. But anyway, after seven years of this I decided last June that I just had to take three months and give myself a break from Eleven Demons and all the legal intrigue while I worked on another project.

But even while I tried to get away from it, things kept happening. On 29 June the Court of Appeals in Los Angeles took up Made Jati’s request to overturn the California decision—she argued that a case in Indonesia regarding child custody was ongoing in 2008 and therefore the California court had no right to assert jurisdiction. It was a pretty thin appeal. In fact her attorney, Mr Salgado, didn’t even take the opportunity to appear and present it in court—maybe too embarrased after his final run-in with Judge Susan Lopez-Giss. A panel of three Appeals Court judges can humiliate attorneys who waste their time. I’m sure Mr Salgado is well-paid, and I believe he is a good lawyer, but even so you still have to maintain some self-respect.

The only testimony Made Jati ever presented to the California court about Indonesia, or anything else for that matter, was when she first filed her case in 2008 and swore under oath that there was NOT an ongoing case in Indonesia. Then she ran away. No one except Mr Salgado personally ever asserted there was an ongoing case in Indonesia, and when Mr Salgado made his case to Judge Lopez-Giss, he famously carried nothing but his little black agenda book to back up his assertion.

Of course, clearly the case at this point is no longer about custody. The time for custody is long past; the boys are eighteen and twenty years old now. She only appealled the decision after I filed a complaint about her failure to pay ordered child support. With interest and penalties it now amounts to near USD 900,000. So clearly the purpose of her appeal wasn’t about custody or the children; it was about the money. That seemed to get her motivated.

The Court of Appeals made short work of it. They considered it Friday and announced their decision Monday morning…appeal rejected. Interest and penalties are still climbing. But Indonesia does not have an extradition treaty with America, so unless Interpol can make a lucky grab somewhere in transit, she is safe as long as she stays out of the U.S.

I wrapped that up in four paragraphs, enough for a blog, but there is a lot more to the story; it would make a good chapter in Mafia of the Gods. Made’s new attorney Mr Salgado is a colorful character in his own right. At the start he was friendly to my attorney Tom Kendall and me, but after he made a few of what appear to me really dumb moves he stopped talking to me. He still nods at Tom—attorneys have to do that, it’s part of their social etiquette—but he doesn’t even look at me.

“Yoo hoo! Mr Salgado, here I am, over here! good morning! Over here!...Oh, well.”

A lot of people won’t talk to me. Made Jati, of course. She hasn’t talked to me since 2005. The California court ordered her to meet me in front of a court-appointed mediator in July 2008—it’s required in the normal family court process—but she ran away rather than face me.

No one in her family—used to be my family—will talk to me. They hang up the phone as soon as they hear my voice. Her attorney Ida Bagus Wikantara hangs up on me. All of her Angels refuse to talk to me: Nigel Mason, Jean Lane, Mark Moody, Mark Keatinge, Max and Collette Hunt. Hang up and refuse to answer emails.

Former friends, especially from the Wine Club days, boy did some of them run fast! A few had inside information, I know; they apparently knew what was going on well before I did. The two who confided in me that they had affairs with Made Jati and so had a really special empathy and understanding of her—I guess they figured it was okay to tell me now since we were getting a divorce—probably had other motives for siding with Made and cutting me off.

But for so many others…actually, I can understand. Being a friend to a bule with legal problems, under a death threat, the target of a wealthy Balinese woman in Bali, that is an uncomfortable proposition. Made is in Bali. I am not. One must consider one’s social position.

And a lot of Bali officials won’t talk to me. Even the Bali police hang up on me! The Bali Post has refused to print any stories about the case since 2005. (Apparently the Editor is a good friend of Ida Bagus Wikantara; their daughters played in the same girls band together.)

But many of my emails just disappear, like dropping rocks into a dark sea.

“Yoo hoo! Over here! Here I am!... oh, well.”

Now a lot of other friends—names hidden to protect the innocent—have stayed friendly with me, thank you. Balinese, Indonesians, Westerners, I do receive a lot of support, and I understand that it is difficult to be open about it. Yes, I will keep the messages private, and thank you.

No way to come to a graceful ending here; I guess I'll have to write another book. So, uh...end of this blog.

I called Hagnyono last night, the first time I’ve really talked with him since we fled Bali in 2007. Anyone who has read Eleven Demons will recognize Nyono as the police detective who—to the increasingly obvious displeasure of some of his superiors—led the investigation into Made’s fraudulent marriage documents.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from my call because I’m used to people avoiding me now, especially bules, but Indonesians too, afraid to talk to me on the phone even from half-way around the globe lest it bring difficulties from powerful persons in Bali. I tried calling Nyono twice about six months ago, but on the first call the connection was bad and he couldn’t hear me—maybe—or maybe he just didn’t want to talk to me, I wasn’t sure. And on my second call the following week, Nyono whispered that he was in the midst of a seminar and he hung up.

Last night I tried again. Eleven Demons will be published in a few weeks, and I had good memories of Nyono; I felt I should warn him before he suddenly discovered from news reports that he was a character in a book.

But he was clearly as pleased to talk to me again as I was to him. We spent some minutes exchanging news about our lives and families. And then “About the case…” I said.

“You know, what could I do…”

“Don’t wory about it,” I said. “I always knew.”

“I’m not even on it any more.”

“Yah. They took it away from you. And it’s closed anyway. I know you did all you could at the time. And even then I could see they were causing you problems. It’s all in the book, Wayan Karta, Director Suharya. I hope it doesn’t cause you career problems. But if there’s any value in being known as an honest cop someday, maybe it will even help you.”

He laughed, sounding not too sure.

“I didn’t know how it worked at the time,” I said. “And you didn’t tell me.”

“I couldn’t,”

“I know.”

“It’s something I really want to do. My job. It’s something I really care about.”

“I could tell. And I think anyone who reads the book will see that.”

We talked a while longer, and then just before I was ready to go, he stopped me.

“One thing most important, Michael,” he said. “I always believe. The rewards of good and evil are always there, they are always repaid.”

“Yes, I believe that,” I said. “Karmapala, in Bali.”

“You must never forget to pray. Often. It’s important, to you, and to your family.”

He had said that to me many times before. A memory came back to me, a good memory of the first time Nyono visited my home during the investigation in 2006. We had been several weeks already at the police headquarters at Polda Bali, going over the documents and the events of the case, but then Nyono wanted to come to Sanur to gather more details and interview several witnesses.

His assistant Nyoman Sarka was there, also Maharidzal and Mangasi, and Made Artini and Pak Kumbung, all gathered around the big teak desk in my office. And in the midst of a sentence from Made Artini as she explained events of 1994, Nyono held up his hand and stopped her.

“Sholat,” he said.

I was already used to him stopping our discussions in the Polda office while he disappeared for half an hour. Now was time again, precisely, and everything else must stop.

He quickly sent Made Artini and me off to find him a rug, and from the several possibilities we brought back, including an inflatable mattress and a small area rug, he chose a large, clean beach towel.

“Come, we go upstairs,” he gestured to me.

“I’m not Muslim…” I told him. “Actually, I’m Hindu.”

“I know that. I know your whole history. But it’s the same God, isn’t it? I call him Allah.”

"Same God,” I agreed.

“Do you pray often?”

“Often. Made Artini makes me.”

“Come on.”

Upstairs was a large empty room, an office space I had not yet needed and had never furnished.

“Which way is khiblat?” he asked. “West, towards Meccah?”

“There,” I pointed. “Kauh. But I face kangin, east, towards Gungung Agung.”

“Yah.”

Nyono lay out his carpet facing west, and stood at the east end of it. Made Artini brought me several sticks of incense and a banten basket and returned downstairs. I sat beside him, cross-legged, the incense and banten on the ground before me.

Nyono dropped to his knees, facing Meccah, and then fell to his hands and brought his forehead to the ground. Beside him, I took several flower petals in my fingertips, cupped my hands in the smoke of the incense, and raised my hands to my forehead towards Gunung Agung in the east.

If I had ever had any doubts about Nyono’s sincerity in investigating the case, they were gone forever from that moment.

I haven't seen it myself, but several friends from Bali reported to me yesterday that articles about Eleven Demons appeared yesterday in newspaper Radar Bali as excerpts, in what the newspaper says is the start of a continuing series.

They apparently changed the names of the characters - Made Jati was renamed Ketut; I'm not sure why they did that and I'm not happy about it, but there is probably little I can do. And I'm not even going to begin to question copyright issues yet...

But of course one reason I wrote Eleven Demons is simply to get the story out, it's an important story, and the newspapers are a great start. If anyone can scan the articles, I'd love to see them.

After three months of supervision at Polda Bali by Kapolda Totoy Herawan, according to reports from Wasidik Chief Investigator Toha, Wasidik coordinator Bambang, and Bareskrim Investigator Benny Ganda, the Wasidik investigations team is ready. They now await only the final order, now on the desk of Kabareskrim Jend. Sutarman, before they depart for Denpasar. Kabareskrim Sutarman's signature is expected shortly.

After a long delay in the Denpasar investigations, my attorney, Maharidzal S.H., has received several insistent invitations extended by Pak Rindoko of the Congressional Commission "III" on Corruption (DPR Komisi III), and Pak Jusuf of the Anti-Law Mafia Task Force (Satgas Pemberantasan Mafia Hukum) to visit their commissions and present evidence in the Uluwatu cases.

When Pak Mahridzal questioned them by phone about how they had heard of the cases, neither was willing to say, telling him only that they had been informed by reliable sources that they needed to look into apparently serious and expanding allegations involving possible police corruption.

Both men emphasized that they hoped for complete reports at Pak Maharidzal's earliest opportunity.

Despite earlier plans for a quick investigation and "gelar" concerning the suspected "Mafia of the Gods" at Polda Bali, the Head of the Criminal Investigations Division of the Nasional Police, Jakarta, Bapak Jenderal Sutarman (Kabareskrim) has now decided on a more thorough investigation, according to both Benny Ganda of Bareskrim and Bambang of Wasidik.

According to Pak Benny, Jend. Sutarman has taken a direct interest in the case and has issued an express assignment to the new Head of Bali Police (Kapolda Bali) Totoy Herawan to "supervise" the collection of information about the six Uluwatu cases, in preparation for investigation and gelar.

Also according to Pak Benny, several copies of the "Eleven Demons" book are already floating around National Police Headquarters (Mabes Polri) and causing a sensation - making people "hot," as Benny put it - many apparently reacting in anger and a few in panic. The book has reportedly reached Jend. Sutarman.

In a second visit to Jakarta in July, Sean and Michael again met with Pak Arist at the KNPA. No one was surprised when Made Jati once again refused an invitation to Jakarta to meet her son.

Michael then met Internal Affairs (Wasidik) investigators at the National Police.

A team headed by Pak Toha of Wasidik confirmed that investigation of the Bali police (Polda Bali) was well under way, that the files from the six cases in question had already been pulled by Wasidik and were under inspection in Jakarta, and that a preliminary investigation of events leading up to the closure of the six case was under preparation. A complete team would soon be formed to travel to Depasar for direct examination of officials involved.

A department spokesman then invited my attorney, Pak Maharidzal, and me to attend the Internal Affairs board meeting ("Gelar") which would be scheduled for late July or early August, where I would have the opportunity to present my evidence in the cases in detail.

Chairman Arist Merdeka Surait called a press conference at the KNPA offices on 19 May 2011. Sean and Brenden presented a statement to the press.

That still does not answer why she would not travel from Bali to Jakarta to meet with her children.

She didn't send any explanation to me or Sean or Brenden.

In her reply to the request for division of assets 50 / 50 as per Indonesian law, which Made Jati has refused, she also stated (as explaination why she should not be required to help pay support to her children in America):

Her position is, apparently, that she owned everything in Bali and I was only a kept husband, that as long as the children are in America they are not her problem, and that only if the children come to her in Bali will she acknowlege any responsibility for them.

Indeed, Sean has repeatedly asked her for help with his college tuition, but after a single short reply in April that she would "think about it," she refused to answer him again.

Made Jati's many supporters must have some reasonable explanation of why she has consistently refused to meet with her children or me in front of witnesses either in California or in Jakarta. Made won't talk to the children or me directly, so please, anyone... Angels you know who you are: Jean Lane, Nigel Mason, Collette Hunt, Mark Keatinge and others... if you would write up Made's explanation and send it to me I will be glad to post it here on this website!

With Made Jati's persistent refusals to come to Jakarta in response to a KNPA summons, Pak Arist of the KNPA recommended and arranged an opportunity for Sean and Brenden to report their mother to the National Police in Jakarta.

Investigator Benny Ganda S. led the meeting, in which he and his staff appeared clearly dismayed not only at the actions of Made Jati and her family, but even more so at the actions of the Bali police and others who failed to investigate earlier complaints.

Pak Benny refused to receive a formal report, however, pending a review of the six existing police reports in Bali. I pointed out that a report from Sean and Brenden, despite the mishandling of my previous reports, was an entirely new report, that any person has the right to file a report to the police, and that for them to return to Jakarta some months in the future to make a report after the police review was finished would be an unreasonable hardship.

Pak Benny agreed. He pointed out, however, that the nature and extent of the suspected fraud, the large number of persons involved, the suspected backing of a "Law Mafia," and the international repercussions, classified the report as a "major crime" which needed to be taken out of the hands of the Bali police and handled from Jakarta. Should formal reports from Sean and Brenden later prove necessary, he said, an investigator from Jakarta could fly to Los Angeles to conduct interviews with them directly.

The extensive reports already in the hands of the Bali police appeared to be sufficient for any competent investigator to determine that crimes had been committed, he pointed out. It would be better to reactivate those reports, several of which appeared to be complete, than to begin entirely fresh.

Furthermore, he said, the National Police were not now concerned only with Made Jati and her supporters, but with the apparent "Law Mafia" in the Bali police. This was not a simple criminal investigation, but would become an investigation of collusion and possible corruption in the Bali legal system. For that reason, formal procedures and the involvement of Internal Affairs (Wasidik) would be essential.

Despite Made Jati's failure to honor her previous agreement with Pak Arist of the KNPA or to begin payment of child support, Michael, Sean, and Brenden flew to Jakarta 16 May 2011 with hopes that Made Jati would agree to meet Sean and Brenden so that they could appeal directly to their mother to discuss settlement of the family's problems. KNPA issued another invitation to Made Jati requesting she come to Jakarta to meet her children.

Unfortunately, Made Jati refused with the excuse that cases regarding Sean dan Brenden were "pending." Already six times Made Jati has refused requests from the KNPA for meetings in Jakarta.

No cases are pending in California nor in Indonesia in connection with Sean and Brenden. All the cases in California have ended with a permanent decision. Only one case is ongoing or "pending" at this moment - the case for settlement of family assets at the Mahkamah Agung - but this has nothing to do with the children.

With the decision of Judge Susan Lopez-Giss today, the California cases are over, at least for the moment.

Back in 2010, Made’s new attorney, Mr Salgado, entered a motion to cancel the 2009 court ruling about custody and child support, because, Mr Salgado claimed, the California court had no jurisdiction over Made Jati, who is a foreign citizen, or the children who were legally resident in Indonesia.

A hearing on Salgado’s motion last February was continued because of confusion over whether Made Jati had agreed to mediation. The night before that hearing I was informed by Mr Arist of the National Child Protection Agency that Made had agreed to mediation about child support, yet when I brought this up to the court, Mr Salgado replied that he had just talked to Made hours earlier and she had said nothing about a settlement. The hearing was continued until the issue could be cleared up.

Today, because Made has rejected any further discussions about mediation or settlement, the hearing today proceeded on Mr Salgado’s motion to dismiss based on lack of jurisdiction.

The court has already made clear in several rulings that California jurisdiction was established by Made herself in 2008 when she brought the original petition for custody, as well as by several other actions in which Made acknowledged jurisdiction and the children's legal residence in California. Continuing to enter motions already denied only prolongs the case and the expenses and stress to the children.

Mr Salgado began by explaining the concepts behind subject matter and personal jurisdiction, but the judge cut him off after nearly a minute, saying that she was entirely familiar with the concepts of jurisdiction, but how did Mr Salgado think it applied in this case?

“Because there was already a case in action in Indonesia at the time this case was filed here in this court, and the children were under court orders for custody in Indonesia.”

“I have no evidence of that, Mr Salgado.”

“May I make a comment, Your Honor?” asked Tom Kendall. “There was no ongoing case in Indonesia at the time and no one has ever asserted there was. The Petitioner herself stated to the court there was no ongoing case regarding custody.

Mr Salgado continued insisting there was a custody case in Indonesia and went on at considerable length, attempting repeatedly to lecture the judge on the concepts of subject matter jurisdiction.

The judge appeared to be growing impatient with Mr Salgado as he continued to speak in generalities without explaining what it had to do with this case, and she finally stopped him again with “So what, Mr Salgado?”

“There was an ongoing case for custody in Indonesia at the time, and he brought those children to this country illegally."

“Where is your proof of that?"

"It’s in the records, in my motion."

"I’ve read your motion and I don’t find that anywhere. Show me, do you have something to show me?"

Salgado paused, opened and shut his mouth without saying anything, then finally said "No."

"Did you bring anything today?"

"It’s right there in the records."

"Mr Salgado, I know the records from the beginning to the end of this case and I am unaware of anything supporting what you are telling me."

"It’s right there."

"Where? You brought nothing to court today? Where are your files? Is that it?"

"No."

"Where are they, Mr Salgado?... Do you have anything to show me?"

Mr Salgado stared at the judge, fidgeting uncomfortably.

"Let the court record show that Mr Salgado is sitting here with only a daily schedule book in front of him."

"This issue has been thoroughly discussed and argued in the record, Your Honor,” said Tom.

"Well, he brought those children to this country illegally,” said Salgado.

"That is hearsay, Mr Salgado. There is nothing, you have no evidence. The Petitioner had every opportunity to present evidence and to testify, and she fled these court orders. I have absolutely nothing to support anything you are saying. All you are doing is sitting there arguing with me without one shred of proof or evidence."

“This was not the children’s country of residence..."

"I have the Petitioner’s declaration to this court, sworn under oath of perjury by the Petitioner herself: ‘That there are no orders or ongoing motions pertaining to child custody in Indonesia, and that the children are legally resident in California.’ The Petitioner herself stipulated to that in this court.”

"Well there was an ongoing case” Salgado tried again.

"She brought the motion herself in this matter, she is the Petitioner and she submitted herself under oath to the jurisdiction of this court. Then she fled California after resisting multiple attempts to take testimony from her, as near as I can tell because she didn’t want anyone knowing about her assets, and she has made no effort at all to return or recontact her children, despite repeated court orders to do so. And then she, with her previous attorney before she withdrew from the case, tried to get this case dismissed, never mind that the Respondent here had already entered responsive motions for relief. So I find no basis or evidence whatsoever for your motion, Mr Salgado."

Mr Salgado continued to huff that he would appeal the ruling, and Judge Lopez-Giss told him he was free to do as he wished.

And with that, this case in the California Superior Court Pomona came to an end.

So… was there a legal strategy behind Made Jati’s and Salgado’s motions? I can only guess:

• For Made Jati, she is apparently trying to confuse the Indonesian authorities. In the Indonesian court system, decisions are not final during appeals to the High Court or the Mahkamah Agung. In Indonesia, Made has apparently told people that the decision of the California Superior Court in 2009 regarding custody and child support is not final because it is under appeal.

• This is not true, however. Under the U.S. legal system, the decision of the Superior Court is final and enforceable immediately. Anyone has a right to appeal, but the appeal does not affect the execution of the Superior Court decision. Financial orders or prison sentences are effective with the decision. It is true that Made could ask for a stay of enforcement on the child support, but to do so she would have to post a bond for the outstanding amount of child support. At the moment, she owes, per the final California court order, nearly USD 600,000. Since she has not posted a bond for this amount, she is delinquent and may face criminal charges for failure to pay child support and for contempt of court should she return to California, and penalties and interest of the failure to pay continue to accrue at the rate of USD 143.00 per day.

• Mr Salgado is a lawyer, he works for pay, it's his job and nothing wrong with that. It may not matter to him whether he has any justification under law if Made has ordered him to cause maximum delays in ending the case. His failure to bring any documents to today’s hearing seems to indicate that he is every bit as aware as Judge Lopez-Giss that he has no case. But as long as Made Jati is willing to pay him, why not go through the motions? It was probably embarassing for him, but I expect he was well paid. His performance today earns him an honored place in the Pantheon of legal minds behind Made Jati: Ida Bagus Wikantara, Julie Duncan, and now Jose Luis Salgado.

Because Made Jati repeatedly failed to comply with KNPA summons to appear in Jakarta, Pak Arist Sirait of the KNPA flew to Bali on 17 February to find her. In a meeting with Made Jati and Ida Bagus Wikantara on 18 February in a restaurant, according to Pak Arist, Made Jati cried because she missed her children and said that she greatly wished to see them, and she agreed to comply with the California court orders and provide child support to her children.

In a phone conversation with me after the meeting, Pak Arist stated that he had confirmed an agreement with Made Jati, and I confirmed with Pak Arist that if Made Jati proved her good intentions by making the support payments, I would bring the children to Jakarta where Made could meet with them under the supervision of the KNPA and we could discuss settlement of our family's future.

Coincidently, the following day was a scheduled hearing in California on a motion brought by Made to cancel the California court decision based on California's lack of jurisdiction over a citizen of Indonesia.

In the hearing, my attorney Mr Thomas Kendall gave the judge the welcome news that a settlement had been reached. However Made's attorney, Mr Luis Salgado, then told the court that he had talked to Made Jati only a few hours earlier, after her meeting with Pak Arist, and Made Jati had said nothing about any settlement. The judge continued the hearing to 29 April to provide time to clear up the issue.

This case has come to the attention of the National Commission for Child Protection - Komnas Perlindungan Anak or KNPA -

Although Made Jati made it clear in her Reply to the Accusation for Division of Family Assets (see Documents, Summary I pp 229 - 234) that she feels no responsibility for the welfare or support of her children, the General Chairman on the KNPA, Mr Arist Merdeka Sirait, does not necessarily agree. Pak Arist issued several invitations to Made Jati, giving her an opportunity to come to Jakarta and explain her position to the KNPA (KNPA Summons). Made was unable to attend the first invitation, then attended on 31 January accompanied by her good friend Jean Lane (see Angels). On 2 February she excused herself from attending as scheduled because of Imlek. Pak Arist invited her to return on 9 February, but only her lawyer I B Wikantara arrived in Jakarta, explaining to Pak Arist that Made Jati had purchased an air ticket but was gravely ill and could not make the journey.

Wikantara did not explain the nature of Made's illness. She has frequently experienced similar illnesses which prevented other important meetings, including a protracted period of illness over twelve days in August 2007 when she was unable to meet with Michael to discuss the death threat to their children (see Eleven Demons, Chapter 24), Since June 2008 an excuse of "illness" has also prevented her traveling to California to meet her children as per orders of the California court.

Except they didn't actually investigate the charges reported. Did they lose the original report after 3 1/2 years? Because their conclusions have nothing at all to do with my original report.

It appears that their report now of "Investigation Completed" is probably only a hurried response to the publication of this website two months ago in which I complained that my report was dropped in 2007 without investigation.

Last night I phoned Wayan Sukarta, timing for the beginning of the day shift, eight o’clock in the morning Bali time, at the Poltabes number noted on the police summons.

My first call rang unanswered. A few minutes later I tried again, and someone picked up on the ninth ring and grunted “Yeah?” Clearly the investigators at Poltabes don’t like to give anything away.

From the noises in the background I guessed that the office staff were just settling into their desks and sipping their first coffees.

I said I would like to speak to Wayan Sukarta.

Whoever was on the other end replied “who’s calling?”

“Are you Wayan Sukarta?” I asked

“Who is this?”

“I am someone calling to speak to Wayan Sukarta.”

“Who are you?”

“Why don’t you find Wayan Sukarta, and then I will tell Wayan who I am.”

I wasn’t trying to be obstinate. I have had enough experiences by now, not only with Made Jati, Ida Bagus Wikantara, and Jean Lane but also with police investigators and prosecutors and immigration officials who refuse to talk to me. When they hear my name they hang up the phone and instruct their staff to say they are out if I call back.

So I at least wanted to confirm I actually had Wayan Sukarta on the line before I gave my name. And eventually, after about three minutes of jousting, and after I hung up and called again, we made a breakthrough in communications: Wayan admitted that it was indeed himself on the line, and I identified myself.

Now despite my suspicions about a police mafia in Bali, I don’t necessarily suspect Wayan of being involved – not knowingly, anyway. I’ve met him several times. When he started handling Made Jati’s complaints in 2006 – and the current “unpleasantness” complaint is actually a complaint Made originally filed in April 2007 – I arranged to meet Wayan privately so we could check each other out before I considered answering a police summons at Poltabes.

I expect Wayan also felt nothing lost by a first private meeting. Police are always investigating anyway, no matter what they may say about a “private conversation.” With the police there is really no such thing as private. Unless you are bribing them, I suppose.

But I was curious then, in 2006, whether Wayan was one of Made’s minions, or whether he really thought he was doing a police job.

We met at the Sektor Restaurant in Sanur. Wayan turned out to be a good-looking and earnest young man in his twenties, and Made Jati’s complaint was his first case on his own as an investigator. I made an immediate assumption: someone at Poltabes had assigned the Made Jati case to the green kid who wouldn’t recognize what he had been thrown into and could be relied on to take instructions from superiors without too many questions asked.

We talked at Sektor for a couple of hours, but I never did go to Poltabes in 2006. I will make another assumption: whoever was in charge didn’t really want me at Poltabes anyway, because the report on Section 335 would be almost impossible to prove, and my testimony to the police would be likely to incriminate Made Jati, and the entire point of the investigation was to scare me out of Bali.

Of course, Wayan didn’t know this. He was just doing his job. But for some reason his office didn’t issue a summons for the next few months. And then in August 2007 I received the death threat, which proved more efficient at driving me out of Bali than a criminal accusation on Section 335.

So I didn’t have any personal enmity with Wayan Sukarta. But he didn’t want to talk on the phone.

“Just come in to Poltabes,” he said.

“I am in California, Wayan. I’m not going to do that. But there is something I need to tell you. According to California law, I need to inform you that I am recording this conversation.”

“What? Why?” He was startled.

“California law. I need to inform you. Who knows where this case might go, when it might be useful? Sometimes one case leads to another, right?”

“Just come to Poltabes,” he hedged.

“No, let’s just talk now, okay, Wayan?”

He didn’t answer.

“Look,” I said, “we can help each other out here. You want to handle this case, and there are things I want to handle, too. You get information you need and I get information I need. No harm done, right?”

“No, you need to come here,” he said.

“Are you refusing to talk to me, Wayan? Remember, you are the police, I am the suspect here. This is very strange if the police refuse to talk to the suspect. Don’t you think that looks strange?”

“Yeah…”

“So let’s talk, okay?”

“Yeah, okay.”

“So tell me. This case is over four years old. Why after all this time did you just two weeks ago issue a summons for me and send it to my house in Sanur? Who told you to do that?”

He hummed around, explained that he was the investigator, investigators always send summons but they couldn’t do it before because I wasn’t in Bali.

“But I’m not in Bali now, Wayan. Who told you I would come to Bali and told you to send the summons?”

“Um… we always do that.”

“No, Wayan. Why now? Who told you I would be in Bali?”

“The complainant.”

“The complainant. You mean Made Jati?”

“Yeah, Made Jati.”

I knew she had. I just wanted to hear Wayan confirm it. In the California Court hearing on 1 July I had told the court that I would be in Indonesia at the beginning of August. Made’s attorney would have told her. And she told Wayan, but not for the beginning of August when I said I would be there, but for a week earlier, the 26th of July.

There had been one police summons issued in August 2007. This summons was the second. Failure to answer two summonses allows the police to issue a third summons and place me under immediate arrest. She still refused to meet with me, but she was prepared for my arrival.

I wouldn’t have gone to Bali anyway, and then I decided to cancel the trip entirely as too risky. But either way, Made was covered; she would scare me away from Bali, or she could have me arrested if I did show up.

“Tell me about this Section 335 of the Criminal Code, Wayan,” I asked.

He began to explain, reciting from the statute, but I broke in.

“Is this the same Section 335 that I read about in the newspaper the other day?” and I quoted to him from an article from the Tribune in Jakarta ”Attorney General Hendarman Supandji dismissed the use of two sections of the law code resorted to by former Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Mahendra … as ‘garbage law.’ Said Hendarman ‘… I must say, this is a ‘grumbling’ section, a garbage section. If you are desperate and can't think of anything else, give it Section 335.”

“So is that what you are investigating, Wayan? What the Attorney General calls garbage law?”

“He,he… yeah. Well, it’s still a law on the books, you know.”

“Yeah, I know. Usually used to shut up little people who complain, right? Like the Prita case? Or Khoe Seng Seng?”

“Maybe. But it’s still a law. It’s been reported so I have to investigate it.”

“So let’s start at the basics, then. This ‘unpleasantness,’ if whatever is said is true, is it still a crime?”

“No, not if it’s true. No crime then.”

“So what does Made Jati allege the crime to be?”

“Because of the Uluwatu website. You said…” and here he read to me in English the statement from the website in 2005 “Uluwatu may soon be in difficulties, but the management and creative staff has moved to a new company Kayun…”

I could tell from his reading that he probably didn’t understand the meaning.

“Do you have a good translation of that, Wayan? Into Indonesian? Let me tell you what that says. ‘Maybe’ in trouble. I didn’t say Uluwatu was in trouble, only a possibility in the future. And the creative and management staff that moved to Kayun was me. Nothing untrue there, is there?”

“No, maybe not. But she also doesn’t like you telling all your family things on the internet.”

“Well you know what? Too bad. I don’t like it either. I don't like what she did to our family. I'm sure she doesn't like people finding out about it. And I don’t like her making this complaint. But putting this on a website, which by the way I own and is based in California, is not against the law.”

“No,” he said.

“And have you looked into who owns Uluwatu?”

“Bu Made says she does.”

“The Supreme Court doesn’t agree with her. According to Indonesian law and the Supreme Court, Made Jati and I own Uluwatu together. It is a family asset, husband and wife.”

Wayan was silent for a while, then said “I will have to study this.”

“What do you really know about Made Jati?” I asked. “Do you know about the double identity in Tabanan? The Supreme Court decision that she acquired marriage documents contrary to law? The California Court decision that she abandoned her children?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“I've reported six cases all throughout Bali and all six have been dropped without reason or without investigation. The only case still active is this case you're handling at Poltabes. Why are you so hard working, Wayan?”

“I just have to do my job.”

“You don’t know anything about the dropped police cases? When was the last time you looked at the Uluwatu website?”

“A long time. 2007, I guess.”

“What do you know about a Law Mafia behind all this?”

“I don’t know anything.”

I believed him.

“Well, when we hang up here today, I would like you to check the website again. But I am going to tell you now what it says…”

And I did. For the next fifty minutes.

I like Wayan. I think he is sincere and trying to do the right thing. But then I am a notoriously poor judge of character and I don’t entirely trust my instincts anymore. After all, I married Made Jati. But I still like Wayan.

“Remember a few years ago when you were mixed up in that Kori embezzlement report from Made Jati about Gary Hewson?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“I called your boss, Pak Gede Alit Widana. I think I may have got his handphone number from you, remember? I talked to him several times and gave him all this information. And I told him then that I didn’t want anything from him. I wasn’t asking for an investigation. But I wanted him to know what was going on because I didn’t think he knew. Someone at Poltabes was behind some bad business, and all I wanted him to do was look into it and stop it so that something unfortunate didn’t happened at Poltabes. Did he ever talk to you?”

“No, he never talked to me!” Wayan sounded startled. But I knew the chief of police would never have talked to someone on Wayan’s level anyway. He would have dealt with whoever was behind this on the upper levels.

“And then Pak Gede is suddenly transferred to Sulawesi, and a couple of months later all this starts up again.”

“I don’t know anything about that.”

“I know. But I am telling you all this now for the same reason I told Pak Gede. So you don’t get stuck in the middle of someone else’s problem. Because you could end up looking like the bad guy. And because this isn’t going to end. I was once in Bali where people could get to me. I was chased away with a death threat. Now I am in L.A., harder to get to. I’ve reported to the FBI. And I’m not coming back to Bali without protection. Because you know what could happen if I do come to Bali, right Wayan?”

“Yeah, I know…”

I could be arrested, and put in a cell, and in the morning it would be reported that the bule had committed suicide in the night. Stabbed himself in the back fifteen times, something like that.”

Wayan laughed a little.

“Is that something that could happen, Wayan? “

“Yeah, that could happen, Pak.”

“But what we can do is this. If you want to continue this investigation, I will help you. I will give you testimony, but not in Bali. According to the Procedure Code, you as the investigator can interview the Complainant and the Suspect at the same time, I forgot the term…”

“Konfrontir.”

“Yeah, konfrontir.” From the English. “You summon Made Jati, and I will join in on a conference video call from California. I can even do it from the Indonesia Consulate in Los Angeles so more official. And we konfrontir and get this over with. Agree?”

“Agree, Pak.”