Chapter Seventeen
At six o'clock that evening I had a call from an agitated Yun Hyeok; he was anxious to know if I could meet him in half an hour in the upstairs bar at The Grasshopper. Remembering that I had an appointment with Su-mi at my apartment for seven-thirty I was about to make an excuse, then I had second thoughts. I decided not to risk my talk with Su-mi being interrupted by a jealous Yun banging on my door. So I agreed to meet him for a couple of quick drinks.
He was standing at the bar, fidgeting with a gin and lime, when I arrived.
'We'll have to make this snappy, Yun Hyeok', I warned him after he had ordered my soju, 'I've an appointment at seven-thirty'.
From behind the spectacles the pale blue eyes quizzed my face curiously. 'With Bar _' he began, then swiftly covered his lapse. '. With that bloody copper?'
I shook my head. 'What made you think that, Yun Hyeok?'
'Damned fellow's been hounding me. Had an hour of him at my office this afternoon'. He pursed his lips petulantly. 'Questioning me about Su-mi's relationship with this Doyle man'.
'But she's already told him that she hardly knew the man'. I said evasively.
It seemed I was to be subjected to the boredom of allaying the suspicions of a jealous fiance.
'Yes, I know. But for some reason or another this Inspector doesn't seem to believe anything he's told'. His prominent Adam's apple wobbled convulsively.
'Moon, you were with Su-mi when she met Doyle at the bar'.
'Yes', I said, trying to keep a note of exasperation out of my voice.The Adam's apple worked vigorously, then he rushed on: Did you get the impression that they might have met before?'
'Of course they'd seen each other before. They were staying at the samehotel'.
'Yes, I know. I didn't mean that'.
Without disguising my annoyance I said: 'What did you mean, Yun?'
He looked into his glass. 'Did you think when they were at the bar that they behaved - well, as though they were on particularly friendly terms?'
It was a question I'd asked myself at the time. 'No, I didn't', I said, wondering if this answer were not so much to reassure myself as Yun. 'But I'm not Miss Kim's fiancee, of course. You would have been a better judge of her reactions'.
'Now, don't get the wrong impression about Su-mi', he said hastily. 'Of course, I trust her. But it's this questioning by the police that's so upsetting'. He slammed his glass down on the bar counter. 'They've even questioned Kong So- ra!'
'Why?' I asked sharply.
'Lord knows!' he said gloomily. 'I haven't the slightest idea'.
Then why, I thought, did he offer me that piece of information? I decided to do some fishing myself. 'Does Miss Kong spend her holidays in Shanghai?'
'Good Lord, no! She can't stand the place. I remember her telling me .' He broke off, then said slowly; 'Why did you ask me that?'
I shrugged. 'I thought perhaps that was why the police had questioned her'.
'Ah, naturally you would. Very perspicacious of you'. He smiled thinly. 'No, So-ra loathes China. Frankly, I agree with her. Damn shit hole, if you ask me'. He picked up his glass and sipped his drink before going on: 'Why Su-mi should want to go there, after what happened a couple of months back, defeats me'.
I summoned up a polite show of interest. 'Something unpleasant?'
'Very', he said, his eyes never leaving my face. 'She ran over a man in Shanghai; a chap called Chang Chu-chu. He was killed, poor sod'.
'Good God! I exclaimed.
'Nasty business. Still, it wasn't her fault, apparently'. He glanced at his watch. 'Good heavens, is that the time?' He finished his drink hurriedly, 'Just remembered I have an appointment, Moon. Quite forgot it, chatting away here.
Mind if I dash? But, of course, you have an appointment, too'. With rather too elaborate casualness he added: 'If you're going anywhere in the direction of .'
'My car's outside', I cut in on him. 'Thanks, all the same'.
'Well, good-bye, Moon'. Without offering a hand he turned, then swung back. 'Oh - er - if you should run into Kim Su-mi at any time . I'd rather you didn't mention our conversation. I'd hate her to think I was checking up on her'.
I promised, with mental reservations, to keep everything under my hat, and with a 'That's a good chap' he moved over to the staircase.Dawdling over my drink, to give him time to drive off before I left, I considered our conversation. I had a feeling that it was not entirely jealousy that had prompted Yun to arrange our meeting. No doubt he was suspicious of Su-mi's relationship with Doyle. But was there more to it than that? He'd said two things that puzzled me. One was the reference to Kong So-ra having been questioned by the police. He'd brought that up, then dropped it immediately I began to get curious. The other was his telling me about Chang Chu-chu being run over by Su- mi's car. He'd been watching me closely when he mentioned it. He could, of course, have been pumping me to find out how friendly I was with Kim Su-mi. It could have been that, I decided, finishing my drink; and the reference to the questioning of Kong So-ra could have been no more that a jealous man's masochistic desire to torture himself over his fiance's friendship with another male. Dismissing Yun as a frustrated Romeo, I went down to my car, and drive back to my apartment.