Chapter Twenty-six
Half an hour later, sitting opposite Kim Su-mi in the bar at the Koreana Hotel, I again thought how incredible it was that so glamorous a personality should be engaged to a man like Yun. It had been her idea that we should meet for a quick drink and she'd sounded anxious on the telephone.
Lighting her cigarette, I said: 'A quick drink - that's all it ever is, eh, Su-mi?'
'I'm sorry, Han-sang'. I'mpulsively, her hand touched mine, then was as quickly withdrawn. 'But I have to meet So-ra in half an hour, I've been out of the shop since lunch'. Her face clouded. 'That's why I wanted t see you, Han-sang - about what happened this afternoon'.
I fingered the stem of my soju glass. 'Well .?'
'I went back to my apartment at lunch-time to change. I'd spilt some tea on the dress I was wearing. So I hurried into the apartment without paying much attention to anything. Then I noticed that some things weren't in their usual places, so I had a look over the entire apartment. It wasn't very obvious, but a drawer in a bureau wasn't quite closed; the kitchen door was open and I'm positive I closed it this morning .' her eyes held mine. 'Han-sang, somebody has been searching my apartment'.
'Was anything stolen?' I asked tentatively.
She shook her head. 'That's what puzzles me. There was some money in a drawer, and some jewellery on my dressing table. Oh, nothing very expensive, but a thief wouldn't have ignored it'.
'It sounds as though whoever got into your apartment was looking for something', I said slowly. 'Maybe letters, or a document of some kind - does that suggest anything to you?''But I haven't anything of that sort that could possibly _' She caught her breath. 'You mean anything that could be used to blackmail me?'
'Oh, now, just a minute, Su-mi', I said deprecatingly. 'I wasn't implying you had anything .'
'Of course you weren't, Han-sang', she said lightly. Then her expression changed; she said, with a frown, quite suddenly: 'Doyle was a blackmailer'.
I nearly snapped the stem of my glass in two. 'How do you know that?' I demanded.
'As soon as I was sure my apartment had been entered I thought I'd better telephone Inspector Lee Shi-hoo. He came round to the apartment, but he didn't seem particularly interested in what I had to tell him. Then, for some reason I can't fathom, he proceeded to tell me that Doyle was a blackmailer'.
I frowned. 'It's not like him to give information away'.
'He was watching me all the time in a shifty sort of way. I felt he was hinting at something connected with Doyle's blackmailing activities'. Her mouth trembled. 'I had a horrible feeling he was hinting that Doyle and I .' She hesitated.
'Were running a blackmail racket?' Laughing, I shook my head. 'Lee's like all policemen; they always try to push you on to the defensive. What else did he tell you?'
'Ask me, you mean', she said wearily. 'He wanted to know if Doyle actually smoked cigars'.
'Very pungent cigars, from what I remember of that evening at the Chinese Dragon', I said casually. Then suddenly the oddity of Lee's question hit me like the blast of a furnace. 'What was he getting at? Did he give you any clue?'
'He said they'd searched Doyle's room at his hotel. Apparently they found several boxes of cigars in his suitcase. Full boxes'. She shrugged. 'I can't think why he imagined it would interest me; but he seemed to expect me to collapse or something'.
'I think you are rather letting your imagination run away with you', I said, my mind busy with Lee's motives. 'Still, I'm glad you told me all this, Su-mi', I added. 'You know you can always unload your worries about this Doyle business onto me, don't you?'
'Yes', she said softly. Her eyes dropped to her glass and she hesitated, twirling it along the table.
'Go on .' I prompted. 'There's something on your mind'.
'Oh, well . I was just wondering why I didn't phone Hyeok when all this happened .'
'Well, why didn't you, Su-mi?'
'I don't know. I didn't think of it. I thought of you .' She raised her eyes to mine. 'I just picked up the phone and found myself calling your number'.
I could almost hear I'm laughing sardonically. 'Talking of Hyeok', I said, 'I met your fiance just before you telephoned. I gave him a lift to City Hall'.
'Oh, did you?' she said sharply. 'Where did you meet him?'
'At the corner of World Cup Buk-ro 48-gil.'I expect he'd been to the gallery. Thank heavens I wasn't there to listen to all the boring details of how the publicity over Doyle is ruining his business. He never thinks how harassed I am!'
I said casually: 'It seems Lee had been to see him, to question his about Bae'.
'I'm getting a bit tired of that name', she murmured.
'Yun said they'd questioned Kong So-ra about him', I went on, watching her closely. 'Has she ever mentioned the name to you?'
'Only when she was telling me that Lee Shi-hoo had been asking her is she knew him'. Her forehead furrowed. 'Han-sang, you don't think So-ra does know this man Bae?'
I smiled ironically. 'If she does, she's hardly likely to confide in me'.
She couldn't repress a little smile. 'It was silly of me to say that. But in this atmosphere of suspicion one begins to doubt even one's friends'. She slid a finger across the table towards me, then abruptly withdrew it. 'You're not suspicious of me, are you, Han-sang?'
'Of course not. Why should I be?'
She didn't answer, but glanced at her wristwatch. 'Now I really must go'. Gathering her gloves and handbag, she got up. 'I hate leaving you like this, but .'
I stood up. 'You can't manage dinner, later?'
'I'm afraid not. I'll be at So-ra's apartment until all hours'. She rested a hand on my arm. 'But if anything should occur to you about why my apartment was searched, ring me at So-ra's. You'll find her number in the book'.
I promised her I would, and accompanied her to the door.
She disappeared into the busy traffic of Seoul, and I returned to the bar.
I beckoned the waiter over, ordered another soju, and sat gathering my thoughts. It was when I took out my cigarette case again and was tapping on it reflectively that things suddenly began to add up. Su-mi's apartment must have been broken into by the same two men who had searched mine; they were obviously looking for what they'd failed to find in my apartment . Something that could have been hidden in a doll.
I was wearing the same suit that I'd worn on the night of the murder. I felt in the ticket pocket of my jacket, and my fingers found what they wanted . the key of Kim Su-mi's apartment .