The woman pointed. 'Down there. Toward the car park behind the Unchon Siktang.' The Driver's Eatery.
'I tried to stop them,' she said. 'But what could I do? I am-'
But Ernie and I were already sloshing away in the rain, heading downhill toward the road that wound through the nightclub district and back to the main road. Once Ragyapa and his boys reached that, they'd have access to all the major thoroughfares in Seoul. And once they reached the main road, catching them would be impossible.
'They must've stashed a car behind the Driver's Eatery,' Ernie said. 'And then they walked through the back alleys to the yoguan.'
'Looks like it.'
'But how did they know where Lady Ahn was?'
'No clue,' I said. 'We'll have to worry about that later.'
'And why would they kidnap her?'
'They figured she had the jade skull,' I said. 'When they realized she didn't, they decided to take her as a bargaining chip.'
Ernie swore. 'Isn't one kidnap victim enough for these guys?'
'I don't think anything's enough for them,' I said. 'Not until they hold in their hands the jade skull of Kublai Khan.'
The muddy parking lot behind the Driver's Eatery must've held about twenty small taxis. There were also a few three-wheeled flatbed pickup trucks. Ernie took one side of the lot and I took the other. We checked each vehicle closely. When we finished, we met behind the eatery. Tired drivers sat behind steamed windows, slurping on bowls of wet noodles, sipping on barley tea.
'Zilch,' Ernie reported.
'Me, too. Nothing.' I looked inside the eatery. 'Somebody in there must've seen something.'
Ernie pushed through the door.
The little restaurant was cramped, and reeked of human sweat and boiled cabbage and charcoal gas. A couple of the drivers stared up at us, unevenly burning cigarettes hanging from brown lips.
I pointed back to the parking lot and spoke in loud Korean.
'Some men brought a woman down here,' I said. 'She might've been struggling. They put her in a car and drove away with her. How many of you saw it?'
There was silence. I repeated what I had said, careful of my pronunciation, trying to make sure that everyone understood me. No answer.
Ernie strode over to the heating stove in the center of the room. He hoisted a large brass pot of barley tea and held it at chest level, and when he had everyone's attention he tossed hot tea out of the spout and let it splash on the floor. Then he turned slowly in the center of the rickety tables.
'Who saw it?' I asked.
Still no answer. Ernie sloshed steaming water onto the Formica-covered table in front of him. Three astonished drivers sprang to their feet, slapping the steam rising from their trousers. As one, they all started cursing.
Ernie sloshed more water at the drivers. They kicked their chairs back and leapt out of the way.
'Who saw the men who took the woman?' I shouted.
A burly young driver stepped toward the kitchen and grabbed a butcher knife from a wooden chopping block. An older, gray-haired man noticed him, turned back to me, and started to speak.
'It wasn't a car,' he said.
I turned to him, waiting. Ernie stopped sloshing tea.
'It was a truck,' the man said. 'Three wheels. The back seemed to be loaded, but they shoved the woman in there.'
'Was she struggling?'
'No. I thought she was asleep. Or drunk.'
'Where did the truck go?'
'Down the hill.' He jerked his thumb toward the nightclub district. 'It was a blue truck.'
That didn't narrow it down much. Almost every truck in Korea was either blue or green or gray.
'Did you see the license plate number?'
'No reason to look.'
'What was the truck loaded with?'
'Garlic.' The driver with the butcher knife pushed himself past some of his irate comrades, edging closer to Ernie. The gray-haired man noticed him and spoke again. 'If you had arrived two minutes earlier, you might have caught them.'
The guy with the knife lunged at Ernie. I shouted. Ernie swiveled and tossed the brass pot at him. Steaming water exploded into the air, splashing into the driver's face. He screamed.
I grabbed Ernie, shoved him forward, and kicked open the front door. We dashed out into the pelting rain. Behind us, a gaggle of drivers stood in the doorway, staring. But none of them looked too anxious to follow. They had lives to lead. Money to make. Families to support.
I hoped that the guy who received a faceful of tea wasn't hurt too badly.
Ernie turned back and flashed the drivers the finger.
'Dickheads,' he said.
We searched the roads of Itaewon but there was no sign of a blue truck loaded with garlic.
And no sign of Lady Ahn.
25
I leaned over Staff Sergeant Riley's desk, breathing down the collar of his starched fatigue shirt.
'You must have something for me, Riley. Don't the Koreans keep goddamn records?'
Riley leaned away from me. 'Back off, Sueno. Of course they keep records. Give me some breathing space and maybe I'll find something.'
We were back in the CID office. Ever since Ragyapa and his thugs had taken Lady Ahn, I'd been badgering everyone-the KNPs, the MPs, even Sergeant Riley-to find me some sort of lead so I could nail those bastards.
Before Ernie and I left Itaewon, we'd stopped in the Police Station and questioned Captain Kim on his progress on the Mi-ja kidnapping case. He admitted there hadn't been much.
'Too much demo,' he said. Demonstrations. 'Ever since Buddhist nun beat up, whole country crazy.'
The madness that was sweeping the country-and especially Itaewon-over the mugging of Choi So-lan, the Buddhist nun, had all Kim's cops working double shifts. Devotees bearing flower bouquets and a huge photo of the little nun dotted the Main Supply Route leading out of Eighth Army Headquarters. What with the occasional altercation between GI and demonstrator, and the nightly rallies, there was little time left to investigate the kidnapping of a little girl.
I filled out a police report on the abduction of Lady Ahn. Kim thanked me and filed it away.
'I want action on that!' I said.
Captain Kim nodded. 'When I can. When I can.'
Ernie had to pull me away.
Now, back at the CID office, Ernie was still working on keeping me calm. Talk about a switch. He poured two cups of coffee out of the metal urn and handed me one. I slurped it without tasting it.
A map of Seoul hung on the wall of the CID Admin office. Usually, I was fascinated by it. All the ancient palaces and gateways and temples. But today, it depressed me. A city of eight million people. How in the hell was I going to find Lady Ahn?
I shouldn't have let her stay alone. I should have known better. Either Ernie or I should've stayed with her. Or we should've brought her along.
Ernie slapped me on the back. He'd been peering at me.
'It's not your fault,' he said.
