Chapter Thirty-two
I stepped back a pace, my hand on the catch.
'Good evening, sir. Is it convenient for me to come in?' Lee said, one eyebrow raised in a sort of amused quirk.
'Of course', I said shortly. 'Why shouldn't it be?'
He came in, taking off his hat. 'I thought perhaps, sir, you might have a visitor already'.
'This isn't my night for feminine company'. I grinned at him. 'Pity she had to miss dinner at the Cate Paris. It was excellent. How was the food at Park's, Inspector?'
'I can recommend the soups, sir', he replied imperturbably.
'Sorry I had to keep you waiting so long', I said. 'Why didn't you come straight here, instead of playing cops and robbers? Rather melodramatic, following me like that, wasn't it?'
'I didn't want to miss you, Mr Moon. You might have had another appointment'.
'Well, I hadn't. And what made you trail Miss Kim to Cate Paris?'
'Routine, sir. A body was found in her apartment in unexplained circumstances; checking on her movements is all part of our routine inquiries'.
'You mean you hope she might lead you to the murderer? Somewhat naive, isn't it, Inspector?'
'To think that the murderer may have been a friend of hers, Mr Moon?' He gave me a derisive glance. 'How would he have got into Miss Kim's apartment if she hadn't known him?'
'By the balcony, I said simply. 'I remember you taking a look at it the morning of the murder'.He smiled thinly. 'Yes. As a matter of fact, we finger-printed it'.
I tried to remember whether I'd touched the balustrade as I left the apartment. Lee's eyes were probing my face. To evade them I turned to the drinks table.
'What will you have, Inspector?'
'Not for me, thank you, Mr Moon'.
'Never drink on duty, eh, Inspector?'
'That's right, sir'. He twisted his hat round in his hands.
'Well, if you don't mind .?' I said, picking up my glass.
'There are one or two questions I'd like to clear up with you, Mr Moon'.
'Oh.' I said; then, with a laugh, which I hoped didn't sound as hollow to him as it did to me: 'Is it against the rules to sit down on duty?'
He sat down, and I straddled a high-backed chair, facing him. I had an idea that if the questions became awkward I could get up and pace the room without making it look too obvious.
'Well, what's the first question?' I said easily.
'It concerns your movements on the night of the murder, sir. I think I remember your saying you were unable to keep your appointment with Miss Kim'.
I nodded. 'I'd gone down to Daegu and couldn't get back in time'.
'I see'. He closed one eye speculatively. 'What was the purpose of your visit to Daegu, sir?'
I'd already planted a plausible story in Su-mi's mind. Now once again I went into my piece about my business troubles; having gone down to Daegu looking for a job; then ducking the issue.
'I know how you felt, sir'. He nodded sympathetically when I'd finished, then looked thoughtful. 'It makes it rather awkward though, Mr Moon'. He smiled bleakly. 'I mean, there's no one with whom we can check that you were in Daegu at seven-thirty on the night of the murder'.
'You think I'm lying?' I said heatedly.
His eyes travelled across my face almost abstractedly. Without any change of expression he murmured casually: 'You've never been in the diamond trade, have you, Mr Moon?'
'The diamond trade! Of course I haven't. I told you - I', an engineer'. I rose from the chair and began the room-pacing act. 'What's behind that question, Inspector?'
'Routine, sir', he replied coolly. 'I thought perhaps that might have been what brought you and Doyle together in Shanghai. A sort of common interest in diamonds'.
'Let's get this quite clear, Inspector', I said irritably. 'I met Doyle once. With Miss Kim. I can't even remember what we talked about - but it certainly wasn't diamonds'.
He flicked a non-existant speck of dust from his hat. 'Then it will come as a surprise to you to know that Doyle dealt in blood diamonds'.I tired to register the appropriate surprise. 'But it's unbelievable! He looked and behaved like any other American tourist'. I turned, and paced behind Lee's chair, trying to fathom what he was leading up to. At last I said: 'I'm afraid I'm not quite following the drift of all this, Inspector'.
'I was coming to that, sir. In view of what we now know about Doyle it is fairly certain that whoever murdered him was after the diamonds he was carrying'.
'You know that he was carrying diamonds at the time?' I asked innocently.
'He was in the habit of smuggling them into this country from North Korea. It's likely that he had some with him that evening'. Lee turned in his chair, facing me. 'Possibly they were hidden in that doll, Mr Moon'. I looked blank.
'Doll? What doll?'
'There was a doll in the room by the body. It was ripped open'.
I snapped my fingers. 'I remember now! He'd bought a souvenir doll in Shanghai'.
'That's the one, Mr Moon', Lee said, nodding. 'And you never saw it again after that meeting in Shanghai?'
'How could I? I never saw Doyle again'.
'You're positive about that, sir? You never saw him again, alive' - he paused heavily - 'or dead?'
'What the hell are you getting at?' I demanded furiously, coming round and glaring down at him.
'Your fingerprints, Mr Moon. We found them on the door of Miss Kim's living room'.
I laughed. 'Of course you did! I was in there the next day'. I finished my brandy.
'And, incidentally, Inspector, how do you know they were mine?'
He put a hand in his pocket. 'We checked from this, sir', he said slowly, holding out my telephone pad.
Staring at it, I said lamely: 'So you stole it that morning you were here?'
'I took the liberty, sir. Although "stole" is not the word. "Appropriated in the course of police inquiries" is a more accurate description'.
'Call it what you like!' I snapped. 'All right, you found the fingerprints I made the following day. What's the significance of that?'
'There wouldn't be any significance, sir', he said coldly, 'except that your fingerprints were among those we took on the night of the murder.' His eyes hardened. 'Would you care to explain how they got there, Mr Moon?'
My doorbell rang. It seemed that I was fated to be saved by the bell from answering awkward questions. Lee rose, with every intention, it appeared, of answering the door himself.
'Don't bother, Inspector', I said, crossing to the door. 'It may not be a man with a gun'.
It was I'm. Glimpsing Lee across my shoulder his face froze. 'If you're busy, Moon .'I almost dragged him in by the lapels. 'Inspector Lee was just leaving, weren't you, Inspector?' I said.
Somewhat reluctantly Lee moved to the door. 'Yes, sir. But I shall be wanting to talk to you again very shortly', he said curtly.
'I'll look forward to that', I replied. 'By the way, this is I'm Sun-taek . Inspector Lee Shi-hoo'.
For a second, as they nodded a greeting, I thought I caught a look of bewilderment flash across the Inspector's face when he heard the name. Then he was saying: 'Perhaps you'd telephone me, Mr Moon, should an explanation of the matter we've been discussing occur to you'.
'I'm sure there is one, Inspector'.
He smiled wryly. 'I hope so, sir. Good night'.
'Trouble?' inquiried I'm, when the Inspector had gone.
'Plenty. I left my fingerprints on the inside door of Kim Su-mi's flat'.
'What of it? He knows you've been there'.
'But not before the police found Doyle's body'.
'I still don't get it. How could he check that they were your fingerprints?'
He cocked his head at me. 'You haven't a police record, have you, old boy?'
'It seems I'm getting one. Lee helped himself to my telephone pad when he was here before'. I glanced over to where he had been sitting. 'And, damn him, he's gone off with it again!'
I'm whistled soundlessly. 'You've got yourself in a nasty jam, Moon. Why in hell weren't you more careful?'
'I didn't know I was going to find a body', I said testily. 'Anyway, what brings you here?'
I'm took a rolled sheet of paper from his inside pocket. 'I'd like you to take a look at this'.
When I'd unrolled it I saw that it was a flashlight photograph of a man's head, propped up on pillows. His eyes were closed and his mouth hung open. He was either dead, or very near it.
'Who is it?' I asked quietly.
'A man called Zhong. He's Chinese.
I looked, with some apprehension, more closely at the photograph, trying to associate the face with the smiling barrow boy. It was the shape of the head, the fair hair, and the prominent cheek bones which eventually convinced me. 'Yes, I recognise him. It's the man who gave me the tip from a barrow in World Cup Buk-ro'.
'That's where he was shot. In World Cup Buk-ro. While he was calling from his cell phone'.
'He was phoning my!' I said quickly. 'I knew something had happened to him at the time'. I glanced again at the photograph. 'But I didn't imagine it was anything like this'.'That photograph was taken in hospital twenty minutes ago. He hasn't recovered consciousness, and I doubt whether he ever will'. I'm tapped his chest, just above the heart. 'He was hit here'.
'Who shot him? Have they got the man?'
I'm shook his head. 'He was shot from a passing car; it got clear away'.
I handed the photograph back to I'm. 'How did you come by this?' I inquired.
'I'm still on this case, you know, Moon', he replied cagily. 'Tell me about this phone call'.
I did my best to recount every detail of the telephone call from Zhong.
'So he gave you a warning'. I'm smiled grimly. 'Ironic, isn't it, that a moment later it was he who was shot?'
'But why was he shot? And by whom?' My spine tingled as I realised these were questions to which we would have to find the answer very soon.
'Didn't he give you any clue as to his identity?'
'None. Though I had the impression that he could have been working for some department such as ours. He wasn't one of Na's men, was he?'
I'm shook his head. 'He could have been in the Chinese undercover police, possibly tracing North Korean diamonds. Equally, he could have been in the diamond smuggling game himself. I don't suppose Bae has cornered the entire market in stolen diamonds'.
I frowned. 'But why should Zhong warn me that I was in danger? And give me that tip?'
I'm shrugged. 'Maybe that was just to see what you'd do'.
Suddenly I remembered Zhong's reference to tea with Kim Su-mi. 'Here's a damned odd thing', I said. 'Zhong guessed I was having dinner with Su-mi tonight .'
'His guess seems to have been as good as mine', I'm murmured.
Ignoring this remark I went on: 'But the point is, when he heard we were dining at a restaurant and not at Su-mi's flat he said: 'Then you will be able to enjoy your tea with peace of mind''.
'M'm . Cryptic, to say the least'. I'm paused. 'Did you enjoy your tea?'
'Su-mi had to call the date off - for business reasons', I said. 'But she has asked my to go to her apartment tonight for tea'.
He grinned at me as he helped himself to a cigarette. 'As I said once before, you can take care of yourself, Moon. And, talking of that, what about this return visit to the antique importer?'
'That's already scheduled', I said carelessly. 'But I'll want one or two things from you first. Sit down, I'm, and I'll tell you what they are'.