nose.
I leaned over and peered inside the nostrils. Both were blocked with green hay. The bastards had suffocated her.
As if to confirm what I was thinking, Slicky Girl Nam reached out her wrinkled hand and touched the smooth flesh of Mi-ja's cheek. The child's pink lips parted slightly. Inside, her mouth and throat were also stuffed with straw.
Why kill Mi-ja this way? And then I remembered that Ragyapa was a Buddhist-or at least a member of some odd, perverted sect of Buddhism-and Buddhists must respect all living things. In Tibet, when it is time to slaughter a yak, they stuff straw down its throat and nose and let it choke to death. The animal suffocates, killing itself. So the owner won't be blamed for the sin of murdering another living creature.
But why kill Mi-ja now? Why, when I had told Ragyapa I would do everything I could to catch Herman and recover the skull?
But I knew the answer. Ragyapa had given us until the full moon to produce the jade skull, or Mi-ja would die. We hadn't made that deadline. He wanted to make sure that I believed he meant business.
He still had one more hostage, Lady Ahn, and his message was clear. If we didn't find the skull within the next thirty-six hours, Lady Ahn would suffer the same cruel death little Mi-ja had.
I knelt and spoke as gently as I could to Slicky Girl Nam. 'We have to find Herman.'
She looked at me blankly, waiting for an explanation.
'Last night,' I said, 'we were supposed to exchange the jade skull for Mi-ja. But it was stolen out of the CID safe. We couldn't make the exchange. We believe Herman stole the skull.'
The flat muscles of her face writhed like a basket of pythons. Her rage-filled eyes spit fire. 'That pyongsin stole jade skull?'
'He's not a cripple,' I said. 'He has the skull and he's running.'
Slicky Girl Nam screamed a series of curses that thundered through the Temple of the Dream Buddha. 'When I catch, I cut that son-bitch balls off!'
I stood up. Ernie clicked on his gum, shaking his head, no mirth in his eyes.
Captain Kim, the commander of the Itaewon Police Station, strode into the Temple of the Dream Buddha surrounded by his entourage. He stopped and glared at Ernie and me. 'You two again. Every time there is a death in my precinct, you two seem to be nearby.'
I didn't translate that into English. I was afraid Ernie would pop him. Instead, I stepped back and let Captain Kim take charge of the investigation.
It took four cops to pry Slicky Girl Nam away from Mi-ja.
When we returned to the office, Riley had me lined up for three appointments. One with the First Sergeant, one with the Eighth Army Provost Marshal, and one with the Judge Advocate General's Office. They all wanted precise details concerning the upcoming plans of the little nun and the Buddhist hierarchy.
Luckily, they were so busy chattering amongst themselves about this new information, that they didn't have time to talk to me right away.
'You'll see them when they're ready for you,' Riley told me.
Typical. Military commanders always start formulating their plans before they have all the facts.
While we were waiting we didn't twiddle our thumbs. Ernie made calls to the American side and I made calls to the Koreans, asking if anyone at the points of embarkation had encountered anyone matching the description of Herman the German.
He had only completed his third call when Ernie slammed down the phone. 'Osan. The Space Available list. One guy signed up early this morning for a flight Stateside. Name: First Sergeant Herman R. Burkowicz, Retired.'
I grabbed my coat.
'Where the hell do you guys think you're going?' Riley yelled.
'To collar a bad guy,' I called back.
'But the honchos want to talk about this nun.'
'You already know everything I know. If they don't turn Pfc. Hatcher over to the Korean authorities, she's going to kill herself tomorrow afternoon in downtown Seoul at the Gate of the Transformation of Light.'
'They'll court-martial you if you don't show up for this shit,' Riley hollered.
'What are they gonna do?' Ernie asked. 'Send him to Korea?'
We ran outside to the jeep.
As we rolled out of the main gate of Yongsan Compound we swerved into the madly careening traffic of the Main Supply Route. Thunder cracked. A flash of lightning sliced the sky.
'Looks like we're due for a little drizzle.'
As soon as the words left Ernie's mouth, a whole world of water gushed out of the black heavens.
Draped in his blue rain slicker, the security guard waved us through the main gate of Osan Air Force Base. We followed the signs to the passenger terminal of the Military Airlift Command, parked the jeep, and ran inside.
The building contained only one large waiting room, latrines, and a snack bar off to the side. Before we talked to anybody, Ernie and I spread out and searched for Herman the German.
Ernie met me back at the Space-A counter. 'No dice.'
'I didn't think so,' I said. 'He wouldn't wait here where he could be easily spotted.'
I flashed my badge to the Technical Sergeant at the counter. She was slender and her uniform had been well tailored and her complexion was like light cocoa butter. I gave her Herman's name. She thumbed through the onionskin sheets on her clipboard.
'He was here this morning,' she said. 'Signed up for Space-A and was issued a seat on the flight that left about a half hour ago.'
'Damn!' Ernie said.
She kept licking her thumb and studying the manifest. 'But he was bumped. Some ground-pounder from the Second Division showed up at the last minute with emergency leave orders. We had to pull Burkowicz off the flight.'
'You mean he's still here in-country?'
'Sure is. Mad as hell when we pulled him off. Cursing about his rights as a retired service member.'
'What rights?' Ernie asked.
She smiled. 'None that I know of. Retirees have no rights unless there's space available. And their priority comes right after cats and dogs.'
'We called last night from Eighth Army CID,' I said. 'I thought you people were going to arrest Burkowicz if he showed up.'
She shrugged. 'Don't ask me. You'll have to check with the Security Detachment. They're down the hall.'
'Never mind,' I said.
Despite all our efforts, if there had been enough seats on that flight this morning, Herman would be on his way to the States with the precious jade skull of Kublai Khan stashed in a bag beneath his feet. So much for military efficiency.
I asked the Tech Sergeant one more question. 'Are there any more flights leaving today?'
'None until tomorrow morning.'
'Thanks.'
I smiled at her but she didn't smile back. She was too busy looking at Ernie.
We grabbed a couple of trays at the small snack bar. I ordered a BLT, Emie had a ham and cheese omelette with a side of hash browns.
'Worked up an appetite last night,' he said.
I purposely picked a table next to a group of military retirees smoking and sipping coffee and bullshitting. Waiting for the next flight out of Korea.
We sat down, ate, and listened for a while. When they didn't mention Herman, I asked, 'Anybody seen
