“Too many memories of when I was the same way.”
The woman leaned down so that her face was even with mine, and very close. “Don’t bring up anything like that when you talk to Kang. Don’t talk about disappointment. Don’t rake over memories. He has a job to do, and he can’t lose focus now.”
She gave me her hand and pulled me up. The light was fading. The buildings’ shadows already buried the streets. “There’s a car up ahead fifty meters on the left, a brown Skoda. Here are the keys. Go ahead and get in. I’ll be behind you by about a minute.”
“I don’t think I should drive.”
“Nor do I, Inspector. I’ll take the wheel.”
And drive she did. From the sound of it, the engine of the car seemed to have been worked on recently. There was no way of knowing if the brakes had received equal attention, because she never used them. I was not sure where we were going, but then again, I had no idea where we had been. Wherever we were headed, it was in a great hurry. I tried to fix a location in case I needed to find the spot later, but at that time of night one sixteenth-century building looks like another. The last time I was in Prague, it had been in winter. Everything had looked different then, in the gloom. We pulled up in front of a narrow three-story building with an elaborate doorway.
“Out,” she said. “Ring the bell and if that doesn’t work, knock politely. I’ve got errands to run. I’ll see you later, old friend.”
“Good thing we’re not related.”
“You react badly to pastry.” She gunned the motor. “It’s bad for your heart.”
The front door opened before the sound of the bell had faded. Richie stared out at me. He looked like hell. No, he looked like death itself.
“You better see a doctor, Richie.”
“What for? He’s not going to do anything for me.” He coughed, doubled over. “Let’s get inside; this cold air is bad for me. Everything is bad for me.”
“Where’s Kang?” I stepped in. The place was very tidy, very sterile. No one lived here.
“Kang’s not here yet. You’re early. Greta drives fast, doesn’t she?”
“Greta? Is that her name?”
“Wonderful woman, well trained, very thoughtful. She looks after Kang like she was his daughter.” He made a face. “Don’t do that again, mentioning what happened.”
“I know; I’ve been warned. He needs to stay focused.”
“Who told you that? Greta?”
“What’s her real name??
“Let’s sit down. I can breathe better when I’m sitting.”
We sat-Richie on the sofa, me in a pale yellow chair.
“Better? You want a glass of whiskey?” So, all right, no one was going to tell me Greta’s real name. I’d ask Li. He clearly knew who she was. He’d stopped breathing when he saw her in the parking lot at the hotel in Pyongyang.
“We don’t keep any alcohol here,” Richie’s eyes searched all the corners of the room. “In the other place, I can drink as much as I want. This is the safe house, and Kang doesn’t like liquor in a safe house. He thinks of a safe house as a chapel or something.”
“What was that charade in the square about?”
“Flushing quail.”
“And?”
“Working with Greta is a pleasure.” He coughed until his face turned red. “There isn’t a quail around who can remember to keep his head down when she gets moving. You must have done a good job getting here from Macau. There’s no one new in town that we can spot on your tail.”
“You realize I can’t hang around here for long. I’ll have to get back to Pyongyang by the day after tomorrow at the latest. They’re already wondering where I am.”
A key turned in the front door, and Kang walked in carrying a paper bag. “I brought you something, Richie.” He pulled out a bottle of whiskey. “Go easy on it, though. I don’t want you passed out on the couch.” He took off his hat and coat and threw them on the sofa. “Greetings, Inspector. Your day was good?”
“Nothing that I’d put in a logbook.”
Kulov came out from the kitchen with a couple of glasses. He gave one to Richie and one to me. “Inspector.” He nodded.
“You’re not drinking?” I asked Kang.
Richie was pouring himself a triple. Kang grimaced. “I drink, but only sometimes, and this isn’t one of them. Maybe you should wait until we’re done, as well.”
“Maybe I should.” I put my glass on the floor. “Do we talk here, or is there someplace else where the walls don’t have ears?”
“We’re in Prague, Inspector, land of the free. And we’re in a perfectly secure place, courtesy of Richie and friends. There is nothing here, not a single thing, that Richie hasn’t personally approved; besides which, he controls all the on switches. Let’s have our nice talk. How did you get along with Greta?”
“We’re old acquaintances, it turns out.”
“You saw her one time across a parking lot.”
“Well informed, as always. You have your own spy satellite or what?” Apparently, not a satellite that could see into noodle shops.
“She saw you, too. That’s how I knew you were in Pyongyang, home from the hill.”
“Greta… that’s what we’re going to call her?”
“That’s right.”
“Greta keeps you up to date on what’s going on, I presume.”
“It isn’t like the old days, Inspector. Getting information in and out of Pyongyang is not nearly as difficult as it used to be. For example, I know that Major Kim sent you to Macau on a mission he fully expected you to botch.”
“And did I?”
“Not yet.”
“Excellent, there’s still time. You know Kim, I take it.”
“Our paths have crossed.”
“What’s he doing in Pyongyang?”
“What he’s doing there, what he says he’s doing there, and what he thinks he’s doing there are separate things.”
“He thinks he is bossing people around. Me, for instance.”
“That’s good. Let him keep thinking that.”
“He reminds me in some ways of that Military Security goon that wanted to kill you. His name was Kim, too.”
“I know what his name was, Inspector.” Kang paused. “He got promoted, I heard.”
I waited to see if he would say anything else, but he let the subject drop.
Richie coughed. “I have a good idea: Let’s rake over the most hellish coals we can find.” He waved his glass at me. “Let’s remember every failure, every bit of pain, everything that should have worked but didn’t. Let not a single sleeping dog lie. Kick the shit out of every fucking one of them, how about that? Should I go first?” He finished the whiskey and banged the glass on the table. “God, what a bunch of stupid bastards I chose to die around.”
Nobody said anything for a couple of minutes. Kulov made some noise in the kitchen, rattling silverware and slamming drawers.
Finally, someone had to break the silence. “SSD is up to something, by the way,” I said.
Kang smiled at me. “Fine, let them think that nothing stands in their path.”
“Kim says he’s there to oversee a transition.”
