intercept and record it.
'Perhaps the Chinese embassy might be more to your liking?'
Wu had the grace to laugh.
'Well, of course, we could arrange that, but somehow I don't think
Luther would feel very comfortable under such circumstances. In his
place, I would not.'
'Let's cut to the chase,' Morrison said.
'I'll name a place, and we'll meet there.'
Ventura had told him they wouldn't like that, getting right to the
point. The culture from which Wu came was more patient than America's,
by and large, and the Chinese were willing to engage in as much
ceremonial talk as necessary to please all the speakers. They viewed
Americans' lack of formality and impatience as signs of youth and poor
breeding.
'Let them think what they want,' Ventura had told him.
'The lower an opinion they have of us, the better.'
'Perhaps,' Wu said.
'Where?'
Morrison glanced ahead at Ventura, who saw him in the rearview mirror.
He nodded.
'There's a theater in Woodland Hills, California. That's just outside
Los Angeles.'
'I know where Woodland Hills is. Doctor.' His voice was dry, and no
overt anger came through, but Morrison smiled. Ventura had told him
that would irritate Wu, too.
Morrison continued: 'The theater is fairly new, an IMAX. It's on the
edge of a big shopping center--'
'Ah, yes, on Mulholland, just north of Oxnard,' Wu broke in.
'I saw the latest James Bond picture there a few months ago. You take
the Ventura Freeway.'
Again Morrison smiled.
'He'll one-up you,' Ventura had said.
'But it'll be subtle.'
'Good, that'll save me having to give directions. Tomorrow at noon.'
'Any particular reason for this meeting place?'
'I haven't seen the picture they're showing.'
'I see. All right. But there are a few details to which we must
attend.'
'Such as?'
'Well, you can hardly expect us to show up hauling a suitcase with four
hundred million dollars in small bills, now can you? It would take a
truck to carry that much.'
'I have a secure account in an island bank,' Morrison said.
'Electronic transfer will do. Bring a laptop with a secure wireless
modem.'
'Ah, but there is the rub. You expect us to deliver that much money to
you, and then you will give us the information, is that correct?'
'I'm the only one who can. It isn't written down anywhere.'
His meaning here was clear enough: If something happens to me before
you get what you want, you won't get it. The truth was something else:
