James Chase - A Lotus for Miss Quon

“No, sir,” the Inspector admitted. “I am still trying to trace this girl who used to visit the American. She may be able to help us.”

“This Lieutenant is a trouble-maker,” the Colonel said. “Be careful how you deal with him. Now go and find this woman.

When the Inspector had gone, the Colonel rang for Lam-Than.

“Lieutenant Hambley will probably ask to visit Jaffe’s villa tomorrow for another look around. He is suspicious,” the Colonel said. “It is essential of course that he doesn’t come across the hole in the wall.”

Lam-Than permitted himself a smile.

“Three hours ago, sir,” he said, “the wall was repaired. It was done by my brother who is skilled in such matters, and can be trusted.”

The Colonel grunted.

“Ngoc-Linh hasn’t found the woman yet,” he said. “Have you any ideas how we can trace her?”

“If there is anyone who knows who she is it is the owner of the Paradise Club. He knows all the women who consort with Americans,” Lam-Than said. “We could arrest and question him.”

“The Inspector has already questioned him.”

Lam-Than’s eyes lit up viciously.

“If we had him here, no doubt we could persuade him to talk.”

The Colonel hesitated, then reluctantly shook his head.

“This man is well known to the Americans. It would be dangerous to arrest him - yet. We must be careful. If we have to, then we will do so, but we’ll see if Ngoc-Linh can find her first.” He stroked his flat nose. “Are you sure the American can’t slip out of the country?”

“Every exit is being watched,” Lam-Than said.

The Colonel rubbed his bald head.

“He is armed.”

“Our men have been warned. He will be shot at sight.”

“But if the diamonds are found on him?”

Lam-Than smiled.

“I will recover them,” he said.

Tint following morning Nhan caught the nine o’clock bus to Thudaumot. She had with her a basket containing a number of American magazines, three paper-back novels and the morning’s newspapers. These were carefully concealed under some groceries and vegetables she had bought before catching the bus.

She had passed a worrying night. Carried away by Steve’s plans, it was not until she was in bed and sufficiently relaxed to think seriously of her future with him that she began to realize the difficulties. The thing that worried her most was what would become of her mother, her uncle and her three brothers if she went to Hong Kong with Steve. They completely relied on her to provide the family income. She would have to talk to Steve about this. Unless he had some practical suggestion, she didn’t see how she could leave them.

At least she had lost some of her terror. She had read the newspapers. The police seemed convinced that Steve had been kidnapped. There was no mention of the diamonds. She couldn’t understand how Haum had been found in the ditch, but this she thought was very good for Steve. There was no question now of the police thinking he had killed Haum. She wondered about Steve’s meeting with Blackie Lee. There were so many things to discuss with Steve. She was so impatient to be with him again!

Jaffe was also impatient to see her. He had been pacing the tiny room and continually looking at his watch. When he heard the bus coming, he went to the window and watched as it pulled up outside the lacquer factory.

There were very few people on the bus. He saw Nhan get off. She was wearing an electric-blue tunic over her white trousers, and no hat. The sight of her gave him a little jolt of sentiment.

When she came into the room, he held her close to him, gently touching her face with his lips while she relaxed against him, smiling, her eyes closed. She let him fondle her for some moments, then she reached up and kissed him.

“I have brought the papers,” she said.

They sat on the bed side by side, her head against his shoulder while he quickly scanned the badly set type.

It gave him an odd sinking feeling to see his name in print. The paper told him nothing he hadn’t already learned from Blackie the previous night. As he expected, there was no mention of the diamonds. A quick look at the other paper confirmed this.

But unlike Nhan, he wasn’t fooled by the police statement that he had been kidnapped by bandits and was probably dead. He was sure they were secretly searching for him, hoping to find him alive. They could not tell, of course, if he had been kidnapped or not, but he was quite sure that someone in authority knew about the diamonds and would continue to hunt for him until that someone had convincing proof he was dead and the diamonds out of reach.

“You see,” Nhan said, “it is going to be all right. They don’t know what happened to Haum. They don’t know about the diamonds. They think you were kidnapped. It’s good, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it’s good,” he lied. There was no point in frightening her until he had to. He went on to tell her about his meeting with Blackie. “He has agreed to let me take you with me,” he concluded. “It could be fixed by the end of the week. Who knows? In ten days, possibly less, we could be in Hong Kong.”

He saw her face cloud.

“What’s the matter? You want to go to Hong Kong with me, don’t you?”

Yes, she wanted to go, she said, but she had others to think of beside herself. There were her mother, her uncle and her three brothers. There would be no real happiness for her if she deserted them and left them to look after themselves.

Jaffe put his arm around her.

“Don’t worry about that,” he said. “I’ll fix it. I’ll get a lawyer in Hong Kong to arrange an allowance for them. Once we get out of here, I’ll be rich. You don’t have to worry about them, kid. I’ll fix it.”

While they were talking, Lieutenant Hambley and Inspector Ngoc-Linh were standing in the large sitting-room of Jaffe’s villa.

Hambley had gone all over the villa with a thoroughness that had made the Inspector uneasy.

“I knew there was more to it than kidnapping,” Hambley said, staring at the Inspector. “This guy was running away. I’ve checked with Pan Am. and I’ve dug out the record of his luggage when he first arrived here. He had three suitcases. One is missing. His shaving kit is missing. When he left here he took all his money.” He pointed his finger at the Inspector. “Jaffe was on the run. He never intended to come back here. That’s why he borrowed Wade’s car. He hoped he could bluff his way out with C.D. plates.”

This could be very awkward, the Inspector was thinking, if Hambley pursued this theory. He must convince this over-smart Lieutenant that his theory was wrong.

“I should like to speak frankly with you,” he said. “You haven’t been in Saigon very long, have you, Lieutenant?”

Hambley stared at him.

“What’s that got to do with it?”

“If I remember rightly, you came here two months ago. Two months is a very short time to get to understand the mentality and the methods of our enemy.”

Hambley shifted. He had been aware ever since he had arrived in Saigon that he wasn’t properly equipped for the job he had to do. It irritated him that he was unable to speak the language and had to work through interpreters all the time. He was continually finding the Vietnamese mentality utterly baffling.

“I don’t get any of this,” he said aggressively. “What are you driving at?”

“On the other hand,” the Inspector went on, ignoring the interruption, “we have had years of experience with these bandits. We know the sole purpose of their activities against us is to create political trouble. Nothing could please them more than to upset the good relations between your country and mine or create an unsavoury incident that would have repercussions in the world press.