Chapter Twelve
I stepped into the first doorway I could find, to telephone I'm Sun-taek on my cellphone.
After the preliminary greetings he asked suavely: 'Any news of the bewitching Kim Su-mi?'
'You remember I mentioned that a phone call came through for her whilst I was in the apartment last night, and I answered it?'
'It did crop up among the lurid details. You didn't get around to telling me what was said'.
'By me, nothing', I said, a trifle nettled by his bantering tone. 'It was from a woman who announced herself as So-ra. She went right on talking. So far as I can remember, she said, 'I was right, Su-mi. He's very curious about Bae . '
I'm cut in. 'What was that name again?'
'Bae Yeon-seok'. My hand tightened on the phone. 'Why did you ask me to repeat it?'
'I just didn't catch it at first', he said casually. 'Well, go on .'
'Well, So-ra turns out to be a Miss Kong - Kim Su-mi's partner in the art gallery'.
'Have you been to the gallery, then?'
'No, I went round to Su-mi's - Miss Kim's apartment this morning. Her fiance was there and he let the information out more or less incidentally'.
'So he's turned up!' I'm laughed. 'What's he like?'
'Rather like you, as a matter of fact, I'm. An absolute bastard!'I let him say his piece, then went on: 'While I was at Miss Kim's apartment a detective - Inspector Lee Shi-hoo - arrived. He'd already given me a grilling earlier this morning. He said he'd taken a diary from Doyle's pocket, which recorded several appointments with this man Bae. Lee threw the name at Miss Kim; she said it didn't mean a thing to her'.
'H'm .' I'm paused. 'You think she was lying?'
'I'm damned sure she was', I said acidly. 'When Kong So-ra phoned she obviously took it for granted that Miss Kim knew Bae - and the street name, too'.
'Street name? You didn't mention a street name before!' I'm said sharply.
'For the simple reason that I've forgotten the name of it', I said, frowning.
'World Cup something . It's right on the tip of my tongue .'
'Let me give you a tip, Moon. Always get a name down directly you hear it. On the back of an envelope - anywhere, but get it down'. Then he laughed apologetically. 'Sorry to sound off like a Sergeant-Major, but one of the first things you have to learn is never to rely on your memory. I'll see if we have a Bae Yeon-seok in our records. Don't forget to ring me if you remember that street name'.
There was a decent-looking pub a step or two from the doorway, so I parked my car there and treated myself to a bowl of bibimbap and a glass of soju. Then I drove back to my apartment, edging through a couple of yellows, more intent on recalling the street name than on my driving.