Inspector O 04 - The Man with the Baltic Stare

by James Church

  “I don’t care whose tummy they are rubbing, as long as they realize they can’t afford to ignore me. We need a quiet transition, as seamless and unremarkable as we can make it. Nobody raises his head, nobody gets hurt. This is a list of what we like to call our guides, people who know where the paths are, and where they lead. If these are the right paths, and everyone cooperates, all that happens is that the sign in the front window changes. ‘Under new management.’ ”

  “The immaculate omelet, made without breaking a single egg. I don’t think so.”

  “You don’t think so. I don’t think so, either, but that’s what the plan calls for. If you ask me, there’s no chance things will stick to the script, and when they don’t, we have to go to plan B.”

  “Always plan B. Why not start there?”

  “You won’t like it. Trust me, no one will like it.”

  “Tell me honestly, Major. Do you really think you can blow the whistle, point to the scoreboard, and convince twenty-three million people that you’ve won the game?”

  “I don’t know why anyone would believe it, but I’m telling you it’s already happened. It doesn’t matter what the people at the bottom think. They’ll do as they’re told. But the ones at the top, they can see what has happened. I’m not going to spend a lot of time analyzing the causes. The fact is, I’ve never seen so many whipped dogs in my life.”

  “Is that so?”

  “You saw that group at the table the first night. If I shift my chair, they wet themselves. They’re not cooperative, but they are resigned.”

  “Good. In that case, you have probably already looked into how many of your army divisions are going to have to stay for the next hundred years to keep all the dogs in line. Do you think you’re going to pacify the whole country? Go up to the mountains in Chagang sometime and tell me that. Try driving a tank through hills and dales of Yanggang. How long do you think the railroads will last? Will you guard every tunnel and every bridge?”

  “It’s one country, for the love of God, O.”

  “Of course! You’re a Christian. I should have guessed.”

  “That’s not relevant.”

  “Oh, no? You expect me to think that your heart doesn’t race when you look around and think of the possibilities for converts.”

  “Be serious. Are you with us or against us? I don’t have time to kick this ball around.”

  “I know, I know; you are on a tight schedule. Only I don’t think you realize yet what is going on outside the bubble of this compound.”

  “Let me try inserting something you may find interesting. Your grandmother was a Christian.”

  “Is that so?” Pang did his homework. Kim did his homework. Pretty soon, I’d have a nice genealogy chart to hang in my house.

  “She was educated at a Methodist school in Haeju. That’s where she grew up, wasn’t it?”

  “You seem to have the file on my grandmother. You tell me.”

  “I thought you knew.”

  “Fascinating, all fascinating. And it means what? I’m next in line to be Pope?”

  “The Pope isn’t a Methodist.”

  “What a coincidence. Neither am I.”

  “Look, O, you may not believe it, you may not like it, but the biggest change either of us will ever see is already here. Not on the doorstep, not in the wings. It is here, now. In a year, this rump state of yours will not exist. Understood?”

  “Within a year, I get to bring in the tray with your breakfast.”

  “Maybe.”

  “And my friends? What happens to them?”

  “Depends who they are.” Kim picked up his pencil. “Who are they?”

  “And my world?”

  “Your world? I should think you’d be happy to see it disappear. Besides, the new one won’t be so bad.”

  “Is it already on display at the hotel? I get headaches.”

  Kim put all the papers in a neat pile. “Things have been quiet up to now. But we go into phase two soon. I need a decision from you. Help me make it smooth, or I guarantee you won’t live to see the end of it. That’s the way it is going to be.”

  “More threats. That’s the sum total of what you have in your fancy knapsack.” Kim’s eyes dared me to keep going down that path. I decided it was time to try a new tack. I didn’t have a lot of options at the moment; I might as well try purring. “You’ll keep Zhao off my back?”

  “He won’t come near you.” The response was automatic, almost as if he was hypnotized. Zhao was a fixation. It was clear to me that nothing worried Kim as much as, nothing blotted out more light or consumed more oxygen than, his fear of Zhao. He didn’t control the gangster, and it scared the hell out of him.

  “You’re going to protect me sort of like you protected Captain Sim.”

  “Sim was working against me, Inspector. I let Pang have him. In fact, I told Pang where he’d be.”

  “Don’t try that with me. There’s a key difference. Sim was one of yours. He didn’t know which way was up around here. I do.”

  “Are you bargaining with me? Because you don’t have any leverage, Inspector. None. Not a tiny bit, not a sliver. None.”

  “Keep believing in angels if it makes you sleep any better.” Purring was hard work. I’d have to practice.

  8

  The next day, I stayed in my hotel. The phone rang; I didn’t answer it. A note came under the door; I didn’t open it. When the maid came to make up the room around ten o’clock, I went downstairs and stopped at the front desk. The man of a thousand stares was waiting in the lobby. He had on a striped shirt. It accentuated his thinness. He made Luís look like a water buffalo.

  The desk clerk looked annoyed. “Who is that guy? He won’t talk to anyone. He just stands around, staring at nothing. I’ve put up with him long enough. I’ve had it. End of the line.”

  “It only looks like he’s staring at nothing. Actually, he has wide-angle vision, sort of like a walleye pike. If you pay attention, you’ll see his eyes move independently.”

  “Yeah, sure. And my fingers dance the rumba on Thursdays. He looks like a friend of yours. He only showed up when you did, as I recall. When you go away, so does he. He’s like a wart. Get rid of him before I call security.”

  The only person I liked less than the staring man was this clerk. “That probably won’t do any good. He works for them, or somebody like them. What harm is he doing, standing there?”

  “It makes the guests nervous.”

  “I’m your only guest. Do I look nervous?”

  “Why did you come down here? You’re not the chatty type.”

  “It gets lonely up there in the room. Besides, I thought you might give me some help.”

  “You, I don’t help. The word is out to keep a healthy distance from you for now.”

  “Why’s that?”

  He looked at his watch. “Listen, I’m busy. I’ve got to call a girl. Two girls, actually. You don’t mind? Come down again sometime, we’ll talk more.” He turned away.

  The man in the lobby stared at him. “That’s it,” said the clerk. “I don’t care if his eyes are diamond studs, I’m calling the security boys.”

  9

  It was a little past eleven o’clock when I arrived at Kim’s compound. My name must have been put on an approved list, because the tanks ignored me as I hurried up the walk.

  “I’ve been away from home for weeks already.” I was at the window looking into the courtyard. “If I’m going to stay here any longer, I’ve got to go home to pick up some stuff.”

  “Why?” Major Kim was half-listening. “We can supply you with whatever you need. We’ve got more shirts if you need them.”

  “I’m not talking clothing.”

  “What then?”

  “Wood. I didn’t think I’d be here so long, so I didn’t take more than a few pieces with me. It’s autumn. Things get melancholy sometimes in the evening when I’m out walking. All these lights you’ve installed, they make it worse.”

 
; “Light makes it worse?”

  “You’re a creature of the wrong civilization, Major. The sun goes up; the sun goes down. That’s natural. Light blazing at midnight is abnormal. It’s unhealthy.”

  “So close your curtains. Get yourself some eyeshades. Put your head under your pillow. Think happy thoughts.”

  “Let me go home for a day, I’ll pick up some wood, and then I’ll be back.”

  “I don’t think I can spare a driver. We’re having some people coming in for inspections.”

  “I can drive myself. I still have a license. Or have you voided all of them?”

  “It’s for your safety. I don’t want you on a mountain road by yourself.”

  “Afraid I’ll decide to end it all?”

  “No, afraid Zhao will decide to do it for you.”

  “Ah. I get it. Well, I can wait a day or two. Am I going to need a pass to get around my own country?”

  Kim’s phone rang. He stared at the button that had lit up and gave me a funny look. “Can I take this, Inspector?”

  I stepped into the hall and closed the door, almost the whole way.

  “Again?” Kim said. “I don’t like it.” A pause. “Then take care of it yourself.” I closed the door completely. When Kim opened it, I was looking at the photographs on the wall.

  “These look like plane trees in summer,” I said. “See how they droop? It’s a form of anger—passive resistance, isn’t that what people call it? My grandfather used to say that lumber from plane trees should never be used to make a wedding chest.”

  “When can you be ready to leave?” Kim blocked the door. He wanted to get rid of me.

  “How about in an hour? You found a driver?”

  “Just wait in your hotel room. Someone will call. They’ll ask if your TV is working or if the sound needs adjusting. Don’t go with anyone else.”

  “You are one scared rabbit, Major. One day you’re telling me you are about to take over; the next day you’re peeking out from behind the curtains. Which is it?”

  “Cautious, Inspector, cautious. No one ever lost a lung being cautious.”

  10

  The call came at noon. The voice said, “I heard there was something wrong with the TV. The volume control or something.”

  “Yeah, something.”

  “Well, get it fixed, why don’t you?”

  “I’ll be right down.”

  I was surprised to see who was waiting in the car. “You have more sage advice for me, Li?”

  “Get in and close the door. We’re going to have to drive like a house on fire to get there and back before dinner.”

  “Where have I heard that before? Never happen. I can cook something at my place. It won’t be anything elaborate.”

  As soon as I closed the door, we were moving. Once we were out of the city, the colors of the harvest took over. “If you’ve got to die, autumn is best, my grandfather used to say.” I thought about that as we sped past a checkpoint. “He was probably right.”

  “When did he die?”

  “Summer.”

  “Can’t exactly set the date, I guess. When it comes, it comes. Any season it wants. What do you think your grandfather meant?”

  “What did he mean about anything? He used to talk about rhythms, about how things had to be aligned. He thought trees understood that better than any other living being. Not embodied it, understood it. On summer nights, when he was making benches for the village, he’d grumble at me, ‘You’ve got to look at a tree, listen to it, see how it grew, before you know how to use the wood. These people just chop them down and cut them up. What sense is that? No wonder everything is ugly these days. And I’m not talking about just ugly to look at, you know what I mean, boy?’ ”

  We drove for a while. I opened the window and let the wind rush in.

  “Nice drive,” I said. “The fields look pleased with themselves. The harvest must have been good this year, though I haven’t heard anything.”

  “What would you know about harvests, O?”

  “Hey I know plenty. I grew up in the countryside, don’t forget. My grandfather didn’t like cities, not after the war, anyway. He said he wanted to smell earth that hadn’t been pulverized by bombs.”

  “Who wouldn’t? Do you mind closing your window? I start sneezing otherwise, this time of year.”

  I cranked up the window. “How is that you got assigned to watch me?”

  “Meaning what?”

  “I don’t know. For some reason, I’ve been getting the impression you and Major Kim don’t get along.”

  “Come on; you know me, O. I get along with everyone. That’s my nature.”

  “So you’re working for him?”

  “I’m not working against him, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

  “He’s very interested in loyalty, have you noticed? Doesn’t like divided loyalties. He’s after me to choose.”

  “And what do you tell him?”

  “What did you tell him?”

  “Me? I’m loyal as they come. Loyal as the day is long.”

  “It’s autumn.”

  “Yeah, so?”

  “So the days are getting shorter.”

  He laughed. “Maybe your grandfather was right; maybe autumn is the best time to die.” When we got off the pavement onto the dirt road that led up the mountain to my house, he turned to me. “Watch how you choose, O.”

  “I’m always careful.”

  “That’s good. But careful isn’t enough anymore. You have to be right every time. Take your hands off the wheel for one second,” the car hit a rut and careened off to the side, “and it could be all over.”

  “Watch where you’re going,” I said. “Other than handing out advice, what do you do all day?”

  “Don’t laugh, but I’m a chief inspector now. Surprised? They did a scrub of the chiefs after Kim got here, let several of them go, and moved up some of us who had been sitting around all these years. You probably could have made chief, too, if you hadn’t been up on your mountain. What were you doing there for all those years?”

  “Making wooden toys. You have to concentrate when you make toys. They’ve got to look simple. It’s a lot of work, making something look simple.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Like doing a ‘scrub.’ Sounds cleaner than a ‘purge.’ But that’s what it is, a purge.”

  “I know what it is.” He opened his window partway. “All of a sudden, it’s stuffy in here, don’t you think? That’s my dilemma; I have to choose between stuffy air and my allergy.”

  “It’s going to get cold pretty soon, a couple of weeks maybe. Then you won’t have to worry.”

  “Yeah, I won’t have to worry.”

  For the moment, the car was headed almost due east. The setting sun poured light across the fields in front of us.

  “Did I tell you about the woman I met in Macau, the one whose voice sounded like wildflowers?”

  “What kind?” Li lifted his head slightly. His nostrils flared, like an animal when it senses danger.

  “You smell it, too? It must be from a wood fire,” I said. “That’s strange, because no one lives out here. The nearest village is behind us and the wind is blowing the wrong way.” I put my head out the window to get a better look. There was a glow at the top of the mountain, my mountain. “You see that?”

  Li stopped the car and peered out the windshield. Then he accelerated sharply, so the tires spun in the dirt before we jumped ahead. “I hope you didn’t leave the stove on for all this time.”

  “I don’t have a stove.”

  We tore up the road past the abandoned guard shack and hit the steepest part of the grade going so fast I thought we might flip over. We went around turn after turn, sliding close to the edge in places, brushing against the sides of the mountain in others, going at a reckless speed that seemed to be in slow motion, a dream speed, a horror film remembered years after. When we burst into the clearing, my house was gone. The roof had caved in, and the
only wall left standing was pitched at a funny angle. The remains were still smoking. The tallest of the tall pines had been chopped down; it had fallen against an outcropping of rock. The next big wind would bring it down onto the road. Another car inched away as we drove up. It stopped when it came abreast of us, and the rear window rolled down.

  “A total loss,” Zhao’s voice came out from inside. “A pity. I’d come up here to see if we could do business, and I find your house in flames.”

  “My grandfather’s carpentry tools were in there, you Chinese bastard.”

  “Well, that’s a loss, I’d say.”

  I got out and ran over to Zhao’s car. “By the time I finish with you, you’ll beg me to kill you.” It wasn’t clear what I was going to do next. I wasn’t armed, and beating on the car with my fists didn’t seem much of a follow-up.

  Zhao moved closer to the window, so I could see him clearly. He stared at me for a moment; then the glass went up and the car drove away. Li got out on his side and watched as it made its way down the hill.

  “Let’s get out of here, O. We can come back tomorrow or the next day, after the place cools down. They must have used gasoline. It’s going to stay hot for a while. You can feel it all the way over here.”

  “I’m not leaving until I go through the ashes.”

  “That’s what they’re counting on. They’ll be back, and you’d better not be here when they are.”

  “Why? You think they can do any worse than this? Look at that tree. They cut it down. Can they do anything worse than that?”

  “Yes.”

  “Go, if you want. I’m staying. Maybe I can find something that wasn’t completely destroyed.”

  Li shook his head. “Have it your way, but first we need something to eat. We’ll have to drive back to the nearest village, that’s almost fifteen kilometers away, unless you know somewhere closer. Even there, they may not have anything to give us.”

  “You can drive all over the damned county. I’m staying. If Zhao comes back, I’ll rip him to shreds.”

  “Easy, Inspector. You heard what he did to the Great Han. We don’t want that to happen to you.”