Cheong-Su fetched out the crumpled newspaper and showed it to Yo-Yo.
Angrily, because he hated to have to admit he couldn’t read, Yo-Yo told him to read it to him, but three customers arrived at this moment for soup and Cheong-Su left Yo-Yo to stare at the unintelligible print, seething with vicious fury at his own illiteracy.
The supper rush-hour was now on and Yo-Yo had to wait. He listened to Cheong-Su’s account of his unfair treatment at Security Police Headquarters as the old man recounted it over and over again to every new customer who came along.
Could the American, Yo-Yo was thinking, who he had seen at the window of the villa at Thudaumot be the man the police were inquiring about? If he was, then the girl, Nhan, and Blackie Lee were involved. Surely this might be the opportunity to blackmail Blackie for which he had been looking.
He was so absorbed in listening to Cheong-Su recount his experiences for the twentieth time that he failed to notice Blackie leave the club. The time was now twenty minutes past seven. Before setting out for Thudaumot, Blackie wanted to call on a wealthy Chinese jeweller who he was sure would buy the two diamonds Jaffe had given him. It would be a long transaction. The jeweller would try to convince Blackie the stones were of little value. Before Blackie could squeeze three thousand American dollars from the jeweller several hours would be wasted in polite but bitter haggling. Blackie was making sure he had plenty of time before his meeeting with Jaffe at eleven o’clock.
When Yo-Yo finally got Cheong-Su to read him the newspaper account of Jaffe’s kidnapping, he felt pretty confident that Jaffe was the American he had seen at the window. His immediate reaction was to rush around to Security Police and claim the reward, but remembering Cheong-Su’s treatment, he decided first to talk to Blackie. It was possible Blackie might offer more than 20,000 piastres, but when he entered the club he found Blackie had gone.
Yu-lan who disliked Yo-Yo told him curtly to get out. Her husband, she said, wouldn’t be back that night. When he wanted Yo-Yo, he would send for him.
In the meantime Lieutenant Hambley had made no
Chapter Eleven
1
Blackie Lee returned to the club a little after ten o’clock. He had been as successful as he could have hoped in the sale of diamonds. After a tussle that had lasted two hours, he had finally sold the stones for two thousand nine hundred American dollars. He locked the money in his safe, then he went into the dance hall for a word with Yu-lan before setting off for Thudaumot.
As he crossed the hall to the corner table where she always sat, he noted with approval that the dance floor was crowded.
Reaching Yu-lan’s table, he paused, lifting his eyebrows. Yu-lan told him that Charlie had gone to bed.
He nodded.
“Looks like a busy night. I can’t get back before one o’clock.”
He hadn’t told Yu-lan what Charlie and he were planning to do. He didn’t believe in taking his wife into his confidence, but Yu-lan knew something important was in the wind and it worried her. She knew it was useless either to ask questions or to warn Blackie. He always went his own way.
Blackie left the club and walked over to where he had parked his car.
Two Vietnamese, wearing shabby European suits, were sitting in a car parked a few yards from Blackie’s car. They were smoking and talking together. One of them nudged the other as Blackie came out of the club. His companion, in the progress. He had left Ann Fai Wah’s apartment after four o’clock. He felt limp and ashamed of himself. He was also irritated that the Chinese girl had set such a high value on her attractions which, from Hambley’s point of view, had been extremely disappointing. There had been a sordid squabble over the present he was to give her and finally as she had begun to scream abuse at him at the top of her voice, he had parted with practically a week’s pay and had hurriedly left the apartment block before her neighbours came to inquire what the uproar was about.
He hadn’t been able to find the mysterious Vietnamese girl’s uncle at the Temple of Marshal Le-van-Duvet. As he couldn’t speak Vietnamese, he had no means of finding out when the uncle was likely to come to the temple. The other fortune-tellers at the temple stared at him, giggling with embarrassment when he had tried to make them understand who he was looking for.
By the time he got back to his office, he was hot and exhausted. He decided to shelve the affair until the following morning.
Unknown to Jaffe and Nhan, they had gained yet another day of safety. driver’s seat, thumbed the starter as Blackie started his car.
They followed Blackie through the heavy traffic until he reached the Bien Hoa - Thudaumot highway. They were experienced police officers and they knew, at this time of night, there would be very little traffic on the road and Blackie would soon become aware that they were following him. They had had strict instructions from Inspector Ngoc-Linh that Blackie was to have no suspicions that he was being watched.
The driver slowed down, letting Blackie go ahead and in a minute or so they had lost sight of his car. The driver then drove fast to the nearest police box and called the police post on the Bien Hoa highway. To the patrolman, he described Blackie’s car and gave him the number. He told the patrolman to follow the car for only a short distance and then to alert all police posts on the highway to have cycle police ready to keep the car in sight until it reached its destination.
Once on the deserted highway, Blackie took the precaution to look continually in his driving-mirror to make sure he wasn’t being followed. He had no reason to think he might be followed, but he was taking no chances.
He didn’t see the motorcycle patrolman some two hundred yards behind him for the patrolman was riding without a light.
Blackie had to stop at the Bien Hoa-Thudaumot police post which had now been repaired. The policeman in charge checked his papers, then waved him on. He watched Blackie turn to the left and head towards Thudaumot. There was already a policeman a mile ahead on a bicycle, waiting for him. The policeman went into the police post and telephoned the Thudaumot police post, warning them that Blackie was on his way.
It was exactly at eleven o’clock when Blackie drove over the grass-covered, ruined road to the temple.
The policeman who was waiting patiently a quarter of a mile away saw Blackie’s headlight in the distance suddenly go out. The countryside was treeless and flat at this part of the road. The ruined tower of the temple, black and gaunt against the skyline, was the only visible landmark the policeman could see, but his sharp eyes picked out the glimmer of Blackie’s sidelights as the car bumped over the potholes, and he realized Blackie had turned off the main road and was heading towards the temple.
He got on his bicycle and began to pedal fast down the road.
Blackie edged the big car through the gateway of the temple and pulled up. He saw Jaffe come out of the darkness and walk towards him. He remained in the car, waiting.
Jaffe opened the off-side door and got into the car.
“Well?” His voice was sharp. “What’s been happening?”
In a few moments, Blackie thought, I’ll know if he did find all the diamonds. He was aware that his hands were damp with the sweat of excitement and taking out his handkerchief he wiped them before saying, “My brother has arrived. As I had hoped, he will be able to help you. Nhan told you we need more money?”
Jaffe made an angry movement with his big hands.
“You’re not getting it! I’ve already given you a thousand dollars! Where the hell do you think I’m going to get more money from?”
Blackie winced.
“We must have another two thousand dollars,” he said. “Once we have that, we can get you out.”