Part 10 (1/2)

aAnd the reward?a aI told you: Iall put in a claim for you. I donat promise youall get it, but Iall do my best for you.a She hesitated, looking at him, then seeing he was determined, she said, aHer name is Nhan Lee Quon. I donat know where she lives. Her uncle tells fortunes at the Tomb of Marshal Le-van-Duyet.a aThanks,a Hambley said. aWhatas the uncle look like?a aHe is a fat man with a beard.a Hambley picked up his cap.

aIall go talk to him,a he said and started towards the door.

Ann Fai Wah crushed out her cigarette and sauntered to the door with him.

aYou wonat forget the reward, Lieutenant?a aI wonat forget.a aPerhaps you will come and see me again one evening?a He grinned at her.

aI might at that.a She took hold of the top b.u.t.ton of his tunic and examined it. Her face was very close to his.

aHer uncle wonat be at the temple until three oaclock,a she said. aYou have plenty of time. Perhaps you would like to stay a little while now?a Hambley removed her hand. The touch of her cool fingers made his heart beat a little faster. She certainly was attractive, he was thinking. He wanted to stay.

aSome other time, baby,a he said regretfully and he smiled. aIave work to do.a He half-opened the front door, paused and looked at her again. She stared steadily back at him; her black eyes were alight with suggested promises.

Slowly he closed the door and he leaned against it. aWell, maybe I could stay awhile.a She turned and walked slowly across the room to a door. Hambley, his eyes on her heavy, rolling hips, followed her.

II.

The food vendor whose name was Cheong-Su had a long wait before he finally stood before Inspector NgocLinh, but he didnat mind the wait. The activity in the big room fascinated him and there was the suspense of wondering if someone in this long queue waiting to give information would get the reward before his turn came.

When Cheong-Su came to rest before the Inspector, he said simply and firmly that he had come to claim the reward.

aWhat makes you think you are going to get it?a The Inspector asked, looking at the old man, his little eyes screwed up, a bitter expression on his tired face.

aI saw the American on Sunday night,a Cheong-Su said. aHe was sitting in his car outside the Paradise Club. The time was after ten oaclock.a The Inspector p.r.i.c.ked up his ears. This was the first piece of information bearing on Jaffeas last movements he had had during the five hours he had sat at the table.

aWhat was he doing?a Cheong-Su blinked.

aHe was sitting in his car.a aWhat kind of car?a aA small red car.a aHow long did he sit in the car?a Cheong-Su blinked. aNot long.a aHow long? Five minutes? Ten? A half an hour?a aMaybe half an hour.a aThen what happened?a aThe girl came and he got out of the car,a Cheong-Su said slowly, thinking hard. aHe gave her some money and she went into the club. Then she came out and they got in the car and drove away.a The Inspector s.h.i.+fted his eyes. He didnat want the food vendor to see how excited he was. aWhat girl?a he asked indifferently.

Cheong-Su shrugged his skinny shoulders. aI donat know . . . a girl.a aYou donat know who she was?a aNo.a aHave you ever seen her before, entering and leaving the club?a Again Cheong-Su shrugged his shoulders. aMany girls enter and leave the club. I donat look at girls anymore.a The Inspector could have strangled him. He said in a carefully controlled voice, aThe American gave her some money and she went into the club? How long was she there?a aNot long.a aTen minutes? Half an hour?a aMaybe five minutes.a So she was a taxi-girl, the Inspector was thinking. The American gave her money to pay Blackie Lee his fee so they could go off together. Blackie Lee had been lying when he said he knew of no regular girl.

aYou are sure you havenat seen the girl before?a aThey all look alike. I might have seen her before.a aIs that all you have to tell me?a Cheong-Su looked indignant. aWhat more do you want?a he demanded. aI have come for the reward.a The Inspector signalled to the uniformed policeman who gave Cheong-Su a quick hard dig in the ribs with his white baton. aMove on,a he said.

Cheong-Suas eyes bulged. aBut the reward?a he spluttered. aDonat I get anything?a The policeman gave him a hard crack on his s.h.i.+n with the baton, making the old man hop and howl with pain. The waiting queue laughed delightedly to see the old man hopping and rubbing his s.h.i.+n. The baton fell again, this time on the old manas skinny b.u.t.tocks, and holding his seat in both hands, he bolted down the room and out through the exit.

The Inspector pushed back his chair and stood up. He signed to one of his men to take over. He had to see the Colonel at once. The Colonel might think it was time to pick up Blackie Lee and bring him in for special questioning. The Inspectoras face hardened when he thought of how Blackie had lied to him. He looked forward to meeting Blackie in the bleak tiled room set aside for special questioning. The fear that would be on that oily fat face, the Inspector told himself, would be worth seeing.

The subject of the Inspectoras thoughts had had a siesta and now went back to his office to see what was happening to his brother. He found Charlie smoking another cigar with his feet up on Blackieas desk.

The two men looked at each other.

aAnything?a Blackie asked hopefully, sitting in his desk chair.

aI think so,a Charlie said. aBut weall need more money. The money the diamonds will sell for wonat be enough. There is only one way to get him out: on the opium flight.a Blackie lifted his hands helplessly. Why hadnat he thought of that? he asked himself. So simple once you did think of it. That was the difference between Charlie and himself. Charlie had more brains: there was no doubt about that and because he had more brains he had horned in on two million American dollars.

aWho is doing the run now?a he asked. He hadnat been in the opium racket now for a couple of years and he had lost touch. He knew Charlie still smuggled opium from Laos into Bangkok.

aLee Watkins,a Charlie said. aHeas a newcomer. He hasnat been long in the game, but heas a good man. His father was English, his mother Chinese. He was a pilot with C.P.A. but he got fooling with an air hostess and they threw him out. He drifted into the Opium game. Heas earning big money. He wonat look at this job unless we pay him well.a Blackie pulled a face. aHow much?a aAt least three thousand American dollars, then there will be other expenses to take care of. He will have to use a helicopter to get the American to Kratie. Thereas no safe airstrip here for a plane to land. Itall have to be a helicopter. Itall cost around five thousand American dollars.a Blackie whistled. aWell, if he has the diamonds, he can pay. If he hasnat got them, then itas no good.a Charlie chewed his cigar.

aHe has them.a He thought for a moment, then, aWhen are you seeing him?a aTomorrow night.a aBetter make it tonight. Find out if heall pay five thousand. If he offers you more diamonds, take them. Once he has agreed to the price, Iall get in touch with Watkins. Heall have to come to Phnom-Penh. I havenat a visa for Laos.a Blackie looked at his watch. It was twenty minutes past three.

aIall tell the girl to go to him at once and fix it.a Charlie said, aHe must be told you want more money. He might not bring the diamonds with him.a Blackie nodded and went out.

In Colonel On-dinh-Khucas study, the Inspector was making his report.

aBlackie Lee was lying as I thought he was lying,a the Inspector said. aHe knows who the girl is. I asked permission to bring this man in for special questioning.a The Colonel pulled at his moustache. He had learned from the police at the airport that Charlie Lee had arrived. He had known Charlie in the past: he knew he was a troublemaker with influence. If Blackie were picked up, Charlie would make trouble. The Colonel knew that Charlie supplied one of the leading members of the opposition group with opium. The Colonel had no doubt that Charlie would go to this man and demand an inquiry as to why his brother had been spirited away for special questioning.

aNot yet,a he said, abut have him watched. Put two of your best men onto him.a aThis man can tell you who the girl is,a the Inspector said. aI have questioned over two hundred people today without being able to find out who she is. Blackie Lee knows. If it is so important to find her, he can tell us.a The Colonel stared coldly at him.

aYou heard what I said a” not yet. Have him watched.a Shrugging his shoulders, the Inspector went to detail two of his men to watch Blackie: a trifle late for Blackie was by then returning from seeing Nhan, and she was hurrying to catch the five oaclock bus to Thudaumot.

Watched by Yo-Yo, Blackie parked his car and entered the club. Yo-Yo was hungry. He looked around for Cheong-Su from whom he always bought his soup. The old man wasnat in his usual place but Yo-Yo saw him coming down the street, his oven and soup tin balanced on a bamboo pole which he carried on his shoulder.

Cheong-Su took up his position on the edge of the kerb, and after rubbing his bruised s.h.i.+n and groaning to himself, he blew up his charcoal fire and set the soup tin on top of it.

Yo-Yo joined him.

The old man immediately launched into a whining angry complaint about the police and how they had swindled him out of the reward. Yo-Yo had no idea what he was talking about and told him to shut up. But Cheong-Su felt his grievance too deeply to pay any attention to Yo-Yoas lack of interest. While he stirred the soup, he continued to complain until the word aAmericana awoke Yo-Yoas interest.

aWhat are you talking about?a he snarled. aWhat American? What reward?a Cheong-Su fetched out the crumpled newspaper and showed it to Yo-Yo.

Angrily, because he hated to have to admit he couldnat read, Yo-Yo told him to read it to him, but three customers arrived at this moment for soup and Cheong-Su left Yo-Yo to stare at the unintelligible print, seething with vicious fury at his own illiteracy.

The supper rush hour was now on and Yo-Yo had to wait. He listened to Cheong-Suas account of his unfair treatment at Security Police Headquarters as the old man recounted it over and over again to every new customer who came along.

Could the American, Yo-Yo was thinking, who he had seen at the window of the villa at Thudaumot be the man the police were inquiring about? If he was, then the girl, Nhan, and Blackie Lee were involved. Surely this might be the opportunity to blackmail Blackie for which he had been looking.

He was so absorbed in listening to Cheong-Su recount his experiences for the twentieth time that he failed to notice Blackie leave the club. The time was now twenty minutes past seven. Before setting out for Thudaumot, Blackie wanted to call on a wealthy Chinese jeweller who he was sure would buy the two diamonds Jaffe had given him. It would be a long transaction. The jeweller would try to convince Blackie the stones were of little value. Before Blackie could squeeze three thousand American dollars from the jeweller several hours would be wasted in polite but bitter haggling. Blackie was making sure he had plenty of time before his meeting with Jaffe at eleven oaclock.

When Yo-Yo finally got Cheong-Su to read him the newspaper account of Jaffeas kidnapping, he felt pretty confident that Jaffe was the American he had seen at the window. His immediate reaction was to rush around to Security Police and claim the reward, but remembering Cheong-Suas treatment, he decided first to talk to Blackie. It was possible Blackie might offer more than 20,000 piastres, but when he entered the club he found Blackie had gone.

Yu-lan who disliked Yo-Yo told him curtly to get out. Her husband, she said, wouldnat be back that night. When he wanted Yo-Yo, he would send for him.

chapter eleven.

I.

Blackie Lee returned to the club a little after ten oaclock. He had been as successful as he could have hoped in the sale of diamonds. After a tussle that had lasted two hours, he had finally sold the stones for two thousand nine hundred American dollars. He locked the money in his safe, then he went into the dance hall for a word with Yu-lan before setting off for Thudaumot.

As he crossed the hall to the corner table where she always sat, he noted with approval that the dance floor was crowded.