Commanding General want you both to stay away from cameras. You got that?' The First Sergeant turned to me. 'What do you have so far, Sueno, on the mugging of that nun?'
'We spotted the perpetrator, but didn't get a positive ID on him because of the poor lighting. I do suspect, however, that he might be reporting into sick call for a broken rib.'
I held up my left fist. Ernie guffawed.
The First Sergeant jotted a note. 'I'll have somebody check with the medical command. Anything else?'
'And you might also have them check on a damaged finger,' I told him. 'The nun claims she chomped down on him pretty hard. Drew blood.'
'Will do,' the First Sergeant said. This is what he liked. Crisp police work. What I added to my report brought a frown back to his face.
'The perpetrator appeared to be a black GI,' I said.
'Shit! That makes it more complicated.'
Ernie's eyes shone at the First Sergeant's discomfort. 'Why's that, Top?'
The First Sergeant either didn't notice Ernie's enjoyment or didn't care. He lowered his head, still talking but lost in thought.
'Because the CG has been trying to improve race relations in the command. This will just complicate things.'
'Why?' Ernie asked. 'She was a Korean nun, not a white nun.'
'Still, some of the blacks might think we're just pinning it on them.'
'Meaning we have to arrest somebody?'
'The Korean government is demanding it.'
'Whether it's the right guy or not?'
The First Sergeant looked up. 'I didn't say that! Of course, it has to be the right guy.'
Ernie grinned. 'Sure it does, Top.'
The First Sergeant pointed his finger at Ernie. 'Don't go twisting my words, Bascom.'
Ernie spread his hands. 'I didn't. I just repeated them.'
I stood up. Action's the only way to stop their bickering. 'We have two hot cases. Which one do you want us to start with?'
'Neither,' the First Sergeant answered.
'Neither?'
'That's right. The mugger of the Buddhist nun will be a snap to pick up. Ask a few questions in the barracks, check with the medical clinics, somebody will pop.'
I wasn't so sure about that. Amongst the black troops of Eighth Army, the distrust of the CID ran deep. Especially with some of the ham-handed methods most of the agents used: Just ask questions of some GI, while all his buddies are watching. Ernie and I went more direct. We gathered evidence of lawbreaking on somebody and then forced them to tell us what we needed. Snitching or the stockade, that's what it came down to. They always chose snitching.
The First Sergeant had no such doubts, however. He tapped a ballpoint pen on the top of his desk.
'It's this kidnapping that has me worried,' he said. 'But the KNPs are on it now and you can bet they'll do a thorough job. Anyway, it falls under their jurisdiction since the victim is a Korean citizen.'
'They won't turn jurisdiction over to us?'
'Not on your life. Not after the anti-GI feeling these newspaper headlines are causing. Still, the head shed wants us to assist in any way we can.'
I saw where he was going with this. 'They want insurance,' I said. 'In case the KNPs don't find the kidnappers.'
'Exactly. I've already checked it out with the Provost Marshal, who's cleared it with the Commanding General.'
Ernie rose halfway out of his seat. 'You want to pay the ransom to these clowns?'
'Only as a last resort.'
'But the kidnappings will never stop, then.'
'Yes, they will. The kidnappers will never leave the country. We'll see to that. And once they're apprehended, Eighth Army will formally request that the Korean government treat the case as an international incident.'
'Meaning we'll cut their foreign aid if they don't give them the prison sentence that we want?'
The First Sergeant spread his fingers. 'That's up to the ambassador, Suefio.'
Ernie slumped back down in his chair. 'They'll do it,' he said. 'The Koreans will do whatever we ask them to do. Including executing these guys, if that's what it takes.'
'The punishment will be up to them.'
'Sure it will,' Ernie said.
The economic and military foreign aid provided to South Korea by the United States Government runs into the hundreds of millions of dollars each year. With a case as serious as the kidnapping of an American dependent- even a dependent of unclear legal status-you can bet that Eighth Army would flex its muscles and tell the Korean government how it wanted the case handled. And what they wanted done would be done quietly-so everyone saved face-but it would be done. That was certain.
I took a deep breath. 'So you want us to find the antique jade skull,' I said, 'in case we have to trade it for Mi-ja.'
'That's exactly what I want.'
'Piece of cake,' Ernie said. 'When we find it, do we get a bonus?'
'The only bonus you'll get,' the First Sergeant said, 'is not getting court-martialed for dereliction of duty.'
'Hey,' Ernie said, 'I finally wheedled something out of the old skinflint.'
The First Sergeant glared at him. 'That's right. You'd better get busy. And I want to see all your reports-on my desk-before anybody else sees them.'
'Of course, Top,' Ernie answered. 'What do you think? We're going to send them to Dear Abby?'
As we stepped toward the door, the First Sergeant called us back.
'By the way, once you find that skull, if possible, try to use it to bring that little Korean girl back alive. The head shed doesn't want to see her dead. Bad for everyone concerned.'
Ernie chomped on his gum. 'Especially her.'
We strode down the long hallway toward the CID Admin Office. All I could think about was the deadline Ragyapa had given us. Until the full moon. I shook it off and shoved Ernie's shoulder.
'Why are you always messing with the First Sergeant? You're going to give him a heart attack one of these days.'
'Not possible.'
'But his blood pressure's high.'
'When that old lifer had his guts issued, the supply sergeant was fresh out of one important internal organ.'
'Let me guess.'
'That's right,' Ernie said. 'The source of all tender emotion. The human heart.'
Back in the Admin Office, Miss Kim, the fine-looking Korean secretary, was pecking away at her Remington electric. Staff Sergeant Riley, the Admin NCO, sat hunched over a stack of paperwork.
'How's it hanging?' Ernie asked.
'Okay,' Riley growled. 'You found that jade skull yet?'
At the mention of the jade skull, Miss Kim stopped her typing and swiveled in her chair. She nodded to me and smiled at Ernie.
Ernie sat on the edge of her desk and offered her a stick of ginseng gum, which she accepted. As they chomped happily, Ernie reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out a felt purse, and flopped it down on top of Miss Kim's typewriter.
I recognized the purse. The Buddhist nun had given it to Ernie last night at the Itaewon Police Station. Ernie pointed to the embroidered Korean lettering.
'What's it say?' he asked Miss Kim.
