'What you say about Sister Julie?'
Ernie swiveled on her. 'Why'd you take him to Itaewon?'
Red lips pulled back from white teeth. 'I no take.'
'He says you did.'
She peered into the canvas-covered back of the jeep.
I spoke up. 'Spill it all, Hatcher. The more you hold back, the more the whole weight of this thing is going to fall on you. If you don't tell us about everyone who was involved, they'll walk away free. Laughing at you for taking the entire hit by yourself.'
Hatcher turned his red eyes on Sister Julie. 'You tell him about that man who made us do it,' he said. 'You tell him.'
Ernie kept his eyes riveted on Sister Julie. 'Who was this guy?'
She shrugged creamy shoulders. 'Some guy.'
'What'd he tell you to do?'
She looked back and forth between us and then gazed at the glaring visage of Bro Hatch. She swallowed.
'He told us to go to Itaewon. A little nun works out there, collecting money for temple. Business girl, you know, they like to give lots of money to Buddha. Maybe help next life.'
'And you don't?'
'Not Sister Julie. No way. I no chump.'
Hatcher growled. 'Tell him about the guy.'
'Yeah. He say he want us to rob Buddhist nun. Take all money. Korean slicky boy, they taaksan believe Buddha. Don't want to take her money. So maybe this nun, she have a lot of money.'
'But you never found out because we showed up?'
'Yeah.' A puzzled look crossed Sister Julie's face. 'How you get there so fast?'
'Good police work,' Ernie answered. 'Why'd you do what this guy told you to do?'
'Usual reason.'
'What's that?'
'He pay me.'
Bro Hatcher lunged forward off the canvas seat but was stopped by the metal roll bars. 'You never told me that! How much did that fuck pay you?'
Sister Julie backed away, covering her fright by twisting her lips in a tight sneer. 'Be cool, Bro. Most tick I was gonna tell you.'
'How much?' Hatcher roared.
'Twenty thousand won.'
About forty bucks. For beating up an innocent servant of Buddha. And Hatcher was only angry because he hadn't received his share.
Ernie shoved him backward against the seat. 'Shut up unless I ask you a question.'
Hatcher stared at him sullenly. Ernie turned back to Sister Julie.
'This guy, was he an American or a Korean?'
'Not American. Not Korean.' She waved her hand. 'Some outside guy.'
'Outside guy?'
'Yeah. Foreigner.'
'Which country?'
'I don't know. He look like Korean, only maybe he out in sun too much.'
A chill ran through my body. Without thinking I stepped forward, looming over Sister Julie.
'What did he wear, this guy?'
She stared up at me. Her sneer disappeared. 'Chump-change clothes. Like he farmer or something.'
I reached for the top of my skull. 'And on his head…'
'Yes. He wear something wrapped around.' She twirled her finger around her exploding hairstyle. 'Like kullei.'
'Like a rag? Wrapped around his head?'
'Yes.'
A sunburnt Asian man wearing a turban. I turned to Ernie.
'Sounds familiar,' he said.
'Sure does.'
I turned back to Sister Julie. 'What was his name?'
'Rag something.' She frowned and then snapped her fingers. 'Ragyapa. That was it.'
The man who had paid Sister Julie to convince Bro Hatch to attack and rob the little nun was Ragyapa. The same man who had kidnapped Herman's daughter Mi-ja.
When the MPs arrived, Sister Julie hugged Bro Hatch and kissed him and told him that she wouldn't let any other man touch her while he was gone. After the MPs drove away with Bro Hatch, Ernie grabbed Sister Julie by the soft flesh of her upper arm.
'You're right about not letting any other man touch you while he's gone.' She tried to tug away from him but he held tight. 'Unless it's a KNP,' he said.
We turned Sister Julie over to the Korean National Police for her collusion in the mugging of the Buddhist nun. We filed charges and filled out a report and asked her a few more questions. When we left the little Samgakji Police Station she was still cursing, waving a red-tipped finger, promising to get even with us.
Ernie's molars clicked on a new stick of gum. 'Righteous sister,' he said. 'Especially when she's angry.'
Using Sister Julie as his go-between, Ragyapa had put Bro Hatch up to attacking the Buddhist nun. He had even paid Sooki to inform Ernie and me.
Why had he done this?
To divert our attention? Probably. But more important, to divert the attention of the entire United States Army. With riots against our presence in Korea sweeping the country, we'd be less worried about some kidnapped Korean orphan and an old jade skull that had been lost for centuries.
But was that it? To divert our attention? Or was there some other reason?
Maybe he also wanted to divert the attention of the other Buddhists in the country. The Buddhists who the little nun represented.
If that was his intention, he had succeeded admirably.
Nobody noticed us when we sauntered into the MP station. Now that the Provost Marshal had Pfc. Ignatius Q. Hatcher in custody, they had no time to acknowledge the two CID agents who'd made the arrest. Typical bureaucrats. Basking in the glory of somebody else's hard work.
Ernie stood in the hallway, watching the shimmering blue water bottle glug. Inside an oak-paneled office, the Provost Marshal and the First Sergeant and Lieutenant Roh from the ROK Liaison Office hashed out Pfc. Hatcher's future.
'The Korean government demands custody of Hatcher,' Lieutenant Roh said. 'Right now.'
'You're out of bounds, Lieutenant,' the Provost Marshal answered. 'There are clear procedures to be followed, outlined in the Status of Forces Agreement, when a U.S. serviceman is to be turned over to ROK authorities.'
'You have the power to waive those procedures,' Lieutenant Roh insisted. 'In this case you must.'
'We must do what is in the interest of the United States Government.'
Ernie glanced over at me, raising his eyebrows. I leaned toward him and whispered. 'The Eighth Army honchos must be pissed about all the demonstrations. Maybe the Korean police didn't crack down fast enough. Maybe some colonel caught a rotten egg in his puss.'
'If they hold Hatcher,' Ernie said, 'there will be more demonstrations.'
'Maybe the Provost Marshal doesn't give a damn.'
Outside of the MP Station, a crowd of Koreans had gathered in front of the main gate. MPs and a chain-link fence held them back. A few were chanting anti-American slogans, trying to encourage everyone to join in.
