A Corpse in the Koryo (12 page)

A jeep roared by, a military jeep heading for the guard post. It passed so close I could see the driver's eyes in the mirror. There was no license plate on the back. The passenger in the front was holding a Chinese-built radio scanner. I needed to talk to Pak.

When the jeep was about ten meters beyond me, its windshield shattered in a burst of gunfire, a fat burst, sort of lazy, as if whoever had been waiting to pull the trigger was not in a hurry and not worried about getting away. The jeep swerved, barely missed a work gang on the side of the road, and hit a good-sized larch tree at high speed. The work gang didn't pause. Nobody moved in the jeep.

"Let's walk." Somebody grabbed my arm. I knew it was Kang, though he had on an old brown cap and dark glasses. "You should have stayed in bed." He slowed when he saw I was limping.

"Where are we going?"

"Just a nice stroll to the train station."

"Thanks, but I'm not getting on any trains for a while."

"You want tea or don't you?"

"What's with the jeep?

"Accident, too fast, poor visibility, slippery road."

"Gunfire."

"Really? Not in Manpo!"

"Friends of yours?"

"My friends don't drive jeeps. They also don't use Chinese scanners.

The Czech models are much better."

We turned the corner just as the jeep's gas tank caught fire. I turned to go back, but Kang kept hold of my arm. "Forget it, they're all dead.

No loss, believe me."

The heat from the explosion and the stench were stifling. "Pretty cruel thing to say, when their bodies are still--"

"Warm, yes, they are that. Don't fret, Inspector. If it were you in there, they wouldn't give it a second thought."

"This is completely crazy, Kang."

"No, it's Manpo." He quickened his pace slightly. "Thanks for coming up here, incidentally."

"What?"

"I said, thanks for coming up here."

"I thought you advised me to go back to Pyongyang. 'Get your little legs back to the capital,' you said."

"Wrong. I asked you here."

"You did? I thought I was here because Pak ordered me. He didn't say why. Just told me to get here."

"You always do what he says?" I couldn't tell if that was a jibe or just a question. "You're here because I asked Pak, and he asked you." This made no sense. Pak wouldn't do favors for Kang. Though I still wondered if Pak had told him where I was in Kanggye.

Kang took off his hat and dark glasses. "Damned silly, but the hat always throws them off. That's Pak's idea." He glanced at me. "Confused?"

I

didn't answer. I was trying to figure out the next step.

"Pak doesn't work for me." Kang slowed momentarily to keep pace with my limp but then sped up again. He wanted to get off the street.

"He doesn't work for me, but we do favors for each other from time to time. He likes to keep his distance, and he tries hard to keep me away from his inspectors. That's why he sent you out of town. Usually succeeds."

"But

this time . . ."

"This time he owed me a big favor."

"That's me."

"Very good. I needed someone I could trust."

"That's not me. You've got the wrong boy, Kang."

"I'm betting otherwise, Inspector. You and I are going to establish a mutual assistance pact. Nothing elaborate, just something quick and dirty. To do that, we're going to have to trust each other."

"I need to call Pak."

"Sorry, can't be done. Pak told you to stay away from phones. Anyway, there isn't a phone in Manpo I trust, not even my own."

"Let me clear up something, Kang. I don't work for you. And I don't work with you. I'm a poor, dumb inspector with Unit 826 of the People's Security Ministry."

"In that case, tell me why are you three hundred kilometers out of your jurisdiction, with no authority, on the border with no lifeline, no cover story, and already with three tails on you?"

"I'm here because Pak told me to get out of town after he heard what you and I talked about. What tails?" I resisted the urge to look behind me. Three tails? Couldn't be. Who had that sort of manpower to throw at a nobody police inspector? I stopped and leaned against a building for support when I realized the answer a second later. Military Security, that's who had the manpower, and they always worked in three-man teams.

"You all right?" Kang looked around. "Let's keep moving. And don't worry, the tails fell off when the jeep blew up. Probably looking to scavenge their friends' boots. After our chat on top of the tower, I asked Pak if I could borrow you for a few days."

"So he sent me out of town."

Kang smiled. "He told me to get lost. You rode partway with the enchanting Miss Chang and her friend the grumpy colonel."

"Friends of yours?"

Kang pulled slightly at my elbow, enough so I winced. "Going to have to do something about that back. You could use a good sauna, but there isn't one in this town, not one I'd recommend, anyway. After you got to Kanggye, I called Pak again and renewed my request."

"That's when he told me to go to Manpo?"

"But you told him to tell me."

"True."

"But I can't call Pak to check this."

"Trust, my dear Inspector. I knew you would catch on eventually."

We crossed back over the dividing line, passed the train station, and then Kang stopped at the narrow wooden building. Close up, I could see where there had once been small round windows on the front. These had been removed, not covered but removed completely, and filled with round plugs cut from the trunks of old trees. The front door was solid, five thick oak planks fitted together, with a big new lock.

We went in and sat at a tiny wooden table, crammed near three other tiny tables, each one more polished than the next and all of them made from a type of wood I couldn't place. Unless they had trees around Manpo I'd never seen, the wood was from somewhere far away.

It wasn't from Siberia; China, maybe, though I never worked too much with Chinese wood. There was a vase with flowers on every table. A girl came out from a back room. Before she closed the door behind her, I could see the room was flooded with sunlight that entered through a bank of windows looking out at the hills. Another door led to the outside.

It was open, and a breeze came in, fresh, as if it were from someplace other than this town. The girl had a pretty face, and she almost smiled when she saw Kang.

Kang's eyes scanned the walls, then the molding along the floor.

The girl watched him. She didn't nod at him so much as let her head drop a fraction, as if she had spotted something under a table and then decided it was unimportant.

"Coffee for me." Kang turned to her, and this time she did smile.

"And tea for my friend."

5

"Trust," said Kang. "A wonderful thing, in short supply. You trust me.

I trust you."

"And then you put a knife in my ribs."

Kang stared at me. Amusement might have passed over his face, only it moved too fast for me to be sure. "Knives are not my style, Inspector.

In any case, at the moment we are in this lovely tearoom." He stood up and began examining the flowers at each table. There weren't many, but it was a nice touch. Kang did not seem moved by the artistry of the scene. Very deliberately, he lifted each vase, peered at its base, and then felt around the edges. When he put down a vase, he arranged the flowers again.

The girl came in with the tea and a cup of coffee. She glanced at me, then at Kang, then walked a few steps to the rear of the room where she had a book waiting on the counter. She pulled her hair back into a bun to keep it out of her eyes, took a sip of tea, and propped the book open, resting it against a bowl filled with polished stones. All of this was part of a routine; I could tell she did it every morning. I can't read a word of French, but I know it when I see it. The title along the book's spine was in French.

"Nice place," I said, and nodded toward the girl. "Very cultured."

Kang gave me a level gaze. "My daughter. My eldest daughter." The teacup was halfway to my mouth. I put it down slowly, but even so it rattled slightly when it reached the table.

Kang's face lit up. "Surprised?"

"That you should have such a nice-looking daughter?"

"Or that she is here and not in the capital?" Kang drank his coffee in three swallows and smacked his lips. "Strong, good and strong. Made the way it should be."

"Not a lot of coffee around," I said carefully.

"You'd be amazed, Inspector. This is a border town. Lots of things here will amaze you. Actually, this isn't really Manpo. That's down the road a bit. It's crooked in its own way, but nothing like this. This is a new town, Sinmanpo. Lots of activity."

"Never heard of it."

"It doesn't exist, officially. There's no such place in the administrative records. No official police presence. Everyone wants some of the action, especially the army. Every security agency is watching every other agency to make sure no one gets too far in front. As far as your ministry is concerned, this place might as well be on the moon. The regional police know better than to venture over here, even when they drive up for their regular patrols through Manpo. That's why the girls in the leather boots are so bold. They don't worry about police."

"And at the train station?"

"People don't look at each other. It's neutral ground."

"Nice place to live, I suppose, as long as you stay out of jeeps." I didn't know if Kang would tell me why his daughter was here. If it was a family matter, it was none of my business. If it was a political problem, then it was his business and I didn't want to know.

"She asked to come here."

"Here?" I felt a twinge in my back and thought of the old man at the train station.

Kang ran his finger around the rim of his coffee cup. "She said life in the capital was dull and too political. Three years ago, when they asked for volunteers to move out, she put in her name. She didn't ask my advice, but I told her not to do it. She said it was for her to decide, and anyway, she added dryly, it was the Fatherland's wish. You know the funny thing?"

"You're golden."

Kang folded his well-manicured hands. "I think I like you, Inspector.

Yes, it got into my file that even though I am a ranking cadre, I volunteered my daughter to leave the comforts of Pyongyang for the hardship of the border. Of course, my enemies say it was my way of insulting . . ."

"You mean Colonel Kim?"

"Among others. He has to stand in line, though he'd like to think he's at the front and gets the first shot at me."

"You see her often, your daughter?"

"No. Once, maybe twice a year. Actually, she seems to be doing well." He paused. "You don't know how to get your hands on some books in French, do you?"

"Pleasant place," I looked around the room. "The flowers are a nice touch."

Kang nodded. "Those are my idea. I told her flowers make it like a mountain cottage. Especially those tiny purple ones. People relax around purple, don't ask me why."

"What about the tables?"

"Figured you'd ask. They are made out of wood from old Chinese chests. Who knows how old. Someone said Ming," Kang shrugged, "but I doubt it."

"You said you needed my help. Alright, how?"

"I'm not sure." He said it simply, like it was a completely natural answer to my question.

"You drag me all the way up here, and you're not sure? Are you crazy? I was knocked out last night, my back is killing me, and I nearly got machine-gunned a few minutes ago. If I hadn't been limping along, I wouldn't be here now."

"I was going to apologize for last night. But if it saved your life today, I'll keep the sentiment for another time."

"You knocked me on the head? You are crazy."

"No, not me. You were arguing in front of the station, and it was attracting attention. Another minute or so, a security monkey would have come up and started asking questions. I had to get you to the Manpo Inn.

"The sign out front says it's the New Manpo Inn."

"That so? I'll make a note of it. The thing is, you weren't taking the old man's hint." Kang absently rearranged the flowers in the vase. "So one of my people had to improvise. We didn't exactly have time to plan this whole thing down to the rat's whiskers, you know. I told you in Kanggye, I've lost people up here. That means I'm shorthanded. I needed someone with no profile to fill in. You're smart. I've checked. In case you haven't realized by now, I've been watching you, Inspector.

For quite a while."

A jeep hurried past, and there was angry shouting outside. Kang leapt up from the table. "Time to go."

"My tea." I pointed to my cup, still full.

"Never mind, lots of it around." Kang grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the door with one hand, unbuttoning his shoulder holster with the other. As we stepped out into the street, there was a single pistol shot from the direction of the Manpo Inn. Kang paused a moment, then buttoned his holster again. "I've got an errand to run. You poke around, get the feel of the place, figure out an escape route if it comes to that."

"Comes to what?"

"You saw what happened to that jeep. We're okay for now, but they saw you with me, so they need to figure out who you might be. You didn't register at the hotel, did you?"

"I was carried in unconscious, if you'll recall."

"Alright, keep that profile. Low, not unconscious. Don't attract any extra attention. Tell people you're from Wonsan or some damned place on the east coast. If they ask, which they won't, say you're here to meet a shipment of seafood bound for Chinese stomachs. Happens all the time. Friday is fish day, when the trucks go across the border next, so that gives you some excuse for loitering."

It didn't sound very convincing to me. "Why would anyone ship fish from here, when there's a good road up the coast?"

Kang put his arm around my shoulder. "In the space of forty-five minutes, you've heard gunfire twice. That tell you anything? And just so you know, the road up the coast is bad in most places. Don't you people ever get out of the capital?"