Chinese Dragon by Dave Barraclough - HTML preview

Chapter Twenty-five

As I turned out of World Cup Buk-ro I noticed a slim, angry-looking figure, waving an umbrella at the stream of occupied taxis. I pulled in to the kerb beside him.

'Want a lift, Yun?' I called through the open window of my car. 'You'll never get a taxi at this hour'.

He blinked myopically at me for a moment, then gave me one of his rare smiles.

'Oh, it's you, Moon. It would be jolly helpful if you could drop me off at City Hall'.

I said, untruthfully, that I was going in that direction, and reached over and unlatched the door.

'I do appreciate this', he said, sliding into the seat beside me. 'What a stroke of luck you should happen to be passing'. From the rather sly way in which he said this I had the idea he was trying to pump me.

'Yes, it is, isn't it?' I said innocently. 'I came down that street to short circuit the rush-hour traffic'. I drew away from the kerb. 'I must remember that short cut for future occasions'.

'Yes, the taxis use it quite a bit', he said indifferently.

My offer of a lift had not been entirely altruistic. I'd been as curious about his reason for being in World Cup Buk-ro as he had obviously been about mine.

'Have you just come from Miss Kim's shop?' I asked conversationally.'As a matter of fact, I have', he said somberly. 'I wanted to have a talk with Kim Su-mi about a visit I had from that detective this afternoon. Unfortunately, she wasn't available'.

'Bad luck', I murmured, and casually inquired what Lee Shi-hoo wanted to know this time.

'He's got it into his wooden head that I can give him some information about a man called Bae'.

'And can you?'

'No, of course I can't! Never heard of the chap'. His emphasis brought on a brief spell of asthmatic coughing. When he'd got over that, he said: 'Has he been questioning you about Bae?'

'He did ask me whether I knew him'.

Yun seemed more exasperated than  ever. 'Kong So-ra tells me he's been hounding her, too. Why he should be so keen on trying to pin some knowledge of Bae Yeon-seok on to all of us defeats me'.

'All of us?' I said sharply. 'Who do you mean, exactly, Yun?'

'Well, isn't it obvious?' he said peevishly. 'You, me, Su-mi, So-ra -  he doesn't trust any of us. I must say it's a fine state of affairs that I, a reputable stockbroker, should be subjected to the indignity of being cross-examined by that idiot of a policeman! And in connection with murder, of all things!'

From then until we reached City Hall I had to listen to a monologue on the impeccable life of Yun Hyeok, and when I finally said good-bye to him I found myself wondering whether Su-mi had any inkling of what she was letting herself in for.