Chapter twenty-three
Soon after I returned to my apartment that morning, Choi Kyung-lee called to see me. He looked tired, worried, and dishevelled, and was carrying a large brown paper parcel.
He stood blinking at me a moment; then he said: ‘I’ve returned the picture you lent me’.
I led him into the living-room. ‘You needn’t have returned it just yet’, I said. ‘You could have posted it to me later. I really wasn’t in any great hurry for it’.
‘I didn’t want it to get broken or anything’, said Choi diffidently. ‘I thought I’d better bring it along myself’.
I took the parcel and motioned Choi to a chair. ‘I was terribly sorry about your wife’s accident’, I said. ‘Have you been to the hospital this morning?’
Choi nodded. ‘There’s still no change, I’m afraid’. He took off his spectacles and polished them on his shabby cardigan. ‘It was really very good of you to take all that trouble yesterday’, he said.
‘It was the least I could do’.
Choi passed a hand wearily over his eyes. I thought he looked very small and pathetic. ‘I’m worried, Mr Moon’, he said, ‘very worried indeed. I’ve spent most of the morning at the police station. It seems that the police aren’t satisfied about the accident’.
‘In what way?’ I asked.
‘They seem to have some doubt that it was an accident. They think that the car may have been tampered with’. He avoided my glance and gazed out of the window.
‘But why should they think that?’
‘I really don't know’, said Choi in exasperated tones. ‘The police are frightfully cagey, you know; they give very little away. Of course, I’ve told them that the suggestion is absurd’. He looked at me appealingly. ‘Who on earth would want to tamper with Choi Ji-hye car? The whole idea’s absolutely fantastic’.
‘What do you think happened?’ I asked.
‘It’s hard to say, I must admit’. For a moment a jagged smile lit up his ravaged face. ‘Ji-hye was never a very good driver, you know; rather slapdash. She had a distressing habit of putting on her left indicator and then turning right. But the thing that really puzzles me is, where was she going in the car? She nearly always tells me about her appointments, but I haven’t the faintest idea where she was going yesterday’. He hesitated, then murmured tentatively: ‘she didn’t say anything to you in the ambulance?’
‘I’m afraid not. You see, she was only just conscious at the time. She did mutter a few words, but I’m afraid I didn’t catch what they were’. The lie came easily. ‘Possibly the doctor could help you’.
‘No’, replied Choi miserably, ‘I’ve already spoken to him. He says that he heard nothing’. ‘I’m sorry I can’t be of more help’, I said. ‘Let me get you a drink – it’ll buck you up a bit’. ‘Er – no, thank you, Mr Moon. You see, I haven’t had any breakfast this morning’.
I had a momentary vision of Choi peering short-sightedly and despairingly around an empty kitchen. ‘Well, we can soon remedy that’, I suggested. ‘I have my limitations as a cook, but I know my way round a pan’.
‘No, really, thank you. I don’t feel much like eating’. ‘Some coffee, then?’
‘No, nothing, really …’
I said: ‘It was a strange coincidence, my turning up at the same moment’.
‘It was indeed’, said Choi. ‘As a matter of fact, when the doctor told me about it I assumed that you were on your way to see us’ – he pointed to the parcel – ‘perhaps to collect that’.
I shook my head. ‘Actually, I was on my way to see an old girl friend of mine the other side of Pocheon’.
‘Oh, I, see’, said Choi absently, and rose, with an effort. ‘Well, I must be going now. And thank you again for your great kindness’.
‘That’s quite all right’, I said. A sudden thought struck me. ‘Does Seung-li know about your wife’s accident?’
‘I had to tell her something, of course, but she doesn’t know how serious it is’.
‘What does the hospital say? When I phoned they merely said that she was on the danger list’.
Choi’s lower lip quivered. ‘Apparently the next twenty-four hours is the critical time’, he informed me. ‘Her skull is fractured and her chest and neck are badly lacerated’.
I nodded sympathetically. ‘If there’s anything I can do, Mr Choi, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me’.
The weak eyes blinked. ‘That’s very kind of you. We do appreciate all you’ve done – both of us’.
When Choi had gone I looked through the window of the flat. He stood forlornly in the mews, seemingly oblivious to traffic and passers-by, apparently seeing nothing at all.
As I turned away from the window the telephone rang. At the other end Na’s voice said: ‘I’ve got the information you wanted. Meet me by the statue of Admiral Yi Sun-shin in half an hour’.
Punctual to the second, a large chauffeur driven Mercedes pulled up just in front of me. I got into the back seat next to Na, who looked like any City businessman on his way to a high-level conference.
‘I’ve got the information you need on Ma Park’. He told me.
‘Any previous record?’ I queried, slipping into the jargon.
Na gave a faint smile. ‘First of all’, he said, ‘it seems that the lady has never been married, in spite of the Ma, although most people seem to call her that’.
‘She didn’t strike me as being exactly maternal’, I remarked.
‘Apparently she’s got quite a reputation’, went on Na; ‘particularly in her own neighbourhood’. ‘Good, bad, or indifferent?’
‘She seems to be a bit of a mixture. A tough egg with a heart of gold, if you know what I mean’.
‘Like Tugboat Annie?’ I suggested.
‘Quite’, said Na. ‘Apparently she manages to keep on the right side of the law’. ‘What about the cafe? What’s the business like?’
‘Not good, not bad. Plenty of long distance lorry drivers use the place and she makes a living. That’s all about Ma Park’.
‘What about that accident case at the SNU Hospital?’ I prompted.
‘We checked on that too’. Again Na produced his cold little smile. ‘A man named Gim Min- joon was admitted yesterday at four o’clock. He’d been in a car smash in Tongil-ro and he’s got a broken leg’.
Characteristically, Na had not asked me why I wanted these diverse items of information, He merely said: ‘Anything else you want to know?’
I hesitated a moment, then said: ‘You told me that I was on my own in this job. Well, that suits me. But how far will you back me if I happen to get into trouble?’
Ross raised his eyebrows. ‘What sort of trouble?’
‘Any sort’.
‘With police, you mean?’
‘Possibly’.
‘If you find Park Song-yong for us we’ll back you to the limit’, replied Na decisively. ‘The limit being what?’
Na looked at me thoughtfully. ‘The limit’s murder’, he said quietly, ‘but, of course, we’d like you to have a very good reason for committing it. Ideally, it should be in self-defence. Does that answer your question?’
‘Yes’, I said.
‘What exactly have you in mind?’ inquired Na.
‘Someone's been taking me for a ride’, I said, ‘and I don’t like it. With any luck, I’ll find Park for you within forty-eight hours’.
Na said nothing; his face was quite expressionless – but I thought I could detect a glint of approval in the cold, pale blue eyes.
I got out of the car. Na raised a hand to me and leaned forward to speak to the chauffeur. The big car drove off along the main street …