Chapter twenty-two
Later that evening, in my apartment, I was surprised when I answered the doorbell to see Dr Lee standing there, clutching a large briefcase.
‘I remember your asking me to look you up when I was in Seoul’, he said with a genial smile. ‘I thought I’d take you up on it. I hope you don’t mind me dropping in on you like this’.
‘Not at all’, I replied. ‘Delighted to see you’.
‘I was on my way to Seoul National University Hospital’, explained Lee. ‘I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone’.
He took a business envelope from his inside pocket. ‘I was in the Dokgo hotel at Sinjang-ri yesterday, and Kwon Oh-young happened to mention that a letter had arrived for you from Seoul. He was going to send it on, but as I was coming to town I thought I might as well deliver it to you in person’.
‘That was very kind of you, Doctor’, I said.
Lee handed me the letter. I recognised the writing on the envelope as Park’s. It was only a brief note, very much to the point:
For the last time, stop chasing after me. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll forget I ever existed.
I put the letter back into the envelope and looked up at Lee. ‘It’s from that friend of mine’, I told him. ‘Park Song-yong’.
‘You mean the man you were supposed to meet at Sinjang-ri?’
I nodded. ‘But I can’t imagine why he wrote to me at the Dokgo hotel; he’s got my address’. I put the letter in my pocket. ‘What brings you to SNU Hospital, Doctor? Or is that a professional secret?’
‘Not at all’, said Lee. ‘Min-joon – that’s my brother-in-law – was in a motor accident earlier today. He got away with a broken leg, but I promised my sister that I’d look in and make sure
that they were taking good care of him’. ‘Where was the accident?’ I asked.
‘In Tongil-ro, actually. Why d’you ask?’
‘Well, it’s just a coincidence, I suppose, but a friend of mine was involved in a car smash today’.
‘I’m sorry to hear that’, said Lee. ‘Was he badly hurt?’
‘It was a woman called Choi Ji-hye. She’s still on the danger list’.
‘I say, that’s bad’, said Lee sympathetically. ‘How did the accident happen?’
‘I really don’t know’, I replied. ‘I travelled to the hospital with her in the ambulance. As a matter of fact, she’s only a casual acquaintance. I happened to find her spectacles one day and returned them to her’.
‘Well’, said Lee, ‘I hope she makes a quick recovery’. ‘I hope your brother-in-law does the same’.
Lee smiled. ‘Min-joon? Oh, he’ll be all right – constitution like an ox. All the same, I’d better go round and see what they’re doing to him, just to keep my sister happy’.
He refused my offer of refreshment and said he must be going.
I accompanied him into the hall. ‘Well, many thanks for bringing that letter along’, I said. He smiled. ‘No trouble at all, my friend.
When Lee had gone I read Park’s letter again, and decided that there was only one course of action.
I had to see Na immediately.
My interview with Na was disappointing in one way, but strangely gratifying in another. He said somewhat frostily: ‘I’ve given you a job to do, Moon – find Park Song-yong. Well, get on with it’.
I felt slightly foolish.
He leaned forward and I saw that a cold little smile was playing about his lips. He said: ‘Are you trying to tell me the job is a bit too tough for you?’
‘I didn’t say that’, I said, somewhat nettled. ‘As a matter-of-fact, I think I’m really getting somewhere at last’.
Na was still wearing his cold little smile. He leaned back in his chair, placed the tips of his fingers together, and said: ‘Where?’
I felt rather like a small boy before his headmaster. Then I saw that Na was no longer smiling. He said: ‘Listen to me, Moon. I’ve got a lot of experienced people working for me – people I never have to check on. I don’t ask them for progress reports; as a general rule I don’t want to see them until the job they are doing is satisfactorily completed. Others are younger and less experienced and I have to keep an eye on them in case they do something damned stupid’. He surprised me by adding: ‘You’re in the first category, Moon’.
I suddenly felt ridiculously elated. ‘I’m glad to hear it’, I said.
‘If you want anything from my department, then ask for it. You’re strictly on your own on this job – at the moment’, Na said.
‘Right, First of all, I want some information about a woman called Ma Park. She keeps a transport cafe off the Seouloegwaksunhwan expressway’.
Na scribbled a note on the pad in front of him. ‘D’you want to know anything particular about her?’
‘I’d like to know a little about her background’. ‘Right’, said Na. ‘Anything else?’
‘One more thing’, I said. ‘Can you find out if a man was involved in a motor crash in Tongil-ro yesterday and taken to SNU Hospital? The man’s name is Min-joon but that’s all I know about him’.
‘I’ll see to it’, said Na. ‘When I’ve got this information we’ll meet somewhere’.